Kristy's Wedding and Photographer Reed

Well, it's official. My younger sister, Kristy, got married on August 13, 2011! Hard to believe that she is old enough to be married! I still feel so young myself. It's hard to believe that I have been married for 5 years and have 3 children. So, yes, Kristy getting married will always seem a little weird to me. I guess it all just came really fast for me. Plus, I did not actually meet James until the day of the wedding - maybe that has something to do with it :) Ah well, he seems really good for Kristy.

She was sealed for time and all eternity at 12 p.m. August 13, 2011. They chose to get sealed in the Washington, D.C. temple (probably mostly for me - since I could not travel). Grandpa Dalling performed the sealing and it was just so beautiful. It was also the one and only time all of my siblings could attend a live sealing of another sibling. I can only imagine how cool that was for my parents to see all of their children in the temple at the same time at their last child's sealing. Once-in-a-lifetime kind of stuff.

After the sealing, things got a little crazy. It started pouring rain and then lightened up and went back and forth. That made pictures a pretty interesting story, but Kristy was just happy to be married. :) We went to Maggiano's for lunch and it was YUMMY! Then, they had a reception/open house at the Seay's house (Bishop in my parent's ward) that evening. It was a pretty long day and I was pretty exhausted by the end of it all. But, it was a good day.

Everyone just kept telling me not to have the baby until after the weekend was over. Well, baby agreed and did not come Saturday or Sunday. Sunday we met at the Barlow center for some lunch and chatting until my siblings had to leave. Sadly, a lot of them had already left before lunch; such is the life of busy people who live all over the country. I really loved seeing all my siblings - they are amazing people! I am glad that we have this time to get to know each other as adults. I feel weird saying that I am an adult, but I am - I have 3 kids and am a full-fledged mom and wife. Anyways, the little time we had together was pretty much awesome! Congrats to Kristy and James! I hope that marriage is just another great adventure for the both of you.

Coming out of the temple

They did a lot of this

Notice the umbrella - raining randomly - welcome to the East

Not sure what she was saying, but Kristy talking - as is usual

My cute family - exhuasted, but sticking it out!

Reed has gotten some cute photos in the past little bit. He is getting better and better at actually getting people in the pictures! Enjoy:

Eve and Daddy

Mommy and Eve

Blackberries and 4 Generations

August 10, 2011 - We went blackberry picking for the second year in a row. I plan on making this a tradition as long as I live near Butler's Orchard. The blackberries are always big, juicy, and just plain delicious! Reed and Eve loved it and were accompanied by some of their favorite friends Maylie, Taryn, and baby Nyah. Eve thought that squishing the berries was the best part. Reed did a fantastic job picking berries that were the purple/black and big! There were so many options for good berries, that it was hard to pick a bad one!

We picked enough so that I could make one batch of non-cook freezer jam (it's a Ball package and calls for 1 1/2 cups of sugar instead of 7 cups - plus you don't cook it, so it tastes like the berries!) and got to try out a recipe from Butler's Orchard called Berry Crisp. Everything turned out super yummy!

Also, we made a trip to the Cafe Rio is Olney, MD after berry picking! Always fun to have a little reminder of the West. Funny what you will do for fun memories :)

Eve was pretty much covered in berries - but everything came off without a problem.

Our blackberries

August 12, 2011 - The day before Kristy's wedding! Yes, I am still adjusting to the fact that my little sister is married. I guess that means I must be old or something :) Well, my grandparents (who NEVER fly) flew out for the wedding so that my grandpa could seal them! That was pretty exciting! I will get to the wedding tomorrow, but just wanted to post some 4 generation photos. I figured that I needed to get them sooner, rather than later since we are all only getting older.

Eve, Me, my dad, Grandma Dalling (formerly Rowberry - my dad's mom)

Reed, me, my dad, Grandma Dalling

Me, my mom, Eve, Grandma Dalling (not the actual maternal line, but pretty close)

My dad, Eve, me, my mom, Reed, Grandma Dalling, Grandpa Dalling (he is technically my step-grandpa, but my Grandpa Rowberry passed away when I was 3 months old. This is the only grandpa that I really grew up with. He has always treated me like his granddaughter; therefore, he really is my grandpa.)

Cabin John Park, Tracing, Theodore Roosevelt Island, Planes, and Pregnant Belly

Yes, this is a jam-packed post - trying to update about as many things as possible, so I can finally get caught up to the baby details. So here it is!

July 30th we went to Cabin John Park (barely in MD). It is one of the favorites because all the toys and structures are shaded and there is a train you can ride! Reed was SO EXCITED (he kept saying that) to get on the train and show daddy the train. He also loved the train because it is light blue (he has branched out in favorite colors; now they are blue and green and more specifically light blue and light green). Needless to say, it was a hit! Here are the fun train pictures:

Reed was ready for excitement!

