Leila's 2nd Birthday Bash

Today, we went to Andrew's girlfriend Leila's 2nd birthday bash. Leila's mommy Leah worked so hard at putting together this Minnie Mouse bash. It was so cute! 

Of course, some of Kyle's co-workers could not wait to adorn him in these Minnie Mouse ears. 

He loves to color! And being just like his mama, he is very good at putting everything back right where it came from.

The birthday girl! She is such a cutie patootie!

Leah did such a great job on Leila's 2nd birthday Minnie Mouse bash! She didn't miss a single detail!

Even with all the girls and presents, Andrew would much rather play with rocks and dirt!

This picture looks like it should be a scene from the movie, "The Sandlot."

 This dog was HUGE but so sweet! 

Happy birthday sweet little Leila! Thank you for letting our family be apart of your special day!

Be still my heart!

As if I couldn't love this little boy any more than I already do, he always seems to find a way to melt my heart even more. We have been working on words and commands. I am a super affectionate person, meaning I am a hugger and a smoocher!  I say to Andrew and Kyle all the time "can I have a smooch?" Andrew is certainly observing these learned behaviors and will smile when he sees Kyle and I smooch good bye or hello. Andrew has been known a time or two to come up to Kyle and I and lay a big ole smooch on us, but this was solely on his own accord. This past week, I have been asking him for a smooch. And wouldn't you know it, in the midst of his super snuggly demeanor this last week, I asked him for a smooch and he leaned in and planted one on his mommy! I was in love! Kyle, not wanting to miss on the action, asked Andrew for a smooch and after looking at me first, he gave Kyle a smooch too!
We have also been working on blowing kisses. Normally, I put his hand to his mouth and he will give a big teethy smile but doesn't actually blow a kiss. This last week, he seems to like blowing kisses...Andrew style! He will put his hand to his mouth with his mouth open wide and smile! It is still a work in progress but it seems to make the ladies giggle!
In typical Courtnie fashion, now that it is time to get back into work mode, I am getting sick! YAY ME!! So bring on the Vitamin C to kick this sore throat and post nasal drip. So what does this have to do with my smoochie story? This morning, while I was sipping my tea, I sneezed. Normally, when Andrew sneezes, both Kyle and I say "Bless you!" My sweet little boy, looked at me, put his hand on my face and said "besh." I truly believe he was trying to say "bless you!"
Sorry for the giant smooch and love fest but this moment was too sweet to not blog about. I can't wait for the smooches to continue. I hope they last forever!

18 months old

Today, our little guy turned 18 months old. Where in the world has a year and a half gone? It is just crazy! And no, if you are thinking about asking me if I have the bug to have another one, the answer is no! I am loving my time with Andrew right now and with my job as busy as it is, I couldn't imagine trying to have another little munchkin. Many of my friends are starting round 2 so I will let them start the party and take helpful hints from them later.

Anyhow, today was a very exciting day! Andrew is walking...again!! After a week of not putting any weight on his foot, he took his first steps. I am not going to lie, I was beyond nervous that we were going to have to go back to the doctor and that there was the possibility that something could in fact be broken. While he has a little bit of a limp, we are thrilled that he is walking. We won't call it a limp, we can say that my little boy has swagger! So hooray, he is walking, a true gift in itself!

To celebrate the excitement of his "second" first steps and his birthday, we took Andrew to the duck pond where he fed the ducks. He LOVES feeding the ducks. He laughs so hard at the noises and the chaos these ducks cause when they are being fed. It is a non-stop laugh fest!

After, we went to the French Valley Airport in the hopes of watching airplanes take off and land since he has a fascination with airplanes. We hear them all the time in our neighborhood but of course, the moment we want to see one, they are all grounded and there was NO action. It was such a bummer but Andrew enjoyed the outing!

Looks like all is starting to come back to normal...just in the knick of time for mommy to go back to work! Geez! Our work as a mommy is never done! But my heart is happy that my baby boy is healthy. No complaints, all is good!

I can do it myself!

Andrew proves everyday that he is becoming a big boy. With that, comes his desire to want to things himself...without help! Heaven help me if I even come close to thinking about helping him...it is a meltdown in the making! He is such a little Kyle like that!

Tonight exemplifies this behavior. Every night, it is our night night routine to put on jammies, brush our teeth, comb our hair, and read a book. Andrew loves helping me brush his teeth by putting the toothbrush under the water. But tonight, he did it all...by himself. He put a "little dab will do ya" of toothpaste on his toothbrush, turned on the water, and brushed his own toofies. I was such a proud mommy! My baby boy is getting so big! It brings a tear to my eye to think that soon he won't need me for the things I love doing with him. I need to savor these snuggles while I can get them, because soon it will be "Mom, drop off 2 blocks away!" I know, I know, I am getting ahead of myself. But share with me in the excitement of Andrew being such a big boy and completing such a task all by himself! Way to go little man!

Second "first steps"

Today, our little guy turned 18 months old. Where in the world has a year and a half gone? It is just crazy! And no, if you are thinking about asking me if I have the bug to have another one, the answer is no! I am loving my time with Andrew right now and with my job as busy as it is, I couldn't imagine trying to have another little munchkin. Many of my friends are starting round 2 so I will let them start the party and take helpful hints from them later.

