Walker is o{fish}ally 2!

Walker is 2! It is crazy to me to think that I have a two year old, that two years ago I gave birth to my little man. I couldn't imagine life without him now. He is always right by my side, wanting me to join him and play with him. He is such a cute little guy and a fun little boy. He is not a baby anymore that is for sure.

Walker's two year old stats:
35 inches tall (60%)
25 pounds (14%)
Says about 25-30 words
Loves fish, ducks, and birds.
Favorite movie : Toy Story.
Loves being outside at the park, beach, or anyplace where he was walk around and explore.
Loves going to grandma and grandpa Schroeder's house and FaceTime with grandma and grandpa Theobald
Loves watching old cartoons like Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse
Loves music. Can tell you what xylophone, violin, drum, and trumpet is.
Knows the colors yellow and blue. learning red and green (can tell you what they are sometimes)
Picky eater but loves breakfast foods and bananas.

To celebrate his birthday we throw a party for him. Since he loves fish we decided to have it be fish themed. I made the invites on photoshop. I love using my creative side to throw parties and create invites for parties or anything. I think the invites turned out way cute.

We wanted the party to have more kids and be mostly family and close friends. It was a great turn out. My mom was able to come for the weekend, which was awesome to be with her and have her there to celebrate with us. I made a banner and some fish for the "aquarium" I wanted to create on a wall. We made the cake look like a fish as well. We did a small lunch like sandwiches, jello, salads and fruit. I also made fish sugar cookies with a little thing of bubbles for a goodie bag. The decor turned out great. I got mostly everything at the dollar store or target (my two go to places for parties) and also did a lot of DIY projects (happy birthday banner, aquarium wall, signs and fish around the party).

We had a great time at the party. Walker loves getting his presents but could really care less about opening them himself (maybe that will change next year). We had Casey's dad do some magic tricks for everyone while we ate and talked while the kids played with toys. It was apparently too much fun since Walker decided to take a snooze right as we were singing him happy birthday and bringing out the cake.

Walker dead asleep on Grandma Robin.

Even though Walker might not be able to remember it, I wanted him to be able to know that he is loved and also that your birthday is a special day and you should celebrate it no matter how old you get. It is always fun celebrating a special occasion with family and friends.

On his birthday we went to.. you guessed it... Disneyland! Walker loves going to Disneyland. Robin and Diane joined us for the day. We wanted to do some new things that day and some things that we know he loves. So for the new things we went to Disney Jr. (we have done this before but haven't done it in a long time so it is pretty much a new thing to walker), played some arcade games on the pier and won Walker a dumbo, went on the Mickey's Fun Wheel and met the one and only Captain America (I was speechless when meeting him). We of course did our usuals too, Buzz, Toy Story Mania, Little Mermaid, Winnie the Pooh, and many more. It is always fun going to Disneyland and having explore.

After we went to Disneyland, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to have pancakes and ice cream. Walker was very interested in the fire that was on the candle and wanted to touch it really bad. We told him no and kept taking his hand away while singing to him. He cried but it was his birthday so he could cry if he wanted too, right?

I want to wish Walker a very happy birthday and hope he has a wonderful and awesome year that is filled with many adventures and memories. I hope you, Walker, know that you are loved and that you will always be our little boy no matter how fast you grow up and how big you get. Love you buddy!

♥ The Schroeders

Walker First Big Hospital Trip.

This past weekend has been something I could never expect on coming. It was a weekend that was filled with blessings and answered prayers. We were planning on hanging out with some friends and going to a Halloween Party but plans changed. Before I tell the story of the past couple days I want to say thank you to all of our family members and friends that prayed for Walker and our family. Every prayer and thought was appreciated.

Walker started to come down with the cold, we thought, on Thursday. He woke up acting cranky and just wanted to lay down and not do much. I put him down for a nap at 10 which was very odd for him and he slept until 1:15 when I woke him up to go to the Schroeder's to pick up Robin before we went to the pumpkin patch and than over for dinner. I brought some Tylenol for Walker just incase he was teething or what not. Before we went to pick up Robin, we stopped at Costco so Casey can turn in his resume and Walker and I walked around to get some samples. NOTE: Walker doesn't like eating things he hasn't tasted before. But this time while getting the samples, Walker ate every sample I gave him! I was thinking he just has been hungry because the last time he ate was in the morning about 8:30. So then I ruled out teething since it didn't seem like his gums were hurting. We then got Robin and headed to the pumpkin patch. Everything else seemed normal the rest of the day except that Walker took another nap on the way home from the pumpkin patch, which we thought was normal for a little boy coming down with the cold.

Walker feel asleep when we got home pretty easy. But woke up the next morning with a cough and a rasp in his voice. He was acting very lethargic and just wanted to lay down on the couch or our bed and watch some of his favorites. His symptoms stayed the same throughout the day with an addition to diarrhea and a low grade fever, which is no fun. That night however was a different story. Walker went to bed still having a raspy cough and a low grade fever. I took a steamy shower with him before he went to bed and put the humidifier on in his room. He woke up about 11pm coughing and crying. Casey and I both rushed to him since it sounded like his cough got worse. Casey turned on the shower and closed the window in the bathroom which we all sat in the steamy bathroom. Walker went back to sleep and slept pretty well the rest of the night. Casey and I looked up his symptoms after he went back to bed to see what it could be. WebMD said that it sounded like the common cold, asthma or bronchitis. We decided that I would talk Walker into Urgent Care the next morning to make sure it was nothing else and see if there was anything we can do to help him.

