Christmas Card......I just can't wait for them to get here!

Shimmering Stars Christmas Card

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Happy Holiday Cards!

SO........I have never really done Christmas cards. West and I are not the type to be in pictures. But this year I have been trying to find a perfect card because I have THE CUTEST baby who takes THE CUTEST pictures and I have THE CUTEST photo to share with you all!

And then it happened, I found THE CUTEST way to share said photo.

Shutterfly's 2010 Holiday Card Collection. Have you seen these things!?! Hundreds of cards too cute to choose from.

Shutterfly is so easy. All you do is...

1)Pick it! Your layout that is...... (I have spent 4 hours narrowing it to 4. I'm a little obsessed!)

2)Upload the snazziest photo you have! Bet you can't beat me!

3)Spell out your greeting!

Seriously that simple!

I have never done cards with Shutterfly before, but I have done their photo books. LOVE them. I created the book for the diner there and I have been compiling collections on my computer to have enough for other books. They are awesome quality, so easy, and they come so fast. I am sure the cards will be the same.


This is what I have narrowed it done to:
(click on photos to go to Shutterfly site for more info)

THE CUTEST! I know......
I know you'll all be waiting for the surprise of which design I choose and this little picture I am hiding from you all for the cards!

Also, did you know you can gift tags!? Check them out! Sweetness!

But do you know what is best of all? Coordinating address labels! Order them with your address and save yourself the trouble of writing your return address, and everyone will think you are so on top of it!

And maybe I've gotten a little carried away (I haven't been sleeping well lately), but then I saw these invitations and saw this cool new Tasting Party Collection from Pier 1. I can't fetching wait to plan my New Year's Party. Better get on it!

If you have a blog, here's the link for a shutterfly promotion... http://bit.ly/sfly2010
You have until Friday!

Talia, 2 months old

All this modeling is tiring!

Talia's Blessing Pictures

November 7, 2010

She was blessed by her Dad who was very nervous. These other people were in the circle with him:

Keith Walker

Jeff Walker

David Robinson

James Robinson

Gordan Hatt

Ben Blazzard

Rich Bell

Adam King

Brandon Hagler
Scott Robinson

Mic was held by Wyatt Fry

(Doesn't she look like mommy?)

Thanksgiving!

This year for Thanksgiving, West really wanted to stay home and just have the day with our little family since he has been working so much. I thought thought that sounded absurd and tried very hard to persuade him otherwise. The night before I almost had him giving in, and then.....I woke up with a throat so sore that every time I swallowed it felt like I was swallowing sandpaper! Talia had come down with a cold the day before and considering how I felt, I thought she must be feeling pretty awful too so I gave in and we decided to stay home. It was wonderful! We didn't do anything except lounge around as a family in our PJ's. Of course, I being a lover of the Turkey Day feast was a little disappointed that I wasn't going to get all that goodness. So we called West's dad before he headed to the celebration to come over and get our tupperware to bring back full. G.KNEE.US! Best turkey I ever had in my PJ's and a blanket watching Netflix! (And partially because Aunt Sue is a wonderful cook!) Now I know I would miss it if we did this all the time, but I think it would be nice if we were blessed with a cold every couple of years!

Talia's first Halloween

We stayed home and handed out candy to all the trick or treaters brave enough to go out in the rain!

Talia, 1 month old

I started taking the picture and the dog jumped in. It was so cute, I couldn't push her out!

Some kids come out swinging....

but mine comes out rolling.....

and this is how she sleeps.......


I flip her over everytime I see her, and I'm not quite sure what's with the arm! We had to take the bumper off because she kept putting her face in it!

Birth Story...2 months later

WARNING: Overshare ahead!

For the record...

It all started on Friday, Sept. 3. I went to my doctor for my weekly checkup. She had been watching my uterus size because it seemed really large. She thought that I might have a Large for Gestational Age baby. I just kept getting bigger so that day she sent me down to the hospital to get an ultrasound that day. I was dilated to a 4.5 and 80% effaced. She though I wouldn't make it through the weekend. I quickly went down to the hospital because when she ordered the ultrasound it was already 3:30 on Friday of Labor Day weekend. The ultrasound tech took some measurements and estimated my baby to be 8 lbs. 12 oz. They called the doctor right then to go over the results to see if she wanted to admit me then. She wanted to wait and let me go into labor on my own (which I agreed) and told me based on the measurements, to prepare myself for the possibility of a C-section.

The weekend came and went.....

I went to my weekly checkup on Wednesday, Sept 8th. I was still dilated to a 4.5 but was now 90% effaced. She could not believe I wasn't having contractions I could feel yet! So we went home to wait....


