just pictures for now...

Just between the Lord and us

The family is complete, or as my friends named us, WE ARE THE MAGNIFICENT 5!

Since the match things haven't been normal at home. First the surprise arrival of Hanna (who we love by the way). Then the shocking news about the match. Then another surprise: MY MOM came to town. Also sad, but perhaps for the best, was Glenn's Grandpa Woolf's passing over the weekend.

Now don't get me wrong. I love my mom, but she is a little high maintenance and having her as a surprise instead of a helper was going to be more work for me. Again, I was wrong, and the Lord sent exactly what we needed for our family. Hanna's surprising arrival came just in time to help us to have something else to think about and to have a rainbow in the middle of the rain. My mother in-law, as well as everybody else, is suffering for Grandpa's loss, but at the same time we believe in eternal families, and we all know he is in a better place and that if we are good enough, we might see him again. Hanna makes us all smile and think that life has hope and happiness and most importantly we are all together loving each other more than ever.

About the match: Glenn is finally coming back to normal. He is joking again, and I can see in his eyes the acceptance of the Lord's will. We are excited about moving. At the same time, we're a little frightenedd about finding a place with good schools and near the hospital. We trusted the Lord and we are trying to keep our faith up with this new change of plans. We are excited that we'll have a temple and we will have more places to have fun. His plans of being a plastic surgeon haven't changed, but they are not his priority anymore. He is opening his mind to other choices, to other possibilities else that he might like. We are seeing this as something that the Lord might want him to do or not to do. He had all the qualifications needed to match in plastics, but he didn't get it, and the only thing that we can think of is that the Lord has a different path. He and we know His way is the right one, and the only one that would truly bring us happiness.

Abuelita (my mom) is here. I thought it was going to be so much work, but man I was totally wrong AGAIN! She has been so helpful in this new transition with Nicky and Ian. They love her so much. She has being cooking so much, and more than ever I need her here. Glenn is doing his last rotation (ICU), and I have had pain since the delivery. I can't walk too much and the stairs were killing me. I feel bad for her. There are some days that she comes up and down more than 20 times per day. She is not letting me go anywhere and my hubby as always as soon as he comes back from his rotation he starts helping me and my mom out with the duties. I'm finally starting to feel better. I hope in a couples of day I'll be walking normally and have no more pain.

The Lord has sent us hard trials, but they don't look that hard when we feel His presence with us. Thank you all for your well-wishes and prayers. We know we have great friends and family, and we sure are grateful for it.

The baby is doing great. The kids are taking this arrival very well. They adore Hanna so much. Nicky is always asking if she is finally awake (Hanna does sleep too much). As soon as Hanna wakes up Nicky comes and starts singing her songs and Ian loves talking to her. She is a cutie indeed, and already changing a lot. I need to take more pictures, but the camera is downstairs and I always forget to ask my mom or Glenn to bring it upstairs. I'm ready to take a nap.

Welcome to the Earth!

Hanna Rebecca Walker

weight 6 lbs 9 oz

length 18 inches

Date of birth 3-19-09

time 5:22AM
Well yesterday around 2:30 p.m. my water broke. The thing was that I had no idea about it, since it was the first time that

it broke by itself. Anyway Glenn came home earlier so I asked him to help me to clean up the apartament. We both started working while letting the kids watch t.v. and play. Of course we were still worried about the match, but there was nothing to do.

Around 9:00 p.m. I told Glenn that I was feeling contractions so we called our friend and neighbor Starla to come and take care of the kids while we went to the hospital just to make sure that it was a false alarm (after all, the next day was match day).

To our surprise, the doctor told me that my water had broken and I had to stay since I was having the baby anytime soon. I called my sister so she could come and pick up my kids while I would be in the hospital. Glenn went home and grabed my suit case that I had already packed. Starla very nicely stayed in our home watching our kids while my sister came to pick them up. Glenn came back here and stayed with me all the time. After the baby was born I asked him to go back home, get some rest and get ready for the match (since I wanted to know where we were matching). Hanna was born and it was another beautiful experience. She was moving so much. Even the doctor was surprised at how active she was. She was struggling with keeping her temperature up for a bit, but she is fine now.

On the other hand my hubby came back for his match day with not a very happy face. He has matched indeed, but the program where he matched wasn't the one that he wanted (since it was general surgery in Dallas). However I don't feel that dissapointed. I just felt bad seeing his not happy face. Anyway I still think things happen for a reason. It may take a little bit longer to fullfill his dream or it may not (in case he decides to do something else). I just feel so proud of him. He did all that he could. He could not do anything else to be accepeted. I kept repeating to myself that the Lord knows more than we do and we just need to have faith that this is for the best. I'm so proud of him. He is such a great husband and hard worker. I wish he could be happier with this opportunity. It is hard because he worked so hard for it and still couldn't get it. I don't regret all the efforts he made, and it would be a shame if he does regret them. I'm kind of excited to start looking around Dallas, and I'm trying to give him the same motiviation, but with my hormones playing with my body it gets a little harder.

