Guess what?!

I'm updating our blog! Although, I don't have a new name for it. We've made the move to Boise, Idaho and Derrel is well over half way finished with his first year of residency in Internal Medicine. We're so happy to be near family and we pinch ourselves every once in a while to know it's real! We do miss our dear friends in West Virginia and they will always have a special place in our hearts!

Here are some updated pictures of our family. Hopefully there will be more to come soon!

Austin's first birthday:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Christmas Eve:


Christmas Day:



Look at those faces;)






Kate lost her first tooth!

Update. . . . .FINALLY!

Well, it's been a while. We've been really busy with callings and kids and callings and school! But I feel that I have much updating to do=) I should be outside enjoying the beautiful weather here in between conference sessions, but it's as hot as sin outside. We had feet of snow on the ground 4 weeks ago and it is in the 90's today!!! I should have knocked on wood when I wished for warm weather.

Derrel is almost done with his 3rd year of medical school. We apply to residencies by September, which is just C-R-A-Z-Y and exciting! We have no idea where we will end up. We feel differently every other day. But we are crazy excited for the next phase, not that residency is exciting but it just the next step closer to being done with school forever!! Lydia asked Derrel one day what grade he was in. After figuring it out, he is (brace yourselves) in 21st grade! Holy cow, that's a smart guy if you ask me! He is doing well and LOVES being able to work with patients. He is SO good at it, too! He was just called to be the Ward Mission Leader and is so excited to work on missionary work here. There is so much to be done!

I am in my 3rd year of medical school, too. Maybe not going to school, but supporting it nonetheless! I am still Young Women President in our little growing ward. It's challenging but so incredibly rewarding. I LOVE my YW! I am getting geared up (physically and emotionally) for a 2 month hiatus to Utah/Idaho. I am a home body and I like my bed and my house and my kitchen. I don't deal with long trips very well so I'll apologize to anyone beforehand that I am a little basket case when traveling. At least I don't have to worry about pregnancy hormones on a trip like this=) All in all, I am doing well, running as much as I can. I have finished 3 half marathons in the last 6 months and have plans for two more in the next 4 months. I just can't kick this 8 lb holiday weight gain. Urgh. At least I can run a half marathon right?

Lydia has some big news! She won first place in a writers contest in the 1st and 2nd grade level for our county. They have submitted her story on the state level and she has been invited to go to the West Virginia Young Writer's Day in May for her accomplishments. She is extremely excited and is so bright and loves to read and write. I'll have to post her adorable story she wrote. She's really been into drawing, too. She is taking piano lessons and catches on SO quickly! She amazes us everyday! When she gets her mind set on something, she will do it until it is accomplished. I wish I had a little bit of that in me. She must have taken it FROM me and that's why I don't have the drive she does=). She'll be 7 in June and has had her birthday party planned out since January.


Kate is the heart of our family. She'll be 5 in September and much to her chagrin will have to forgo kindergarten for one more year. She will do preschool at Lydia's elementary school and is SO excited. She follows Lydia and wants to do everything exactly like her. She is the kindest little girl and has become so spunky. Everyone in her preschool class loves her-little miss popular. It cracks me up! Kate is so imaginative and can play by herself contently for hours! It's really helpful when I have a lot to get done. She is so excited for our trip out west and to see all of her cousins and friends.


Grant is our little man, or should I say BIG man. He'll be two in June (where has the time gone?!?) and he is a mover. You have to keep your eye on this one. He's not a big talker, just too busy looking for cars and trucks and sisters to tackle. He's almost 32 lbs and growing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a boy. Boys are so different than girls. Grant is such a goofball. He loves to make the girls giggle and they are so patient with his crazy boyishness. He gets a little upset everyday about the same time and sometimes the only thing that calms him down is putting on the movie Cars. He stops whatever he is doing and watches, mesmerized. It's amazing!

(watching Cars)

Well, we are still alive and well. Life is busy but we are so happy and all healthy and loving every minute of being here in West Virginia (just not the snow). But we do look forward to the day that we might be back closer to family! But for now, we'll just enjoy where we are.

HAPPY EASTER!

Bathroom, toilets and crawling

Well, with our tax return, we have decided to remodel the main bathroom in our house. It was REALLY outdated with an avacado green fiberglass bathtub and sink (if you want to see the tub, look at the picture of Grant in the tub below). The vinyl floor was speckled with gold. It was a sight to see! We have totally gutted it (these pictures don't show the sheetrock and floor boards ripped out). It's very exciting and we have a LOT of plans for it. I'll post after pictures when it's finished.

