Brian Jeffrey Walker

Brian has been nicknamed "Cryin Brian" by our family.  The poor little guy had a bit of a rough time, requiring surgery at just 6 days old.  He is doing very well right now, but has to be dilated twice a day to keep scar tissue from forming, which he doesn't like at all.  Thus the nickname.

He is a very sweet little guy, and we are very happy that he has joined our family!

No More Hospitals!

After spending four-days in NICU when the twins were born, we thought we were all done with the hospital for awhile.  Unfortunately, Brian had other plans in mind.  Late Sunday night/early Monday morning he was grumpy and wouldn't eat.  Jeff quickly realized this was a big deal (one of the wonderful benefits of having a doctor in the family), so he took Brian to the emergency room at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital.  After a few diagnostic tests, Brian was diagnosed with imperforate anus.  This can be a very scary diagnosis, because it is often clustered with a number of other underlying malformations along the midline.  An ECG, MRI, EKG, kidney ultrasounds, a barium series, extensive blood work, and a zillion other tests were done to rule these other potential problems out.  Thankfully, they all came back negative. 

However, Brian did require a surgery called anoplasty.  This was performed by a pediatric colorectal surgeon (who knew such a person existed!) on Tuesday morning.  Brian was carefully monitored by a wonderful team of nurses, and was discharged on Thursday afternoon.  It was a very scary couple of days, which is to be expected anytime a newborn infant has surgery.  But in the realm of things that could have been wrong, this was minor. We were reminded of that every time we walked down the hall and saw other children with cancer, and other life threatening issues.  We are grateful to share that Brian's prognosis is excellent, and he should not require any future surgeries.

Our Grumpy Baby At Home, the Night Before Heading into the Hospital 

 Brian all Tucked In, Snug as a Bug, at the Hospital  

 A Visit from David 

 Time to Head Home At Last!

Brian and David have Arrived!

We are excited to introduce the newest members of the Walker Family!



Do you think our grins could be any bigger upon meeting Brian for the first time?

 

David  William Walker

Brian Jeffrey Walker 

Jeff Feeding Brian for the First Time

Elizabeth giving Brian the first of many midnight feedings

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Alex and Elena showed a little spirit by wearing their green St. Patrick's day shirts today.  Aren't they cute little leprechauns?

Elena's First Time Ice Skating

Elena took her first spin on the ice at the skating rink today and was all smiles.  Even when she fell down, she got back up and kept smiling.  She liked using the ice walker, but it was very cute how she held on to her big brother for support. I wonder if she will be a hockey player like her big brother?

Spring is Here!

It was sunny and 60+ degrees yesterday.  Jeff and the kids took advantage of the gorgeous weather by going on a bike ride and stopping in at the local playground.  

Alex was a terrific big brother pushing his sister on the swings, and Elena returned the favor!

Little Mommy

Elena has been practicing her big sister skills on her babies.  She sure loves Elmo!

Elena's Pony Ride

I wonder if Princess Elena will be able to talk her Daddy into buying her a real pony, instead of just a ride on the one at the grocery store?

A Late Night in the Atlanta Airport

The kids were great travelers on the way home from our visit to Grandma's house in Florida, despite the late hour. After a two hour layover in Atlanta, we arrived home to an awaiting Jeff after midnight. We had TWO dinners, a snack at Cinnabon, and then found a quiet corner to play at in Atlanta, before making a mad dash to our last minute terminal change.

Florida Vacation

The kids and I headed down to Florida to visit Grandma Liz for a few days during a school vacation. Although the weather was not very warm, it was great to see Grandma Liz and be able to play outside without our winter coats!

Fun Times in Florida

The weather wasn't warm enough for the swimming pool, but Elena took full advantage of the Florida sunshine to go on numerous bike rides around Grandma Liz's neighborhood.  

Silly Soup Eaters

Elena is a BIG fan of soup. On Saturday, we ate lunch at Max & Erma's (affectionately referred to in our household as Max & Ruby's, after the Nickelodeon cartoon). Elena ate most of Mom's spicy tortilla soup and and helped Dad finish off his as well. 

Elena is definitely our more adventurous eater, but both kids always at least try everything on their plates.

Purim Celebration

We attended the celebration of Purim for Elena's class this evening.  Elena dressed as Queen Esther, which meant that she could pile on all the dress-up jewelry and accessories she could find from the dress up bin on top of a frilly dress.  She looked adorable, and she knew it!