Resting while watching our favorite shows and movies on Friday

Saturday morning. We did just that. Except when I got to urgent care it was closed and didn't open until 1. (RANT: isn't it called urgent care for a reason? you would think they would be open all day on saturday and sunday since most doctor offices are closed for the weekend. nope not the case.) So since it didn't open until 1 and I didn't want to take him in ER since it wasn't anything horrible, i thought, I decided to go to Casey's parents house and hang out there until they opened. I was planning on doing this after going to the urgent care anyways but plans change and life moves on. Walker and I watched some Disney Junior and played with some toys. His cough was worse than it was friday night. It started to sound more like a bark of a dog or a seal. You could hear him breathe when he was playing. You could tell that breathing wasn't effortless. Perry told me that it sounded like he had croup. I was thinking it wasn't the common cold since it has got progressively worse. And croup would have been a good guess since Casey got it many times when he was younger.

1 o'clock finally came around. I took Walker into the Urgent Care. Trying to fill out papers with a sick one year old that is walking everywhere and exploring is hard to do alone, especially when he might have a very contagious sickness. They called me in pretty quickly, luckily. I told they Walker was showing signs of croup and had a bark-like cough. They listened to his lungs and throat and yup it was croup. They first gave him some steroids to help his airways swelling go down. The doctor came in and checked him out. He definably was having a hard time breathing. You could see him gasping and trying to get as much as air he can when you looked at his throat and chest. The doctor told me that the steroids wouldn't kick in for a couple hours but they can give him different medicine that he would breathe in with the nebulizer that we were already using in the office with saline water mist. She said I would have to stay there for two hours so they can monitor him and check him again once it wares off. If it helped and the steroids kicked in and he was breathing better than we would be able to go home but if the medicine worked and he wasn't breathing better and still struggling we would have to admit him into the hospital to stay over night to be monitored and maybe get more breathing treatments. So that is what we did. I stayed their with Walker in Urgent Care while he got his first breathing treatment. We had to hold the tube that was connected to the nebulizer close to his month so help him breathe in the mist and medicine. Robin was able to come and stay with us while we were there.

The breathing treatment seemed to work great. Walker slept most of the time except when he started to feel uncomfortable. Once it wore off you can tell that he was starting to have a hard time breathing again. So the Doctor told us that she is going to call the hospital to get us a room and have us go over there in a ambulance since it was respiratory. We gave another breathing treatment to Walker while they figured out what hospital we were going to and while we wait for the ambulance. I called Casey and told him that the situation and that Perry would pick him up from work when he can get off since I had the car. Casey got off as soon as he can to try and make it to Urgent Care before Walker and I left in the ambulance. NOTE: I did not plan on staying over night anywhere except for our home. So I did not have anything for Walker or Casey and I. But Robin was able have Perry give some things to Casey before he started his way to the hospital.

The ambulance came after about 30 - 40 minutes. Walker and I got into the ambulance and drop off to Rady's Children Hospital in San Diego a couple minutes before Casey got there. Walker did great in the ambulance. He was relaxed and just looked out the back window and around. There are many new things to look at so he was occupied. He also found a zip tie that was on the windows next to him that he liked to play with. The EMTs were great! They were young and didn't have children on their own so we got to talk about what Walker likes and what was going on with him and their job.

First (and hopefully last) adventure in an ambulance.

We got to Rady's Children Hospital a few minutes before Casey. They had a room all ready for Walker so we were able to get settled in pretty quickly. When we got there we met our first nurse. She was very peppy. You could tell she was suppose to work at a Children's Hospital. Walker did great with being checked up on. The only thing he did not like was the cord that was attached to his toe that would track his oxygen flow and heartbeat. He kept pulling on it to get it off. We tried to hide it under his blanket but he always seem to find it. You could tell the steroids started to kick in because Walker wasn't crying every time he coughed or breathed in. The nurse told us that the best way for Walker to recover is to keep him calm. They wouldn't do anything that would bother him or frustrate him because they wanted him to rest so his airways don't swell up again. That was easy since we had the iPad and phones with us that had his favorites on it to watch. Casey watched Mickey Mouse cartoons with Walker while he was awake. Walker loves Mickey Mouse cartoons and thinks they are funny. You could tell he had croup when he laughed. It was and cutest/saddest laugh. When the funny parts were one you could tell Walker wanted to laugh but was holding back, he had a big smile on his face. Thank you to Apple for having great modern technology devices for entertaining Walker.

some pictures in the hospital. [laying down, watching Mickey Mouse with daddy (love how he is smiling!), sleeping (a lot of sleeping), finally was able to go outside and walk without a cord attached to his leg.]

Robin and Perry were able to come and visit for a little. It was after visiting hours when they were able to make it since they had their wards trunk or treat party that night and had some non-member friends coming. But they were still able to come up since Perry was going to help Casey give Walker a blessing. They also brought some more sleeping supplies for Casey and I since we didn't have any. By the time they got there Walker was sound asleep.

(SIDE NOTE: I want to say how grateful I am to be apart of the Church. I am so glad I have a husband and father-in-law and many other family members that were and are able to give blessings to people that are in need of one anytime. Also having the knowledge and faith in Christ helped me not break down and lose myself throughout this whole time. I knew that he will help walker fit this and get better.)

Casey and I both decided to stay to make sure we were both their if something did go wrong. We got to snuggle up on the little pull out chair/bed. Lets just say it is really meant for one person to sleep semi-comfortably. Walker did great during the night. He only woke up a few times to have something to drink or eat since he didn't get to good to go to eat or drink until right before he feel asleep. It hurt eat much so we tried to keep the food soft and the drink warm. Throughout the night the nurses kept on coming in and checking on him since croup is suppose to get worse at night. But like I said Walker was great. His breathing for clearer and he didn't need any more breathing treatments! In the morning it just sounds like it did on friday, high congestion. We were able to be discharged from the hospital by noon. They told us to still keep an eye on him and make sure if the barky cough comes back like it was bring him in.

