Just chilling

Mattie is getting to be pretty strong. She loves to sit and can hold her head up pretty good. Getting big sooo fast! 

Somebody's Knockin'.....KKs New BFF

We love our children. Because we love them, we strive to teach each of them about our faith in Jesus in an age appropriate way. We both pray with our daughters as we put them to bed. We sing with them. Jennifer sings the Doxology with Karis. Clint sings Amazing Grace. We both sing Jesus loves me.

We take Mattea and Karis to church at least once, and often more than once a week. Karis loves being in the church more than either one of us do, asking to go to church at least once a day. It doesn't hurt that she sees the church every time she looks out the window.

Until lately, we both thought to this point Karis' relationship with faith and Jesus is quite normal for her age. She likes to pray at meals. She loves to sing and dance at church. She likes singing children's songs, including those about Jesus. She loves to go to church, and has people there she loves to play with and talk to. Occasionally, to her mother's chagrin, she even starts acting a little charismatic and raising her hands and jumping and clapping when she is singing in the contemporary service.

Recently, however, Karis' thoughts about and relationship with Jesus have moved from the point of normal affection to serious obsession. Early last week, she began to talk about calling Jesus. She started asking her mom on a regular basis to dial up Jesus on the phone so she could talk to Him. We tried to explain that we talk to Jesus when we pray, but it was no use. It was not long before she was grabbing her toy phone and having this conversation:

"Hello, Jesus, how are you today?"
"Good"
"Fine"
"How was your day Jesus?"
"Ohhh. Ok."
"Have a nice day, Jesus, love you...bye"

We thought these phone conversations were a little unique for a 2 year old, but we were not too surprised. The phone calls were cute.

Then, toward the middle to the end of the week, Karis became more concerned that she needed to go visit Jesus, or that Jesus was going to drop by and visit her. She would keep asking, "We going to visit Jesus now?" or "Go see Jesus" In response Jen said, "Karis, we will go to church on Sunday."

As the weekend arrived, Karis began to think that Jesus would make a surprise visit at our home because we have not made it to see Him yet. "Jesus is at the door, Daddy," she said to Clint on Sunday morning. When there would be a creak or a moan in the house, she would ask if that was Jesus showing up. "There he is," she would say, "Jesus is here."

It so happened that Clint was struggling to come up with a children's message on Sunday, and he used Karis' recent obsession with Jesus knocking at the door every time the wind blew the screen door loose as inspiration to talk about Revelation 3:20, the passage where Jesus says "Behold I stand at the door and knock".

To demonstrate the lesson, Clint had someone knock on a pew. "What is that?," Clint asked

"Someone is knocking," one of the children said.

"Jesus is coming soon...," Karis whispered loud enough for half of the church to hear.

Clint explained that when the Bible says Jesus is knocking, it is talking about Jesus inviting us to trust and believe in him. He used the phrase, "When the Bible says he is knocking at our door, it means Jesus wants to be a part of our lives and in our hearts. It means he is knocking at the door of our heart."

Karis was keyed into this heart language right away. The last couple days she has been talking about how Jesus "at her heart". At some point this has also morphed to "in her heart".

She has recently been asking about all her family and friends. Is Jesus at daddy's heart?

"Yes Karis. Is Jesus in mommy's heart."

"Yes, Karis, I believe he is."

Then while Clint was at work she started asking her mother about cousins, auntie, and grandparents. Some people Jennifer felt comfortable saying, "Yes, Karis, he is.", but for some other relatives Jennifer had to be more diplomatic and say, "I don't know Karis, we will have to pray about that one."

Today Karis kept saying, "I want to go see Jesus."

Her mother does not want Karis to go see Jesus yet. Her thought is, we might want to keep Karis around for a number of decades before she goes to spend eternity with Jesus.

All of this Jesus drama has provoked different reactions among her parents. Jennifer is concerned we are going to have one of those preachers kids that does not have an appropriate sense of personal space, and aggressively approaches people in stores and at parks asking them if they know Jesusssss. She is also challenged by how to explain the reality of Christ in a way a two year old can understand.

Clint is a little more mystical about the whole deal. Could it be that the presence of God is speaking to Karis in a way that she recognizes, but we don't see? Could it be that God is claiming Karis as his own, even at this young age, and faith is being born in a very age-appropriate way in her young little heart?

At times, Clint is also concerned that the obsession with Jesus now, and the subsequent misunderstandings and disappointments that happen when a parent tries to explain the reality of Jesus to a 2 year old mind will be detrimental to her faith development when she gets older. Will she burn out on Jesus, and then never really be open to the truth of Christ when she grows older?