It was about 10:30 pm on Thursday, Sept. 9th and I was making a birthday card for my friend Jamie. I was done with the card and I stood up to put all my supplies away and I noticed the chair seemed a little wet, but I just thought maybe I was a little sweaty (gross I know, sorry!). All kinds of weird things happen when you are pregnant especially at full term and you are as big around as you are tall. (57" around vs. 61" tall) So I finished putting all the stuff away and got in the shower before bed. I had been taking a shower or a bath at least morning and night because I was so uncomfortable. I went to bed and woke up a couple hours later for potty break #1 and noticed I was kind of "sweaty" again. This continues on a few more times throughout the night. When its finally morning I tell West what is going on. By this time, I think that my water has broken, but I am not sure. I heard that it could be a trickle rather than a gush and wonder if this has happened to me.

We called the doctor's after hours number and she called back at about 9:30am. She called West's cell phone. We are not sure why, but she said that I was definitely going to have a baby today and to make our way to the hospital, but we didn't need to hurry. So West and I finish up some odds and ends that we needed to before a few days in the hospital and headed down. We got there about 11:30am checked in and they put me in a room. A nurse came in and did a test to see if my water had really broken. She said it would take an hour for them to know and to just hang tight. I still was not having contractions. At about 1pm they came back and said that my water had broke and I needed to have the baby today. They had put a call in to my doctor and were waiting to know if she wanted them to start me on Pitocen since I still was not having contractions. Dr. Singer got there about 2pm and checked on me and wanted to start the Pitocen. They came in every 20 minutes to up the Pitocen until I was having contractions. At about 4pm I asked for the epidural. I felt like I totally wimped out because I didn't think that my contractions were that strong (compared to everyone's stories) but I was uncomfortable enough I knew I didn't want to go without much longer especially now that they were getting consistently stronger. Later my doctor said that I was actually having "pretty strong" contractions. I am still not sure what she meant by that but I didn't care because it made me feel ok about getting the edipural. The epidural made my blood pressure drop instantly and they immediately put me on oxygen. From that point on, I could have no more ice chips because I had to keep the oxygen on my face. Once I had the epidural, I couldn't not feel a thing. AT ALL. No pressure even during the contractions. I was VERY shaky though and it made me more nervous. I can't remember when she decided I was ready to push but it seems like I only pushed for about 45 minutes. But, I honestly have no clue. I do know that it was around 10pm when she decided I would have to have a C-section. She could feel and see the baby's head and there was no way it was coming out. She didn't see any point in trying to force something that was clearly not going to work. But, I would have to wait for the operating rooms to open because they were both full. I didn't mind one bit because I still could not feel a thing. The anesthesia was starting to wear off I guess because I got really sick to my stomach. The anesthesiologist came back in to give me the anesthetic for the C-section and I told him I was going to puke. He didn't believe me and thought he could talk me out of it. I turned my head and puked all over. They cleaned me up and got West all dressed to go in the operating room. At about 10:50, it was my turn. I was crying and shaky and all wacked out from the anesthetics. I could not feel or control any muscles from my neck down. They started the operation. I started puking again. West was so awesome to hold this little bowl next to my head to puke into. They lifted my baby over the curtain so I could see. I remember feeling guilty because just before I was crying and now I was so out of it I didn't cry when she was born. She was born at 11:25pm. West followed the baby to be cleaned off. She didn't cry right away, but everything was alright. They finished putting me back together and me and the babe went back to the room. I was still so shaky and I felt so outside of myself. I was scared to hold the baby and had to have someone help me. They finished all of the tests on the baby. West's family excused themselves to go home. I wanted to be try to nurse so my family waited outside. She latched on right away! I was so relieved because a lot of my friends had such a hard time breastfeeding. They were ready to move me out of the labor room and up to the room I would stay in for the next few days. West and my family helped move me and the baby and our bags up. I got in the room and it seemed like all of the anesthesia wore off in a matter of seconds. It hurt worse than I had let my contractions get. They were delaying giving me pain meds because they wanted to make sure I wasn't going to throw up anymore because it could do a lot of damage to my incision. They finally gave me some with limited water. My family stayed to make sure I was going to be ok for the night.

Born September 10, 2010 at 11:25pm
8 lbs. 8 oz.
21 inches

That first day Keith, Linda, and Kurt Walker, Jenny Cherriman, James, Jenilee, and Jade Robinson, Justun, Jamie and Henry McCormick came to the hospital.

The next few days were pretty easy going. I hurt to get in and out of the bed but other than that, things seemed good. We had more visitors. The Blazzards, Niitsumas, and Lawrences came. Grandma and Grandpa Robinson, Ruth and Nikki, Grandma Walker, Teri and Mykal Hagler. We still had no name for the baby.