We than went home. Stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's house to get somethings we left and return what they let us borrow and visit of course. When we got home we gave walker a bath and some food. Casey and I both wanted to take a nap but Walker had another plan. We wanted to play with his toys. So Casey let me take a nap while he watched Walker than once I woke up I let Casey go lay down while I put Walker down. As of now he is doing much better. He is getting back to his normal self. Still has a hard time eating and drinking since this airways and throat are sore but he tries his best to do what he can. He seems to be on the mend. We have a follow up appointment with his doctor on wednesday to check on how he is doing. He still has a horsiness to his laugh and cough but it seems to not hurt as much as it has been. The Doctor said that he can have that horsiness up to 10 days because his throat and airways will still be healing. He is acting more and more like himself. He is playing more and more with his toys.

Walker is now the doctor. We still are resting when we can.

I am glad to say that I am a tough little guy. I am so glad he is a healthy boy and he was able to get better enough to only stay one night at the hospital. I am glad it wasn't worse and it could have easily been if we didn't catch it the time we did. I am so thankful for Heavenly Father's hand in all of this. Blessing Walker that he would feel better and also blessing Casey and I for keeping calm and knowing what to do. I am grateful for all of the family and friends that sent their thoughts and prayers our way. It really was a weekend I wasn't expecting but glad I was able to do what we had to do. I am thankful that we have health insurance for Walker. I am so blessed to have my little boy in my life and to be his mom and help him when he needs it.

♥ The Schroeder

Walker Update: Eighteen Months

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! My little boy is a year and a half years old! I cannot believe how fast time flies by. Walker has grown so much in the past three months. He is getting so big that I start to think about what is ahead of me but than just tell myself to live in the moment and spend as much time as I can with my little boy while I can.

Hide 'n' Seek | "Look what I can do!"
How we like to watch TV | feeding himself | Swimming with Grandma Schroeder

Stats:
weight: 23 lbs (10 - 25%)
height: 32 inches (50 - 75%): tall enough to go on Mater Junkyard at DCA but hasn't yet because whenever we try he won't stand up straight. In a couple months it will happen.

He is still cruising on the floor most of the time but getting more and more confident each day to stand up and see what he can do with the new view. He has learned new words and is starting to communicate to me what he wants or if he is frustrated. He loves to point out the birds and airplanes in the sky when he hears them. His new favorite thing to watch is movies, mostly Pinocchio and Toy Story. He still loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins as well as the old and new Mickey Mouse and Donald short cartoons, he thinks they are hilarious! He loves to play with his toys and to be outside doing anything. He loves making towers with his legos and than knocking them down while saying uh-oh. He loves to watch Casey and I play Mario Kart and even brings me the controller so I will play with and he plays along. He loves to climb onto anything he can get up on. He will even push a chair or step stole over to get up where he wants to get up on. He loves to play with his friends. He loves to spend time with his grandparents and swimming at their home. He loves when my parents to come visit.

One thing that we have noticed about Walker is that he is an observer. He doesn't mind just looking around and see whats going on. My mom and grandpa says that he is going to be an engineer because he thinks like one. He is a very smart kiddo. While at my grandpa's house he went up to his grandfather's clock, that is in the glass cabinet so you can see all the gears, and just watched the gears work and the pendulum go back and forth. He also loves to just look around when we go to Disneyland and "people watch" (which is very fun to do at Disneyland. You see many interesting people there).

He loves to play with his toys like a 'normal' kid but also loves to try and figure out how it works. For example, we got his a table that he plays with standing up (or kneeing down because he is so dang tall). There are this balls that you can put in the middle and they come out the legs. He has figured out that if you put the ball down the hole it will come out on of the legs but he wants to know more. So what does he do.. puts the ball up the leg to see what happens. And what happens.. the ball comes out another leg. It is so fun to just sit back sometimes and watch him figure something out. And once he does he is so proud of himself and sometimes looks over at me and claps with a big smile on his face.

Walker has taken about 20 steps on his own and improving each day. He has been a late bloomer in the walking category but has excelled is many other categories. He is very determined and just doesn't want to walk even though he can. It makes his doctor laugh to an extent that he isn't walking because he can and he has the strength to. We have tried everything we can think of to get him to realized that he can go much faster if he walks but he is perfectly fine crawling along. He will just one day get up and take off. He sure is a mover. He loves to move from one place to another all day long, so in the meanwhile I will just enjoy my little boy and have him move at his own pace.

Walker loves to eat sweets and knows who to go to when he wants some. And that is Grandma, but isn't that what Grandmas do. He will turn away from veggies and other foods that he just doesn't like but if Grandma offer a popsicle or ice cream or anything of that kind he won't even hesitate and take a bite. We have tried to even trick him of switching from a sweet and a "healthy" snack and he will still turn away once  he see it but not from the sweets. I think we have a sweet tooth junky on our hands.

Mr. Independent has now entered the room. Walker loves to do things by himself. He will ask for help when he needs it in his own little way. He has became more independent when we moved into our own apartment at the beginning of August. He likes to do things on his own and I am not stopping him. Independence is very good. He even tries to turn on the TV when he wants to watch one of his shows or movies by himself but hasn't figured it out so brings the controller or my phone over to me so I can switch it or turn it on. If he needs help he will bring whatever he needs help with over to where I am and says in his own language "help me mommy. I can't figure it out".

♥ The Schroeder

Walker's Update - Fifteen Month

So for the first year of Walker's life I posted an update each month about his development and what he has been up to. Since he is past a year I am going to try keep the updates going but only do it every 3 months or so or post when something big happens.

Walker is fifteen months! My first thought is that only three more months until he goes into nursery but that three months so many things can happen. Like these past three months Walker has developed so much. It has been fun to just sit back and watch him play and figure things out for himself.

He has TEN teeth (four on the top, four on the bottom, and two bottom one year molars). He is getting his top two one year molars in slowly. He weight 22 lbs and is 31 inches tall (one inch to short to ride mater at DCA). He hasn't gotten the hang of standing or walking on his own. Walker does know how to walk along furniture or walls and stand while holding onto something for stability. He does walk while holding onto our hand(s). When he does he just wants to go go go. He wants to walk faster than his long legs will let him. He is getting more and more confident each day that passes by. It is more of him deciding himself that he wants to do it because he is strong enough and can if he wants to. Even though he doesn't walk he sure does know how to get around otherwise. Walker is a fast crawler and loves to climb. He can climb up onto and back down from the couch, chair, table. really anywhere he wants to go. He knows how to go up and back down the stairs by himself.