Jeff and Alex were all smiles after Elena's performance.

The father classmate Elise took this rare candid family photo of all four of us.  Usually I am the one behind the lens, so it is nice that we are all captured together.

Even rarer is this photo of just me and Jeff, taken by 2s teacher, Mrs. Zawadski.

 Time for our tired kids to head home!

Getting Ready for Florida

The kids and I are going to see Grandma Liz in Florida during the last week of February! We found some cheap $89 flights, and it is during a time they are off school due to a teacher conference. I am looking forward to hanging out with Liz now that I am feeling well again, and plan to take full advantage of the sunshine. The kids are in a bit of Grandma Liz withdraw after all the time they spent with her in October, December and January while I was in the hospital, so they are looking forward to this time together. They are also curious about the airplane ride- it has been almost a year since we last flew together as a family, so they have asked lots of funny questions about flying.

Elena's crazy growth spurt continues, so I bought her a few new bathing suits this week. She got the new ones and old ones out tonight and proceeded to dress her each of dolls in one. Then she lined them all up and gave "swimming lessons." Explaining the finer points of water safety
Hello Kitty needed a little extra attention since she is "scared of the sharks"
After all the instruction, it was time for bed. In this photo you can glimpse the new banister we had installed this week. Our handymen, Mel & Scott, have been a daily presence in our house for the last two weeks. They have been terrific, and the house is looking better every day, but it will be nice when the house is not a construction zone anymore.

Elena wanted to wear her swimsuit to bed, but we compromised on her princess pajamas instead.
We are looking forward to our time together in Florida!

Hockey Star

Alex has been attending hockey classes since January to improve his already terrific skills. On Saturday, he officially graduated from the Hockey 1 Class. He is now a member of Hockey 2, which allows him to play two games each week.
He looks so grown-up in all his hockey gear!

Jungle John Visits the BJE with a few friends

Jungle John is a local celebrity that comes to visit the children at their school each year, bringing along different exotic animal friends each time. He is as funny as a stand-up comedian, which makes his act fun for the parents to watch too. I showed up over at the school a little early on Tuesday since Alex is still not feeling quite right after his weekend bought with the stomach flu (which he generously shared with Jeff, resulting in three days of missed work).

Alex and classmate Alessandra volunteered to help Jungle John out with the ferret. The ferret was a bit stinky...
...and Alex was not interested in smelling him up close.
However, he did enjoy watching it turn all the way around in its tube.
Up next was Bubba the Frog, the only non-jumping frog I have ever seen.
Alex visiting with the most laid-back, kid-friendly dog ever
Pat the Bunny!
Wings the owl is very smart.- he flapped his wings whenever his name was said or even spelled! The new readers of the Kindergarten class enjoyed taunting him a bit by yelling out the letters.
I am glad I got to share this performance with my sick little boy!

Zhu Zhu Pets

Alex and Elena received the Zhu Zhu pet slide from Grandma Liz for Christmas, but every store in town was sold out of the actual pets. Grandma Sandy remedied that situation this weekend when she and Elena were out on a Target shopping date together. The kids are now proud owners of Winkie and Scoodles and are having a lot of fun playing with these LOUD toys. Thanks Grandmas!

Elena in Action

Elena is at a very fun age right now, and loves to be silly. She does something every single day that makes me laugh.

She grabbed a straw be sure she could drink and eat every last bit of the watermelon.
She made Valentine's Day cards (with extra glue) for just about everyone she could think of, including "the Robot," our Roomba vacuum cleaner.
And she put on my mittens to play hand puppets.I am looking forward to seeing what this joyful child does next.

More Monkey Joe's

After hockey practice Saturday morning, Alex attended a birthday party for his friend Ryan at Monkey Joe's.He was very tired after such a busy morning!

Alex's Shabat Nosh

Friday night was the Shabat Nosh program for Alex's class. We began the evening with crafts, including making a family tree and planting herbs. Then the kids marched up on stage to sing a few songs. Although Alex loved to practice the songs at home, he was a little shy up on stage. But he did a great job!After singing the final song about recycling, he joined us at our table for a little snack and prayer. It was a very nice evening!

Alex's Playdate

One of Alex's favorite friends, Jack, came home with us after school today to play, The boys don't get to hang out as much this year since Alex is in Kindergarten and Jack in in Junior-K. It was fun to watch them together, even if they did play the Wii most of the time.