Walker's Birthday Party

I love planning parties and thinking of all of the fun details and decorations, so planning Walker's 1st birthday was a blast.  And Pinterest gave me lots of fun ideas, but did not help me with my time management. 

For Walker's birthday I decided on a construction theme because both of Marcus's sets of grandparents are in construction.  The Walker family builds houses and the Necessary side builds roads, etc.  Since it is mainly family that comes to a one year old's party, the construction theme seemed like a nice fit.  When I started searching the internet for ideas I saw that Oriental Trading had "I dig being 1" party supplies on sale for super cheap.  It was like it was meant to be.  Everything just went from there.

I made the banner with my silhouette machine and then put up the pictures from 0-12 months.  I made the wreath out of the bags that our newspaper comes in and then put up some construction figures that I use at my office. 

This was the table in the entry way.  Each kid was allowed to get a favor tool box that had fruit snacks shaped like tools, a tool shaped water squirt, and an "I dig you" shovel with an eraser, sucker, and bubbles.  The grown ups got a picture of Walker that said "thank you for coming."

 This is a close up of the shovel.  I used the silhouette again to make the labels.

The picture favor

This is Walker's "smash cake" and one of his presents.  I tried to do this party on a pretty small budget, so I figured I would try and make the cake...he didn't know the difference :)  When I served it to him I took it out of the truck so it was easier to grab.  He loves his new toy almost as much as the cake.

These are some of the cupcakes that I made.  I found the tool cupcake toppers online.

The cups and napkins were $0.99.  I was so excited about them.

This is the table mostly ready.  I used my silhouette machine to make construction signs with fun names for the foods.

My mom made a delicious fruit salad.

The birthday man getting ready for his party.  I also used the silhouette to make his shirt...but unfortunately didn't get a good picture of it and it was a little small.

My mom and dad playing with Walker before the party.

Jennifer had these adorable cookies made for the party.  They were amazing!

He was so excited to have friends to play with!!

I set up his room like a "work zone."  I brought my building blocks, legos, play dough, construction trucks, and other construction toys from my office.  My awesome neighbors let me borrow their son's table for the play dough and legos.  There were also stickers and a construction scene picture for the older kids.  I think everyone had a good time.

Sharing his toys with Nora.

The grown ups hanging out and eating.

Trying to figure out how to dig in.

Getting the hang of it now.

I am sad this picture is blurry but it was on my phone.  I know someone got a better one, but this will do for now.

My dad and Alexia playing with Annabel and Addy.  I am pretty sure my dad wanted to take Annabel home.  He was calculating how old Walker would be if I were to get pregnant now, yikes.

Straight to the bath tub and then back to the party in new duds.

Some of his presents.  We asked for a donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in lieu of gifts, but I guess family can't resist.  I am so happy with the donation we were able to make though.

Playing with Dany, his babysitter.

I worked on a picture/video montage for the family to watch.  It was 17 minutes long, which was a ton shorter than it could have been...but I am sure some guests felt like it was still a little much :)  It took a lot of restraint not to include every single cute picture or video clip.  We watched the video while Walker devoured his cake. 

I think the party was a big hit.  I was exhausted when it was over and am thankful we have a year before we will do it again.  I guess I will go ahead and admit that I was a total mess all weekend about Walker turning one.  I am pretty sure I cried like 6 times.  They were happy tears of course.  I feel so blessed with our lives right now. 

Holy Cow, I have a one year old!

I can't even believe it has already been a year!  I can remember so vividly being in the hospital and getting to meet you.  I remember our first night with you and all of the wonderful, crazy emotions.  I will admit that I have been sort of an emotional wreck this past week before your birthday.  I feel like everything went by so fast and that you are getting too big :)  I treasure each day from this last year with you can feel so incredibly blessed that I got to be with you every day.  I know each year will be amazing and I will probably be a mess every year on your birthday......

Let's see if I can remember everything you did in February during your eleventh month.

We played out side a lot this month.  The weather was surprisingly pleasant and you absolutely love being inside.  You will scream and cry when we have to go inside 75% of the time.  You have discovered grass and love to pull it up.  I am sure your dad appreciates that :)

You celebrated your first Valentine's day, but were sick with an ear infection so you were stuck with me all day instead of going to mom's day out and getting to spend it with your teachers.  I didn't mind one bit :)  Your ear infection was not that bad, but you had a fever of 102 for 48 hours and it made us both feel better to cuddle.