Anyhow, today was a very exciting day! Andrew is walking...again!! After a week of not putting any weight on his foot, he took his first steps. I am not going to lie, I was beyond nervous that we were going to have to go back to the doctor and that there was the possibility that something could in fact be broken. While he has a little bit of a limp, we are thrilled that he is walking. We won't call it a limp, we can say that my little boy has swagger! So hooray, he is walking, a true gift in itself!

To celebrate the excitement of his "second" first steps and his birthday, we took Andrew to the duck pond where he fed the ducks. He LOVES feeding the ducks. He laughs so hard at the noises and the chaos these ducks cause when they are being fed. It is a non-stop laugh fest!

Can you tell he is teething too? His hands are back in his mouth!

After, we went to the French Valley Airport in the hopes of watching airplanes take off and land since he has a fascination with airplanes. We hear them all the time in our neighborhood but of course, the moment we want to see one, they are all grounded and there was NO action. It was such a bummer but Andrew enjoyed the outing!

Looks like all is starting to come back to normal...just in the knick of time for mommy to go back to work! Geez! Our work as a mommy is never done! But my heart is happy that my baby boy is healthy. No complaints, all is good!

I know, I am a slacker! BIG TIME!!

No excuses! I am a big ole LAME-O and since 2013 kicked off, I have put my blog on the back burner. For all you faithful followers, I am so sorry that I have not updated this as often as I should. Okay, the last time I posted was 2 months ago...I know, I know...capital L to the forehead. In my defense, let me tell you SOME of the things that have kept me very busy over the last 2 months.

First and foremost, if you have children or have younger siblings, than you would know that it is fair to say that having a very active toddler makes simple things, well, difficult. Let's just say that after an evening in my home with some girlfriends, my home started clean, and by the end of our visit, we joked that Hurricane Andrew had blown through. This little boy is the "on the go, non-stop, gotta stay moving, gets bored quick, will pause for a brief snuggle and smooch, and then get out of my way, it's GO TIME!!" little boy. I am literally exhausted by the end of the day. And these are my weekends! During the week, I am up and on the road by 6 to commute to Riverside to teach my middle-schoolers. I truly don't know how my stay at home mommy friends do it. I feel like I get a "break" when I am at work...sometimes!

In January, I took Andrew to the Discovery Science Center in Anaheim. Between the Bob the Builder exhibit and playroom, Andrew had a blast. I will post the few pics I was able to snag of this little mover and shaker in my Andrew meets Bob the Builder post. It's hard to capture him these days, he is so dang speedy!

Since Kyle works on the weekends, Andrew and I have "Mommy and me" dates. We have visited friends, fed the ducks, gone for a smoothie (a.k.a. Andrew drinks mommy's smoothie) and gone for walks to the park. Andrew loves getting the mail. He has his system down. He knows where his jacket is, knows where to put his shoes on, but we are still working on the putting the shoes on part. He can put them on his feet but that's where it ends. He insists on holding the key the entire way to the mailbox and will hold the mail on the way home. It's HIS thing and I have learned not to interfere!

 

Andrew has seemingly acquired my OCD. This little boy must organize everything. From the socks in his sock basket, to his shoes, to my Tupperware, you name it, he will organize it! He even knows how to put things away, including trash. He will unpeel his own banana, walk the peel to the trash can, open the trash drawer, and throw it away. Need to wipe a spill off the floor, just give a towel to Andrew and no joke, he will scrub the floors. Now, if only he knew how to clean up all his toys.

Andrew is saying many words. His newest words since the start of 2013 are

• Plane: he loves watching airplanes and will literally stop in mid stride to find the plane in the sky, point to it, and say "plane"
• Push: he is fascinated with lights. He loves walking around the house saying "push" to turn on light switches or push any button he can get his hands on. He certainly knows how to push mommy's and daddy's buttons too!
• Lights: After he turns the lights on, he will say lights.
• Uh-oh
• Oh dear!: Kyle can't stand that he says this but after too many close encounters with a different phrase that I was not happy about, I have managed to get him to say Oh Dear! instead.
• WOW, WOW, WOW!: And yes, all three WOW's happen at in one phrase. This is said when there is lots of excitement around him.
• He claps at the end of every song that he likes or at the end of a performance. Currently, his favorite songs are Tornado by Little Big Town and Heaven by Bruno Mars. He sure does love to shake his bootie!

February has been a very busy month for the Wallace Family. We are so busy being busy with things around the house and work that we have neglected our family and friends. Please accept this as an apology if we haven't seen or spoken to you in awhile. On my end, in addition to work, I currently have 32 pregnant friends...yes 32!! Needless to say, Andrew and I have been to a ton of baby showers and have had to miss some too in order to make other events. The last due date is August so hey, things should slow down by then! It's been crazy! Tack on some birthday parties and illness, that pretty much sums up our days. Never mind our latest and greatest frequent flyer miles we have accrued at the Rancho Springs Medical Center ER this last weekend, this mommy is wiped out. Thank you for all your well wishes and love you sent to Andrew. The x-rays revealed that there was not a fracture but to this day, Andrew still won't put full weight on his left foot. He is making improvements day by day. Thank goodness I have this week "off." I will post all the details about his First Big Boy Boo Boo later.

We hope you are all doing well! Thank you for your love, support, and friendship! We promise, we will surface again soon!