Paul

Don's son Paul came to visit for a week.  Rebekah was instantly drawn to her brother.

Paul was so sweet with her. 

They played ball...

Blocks....

More ball (the "put it in Paul's hat" version)

Rebekah had so much fun!

They also played with Don's race car and Paul's boat.  

(Rebekah catching up to Paul)

Paul's boat

Paul realizing he didn't let it charge enough

Don and Paul "borrowing" the neighbor's boat to retrieve said boat

The ride home

All the while Rebekah kept busy by eating the home grown strawberries right off the bush!

They also played with the trains

Rebekah still talks about "doul."  He obviously made a big impact. 

Can't wait to get them together again.  

While Paul was here Don's daughter Kayla and husband Josh added one more to the Walker posterity. 

A little baby girl named Paige Mae Young.

Happy Late Father's Day

Better late then never, eh?

Our Deck

A few months after we moved to Indiana there was some talk about building a backyard deck.  Then for a few months there was no talk.  Then there was talk again.  Finally there was an agreement made and after a month or so of waiting the work began.  

The "before" shot

First sign of work was this:  

Then they got busy.

Rebekah couldn't wait to get out there....

Finally it was close enough that we could go out.  Don wanted to talk to the builders so we came out too.  Rebekah took a few steps out and turned around to go back inside.  I went to follow when I realized she only went inside to get her chair.  The first person to relax on the deck - Rebekah.  

Don told his mom that he asked the builders to leave that space open so we would have a place sweep all the dirt and crumbs.  Mom was not happy.   Good thing she can take a joke.  

The finished product.  

I love the solar lights.  Makes it even more awesome.

Playdough

Don's mom brought home playdough.  

Rebekah was so excited!

We made a dog

"arf"

a truck

"vroom"

And a snakey thing

"sssss"

Rebekah's loving it and mama is learning how to be creative.  Great on both fronts.

My Little Helper

Rebekah loves to help with anything and everything.  

Here she is helping me make zucchini bread.  

Love my little helper!

Allergies

Since moving to Indiana I have developed allergies.  I sneeze so much more than I ever thought possible.  I even mentioned it to the dr. and he basically said, "you think it's bad now, wait until they harvest the corn."  Nice.  Anyway...  I have sneezed so much that Rebekah has learned the following:

4th of July

For the 4th of July we headed over to Frank's for some good family time.

During the drive Reka amused herself with a bucket o' bling. 

When we got there Rebekah was hungry. 

After she filled her belly, she had a good chat with Frank and Grandma.

Then she came back to sample the watermelon.

We all waited while she formulated her opinion.  It was favorable and she devoured.

Then Don worked on the truck.

Grandma sat on the tractor 

Rebekah practiced her jumping

( - shout out to Aunt Courtney - )

I looked at garden

while Rebekah practiced her "sneaking" skills

We came home and got ready for bed.  Rebekah was so tired she slept right through the fire works.

The community we live in celebrated the 4th on the 6th.  Two houses down from us was in charge of the fireworks.  We are talking big fireworks.  He set up in the back of his house and our next door neighbor's house.  It was quite impressive.  They had a MC across the lake.  Loud music, etc.  We decided there was no way Rebekah would sleep through that, so we would join them.   I had seen other toddlers / babies awe and amazement of the fireworks through pictures on facebook.  Although concerned (Reka has never been one for loud noises, not to mention new experiences), I was excited to see that same look on Reka's face.  We brought chairs and sat in our back yard and waited for the show.   

They first lit little hot air balloons in honor of our fallen military.  That was a neat thing to see.

Then they started the show.  Wow.  It was truly high class fire works!  However, Rebekah didn't care for the noise and REALLY didn't like the lights in the sky.  We didn't stay long.  We are talking a matter of seconds.

So I took Rebekah inside and entertained her for the next 2 1/2 hours or so.  It was rough.  She was tired but it was so noisy there was no getting her to sleep.  She finally got over being scared and we played on Don's ipad.  Finally around 12:30 am the fire works stopped.  Somewhere around 1 am the music stopped.  I didn't know how long the silence would last so I took advantage of it and quickly put Rebekah down.  Don and I soon followed.

First Fudge Bar

We got back from the park and grandma was eating a fudge bar.  

Rebekah decided grandma should share.  

Grandma lovingly complied.

Mmmm....

Must... try... more...

Yum YUM!

20

20 months!

Yay!

She is learning and maturing in so many ways.   She is walking up and downstairs with no issues.  She climbs and jumps and dances on whatever she can get to.  She has so much energy!  It is completely necessary that I get her outside and let her run as much as possible.  She simply needs it. 

She is in the "do it myself" mode.  Most of the time it's a good thing, but mama is still learning how to let go.  I try to remind myself while I'm cleaning up the mess that she is learning and practice makes perfect.  (Yes, I know - I am learning too....)

She says a lot more now.  The other day at the pool her ball rolled between these two ladies who were sunbathing.  She walked up to one of the ladies and very confidently said, "help" (sounded more like elp.) The lady of course had no idea what Reka wanted until I translated.  But I love the confidence Rebekah is developing.  Rebekah also will not rest until she has said hello (sounds like Ellow) to whoever is on the phone.  She is at the point where she will say it to whoever I ask.  

Every day I ponder on her beauty.  She is truly beautiful on the outside but inside as well.  I don't call her my snuggly baby for nothing.  She loves to give hugs and loves to cuddle whenever she slows down enough to do so.

Can't wait to see what next month brings!

Memories

Another old post from before we moved to Indiana....

Don is very sentimental. We bought a replacement bottle washer and Don couldn't get rid of the old one - too many memories of washing Rebekah's bottles.  Don is very sweet.  So I took a picture so we would always have it and remember and not have the germs and such from the old bottle washer.  

Turns out I am sentimental too.  This bottle washer reminds me how much Don loves and supports me.  And all the bottles he washed....