Bryson is Here!!

I'm totally ashamed because it's been a little over 2 months since the baby was born and I am just now posting pics of him. Honestly, I we have been in total survival  mode. I feel like I am herding cats! Those of you with more than 2 kids, you are amazing people! How do you do it?

Well, long story short, Bryson arrived at 3:39 PM on January 31, 2011. He was 7 lbs 9 oz and had a TON of hair that was perfectly parted on the side. He was born at University of Kentucky, Chandler Medical Center.

The week before I had him, I was having major contractions and was crazy uncomfortable. Eric was working a lot of overnight shifts and told me to try NOT to have the baby b/c he didn't really have coverage. So, I stayed put on the couch and poor little Addison was really sick with a nasty virus so she sat beside me, burning up with fever, and we watched about 500 hours of Mickey Mouse.

My ANGEL, Julie Bertram, who basically helped me raise Addison (after I decided to go back to work after having her) came to our rescue. She drove 7 hours from NC to help take care of me and Addison. She was truly a blessing. If I wasn't so huge, I would have leapt into her arms when she showed up at my front door!

I went into the hospital on the 1/31 for an induction (even though the baby was due on 2/5) b/c Eric's schedule was so hectic that we were trying to have this baby when he (Eric) could actually be around to witness the birth! Oh, the wonderful life of a doctor. Anyway, only after about 1.5 hours on pitocin, my water broke on it's own and we were off to the races. I did end up being a wuss and got an epidural about half way through but it only really took on one side. So, you amazing, amazon, natural child birthing women, I can say that I feel only half your pain but that was enough for me!

Here are a few pics of Bryson Dean Wallace. He is an angel, a blessing and the most amazing little man I have ever laid eyes on. Of course I am totally biased. I didn't understand how I could love another as much as I love Addison but the Lord has a way of making it so. Addison LOVES her new brother. She is constantly "petting" him and kissing him and trying to feed him Cheerios and such. Eric and I honestly don't know what we did before these two little monsters. I think we slept a whole lot more but we definitely never had a love like we do now. Our lives are so much more complete. We wouldn't change a thing.

Addison Turns 2!

On January 8th of 2009 at 3:17 pm we welcomed our new baby girl into the world. I can't believe she is already 2. It has been 2 glorious years. Lots of learning (on our part), growing and loving. Eric and I honestly can not imagine our life without Addison. She has brought an indescribable completeness to our family. What did we ever do before her? Well, maybe we slept more but besides that we couldn't ever imagine life without her.

We celebrated her birthday by having a few of our closest friends and their children over. Addison had a Mickey Mouse themed birthday (b/c she is totally obsessed) complete with inflatable bounce house that our wonderful friends (Leah & Michael) let us borrow. We played, colored, bounced, ate, then ate some more, had ice cream cake from Cold Stone and opened presents. It was a wonderful Saturday afternoon.


2 Years OLD!

My name is Addison but it is plain to see
Why Mommy and Daddy call me Squeaker Pea.
I’m small but I’m agile and needless to say
I can run this way and that way, I let nothing stand in my way.
This afternoon’s nap I think I'll be skipping,
My books? The pages lately I've been ripping.
Independence is what I am constantly fighting for,
If I don't get it, I'll throw a fit on the floor.
Purses and tote bags I carry everywhere,
Stuffed with dolls, toys and maybe even someone’s underwear.
I can eat with a fork but prefer to use my hands,
I particularly like to eat McDonald’s fries when out with mom running errands.
Suckers and fruit snacks are my favorite treats.
If I had the choice I would have nothing else to eat.
I drink milk and juice but occasionally I get someone’s soda pop,
If I do, I scurry away and devour it to the last drop.
I'm ready to try all kinds of foods to see how they taste,
But usually I'm too busy to eat and push it away in haste.
The potty seems neat to me,
On rare occasion I think about using it to pee.
The house is always a disaster to Mom’s and Dad’s dismay,
But what do they expect, I’m 2 and I’m trying to play!
I want to watch Mickey and Elmo all the day long
I don’t understand why watching TV for 8 hours is so wrong.
My favorite time of day is when Daddy comes home.
He plays ball and horsey and I can’t leave him alone.
I love to play with dolls and carriages and such
But my favorite toys are blocks, balls, electronics and trucks.
Everything I see I want for my own,
I don’t understand why I can’t take everything home.
My wardrobe I've discovered has a personality all it’s own.
I can wear socks on my hands if I want because I am grown.
Watch me run, when I take off I'm fast,
Mom and dad wonder how long this will last.
I'm non-stop energy from morning until night,
I am interested in this and that and everything in sight.
When bedtime finally comes I want mom to read books endlessly,
It isn’t until I get Mr. Softy that my eyelids fall heavily.
Sleeping with socks pulled off and covers kicked away,
I look like an angel dreaming…mommy and daddy couldn’t imagine their lives any other way.

