The Walkers

Longest post EVER!

2011-02-16T21:28:00.000-08:00

Hawaii

We had the opportunity to join Matt's family for a trip to Kauai, and we jumped on it. I don't know if we were actually invited, but we went anyway:) We started saving our pennies the day we decided to go so we could have the time of our life while there. Matt was excited, I was nervous to fly that long with a 17 month old, and Emily was clueless. We drove to Seattle and stayed with Matt's sister Sarah, who was also able to go with us. We were scheduled to fly out early, which ended up not happening because of a ton of obstacles. Luckily they got us all together on the same flight from LA forward. Emily had a hard time on the first flight, but only for the first 20 minutes until she finally fell asleep. The rest of the way was a breeze and she met a few friends in surrounding rows. Layovers were a blessing for us so Emily could run around

and have fun.

We arrived in Kauai Thursday evening around 8PM but didn't get our cars and home until around 9. We stayed in a beautiful house in the North-West shore and had plenty of room for all of us.

Friday-

Lighthouse- Beautiful views and lots of whale sightings

Tunnels Beach- Cool tunnels and a popular beach for snorkeling

Checked out Local shops

Luau- Emily showed us all her hula skills and wasn't afraid to show them off. She also loved watching the night show with all the dancing, and stayed awake as long as she could, but finally passed out in Grandma's arms.

Saturday-

Lydgate Park & Beach

Went up the canyons

Waterfalls

Blow hole

Sunday-

More waterfalls, which Matt decided he had to jump off one, just to say he did it.

A beach somewhere...we don't remember the name, although as we walked, we saw this log...which turned out to be a Monk Seal. it looked dead and molding, but we finally saw it move

Poi'Pu for snorkeling and burying the baby. She surprisingly loved it!

Monday-

Zip line! Matt's grandma was nice and watched Emme while the rest of the family went on a 3-1/2 hour zip line. It was A-Mazing! There were 7 zip lines, 4 bridges, and the best part was you were up in the trees the whole time! We were able to do tricks, hang off the edge of the platform, and swing while waiting to move on the the next zip line. It was awesome to see the trees from above, rather than from below!

Tuesday-

We woke up early to walk down to the beach by us to see the sun rise.

After we went and checked out the Opaekaa Falls

Back to Lydgate park for swimming and laying in the sun for a nice roasting. They had a nice area that was shallow and no waves just for the little kiddos. Emily met a friend, and then stole her toys!

Wednesday-

Helicopter ride! You honestly cannot appreciate Kauai without going on a helicopter ride. This island is amazing! You cannot see 80% of the island without a ride. We also saw a few more whales

Thursday-

Checked out of the house at 10

Fern Gratto

A day at 'Anini beach. Snorkeling. Finally saw turtles. Red eye home. Sad Day

The last 3 months

2010-12-29T15:08:00.000-08:00

apparently I am not a very good blogger. I am great at checking others, but fail to update my own. Here is a look from October until now. Enjoy!

October:

On our way home from Portland we stopped to see some sights.

We got a new puppy, Zoey!

We went to a pumpkin patch and let Emily pick a pumpkin!

November:

Emily discovered her love to decorate with natural products.

December:

Christmas was at the Walker house this year and we had a blast. We drove over late Thursday night. Matt went snowmobiling with his dad and brother early Friday and I had to take Emily to quick care. She had an eye infection in each eye, and an ear infection. Later that day, I started feeling very sick and I had the fever. I also started to get a cough. Christmas morning Emily started feeling a little better, and I broke my fever, but Matt got the fever.

Emily got a stoller, crib and swing for her baby from Santa.

A vacuum from Aunt Sarah

I have trained her well!

Showing off her cute dress!

Just us kids

The Family

The WHOLE FAMILY

The crazy bunch!

Today, Emily is feeling fine, Matt has an eye infection and a cold, and I have bronchitis, a cold, and I possibly an ear infection. We are all headed to quick care tonight! Hoping for a happy and healthy 2011!

