Giveaway!

I wish I could say this post was about a giveaway I was having, BUT a blog I read ALL THE TIME is having an amazing giveaway tomorrow. She is giving away a NIKON D90! WOW!! One of the reasons I admire this lady so much is because of her foundation called THE TINY SPARROW FOUNDATION. A foundation that captures pictures of children who are battling cancer. I wish I could tell you the whole story, but PLEASE go read it here. It is truly an amazing foundation and something similar to what we are working on for the HUMMINGBIRD FOUNDATION. (more news to come on this little project soon!)

7 months (almost a month late....)

With all the craziness of the holidays approaching, as well as trying to get the foundation up and going (yes, I said we are trying to get a foundation up and running! More news about that later! Keep your eyes peeled!) I have once again neglected my blog! Shame, shame! So here is Emry's 7 month stats in a nutshell:

Weight 8lbs 12oz

Height: She wasn't measured at her last appointment because it was only an appointment to receive her RSV vaccination.

Head: (see above)

She is still a little squirt but her BIG personality makes up for it! She laughs all the time at anyone who will pay her any attention, and she LOVES attention!!

I'm pretty sure her and Alli are already best buds! As long as Alli is within sight Emry is just fine. She loves her big "shishter".

I'm pretty sure she has officially said her first word "UH-OH"! Even her physical therapist thought she heard her say it. How funny is that?

She still very much dislikes tummy time. She tolerates it longer than before but prefers to just roll on to her side from her back and reach for things. She rarely stays on her play mat anymore. I don't see the girl ever crawling.... rolling and scooting is more her style.

She was a cabbage patch kid for Halloween. We went to a trunk-or-treat at a local church and everyone kept saying "oh my word! we thought she was a real doll!" ha! This picture was also taken before her first "hair cut". Can you tell one side is longer than the other?

She sits for about 5 minutes at a time (well with pillows surrounding her). It is so cute to see such a tiny tot sitting up!

She still takes about 3 naps a day and sleeps very well at night. She was sleeping completely through but now she wakes up around 5ish to each.  

She eats about 4-5 ounces at a time and has recently started eating solids! She loves them! More so than her booby milk :( Oh well, hopefully that will mean she will be easy to ween.... (not sure if that's how you spell it).

People tell us all the time how beautiful she is and I would have to agree. Each day she looks more and more like Alli. They are little dolls. I can't get enough of there sweet faces!

Emry Taylor, we love you so much and thank God for you and your sister every day!

Presents for Preemies!

As some of you may already know, Novemeber is Prematurity Awareness Month and as you can imagine this subject is very near and dear to our hearts. We have some VERY EXCITING plans for helping raise awareness and are hoping to launch a foundation in honor of our sweet Emry soon. We are beyond excited to launch this new adventure SO to kick things off  we want to do is this:

 Christmas season is fast approaching and we are seeking donations of blankets for all the babies in the NICU at UAMS and ACH and hopefully in our local area also. Our hope is to bless each family that has to spend Christmas in the NICU with a nice blanket for their child. Some of you probably know (as I realize several readers are NICU parents as well) how important kangaroo care is to these babies as well as the parents and how these tiny little ones have to keep there temperatures up in order to stay outside of there isolette. I know it would mean so much to these parents to have a nice warm blanket to wrap there child in this Christmas :). I know we received several gifts while in Little Rock and they mean the world to us!

Here we are with Emry doing "kangoo care" :)

 

We would need pink, blue, or gender neutral (NO receiving blankets PLEASE). If you, your business, or someone you know is interested, please message me lgibs578@gmail.com, Holly at walkerfam05@gmail.com, or Jamie at thesteinfive@gmail.com. Thank you for your help in advance for helping all of these sweet babies and their families! ♥

AND STAY TUNED! We've got some other idea up our sleeves that we can't wait to get you all involved with!!

TYPO!

Thank you to Stacey and my mom for pointing out the typo in my last post.