West and I went to the hospital with a list each. None of which were the same. (West's top pick was Dottie which I would have NEVER allowed. My top two were Liv and Sloane. West wouldn't allow Sloan because that is a brand of automatic toilet flushers.) When she came out and we saw her, we know none of either of our names were it. I spent the time in the hospital bouncing names off of West. We sort of narrowed it down to Aidree (not sure how we would spell it) and Talia. Everyone who visited voted for Talia. She even voted for it herself! (Grandma Walker took her blanket off when she asked the question so her arm would pop up.) My dad said that he didn't like Aidree because it reminded him of the movie Rocky when Rocky is yelling at his girlfriend Adrian. Ironically enough, the actress who play Adrian is named Talia Shire.

West and I still weren't 100% on the name. We had to fill out the birth certificate paper so they could discharge us so we settled on it. But, it has grown on us and her. We now think it fits perfectly. Talia LaRue Walker.

We chose it thinking of the Greek name Thalia. She is the muse of comedy, daughter of Zeus, and one of the three graces of beauty and charm. We didn't want the silent "h". We later found out that our spelling is a Hebrew name meaning "lamb". LaRue is after Grandma Walker, Dorothy LaRue.

Pictures of Talia

2 more thoughts...

First.....the noon news just revealed that the morning low this morning was 36 degrees in Park City. Wahoo! The end is in sight! My bun in the oven is getting overcooked I think.

Second.....as you can see from my ticker, only 34 days left (if that) until baby is here. Still no name. What are we gonna do? We are taking suggestions, but don't be offended if we don't use it.

Summer Update

I have been feeling guilty the last couple of days for not writing about the last 4 months of my pregnancy and life in general. I guess once the morning sickness left, I was too excited to blog and felt like doing anything but lounging and blogging. So, for the sake of documenting some of the more important things that have happened in the last couple of months I am going to attempt to remember all the exciting things West and I have enjoyed in the last couple of months. Warning....this might become a LONG post!

In the days around June, 8th the Weber River swelled to its highest in over 100 years. The whole town of Oakley basically shut down to sandbag all of the homes along the river and in the flood plains. The river flooded the main road through town every morning when the river peaked shutting it down. Here are a few pictures:







This is the new house my in-laws are building. They just put carpet in a couple of the rooms the week before the flood. Luckily, my father in law had been watching the river and sandbagged early. Besides damage to the yard, no water got into the house and caused damage.

We have gone camping as much as possible. This summer has been busy for West as far as work so we've had to stick close, but we've still had a lot of fun. We went to American Fork Canyon the first weekend it was open with Scotty and Brooke. It snowed one night, but we were just excited to get out and use our trailer!
We have gone to Rockport a few times. West really loves the jet skis so usually some friends meet us at least for a few hours since I can't ride them. West tried to take me for a ride and I'm pretty sure the whole beach was laughing at us. West is not a small guy and my preggo belly is not small. We barely fit on the seat!
We went to the widowmaker hill climb in Croydon (near Morgan) which was fun. I left with Jamie and went to the farmer's market in Salt Lake because for some reason shopping in the heat sounded much more fun that watching motorcycles in the heat.
The most recent place we went was one of my favorite places ever to camp. We went with our friends the Blazzard's and a bunch of their family to the Duchesne Ridge. I LOVED it. We were literally on the mountain ridge with amazing views or Uinta lakes and valleys. I also liked it because 4 wheelers were not allowed in the area so it was very peaceful without all the noise.

West had one last project on the house he wanted to complete before our baby came. So, this summer we added a deck to the back of our house! We are in LOVE with it. It is huge! We pulled our mattress outside the first couple of nights after we finished it so we could enjoy it as much as possible. As part of the deck addition, we needed to add a door from our house to the deck. So we changed one of our bedrooms into a dining room and widened the door opening. It feels like we changed the whole layout of our house! Who would have ever thought opening it up just that much would add so much! Since we don't have to have the table in what was the great room anymore, the now living room is much more livable. While we had all this torn apart, we also replaced the awful carpet with wood lamanite flooring. I loved our house before, but now I can't believe how great it is. My dad is the greatest for helping us get all of this done.

Also, in the house department....I have wanted to seriously de-clutter for the change we will have in our family. I have organized just about EVERYTHING. Being at home is so enjoyable now! I can't wait to host some parties! I have been brainstorming so pretty great ideas!

As far as the pregnancy goes, things have been great since the morning sickness left. I had about a month that my blood pressure was a little high but now its back down. My belly is just a little big (understatement). No problems other than that! The Doc said she would be surprised if I made it to 38 weeks. Some ways I am excited about this. (I could go without feeling like a kangaroo or a turtle on its back.) But, at the same time I am really nervous about this. 3 weeks and I could be a mom. What?! I am not sure why this is just now hitting me, but for some reason I am feeling really unprepared. I am sure its normal.