Emily turns 1!!!

2010-09-02T22:43:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it has already been a year! I look at Emily and her baby face is gone! She is turning into a little toddler, and I am not sure I am okay with it. We love her personality, and I wish I could constantly snap pictures of her many smiles. She rarely goes without one on her face. She is a little jabber mouth and if it is quiet, she takes the opportunity to talk.....loudly! She says Mama, Daddy, Daw (dog), baby, tickle, dow (don't) nana, and now gampa...but those last two come and go in spurts. She will answer questions with a nod and say "yeah" or if she will shake her head for no. She has not learned to say "no" yet..which we are thankful for. She loves to swing and play on the slides, swim and go for rides in her wagon. She loves giving hugs and kisses. She hasn't decided she wants to walk yet, which again, we are thankful for. She is super busy and curious. We love our Emily!

WE LOVE YOU EMILY!!!!

Update: At her 12 month Dr. visit, her stats were: 17.63 lbs (5%), 28 in tall (20%), and her head is 17.75 in (50%)

Summer

2010-09-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

So it has been a crazy busy summer. We had a couple family reunions, starting with Matts reunion in Missoula. Emily got to meet her Great Great Grandma!

5 generation picture. This is amazing!

The next week Emily and I went to the Rigby reunion in Estes Park Colorado. We got a 4 generation picture, but me being the dork I am forgot my battery charger, so they are on a different camera.

Emily and Great Grandma

We had a great time visiting both families and wish we could see them all more!

She is even stylin' while she sleeps!

Even though we have a hard time with our dog, it is times like this I couldn't imagine not having her! Emily adores her dog.

Emily has learned to push Sadie away and says "Dow" Meaning don't Apparently we say that to Sadie a lot! Emily uses the dog as a step stool, a pillow, a chair and a jungle gym and Sadie just loves the attention.

Last month we went to visit Matts family to spend time with them during their fair. We entered Emily into their Cutest Baby Contest just for fun. There were 150 babies and I was pretty sure she wasn't going to win. There were a TON of cute kids. They had everyone sit in rows and the judges walked around and then they called out the top 10. Surprisingly enough Emily's name was called. I was shocked and my sis-in-law told me to have more faith in her. She was so stinkin' cranky from only 3 hours of sleep and cutting a tooth that morning. We lined back up and the judges again walked through to pick the winner. Emily was the cutest! I am still shocked she won! She made out awesome! There were over $700 in prizes. The best one was this......

Of all the prizes she one, her favorite was her trophy! These pictures are priceless!

She was so wiped out, but would not let go of her new prize! Love it!

Been A While

2010-07-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

We have had an exciting start to our summer. Emily just turned 10 months. At her 9 month appt. she was only 16 lbs, which doesn't give me much hope for the forward facing car seat. She is finally crawling on her knees, rather than her army crawl. She also is starting to stand on her own. I look at her and my baby is growing into a toddler WAY TOO FAST!! She is very active and probably the loudest baby I have ever heard. She says Mama, Dada, Yaya, blabla, and her newest is Nana. We our working on grandpa, or bapa, but it is a lot harder.

We in in the final stages of our family room remodel. The carpet is in, the molding is up, and now it is just curtains and a decorations (which I have all of it, but haven't had the time to get it up) Once it is all finished I will add pictures, but for now, you get our first time on the carpet!

Emily LOVES swimming. We have a pool in our back yard, and Emily has frequent visitors. We also took her to the public pool and she had a great time. She loved being dunked, crawling around, and playing in the fountains.

Matt played in Hoopfest in Spokane and their team had a great time. It was fun going up with

friends and hanging out for the day.

8 Months

2010-05-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how fast time goes! Emily is CRAZY busy and wears me out every day! She is pulling herself up to a stand on everything pushes her little table around the room and walks behind it. We have had a lot of falls and a few bruises, but she is getting the hang of it. Here are a few pictures I have recently taken. She has such a fun personality and her new love is eating her biscuits in her high chair, and then chillin after she is done. She cracks me up!