He is a talker. Some words that he says throughout the day are: Mickey (mi-ky), Donald (Doal), Pretty (pety), Yummy (umy), Blue (bu), Belly (bel).  NOTE: We are still figuring out how he says them but we sure knows what they mean and are.  Walker is starting to figure out his body more. He is learning now where his belly button is. He loves to play with his lips and make an "Indian call" with his mouth.

He is starting to eat his veggies, which has been hard and still is hard to get down. With most of his veggies we try to feed him, Walker pretends that he is Baby Hulk and 'smashes' or squishes them in his hands and than throws them onto the floor. The things he loves to eat is popsicles, mac 'n' cheese, waffles, yogurt, any fruit, pasta, anything that is sweet, oatmeal, PB&J sandwich, ice cream, eggs, and broccoli (the only veggie he will feed himself). NOTE: Most of these foods are Casey's favorite foods. Like Father like Son. He is starting to figure out how to use his own fork and spoon. He mostly just hold the spoon while I feed him but he is getting the concept. He loves to stab things with the fork and than he tries to put it in his month and doesn't quite get it in so he takes it off his fork and puts it in his month with his hands. It's a start right?

Walker loves being outside. If I let him play outside all day, I am pretty sure he would have no problem with that. He loves to swim in the pool with us. He knows how to blow bubbles, kick, and splash. He laughs when we splash and than he does. He gets so excited when we head down to the pool. Walker will find water anywhere (and when I say anywhere I mean anywhere!) He loves to play in the water. STORY: We went to the beach this past week and he loved playing in the sand but every once in a while he would start crawling to the water. We put him back where all of the toys were and the kids playing. After a couple of times of doing this he figured out that maybe if he crawled backwards towards the water we wouldn't notice that he was going there. It was pretty entertaining to watch him figure this out.

Another thing that Walker loves to do is put things in and take things out of things. He can do this for a good 20 minutes. He loves to read his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse books. He is starting to like to watch the show 'Little Einstein's' and 'Henry Hugglemoster' on Disney Junior. I have been trying to limit his TV time but some days I am better than others. He still loves to take baths (his favorite time of the day that he crawls over to bathroom door and "cries" until I come over and open it or pick him up). The bathroom is probably his favorite room in the house. He always gets so excited when I take him in it. Casey and I have thought of seeing if we could potty train him now since he loves the bathroom so much but than said he should probably know how to walk first. Walker other favorite time of the day is lotion time. He loves having someone rub lotion on him. Lately he has been wanting to do it himself. So I have been putting a little on his hand and he rubs it on his belly. Since Walker has 10 teeth, he have been brushing his teeth more and more. He loves doing it. I make sure I brush his teeth and than I give him the toothbrush and his does it for a little bit.

Since Walker is now older he has been playing better with other kids. It has been great to teach him how to share and play with others. We play a lot with his friend, Lucas. They play so well with each other even though they are 7 months apart (sometimes 7 months in baby time is a long time). We call them woody and buzz because they resemble Woody (Walker) and Buzz (Lucas). Another friend we like to play with is William. We have gone to Disneyland with William and Lucas a couple times. It is fun to be able to have friends with walkers friends moms. It is always nice to have a play date. Walker loves to go to his friends house and play and have them come over to our place and play. Soon we are going to get all three of these little men together and have them play. It will be fun!

Walker is growing up so fast. This past week or so I have noticed that my little baby boy is growing up way to fast. Time does fly by. I love being able to be a stay at home mom and just watch him play and play with him. He is my buddy and the best little buddy I could ever ask for. He is a smart little guy. He surprises me everyday. I now can't wait to see what new things that he will learn in these next couple months.

I love you Walker!

♥ The Schroeder

Walker's Mickey Birthday Party!

Some say that having a birthday party for your one year old is a little over the top. but i think why not! i love planning parties and thinking of all of the decorations and cute things i can do for the party. sow when it came time to start thinking about walker's first birthday party i couldn't resist of doing mickey mouse. he loves watching mickey mouse clubhouse and disneyland. it was perfect! i saw a cute invite on esty and told myself that i could do something like that myself so i designed it and sent them out. it was fun to use my creativeness again. 

casey doesn't like the super themed parties and i sometimes think they look tacky to be honest. so i did everything in black, red, and yellow to get the feel of mickey mouse without over doing it. we did have some stuffed mickeys for decorations but nothing to crazy. i wanted a banner to hang somewhere that said happy birthday. My friend Aubry helped me with the banner since i am not super crafty but now getting better at it.

we had some food out for people to eat like hot dogs and chips and dip with some mac and cheese and potato salad. I also had lemonade and also fruit punch for drinks with water as well. i didn't mean for all the food to be yellow and red but it turned out that way. we didn't get to take a photo of the food table but i wish we did because it turned out great! i had cupcakes because really i like cupcakes more than cake and it is less messy in my option. I found an idea for the cupcakes on pinterest. they turned out way cute! thank goodness for pinterest!

walker got many presents from everyone that came. most of the presents had to something with disney or mickey mouse. what a surprise. i don't mind though. he loves them. most of his toys now are disney and mickey mouse. he got lots of toys and clothes. at first he didn't really know how to open the presents but once he figured it out he did great. once he opened the present he just wanted to play with the toy so it look a while to open them all. thanks everyone for the gifts.

Many people give their kid a cake for their first birthday to 'dig into'. I decided I didn't want to make a cake and then it just be all over the place. So I made a cupcake for Walker to 'dig into'. Just like the presents it took him a while to get the hang of it but once he tasted that frosting their was no stopping him. He just ate the frosting and smashed the 'cake' part. It was a mess but it was still fun.