The next great news is that Kate is officially potty trained. It took 3 days and a 1 1/2 accidents (no poop accidents). If I had known it would be so quick and easy, I would have done it months ago. She is so excited to finally be able to go on the big girl potty. Yeah!! No more of these saggy DIAPERS for Kate!

Thirdly, our little boy is giGRANTic!! He is crawling and has been crawling for a few weeks now. This kid is HUGE! His hands are garGRANTuan. I LOVE it. He loves his big sisters. They make him laugh all of the time. He's adorable and has such a special place in our home. Here's a few pictures and videos of Grant. Just so you know, too, Grant just got his FIRST TOOTH. YEAH, what a fun age he's at!!!! Here's a few pictures and videos. Enjoy.

Kids, kids and more kids

Here's a post with lots of pictures and videos.  These kids are growing like weeds!  No one told me they were going to do that!  Grant had totally recovered and not once did his weight go down while he was sick.  He just keeps eating and eating and eating.  He is so happy and is almost crawling.  Kate is happy to be the oldest sibling at home while Lydia is away in Kindergarten.  She's a big help and is SLOWLY learning how to potty train (very very SLOWLY).  Lydia loves school and is learning so much.  She comes home with new knowledge every day.  We love listening to what she learns from her teachers and her classmates.  It's pretty colorful sometimes=) Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Grant is HOME!

Sorry, I meant to post this a few days ago, but life is slowly getting back to it's normal self.  We are just so excited that Grant is home with us.  Derrel drove him home at about 9:15 on Tuesday morning and the home health person came at 10 am to show us (well, I guess just me) how to give Grant his antibiotics.  He'll be on them at home for at least 2 weeks.  I think he is thrilled to be home and out of the hospital.  It's like bringing home a new baby all over again!!!!  We are so grateful for our little boy and that he is on the mend.  Yea!  Merry Christmas to all and Happy Holidays.  Enjoy.

Our Christmas Wish

It's been our biggest Christmas wish for Grant to come home for Christmas.  Well, our wish is coming true.  The doctors said that he can come home tomorrow morning (Tuesday).  Yeah!!  We are truly excited and so elated that we get to spend Christmas Eve and morning in our own home.  We are so thankful.  We have to be home by 10 am because the home health team is coming to teach us how to give him his antibiotics.  We'll have to administer them through the PICC line (long-term IV) in his arm twice a day for a few weeks.  WOW, we are just thrilled.  Sure love you all, thanks for all the calls and prayers.  Grant is doing great and we are just so happy!

Livin' la viva hospital

We've learned a lot while staying in the hospital:

1. No privacy (in the PICU, there is a bathroom with a 1/4 inch gap in between the wall and the door and the wall with the door is actually just one big window). Sometimes, I would actually go out of the PICU to the public restroom to get a little more privacy.
2. No sleep (for some reason, the nurses take a rectal temp at midnight, take a blood sample out of his foot at 3 am and a chest x-ray at 4:30 am. And when he wakes up for these, they talk really loudly and think it's time to play with the baby-NOT THE CASE. So, he's up squealing between the temp taking and foot sticking!
3. It took a week to figure out that there was a volume on the alarm that beeped almost every time he moved (from the machine taking his vitals). I finally got consecutive hours of sleep with no beeping!
4. There is an office called Center for Quality Outcomes with a sign right next to it for the Smoking Booth.
5. Santa makes many appearances at the hospital!!!! The girls LOVED seeing Santa. Grant and the girls have been recipients of many many gifts, toys, books, crayons, stuffed animals, etc from many groups and people who are so kind to come in and visit the children at the hospital.
6. Cafeteria food is HIGHLY overrated. There is a salad bar that is somewhat healthy. No wonder people have to go to the hospital. It's the junk they eat.
7. It's really sad to watch a pregnant woman smoke, or see someone standing in their gown in front of the hospital that is dragging their IV fluids behind with one hand and holding a cigarette in the other.
8. I guess some people don't know the meaning of NO SMOKING BEYOND THIS POINT when they light up right outside of the hospital doors. Kinda frustrating.

Well, Grant continues to get stronger every day. He was transferred out of intensive care into the regular pediatric wing of the hospital today. That is great news for all of us. The doctors were able to take out his chest tube on Saturday and he continues to roll around and LOVES the new freedom of no stickers and tubes and wires attached to him. He is happier and we are happier especially with no gaps in the bathroom door! The doctors say we should hopefully be home before Christmas. We have no dates yet but maybe Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Here's hoping. At least we know we'll most definitely all be home for Christmas! What a blessing.