Anyway, I knew trials would come this year with lots of blessing, and this is just another one that we need to overcome.

I need some more rest but thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. We really could feel them. I'll keep you all posted about what is next:)

Claudia

Let's get the party started...

... And the party continued. The day after his b-day Ian got some more presents. First he got stickers and a card from his Aunt and Uncle Angela and Scott. He shared the stickers with Nicky and they both loved them. Thanks guys for remembering his b-day.

After that we got his granparents' gift. He was so excited to get books, puzzles, some clothes, and of course a Thomas (the choo choo) Train toy that he loves.

On Friday a friend of mine threw a party for her daughter, for Ian, and for another girl in the ward whose b-day is the same day as Ian's. Her daughter's b-day is just 5 days apart for the other 2 kids. They painted and ate pudding and cupcakes. They sure had a blast.

The next day after the kids celebration, Nicky went to a friend's party. The theme of the party was sports. So Nicky got to dress up as a cheerleader. She sure had fun. There was lots of food. Her favorite PIZZA. Lots of toys to play with. They had popcorn poppers that Nicky loved, and they had a inflatable slide set, a pinata, cake with ice cream, and best of all, LOTS OF CANDIES! They immediatly put a sticker on her chick with the longhorn logo. All her classmates attented the party so she actually knew most of the kids in the party. She had lots of fun. She even told me, "MAMA, OWEN'S HAD A GREAT PARTY! IT WAS THE BEST PARTY EVER! I HAD LOTS OF FUN!" I'm just so glad she had fun. She was very nice sharing all her goodies from her goodie bag with her brother. She is a great girl...most of the time:)

Here is Ian after all the candies. Can you tell the sugar got into him haha. Here is Nicky before the party. The prettiest cheerleader ever:)

This one here is after the party :)

And of course this one is during the party:)

For memories' sake, I have to say that I did get lost about 4 times on my way to the party, so Nicky, remember the sacrifices of your mother! :)

When I got home from the party, though, I also got a little pleasant surprise: my hubby had taken Ian in the van to the carwash and gave it a great cleaning! He even got some tire cleaner and made the tires look like new! He does a great job, and I was happy to see my "queen" (the van) back to her new-bought glory.

Good moments to remember :)

I'm beginning with my second toddler officially!

A few little extras first. Nicky has been working hard on her letters. She knows her abc's of course, and she looks ready for the next level. She has been practicing her A's and she has done wonderfully. Now with her daddy's help she is working in her b's. I think for being her first time she did a magnificent job. What do you think?

I really think my kids look like little models. Yes, I know, I'm their mother. But I do know a little bit about this subject and Ian just knows how to pose and Nicky well she is my little diva princess girl:)

Since Glenn had to go on his away rotations, Ian got this new "lovey" of his. He started by coming close to me and kissing my pants, then it was a blanket, to the current use of of his sleeve while doing this little puppy cry, "HUMM HUMM." That way my cutest little boy consoles himself. I just love him so much.

Yay! He is officially 2 years old!

We bought some cupcakes to celebrate his b-day again. They both loved the icing on them. I just love that they both love each other, taking care of and looking out for each other all the time. I hope they can include this little one that I'm carrying in me into their elite group.

On his b-day we decided to take them to the park. I do really have a question though. What is with kids throwing rocks onto the slide that they are about to use?! Is it just my kids or is it in general? I just thought that Ian was going to get over it as soon as he was 2, but no he just didn't get over it, but instead made Nicky remember how fun this game is...can somebody explain this to me?

Anyway my kids had a blast at the park...until we had to come back home. Ian surprised me with a new sentence that he has been using today, "WHAT ABOUT ME?" Everytime I would give, tell, or buy something for Nicky he immediatly shouted with his very sweet voice, "WHAT ABOUT ME?" I'm sure he's conscious of the fact that he can pull on my heart strings the way that he wants. That little boy just got me. He got very exited when he saw his uncle and auntie Standages' e-card. He was dancing with the tune and smiling, knowing that that e-card was just for him. Nicky, Glenn, and I joined him in his dance. After that he received a very "surprising" phone call from my sister, his Tia Dina and his Prima (cousin) Merary telling him how much they love him and that they were so happy that he is officially two. As soon as he heard his name on the message he opened his mouth way up with a surprised face. We just can't belive how conscious he is about all that happens around him. Another sentence that he has being using a lot (and I don't like by the way) is, "DON'T YOU NEVER, EVER...!" for everything to everybody. It's funny because he says it very seriously unless I give him the angry look; that is when he bites his upper lip to avoid the laughing, but he can't help himself.

I was planning to write just about Ian and maybe at the end just to add some additional pictures of my other two cuties, but for some reason the laptop won't let me move the order of the pictures so that's why I had to start my blog with my princess and my king...anyway the three of them are important to me so the order is not important I guess.