Walker got to have some family that is usually not around there for his party. My Grandpa, that lives in Mission Viejo, came down with my parents. Grandma and Grandpa Rozsa came as well. The most surprised person that came was my brother, Alex. He is in Provo going to school at BYU and was heading to China the next month for the summer so it would have been the last time we got to see him before he left for China. It was fun seeing all of our family and friends there. 

Thanks to everyone to came and made the day a great one for Walker and us! We love you all!

♥ The Schroeder

Walker Monthly Update - Month twelve!

I know this is way late but better late than never!!

my little walker is ONE!

can you believe it!

I can't believe that i have a one year old. this past year has just have gone by way to fast! it seems like i was bring walker home from the hospital from after being born. i am go grateful to have such a sweet little boy.

wears 12-18 months clothes.

size 3 diapers

size 3.5 - 4 shoes

takes about a 2 hour nap {on a good day}

loves to sleep with mom and dad {not so fun in a full size bed}

weighs 20 lbs 6 oz (25%)

31 inches tall (89%)

46 head cm

walker is not quite yet a "walker" yet but he is starting to show interest in it. my brother brad and sister in law got him a mickey mouse "walker" for his birthday so i hope that will help. he will walk if i am holding his hands but once i let go he goes right to the floor and starts crawling. i am not saying i want him to walk but i kinda do. i know that once he walks he will probably be running the next day since he is a mover and all he wants to do is go go go!

this past month walker has became a talker! he doesn't say many words only like 'mama' 'dada' 'baba' 'papa' 'dodo' but sometimes he seems like he is actually saying words. {story} one time we were getting ready to go to disneyland and i keep on saying to him want to go to disneyland, he then said something like 'disney'. it seems like it says words pretty clearly. he now puts anything up to his ear and acts like it is a phone. he will just i can't wait to have him talk. but he has lots of different sounds. it is exciting to see how walker is developing and how much he has developed this past year. Walker is starting to recognize things he like. for example he loves Mickey Mouse. He knows his voice when I turn Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the TV. He is starting to know who he is now. For his birthday we got him a stuff Mickey from Disneyland. Actually he is the one who picked it out. We gave him an option of one or the other and he picked the one we got him. Whenever he starts playing with it I tell him ''thats Mickey'' and now he looks at me and then Mickey and says 'meme.' it is probably the cutest thing! He somethings just says 'key' in a whisper but now it is more 'meme'. it is fun seeing his talking skills develop.

this little boy is a sneak. he loves to get into things that he isn't suppose to. he has sometimes even watch me to wait until i am not looking and then beam line it to whatever he wants that i don't want him to have. or he looks at me and then the thing he wants. {story} I was sitting on the bed with him and my phone was next to us. he wanted to get and play with it. i kept taking it away from him and putting it back where it was. and he started looking at me then the phone then back at me and did this for a few times until he thought i wasn't paying attention and went for my phone. he is a pretty clever boy.

walker loves to be outside. when the front door is open he seriously beam lines it to the door to get out there. it makes me feel like i don't take him out as much as i should, which sometimes i do stay inside somedays when i could be going outside. but when i do take him out and stand outside he is just in awe. he could just look and be outside all day if i would let him. and when i do decide it is time to go back inside and bring him in he screams and cries. i am glad he likes to be outside but somedays i would like to just relax inside. this summer will be fun to take him to parks and watch him play. along with his love for outside walker loves water. he could play in it for ever if i would let him. another thing i am excited about is taking him swimming his summer. it will be fun.

it is still shocking to me to say sometimes i have a one year old. to me he is still a little baby. but in reality he will always be my baby. this next year will be fun of new adventures and i can't wait to see what it brings for walker and also for our family.

♥ The Schroeder

The First 365 days of Walker Daniel Schroeder - Photo Book

When Walker was born we decided that we wanted to take a picture each day of Walker so we can see the changes he makes his first year. I am so glad we did. We decided to make a Shutterfly book of all the pictures so we have a book to look at when he gets older. Another great decision we made.

It is crazy to see how much he grows through the book. It makes me miss the little baby he once was. Now I play with him and can't stop myself from smiling about my little boy. He will always be my little walker.

The First 365 days of Walker Daniel Schroeder

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Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Walker Monthly Update - Month Eleven

one more month until little walker is ONE! it is crazy to think that my boy will be ONE in just a month!

oh can i try mommy . baby fohawk . look at what i am doing . we may like movies to much but at least walker has the same love for them . i am stuck . no time for getting dress need to play all the time 

Walker has sure become a hand full. He loves to play and is just full of life. There are days where I wish he would just sit on my lap and lay down with me to take a nap but he knows what he wants and has no problem telling me or letting me know. As you can tell in the picture above he loves to get into things. It always makes me smile when I look around to try and find him and once I do he just look at me like he has done nothing wrong. I have been trying to teach him no even though he might not know what it means yet. But he has such a cute little face that sometimes it is hard to not laugh or just smile when I am trying to teach him the concept of 'no'. It is going to be a challenge but I will be able to do it.

I have been trying new hair styles with walker since he got a hair cut last month. My favorite is the baby fohawk. I think he just looks adorable in it. I only do it every so often but still its my favorite. We are also starting to feed him some 'real' food since he is turning one in a month! He doesn't seem to be a big fan. He usually just spits it out and then plays with it and drops it onto the floor. I guess it will just have to come with time, but i am praying that he isn't a picky eater. he does eat yogurt, sometimes cheese, and he loves treats {thanks to grandma robin}. I think we might have a sweet tooth little boy on our hands.

something that makes me laugh is that walker really doesn't like taking breaks from playing. he can play all day if i would let him. he doesn't make many naps during the day. he is now transitioning to one a day which is sad for me. but sometimes he will only take maybe a 20 minute nap and is good until bedtime at like 8:30 or 9. he doesn't even like getting his diaper changed. I have to make sure that he has a toy to play with while i change his diaper or he will roll over and run off with no diaper. even when i get a diaper on he won't let me put his shirt on or pants on again. it is kinda frustrating but i am getting use to it and usually just take him to our room and change him on the changing table. {it usually is easier, sometimes}

one thing that we have noticed is that walker doesn't like things on his feet. since it has been cold i usually put sock on his feet so they stay warm. probably in the 10 minutes after i put on socks at least one is off, usually the left foot. he is now my 'one sock wonder'.

