Reflecting on 2009

Wow! What an amazing year! Becoming a mom has been the most amazing experience ever! Jared and I have enjoyed every minute with Hadley. She is now 10 months old and as happy and as spunky as ever. She is getting into anything she can get her little hands on and then she immediately puts it in her mouth. Jared and I were laughing because we have a 9 year old Golden Retriever named Rusty who doesn't chew on any of the furniture, but our 10 month old daughter chews on the leather couch and we have recently discovered bite marks on the railing of her crib. She really enjoyed her first Christmas. She did like the tissue paper and the bows just like most babies at this age, but she did pay some attention to the gifts too, which was fun.
We are waiting on the bank to close on our house loans. We are building our "forever house" in Prairieville next to my parents. We can't wait to be near them and out in the country. Jared was off the past two weeks so we were able to pick out the roof and look at bricks and choose our lighting fixtures and some plumbing stuff. It is fun and stressful at the same time. We are just ready to get the ball rolling. It will be an interesting journey; we pray about it every night! I am about to start my second semester of grad school for library science. I am looking forward to my 120 hours of field experience this semester. I will be returning to the school I used to work at to work with the super awesome librarian there. I am looking forward to learning many new things. As far as my future job, librarian vs. teacher. Only God knows where I will end up and I have a peace about whatever happens. I ran into a student I taught in 6th grade and he said, " I never pictured you as a librarian!" I had to laugh because I find it pretty ironic myself... being that I love to talk!! Maybe I can redefine what it means to be a librarian!!!
As I looked back at this past year, I am so grateful for everything God has blessed me with. I never want to take anything for granted. God has blessed me with an amazing husband and daughter. I have the best parents and in-laws that any girl could ever ask for. I have some awesome friends and family that I love dearly. I am healthy and we both have jobs to pay the bills. Over the past year, I have learned a lot about saving money on groceries and I hope to continue doing so in the future. Google My Baton Rouge Mommy for a money saving blog. We have saved up to $60.00 in one shopping trip at Target using coupons effectively! Try it- it is awesome. It does require some practice and planning, but once you get the hang of it you will never stop. You will wonder why you have been paying full price for groceries before.
These are just a few of my random thoughts!

Holiday Happenings

Even though Hadley was sick, we had a great Thanksgiving. I love good food and getting to spend time with our family. Family is so important to me, and I want Hadley to be close to her cousins and other family members. As usual we ate more than we should have, but I don't even regret it!!! It is great... we had all of our favorite things in one dinner!

Hadley has been having a cold for a week. We have to suction her nose quite a bit, which she does not like in the least bit. It takes both Jared and I to do this. Hopefully she will get better soon.
We did get her first Christmas tree this weekend. She felt the branches, but I think she thinks they are too picky. She really hasn't wanted to touch it much since we put it up. She likes it from a distance. Score for me!!
She is getting her two top teeth. One is out and the other one is on its way. She also knows how to do the touchdown sign( both arms up). It is pretty funny. This is one pic, but she can do it better ( as you know, it is hard to get pics of kids doing things like that!)
Jared and I had fun at our last LSU game despite the cold weather. We were so glad they pulled it out in the end. Looking forward to some improvement for next year!
I finished my last two projects for this semester today! Yippee! I am so glad to be done with that. Ready for a break from school!! Still have some Christmas shopping to do and Christmas cards! I gotta get on top of things! I can't believe it is already December!! When did that happen?

Nine months old!!

Wow! How time flies by so quickly! Jared and I were just talking about how when we were kids it seemed as though Christmas would never get here. It's funny because as adults it seems as though we were just taking down the Christmas tree and now it is time to shop for another one.
Hadley turned 9 months old yesterday. I still can't believe it. We are so blessed to have such a sweet, happy, and healthy baby girl. Her favorite things to play with are empty propel bottles, newspaper and magazines( or any paper things), anything electronic such as cell phones, cameras, remote controls, etc. She smiles right away when the light on the camera comes on because she knows you are taking her picture... you think that has anything to do with the fact that I am constantly taking pictures of her;) She loves books! We read to her a lot. She can sit up and stand up in her bed when she wakes up- don't worry her daddy has lowered the bed to its lowest level. She is crawling around everywhere. We are trying to post a video and hopefully we will be able to get that done soon. She also really likes Rusty, our golden retriever. He lets her pet him or should I say pull his hair. We fed her the baby food meat for the first time the other night. I will post a picture that will show you exactly what she thought about that. I can't say I blame her.. it smelled horrible. She is down to two naps a day and 4 feedings a day. She eats and sleeps well. She has been sleeping through the night for quite some time now. We put her in bed at 8:00 p.m. and she sleeps till around 6:30 or so every day. We are so blessed to have such awesome family to help us and to make her feel loved. We can't wait to share the upcoming holidays with you guys.

The latest at the Walker house

Whew! I have been so busy with school and chasing my little darling. Yep.. she has finally learned to crawl. She is non-stop and having a blast. I don't have quite as much free time as I used to now that she is more mobile and takes less naps. She is sleeping and eating well, and she is getting a new tooth on top. This will be her third one. She has really handled teething well. We have been to the Bengal Belles luncheon twice since I posted last. She loved the band and the cheerleaders. The semester is winding down and I only have one more project in each class and then I am done! Yippee! I am ready for a break before next semester. Looking forward to a big fat Thanksgiving dinner and some time with the family. LSU has left a lot to be desired these last few games... let's hope that they can shut down Ole Miss. It won't be easy, but I am trying to stay hopeful.

