Always Something New

Everyone always says they love it when babies reach 6 months old because they are so fun. I have to say that Walker is now 5 months old and I can't imagine him being more fun than now. He is so happy and laughs aloud all the time. Of course, he has his moments, which Matt lovingly refers to as "drama like his mama," those times when he gets mad because he doesn't get what he wants. So maybe he doesn't look like me, but he has my personality. He is so extraverted...always wanting to be where the action is.

I finally put Walker in his "separates." I still prefer the baby pj's most of the time, but I have to admit that it's pretty cute seeing him in his cargo pants.

This was the first time he wore a big boy outfit to church. Matt has the same polo shirt. I have to get a pic of them wearing it on the same day.

Note that this outfit came with a matching belt, a very important accessory.

We've had a few warm days lately, even warm enough for shorts and flops. Luckily, Walker's not afraid to show off those white legs!

Love the wide-eyed look, which he makes all the time.

I can't believe there are flops for babies. They are so precious.

This is Walker's first girlfriend. Really, it's a toy (not allowed to say "doll" here) that Kirra had when she was a baby, and Walker absolutely loves it. She lights up and giggles when you squeeze her, and he talks back and giggles too. He also likes to headbutt her. I guess he's gonna be like his daddy, who likes to do kung fu moves on his sweetie.

The "bumbo" seat cracks me up. Walker likes to sit in it since he's always trying to sit up on his own. I think he feels like a big boy in his seat. I already had a "bad mom moment" the other day when he tried to sit up on his changing table and I let him. Then he rolled over and hit his forehead on the thing that holds the lotion and diapers. He was not happy about that, and then he had this little red dot there for a day. I felt horrible! But it went away pretty fast, thank heavens! I know there are more of those to come.

This is what happens when I don't immediately fold the clean laundry. Belle likes to lay in it to stay warm. She kept her sweater on for days when it was cold a few weeks ago. She also likes to sit in front of the heater.

Love the Jax weather. We went from warm weather (75 degrees) to freezing at night (28 degrees) in the same week. So Walker had shorts on one day and then was all bundled up the next. If you look closely, you'll see a little scratch that he made himself with those razor-sharp nails of his. I wish I could cut them more frequently, but I can only do it when he's sleeping because he's such a wiggle worm.

We went to Deland a few weeks ago to celebrate my nephew Connor's 7th birthday. I remember going to his 6th birthday party right after we got home from Ethio last year. The time has really flown by. Kaylie is so tall! She is only in the 4th grade and will be taller than me pretty soon.

Kaylie is so good with Walker. She isn't nervous when she's holding and feeding him, and she's always anxious to help change his diaper or keep him happy. What a good cousin!

We finally put together Walker's little car (like an exer-saucer, I guess), and he has a blast in that thing. It looks like a little Mustang and even has a fake leather seat that says "GT" inside. I can't get over how big he looks in it! He also spends time in his exer-saucer at Jamma's house, which he really enjoys. He loves looking from side to side at all the different toys and activities.

There he goes, looking at that cute baby in the mirror. Looking in the mirror is one of his favorite things to do!

Walker is 5 months old on February 24! He looks so much bigger in these pictures to me.
He's changed a lot in the last month. How much does he look like Matt in this pic?
And this was how most of this photo session went. Now that he is into grabbing everything in site (especially whatever you are holding, he wants), taking photos is a little more challenging.
Love this fat and happy pic. He has the cutest double chin I've ever seen.
And the famous foot-in-the-mouth photo. Leave him sitting there for more than a minute, and it's inevitable.

Other than life with the Walk-man, we found out that I'm going to be full-time with the church now, which is a huge praise! I was previously working part-time and trying to do some freelance writing, which was a lot of work. I'd still like to write when opportunities come up, but at least I won't have to rely on that to pay the bills as much.

I also had this weird random break out of shingles on my hand. It's been there for a month now and is finally healing. It's the most bizarre thing. Leave it to me to have something weird like that and especially on my hand where everyone can see it. It was really painful for a while, so I'm really glad it's going away now. Supposedly if you get it as a young person, it's caused by stress. It's a form of the chicken pox virus, which is strange since I had a good case of those when I was like 5. I guess I was more stressed than I realized about the whole job thing. While I'd love to stay home more with the Walk-man, that just won't pay the bills. So, I'm really excited about the church work and my new role as worship coordinator.

Last week we got to spend 2 days with James and Jenn (from Ethio) at the beach. It was so nice to relax and hang out. We are getting SO sad because they will be heading back in a few weeks. They are some of our best friends, and we have loved getting to live life with them again. Our time together in E is truly priceless. We are so thankful for their family.