Since walker will be one soon we are teaching him to hold his own bottle. it has been good so far. he will hold it if we put the handle of his sippy cup on so he can grip onto the handles. he doesn't like drinking from his sippy cup yet he just spills it all over or just chews on it. we will be working on that though. {sidenote} i love about the brand of bottles that we got for walker is that they all go with each other. it has been so nice. i love them. i got the tommie tippie brand and i now swear on it. he didn't have any problems when i needed to feed him with a bottle while breastfeeding him and then only giving him a bottle. he did such a great job. he had no problem. i would recommend them to anyone!

Walker is now getting more interested in things. when i am on my phone or on the computer he wants to see what i am doing or "help" me. it has been fun. he loves to play with the iPad or our phones and just press the home button. He does just little things throughout the day and just makes me smile. I wish that i could know what he is thinking when he does things.

I have been planning walker's birthday first party and i hope that he all turns out. I am doing a mickey mouse theme since he love love mickey mouse. i don't want to do total overly mickey mouse but i am thinking i am starting to get to that but it will be cute. I can't wait to say that I have a one year old. He is just getting so big!

♥ The Schroeder

Walker Monthly Update: Month Ten

Oh my goodness! It was ten months ago that our little Walker was born. I can't believe it. I know I say it a lot but time flys by, especially since it had been the holiday season. Ten months seems like a long time but in reality it isn't. I was thinking about it the other day and I was pregnant with walker for technically ten months. So pretty much walker has been alive for the same amount of time he was inside of me. I just think that is crazy.

in love with bath time . reading a story with grandma . riding on daddy's shoulder while grocery shopping . playing the wii . brushing his teeth/eating his toothbrush . playing with toys . big boy carseat, seems to be comfortable . uh-oh mommy caught me 

This month has been a busy one. Lots have been going on specially since it is the holiday season. The holidays sure doesn't stop walker. He is now all go go go. He loves to get into things that he isn't suppose to get in. I have been trying my hardest to make sure I have an eye on him but hey what can you say, he will find a way to get around me.

Little Walker has now four teeth {two on the top and two on the bottom}. I try to brush his teeth to make sure that they stay healthy but he just likes to eat the toothbrush. hey at least he isn't screaming every time I try to brush his teeth.

It is crazy to think how fast he is growing. For christmas, we got him a bigger carseat because he grew out of his carrier carseat. He loves being able to sit up and see a little better but I bet he would love to face forward and see even more.

We have been trying to set a bedtime routine for walker but it has been a little difficult. We will try again some other time. The one thing that he likes about the bedtime routine is us reading to him. He loves hearing stories. We got a couple of the big disney story collection books on black friday so we have been reading those to his. He doesn't sit through the whole story yet but he sure does tell you when he is done. He will just close the book and then look up at you. It is fun to being able to see his personally come out.

Walker is now just loving life. He is such a happy boy no matter what. He was sick for a bit of this month but you couldn't really tell since he still was happy and all smilies. He was fussy for a couple of days but once we got his some medicine it was like nothing has happened. This might sound funny but when he didn't have meds he would just cuddle with me and lay with me all day and then I gave him his meds and he just wanted to play. I miss being able to have my cuddle bug but it only really happens when he is super tired or when he is sick. So whenever that happens I just soak it all in.

His month walker got his first hair cut. His hair was getting very long in the front as you can see in the picture above. I just cut it myself but was scared out of my pants. I don't do well cutting hair even though I cut Casey's hair but still it makes me nervous. I thought that it was going to be hard to do but Walker was just a good boy and was great! Grandma Robin helped me out a bit to make sure that it turned out good.

first hair cut
before. during. after

Overall I think it turned out good. I almost cried when we were done. I just missed his long hair but it is good that we cut it. He still is the cute little guy that we all know and love. What do you think?

♥ The Schroeder

Walker Monthly Update: Month Nine

{be prepared to read many late post}

I know this is way late but here it is. 

little walker is nine months!

first christmas hat Mickey style .  sleeping baby . christmas jammies . bath time is the best . loving the doctors . swinging is so much fun . eating some Christmas treats . making sure mommy is there . santa's littler helper

Time flys by so fast and I am trying to enjoy every moment I get with my little guy. He is getting so big. It's crazy for me to think that my little walker is growing up so fast.

Everyday he learns something new. It seems like he has a first everyday. He knows how to pull himself up to stand while holding onto furniture. He loves to pulls things off the table. He loves to eat his baby foods and doesn't have any picky habits, just won't eat meat. We are starting to introduce him to other foods like cheese, yogurt, and Cheerios. So far he is loving it. We have given him foods like this before but just a little taste.

A big thing that walker has learned this month is that he is crawling on his hands and knees. He has been "army crawling" for about three months now and one day he just started to go. He still sometimes goes back to "army crawling" but he seems to be getting the hang of it. It has sure been keeping me on my toes and making sure he isn't getting into anything he not suppose to.

Walker still loves Mickey Mouse. Whenever it comes on TV or he hears Mickey he perks up and looks around for him. It is great seeing him develop so much and see what he loves and doesn't. Another thing he loves is baths. He has always loved them since he has been born. Now that is knows how to crawl he is starting to move in the tub and play with his toys more. It can be a little difficult to wash him because all he wants to do is just move around and play with his bath toys and splash in the water.

One thing about Walker that we know is that he thinks that he is bigger than he his. We have a family friend that has a boy that is 2 years old, Chase. Whenever we play with them Chase try's his hardest to keep up with Chase and do everything he does. It is funny to watch but I feel bad because he is trying so hard and just can't keep up. But watch out Chase once walker know how to walk he will be able to.