Holiday Hangover

I am not starting out the New Year very well. I'm so behind already. Ugh! Who else needs a vacation from the holidays?

Christmas at the Wallace residence was a white one (which was fabulous) and fairly quiet and uneventful which is the way we like it. Addison had no idea which day Santa actually comes (even though we told her multiple times) but it was a blessing in disguise b/c she slept until 9 a.m. on Christmas day and actually ate breakfast before diving into her presents. Pretty sure next year will be different. :o) She was super excited to get a baby doll set that included a high chair, baby swing and stroller however, she was not so happy when Mommy took it back to the store (it was literally falling apart when we were putting it together). Addison furrowed her brow at the lady behind the return counter and demanded, "baby's seat back!". It was pretty hilarious. I had to promptly replace that set with something a little more durable to avoid the next 2yr old civil war.



Eric and Addison playing Play-Doh on Christmas Eve














Christmas Eve and the Hatch's





Christmas Day





Addison & Eric heading out to play in the snow on Christmas day.



Addison and I were very fortunate to spend the 23rd with our dear friends the Faulkners (Eric was working) and attended a wonderful Christmas service at their church. The singers were amazing! I can't carry a tune so I was totally envious. We spent Christmas Eve with a family from our ward which was wonderful. The dinner was fab! Christmas day was a lazy day at home and we spent the week after Christmas with Addison's surrogate grandparents, Tim (Poppa) and Julie (Me-Me) Bertram, at Lake Norman in NC. We absolutely adore them and have adopted them as our own. The Bertram's have a beautiful cottage on the lake fully equipped with a roaring fireplace and lots of food. The perfect way to unwind after the holiday rush. Addison had many more gifts under their tree awaiting her and she took a ride in their boat too. I think her favorite part was feeding the ducks. We couldn't see a duck for miles but Eric would call them and shake the bread bag and they would come! What a trip! They must have been really hungry. They would get so close that Eric actually petted one. Needless to say, Addison hated to leave Mee-Mee and Poppa's and so did we.

We drove home New Year's Eve and Eric had some opportunity to catch up on a few moonlighting shifts before he started the CCU in January and before baby boy Wallace comes. Addison met Santa for the first time during this time too. That was hysterical. She didn't cry and she wasn't scared. She just kept giving him the evil eye. We tried to get a picture of it but they didn't turn out well so they gave her a candy cane and she and Santa both looked utterly unenthused for their picture. LOL

Santa looks thrilled doesn't he?!

Thanksgiving Palooza

Eric some how miraculously managed to get 2 weeks of vacation off at one time so we set out on what would be the last "hurrah" before the new baby comes. Our grand adventure included a week in Utah visiting my family and a week in Washington visiting Eric's family.

We left for Salt Lake City on Nov. 20th and that's when we officially decided that we would NEVER fly during Addison's bedtime again. NEVER! Unlike most other normal children, our child does not sleep unless she is in her own bed with all of her babies and the comforts of home and so she commenced in screaming for about 3 straight hours until we landed at our destination. We should know better by now but apparently we felt like tempting fates that day and lost!

Utah

My Mom, "Mom-Mom", braved a huge snow storm at night to come retrieve us at the airport. She was bundled to her eyeballs and came bearing snacks. We were sooo happy to see her! We spent the next few days at her very cute house in Provo. Mom-Mom introduced Addison to what Addison now fondly refers to as "cotcha" (chocolate) milk and from that moment on it was like crack to her. Addison also was introduced to Ollie who is the banana on wheels that was our toy when we were kids. Ollie has this habit of flipping over backwards and throwing small children to the ground and when it came to Addison there was no exception. Addison has now been "officially" christened by Ollie.

Eric and I had a wonderful visit with Mom. She made all of my favorites (like sausage gravy and biscuits) and she also took us to a great little Thai restaurant in town. We were also fortunate enough to visit some friends from Winston-Salem, NC who now live in Utah and we took a tour of the conference center too.