I am still alive!

Wow! It has been a while since I have had time to post. School has been keeping me busy in addition to cleaning house and taking care of Hadley. Recently Hadley and I met Raynell and Rex at Harb's Oasis to take pictures at their cute pumpkin patch setup. It was extremely hot, but I think the kids had fun anyway.
Of course it is football season so we have been going to the LSU games. The only way we could possibly do this is if our parents watch Hadley. We are so grateful to have such amazing parents. We truly don't know what we would do without them. We are secretly hoping the Tigers learn some new offensive plays this week because they are struggling!!
We actually got some tickets to attend the Saints vs. Jets game and were able to go ! That was pretty fun too! Go Saints!
I actually left Hadley in the nursery at church last Sunday! Jared was so proud of me... I did have to confess to him that the only reason I did it was because there were only two other babies in there!! She is getting a bit too squirmy and vocal to stay with us. I am trying to let go, but it is hard.

Mommy moment

Well, I did it. I left my baby girl in the nursery at church for the first time. I cried and she didn't. Go figure. I decided to join the mom's bible study at our church. This is just one of the many perks of being a stay home mom. You actually have time for this kind of thing! The devil was doing his best to keep me from going. Here is how the morning went: I got up before Hadley and got dressed. I was opening her sweet potatoes when the top caused the sweet potatoes to fly all over my shirt! AHH! So I tried to keep my cool and press on. I changed my shirt and continued getting her food ready. Then she wakes up, so I go to pick her up to change her and .. yep.. you guessed it .. a big nasty diaper... you know the kind that leaks out the side....yuck... so I take off all my clothes so as not to get them soiled and proceed to bring my little princess to the tub where we wash her off. We get the funky clothes into the wash, and I put her in her diaper and a bib to feed her then we get her dressed and ready to go. Needless to say we were fifteen minutes late, but God gets the win!! I fed her the bottle for the first part of the study and then decided that I needed to let go and bring her to the nursery. I have been building up to this moment. It is so hard for me to leave her because I have never left her with anyone else except family. I began to tear up as I handed her over, but she was fine with it. They took good care of her and I cried for a little while in the lobby then got myself together and went back in. Win for mommy!

Yesterday's message

Being parents has affected our lives in many ways. When you are a parent, you want to do what is best for your child. You want to watch over them and protect them and do whatever you can to give them the best life possible. Jared and I have always attended church, but since Hadley was born we have really begun to evaluate our spiritual lives. We have continued to pray each night before we go to bed and pray over her before she goes to bed. But we also started reading the Word again on a regular basis. Our church gives out a monthly Bible reading schedule, so we decided to start there. For the past month, we have been reading Proverbs each night. The main theme in Proverbs is wisdom. So naturally, we have been praying for wisdom in all our decisions. Dino has been preaching in a series called "I have a friend who..." . Last week was about healing and this week was about making bad choices. I know, as parents, Jared and I, are really trying to evaluate each word we say, choice we make, or step we take because we have a strong desire to be Godly examples for our daughter. I just wanted to share yesterday's message because it really spoke to me and I hope it will be of value to others. So here goes:

He began with Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your OWN understanding , but in all your ways acknowledge Him and HE will make your paths straight." (I love this verse!) Then he had us think of what the opposite of this verse would be.... I am going to sum it up the best I can. It went something like this... "If you do things YOUR way and do not trust in Him, you will end up in one big cycle of pain, confusion, and fear."

Then he talked about the verses in Romans (7:17-20) that talk about the spirit vs. the flesh. Then he listed the top four areas that people usually make bad choices in: relational, financial, sexual, and result of a bad environment.

He then went on to talk about why we make these bad choices:
1) fear(loneliness, rejection, failure, etc.),
2) impatience(not waiting on God's best for our lives),
3) not using wisdom to make our decisions ( knowing what is right but doing the wrong thing anyway),
4) caught in a stupid moment,
5) pride ( too prideful to listen to others who are trying to speak God's truth to you)
6) lust
7) the company you keep.
Wow- when I look back at some of the bad choices I have made in my life I can see how true these really are!! Funny how easy it is to see now! But the bottom line is HOPE!! There is hope in Christ!!
Dino gave us a few reminders:
1) You will never change what you continue to tolerate! Quit making excuses for things that you know are not pleasing to the Lord! You have to be willing to make a change.
2) Right voices equal right choices. Listen to God's voice/ His Word. Compromised voices equal bad choices.
3) You can't turn back the clock. What is done is done, but you can accept what is and move forward accepting God's healing letting God use your bad choices as a lesson to help you grow. 4) The Bible is a book about people who made bad choices and allowed God to redeem them.

He provided us with tips on how to help if you know someone making bad choices:
1) Have patience.
2) Love them by speaking God's truth to them.
3) Forgiveness
4) HOPE- decisions are not final. God's mercies are new every day! Thank goodness for that!