Also, We have been working on the house again and Carpet is scheduled to be installed in the Family room on the 20th! As is Matt doesn't have enough projects around the house, he tore out our front grass and we are reseeding it. We rented a sod cutter and got everything cut up, and since then it has rained or snowed almost every day so our yard is a mess right now, but hopefully it will be looking better soon!! I will be so glad when we have small projects, instead of huge undertakings!

Vacation at last!

2010-04-07T19:56:00.001-07:00

We decided for "spring break" to head to Utah to visit some family since many have not even met Matt, let alone Emily. We visited old friends, aunts and uncles, cousins, brothers and sister-in-laws, and Grandma! We had so much fun and Emily is SUCH a good traveler. We stayed with Andy and Amanda and Evelyn and had a great time visiting. We played outside on the slide and swings and the girls had fun.
Evelyn loved playing with Emily. Anytime Emily would fuss, Evelyn would go give her a hug and say "Its okay baby". This is Evelyns hug...aka..Headlock

And the girls loved having cousin time....

We went to Park City one day shopping and then went up to the olympic center. Matt and Emily had fun in the bobsled and holding the torch.

Emily wants to be an olympic swimmer one day and she was so close to the torch she could almost taste it (Literally)

We went down and saw Brent and Tina and their new house and found out they are getting MARRIED! I am so excited for them and to have Tina and her kids officially part of the Rigby Family! We also were able to meet up with them one night to go to dinner too! We had a lot of fun with them, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them...sorry:S

We then headed down to St. George to visit my fabulous grandma. Matt had never been to Zions before so we headed out there one day to play. Emily loved Grandma time! Visiting with Grandma is always so fun and we can't wait to do it again soon!

6 Months Old

2010-03-03T15:11:00.001-08:00

Last week, Emily had her bottom teeth push through. Then this week we had her 6 month appointment, and that same day, she started showing interest in crawling. She pushes up on her knees and instead of putting one knee in front of the other, she just launches herself forward. I guess it is a start, plus she gets to where she wants to go. I cannot believe how fast she is growing!

At her Dr. visit, we got the stats. She previously was lucky to even get close to the 25 percentile.
She is 25.5 inches long, which is almost the 50th, her head is 16.75 which is just at the 50th, and she weighs 13.94 lbs, which is right at the 10th. So she is tall, skinny and has a big 'ole head.

We also had her 6 month pictures taken, and although I haven't seen all of them, these are the ones I have seen and I LOVE them! Our friend Carrie did a wonderful job! We will post more a little later.

We are also almost done with our family room. We just have to paint and then put in carpet. SO CLOSE!!! I have been waiting for 2 1/2 years for this moment and I can finally taste it! I will post pictures of the finished product....once it is in fact finished!

Happy New Years!

2009-12-30T16:22:00.000-08:00

We had a very fun Christmas and enjoyed visiting with Lyndee's family. Here are some pictures:
Can you find Emily?

Almost the whole gang. My oldest brother Brent and his family are missing. They were unable to make it up this year.

It was so cold we took two pictures and then quit.

We did a little photo shoot of the girls. They are all so cute!

and then my very favorite one! Drum roll please................................

Dang she is cute!!!

We hope your Christmas was fantastic and that you have a wonderful 2010!

My big girl!

2009-12-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, Emily rolled over, and now she won't stay on her back....give her about 5 seconds and she rolls. Today I gave her cereal for the first time, and she downed it! It was a messy process because she never stops talking, so I put the food in, and about half came back out every time, but she loves it! She goes in for her 4 month appointment Wednesday. My baby is growing too fast!

Emily's Blessing

2009-11-11T14:29:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday we blessed Emily. Matt did a beautiful job.
I need to take more pics of just her, so I will post those later.