All in all though, we are grateful that Karis' relationship with God and the church is not a drudgery, but a joy. And that her eagerness to learn about Jesus has helped us grow in our relationship with Him and understanding of Him as well.

First kill

Clint let our dog Jake out to pee quickly last weekend as it was about to storm before bed. I was in the living room and heard him yelling for Jake. I figured Jake had gotten away and was off on one of his adventures in the woods around our house. I went out back to see what was happening and saw Jake at the edge of the tall grass, then I heard some howling sounds... then I smelled it... skunk!! Jake came running towards Clint as proud as can be with the skunk in his mouth! Needless to say, Jake smelled, we smelled, the house smelled... oh boy did it smell! Jake got several baths, this one in about three cans of spaghetti sauce. We also used Dawn Dishsoap, that seemed to work the best. A week later he still has a small odor, but I bet he is still dreaming of his first kill!

Sassiness

Karis is funny and she knows it! At just barely 2 years she loves to joke, kid and tease.
Here... Karis is pretending to be her own jack in a box... singing Pop goes the weasel!  

A few months ago Karis' daycare provider said that she thought Karis looked like the Red Bird from the game Angry Birds when she was mad or upset... It is true! Now when she is upset at times she will say, "Look, me Angry Bird!" and point to her face! 

Karis is also artistic and LOVES to color and draw. She is always drawing pictures with her "colors" for those she loves. She also LOVES to pose for the camera... here is her supermodel pose :) 

Mattie turns 2 months

Mattie turned two months on 7/14/12. She was born weighing 9 pounds 14oz and was 21 inches long. At her two month check up on 7/17/12 she weighed in at 13 pounds 1oz and was 24 inches long. Our big girl is growing so well and she seems to be changing every day. She gets more alert, smiles more and generally just warms our hearts more with each passing day!

Mattie thinks it's great to be two months old!

Karis loves "petting" her little sister

And she thinks she's pretty funny too :)

Mattea has the Walker "half smile" down already... too cute :)

Mattea turns 1 month old

Look out world... Mattie turned one month and is trying to drive her fake car already :)

And do the Tango... Ole'''

Karis helping Mattie celebrate.

Karis' 2nd Birthday

Karis turned 2 on June 2nd! She is a happy, smart and funny girl! She loves to play, tease and be an entertainer. Karis was born weighing 7lbs, 2oz and 19in long. At 2 Karis weighs 31lbs and is 37ins tall!

Right now Karis LOVES water... so she got this water table for her bday. She enjoys playing in the sink and taking a bath too :)

Watch out people of Hot Springs, SD... karis is on the move!

We took KK to Old McDonald's Farm in Rapid City for her birthday... She LOVES animals and hasn't stopped talking about her trip yet. For the next week after her birthday every time we got in the car she asked if we were going to the farm :)

Karis says, "Cow's eat grass"

Having fun on the train at the farm!

Going for her first pony ride... Holding on tight!!!

Karis says "Horse name Jake!"

She loved watching the pigs race!

When we ask Karis what pigs do, Karis says "Pigs race!"

She got to feed the baby goats at the farm.

Karis says "Goats drink milk!"