Wedding Weekend Fun

January 24th was a very special day for the whole Wilbanks' clan. We celebrated Ashley and Kyle's big day! It was a fabulous weekend. Everything was just perfect. Ashley and Kyle looked absolutely gorgeous and so happy. We had a great time during all of the wedding festivities and having all the family in town. So, if you notice that we don't have any pics of Kyle, it's because I took most of these right before the wedding, and Kyle was hidden away with the guys.

I was able to snap a few quick pics, but the really beautiful photos are on Ashley's wedding photographer's site (click here). Scroll down a little bit until you see Ash and Kyle. Kara is an amazing photographer! She's very creative and a really sweet person. If you know anyone who is getting married soon, we definitely recommend her work.

Ash is so beautiful! She made such a lovely bride. If you know Ashley, you know she wants to make everyone else very comfortable. During the entire weekend, she was constantly checking to make sure we were all doing well. It was her big day, so we made sure she was the one who was comfortable.

The Walk-man made a brief appearance for some shots with Ash before the ceremony. Shortly after he took this cute pic, he started screaming his head off. He did look so cute in his gingham outfit. We had to keep him in a giant bib so he wouldn't ruin it. He actually made it through the whole night, which is amazing since he's usually a fountain.

Ashley definitely looked like the cover of a bridal magazine. Just gorgeous...

The Wilbanks siblings are so cute. We are so blessed to have "built-in best friends," as we call it.
I guess we both clean up pretty well. And Walk-man is always precious. People from church kept saying how surprised they were to see me in heels and a dress...what in the world? I'm such a girly girl! I guess I do wear jeans and flip flops to church every week...but that's what everyone else wears too!

Mom, Dad and the glowing bride

Matt and Ash look great. Even though they don't look exactly alike, I think they definitely resemble and look like siblings.

Here we are at the bridesmaids' luncheon, which was really nice. We had a great lunch at San Jose Country Club, and Ashley lavished us with the sweetest, most unique gifts.

Matt had a little fit because Julie and I had a special party for Ashley at our house. He and Walker weren't there, of course, but the thought of his little sister receiving unmentionables in our house was almost unbearable for him. No worries...he gave her the largest pair of granny panties we could find. The best part of purchasing those giant undies was that Julie and I had to get a price check on them at TJ Maxx. Nice! That was slightly embarrassing.

Jill and Rob are our worship leaders at MWay and they both sang during the ceremony. It was awesome! Jill also did my hair and makeup for the wedding, and I thought she did a great job! She's so creative on many levels.

It was so special getting to see all the cousins. I don't think we had all been together (and we actually weren't all together...we were missing a very important part, Lisa, Pablo and Jackson, who is the newest little one. He was born only a couple weeks after Walker) since Andy and Lindsay's wedding in January of 2007. And even then, none of us had any little ones running around yet. Walker got to meet Leslie and all the other cousins for the first time.

Here's Leslie and Brian's little lady, Kennedy. She's about 18 months old and is the cutest, sweetest thing! She has the biggest personality of any 18-month-old I've ever met. She loved meeting Walker. She even gave him a big kiss on the head. She kept calling him "Jax," which is Lisa's little guy.

Here's Cade with Andy. Cade has changed so much since we saw him in September. He is so tall and is walking around like a crazy man.

Love those beautiful blue eyes! She's already quite the heartbreaker.

He's A Big Boy!

Life with the Walk-man is always lots of fun! Okay, there may be times when he wakes up at 3 a.m. that I am not necessarily thinking "fun" in my head, but really life is definitely always interesting. He recently had his 4-month check up and was in the 75 percentile for his height, weight and head size. He's now 14.5 lb and 26 inches and growing. He's a big boy!

He is making more sounds now, like funny little squeals. He also likes to blow bubbles and has become quite the drooler. He's definitely teething, but so far that just means that he tries to gnaw on everything, especially our knuckles. He loves the teething rings that you put in the freezer. And he likes to look at his stuffed animals, grab them, head but them, and then put whatever will fit into his mouth.

4 MONTHS ALREADY

The monthly photo shoots are hilarious. This time he was easier to prop up (since he's always trying to sit up by himself), but he kept sliding down and then getting really mad at us. We can't help but laugh when he gets mad because he rolls his bottom lip down and it quivers for a second until the big scream comes out.

THE EVER-CHANGING WALK-MAN

His foot is always in his mouth, with or without a sock. Walker likes to make it hard to put his clothes on after bathtime because he loves to eat his little foot!

Daddy and Walk-man love to laugh together.

Here's Walker's new bath seat. We finally found one that helps him sit up in the tub since he recently outgrew his baby bath. He makes this funny face every time he first gets in the tub. Today we had to take two baths because he tinkled all over himself right after he got in the first time. Oh, life with a baby boy! So full of surprises.

