Max turned two.  Here's a video of the event.  We sang a lot.  Maurine made an impressive cake.  Pictures at at Picasa Web Albums:  http://picasaweb.google.com/troywalk/MaxBirthdayNumberTwo

max the real boy

here's one last look at those pretty curls. i have to say it was a bittersweet moment for me. as much as i loved seeing those curls, his hair was just too long. and you can't tell that well from the pictures, but the texture and color of his hair has changed since his last haircut.
so now i can see his big brown eyes without having to move his hair out of the way. still irresistably cute, and now less likely to be asked whether he's a girl. :) also, i'm no longer tempted to do his hair in pigtails or a clip to keep it out of his eyes. i just hope, when i do have a girl, that she has hair like max's! not to mention the eyelashes. goodness gracious.

more christmas fun

i think someone told max "no" or something. i just love that shot--it's so telling. think maybe he's near two years old? anyone?


dean decided he needed to do maintenance on his bike, as you can see, and apparently he thought he was also in danger of falling or otherwise injuring himself while doing maintenance on his bike as well as riding it.
i had to grab the camera when i noticed that dean wouldn't take off his bike gear to eat lunch. can't be too careful, i always say.
the last two shots are the boys actually on their bikes. dean got a little farther than max on his first try. :) but he's the big brother, after all. i'm sure max will get it eventually. and maybe someday we'll find a helmet that fits that head!

i hope everyone had a wonderful christmas. i find myself very full of gratitude. i'm grateful for new beginnings and new discoveries and new pajama bottoms. :) i'm more grateful every day for my three little boys and my husband, who together make my life worth living. i'm grateful that we have a reason to celebrate christmas.

we all had a wonderful time with our family who came to visit. thank you to everyone who made this christmas so memorable. we love you all!

christmas at home

we had a quiet christmas day, just our little family. we bought our tree from the parking lot of the grocery store a block or two away. the man who helped us was really nice. he was a good sport about dean's endless questions. isn't it a beauty? can you tell where max could reach the ornaments? :)
the bikes pretty much saved dean's christmas. i had been reading the polar express to the boys for about a week before christmas, and i think that's where his idea of a christmas wish came from. after every present that wasn't a semi-truck, dean would say, "oh no! it's the wrong present!" when the bikes came out, though, he seemed to forget about it. now he's just letting us know that he wants a semi-truck for his birthday. max hasn't totally shared dean's interest in the bike, probably because his balance on his own two feet is still somewhat lacking. but they sure were cute on their bikes on christmas day!

somewhere here you can see what santa brought. (i'm giving up trying to make the text match the pictures.)aren't those wall e dolls the coolest? the mini shoes and hat were for reed. the hat, actually, was handmade for reed by his talented aunt hailey. gotta love the christmas tree hat! as you can see from the picture, reed loves it too. :) thanks, aunt hailey!

thanks mom!

just wanted to say thanks to my wonderful mother. i can't believe you squeezed another kid into the space between my kids. we've talked before about how maybe the only reason it worked out that way for you was so that others would be inspired. "well, she had FOUR by the time her oldest was four and a half! i should be GRATEFUL for this level of order!"

i still marvel that we all turned out so well and that you, dear mother, are still sane. thanks for coming to help us out. you had some nasty messes to clean up thanks to the lovely stomach bug that worked its way through our family and yours (and on to the walkers, who came later, after we thought the bug was done!), but you soldiered on. you took the night shift so that i could go right back to bed after feeding the baby. you did dishes so we could just sit once dean and max were in bed. thank you, once again, for coming to ease the transition from one baby to the next. you're awesome!

p.s. i thank you for buying twilight for me. i don't know how troy feels about that, exactly, considering how the next few weeks went for him while i was in forks. :)

reed benjamin makes his appearance

yay! reed finally came! don't i look fabulous!
the play-by-play:
10:00 am - drop off dean and max at our friend's house while we are at the hospital
10:30 am - get to the hospital, get hooked up to monitors, which show that contractions are not regular or productive. how typical.
11:30 am - dr arrives, checks me. no, my water isn't broken, and no i'm not in labor. BUT--i am dilated to a 5! so she breaks my water, tells me to get an epidural sooner rather than later.
12:00 pm - epidural man arrives!
4:00 pm - still dilated to a 5. pitocin drip begins.
5:30 pm - PUSH! carefully--the cord is wrapped around his neck.
5:46 pm - reed is born. he's blue, until he gets rubbed down and sucked out. then he pinks up and cries out.

the stats:
name: reed benjamin walker
birthweight: 8 lb 13 oz
length: 19 1/2 inches
time of birth: 5:46 pm
date of birth: 5 december 2008


and here are his perfect little limbs.

big brothers dean and max greet the new little one.

mom and dad with reed. picture taken by my cousin kim. thanks for coming down, kim! i felt so loved to have a visitor in the hospital. :)

yes, they still insist on a wheelchair. and yes, troy insisted on taking pictures all the way from the room to the car. but i won't post all the pictures of me descending the ramp to the parking lot. we'll just keep those to ourselves.

you're welcome.