Our station

It was hard to get Eve to look forward because she kept watching everything else!

The ride was awesome! Also, about 15 minutes long!

The train!

August 4, 2011 - this summer I have started to help Reed trace his letters - mostly in the form of people's names because he loves it. Well, on this day we decided to trace numbers instead. Reed had a blast and did an awesome job!



August 6, 2011 - This was an awesome Saturday! We keep trying to find things in D.C. that we haven't seen and we found Theodore Roosevelt Island. It is a little tricky to get to because there is only one way on GW Parkway that can get there. Also, you have to park and walk across a bridge to end up on the island. It was a pretty fun walk, though. Reed loved going over the bridge and pushing the stroller over the rocks.

There is a statue of President Roosevelt and then a bunch of quotes. It was a pretty nice little area. It attracts all the outdoors runners because it is not on a road, but still fairly flat and shaded. So, yes, we saw a ton of runners! I longed (a little) to be out there running, but realized my belly is just a bit too big at this point :)

Going over the bridge

The view from the bridge: Georgetown

Theodore Roosevelt

 Later on that same day we headed to, what I call, the plane park. It is a place where you can see planes land and it is awesome! It is the closest I have ever seen a plane flying in the sky. Reed, again, was SO EXCITED because he loves planes and Eve was excited because Reed was excited. So, everyone was excited :)

It was an absolute hit! We are already planning more trips to the plane park with some of Reed's friends who also love planes :)

Pointing out the plane

I took this one and didn't capture nearly how close the plane was.

Eve stayed pretty much like this the whole time.

Tyson took this one....yes, much more accurate.

August 8, 2011 - I realized that I am officially 38 weeks pregnant and don't have an official pregnant picture yet! I decided we better take it right then because Eve came at 38 weeks. Thankfully, Aria waited a little longer than Eve, I still had another week and a half. Here I am at 38 weeks exactly.

Quick Baby News

Just a quick update before the long update: Aria Janae Walker was born August 19, 2011! She was 6 pounds 9 ounces and 19.7 inches long. She arrived at 3:32 a.m. Labor was done natural and the after effects of that are still totally worth it to me. Welcome to the world, little Aria! She is doing great and already back up to birth weight (probably more by now). Here are here going home pictures! More to come later :)

Sleeping is a talent of Aria's

I just love little babies!

The Bunk Bed

As promised, here are pictures of the finished product. Reed sleeps on the top (because he is such a big boy) and Eve sleep in her 'big girl bed' on the bottom bunk. So far, things have worked out pretty well. Eve has fallen off a few times, but has not broken or cut anything in the process, so that's always a plus! She loves going to sleep on her big girl bed and Reed loves that he gets to climb up to his bed!

I think the beds turned out awesome and am so proud of Tyson for even attempting to do something that I would never have the guts to try and build. Just for the sake of memory - we stained the wood with Ipswich Pine (3 coats). Enjoy!!

They really do love their beds!

This is Reed's "ladder" to get up to his bed.

My Husband - the Carpenter

Well, it's official - Tyson is a carpenter! No, not really, but he has now built something with his own two hands - bunk beds for Reed and Eve. It all started when we decided to stay in the same apartment (2 bedrooms) despite the fact that we were going to have 3 children.

I was a bit worried about the whole thing, but it really is what was best for us financially. Plus, moving when you are 9+ months pregnant is just not something I ever want to do (our contract ended July 31st). So, we decided that we needed bunk beds (easy enough decision) and ones that were not super flimsy. The problem: solid wood bunk beds are expensive! The frames were $1,000 (mattresses and bunkie boards not included). Yeah, that was a bit out of our price range. So, Tyson decided that he would build bunk beds from scratch! Yes, from scratch.

Luckily, he had slept in a bunk bed when he was growing up, and it just so happens that his older sister has that bunk bed in her house. Measurements and pictures were taken (she lives in Las Vegas, so we have not actually seen the bunk bed for a while) and we were off to home depot!

We picked out the wood and it got cut there (fabulous). Our friends had a sander and space to sand, so Tyson spent some Saturdays sanding and staining the wood, while I played with the kids at our friends' house. He also did some staining on our tiny balcony with the wood resting on some pvc pipe. He also added the top coat just to smooth everything out. It was a pretty time-intensive project since humidity makes it harder for things (like stain) to dry.

We picked up some beds and bunkie boards (like a thin box spring) when they were having a Memorial Day sale - saving ourselves lots of $$ (we think close to $350).

After all the wood was stained and finished, Tyson got all the nuts and bolts and put it all together! There was a lot of measuring and making sure things were pretty level. But, he finished and they look awesome! So after many trips to Home Depot and many hours, the beds are finished and the kids love them! Plus, the whole project, including the mattresses/bunkie boards, was not even close to $1,000. So, Tyson did awesome!

