Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to the women of the world! I know so many wonderful mothers, substitute mothers, and women in general. My life has been changed because of them. Friends, and family, and most of all, my own mother inspire me to be a better person and a better mother. I would not be the person that I am today without the advice, example, love, and friendship of the strong, beautiful, and amazing women in my life.

Happy Mother's day to my own mother who taught me right from wrong. She taught me to nurture and to love. She always made sure that we kids had everything we needed. She put us first in her life. I'd like to tell her that I love her and thank her for everything she has done for me. Love you, Mom!

And to my husband and baby, thank you for making me a mother. I would have never known the measure of love in my life had it not been for you two. Motherhood is the hardest thing I have ever done but the most rewarding thing in my life. I absolutely love being your mother, Derek.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Easter in Las Vegas

Samantha came up to visit us for the last week in March. We had lots of fun while she was here. We went shopping and hung out with Dan, Choka, and the kids. She's so hilarious.

Derek and I hitched a ride with Samantha to Las Vegas. We got a flat tire on the way. It didn't slow us down too much though.

We got to Las Vegas Thursday night and had dinner with my bigshot lawyer of a brother, Cory, and my sister-in-law, Katie.

They gave Derek this little Toy Story alien toy. At first it just scared him, but now it's one of his favorite toys. It vibrates and says, "ooh-aaahhh..."

We ate at a restaurant named "Ta-ta" and shared some sushi rolls. Yum, it was delicious. I've wanted to go and try it ever since Bree and Katie sent me a picture of the "Ta-ta" chopsticks. Most of my nieces and nephews call me TaTa. I also had a few friends call me that.

Sam left that night right after dinner. We tried to get her to stay, but she could not be persuaded.

The next day, Derek and I got up and visited with his Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Walker. We had lunch and all enjoyed Derek's cuteness. We borrowed Katie's car to get there, so we had to go pick her up from work when she got off around 3pm. We went to Target and then went swimming!!

How cute does Derek look in his new swimming suit? I love his little belly in this picture. What a doll. I also love how his swim shorts are very close to being swim pants.

Derek LOVED swimming and Katie was so good with him. Aren't they adorable?

After Cory got off of work, we met my dad over at my Grandma and Grandpa's house for some family time. Tyler got into town late Friday night.

On Saturday, we watched the first session of Conference at Cory and Katie's house. Then we went to Costco with dad, which is always fun because he buys the good stuff.

Here are the boys on their way to Priesthood session.

What a handsome group of guys!

That night we went to Sonic for some treats. Derek had his first corn-dog and LOVED it. He's wearing the new shirt his Auntie Katie bought for him.

On Easter Sunday, we watched Conference at Grandma and Grandpa's house.


Then Derek had his very first Easter Egg hunt!

He actually got the hang of the hunt and would search for and run to find the eggs. He wasn't motivated to find another egg, though, after he got a hold of one; he just wanted to open them and eat the jelly beans inside. We shouldn't have showed him that until the end.

His Great-Grandma Walker loved to take him for rides on her new motorized scooter. Derek had so much fun! We all did. Thanks to Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Cory and Katie!

I know it's late, but I'd like to wish everyone a

HAPPY EASTER!

Derek's Birthday Party

Here's some pictures of Derek's first birthday party. He had lots of fun and we are so grateful to our family and friends for showing us their love on his special day!

He loved it when everyone sang, "Happy Birthday!" I think he liked his monkey cake too. I hope so, anyway.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY DEREK!

Update With No Pictures

We're still here! I still don't have a properly working computer. Well, that's not completely true. My computer works just fine but I don't have the hardware to charge the battery anymore. I charged the battery at my sister-in-law's house the other day and uploaded a bunch of pictures, but the battery died before I got to put them on this blog. Darn it! Maybe I'll charge the bigMac again this week and try again.

We are doing pretty well. I'm looking forward to a trip back home this month. Tyler is still enjoying his job. I'm not particularly enjoying mine, but am still grateful that I am able to earn a few dollars every week. I think being a waitress is really trying my patience and faith in humanity. I had a table of six, a family, and they stayed forever. They made a mess. I had to wait for them to leave and clean the table because the bus boy was gone. They left me TWO dollars. TWO DOLLARS? That's not a tip. That's insulting. I ran around like a madwoman getting their drinks and extra napkins and all of their other special requests. If they ever come in again and I'm their server, I'm not going to waste my time. But I digress. I wish there was something I could do with my degree that would allow me to be home when I'm needed; a job that is less demeaning and frustrating.

