counting the days

So we are down to 8 days and counting until our little Elizabeth Lillian is due to come via c-section. All the things that need to be done for such a little thing are slowly getting done. I am sure that the list of things that are needed for a new baby weighs more then the baby at birth. Seeing as this is our third child I was thinking that there would be very little to buy for her. I was wrong! As most will remember Jamie Lynn would spit-up ever meal due to her birth issues, this made almost all of her clothes into dust rags. I had forgotten this and planed on reusing her clothes only to find she had nothing left. Thanks to some wonderful ladies and some good thrift shops we now have a closet FULL of little dresses and outfits. we are using the same crib that both Jamie and Michael used, as well as most of the big stuff. then there are the large mounds of things to wash and clean, the house to set up, and meals to cook and freeze. We have even washed the van for Elizabeth's ride home.The larger I get the harder it is to do the things I need to get done but I am finding a way.

Texas Time

We have moved to Texas now. Jason came home on the 9th of July and everything has been fast paced and non-stop. We are staying with some lovely friends that Jason made in Egypt well we wait on the keys to our house. It has been so nice to have Jason home. The night he arived I woke Jaome up to suprise her. as soon as she saw her Daddy her eyes lit like a Christmas tree! The next morning jamie woke up early to see if her Daddy was still there and woke Michael up as well. I got them both out of bed and took them into our room to meet Daddy. Jamie jumped right into his arms, but Michael wasen't sure what to think. I quickly noticed that Jason had his glasses off and had him put them on. As soon as Jason did so Michael smiled and started playing shy with him. The best part was when Jason held out his hands and Michael jumped into them and gave his Daddy a BIG hug. Michael kept pulling away to look at Jason then hug him again. The two of them have shown so much love for Jason and it just keeps coming. Everyday that he comes home from work both children run to get their hugs and kisses from Daddy.
In other news we have settled on the name for our new baby girl. It will be Elizabeth Lillian Walker. She will be born via C-section but the date has yet to be set. If Elizabeth is anything like her brother and sister then she will be early but the prayer is that she makes it to full term. We have been so blessed to have been given the blessing of Jamie and Michael and we are so looking forward to the birth of little Elizabeth. We want to thank everyone for the prayers and love they have shown during this pregnancy.
I will hopefully be posting again with details of our new house. I pray that will be soon but the army has a way of making plans then changing them.

long time no post

I'm sorry for the lack of updates. Life has been ticking by with little time to spend in front of a computer sreen. As some know Jason came home for a visit for 3 weeks last month. it was such a blessing to have my other half back in the home even for such a short time. Jason is back in Egypt now but we are counting down the days until he comes home and can stay here for a year.
So much has happend from the last post that i made. I guess I will go by each family member. I will start with Miss Jamie Lynn. As always Jamie is exceling at her school work. I often forget how far ahead she is until we get around other people. Just this last Sunday I went to choir pratice and had to take Jaime and Michael along for lack of a sitter. Before we started one of the members was asking Jamie some random questions regarding her dress. asking her things like "what color are the buttens." and "How many pink buttens are there?" when she answered all the questions right the "how smart", and "such a big girl you are" came rolling in. I know this may seem over the top to some people but for me when 3 year old can read and do simple math i find that amazing no matter whos child it is.
We are still woking on Jamie's eyes. Rigth now they are not improving as much as the doctors would have hope. we have started to dilate her right eye everyday to make the vision blurry so that the left eye can get stronger. We are also patching the right eye for 3 hours a day. It is very hard as a parent to have a child with something wrong that just wouldn't get better. It is even more so when you are alnoe with 2 childen and a household to care for on top of it. I know i n time things will look up and all this will be past her but right now it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
Now for Michael, this little boy couldn't be more diffrent from his sister! Jaime would be happy to play by herself and not make a beep for hours, Michael on the other hand will not let me set him down for a second! Jamie hated to be held after she could crawel and Michael is the BEST snuggle bug ever! Michael is crawling very well now and getting into everything. He has also started to say a few words. Mama and Dada are the first as is normal, then can dog, love you, and bye bye. more come everyday and I look forard to when he can tell me what he wants rather then cry and protest all the time.
sorry to cut this short but I have to head to the gym to work off all the extra pounds for Jason coeing home.

This is what Jamie calls "Jesus in the sky"

At Hogel zoo

At the capital

Salt Lake City temple at night. This is what Jame kept looking at and running in to things.

