Pierson Reed Walters

Welcome Pierson!

Summer and Chad went to the hospital at about 7:30 this morning, and just 3 1/2 hours later, Pierson Reed made his arrival at 11:04. He weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 18.5 inches long. He has a full head of dark hair. Summer, Chad, Ava, and Pierson are all doing well! She wanted me to post some pictures so friends and family in Ft. Worth could see him. I'm sure she'll have more to add later.
~Kate

10 days and counting. . .

Ava pretending to have a baby in her tummy!

I am up again way past bedtime reading random blogs because I can't sleep. I am ready to have this baby. Or I'm as ready as you can be, I guess. I am going to enjoy some down time this week. I took off from work, so maybe I can get a few last minute things done or clean, or I might just rent a good movie and put my feet up since it might be the last time for a while.

My friend, Becky Brooks, is speaking at Lectureship, and I am glad to be living in Abilene so I can take advantage of the great wisdom that will be pouring out of ACU the next few days. I hope to attend at least a few of the lectures. I look forward to hearing Becky speak about being transparent tomorrow; she is a great public speaker, and wise beyond her years.

Today, we passed by a homeless man who hangs out in a parking lot not far from our house. Chad has had a couple of conversations with him, and actually wrote a blog about him recently. As we passed by, Ava noticed him and asked what he was doing. We told her that he didn't have a house or a car, so he sleeps right there in the parking lot. She asked, "But does he have a pillow?" Chad explained that his name is Roland, and he has backpack he uses as a pillow, but sometimes he doesn't have food, so maybe we could bring him some lunch on the way home. We talked about Roland in the car for about the next 15 minutes. On the way home, she reminded us to get a snack for Roland, which she wanted to hold. She was very excited to give it to him. He thanked us and told us,"God is so good," before he sat back down on the side of the road. When we arrived home, Ava was still talking about Roland, and said, "I want to go sit by him." There is nothing sweeter than trying to teach Jesus' love to your 3 year old, and realizing that she is teaching you.

Ava has been nothing but excited about being a big sister until today. It may have just been that she was so tired, but as I tried to put her down for a nap, she threw a fit, and let me know she didn't want a baby! I reminded her that it was going to be fun having a baby because she would get to be a big sister! She cried as loud and hard as I've heard her cry in a while saying that she did NOT want to be a big sister. She fell asleep curled up on my shoulder repeating that phrase over and over. It was actually pretty pitiful. I know that Pierson's arrival into our family will be such a blessing, but I am reminded that it may also be a difficult transition for Ava. After her nap, we spent some time at the Sheets' house and she loved getting to help take care of the twins, so I am hoping that her meltdown was more from exhaustion than real emotion. I think once he's here, she will be excited. . . at least for a while!

Hopefully the next time I post, I'll have some new pictures to share.

Ava turns 3!

On Saturday, we had Ava's 3rd Birthday Party! It was fun this year because she was so into every detail and had anticipated the party for weeks. She told every stranger we met, "When I turn 3, I'm going to have a Flip Flop Party with chocolate cake and a jump house." It was a big day! If you know Ava at all, you know her obsession with shoes, particularly flip flops. She picked the theme of her party this year! Here are some pictures of the day. Somehow I managed to get through the party with no photos of the jump house, which was the highlight of the party. We did get video footage though! I made it through the day without going to labor which was a plus also. Now we're just awaiting Pierson's birth day!


Showing how old she is...






















Playing her new pink guitar






















Blowing out candles on the flip flop cake


Opening presents


Lining up cars to make a "Sea World parking lot."


There are so many things that I love about my daughter at this age. Here are some things that I don't want to forget about Ava at age 3:
1.The way she rolls her eyes and nods her head when she says something she knows is funny or cute!
2. The way she sings all the time and when she is singing praise songs, she lifts her hands to God.
3.That she finds slapstick humor hilarious! Any one who is willing to fall on the floor, run into a door, or bump their head on her behalf becomes her new best friend!
4. She is so sweet with babies, talking in a high voice and trying to mother them.
5. Her favorite toy right now is matchbox cars. She loves to line them up in little "parking lots."
6. The way she likes to pretend shes the mama and fix my hair
7. Her giggle
8. She likes us to "scratch her back and tell stories" at bedtime.
9. Her interest in shoes, especially flip flops, shiny shoes, high heels, and "farkly" (sparkly) shoes
10. Her interest in Spanish because of Dora the Explorer. It cracks me up when she says something that sounds like jibberish and then tells me, "I'm just speaking in Spanish."
I could go on and on, but right now she is done with her bath and I need to go help with the bedtime routine!

If you would like something really worth reading today, read Chad's "journaling." I thought he was done as a blogger, but he has decided to make a comeback with a great entry about living out the gospel!