I am, however, enjoying being a mother. Derek is a little fireball. He's such a busy and active little boy. He has got such a funny little sense of humor now. He thinks it's hilarious to jump out and scare his mom and dad. He used to hold up his rubber duck and say "quack quack quack" and then I'd ask him, "what does a duck say?" and he'd respond, "RaaaaR!" He says quite a few words for his age, including: mama, daddy, bath, ball, diaper, Tyler, Tara, Choka, eye, thank you, love you, and uh-oh. He signs the words "please," "eat," and "water." He climbs on the couch and can get down all by himself. He sings and dances. He can tell you what sounds monkeys, elephants, dogs, cows, and several other animals make. He loves to read books and push buttons. He wants to eat his food by himself with real utensils. He's just amazing. But that's coming from his mother. I am partial and I know it.

I should have a new computer by the end of this month. We're waiting for the fabulous "Back-to-school" deal that Apple has every year. I can't wait to have a working computer again!!

Toddle Toddle One Year Old

Yes, we're still alive and well! Technology is mad at me and I haven't been able to get on my computer since January. I'm working on a permanent solution. Maybe I'll get a new computer. Anyways, my baby turned one on Tuesday. He's officially a toddler. According to babycenter.com, the definition of a toddler differs; some people define the stage after babyhood by when said baby starts walking, and others say toddler-hood starts at the one year mark. Either way, my baby is a toddler. I have mixed emotions. One year... has it really been one whole year? How can that be?


Derek is just as cute as ever. He walks. He runs. He loves being mobile. I take him into primary with me for the second hour of church so that Tyler can teach his class. Derek loves to run around and play with the kids. He also loves to run out the open doors to get to the drinking fountain.

He runs around the house all day and gets into everything. His favorite thing to do is to take stuff out of drawers and to put them into other drawers around the house.

He calls me Mom sometimes, but most of the time he calls me Tara. He calls Tyler, Dad, sometimes, but most of the time, Tyler. All day long all I hear is, "Tyler, Tyler, Tyler." Derek picks up my phone or one of his play cell phones and talks to his daddy. He says, "Hello, Tyler," and, "I love you, too, Tyler." It's absolutely adorable. We've started to try to get him to call us mom and dad. His first sentence was, "Tara *smack smack smack*" when he wanted to eat.


He loves to read books. His favorite right now is a book called, "What's Wrong Little Pookie" by Sandra Boynton. He loves it because there is a page with elephants and cookies and he loves to pretend to eat the cookies. "Yum yum," says Derek, "smack smack smack."

He loves to scribble. He also loves to play with my iPod. He loves monkeys. He makes the "oo-oo-oo" sound that a monkey makes. He also can tell you what lions, elephants, dogs, cats, and (sometimes) what roosters say.

What else can I say. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. He amazes me. He's so smart and loving. He gives kisses and waves "hi" and "bye." He's so much fun and I'm learning so much from him. He's good-natured and beautiful and... well... amazing.

Happy birthday, Derek.

Save the Bonnie Hunt Show

Save the Bonnie Hunt Show

Sign the online petition here! If you haven't seen this show, watch it. You will love it. I can't believe it might not be on television in the near future. Please help save the Bonnie Hunt Show!!

10 and 1/2 Months!

Derek is growing so fast. He amazes me everyday. He waves bye bye. He signs "eat." He knows what sound a monkey makes and does a pretty good imitation. He sings. He hums with the vacuum cleaner. He flirts with all the ladies. He stands. He walks. He dances. He takes things out of my drawers and puts them in different drawers. He says Dad and Mama. Although, I think he also calls us Tyler and Tara. He tries to do the motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider." He loves to read books.

We're trying to get him to eat solid foods for whole meals. He's resisting. I'm in no rush to wean him, but for some reason I'm being pushed into forcing the weaning process. He eats one, maybe two bites and then refuses to open his mouth. I'm all for child led weaning. I'm not saying that I don't want to give him a push, but I don't want to force anything. Goodness knows I wasn't forced to wean at ten months or even one year. We come down every morning and I give him breakfast, usually eggs or cheese and toast. Then later in the day I give him some yogurt. Then we always give him some of whatever we're eating for dinner. He likes to eat but isn't ready to give up nursing just yet. I think that's just fine. If you feel differently, I don't care.

He only takes a couple of steps at a time but is getting more and more comfortable with the walking thing.

He seems to get a hold of my cell phone a lot. He's taken pictures of the carpet and his legs. He's changed the screen saver. He's sent text messages and e-mails. He's called a few people. If you ever get a random text/e-mail/call from me, it might not be intentional. Sorry for all of you who have been the recipients of Derek mail or calls. It's just cause he loves you.

We're having a lot of fun. He's got such a cute little personality now. He just gets cuter and cuter. I'm starting the planning process for his first birthday party. I'm trying to pick a theme. I'm leaning toward dinosaurs. I was also thinking about monkeys, bears, gummy bears...? It'll probably be dinosaurs though. I can't believe he's almost one year old.