Moppy To The Rescue

This post is to thank my wonderful mom and Walker's Moppy!! Moppy truly came to the rescue and saved the week!!

Just to refresh your memory just a little....last Thursday Walker was diagnosed with his second ear infection. Our pediatrician started antiobiotics and that was that....well....on Saturday he started to have a very upset tummy....if you know what I mean:(. It continued all weekend and into the start of the week. I went ahead and took him to "school" because I knew his tummy problems were coming from the antibiotics. His school only let him stay for about three hours on Monday morning before they called saying I would need to pick him up and he would not be able to return until 24hrs. After picking him up from school on Monday, I started feeling very yucky myself and I got the stomach virus. Luckily the virus only last about 10 hours. Feeling terrible and trying to take care of an eight month old is just not a good mix. Patrick stayed home and took care of the both of us. On Tuesday afternoon I took Walker back to the pediatrician's office because his bum was really really red from having an upset tummy all weekend. While at the pediatrician's office we learned that his ear infection had gotten WORSE and that we needed to change his medicine immediately. He his now on stage 3 antibiotics treating his ear infection. I have officially been welcomed into the parenthood club:)

This is where Moppy comes in.....My mom drove down on Tuesday night to help us out. I can't tell you how thankful I am for your help. We all needed some good tender loving care and she knows how to give LOTS of lovin. She is a wonderful mom and a wonderful grandma to Walker. They have so much fun together. Walker's face lights up when Moppy is around. It has been so nice to know Walker is in such good care and having a great time while we're at work. Having the house clean and dinner cooked is awesome too! Moppy you are the best and we LOVE you soooooooooo much! Thank you for everything this week. I personally could not have done it without you. I love you!

When I came home oneday after work, Moppy had Walker pushing him around in his beach buggy:) Walker's getting lots of practice riding before we take it to the BEACH:) Yeah!!

Stay tuned this week for more pics....Jules is visiting until Thursday. Walker is getting lots and lots of Grandma time:)

HAPPY 8 MONTHS OLD WALKER LEIGH!!!

The slideshow above is from last week from our WONDERFUL photographer Carol!! When I say wonderful I mean WONDERFUL. Thanks Carol for always doing an awesome job!! We can't wait for the next time we see you.

Gosh, I can't believe that we have already started talking about your 1st birthday. You are eight months old today and before we know it June will be here. I look at you everyday and can't believe God as blessed us with such an awesome little boy! You are the best thing in the entire world. You make us laugh so hard....you are truly the most fun to be around. Your personality and your smile brighten our day!

You are not yet crawling, but you have mastered scooting backwards. You can get up on your knees for a second, but nothing happens:) I think you might skip crawling...for mommy and daddys sake please wait a little longer to start moving around. We have started giving you very very small amounts of table food. You've tried your first "real" banana, mashed potatoes and strawberry toast. You are still working on trying to figure out your sippy cup. You love to watch and hear the ice coming out of the ice maker in the refrigerator...you show us the biggest smile. You really love being outside and especially watching Ribbie play. You finally have two teeth on the bottom...front and center.

I am sorry to say that we did take you to the pediatricians office this morning. You have your second ear infection. Our pediatrician gave you some stronger antibiotics and said not to worry just yet about tubes. You have been a little fussy, but we thought maybe it was your teeth bothering you. Both Moppy and Mrs. Dot tried to tell me you had an ear infection last week. Yes, they were both RIGHT.

Happy 8 months old buddy! You are the best thing in the world.

Baby It's Sunny Outside

We had such beautiful weather this weekend. Almost perfect enough to head to the beach...but not just yet. It was very tempting to take a stroll on the beach, but instead we hung around outside here at the house. We were able to take two fun walks around the neighborhood and then today we planted bulbs around the house. I love this time of year. It gets me so excited because both Patrick and I love being outside working around the yard. After our walk today, Walker decided he wanted to prepare for going to the beach minus the sand:)

He had a lot of fun playing with his toys. I was very excited because he didn't mind his hat.....until about 15mins later he realized...Hey, there's something on my head and then off the hat went and into the mouth:) We are going to work on wearing hats.