Salt Lake

so we have finlly made the trip to the Salt Lake temple that we have been promising Jamie. I have to say that it was a wonderful trip. With in hours of ariving in Salt lak bnoth Michael and I were suffering from allergies and all stuffed up. It was odd how quickly it hits us. FOr myslef it wasen't bad, but poor little Michael couldn't understand why he couldn't breath from his nose. he seemed fine during the day but as soon as I would lay him down for the night he would start crying and coughing. Needless to say I got very little sleep the entire week we were there.
Some of the good moments that we had were the Hogel Zoo, Discovery Museum, and of course temple square.
Hogel Zoo was one for the places that we had looked up before leaving on our trip. When I thought of a zoo in Salt Lake I was thinking of something small with local animals. When we got there the first thing Jamie found was a peacock. Her first thought/action was to chase the poor thing all around the the common area. Seeing as we didn't have much time before the zoo closed we just picked a path and walked. Boy did we pick the right path! we got to see a snow leopard and her cub sleeping together. I thought we were blessed to see that but then the next encloser was a mother tiger and her 3 nursing cubs. They were so cute. at first they were sleeping and not doing much but after a bit the 3 cubs and their mother began to play with each other. it was lot of fun to watch. we went on to see some birds but most of the exhibits were closed for winter. Then we came to the giraffes. I have to tell you that these things have no fear.one came right up to us. we even got to feed it some leaves! To say the least the zoo far surpassed my expectations.
Next on our list of things to do was temple square. At first the temple seemed smaller then I expected. Not until we were at the doors did it look like the photos we have all seen. The weather that day was sunny but cold. I had Michael in a bunting but the wind was still blowing in his face so we had the Sister missionaries take us in the visitors museum and give us a tour. There were lots of photos that Jamie knows well. It was so nice to get to see these pictures that we know from copies in real life. They were amazing! i wish that I could have them in my home to enjoy everyday.Jamie enjoyed talking to the Sisters and showing off, even though she acted shy for the first part. at the end of the tour we saw the Christus. Jamie called it "Jesus in the sky". Mom just thought that was the cutest thing. We had hoped to look around more but the kids were getting sleepy and it was too cold to be outside so that ended our temple square viewing. We did go back later with a tour but I'll tell more about that some other time.
On the last day of our trip we took Jamie to the Discovery museum. there were so many things for her to play with and do we could have spent the whole trip there and she still would want more. She got to go in a helicopter and "flight" it. There was a water section, and what kid doesn't like to play in water. Even Michael enjoyed splashing in the water. but sadly our timing was not the best. Due to Michael not getting good sleep at night he was in need of more naps through out the day, and it was nap time so we had to leave early.
All in all we had a wonderful trip and more or less stress free.I hope to go back some time soon and go more in depth on somethings. I hope that next time Jason can come with us , I know that there are many things that he would enjoy as well. So I will end this here and post a few photos take on the trip.
lots of love ---Melissa, Jamie and Michael

August update

Life has been driving on here in the Walker house. Things are getting better everyday. I have now gotten some outside activites going on. We have been attending playgroups every week, and making trips to the farmers market every weekend. Te play gorups have been lodes of fun for Jamie. We have been swiming at the Raymond's house and Jamie is becoming more of a fish every time we go. At first she wanted nothing to do with the water. I had to pull her nto the pool after 15 min of just looking at the water. Now after just a few times she is getting brave and putting her face underwater and blwing bubbles. I think that swimming lessons are right around the corner. We have also enjoyed picking out fresh fruits and veggies at the farmers market. It has been so nice toget out in the fresh air and pick out what veggies you will use that week. Jamie likes to pick out the flowers that we will brng home. I think it is a good thing for our kids to pick out what they will be eatting for the week. Jamie hasnever been a picky eater but it is still nice that she can have a say in our produce picks.
Michael is growing just the same as ever. He is now blowing rassberries and getting anyone within 3 feet wet. I had forgotten how much spit a baby can make when teathing. He is also babbling a lot more. Jamie is always talling me what he is saying. Watching the two ofthem is so much fun. J amie is such a wonderful big sister. I am looking foward to the time that they can really paly together.
well not much is really happening here, I do plan on posting some pics here soon so look back for them.

life as a single mom

WOW! things have been crazy here. Now that Jason is gone I have a small feeling of what it would be like as a single mom. And boy is it hard! I have been running around all day just to try and keep the house claen. On top of claening ther are meals to cook and scholling to be done and I am still nursing Michael. The days are starting to blend together. I wake up at 6 every morning and don't get to bed until 11:30 everynight. I couldn't imagin doing all this AND haveing to hold down a full time job. I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with a husband to provide for the children and myself. We may not have a ton of extras but we do have whet we need.
I have been trying to cut down on the costs of running our family. I have changed to using cloth diapers. I started using them with Jamie when she was around 1. I have been using them from birth on Michael. Despite what one might think cloth diapers are very easy to use. They are now made with velcro or snaps so no more pins to stick the baby. As for the poop, they make liners that going inside the dipe and just flush down the potty. Then I just start the washer with the soap and leave the lid open so all it does is fill and throw the dipe in the waiting water and run the wash when it is full. This only adds two or three loads of wash to my normal work load.
I also have all the stuff to make laundry soap. I will up date you on how that works out, but all the supplies cost maybe $20 and it will make quite a few batches (one batch is 10 gallons). We are hoping to be debt free here very soon. I am hoping to pay off the last of our bills by the time Jason comes home from Egypt. If anyone has any more money saving tips please feel free to post them so we can try them out.