You had your first visit to the eye doctor.  The pediatrician recommended that we get your eyes check out before you turn one as a standard for all babies.  You were not too fond of the exam but you passed and we don't have to worry about going back unless we see something concerning.

You got really good at crawling and cruising the furniture during the first half of the month, and by the second half you were full out walking.  I am a Nervous Nancy though because sometimes you fall and hit your head.  It is not fun to watch, but you are getting so fast.  Sometimes I will walk into a room to put something away and by the time I turn around you have snuck up right behind me.  You love to play chase and tag.  You will scream and giggle when we come and chase you.  You also spend most of your time at home chasing Ella.  She doesn't seem to mind though because she will come to you and then wander around while you try and catch her. 

You refuse to wear shoes, but have gotten better about keeping your socks on.  If I put shoes on your feet you hold your legs up and growl until I take them off.  It is kind of funny, but hopefully you will grow out of this soon.  I get some weird looks from people for not having shoes on you. 





I am still staying at home with you and we get to go to the park or do other fun things together.  Most of the time we run errands and go for long walks.  You love to be around other kids and watch them play, so a park is the perfect place for us to hang out. 

You are still such a good eater.  Blueberry pancakes are your favorite breakfast food.  You get so impatient with me when I am getting it ready because you are ready to eat.  You have also figured out how to sign "eat" and "more."  I am still working with you on "bath," "all done," "change," "drink," and "please."  You have almost transitioned completely to regular milk.  We still nurse in the mornings, but the other times are irregular depending on what we are doing or if I am home with you.  You have three meals and two snacks every day.  You still sleep from 7-7 and take a bath at 6:30. 

You love to share things with me when you are playing.  You will make a sound like, "eh" and then hand me a toy.  A lot of times I will have toys piled in my lap and you won't have much to play with.  You are too sweet.  You also love balls.  You like to throw them, roll them, and push them.  You then chase after them and play this until you are bored.

I have started doing more sensory play games with you during the week.  This helps keep me from getting bored, is great for your sensory processing, and I already have all of the stuff at my office.  One of the first things we did was yogurt finger painting.  It did not really go as I had planned because rather than playing and mixing the colors, you just ate all the yogurt :)  I guess I should have known that is what you would do.  We have also done sensory bins with puff palls and sparkle balls.  I look forward to doing more activities with you as your attention span increases and I can trust you not to eat the supplies.

You and I made a spontaneous road trip to Dallas.  Your Nahna (dad's mom) was having surgery so we packed up the car and headed out.  I was pretty nervous about a five hour drive with you because you are so active, but you did great.  I tried to keep you entertained with a couple of new toys and books, along with snack, and an hour lunch break to stretch our legs.  You were fabulous in the hotel and at Nahna's house.  She said she loved having us and that you made the surgery so much easier because she knew she would get to play with you once it was finished. 

sippy cups, diaper bag, bag of toys for the car, my purse, train to push around, high chair, and pack and play to sleep in.  Luckily, I have a large car and I was of the mind set that I would rather have something I need then wish I had brought something.  I was glad that I brought everything and we ended up using it, except some of the food.

our stuff packed up in the hotel

with Nahna

Hanging out at Denny's getting a break from the car

You got your second hair cut this month.  It had gotten really long again over your ears and the back of your neck.  This time it was a big boy hair cut and made you look so grown up. 

you love to eat spaghetti or anything with lots of sauce.

a family photo from nora's birthday party

playing at g-mama's house

Your weigh 23lbs and are 29 inches long.  That puts you about 60% for weight and 25% for height.  Your head however is like 85th percentile.  You get that from your dad.  Your eyes are about as blue as they can get and your hair is blonde.  Your skin has a bit of an orange tint, which the doctor says is because you like to eat your orange veggies :) You love to have play mates and are awesome at going to sleep on your own.  I am very thankful that we did the eat, play, sleep schedule with you when you were a baby.  I think having a routine in our day and staying on a schedule has really helped us during this first year. 

11 months old

You turned 11 months old on Friday.  You learned so much during your 10th month that we could barely keep up.  Every day you had a new trick to show or a new way to communicate. 