Dad had a great idea to put up the umbrella. Thats why we keep him around...he always has great ideas:) Yes, we did look a little weird out in the front yard with an umbrella. A couple of our neighbors came over to see the cute little boy under the umbrella. Walker loved his weekend spent outside!!!!

Little Traveler

My little traveler.......Walker and I went on Friday morning to visit Moppy and Papa and everyone else we love!! We started out early Friday morning to pick up Moppy have lunch and then head to see The Swain's and then to Atlanta for Uncle Doug's birthday. We left Daddy at home with Ribbie to get some much needed "rest":)

Our first pit stop was to visit my dearest friend Alicia and "Baby Zuri Kate". Zuri Kate was born on January 20th weighing 6 pounds and 14 ounces. She is absolutely the most beautiful little girl with lots of black hair. Walker was so amazed. First thing he tried to do was pull her pacifier out of her mouth. He also didn't understand why we wouldn't let him pull on her hair, arms or ears:) We love you Baby Zuri Kate and can't wait to see you again soon!!

Baby Zuri Kate is sooooo tiny. Walker looks like a GIANT beside her. I had already forgotten how to hold a little baby. Walker was never Zuri Kate's size. I think it was love at first sight...Walker was so excited to meet his first girlfriend:)

Happy Birthday Uncle Doug!

They look like two peas in a pod. We had so much fun having dinner Friday night and celebrating your birthday. We spent the night on Friday and then woke up bright and early on Saturday morning. The girls went out early Saturday for much needed pampering with Arther. Me, Mom and Patsy all got fabulous new haircuts thanks to Arther:) Uncle Doug & Judy babysat all morning long while we were off getting beautiful!! They had so much fun bonding together mainly watching cartoons and snoozing.

We enjoyed seeing our other favorite person in the entire world, Aunt Patsy. They were very busy singing and laughing. We always have so much fun together. Not a minute goes by with Aunt Patsy and Uncle Doug that we don't find something to laugh about. We love you dearly. Walker doesn't realize how lucky he is to have such wonderful family in his life. We love you Aunt Patsy and can't wait to see you again soon.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY MASON

Mom and I left Uncle Doug's and then headed over to The Hall's. We went over to wish Mason a very Happy 1st Birthday. I can't believe Mason is already 1. It's so hard to believe how fast they grow up. For the first time Walker actually didn't have to prop himself up against Mason. They had so much fun playing together. I look forward to the next play date. Walker should be able to keep up with Mason. Can you believe how much they look alike. They are both two extremely handsome kids:) Take after their MOMS:)

Finally we made it back late Saturday afternoon for some much needed rest. We spent Saturday night visiting Uncle Ben, Aunt Amanda and cousin Logan. Since Walker is a little more mobile Logan is really enjoying him. He is not as scared of him. They actually sat very nicely together in the chair. Logan was combing Walker's hair. When you ask Logan who is favorite aunt is he says, "Aunt Brookie." I call him Loggie and he calls me Brookie. I know Walker will say is favorite aunt is "Mandy". The only aunt he has:)

We finally made it back on Sunday night. I'm so excited because we got to bring back all of Walker's X-mas toys from Moppy's house. We had so much stuff at X-mas that we didn't have enough room in the jeep. Here is Walker riding on his fire truck chasing Ribbie. It was absolutely hilarious and he was having soooooo much fun!!!

Is that a baseball bat I see??? Dad was in heaven watching Walker play with his new bat. X-Mas all over again at the Ransdell's.

Update: Good News

As I promised I would update you on Walker's doctor's appointment this morning. The good news is he doesn't have an ear infection!! The pediatrician thinks that his fever is coming from the cold and possibly his other tooth thats coming in. I don't want to be the over reacting mother, but I feel soooooo much better knowing his ears are okay. If he can just hang in there a few more days I know he will be feeling much better:) He did take his 2nd half of the flu shot like a champ. This was the first time for me to actually hold him while he got a shot:) Daddy was busy at work, so I took one for the team:) We love you buddy and hope you are back to your chipper self very very soon!!!

