Random things we've been doing...

Daddy getting "dressed up" to dance with his decked-out daughter.

Up-close and personal with Gabrielle.

Just imitating her daddy...

She looks SO grown up in this picture (of course, I wasn't wearing any makeup, so I wish I looked better). I can't believe she's almost three years old already!!!

Hanging out at the park with my mentor-mom, Mary, who brought us a Subway picnic lunch, and is super sweet.

Her second favorite thing at the park...the slides (I think the swings are still her favorite!).

Stylin' in her dress on Sunday with the jelly shoes that I wore when I was a little girl. Seriously, can you believe that they are still in good enough shape for her to play with?!

My little dancer...so dramatic!

Enjoying the beautiful weather at the park.

Reading on the potty...I LOVE that she's pointing her fingers through the words as she "reads" the story to herself. I just couldn't resist catching this on camera!!!

I'm sure Nick isn't going to appreciate that I'm sharing this video with you, but it makes me smile for so many reasons...the fact that he's grooving and I caught it on camera, Gabrielle dressed herself up as a princess, and the fact that she put her crown on her head backwards. Love my wonderful family and the fun we have together!!!

New camera

On Palm Sunday before church we decided to try out the timer function on our new camera. Nick got it all set up on a ladder outside by our beautiful azalea bush while Gabrielle and I finished getting dressed inside.

First try...I wasn't ready.

Then I suggested just using the "smile finder" function on the camera, so I was instructed to make sure I was NOT smiling (to explain this picture...I wasn't really that grumpy!). Then Gabrielle started saying "cheese" and it took a picture--nice, huh? :)

This is me laughing because it obviously didn't work to just wait for the smile-sensor thing to take a picture. So, it's back to our first idea to use the timer!

And here's take two...not bad!!!

Pre-Easter activities

Gabrielle was SO excited (her words exactly) that she got to do an Easter Egg Hunt after MOPS the other day.

The MOPS kiddos lined up ready to hunt some eggs.

Climbing up some of the playground equipment just to make sure there were no eggs to be found there.

On Saturday we went to our local grocery store, HEB, and enjoyed another small Easter Egg Hunt (although there were a lot more kids there, and it was a little crazy because it seemed like the parents were the ones doing the hunt instead of the kids...seriously).

Anyway...there were lots of fun games provided, but the only thing that Gabrielle was interested in was the bounce/slide.

Showing me one of the orange candies that she found in her eggs...I love the fact that my daughter was content getting only a few eggs, and also equally excited that we let her eat one BEFORE lunch (seriously, that's a treat for her)! :)

Mommy was hungry for Dairy Queen, so that's where we headed for lunch. Gabrielle was more than thrilled to learn that we were even going to share an ice cream for desert--she's holding the free blizzard coupon, and enjoyed helping daddy order the Turtle flavor with three spoons.

A little video of Gabrielle running to find eggs at the MOPS Easter Egg Hunt...she really had fun!

False Alarm

Last week (Wednesday the 24th) I was having contractions about 4 minute apart, so the on-call doctor wanted me to come in to the hospital for monitoring. They seriously don't want me to go into labor on my own since I've had a c-section before. Luckily, we got sent back home that night and the contractions subsided, otherwise they would have done the surgery yet that night!

Entrance to the hospital (of course, the main entrance was locked for the evening...seriously). So, we had to go get the car and drive to the other side of the hospital to the emergency entrance.

Laying in the bed being monitored...one hand had my pulse and the other hand I had to punch the button each time I felt the baby move (and he sure was being active that evening).

Mommy and Daddy getting anxious to meet the newest little Walker. I was glad that I threw the name book into my purse before we left...it gave us time to talk over our list some more and get it narrowed down to a couple that we will decide on when we see him for the first time.

Sibling's Class

We got to attend a "Sibling's class" at the hospital where baby Walker will be delivered. We had a great time, and it even included a tour of the floor, which I really appreciated since we had never been there before.

Mommy and Gabrielle waiting for the class to start.

Daddy helping Gabrielle with her pretend baby brother (an anatomically correct baby doll!).

Gabrielle learning how to feed the baby a bottle (she's pretty proficient at it since she loves to do that with her dolls at home).

Learning how to change the baby's diaper.

Finishing the diaper before learning how to swaddle.

Gabrielle was concerned about the diaper, and wanted to change it again instead of swaddling. I have a feeling we're going to go through a lot of diapers with this little baby! :)

Getting ready to paint a shirt for baby brother.

Picking out stamps and coordinating paint colors that she thinks baby brother might like.

Her finished product...lots of orange! :)

Nederland Heritage Festival fun

So, I started this post, and another one over a week ago...here's to getting them finished tonight so I can get this blog updated before baby brother comes this week!

Emmalyn and Gabrielle hugging after a long week of not seeing each other (since Gabrielle was sick, and we had to cancel all our "special spring break plans" we had with them).

The kids hanging out before the parade on Saturday morning.

Gabrielle, Emmalyn, Paul, and Jude in the stroller.

Getting excited to go on some carnival rides together.

We went back to the carnival on Sunday night for a little while since we still had tickets to use. This time around Nick rode the carousel with Gabrielle.

In motion...

We ran into one of Gabrielle's friends from school, Aubrey, and they enjoyed some of the rides together too.

Having fun riding the "motorcycles" together.

Just a little video of the girls having fun together.

Gabrielle's growing up!

Can you believe that she's only 2 years-old and she knows how to navigate the cursor and buttons on the laptop? Crazy how times change over the years...we didn't even have a computer at our house until I was in upper-elementary school!!!

Gabrielle was sick for about a week, and *oh joy* we got to do breathing treatments again along with several other prescriptions. Luckily, she's doing much better, and the nasty-tasting "white" medicine (antibiotic) is finally done!!! The doctor would like for her to stay on Singular permanently (which costs us $125 each month...seriously). Any body have experience with that or have any input on what you think we should do? I think she just had a lingering cold, so I'm not thrilled about keeping her on it.

Baby shower

The diaper cake that Heather and Cindy made for me for my baby shower...thanks, ladies!!!

Brown and blue themed-cupcakes!!!

Our first IKEA experience

Gabrielle acting like a little angel while she has some "tea".

She really liked pushing this stroller toy around the store!

About half done walking through the store...

At the end of the store Nick found the $3 wooden boards he's been wanting to put his guitar pedals on.

It was a great store, but a lot for this preggers lady to handle in one morning. I was tired, and as you can see, Gabrielle was ready for a change of pace too. Good thing I got to eat Chipotle afterwards since we don't have one near our house!!!

My musicians

Nick playing guitar... unfortunately I didn't get a good shot of Gabrielle playing the harmonica with him...next time, perhaps.

Gabrielle performing by herself one afternoon.

She didn't even know I was watching!

Mopping and pizza

Gabrielle has become quite the little helper around the house lately...whether it's cleaning and laundry on Mondays, or other fun tasks with cooking and baking throughout the week.

Mopping the kitchen floors...she BEGGED to help!

Nothing like doing chores with a smile...

hope she keeps that up when she gets older!

Frosting our cookie-pizza with the "pizza sauce".

Our finished product...sugar cookie (pressed into a pie pan) for the crust, pink frosting for the pizza sauce, yellow frosting for the cheese, caramel popcorn for the hamburger, and circles of fruit-roll-ups for the pepperoni. Delicious!!!