Goin' with the flow

Well, Grant was doing better yesterday and through the night. He's still in the PICU. The doctor came to check up on him and looked at his x-rays and said he was getting a little bit worse, again. Just a bit. So they will put more fluid (TPA) into his chest tube to see if he can drain anymore out of his lung. They were looking at him coming home on Saturday but now it's put back to at least Monday. All in all, he's doing OK, we're going with the flow, we are WELL taken care of between meals and care for the girls! Thanks to all! We love you all and will update you when there's more to tell. Here's a few more pictures of him in the hospital. Happy Holidays!

Grant's stats are on the right of the screen

Trying to be happy

So serious

Chest fluid, it may look yucky but the more the better:)

All tuckered out

Update on Grant

Just a little update on what is going on with our big G man. Since my last post, Grant just wasn't getting better, if anything he was getting worse. So our pediatrician transferred him over the the big hospital at the university here (we were in the smaller hospital). He had his first ride in an ambulance, something that even in my 29 years I still haven't done. Derrel rode with him and I met them at the hospital in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). And that's where we are right now and will be for a little while. Grant has had quite a few doctors working on him. A great pediatrician, Intensive Care Pediatrician (which happens to be in our ward), awesome residents and even an Infectious Disease Doctor. We've also been blessed with great nurses, too. Last night, they decided it was best if we drain the fluid from the pocket that formed outside of his lung (effusion) and the Intensive Care Doc did that for us. It was great to have a doctor there that could help administer a blessing before the procedure. At the same time, they performed a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to check if the bacteria had entered his spine (meningitis). The spinal tab wasn't clear and we still don't quite know if he has meningitis, but they are treating him as if he does have it. Better to be on the safe side. But for sure he does have Strep Pneumonia. All in all, he is improving, slowly but surely. Hopefully we will get Grant out of the hospital by Christmas so he can spend his first Christmas at home=). If not, we just want him to get well soon! We will get through this, I feel like we've been given similar trials before which makes this one just a little more bearable. Thanks to all who have helped with the girls, meals, thoughts and prayers. They are all so helpful and appreciated.

Right of Passage: Hospital Stay

Literally, our family just LOVES to visit the hospital. Almost every vacation, we have a hospital visit. Instead of site seeing, we visit the hospitals in varying cities across the nation: Rexburg, Provo, Liberty, Baltimore, we've seen it all. This time, it is our privilege to visit the hospital in our hometown. I should have known it was coming since the hospital here just opened up its brand new multimillion dollar section that we hadn't visited yet. It's for sure beautiful, if you can call a hospital beautiful. But in one of it's rooms is where our little Grant is. I brought him to the ER Sunday morning with a 105.2 degree temperature. After a few chest x-rays and some lab work, they quickly diagnosed him with bacterial pneumonia (yamonia-as Lydia calls it) and admitted him into the hospital. We've come to believe it's a right of passage for membership in the Derrel Walker family to stay in the hospital with pneumonia (which I have yet to do). Lydia and Kate both had RSV pneumonia and were hospitalized for 3-5 days, Kate only 3 months old and Lydia was 2. Derrel was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks in CA with horrible pneumonia (they almost took some of this lung out). I guess you could say we're getting used to this, it's not as shocking as it used to be. Here he is in all his chubby glory:

Grant's doing fairly well, I guess he had a pretty serious case of pneumonia. They gave him a heavy dose of antibiotics about 24 hours ago and they say it takes about that long to start really kicking in. I thought that he would be able to go home today but it's probably not going to be that soon, unfortunately. But he is well taken care and and Derrel is staying with him so I can get some much needed sleep. I slept 8 1/2 hours last night with NO interruptions (except the normal alarm clock that is supposed to wake Derrel up for seminary at 5 a.m.) I think I could be a somewhat normal person if I could sleep like that every night. Needless to say, it's been a while since I've had that kind of sleep. Grant is improving

Our Little Gee Dub

At 9 weeks, Grant is so much fun. He is smiling, ohhh-ing and ahhh-ing and almost giggling. He sleeps better than ever (most nights) and loves all the attention he can get, especially from his adoring big sisters. It is SOO much fun to have a little boy. I took him to my doctors appointment yesterday and EVERYONE said he looks like a "Little Man." I knew we were on to somethin' when we called him our "man child!" Well, here's some pictures of him in all his chubbyness. More of him to love, right?

7 hours of pure bliss

Grant decided to sleep for 7 hours last night. Acually it was 7 hours between feedings. I got 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep! I don't even remember the last time I got that much sleep because throughout the WHOLE pregnancy, I was up at least 2 times a night going to the bathroom. I feel so great right now. Thanks, Grant! Sure 'preciate ya! (BTW, I am going to post pictures of our trip-they're coming soon, now that I'm rested up!)