"Show In Tell"

Thanks to Walker's great grandparents he took "show in tell" to school today.

I know you must be saying to yourself, "What in the world is she talking about"....well.....Beck, Patrick's grandmother...Walker's great grandmother...sorry Beck...yes I said it, "Grandmother"..hahaha.

She sent us Pee-Pee TeePee's for the sprinkling Wee-Wee. They are five little fabric cone shaped cloth teepee's to put over his wee-wee when he tee tee's on us:) Lately Walker has gotten really good at spraying all of us, Ms. Dot especially. After he sprayed her several times last week I told her I would bring her in a surprise she could use, so Walker took them in this morning. Everyone thought they were halirious. I highly recommend them and they are soooo cute to use:) For all of you that have little boys you know exactly what I"m talking about and I'm sure you've gotten sprayed more times than you can count:)

Walker hasn't been feeling great. We are going to see the pediatrician first thing in the morning. He has consistently ran a fever all weekend. I'm just hoping he doesn't have another ear infection. He has a cough and a nasty runny nose. He also is getting his second tooth on the bottom. Keep your fingers crossed the fever is coming from the tooth. We are headed to see Moppy and Papa this weekend, so we need to feel better soon. I'll keep you posted.


Here I am working very hard at getting the water out of my sippy cup. I haven't quite mastered it yet, but I'm trying. Can somebody help me get the water out???

I'M KIND OF A BIG DEAL!!

One of our favorite movies is Anchorman. Will Ferrell or Ron Burgundy says to Veronica Corningston, "I'm kind of a big deal"! One day Walker maybe saying this to all of the girls:)

Enjoying some Daddy time. He is so funny now when you take his picture. He knows exactly when to cheese. Walker you are such a cool little guy!!

Walker is so fascinated with Ribbie. Ribbie is not so much enjoying the snapshot. The only time she's really interested is when Walker's eating in his high chair. I know these two are going to become buddies. Ribbie is in for a surprise once Walker starts crawling. I think it's going to take some time for them to figure each other out!

Stay At Home Dad

Today Walker's "school" was closed and Daddy's work was closed....so what does that mean???

Daddy and Walker had some major bonding time all day together!! Today was the very first time Patrick truly had to take care of Walker without ANY help. To be honest, I was very excited for this day to come. Patrick is such a great daddy and always such a huge help. I had to go to work this morning and it was very hard leaving them. I thought I would let you all know how the day went....did they both survive?????

It started on Sunday in our church nursery prepping Daddy for Monday. Both myself and Ms. Dot (Walker's "Grandma" at school) gave him strict instructions on what to do throughout the day. Patrick did his usual....smile and nod...smile and nod his head really not listening to anything we were saying:) He is very good at this. So, all day Sunday we talked about what needed to be done to keep Walker on his schedule. Yes, Brooke I know....yes Brooke I know......he said:)

The morning started bright and early at 5:30am when Walker started crying for us to come upstairs and get him. He has gotten use to getting into our bed in the mornings. Rule #1: Walker is not allowed in the bed until after 5:30am.

I received a phone call at 10:30am saying we just finished eating oatmeal and Walker's first bottle. What time did you guys get out of bed, I ask? Oh, we slept in until 8:45am he said...WHAT?!!? When I have him in the morning he's up ready to go a full day...not fair! He gave him a bath then another nap and headed to my office for a visit around 11:30am. I was so worried what Walker would be wearing to see my co-workers...well....Daddy did very well and picked out mommy's favorite "monkey outfit". Everyone loved seeing him at the office and we had a great lunch together. They left me around 1:30pm heading home to play. I called at 3:00pm on my way home to say don't give him his last bottle because I would be there to feed him and he says to me.....I haven't given him his second bottle yet...WHAT!!?*!....Well, honey we fed him his veggies and fruit at lunch and he hasn't been fussy for his bottle....so after my brief heart attack I say, but Patrick he hasn't had a bottle since a little before 10:00am....thats 6 hours ago....He's fine honey, he said:(

This is what I found when I arrived home......