It has been fun just watching walker grow and learn. Being a mom is the best and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

♥ The Schroeder

Christmas Time!

Its the time again. Christmas is here. (well was here but I am pretending I did this earlier..hehe)

It is Walker's first Christmas and we wanted it to be special but this Christmas was a much different Christmas than I have even experienced. It isn't because it was my first Christmas as a mom but it is because what happened this season.

Casey and I made a deal that we would go to Palm Springs with my parents to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving with them earlier that month so he wouldn't have to take off work on Christmas. I had mixed emotions about it. I knew we needed the money but also I wanted to spend the day as a family and wanted to go see my parents for the holidays. So we that is what we did. I wrote about out holiday adventures in Palm Springs in an earlier post. Once we got Casey schedule I was sad because he had to work from 10 in the morning to 6 at night on Christmas, but I remembered out deal so it was okay.

The week before Christmas Walker started to have a stuffy nose. I thought it was him teething, which it was partly because he was getting his two front teeth just in time for Christmas. Then Christmas Eve came and he had a terrible cough. I decided to take him into the doctors that day before it got worse and also I didn't really want to spend Christmas Day without Casey and in the ER because of Walker's cough. It was so sad to see little Walker sick. The doctor told me that he had a cold, which is going around, and also an ear infection. No fun to be sick on your first Christmas!

Christmas Eve Casey had to work as well but it was raining so he was able to get off early so we could spend time together as a family during the day. That night we had some family over for dinner and played games with them. It was fun seeing Walker try to play with older kids. He tries so hard to keep up but he just can't because he is only 9 months old. Once everyone left we gave Walker a bath and help with his congestion then got into our Christmas Eve Pjams. We then watched 'The Nightmare Before Christmas.' Walker and I both crashed 10 minutes into the movie.

Before we knew it, it was Christmas Morning! Walker must have known that it was Christmas because he woke up much earlier that he usually does.. 3 o'clock is early to be awake to open presents. Now I understand why my parents told me that we were not able to open present until at least 5 o'clock to give time for Santa to get the presents out. We waited for about 6 o'clock to get up and get everyone else up to open presents since Casey had to go to work at 10.

Of course Santa came, why wouldn't he?! Walker was all excited about all his present once they were open. He enjoyed opening one but then didn't really care about opening the rest. We might have spoiled Walker a little too much. He had to most presents under the tree. But I have to say that Casey and I did pretty well too. It is much different once there is a little baby in the house around Christmas time. I didn't mind not getting so much because I just wanted to get stuff for my little boy.

Once all the presents were open we had breakfast as a family. Robin made Bread Pudding. I never had it that I remember. After breakfast we had time to play with Walker and his presents before Casey had to go to work. Once Casey left for work Walker and I took a nap since both of us were sick. It was a much needed nap. We both slept for a good 3 hours. Once we woke up we watch the Disneyland Christmas Parade and played with his presents. Walker loved watching the Christmas Parade and seeing all of the Disney Characters.

When Casey got home that night, we had a nice Christmas dinner with Ham, potatoes, rolls, and homemade stuffings that I made. After dinner and dessert we played a Christmas game that I found on Pinterest. You put a plate on your head and then draw a scene of the Christmas tree by the fireplace. As you can see above it was interesting to see how it turned out. After playing the game we read the Christmas Story from Luke. I love being able to end Christmas by remembering the true meaning of Christmas.

This Christmas season I have noticed that a lot of people talk about what they are getting or what they want. I have noticed that I have done the same at times. So I told my self that this year I wanted to be more giving and service others more. Giving and serving others makes you feel good and makes other peoples day. I hope you try thinking about giving and serving more than getting.

♥ The Schroeder

Two Thanksgivings. Two Weeks.

This Year we had two Thanksgivings in two weeks.

On the actual day we just spent it here with Robin, Perry and the Todd's. During Walker's morning nap Casey and I went to go see 'Wreck It Ralph'. It was such a good movie. I loved it! We then had our Thanksgiving dinner that afternoon. Walker spelt through it, which was nice but sad at the same time. Nice because Casey and I got to eat a dinner without having to make sure Walker has some puffs or something to play with. Sad because he missed out on his first Thanksgiving dinner. We did save some turkey and mash potatoes for him and blended them up and fed them to him later that day and he did not like it! Kinda like his mom, not really liking turkey. I guess we will see if his likes ham on Christmas. I totally forgot to take some pictures on that day. :[

That night Black Friday started! We left Walker with Perry while Casey and I went out to go get the goods. We met up with some of our friends at Walmart and then went to Target with them as well. We got most of Walker's Christmas presents and some movies and other things for us. We also went to Old Navy at midnight to get our outfits for our family photos, which I will post about in a different post. We also got me some new jeans since my favorite jeans ripped a couple weeks before (such a sad day). It was fun to go shopping with our friends and go shopping for Walker. I am excited to give him all of his presents on christmas!! The next day, I wanted to go to JCP to get some colored jeans for our family photos. I met up with my friend Aubry there and they didn't even have the jeans I wanted to get so I got different ones and also so clothes for Walker. The mall was crazy! Pretty sure it took me like 30 minutes to find a parking spot. Good thing Walker was sleeping or he would have just screamed his head off until he got out of his carseat. I think I will not go to the mall again on Black Friday even if the deal are way good. I don't think it is wroth the craziness... :/

The next week we had Thanksgiving/Christmas with my family. Casey and I decided that we would just do one big trip to go see my parents for the holidays so he doesn't have to request the holidays off since he would get paid a time and a half. So we talked to my parents and also my brother brad about what they were going to do this thanksgiving and what we decided was that the next week we would go to the resort in Palm Springs my parents have points at and go there and celebrate with each other. It was fun being with family. We had Thanksgiving and Christmas.

YUM YUM!