My favorite part of this month was you said your first word, "mama!"  I loved it.  You say it all the time when you see me or even when you are crying and/or mad at me.  You made plenty of babbles before this word, but you had never labeled anything until mama, so I think that makes it your first official word.  Your second word, probably more of an expression, is "uh-oh."  You say it all of the time.  You will pick something up and drop it on purpose, look at me, and then say "uh-oh."  I laugh every time, which is probably encouraging you to do it more.  You also definitely know what "no" means.  You really, really like to open drawers, but you know this is a no-no (because you smash your fingers).  You will touch the drawer, look at me, and then shake your head "no."  Or touch something you are not supposed to have and shake your head no.  It is pretty cute. 

You finally figured out how to crawl.  You have been army crawling and cruising around the furniture and walls for awhile, but one day you decided to crawl.  You walk along as far as you can, then drop and crawl to the next place that you can stand.  A week ago you took your first steps.  You can walk about two or three steps before you decide to either crawl or sit down.  You spend 99% of your time trying to chase Ella.  She lets you catch her sometimes, but then when you pull her tail she walks away.

You are still eating great and loving lots of new foods.  I have been trying to give you formula at times.  One reason why is we have it and I don't want to waste it.  Also, I want you to get used to having milk at meal times and weaning those nursing sessions.  Thirdly, I am pretty sure you don't actually drink much when we nurse, so I am hoping the formula will substitute the additional nutrients that you need.  However, you really don't like it.  You only have one more month and then we can do some cow milk. 

Our schedule did not really change this month.  You still have two naps most days, nurse four times a day and have two snack times.  I have started going to a Women's Bible study on Tuesday mornings, so you are back with your mom's day out teachers from 9:30-11:30 on Tuesdays.  Dad has started to watch you on Tuesday evenings while I work.  Madison is your Wednesday sitter, and you love her! 

You and dad watching the New York Rangers hockey game

You have SO much hair.

We traveled to Batesville for Christmas with the Pharr side.  You got to meet your second cousins.  They loved having you to play with.

We still go on walks and this stroller (really a bike wagon) is great to block you from the wind.

This is a typical dinner...and you usually eat it all

I made a "ball pit" for you to play in while I clean or whatever, so you can't roam the house and get into things.  You mostly just throw the balls out and talk to me while I work.

We got you a new bath seat this month

Still your favorite toy.  You love to push it around the house.



We still have lots of cuddle time in the mornings

Sometimes, you come with me to my office and get to play with the toys

You are getting so big (22lbs!)

Your favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?

You love to look at yourself in my camera phone.  This is one of many of your new faces.

A rare moment of you sitting still

We went to Crystal Bridges on a play date with Nora and Ashton

Dad went out of town so you sent him this picture

This is your play area in the living room...however, you rarely stay there because you are usually cruising the furniture.

Trying to make a break for the kitchen (food)

 

You have to see it to believe it

This post is an update on my mom and how her treatment is going.  I don't write about it much on this blog because I keep one for her on a different site.  However, I wanted to post a couple of images and the other website does not allow that. 

My mom went in on Monday for her radiation follow up.  She was having some pain in her left hip so they decided to do a PET scan and see if there was an area there that could be treated with radiation.  I liked this idea because I feel the PET scan has been very helpful for us before and it is a reassuring visual to know where the cancer is and where it has or hasn't spread. 

This first image is from my mom's PET scan in October.  It was on the year anniversary from her diagnosis and there was not much change while on hormone replacement therapy.

So, what you are looking at is my mom with her arms raised up by her heard.  A PET scan uses glucose to create the black spots.  The brain, heart, stomach, kidneys, and urinary tract all pick up glucose and are not cancer spots, but the other black marks are cancer cells that have picked up the glucose.  If you look at the image you will notice that almost the entire spine is black, there are many spots in her ribs, and even a lot of places in her pelvis, legs, arms, and elbows. 

Now here is the image after being on chemotherapy for 4 months. 

It is like looking at a different person.  The spine, hips, legs, arms, ribs, pelvis are almost clear.  The larger black spots are the kidneys, stomach, urinary tract and bladder, and the brain.  I had hopeful expectations for the chemo treatment, but this is amazing.  It just proves to me how powerful our God is and how all of our prayers are being heard.  Thank you for continuing to walk with us during this fight. 

My mom returns to the oncologist next Friday and I will have a more detailed update then about our continued plan for getting rid of this cancer. 

Praise God, and thank you for your prayers!