Walker really loves bath time! How funny does he look covered in wash cloths? This helps him to stay warm in the tub. One of the downfalls of having a really old (like from 1939) house, is the lack of insulation and old windows. We love our house, but it doesn't stay very warm when it's 26 degrees outside.

We have a baby gate at the entrance of Walker's nursery to keep Belle out. Otherwise, she will literally chew up every toy (and the rug) in site. When we have Walker in the nursery, Belle paces back and forth in front of the gate. She has some serious OCD.

The Walk-man recently learned how to pet Mei-mei. Thank goodness Mei-mei is so sweet. Sadly enough, we haven't had her groomed in a while, so you can't really see her eyes these days.

Walker and I fell asleep while Belle cuddled with us. Notice that I have a bandaid on my hand. Apparently I have some weird infection on my hand. The doctor told me today that she had no clue what it was and just gave me a prescription. Let's hope it's gone in a few days! I love that I didn't have anything weird like that in Ethio...only in Jax, Fl.

He's our little Super Baby! Matt was so excited when his little Superman onesie finally fit him. Now he tries to make him wear it several times a week.

Oh, the ways you know you're a new parent...when you are so exhausted that you prop the bottle up with your hand so you can take a little nap while the little man eats.

Love those big blue eyes...I am still amazed at how precious he is. I'm constantly thanking God for such a sweet boy. I'm also constantly amazed at how much he does NOT look like his mom. Blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin...but he's quite the extravert, and that definitely comes from me.

When he isn't sleeping on his back with his arms next to his head, he turns onto his side and sticks his thumb in his mouth. Yep, that's right...he loves to suck his thumb! It's hilarious watching him try to find it. But it's a lifesaver in the middle of the night when he cries out and then finds his thumb and goes right back to sleep.

We love to take Sunday afternoon naps together. Sundays are pretty busy, long days because set up starts early in the morning. After the service, breakdown and lunch, we usually get home around 2 p.m. Then it's nap time! It's one of my favorite parts of the weekend.

Happy New Year!

We are just plugging along, enjoying each new day together as a family and watching Walker grow. He changes so much every week right now. We had a doctor visit recently and found out he is now 13 lb 6 oz and almost 26 inches long. He's a big boy! I love the chubby thighs...they are so cute!

We are SO EXCITED about Ashley and Kyle's wedding, which is in less than a week now (Jan. 24)! WOW! We can't believe it's already here. It's going to be a great day! We can't wait to celebrate with them and to see all the family. This week is going to be very busy and VERY fun!!

Walk-man is finally enjoying his tummy time (at least some of the time)! He absolutely loves playing on his floor mat with the hanging toys, especially because of the big mirror on the side. He really loves looking in the mirror at the cute baby who stares back at him. He also loves his books. Reading his books to him is so fun because he intently studies the pages. His favorites are "Elmo So Big" and his toddler Bible (that's my boy!).

This is Walker's "what up" pose with his tiny little hands propped up on his face (nothing new here).

He loves his daddy!

YEY for Margs! We went to Savannah for a day last week to meet our friend Margs (Margaret) for lunch. It was a great day! I have always loved Savannah--it's just a very artsy, historic city. We hadn't seen Margs in over a year (since she came to Ethio to visit us), so it was very special to finally see her after such a long time. We had a blast together, as always! Back when we were first married, Margs lived with us for a couple months and she always kept us laughing.

Walker finally got to meet Margs! She's in nursing school in Tennessee. We hope it won't be so long in between Margs visits next time. This pic is from one of our fav places, Starbucks (which I lovingly refer to as "SB").

Walker is supporting his Gators (a.k.a. National Champs)! He's also showing off his new trick of sticking his foot in his mouth. Oh, to be that flexible...

He really enjoys holding his feet these days. He's getting good with his coordination and being able to grab things in front of him.

No outfit is complete without the matching bib. Walker is a fountain most of the time. In fact, he covered me in soy spit-up last Sunday on the way to church. It was a crazy morning, but we eventually made it to church wearing spit-up free clothes (a necessity since I was speaking that morning; I didn't get to sing, though, because I was late and missed rehearsal). Thank goodness Walker got a Gator onesie, bib, socks and paci from the fam. The Walker's are all big Gator fans! Matt isn't so into the Gators. In fact, he says we are going to use the Gator items as baby wipes. So wrong!

We celebrated on New Year's Eve with Maria and Jeannel. They got a fire pit for Christmas, so we gathered around it and ate Smores. So yummy! That was our last night of eating goodies like chocolate. On Jan. 1 we started New Year's diets, so we aren't eating anything quite that delicious these days. We had Walker bundled up since it was a chilly night. He was so good while chillin with his Auntie Ria.