Salt Lake Conference Center

The highlight of or trip was that we were able to finish Eric's Mom's work in the Provo temple and have Eric's Mom and Dad sealed together and then have Eric sealed to his parents. My sister (Shannon) and brother-in-law (Doug) were both able to be there with us which was super special. Afterwards we all went to a Brazilian steakhouse and literally gorged ourselves on an absurd amount of meat to the point that Eric literally got sick. I think we overdid it a bit! LOL

Eric and Doug trying to look like they know what they are doing

We spent the last couple of days in Utah at Shannon's house (my sister). We loved to see all 6 of our nieces and nephews. They are so grown up. Addison had a ball playing with all of the kids and their little zebra finches (who are admittedly very cute). We did a lot of cooking and eating as usual and it was fabulous. You will see that eating is a theme throughout this trip.

Thanksgiving Day
Hannah, Shannon, Abigail, Mom, Shay, Addison, Rebekah

The second week we left all the snow and 10 degree weather in Utah and headed to Portland/ Vancouver area where we visited LeeAnn (Eric's sister) and her now husband Daymeon (as of Dec. 11) . We really enjoyed our time with them. Addison spent her days tormenting their poor cat. We were so heartbroken that we couldn't make it to their wedding in Maui but we got the great news that CNN picked their wedding to be on a destination wedding special that airs some time in the spring so we can all watch it then. I will let everyone know when it is supposed to be on so you can watch it too.

Aunt LeeAnn's cat. Addison was obsessed!

From there we were then on to Olympia, WA we ventured to visit Eric's Aunt Carol, Uncle Dan, Cousin Lindsay, Grandpa Oster and Grandpa Branch. It was so special for Addison to get to be with her great Grandpas. We spent our evening talking and of course, eating. Not like I needed to gain any more weight!!

Grandpa Oster



Grandpa Branch

From there we headed to Napavine/Toledo WA area where we spent a few wonderful days with Eric's Dad and his wife Terry (which Addison has claimed as her Poppa and Grammie). They had so many special toys, baby dolls and they even 3 miniature horses. Needless to say, Addison was in heaven and screamed her head off when it was time for bed b/c she loved it so much. However, she did manage to get back to KY with one of her favorite baby dolls from Grammie and Poppa's house. She must have done some major sweet talking! Eric was able to see several friends while we were there too which he really enjoyed. We even made a special trip to see Grandma Wallace (Grandpa "Bigfoot" Ray's wife). She is 90 and sharp as a tack. I love her stories!



Terry "Grammie" & Steve "Poppa"



The only person Addison will share "Mr. Softy" with



Addison loved Grammie's boots!



Chill'n at Grammie and Poppa's



Giant Chair at Cabella's in Olympia, WA



Grandma Wallace, Age 90

It was cold and raining most of the time we were in WA (imagine that). Eric keeps telling me that it doesn't ALWAYS rain there but every single time I have been there it has rained so I'm not buying it. Other highlights: We visited Multnoma Falls. It is the 3rd largest waterfall in the US over 600 ft! We also visited OMSI (a big museum/science center). It had a huge kids discovery place so that was very cool. We also tooled around downtown Portland and checked out OHSU. This was all just about an hour before the Christmas tree lighting bomb scare that was all over the news. And of course we had Papa Pete's pizza a couple of times and had milk shakes down by the mint factory while in WA. It would have been ludicrous not to plus I think it is a law.

Would you want this guy putting a stent in your heart?!

Having a blast in the water center at OMSI in Portland

Uh...can you say cold!

  

Addison did pretty well on the way home. Some melt downs but nothing too major. When we flew out of Portland, we were so close to Mount Hood that we could see the skiers near the summit. Mt. Hood is my favorite "volcano" in that area aside from Mt. Rainier. Eric laughs at me when I call them volcanoes but I have to remind him that mountains on the east cost aren't actively having earthquakes every day or explode or spew lava or ash therefore they are true mountains and the ones on the west coast are volcanoes. :o) I don't know if I'll win that one or not but I will keep trying!!



She gave up on us and found her own dinner



And then passed out

We had a wonderful trip but we were glad to be home. Baby Wallace traveled pretty well. I know he is easier inside than out so I try not to complain too much. We had lots of snow in KY when we got home. It must have followed us from Utah!

The End!

Good Ol' Southern Wedding in GA

We had the wonderful opportunity in September to go to the wedding of Eric's friends, John and Meredith Piede. Eric and John were chief residents together at Wake Forest and Meredith was a chief when John and Eric were residents. Got all that? Anyway, this was probably the best wedding we have ever been to. It was beautiful with all the southern charm imaganiable. They served the dinner family style and it even included fried green tomoatoes! Can you say yum! Eric had the pleasure of serving as an usher.

You might recognize this one......