Our love story DID NOT start on July 29th, 2011 it was July 29th, 2002. :) We'd have been together a long time without love if that were the case!!

So, if you haven't read the post yet then disregard this one.... It's corrected now in the original post. 

A shout out to Jeff....

Well today I'll be writing a little different. All to often I forget to write about my sweet husband and what an amazing man he is. So today, I want to give a little background history:

I really don't remember the first time I met Jeff. I was young (very young) and he was old (in my eyes anyway. ha!) There is 8 years between us so as you can imagine at 14 a 22 year old guy is not even in my sights. I mean shoot I just got out of the whole "boys have cooties" stage! Fast forward a few years and now I'm 16. I'm not really sure at what point I started falling head over heals for him but I know I was smitten (not sure about that spelling..). After a year goes by of "just hanging out" the boy finally decides to ask me out. He was a little reserved initially because of the age difference and him not being so sure I'd date an "old man" (I can't believe I thought 24 was old??? He was a young pup!) Well, on July 29th, 2002 our love story truly began.

3 years and 4 months later Jeff popped the BIG question. We both new we'd found the one but again I was still a youngin'. Don't get me wrong it's very hard to wait for that diamond ring when you know in time you'll start the beginning of the rest of your lives together but now looking back, I'm glad we spent those 3 years getting to know one another and working out some "kinks" that are easy to get tangled up in once married. :)

(this was the spot Jeff asked me to marry him. Also, the spot he told me he loved me for the first time. We go back here every year and put the date :) ignore the date stamp on the pic... it's wrong)

 December 30th, 2005 we were married. WHAT A DAY! This truly is a story in itself as most wedding days are. I actually surprised Jeff (and everyone else, as my sister and the pastor where the only ones who knew... oh and the sound guy) by singing Sarah Evans "No Place That Far". Oh I guess the guitar player (my brother) and piano player knew too....ha! My sweet Jeff bawled like a baby! He'd kill me for sharing that but the boy was so adorable! I've seen him cry only a handful of times in my life and yes folks, this was one of those times! I knew I'd made the right choice by surprising him when I saw his hands rubbing those tear filled eyes.... Maybe I can post a video of it one day.

(sorry about it only being me in this pic... All my wedding pics are one my parents computer)

We were married for almost 2 years and found out we were pregnant!! Only a few short weeks later we found out we had lost this tiny little baby. This was for sure a rough patch in our life. But what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger and our hearts opened up even more to one another. It was a very sad time for us but looking back I know it was all in God's plan and Jeff and I became closer because of this sweet child.

Nine VERY LONG months later we found out we were pregnant again. Our sweet Alli was born in April of '09. ( her entire life history can be found in all posts dated after 4.28.09) :)

From this date on began a whole new love for my husband. I watch him with Alli and can't help but smile at how wonderful he is. From day one he has always been willing to change diapers and do all those "not so fun" parent things. At this point my love is greater for him than it ever has been (and I didn't think I could love him any more than I already did!)

Another very fast year and 6 months goes by and we once again have a sweet baby on the way (you can find her story in posts dated after I believe Nov. '10) But as most of you know this was not an ideal pregnancy. We were sent to UAMS 3 days before our baby was born and I have to admit despite the circumstances I had a great time reconnecting with my man. We played cards, watched TV, he helped me wash my hair (yeah I had IV's all over the place!) and just talked and shared with each other our hearts. It was truly a time we got to share together that I wouldn't trade for the world. Emry was born 11 weeks early weighing 1lb 3oz. Dr's said if she were to survive she would have no quality of life (this was all due to them not knowing why she had stopped growing in utero). After many, many prayer from everyone, our tiny baby girl surpassed ALL of the medical staff's expectations! There were still roller coasters for sure throughout our stay in the NICU but I treasure every moment. I saw a side of Jeff I had never seen before. It was really a time where we both just let down our guard and were completely open. For the first 2 weeks my parents kept Alli over night and allowed up to stay together with Emry in her room. Each night (and 100s of times throughout the day) I would watch Jeff as he stood over her Isolete praying whole heartedly for his child. He didn't care who was around or what was going on. He knew that our Savior was the only one who could save her.I knew at this point I had never loved him more (do you see a pattern yet? ha!)