THEY SURVIVED HAPPY AND HEATHLY:)

I wrote this because I wanted everyone to know what a wonderful husband I have and how much we love him!!!! I thank my lucky stars that I have a husband that will change diapers, feed him, change his clothes, bathe him, put him to bed and etc.....Not only do I have an incredible husband, but a best friend. Walker will soon realize how lucky he is.....

We love you and thank you for being you:)

Can you see my toothie??

As I promised you can see Walker's first tooth a little more, so I thought I would post a picture. The pictures are a little blurry, but it was hard getting the camera to focus on such a small little thing. He also sticks his tongue out every time we try and touch it. Just look for the small white spot on the bottom:):) And yes, we do wash his clothes....he was just finishing up a snack!!

Breaking News............

Breaking News Friends............

Walker has his first TOOTH:):)

The tooth is on the bottom almost in the middle. It has broken the skin and we can sure feel it! Patrick and I just checked on Tuesday night and we felt nothing. Today when I picked him up from "school" his teachers could hardly wait to tell me. It just happened over night. I will post pictures in a few days when it comes up a little more!!!!!!! YEAH!!!

HAPPY 7 MONTHS OLD WALKER LEIGH

Happy 7 Months Old Walker Leigh!!!

My, My, My....where has our little baby gone? Happy 7 months old my darling. I know I say this all the time, but you are growing so fast. You are so much fun and you are becoming such a cool little guy. Your personality shines so bright just like your smile!! Your smile and your laugh melts our hearts. Walker it is such a wonderful feeling to know how much you love and trust your Mommy and Daddy. You are still saying Da Da Daddy and another new word is Ta Ta Ta. Not sure what that means, but its something new. I'm still waiting to hear Ma Ma Mama. We count our lucky stars everyday for you. You bring so much joy and happiness into our life!! We love you so much buddy!!

These days you are into everything. You have mastered sitting up. Every once in a while you will fall over, but I think its because you are ready to move around on the floor. You love to roll on from front to back and back to front. We keep thinking any day now we might see a tooth, but nothing yet. As much as you are drooling we should see the first tooth very soon. Our pediatrician said she could feel them coming in. You have started eating Stage 2 baby food. You love the apple blueberry fruit. Blueberries are one of Mommy's favorites. You are really getting good at clapping and love for us to make animal noises. You especially love Daddy's monkey sounds. Walker, you think you're a big boy! Last Saturday it was about 68 degrees so Walker, Daddy and Ribbie enjoyed some time outside. Check out how much his hair is growing and yes it's still BLONDE:) Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine Walker would have blue eyes and blonde hair. I'm sure his hair color will change, but I love it for now!!!

Thank you Moppy and Papa for my really cool high chair. I love to sit in it and watch mommy cook in the kitchen. This week I have also mastered feeding myself puffs. I can put the puffs in my mouth all by myself. It took me a few days to learn how, but I've mastered it....yeah!!!! I am also slowly learning how to use a sippy cup. I don't quite understand, but I am trying really hard. You also love playing with your spoon after we get done eating. You have finally realized you can't stick the spoon down your throat:)

Music To My Ears

Mommy, I can finally hear the music we sing in the car on the way to school again!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!! we went yesterday morning to have Walker's two week check up and his ears are squeaky clean again!! He finished his round of antibiotics on Thursday like a champ. I can remember growing up and taking the pink medicine too. I loved Amoxicillin, because it tasted like bubblegum. And yes, I even tasted it again just to bring back some memories of my childhood. I was a little concerned this week because he had been pulling on his ears again, but our pediatrician said it was because the puss is gone and he can hear again and things are loud and vibrating off of his eardrums again. Good theory....makes sense to me. He is also not wheezing in his chest so we think the Prevacid is working too. Hopefully, we will not have to see her again until March for our nine month check-up. Did you know that a baby who is in "school" will have a cold on average 120 days out of the year their first year of life.