Addison was in heaven with her "candy bar".

A behind the scene look at the groom's dressing room.

John and Eric

My favorite picture of Eric and Addison

Hello from the Bluegrass! Has it really been this long??



So here I sit in our kitchen in Kentucky wondering where has the time gone? We moved to KY the end of June and it has been a whirlwind since. It was truly a blessing that we sold our house in Winston Salem. Thanks to every one's prayers and the blessings from above. We are very sad to report that our blessed Brisco (Bulldog) didn't make the trip with us. He was very elderly and quite ill so we made the decision to send him to heaven which is one of the hardest things we have ever done next to losing our parents. We will always treasure him.

  

KY House

 We are liking KY. It is very much like NC but maybe a tad cooler and not as humid. We like our 16 year old home and quiet back yard complete with a playground set. The house and yard were in need of a face lift which we are well under way in doing. We have painted the whole inside, landscaped, added new appliances and counter tops as well as new shutters to the front. We thought we'd stop before we break the bank b/c we're sure we'll find many more projects to do in our 3-5 years here.



Eric is enjoying his cardiology fellowship at University of KY. Check out Eric's mug on this link. He stays super busy and we don't get to see him much but he checks in to let us know that he is still alive so that is always good. UK is in Lexington which is very much a college town but the famous horse farms and community have kept this area quite pristine and family oriented. Horse legends such as Seattle Slew and Big Brown reside right down the road. Of course I am loving the horses! Oh and a big BTW, the World Equestrian games not only came to the US for the first time ever but it was held right here in Lexington. Lucky us!

We have also made many new friends between church and Eric's work colleagues. We love having dinner parties and get togethers even though they are sporadic with Eric's busy schedule.

Addison and her best friend Bailey



Addison will be 22 months old on the 8th. I can't believe it. She runs everywhere she goes and follows it with "I run!". Of course the tantrums have struck and there are many days in which she lays on her back, kicking and screaming or possibly biting carpet not caring if we are in the post office or not. She keeps us laughing constantly. Lately her favorite sayings are, "Dee doo (thank you) Mommy/Daddy", "Mmmm, it good", "I sucker!". She loves Dum-Dums and demands one as soon as she gets up in the morning but don't worry, she doesn't succeed in her persuasions. She is obsessed with Elmo and Elmo's world and Mickey Mouse. At least it's not Barney...yet! Addison was Minnie Mouse for Halloween and was quite cute. She was so sweet going from car to car at the church's Trunk or Treat in which she would only take one little Tootsie Roll or sucker and move on to the next saying "treat-treat". I suspect the greed will set in next year but as for now she was so polite and sweet. I savor these moments.

Our latest and greatest news is that we are expecting our second baby on Feb., 5th (my sister's b-day). It's going to be a boy and Papa Wallace is quite excited to have his football player/ golf buddy and I suspect slave laborer all in one. :o)  We are all excited for sure! Addison doesn't really comprehend what's going on yet but we think she will be a great big sisters b/c of her super sweet and caring disposition. We expect some jealousy but suspect that she will trade that in for a new playmate.

This is the face I get when she wants something.

 

Bathing beauty in her new swimming pool in KY.

        

 

Testing out the sand that Daddy just put in her sand box.

    

Taking Daddy's shoes for a test drive.


 

Boyd's Orchard 2010




As for me, well, I am steady growing and incubating. Ugh! I am getting adjusted to not going into work every day and quickly learning all about play dates and groups as well as doing lots of house work and chasing the "squeaker" everywhere she may decide to go. I'm trying to stay in better shape this pregnancy but I'm starting to slow down a bit. I am 27  weeks this week and I am eating everything in site and LOVE spicy food! The more jalapenos the better! I was blessed to be able to keep my job with Tengion even after moving to KY. Tengion kept me on as a consultant and I work from home when Addison naps and at night after dinner.

Addison kept taking bites out of the gourd!!

We are heading to see my Mom and sister over Thanksgiving in Utah for a week and then we're off to Washington state to see Eric's sister and his grandpas, aunts, friends, etc. for a week. It should be a very interesting trip with big prego me and buck-wild Addison on a plane. We are looking forward to seeing our family. It is hard being so far away from them. Thank goodness for Skype even though we don't use it as much as we should.

Like Father like daughter...including the chocolate covered mouth.

Well, that's all for now. We'll try to stay more on top of the blog thing. I enjoy reading everyone elses but I still have a lot to learn about formatting these things. If anyone knows of a good blog class, please fill me in.

Love to all! The Wallaces