Alli is now 2 and a half and Emry 7 months. We have 2 dogs, a house we had plans of living in for only a few years (we have lived here for 6 years now), some land out in the sticks, a rent house in another state, a couple cows out at Jeff's parents, and a WHOLE LOT OF LOVE to go around! I am truly so blessed to be married to the funniest (yes this man is absolutely the funniest man I've ever met!), most handsome, strong, outgoing, christian man.

I love you Jeff with all my heart and I can't wait to love you more!!  

PT

Just wanted to post a quick picture of sweet Emry "working out" at her physical therapy appointment....

The girls got it goin on!!

words...

I unffortunately have NO pictures for any of these happenings but I wanted to write them down so I at least maybe someday could look back and laugh (assuming we all survive! ha!) all the daily craziness I happen upon....

Here are just a few:

Well for starters Emry has now had her first experience with solid food. I know what you are thinking.... She is 6 months old....She can have solids now.... If only it had been the stage 1 foods the drs recommend. The other night we were over at Jeff's parents (Granny and Papa's) and I hear Alli in the living room saying "eat this memmy". I IMMEDIATELY rush into the living room where Emry is laying! AHHHH!!! Yeah, Alli is shoving sour cream and onion chips into Emry's mouth and she IS NOT loving it! The poor girl was doing all she could to get the chips out! Alli was quite proud for feeding her though :)

Twice now I have found Alli in the crib with Emry. They both sleep in our room (yes that's right Alli in our bed and Emry in her mini crib). I usually try to get up before them both and get a few things done around the house before they wake up which means leaving them both in the same room alone.... Well the other morning I hear jabbering coming from the bedroom... OH DEAR! I walk in to find Emry with her pj's completely off and her diaper half off just giggling away. I of course had a bit of a freak out moment and then calmly asked Alli what in the world she was doing?!?! She replies with the sweetest little smile "changing Memmy's diaper mama". What a good big sister!! 
The next occurrence happened this morning actually. Again, both girls asleep, me in the kitchen trying to get ahead of the game, I hear coo's and ahh's coming from down the hall. BAH! This time however, she is holding Emry like a little baby rocking her back in forth in the corner of the crib saying "shhhh, shhhh". HA! This girl is going to make one great mommy one day!

These are just a few of the "silly" moments that happen around the ol' Walker household and I'm sure I will share more later but for now I must get in the living room where Alli is sitting right beside Emry , whom I might add is playing on her most favorite play mat, while she eats her pancakes with jelly and Parmesan chesse (barf!) also sitting on top of her new states place mat from Aunt Jamie, so I'm sure at any moment another story will come out of this scene.

ADDED ABOUT 30 SECONDS LATER:
Emry has now added Parmesan cheese to her "solids" list! Oh GEEZ!

6 month update....

Ok so I am going to write down Emry's 6 month stats since she hadn't been to her 6 month appt when I last wrote. (If I don't write it down, I won't remember!)

Weight 7lbs 12oz
Height: (I can't find my sticker that has the info on it so when I do I will update...ha!)
Head: (see above)

Our pediatrician said even if she were born in June like she was supposed to be then she still wouldn't quite be on the charts but that she would be very very close! :)

He was VERY pleased with her development! They like for them to at least be caught up to there adjusted age (which for Emry is 3 months) and they like for them to play "catch up" the first year to get them to there real age (6 months). Emry, the little stink, had almost hit all her 6 month developmental goals!! I WAS SO HAPPY! He was especially pleased with her ability to sit up on her own for a few seconds. He said 60% of 6 month olds haven't reached the whole sitting up by themselves goal so he said that is for sure not a concern that she can't sit for very long like that.