So you know when people have head phones on, they sing louder than they think they are and are usually WAY off key......

My boss is in the cubicle next to me singing some crazy rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I can't stop laughing.

I just had to share and she looks at my facebook.

Thanks, I guess...

I finally told my boss about the pregnancy. Do you know what she said? "Wow, that's good. I just thought you've been eating too many tacos!" What? Who says things like that? I guess she didn't notice the other 20 lbs I lost that have barely started coming back.

Thinking Positive

I guess if the morning sickness is going to last the whole time, at least its limiting my weight gain right? I may just come out smaller than I started!

Just trying to think positive so I don't entirely hate this super exciting time of my life.....

What just happened!?!? Welcome to 2010!

So, now that it is the middle of March, I finally have a chance to REALLY update my blog from the beginning of the year.....

Right after we came back from Christmas vacation, West had a couple of Clonic-Tonic seizures. They were very scary to watch and its hard to try to help someone when they are going through that because there is not a lot you can do. His tongue falls back in his throat and blocks his airway so I have to just make sure he is breathing and let it happen. We have had all sorts of tests and doctors appointments. The doctors also think that he is having partial seizures where he doesn't loose consciousness. They have now diagnosed him epilepsy. He takes medication to keep the seizures away. But, every time he stares off or he makes a weird face I get all nervous! I am always waiting for it to happen again. It is possible the seizures are triggered by stress and/or sleep deprivation so we've been going to sleep early and I do everything I can to make sure he is not stressed without making myself more stressed!

Right at this time, West entered a buy out agreement with his dad for High Definitions.

The managers at the Diner also quit while we were on vacation. So I have been helping out with that more than I ever expected.

Because of all of this, I have only been working in design 2 days a week and spending the rest of my time at High Definitions and the Diner. Which has been very convenient because......

I am preganant!!! Right now I am about 14 weeks. I am due on September 16th. We are very excited! Some of the excitement has been dulled a little though because I am pretty sick. A couple of weeks ago, I ended up at the instacare needing 2 bags of IV and an injection to stop the nausea long enough to get the IV in. I was completely dehydrated and I had gone into starvation mode. I got a prescription for anti nausea and it has been helping quite a bit, but I still have NO appetite and am always forcing myself to eat. I was hoping it would be going away soon, but this week the medicine hasn't ween working especially at night. Right now I am just praying it doesn't last the whole time.

We have pretty much figured out how to handle all these changes now are very excited for all the things to come!

Bring on 2010!

So Sad....You've been thinking about you!

Please keep my Step brother Steven, his girlfriend Shandee and their baby girl HaLee in your thoughts! This has been such a sad things for them!

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=9862181

Christmas ROADTRIP! Sans pictures :(

So bad news......We went on this A.MAY.ZING road trip and we took pictures all along the way and some how all the pictures are DELETED.....SAD:(

So first off we headed to Reno , NV to celebrate Christmas. We were visiting my mother - in - laws extended family about half of which I have never met so it was very exciting and fun! We had a very Walker meal on Christmas Eve: burritos, tamales, and taquitos. No Walker gathering is complete with out Mexican! (its so great to have married into a family who loves Mexican as much as I do!) The next morning slept in (yay!) opened gifts (more yay!) and played a bunch of Catan (yay plus!) . Then the big cheese (father - in - law) and I hit the kitchen and made the best PRIME RIB and MASHED POTATOES ever! I am so excited that I know how to make a good prime rib and hopefully I can do it again.

so then we left reno and went to Donner Pass on our way to the Redwood Forest. We stayed in Redding, CA on the Western side of the forest. We got up the next morning and headed through the forests. We went down the AVENUE of GIANTS some of the biggest trees in the state park. We also drove through both drive through trees with a Chevy Avalanche. Tight fit! But West is an amazing driver so it great! Proud moment! All of the naysaying tourists on the other side of the tree said he would never make it! That night we stayed in Willits, CA.

We got up and drove down highway 1 in Californina the coastal highway. We went to Mendocino and then Fernadale. Ferndale was this great little victorian town. West bought his first musical instrument, a "music maker". Then we continued on down the coast until we got to San Fran!

We spent a day in San Fran.....Cable cars, Chinatown, Japantown, Little Italy, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Hard Rock Cafe, Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, More victorians, am I missing something? It was a very busy, very fun day!

We then went to Menlo Park and saw where Linda lived when she and Keith met. Drove through Palo, Alto and went to San Jose.

In San Jose, we went to the Winchester House http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/story.html My FAVORITE part of the trip. Then we went to the broadwalk in Santa Cruz.

It was a very fun exciting trip! So glad I had the oppurtunity.