For Thanksgiving dinner, we were all in charge of making something. Casey and I were in charge of making stuffing (dressing) and the mash potatoes. I made the stuffing and I did it from scratch. I found a recipe on Pinterest (which is where I get most of my stuff now). I was scared that it wasn't going to turn out since I probably not the best cook ever. But to my surprise it was pretty dang good! Much better than the box stuffing to my taste.

Just look at the smile!

To celebrate Christmas there we went to the Zoo at night that is in Palm Desert and looked at the Christmas lights that they had set up. My mom and niece also rode the camel that was there. It was pretty cool but I would never do that. Maybe later in life but that night, no way. For Christmas, my parents got Walker a little Disney Casey Jr Choo Choo Train. He loves it. When we were not celebrating a holiday early or late we were just spending time with the family. We went swimming pretty much everyday, which is nice since it is too cold here to go. Walker loves the water. He will probably be a swimmer, thats my guess. We also played the wii with each other. It was fun teaching my dad how to play Mario Cart. He got pretty good at it at the end. It was fun getting to spend time with the family and making memories.

Swimming with daddy
At the zoo looking at lights and watching Grandma ride the camel

It was fun being with my family and seeing Walker be with my parents and also my brother's family and his kids. I sure do love spending time with family. :]

♥ The Schroeder

Date Night - November 2012

Since Walker was born Casey and I haven't really had a date night. Ya we go out sometimes just us two but its not really like a date. It more like us just going to get some food while Robin and Perry watches Walker.

So about a month ago, Casey and I were able to go out on a date. We went to 'Oscars' which is now called America's O's or something like that. It was pretty good. Their breadsticks are amazing. We ordered a pizza with unlimited breadsticks and really we just wanted to breadsticks. Before we left we asked for two more servings of breadsticks and just packed them to take them home! BREADSTICKS FOR A WEEK!! :]

The Ghetto Boomers.

After we were going to go see a movie but then we decided to do something different because we always watch movies at home. So we decided to go to Boomers. It was pretty ghetto but still fun. We just played the arcade games. We played mostly the games that gave us tickets so we can get something at the end, which didn't happen. Most of the games we cheep and didn't give us all of the tickets that we earned or stole out tokens. Like I said it was pretty ghetto. We found a couple games that we liked to play the most. We liked Skeet Ball (I don't know about the spelling) and also Fruit Ninja.

It was fun to get out and spend some time with just us two. I love spending time with Casey and wish we could spend more time together.

Walker putting his socks on.

While we were on our date, Robin and Perry watched walker. He loves his grandparents. While we were out he tried to put on his sock. He kept on looking at his sock then his foot then he put his sock up to his foot. Walker knows that they go on his feet but just couldn't figure out how to get them there. He also would put them in his mouth then looked at Robin and she would say 'no' then he would put the sock to his foot and look at her again and she would say 'yes'. He would then repeat that a couple times and shake his head when he ever puts the sock up to his month. He couldn't get it on there but he sure did try. He is such a smart boy and is really trying to be much older than he actually is.

♥ The Schroeder

Halloween 2012

I know it is December, but having a little baby is a lot of work and I haven't really wanted to blog lately. So here is the Halloween post.

Earlier in the month, We went to a pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins to carve on halloween.
This Halloween we had a hard time figuring out what we wanted to dress up as. We had a couple ideas but we also didn't want to spend to much money on our costumes. We also wanted to be something as a family since it was our first halloween together as a family. We also took pictures of Walker at the Pumpkin Patch. He is such a trooper but he did great. He was more interested in the hay that was around the pumpkins then the pumpkins. So most of the time he was just eating and playing with the hay. I guess boys will be boys.

The Pumpkin Patch

We finally decided on dressing up as the three bears. Casey being papa bear, I as mama bear, and Walker as baby bear. They turned out great. We bought walker's bear costume off ebay and made our with brown shirts and fabric. (I am becoming pretty crafty.)

The weekend before halloween we had our ward Halloween Party/ Chili cook-off. I made chili for the party and it won, everything goes award. I guess I am becoming a pretty good cook. :] At the party, Walker had his first taste of cotton candy, thanks for Grandma Schroeder (Robin). He liked it but we didn't give him to much of it.

Ward Halloween Party

On the actual day of Halloween, we went over to our family friends house, the Todd's, for dinner and dessert and then after we meet up with one of our friends, The Lucas's, to go to a couple house to go trick or treating. It is not as fun as I remember. Most of the homes were all blacked out and no one was home and not a lot of kids were out.

Halloween 2012

Later that night when we got home, Casey and I carved some pumpkins. Casey carved Jack from the movie 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and I carved Frankie from the movie 'Frankenweenie'. (both Disney movies since we love Disney)

Process of Pumpkin Jack

It is fun being able to spend these first holidays with Walker, even though he won't remember them but it is still exciting. I can't for next year when he will be able to remember it more and also participate more in the holidays.

♥ The Schroeder

Walker Monthly Update: Month Eight

It is crazy to think that my little boy is 8 months old already! It feels like just a couple weeks ago I gave birth to him! But now he is just going everything and learning new things every day!

Walker has now showed me that I need to keep a good eye on him. He crawls all over the place and is just wants to know what everything is. He loves playing with his toys and bring them with him where ever he goes.

Story: One day Walker was "reading" his little book then started to crawl to his jumper and go under that until he noticed that he didn't have his book with him so he turned back around and got his book and brought it with him under his jumper to read it. It made me smile and also excited about what else he will do in the next couple months.

Walker is now saying some words. He says "mama", which was his first words! :] and he says "papa" for grandpa and also "dada". It is exciting to see how much he has grown in just a month and also how much he has learned.

Walker knows what he wants and is very determined. He is also very observant. He likes to watch people or things move and then sometimes try to do the same thing. I have to say that we have a smart kid on our hands.

This month was walker's first halloween. I will post about that in another post. But lets say, he won't remember it but it was fun.

♥ The Schroeder