She is also "talking" all the time (coo's and giggles of course!) and she rolls from her belly to her back almost non stop if you put her on her tummy. She rolls from her back to her sides and ALMOST to her belly but I don't even see that happening for a looooong time for the sheer fact she hates being on her tummy! :)

She takes about 3 naps a day and sleeps very well at night.

She LOVES Alli! And Alli loves her! Alli told me just this morning that me, daddy, and Emry were her best friends!! (gotta love her!)

I am so proud of her!!

High Risk Newborn Clinic

Emry had her HIGH RISK NEWBORN CLINIC appointment this past Friday back in good ol' Little Rock. I was so excited to see everyone I could hardly sleep the night before! Ok, that may be stretching it a little. I'm a mom with a 2 year old and a 6 month old. I'm not sure if there is ANYTHING that makes me so excited I would have a hard time sleeping! ha!

I was a little nervous I guess, not knowing what to expect at the appointment and what they would say about Emry's development. Of course I look at her and say "WOW! I can't believe she is already able to do that" but sometimes drs have different opinions.

The clinic generally consists of a series of drs and specialists coming in one right after the other to watch her, ask questions, listen to her little chest, etc. To our amazement (although I've come to expect amazement with God's hand on this little girl!) we only saw the doctor, whom she had seen the very first week she was born, nutrition, and one of our WONDERFUL nurse practitioners who had been with us for most of our stay at UAMS. They were all pleased with where she was developmentally and health wise. The only thing they were the least bit concerned with was her still being so small but she has stayed right on track with her growth curve and proportional all the way around so they just want us to bump up her calories each feeding by adding EnfaCare (which is a supplement for premature babies) to her breast milk that I pump every day. :) I can for sure live with that!

So here is our day in pictures.....

Our first stop was a Childen's for her appointment (our first time there!) It was AMAZING! What a wonderful place!

Alli & daddy waiting in Emry's room to see who will come in next!

 Guess who was across the street!!!

We were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house for 30 days and were so blessed by them!

 3 little amigos....

 Emry getting the "look over" by one of the FANTASTIC doctors from UAMS!

 Sweet girl passing the sitting up test :)

 Here is Emry all worn out with Ms. Dana (she was with us quite a bit over the 3 months we were in the hospital) LOVE HER!

We then made a quick stop at Ronald McDonald House:

Jeff taking in some donations to "Ron McDon" (Ronald McDonald House)

 Last picture we took here we were minus one family member :) So glad we got a shot of our little family of 4.

 Kissing ol' Ron bye bye!

It was so hard to leave Ron McDon house... All these memories kept flooding back... It was on those stairs that Alli learned to climb using big girl steps for the first time (not the crawling up the stairs toddlers do). And she used to be so scared to be near Ronald McDonald but would ALWAYS wave and say "bye Ron" everytime we'd head to the hospital. Oh I'm tearing up now just thinking about it! I broke down when we were leaving this last time as she called out the window "bye bye Ron, love you!"

So after I composed myseld we headed to UAMS:

 AWESOME STORY! I've been kinda bummed about not knowing who actually delivered Emry because all the paper work shows the attending physician and not the actual doctor who did the c-section (I guess since he is a resident??? I don't really know) Anyhow, we stopped in the cafeteria to grab a bite before heading to the NICU and Jeff says "HEY! That's the guy who delivered Emry!" WHAT?!?! Can you imagine my excitement??? Oh course I'm sure the only reason Jeff recognized him was because of the Kansas State hat! Ha! So of course we snagged a few photos! He even asked if he could take a picture with her with his camera too! Oh how I love this place! So now I sleep in peace knowing who delivered our sweet Em. :)

 Emry with some of her VERY VERY sweet nurses!! LOVE THEM ALL!

 And the ladies who work the front desk (and answered the 1000 phone calls a day I would make when I went home! ha!)

