Our Little Boy

Austin John Walker
Born December 18, 2010
12:48 a.m.
8 lbs 1 oz
19 1/2 inches

We are so excited that Austin has finally come! He is such a joy in our home. The birth went very well and we have been taken care of by Kirsten & Steve (Derrel's sister) and our ward family here. It is so nice to not be pregnant anymore, besides the lack of sleep. Austin apparently has 3 mothers, me, Lydia and Kate. They LOVE to hold him, bathe him, dress him, stick his binki in his mouth and make him smile. I asked Lydia to change his diaper the other day and she immediately refused=). Someday, right? Grant has been so gentle with Austin. I was a little worried because of how big and strong and crazy he can be. But he has been so great! We feel so lucky to have 4 beautiful, healthy (sometimes crazy) children!
Derrel has finished his interviews for residency and we are waiting to rank them and then find out where we are going. "Match day" (the day we find out where he matched for residency) is March 17. Boise is our #1 choice with either Portland or Utah as #2. We're still working that out;) We're also getting our house ready for the daunting task of selling it. We are happy to move on with a new phase of life but will miss Morgantown so much! I know I will shed many tears when we leave all of our wonderful friends here. It's been our "home away from home" for the last 5 years and we will look back on this time with fond memories! But we do look forward to being closer to family. It's such an exciting time for our family!

Happenings

I don't have any pictures but I just wanted to announce that we're having a BOY! It's a little unexpected. I thought it was a girl-almost positive, but I was proven wrong. Needless to say, we are so excited for Grant to have a little brother to beat up on!

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?

Eat, sleep and be merry!

As you can see, we LOVE to sleep in our house, especially when there's a new baby around. Sleep is our friend and we get it whenever and wherever we can. Here are just a few pictures of the baby (and others) sleeping and a few pictures awake. Look at all of that hair!!

False labor? False hope. . . .

Well, Saturday night, I was contracting quite a bit and thought that I was going to go into labor. I thought Father's Day would be a very appropriate day to have our first son. But, to no avail-he didn't come. It just made for a tired, groggy Father's Day. Then, on Sunday night, I had SO many contractions. They were different and HARD and at one point from about 3-5 in the morning, they were coming hard and 3-4 minutes apart. I thought for sure we were going in. They kept up at 5 minutes and I called my midwife that morning and she said to come to the office at 9:30. So, of course, at about 9:00, my contractions stop. UGGGG. Why am I being tortured like this? Derrel takes his first round of medical boards on Monday the 23rd and I don't want to go into labor this weekend or on the 23rd. I'm torn and frustrated and tired of false alarms and false labor. We'll for sure update soon with news but for now, just false hope! But all is well and we are here and ready any time our man child wants to make his debut. Stay tuned!

Introducing. . . . . . . . .

. . . . Our Man Child.
Yes, that's right. We will finally have a little more testosterone in our house. Doesn't he have great legs? We are SO very excited to embark on the world of boys (now that we've "mastered" the girls. . . just kidding).
I don't know if ANYONE can ever master the girl thing. You just take each emotional day, one at a time and hope you're doing it right, am I right?

Hector

So, I'm taking a poll for any of you interested in voting. The ultrasound is on February 4th and we are so excited to find out the gender. And so is Lydia! Up to this point, the baby's "name" has been HECTOR. Lydia even prays for Hector, the baby in Mommy's tummy. Kate's just oblivious to the whole thing--either that or in denial, I don't know which. We'll keep you all updated when the time comes! In the meantime, vote people!!

hmmmmmm. . . . . . .