Also, Emily had her 2 month WCC a couple weeks ago and she was 9.8 lbs and 21.5 inches. She may still be small for 2 months, but dang she's cute!

more Emily

2009-11-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

Emily loves her bath time:
and she loves her puppy Sadie:

Matt's mom bought Emily this cute little costume:
Lately Emily has not wanted to lay down, which rules out the bouncer and the swing. I brought out her jumper. She is strong and does awesome holding her head up, so we tried it out.

She looks tiny in it, but she loves it!

Emily's One month

2009-11-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of Emily's favorite older cousin and her mom, Amanda. Evelyn was so cute with Emily and Madison.

A couple days later Emily had her 1 month photos:

This is Emily and her Favorite Younger cousin, Madison. This is pretty much how every photo of the together is. They are goofy.

2 Weeks Old

2009-09-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

My parents keep telling me how much Emily is changing, and I couldn't really see it until I looked at pictures from the hospital. Here are some updated pictures of our little squirt.

Cute as a button!

2009-08-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

Our newest addition!!!

Emily Mae Walker
8-29-2009 at 11:03
6 lbs. 1.7 oz 18 1/2 inches

Saturday I woke up and planned on having an eventful day, but my list included getting my pre-clinic done at Gritman, Go home, clean and head over to my baby shower at my parents house. After the shower, go home and clean a little more, go to friends baby shower and then go home and enjoy the rest of my Saturday.

Instead, it went something like this:

8:00- went to Gritman for pre-clinics. (filling out paper work) Had one small contraction, which I thought was my stomach wishing I would have had breakfast first.

9:00- went home- starting feeling a few contractions.

9:30- Called my husband in a panic because contractions were 3 1/2 minutes apart. Husband---out playing paintball and out of cell coverage range. Called my mom instead. Luckily I got a hold of one of Matt's friends who he was playing with.

10:00- Arrived at Gritman and got checked in.

10:20- Matt arrived at Hospital. He would not have made it if we would not have been able to get in touch with him. Thanks Logan for having your phone on you!

10:40-Dr. Arrived at hospital.

10:45-started pushing

11:03- Emily decided to make her grand entrance.

At one point the nurse told me that an epidural was not going to happen, which made the decision of wanting one or not really easy. I did not even have time to change into a gown. I was pretty nervous because I had not really prepared myself a whole lot. I had packed a bag for the hospital, although it was not completely packed. I still had 2 weeks in my mind since her due date is not until September 13th. Emily had other plans.

Baby, Daddy, and Mommy are all doing well at home. We got to come home today (Monday August 31) even though we were really hoping for last night. She is beautiful and has cute little chubby cheeks.

Surprise!

2009-03-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

I didn't think we had done that much in the past couple months, but looking at my last blog I realized we have. Our laundry room is completely done, we have all of our tiling done (except in the kitchen) and we are currently picking out carpet and a bathroom vanity. It is slowly coming along and hope to have it ready to enjoy this summer. We need to keep moving on our repairs because we are adding a little addition in our family in September! We are very excited, but of course now our project list is longer and a little more rushed. Matt and I are exciting to find out the gender in a little over a month. Once we know, we are going to convert our current office into the baby's room.

2009-01-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

We are close to being done with the laundry room. We just have to paint, tile and then hang doors and shelves. Matt and My dad Textured and a couple days later I primed and painted. It will be very nice to get everything back into place so I will have a place to store all my cleaning supplies. Currently they are in random closets.

This week my parents have been out of town so we have been watching their dogs. My parents always say our dog Sadie is a terror, and although I agree....they should see what their dogs are capable of!

Matt went snowboarding Tuesday morning at 5 and let the dogs out of the room we lock them in. I woke up about 7, opened our bedroom door and found this:

I know Sadie would not tear apart her dog bed, especially since we just got it for her a week or so ago and she sleeps on it all the time. Abby is not one to destroy things, so that left me with Maggie. I looked down the hall and saw Maggie with her head in between her legs. Also since she has been here she has chewed up a plastic bowl that we have been putting food in for Abby, Sadies rope and other toys.

Yes Mom and Dad...she is an angel!

