summer and the living is easy

Nothing says summer to me like living in your swim suits and pruney fingers and toes.

at mommy & me swim classes with Megan and Olive

Aunt Sammy, Morgan, and Erin don't like to swim without Jude.

Jude's friend, Jude

little mr. loves to talk to himself in the mirror. it's how i can keep him entertained while taking a shower or making dinner. i just sit him in front of the mirror and he'll just chat and giggle to himself. it's the cutest thing.

sorry it's sideways

i'm a lucky girl

*these are from Easter. Look at Jude he looks like a little baby compared to his 7 month old self now. My cute sister-in-law took them and I'm in love. I've got the cutest boys in the world.

just so you know, we're famous

I was directed to this cute site from her and fell in love. What a sweet way to share love stories and be inspired by others. Love love love.
I submitted one of my favorite pictures of us and got an e-mail a couple weeks later saying they had put it up! We are among the cutest lovers of the world. Check it out here.

We'll be signing autographs later.

all in the details

here are a few fun details from our little apartment that just happens to be in a cute, old house.

that just happened

Well...we are skipping from newborn to 6 months. 

I am the mother of a 6 month old. What?!

0.5 years.

I could tell you that life has been crazy. In these 6 months celebrated birthdays and weddings and lots of firsts, went on our first family trip to Cali, moved into our very own apartment, among other things, all on about 5 hours of sleep. This kid eats like a big boy now, is trying to figure out how to crawl, and (FINALLY) has his own room. Through all his teething, growing pains, and all the ups and downs of being a 6 month old, he still manages to steal my heart.

i've fallen in love many times, always with you

loving you is easy

I just wanted to let you all know that I am loving being a mom to this little cutie. Never have I felt so fulfilled as I do taking care of Jude. There are rough times with poopy diapers, late nights, and barf all down my shirt but I get paid with smiles, LAUGHS, and sweet little cuddles and I could not ask for more.

ps these are some baby leggings i made for jude dude the other day. so simple and easy. and look at those rolls man.

better than pants any day. tutorial found here

newborn

When Jude was just a few weeks old, my sister's good friends, Nick & Erica, took some pictures for us.
Nick & Erica are a good husband & wife team. I guess the day they took these pictures, they found out Erica is pregnant! Congrats guys!
These are some of our favorites:

 
 

 

Go to their blog for more info

new/old favorites

two of our new favorite restaurants are

1) Buffalo Wild Wings

We used to go when we lived in Ohio & Texas a couple summers ago so we were so excited that one opened up in Lehi. We got brave and went opening day.

2) Station 22

I kept hearing about how great this place was, so I took Brit with me. We both got the Adventist (veggie burger) and thought it was to die for. We'll be back soon.

Thanks for the pics Brittany. 

pinterest finds

These all have something in common. All having to do with my new years resolution to be a healthier/fit me.

This is the coolest app ever. First of all, it's FREE!!! Second of all, it's full of really awesome workouts. All different kinds and different time lengths for those days when you have an hour to workout or just 15 minutes. You can sync music from your iPod. When a workout pops up that you don't know how to do, just play the instructional video. You earn more workouts the more you workout. Just try not to sweat with Nike Training Club.

These Biggest-Loser oatmeal pancakes are the bomb and at 68 calories each, you can eat quite a few without feeling guilty.

Ingredients:

6 egg whites
1 cup rolled oats, dry
1 cup cottage cheese
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Instructions:
In a blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. Heat a griddle or large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. For each pancake pour 1/4 cup of batter onto griddle. Flip when they start to bubble. Cook until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batches, spraying the griddle as needed. Makes about 10 pancakes.

Last but not least, broccoli-quinoa casserole. Delish. I added a little chicken.

One 10 oz can condensed Cream of Broccoli soup (or mushroom), low-sodium if you prefer

1/3 cup reduced fat mayonnaise (original called for 1 full cup. WOW.)

2 tablespoons milk

1 1/4 cups reduced fat shredded cheese (cheddar, colby-jack, etc)

1/2 teaspoon Splenda/sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Dash freshly grated nutmeg

.
2 cups cooked broccoli

1 1/2 cups  COOKED quinoa (see note)

Feshly grated Parmesan cheese

.
To cook quinoa:

3/4 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon salt

.
Rinse quinoa in a fine sieve until water runs clear.  In a small saucepan combine the quinoa, water, and salt.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for 18-20 minutes, or until fluffy and the white ring/tail is visible.  Fluff with a fork.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a shallow (8×8 in or 5-6 cups) casserole dish – or individual ramekins – with vegetable cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine the soup, mayonnaise, milk, shredded cheese, Splenda, pepper, and nutmeg until well mixed. Stir in the quinoa and broccoli.
Spoon mixture into prepared casserole.  Sprinkle on a couple tablespoons of Parmesan and bake for 35-40 minutes (20-25 minutes for ramekins) or until bubbly on the edges and golden.  Makes 8 generous 1/2-cup servings.

the things we do

Hands down, my top 2 favorite things to do with my little Jude dude when it's just me and him are:

1) take a nap

and 2) take a bath

the past 7 weeks

You may have heard about a cute boy name Jude. Well, here he his! Baby boy is 7 weeks old! 


In the past 7 weeks...

• we found out Mr. Man is in the 98th percentile. (That means he's bigger than 98% of babies out there.)
• he's already growing out of some of the 3 month clothes we have for him. (Newborn sizes were kind-of a joke.)
• Jude has celebrated his first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years! (Although he slept through Christmas morning, and ringing in the New Year. He must be a baby.)
• my sweet little guy slept for 7 hours straight one night! 7 hours!!! (It was a one time occurance, however. I'm just thankful when he does 3-4 hours normally.)
• little Jude dude smiles all the time! Melts my heart even at 2:30 AM. And he has started to "talk" to us. (Although I guess we can't count "goo" as his first word.)

It's crazy how different life can be with 3 instead of 2. But it's also crazy how natural it felt.He fits just perfectly into our family and we are loving every minute with him. 

time waits for no one

photo

2011 is the year...

• my beautiful boy was born
• my husband was accepted into the Accounting Program @ BYU
• we vacationed  on an island 
• we celebrated our 2nd year of marriage

...among many other things.

2012 is the year...

• we will live in our own place again
• my baby boy will grow even bigger
• we will run a 1/2 marathon

...among many other things.

I would be lying if I said I was sad to see 2011 go. It was a wonderful but hard year. We've learned so much and I hope I always remember it fondly. 
2012, here we come.  

hey Jude

My sweet little Jude Matthew Walker was born November 15, 2011 in the afternoon. All 10 lbs 10 oz, 22 inches of him.

It's hard to describe just how intense labor & delivery is. But it's equally as hard to describe the beauty of it. How empowering it is. The relief after. And the joy of finally meeting this little miracle that grew inside you for 9 months.

And so, our adventure begins.