Reed and Eve are successfully sleeping in the beds and nothing has broken or even come close to falling. We are all ready for child #3 to sleep in the crib in the closet.

So, yes, my husband really is a carpenter. Here are some pictures of the process. For pictures of the bunk bed all together, tune in tomorrow :)

Staining the wood on the blacony

Reed loved helping daddy 'paint' the wood

They were so excited when the mattresses were done! We played and played.

Eve thought putting the beds together was awesome. Who knew a corral could be so much fun?!

Constant measuring and more measuring

Patiently waiting for daddy to be finished

Not wanting to get out of the corral

Measuring the holes to put one bed on top of the other

That hole on the 4 legs holds Reed's bed over Eve's

Playing and Art

This summer has been interesting as far as weather is concerned. Our spring was not the normal loveliness it usually is. It seems like it was kind of dreary and then we went right into summer. Nuts - spring is one of my favorites (especially since I don't suffer from spring allergies). Being pregnant during the summer months has made this summer even more interesting because when it's hot outside, I am even more hot and that is no fun! We have been creative on the super hot days - playing inside somewhere or going to the pool or a combination of both.

Mid-July seemed to be particularly hot and humid - I've decided that it's the humidity that really kills me. There is something about being sticky all the time that just is no fun. True, I did it on my mission, so I can do it. It's just, I don't like to choose to do it. So, instead of sweating our brains out outside, we found lots of indoor play areas or played games at our house. This was a day we decided to go to the Tyson's Corner mall play area. Reed is definitely a climber and jumper! Eve is a climber and slider. They are just so much fun!

Reed wanted to show off his spikey hair.

Everytime I tried to get Eve in action, she would just walk toward the camera.

Starting to jump...

Mid-air!

Another fun activity that Reed did this summer was a little art class hosted by Brooks' mom (Brooks is one of his preschool buddies) Once a week, they would meet and learn something new about art and color. Reed loved it and just being able to play with Brooks! He got to stay a little after class was over because that was when I was teaching my few summer piano students. So, that made it even more fun because these boys just love to play with each other. They are so similar (I say that all the time, but it's still true!). The class was cut a bit short due to a move and packing and things, but here is what he learned for the 4 weeks of class (end of June until mid-July):

Primary Colors and Mixing Them

Shapes

Symmetry

Texture (this one feels really cool)

So, hopefully, it's been a fun enough summer for the kids! I can't believe that it is already coming to an end! Time goes by too quickly!

July 5th

July 5th Tyson turned 28! It's crazy how fast the time is going now. It just seems to speed up each year! It's hard to imagine that Tyson is 28 and I am almost 29, but at the same time, we have 2 (almost 3) children and have been married for just about 5 years. So, logically, it all makes sense. It just doesn't feel like that much time has passed, but yet it does. (Cue: Time warp music) Anyways, his birthday was a fun day for all!

It's too bad he had to work because the kids and I did lots of fun activities during the day: water color painting, games, shaving cream, reading books, grocery shopping, and making dinner. Shaving cream was probably the favorite, followed by a close second of painting with water colors. Here is the proof of enjoyment:

First, it is serious business.

See? Serious business

Then, it's just fun....

and more fun!

I couldn't get Eve to smile for the camera, but she loved it!

It's always fun when mom lets you put stuff all over your body and doesn't even get mad!

When Tyson came home we had dinner (and I don't even remember what it was - I blame it on the pregnancy brain) and celebrated his birthday! We even made his favorite cupcakes with his favorite frosting (the rainbow chip kind - always a crowd pleaser).

After dinner he opened his gifts and we had a party! His parents sent him a birthday-in-a-box. This is an all-inclusive box, complete with party hats, noisemakers, gift card for dinner, gift card for home depot, party snacks, party game,and  prizes. It was pretty intense! Everyone loved it! It truly made the party :) He also opened our presents: 4 movie tickets to see whatever movie he wanted (we saw Harry Potter with 2 of them and need to use the next 2) and 2 games: guillotine and lost cities. It was pretty great!

After all the present opening, we sang happy birthday and Tyson blew out the candles! We ate our cupcakes, played pin the tail on the donkey, and played with the party favors. It was pretty great!

Happy 28th Birthday Tyson!

The pre-blown birthday cupcakes

The birthday-in-a-box

Eve is mesmerized by the horns.

Like father, like son :)

Opening our presents that were wrapped in newspaper.

About to sing....

Trying to blow it out, but it was a bit harder than expected.

He finally got his candles all blown out.

Cupcakes are fun - especially the frosting!

Pin the tail on the donkey - I think Reed legitimately won!

Singing "Happy Birthday" (Reed did a great job singing, I just sang too loud - so you can't hear him too well)

  Eve singing "Happy Birthday" - definitely a musical girl!