W for Walkers!

That is right. We are Walkers! We say it with pride. I sent this e-mail to our family and wanted to post it here too for all our friends and memories to keep. Enjoy!

Let's start with one of favorite Christmas: our first Christmas as a married couple, we received some special, nice ornaments. Since then, we decided to buy an ornament each year that indentifies the year's higlights for each one of us. For example, this year, Glenn's special ornament is a tool box because he's become a great handyman helping with little things here and there in the house. He gets excited every time that I ask him to pull out his handyman box. He's doing his second year of anesthesia and loving it. I finally can understand his language about central venous catheters. He was actually complemented last night on call for his skill in placing a big one very quickly in a trauma patient. He is a great dad and husband. He is so supportive and such a hard worker in everything, even in little things that he never thought he was going to be involved in. That that is why he has earned this special ornament. This year has been tough to find the special ornamet for Nicky (6). I wanted something in Spanish and English since she has improved her Spanish so much. My family can finally have a conversation with her, though she does have a thick gringo accent. It's cute. She does love, however, bragging to her friends that she is bilingual. At first her friends didn't believe her, but then they saw her talking to me in Spanish and she became the most popular of the group. For her ornament, we did find something else that she has been doing for 2 years in a row and enjoying so much: a ballerina. She is doing very well once again in her dance classes. She loves them and keeps telling us she wants to be a ballerina and a chef when she grows up. She loves Kindergarten, which she attends from 7:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. She is a very hard worker, just like her daddy. Not being able to go to school would be the worst punishment for her, and her favorite is having pop quizzes at school...well, after lunch time, of course. Ian's (3) ornament this year could have been a toilet since he has improved so much with potty training. He still struggles at night, but is making improvements. I don't even know sometimes if he will grow up out of it. If not, I am already prepared to send him to college in big diapers. :) He is such a boy. He loves bugging his sisters, playing tough with daddy, and playing with cars and super hero toys. He also loves wearing his skull and crossbone rain boots everywhere (they were on sale, and they fit). He loves his cars, and admires policemen since he thinks they are the real superheroes. He is SO into dinosaurs, but seriously, he's really into it. He could watch movies and "read" books or documentaries about dinosarous forever. That is why he deserved a dinasour ornament. It was really tough to find something that fit so well since he likes so many things. Somehow Hanna (1) learned to love Elmo, and I was so glad because she's a momma's girl. It's funny because she is not a tv girl, she loves books! She always asks for have one with her when we put her in her crib to sleep. However, one day she found Elmo very interesting. She won't watch it on tv, but if I put pbs.org on the computer she could be there ALL DAY LONG...not that I have ever done that for the whole day..temptations, temptations...She still our little peach. Her vocabulary has grown so much. The other day I heard her saying, "BOOYAH!" to Ian...we think she picked it up from Nicky who got in from school. She likes playing rough with Ian, then tattle-taling on him to me about being rough. She is a doll when she walks, tiptoeing everywhere she goes. She picks her clothes with me every morning, and is very opinionated about it. I know what she doesn't want something when I pick it out and she tells me, "NO PRETTY GIRL!" and won't let me put the clothes on her. She lets me know she is happy with the outfit by smiling and nodding her head while saying, "OH, MY! PRETTY GIRL!" She also loves to dance and even say it in Spanish ("BAILA!"). She got an Elmo ornament. For this year the family ornament was this big W since we are Walkers of course. My ornament this year was especially tough. Last year I had a cook mitten with kitchen utensil. Everybody knows how much I love cooking and baking. However, due to this year's circumstances, I had to buy a different ornament for this year. Why? Well, you probably know that when I get pregnant I can't cook or get near the kitchen at all. That's right... WE ARE EXPECTING BABY NUMBER 4!! That is why the other ornament for the family is the one with a gingerbread cookie with the number 6! So far my kids think I'm the best cook for making mac & chesse almost everyday. I'm 8 weeks and a few days along, but who's counting? I went to my OB, and we already heard the baby's heartbeat. Nicky was dissapointed that I wasn't expecting twins. I was glad to see just one. :) Nicky is excited about the news, Ian not so sure how he feels, and Hanna couldn't care less. Glenn has been so nice and patient and such a good husband taking care of all of us when he is home.

We hope all of you had a Great Christmas and we wish you all a wonderful New Year!