6 Month Check-Up

We were a little late for Walker's 6 month check up because of the holidays. Daddy was in charge of picking him up from school and meeting me at the pediatricians office. I failed to remind Daddy of all the things we need while we are at the pediatricians office or may I say things we need any time of the day.....diapers, pacifiers, blankets, bibs, toys etc.........Walker went today without all of these things....and we barely survived:) I think next time Daddy will have his check list ready to go:)

Today was actually a big day for Walker. We only went in for a check up and came out with two prescriptions and four shots. Walker has his first ear infection. He has not shown any symptoms, so it was a little troubling for us. His doctor said that some babies do not show signs and then some babies are miserable. It all depends on the baby. He is now taking Amoxicillin. She also prescribed him Prevacid for acid reflux. He has always spit up a lot, but never cried while eating. He has had a lot of congestion in his chest for a few months now and she believes the spit up may be the cause. Keep us in your thoughts that we get all of this cleared up. I'm so thankful we still have a happy baby.

Walker weighs 20 pounds and for once he is back in the 90 percentile....we are actually within the chart:) She explained to us that breastfed babies start to even out around his age. We have accomplished so much in 6 months. It is so hard to believe he is 6 1/2 months old. He loves oatmeal with any fruit and loves every vegetable except for peas. We are going to try them again. She encouraged us to start trying Level 2 foods and puff cookies.

Walker is a master at rolling over front to back and back to front. He is so quick, he fell off the bed last week. He didn't even cry. An old wives tell says if they fall off the bed before age one they're officially going to be okay:) He is also sitting up so well. And drum roll please............Walker can clap his hands. He was doing this today at the doctors office and she said....wait a minute you aren't suppose to be doing that........yeah.....thats my BOY!!!!!

The Ransdell's Holiday Adventure

Where and what in the world have the Ransdell's been doing for the last two weeks??

Well, fasten your seat belts friends because you're in for a very bumpy ride!! I know all of you have seen the Christmas movie with The Griswold's.....well change that to The Ransdell's Christmas vacation. We started out on Friday, December 12 after work and headed to Patrick's parents house. It's a very long ten hour drive...yes, ten hours with a six month old. We had the Jeep packed with suitcases, X-mas gifts and every possible toy/gadget/accessory to occupy Walker's time. Oh, and our friends let us borrow their luggage holder that sat on the top of the Jeep that was packed too. Seems like we need an eight passenger van just for three people. Finally arriving in Kentucky at 3:15am we were able to rest a day and then we were off to our second adventure.

Hhhhmmmmm......where are we going now people????

Almost every year Patrick's parents treat the family to a snow skiing trip. We have found a place we absolutely love, but it just so happens to be in British Columbia. On Sunday, December 14 we made our way to Whistler, British Columbia for our annual family skiing trip. Whistler is about 2 hours north of Vancouver. Walker is the best baby in the entire world. He was so great flying on his second airplane ride and made lots of friends with the flight attendants. Walker loved spending time with Pops and Jules. Patrick and I were very lucky to be able to ski during the day and have Jules spend time with Walker. They do not get to see him often, so they really enjoyed the bonding time. He had a hard time adjusting to Pacific time, but what did we expect...

While we were there Walker got to go swimming for the first time. He loved it!! I got in with him the first time, but just couldn't do it the second day. Even though the pool was heated it was still way to chilly for mommy. He loved it so that I think we are planning on getting him swimming lessons this summer. Walker would put his mouth in the water and really splish splash. We practice splish splashing every morning in the tub. All of mommy and daddy's hard work paid off:)

It was so funny to watch Walker's face while walking in the village. He was so snuggled in his bear outfit. He had a really hard time figuring out why it was so cold and why he had to wear all this extra gear. Walker you are a very spoiled beach baby!!

Here is a picture of Walker and Jules looking out the window watching the gondola's go up the mountain. He enjoyed looking out at the snow. This was also a great place to sit and read to him. They spent most of the days by the fire and looking outside.

Mommy and Daddy picked up a brochure for Whistler Kids. Walker will be able to start taking skiing lessons at age three. We still have a little time to get him adjusted to the cold weather. Patrick and I had fun watching the little kids ski down the mountain with their instructors. I hope I'm not the mom that skiis behind the group making sure Walker's okay....they call that a "Helicopter Mom":)

We had to stop and take a picture by Mr. Bear. Which bear is the cutest....Well, Walker by far!!!!