Also a myth among the Rigby's: Their dogs NEVER get on the furniture. Every time I walked out of the living room for a couple minutes, I would return to this:

She would be either sitting on the ottoman looking out the window or laying like this.

Don't Mind Our Mess

2008-10-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

I have new pictures of our family room. It is coming together very nicely and the goal...well my goal is to have it done, minus carpet, by December. Matt has been out of town, so my dad has been over almost every night working on it with me. We just have a little sanding left and then we are going to texture and paint!! I will be so excited to be finished. I won't feel like I have to dust everyday..literally!
This is the almost finished laundry room. It is a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but that just leaves that much more storage for all my cleaning supplies.

Finally Vacation!

2008-07-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

Matt and I just got back from a family wedding, a high school reunion, and a trip to the Oregon coast. We had a great time and everything turned out perfect. Matt's sister had a beautiful wedding. The reunion was as surprise because we did not know about it until we got to Hermiston, but it was fun meeting some of the crew. Sunday we headed to Portland where we stayed the night with Matt's Grandma. Monday Morning we headed to the very top of Oregon and slowly worked our way down.

The average temp was 60 while we were there and mostly foggy and windy. While on the coast, we stopped and went shopping, to the Tillamook cheese factory, went to lighthouses and beaches, deep sea fishing, and played on a dune buggy in the sand dunes. I have to say, deep sea fishing is not my thing. I went because I know Matt loves it. Going from never fishing in my life, to being stuck on a boat for FIVE hours, not my thing. I caught 2 fish and Matt caught 3. (did I tell you I don't even like fish) I started not feeling well after 3 1/2 hours. I think 5 hours is too long to fish!!

The dunes were amazing. I was a little nervous at first, but after a couple minutes I relaxed and had a great time. I still feel like I have sand everywhere.
We also went to Fort Stevens, which is a pretty cool military base. I had been there probably 13 years ago.

Matts Birthday is Monday and we are going to head up to Silverwood to enjoy a day up there. His work won some contest, so they are sending everyone up either Sunday or Monday. It just happened to fall on a good day to party!

Sorry for the wait

2008-07-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

I keep getting harassed to update our blog, so I figured it was time. I am not much of a photographer, so I do not have any fun updated pictures, but we are going to Matts sisters wedding and then over to play on the Oregon Coast for a nice vacation. I PROMISE to take pictures of the fun things we plan on doing, although my idea of fun is shopping, and I am not sure how fun pictures of that will be. We are going to camp so we can go where we want whenever we want. I will update again once we get back in a couple weeks.

New Addition

2008-04-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

This is Sadie, she is the newest member of the family, and probably the cutest. He is a handful, but is very fun. She is 6 weeks old. She has taught me that I like my sleep too much. She likes playing at 5 in the morning and will not stop whining until she gets her way.

Our family room

2008-03-20T20:40:00.001-07:00

So I wanted to tile our kitchen, which started a bigger project of remodeling half of the house. I wanted to open the kitchen up more to the family room, which means moving the laundry room, which then opened up the opportunity to expand the bathroom. Now, it is demo time and Matt no longer has any free time. I love tearing everything apart, and Matt's job is to follow behind me and make the changes I have drawn up. I am not much of a builder, but I have discovered that I can tear down a wall pretty quickly.

My Dad has been awesome and I call him a lot to come help. Matt and Dad make a pretty good pair when it comes to construction work.
My goal (and I am not sure if it is a realistic goal) is to have the construction all done by the end of may so I can finally get the tile down. That was the whole purpose behind this beautiful disaster!

Happy New Years!

2007-12-31T17:15:00.001-08:00

Matt and I have had a very eventful year as we got engaged and married. We bought a home and are enjoying fixing it up and making it ours. The house is slowly coming together, although as we check one project off, more seem to be added to the list. 2008 holds many more projects for us and I just hope Matt can keep up with me. We hope everyones Christmas was wonderful and 2008 starts with a bang!