Merry Christmas from the Wallaces!

Ho Ho Ho

This was taken last night. Santa was really great. Grant told him he wanted a bull dozer, which was a surprise to us! I was a little nervous about Luke liking him since it was his first time. No tears at all. So, it was a success. The theme was Polar Express and it was done really well with a train the kids could watch as they waited to see Santa and the movie was playing too!

From the mouth of a child

So, this is the first year that Grant is learning about Christmas and Santa Claus. But, he is still trying to figure it all out so he asks so many questions. You know how there are millions of toy commercials on T.V. this time of year? Of course he says he wants every toy advertised for the boys and he even saw a commercial for a princess vanity and thought that looked pretty cool so he asked for that too! So, after seeing a toy he really wanted he asked me if he could have it. I told him that he might get it for Christmas. Then he asked me, "Does Santa have one of those?" Later I thought to myself that I should have said, "No, he's plum out of those." :) I know this will probably be one of the few years where I see that curious wonder in his eyes and hear those sweet, sweet words come out of his mouth. Before too long he'll have it all figured out. I wish I could freeze time for a little while. They grow up too fast.

Santa Claus & Christmas trees

Last Saturday was the children's Christmas party for the kids in Mike's squadron. Mike was asked to be the Santa Claus. Yep, that's right. I was so worried thinking that Grant would recognize him. He rode up to the party in a fire truck and when he got out and I saw him I was even more worried. Mike tried to disguise his voice but it was nearly impossible. All the kids had to sit in his lap while he handed out presents. THANKFULLY Grant didn't look beyond his red suit and beard and didn't recognize him. So, I had to post this picture...



This picture was taken on our way home from the party. I don't know if I've said this before but Luke sucks on his blanket to help him fall asleep.


On another note, this is our lovely 4 ft. tabletop Christmas tree this year. I decided that I didn't want to spend the entire month pulling Luke away from the tree. He'd have all the ornaments pulled down and probably the tree too!


But, it still doesn't stop him from trying!

Since Halloween....

So sorry that it's taken me so long to give an update. I apologize to all my faithful readers...all 4 of you! Especially you, Tesney! :) I think I've decided that I can only manage a monthly update. A lot has happened this past month! First big news...on November 16th, LUKE TURNED 1! We just had a little party at home for him. I cooked a favorite meal and I made cupcakes. Grant loves birthday parties so he really got in to it. We let him blow out Luke's candle and he opened the presents. He also wore Luke's birthday hat since Luke wouldn't keep it on his head. Might as well been his own birthday! He even enjoyed playing with Luke's new toys. Luke devoured the cupcake and I'm sure he would have eaten another one but it was close to his bedtime so didn't want to overload him with sugar. Watching Luke eat his cupcake made me think of how different he and Grant are. When Grant turned one, he didn't want to touch the cake because it made his hands messy. So, I had to feed it to him. Luke, on the other hand, has no problem being messy. Luke decided to give us a little gift on his birthday and took 7 steps! A week or two prior he had been taking a couple steps between our couch and ottoman but that was about it. Ever since then he's been walking more and more. His balance is getting much better and now he can pretty much walk wherever he wants to go. Once he falls down he can't get back up without pulling up on something but I'm sure that will come soon enough. He doesn't like to wear shoes but I recently bought some Pediped shoes that he likes and won't try to take them off. They are so light, it's like he doesn't even know they are on. At his one year check up he weighed 20 lbs and is 30 in. long. He's below average for his weight but average for his height. He's always been a little fella. He has 12 teeth (including 4 molars) and is eating just about everything. He still will eat baby food but would rather have whatever we are eating. He rarely turns anything down. Thankfully he has come out of his needy stage and will play on his own much better these days. I think just the fact that he's walking now has made him a happier baby. He says "bye-bye" and waves. He says "uh-oh" after he drops something and just recently, "mama." I think he knows what he's saying but Mike begs to differ. He says it's just another sound he's making.



We flew to Memphis for Thanksgiving and spent it with Mike's family. It was SO nice to enjoy some cool temps and leave this 80 degree weather down here. The night we got there it dropped into the low 30's so it was cold! Although Grant wanted to spend most of his time outside it was almost too cold for him to stay out for long periods of time. He still got plenty of time doing his favorite things... riding his bike, little tractor, riding the 4 wheeler with Daddy, riding on the tractor with Grandpa, playing with the dogs. The only thing he didn't get to do was ride the horses. Mike's parents place is just made for little boys! This is the first time Grant was really able to enjoy it all and I know he's only going to love it more and more the older he gets. We also enjoyed spending a good bit of time with Bryan and Jenny and they were big hits with Grant and Luke. Jenny dragged me to Jazzercise with her the morning of Thanksgiving. Then I was in pain the rest of my time there. Thanks Jenny! :)






The next big news is that Grant turned 3 on Monday, December 3rd. We had a birthday party for him on Sunday afternoon. I rented a bounce house and it turned out to be a lot of fun. 13 kids came and including parents I think there was 24 people there. The weather was in the 80's so the kids spent most of the time outside bouncing and playing our the playset. Grant got a ton of presents. Among his favorites were the digital camera he got from my Dad and Jennifer and an airplane and air craft carrier that Mike and I got for him. He really doesn't need anything for Christmas! I guess having a December birthday isn't that bad! Happy Birthday Grant! You and Luke are the greatest joy of our lives and we love you very, very much.



Let's see, what else? My brother, Nathan, is going to be a Daddy! His wife, Armine, is pregnant and due in July. We are thrilled that our boys are finally going to have a cousin!

My best friend, Hannah, since I was in second grade, is engaged. Congratulations Hannah!!

Happy, happy December everyone!