Merry Christmas Walker Leigh

We finally arrived back in Kentucky and it was now time to prepare for Christmas. Patrick and I have been so excited about Walker's first Christmas. He definitely did not know what was going on, but just watching the excitment in his eyes to get the wrapping paper in his mouth was PERFECT. Merry Christmas Walker! Everyone has asked me what I got for Christmas....I received an early Christmas gift on June 12, 2008....an ANGEL. We are so blessed to have you Walker Leigh. Now, Christmas will be so special and I can hardly wait until next year!!


On Christmas Eve before bed time we read Night Before Christmas by the fire and left cookies for Santa. We promised him Santa would be able to get down the chimney once the fire cooled off:) Check out Mommy and Walker's pajamas....how cute!!

Walker loves Elmo! We all think Elmo is very clever and very entertaining.

Ribbie is always so good with Walker. She is always checking on him, but we still get those hilarious looks from her....like please can you put him back. I use to get all the attention and toys at Christmas:) Why is my stocking half empty and his is exploding????


I love this picture. Pops...could you please move the globe a little closer so I can put the entire thing in my mouth!!

Walker also met a new friend while we were in Kentucky, Miss Ella Grace McDonald. Ella is 10 months old and soooo cute. Ella's dad is WKU's head mens basketball coach. They loved just staring at each other. Next time they see each other they both can run around and play together. Thanks Angie for such a great play date!! We are looking forward to next time:)



Walker's first WKU basketball game and his first encounter with Big Red. One big happy Western family!! Big Red is so enormous Walker gets kind of lost:):)


The day after Christmas we headed to my parents house for the weekend before heading back home. I will post some more Christmas pictures soon.

HAPPY 6 MONTHS OLD WALKER LEIGH!!

Happy 6 Months Old Walker Leigh!!

I can't believe you are a half year old. Where has my little baby boy gone? Well, I don't know if you have ever been "little"...you came out big and continue to get bigger and bigger. You are sooooo much fun these days. I thought 4 months was a fun month, but it doesn't get any better than 6 months:) You are such a happy boy and you are getting more and more animated. It's so easy to make you laugh and you think Mommy's singing and dancing is hysterical. I'm actually getting a great workout dancing in front of you.

You have just started clapping your hands together...all those times we've played patty cake with you is finally paying off. You are really enjoying saying DaaDaaaDaa....Could you please start practicing MaaMaaMaa. You love to pull our hair and pull my earrings. One thing that you've starting doing that is actually quite scary is....we call you "shark" because you attack our chins with your mouth. You bite down and suck on our chins...by the time you get done with me I have no makeup on.

You have mastered all the fruits. Sweet potatoes and carrots have been very successful. Peas are another story. Both Daddy and I hate peas, so I guess thats why you gagged several times when you tried peas. Next week we are trying green beans and squash. We have moved on to Oatmeal and you love it mixed with fruit.

Walker you bring so much joy into our lives. Thank you for being the best baby boy in the entire world. I don't know how we got so lucky........We love you buddy!!

We took Walker to see Santa last weekend. We had so much fun. Moppy got to go with us too:) Merry Christmas Walker Leigh. Your first Christmas is going to be so much fun!!!!!

He Speaks!!

Oh my goodness. You are not going to believe what happen today.

My mom (Moppy) is here spending the weekend with us and after a few hours of shopping with Walker we came home to feed him and pick up Daddy for a dinner out. As Walker was finishing his snack he turns and looks at Patrick and says..........DaaaaaDaaaaDaaaaa! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I think it was the biggest smile I have ever seen on Patrick:):) We all were so excited, it brought tears in my eyes. It was great because Moppy got to hear his first words too. We are always practicing MaaaaMaaaaMaaaa and DaaaaDaaaaDaaaa with him. All of our hard work finally paid off.

Walker your little innocent voice is absolutely music to my hears. We love you so much!!!!!