Mattea's Birth Story

Since about 30 weeks we knew that Mattea was going to be a big girl. Her ultrasound measurement at that point was over four pounds. At this point the doctor talked about having her early and checking around 35/36 weeks to see how big she was. On May 7th at 36 weeks we had another ultrasound. Mattea's weight measurement was over 9lbs. Now in my own head I had to believe that the tech was wrong and the error rate was right and that my little Mattie was only going to be 8lbs :) After our ultrasound the tech took us to see the doctor. He stated that he didn't want me to go past 37 weeks and we were scheduled to have Mattea on May 14th. He mentioned just going right to having a C Section due to her size. I wanted to at least try to be induced... i should have known better given my delivery history with Karis! I was given a prescription of steroid injections that would boost her lung development and sent on my way. So on the morning of May 14th I made a call to Labor and Delivery at Rapid City Regional Hospital to see if they had "room" for me to be induced. They did and Clint and I headed out about 7am, leaving Karis with my mom and leaving her for the first time overnight with someone else. We arrived at the hospital about 8am, got settled into our room about 8:30 and was all hooked up to the Pitocin by 9am. I was already almost 4cm dilated, however Mattea was still very high in my pelvis. I started to have some contractions around noon that I noticed were a little stronger. About 12:30 the doctor came in and broke my water. There was some Meconium in my water, but the doctor stated that it was very light and he was not concerned about it. After my water breaking my contractions continued to get stronger. We had a good nurse and she was very encourging, but I should have listened to my body and my husband and asked for my Epidural sooner!!! About 4pm I knew that it was time for the epidural and Clint told her that I needed it. After asking for the epidural my contractions intensfied. My nurse wanted to or had to push a bag of IV fluid before the "good drug man" could come and visit. This is where it all becomes a little blurry to me... I decided to stand while getting the fluid as my contracts were coming on pretty strong. During this time I started to have incredible pressure that never really subsided with the contractions I was watching on the monitor. I could see the ebb and flow of the contraction, but I certainly was not feeling the relief! The "good drug man" came in. He was a nice guy and I think really good at his job... I know he got the epidural in there... it worked for about two contractions... then... it didn't! Now here is where it gets REALLY blurry for me! After the epidural I kept telling my nurse that something just wasn't right, I wasn't getting any relief between contractions. She called my doctor. I could hear them on the phone, as I screamed...He arrived I swear like an hour later, maybe about 7pm. At this point the "good drug guy", my nurse and Clint were telling him that something was not right. My nurse told him that it all had intensfied very quickly, the drug guy said that he knew he had gotten the epi in right and Clint told him that I had had a vaginal birth without an epidural working before and was not in this kind of pain. All the while I screamed.... Just get her out!!! That went to... Just get IT out!!! I heard my doctor ask about doing a spinal block, he said no, and I said... I don't care how you get her out, just get her OUT! So the decision was made to go under general and have a C Section. They unhooked me from the pitocin and my contractions started to subside. I remember Clint kissing me and praying over me. Then I remember being wheeled into the OR and getting hooked up and strapped down. I heard the nurses counting the instruments... one, one, two, two, three, three, etc.... I think I was going in and out at this point. The next thing I remember was my doctor coming into the OR, someone asked him where he had been... He said he had to go look for his son and take him home... i remember thinking... i won't be seeing this guy again!!! The very nice "good drug guy" said, "It's time to have a baby, lean you're head back and I'm going to push on your throat..." I next thing I remember is getting woken up in recovery, someone telling me that Mattea was a very big girl and that she was in the NICU due to breathing issues and low blood sugar. I was pretty much out of it... but they wheeled me into the NICU to see her before taking me to my room. I don't remember much... I remember Clint being there and telling me about her, I remember looking over and seeing her under the oxygen hood and wires and tubes everywhere, I remember asking if she was going to be OK. They wheeled me to my room, Clint visited before going to a hotel that night to get some sleep. I had a great nurse that first night that said as soon as I was more with it, she would take me to see Mattea. About 5am the next morning she wheeled me to the NICU to see Mattea. At this time she was off the oxygen, was hooked up to monitors and had an IV in her hand. Mattea's nurse stated that she was being given antibotics for the meconium aspiration and glucose for her blood sugar. At this time I learned that her blood sugar had been a 16 when they first tested it... very low! I also learned for the first time that Mattea was born at 8:06pm weighing in at 9lbs 14oz and was 21 and half inches tall!!! Mattea stayed in the NICU for the next four days, working hard to get her blood sugar under control. They also noticed a heart murmur and she was being watched for that as well. Mattea continued to get better over the next few days. Once she was able to eat on Wednesday night, after being born on Monday I would go for her feedings. After being able to hold her formula and keep her blood sugar maintained they released both of us from the hospital together on Friday, May 18th.

As I look back at Mattea's birth I have to confess that I do have some guilt that even now, nine weeks later I still feel. I feel like I should have gone for the C section off the bat knowing that I had a hard time pushing Karis out and she was only 7 pounds. I have guilt about the fact that neither Clint nor I were really present for her birth, that we didn't get to hear her first cry or get to hold her right away. I feel guilt about her condition, that if I had controlled my diabetes more, even though it was controlled she would not have been so big and would not have had blood sugar issues. Guilt is a part of parenting... I'm sure there will be more things to feel guilty about as she gets older, but for now, nine weeks to the day and almost time of her birth I can only look at her and see how perfect she is and how lucky we are to have her!

New family blog

So with the birth of Mattea and Karis turning 2 the Walker's have decided to combine the blogs of the two girls and have one family blog to keep the girls adoring fans updated. This also just makes it easier on Clint and I during our busy newborn and toddler craziness :) We'll be blogging back to Mattea's birth and Karis' 2nd birthday and go from there... enjoy!