It was a very bitter sweet day. I mean 3 months of our lives were spent here! I cannot wait to go back and visit and hopefully get to see a few more familiar faces that we missed this visit.

6 MONTHS!

Emry how can you already be 6 months?!?

What are the newest tricks she has up her sleeves you might ask?

~ I'm not sure exactly what she weighs now (her 6 mo appt is next week) but at 5 months she was a whopping 7lbs 1oz (which is still WAY off the charts as you can imagine but still great for her!) Her dr wants her to gain between 1/2 an ouce to an ounce a day and she averages 3/4 ounce :).

~Her length I'm not sure about either but we'll know soon enough!

~She can sit for a few seconds (very few seconds) by herself which is HUGE in our little world!

~She has rolled over once and almost a few other times but she is not a fan of tummy time!

~She smiles at anyone and everyone who talks to her. She also laughs now which is the most beautiful sound in the world! :) She loves children and if there are any around she is right there fixed on them especially little Alli. She LOVES her sister! (and I'm pretty sure her sister can't get enough of her!)

~She started physical therapy (last week was her first session) and threw a fit the entire time through it! ha! She had an evaluation with them, occupational therapy and speech therapy a month or so back. PT was the only one where she was lagging a little so they went ahead and asked to see her once a week for 45 mins just to help her get caught up. (Although this is a whole other post in itself. I will try and post soon about.)

~She goes to bed at about 8:30pm, we wake her up at 10:30 just to top her off with a little milky and then she doesn't wake up again until about 8:30am. Yeah I know, right?!? She is a GREAT sleeper! Alli didn't sleep through the night until she was about 15 months old!

~I'm still "nursing" her. I use quotations because I pump still and feed her a bottle because I still like to make sure she is eating enough. Yeah, I know, they'll let you know if they are still hungry. After all I did nurse Alli exclusively for 15 months and she grew just fine but I still worry.... :)

~She takes 3-4 small naps throughout the day, usually lasting about 45mins to an hr. It really depends on how loud Alli is being...ha! She makes it about and hr and a half awake and then can't take it anymore.... so sweet!

~She is also lifting her head pretty well off the ground when on her tummy and grabbing and holding toys really well.

I know for most, these are such little milestones but for me after seeing what Emry has gone through, EVERYTHING she does is HUGE! It is amazing! After all, we were told IF she lived she would have no quality of life.... AND LOOK AT THIS FACE!  She is a miracle!

We love you and are so proud of you sweet Em!

I'm also back from my BLOG VACATION now so expect to see lots more posts in the future! (I just took a little like to get accustomed to 2 children, being home again after 3 months, etc, etc....) Thanks so understanding!

Where have I been?

What in the world have we been up to you might ask....Well here is a little look into our lives from the past couple of weeks....

We've been:

PLAYING PEEK-A-BOO....

HANGIN' AT THE POOL...

PLAYING WITH BABY DOLLS...

PUTTING LOTION ON OUR BARBIES...

SWIMMING WITH OUR BFFS...

HOLDING EMRY... (for the first time I might add!!)

                                     

GIVING KISSES....

PLUGGING OUR NOSES...EEEWWWW..... HA!

EATING LUNCH ON THE FLOOR...

EATING DINNER IN OUR WAGON....

MAKING A CHOO-CHOO TRAIN....

TAKING NAPS....

PLAYING DRESS UP IN MOMMY'S SHORTS WHILE MAKING HER OWN SHOES...

(pretty stylish I might add...these may just be the next flip flops!)

JUST BEING PRETTY...

ROCKING THE SWEETEST FACE EVER!

GETTING CRAZY IN THE POOL...

TAKING TIME TO RELAX AND ENJOY...

MAKING CUPCAKES...

HANGIN' WITH DAD...

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

FLIRTING!!

These are just a few of the hundreds of pics I have been taking! I don't want to miss capturing a moment of these precious little girls!