Best Mom Ever

I have a habit of saying this age is the best. Emma brought this home from school yesterday. I get two or three notes from her a week about how much she loves me. My heart is full. I truly have the best kids. Three and six are my favorite ages so far:)

Because sometimes you just gotta dance

So it's Friday night, what to do? Oh yes an impromptu dance party in the living room sounds perfect! There was some slow dancing and lots of getting down! The pictures are not great they are from my phone and the room was dark. But the fun oh yes there was a lot of that!

Emma's note

Emma wrote me this note after she got sent to her room. Mom I will be better, so cute!

Funny kids

Here are two conversations heard in our house this past week.

1.

Emma: when I grow up I am going to go to college and marry a smart, kind, handsome man

Jack: you could marry me I am smart, kind, and handsome

Emma: (laughing) that will not happen

Jack: why not?

Emma: because we won't go to the same college

2.

Emma: my dream is to marry B when I grow up he is my boyfriend and so cute

Jack: Emma you have small dreams you should dream bigger

These both had me rolling. I love when they talk and play together, they are really close and I hope they always. stay this way!

A few pictures

I have no idea how this will look when it post as I am using the app from my phone.

Picture 1 is Jack and his buddy/cousin Mark at a hibachi restaurant.

2. Jack at school he loves computers and is really good at them no surprise there.

3. Emma at dance camp put on by the high school dance team. She gets to perform in the parade and homecoming game.

4. Emma before school in all her glittery glory.

Hope this works:)

Moving right along

It is October! How did that happen?

The Wallace family is doing great. We are staying busy and enjoying life.

Emma loves kindergarten. She is excited to go each day and has made lots of friends. We had our conference with her teacher yesterday and she is doing well all around. She is a mix of Andrew and I to be sure. In her teachers words she is and extremely intelligent little girl who loves to talk. I will leave it up to you to determine which one of us she gets those traits from:). There was talk of moving her up to first grade as academically she is ready, but socially and behavior wise(did I mention she loves to talk) we believe she is where she needs to be. Her teacher is wonderful and has some lofty goals this year for her. She is consulting with a first grade teacher to keep Emma challenged and we really appreciate all the hard work she is doing on Emma's behalf. There are talks of testing her for the gifted and talented program but that does not happen until the spring.

Cheerleading is keeping her busy. She will perform at a mavericks games and for a professional soccer team in December. Swimming is going well and she loves it. Well that sums up Emma so onto Jack.

Jack loves school. I have been told he is a rule follower and a great leader. His best friend Carson is in his class so that is a lot of fun for him. Just recently he has become really interested in letters and numbers so we are slowly working on those. Saying he is obsessed with Legos would be putting it mildly. He eats, sleeps and breathes Legos. There is never a time he is not building something. I am busy planning his Lego Ninjago party for mid November. I am pretty excited as I know he will love it, and I have tons of great ideas for it. Jack is doing well with swimming also. He takes gymnastics at his school on Thursday and really seems to enjoy that too. He will start flag football later this winter so that should be interesting.

We are staying busy as a family. We spent last weekend in Houston for my Dad's birthday. It was a lot of fun. My Mom, sister and I went to painting with a twist on Friday. It is a place they walk you through painting a famous painting while you drink wine. Lets just say wine and no artistic ability is not a good combination. Emma proclaimed she loved my painting and begged to hang it in her room, having kids is good for my self esteem:). My whole family went out to dinner to a really nice steakhouse without the kids and had a great time. We are going to the state fair this Friday, and the pumpkin patch Saturday. I love this time of year there is so much to do.

Andrew and I are doing well. Good news, he was made lead on a huge project, bad news overtime begins again. Looks like I will be doing lots of fall/winter activities solo, boo! While promotions are great and we are really proud of him we will miss him a ton.

We are all getting super excited for our Disney cruise at the end of December. I love traveling with my family and seeing all the cousins together is awesome. Andrew and I will be going to Jamaica at the end of Jan this year. It is a lot earlier than our other trips, but will work out better for all of us.

Wow that was long. Think that is it for now.

School Time

Well we are back to school. Emma started kindergarten at our local elementary school, and she loves it! We walk to school everyday and I drive to pick her up. She loves her teacher and has met some friends. We started cheerleading last week as well as tumbling and swimming. Her reading level was tested last week and she is at the level she needs to be at by he end of kindergarten so that was some good news. Overall she is doing well.

Jack is back in the same preschool as last year, his best friend is in his class so that is fun. He is having trouble at drop off, but things are getting better. I adore his teacher this year and know it will be an awesome year for him.

Football season is in full swing so our TV is usually on sports center:) we are enjoying fall weather as it cooled down this weekend.

Emma had her birthday party at The American Girl store this weekend it was so much fun and I will post some pictures from it tomorrow.

That is it for now, hopefully I can keep
This blogging thing up now that I have a little more free time.

Third time is the charm

Well I am trying again. Blogging that is. I recently sent all the grandparents and great great parents in our lives pictures of the kids from our spring and summer. The majority of them raved about them and I realized I do a pretty poor job of keeping everyone up to date on our lives so I will try again.

We have kept very busy this summer , but I will save that for another post. We are finally back in town today after our last out of town trip for the summer. I am ready for things to slow down and excited to see what this year brings.

The kids are doing well. Emma starts kindergarten a week from today and she is excited yet nervous. We got a call from her new teacher today and she sounds wonderful. It really helped ease Emma's anxiety and mine too. Meet the teacher is Friday, and we are both excited to see her room. The PTA does a free family dinner, and provides a free t-shirt on Friday so that should be fun. She will be doing semi-competitive cheer leading this year in addition to swimming. That gives her tumbling on Monday, cheer on Tuesday and swimming on Thursday. We will stay busy that is for sure. Her birthday is in two weeks, and my baby will be 6!!! Crazy how time flies. We celebrated last weekend with my family, will celebrate next weekend with her Nana and Papa then the following weekend will be her party with her friends at the American Girl store. It should be fun. She is growing and changing so much, we adore our little girl.

Jack starts preschool a week from tomorrow. He will be going to the same school he went to last year. We had some issues with him being bullied last year, but we are giving it one more shot. He has meet the teacher next Tuesday so we shall see. Jack will be playing soccer and swimming this year which gives him activities on Thursday and Saturday. He is growing like a weed and his laid back loving personality is so much fun.

Andrew and I are doing well. He has been working tons of overtime, but it is what it is so the kids and I are doing our best without him. I still at home full time and loving it. If our plans work out it could still be years before I go back and that is good for me:) Andrew has taken up a new hobby with his new toy (Walther ppk) he enjoys shooting with his friends and I broke my longtime no guns in the house rule for him. I joined a new gym and am looking forward to getting in shape again. We have a Disney cruise planned for December and our yearly jamaica trip in the spring so I have a lot to get in shape for.

No 7 year itch for us!

Seven years ago I married my best friend. We have been through it all in seven years, two cross country moves, two kids, owned two houses, bought 4 cars, been through deaths and births, have lost a lot and gained so much more.

When I married Andrew I took a vow for better or worse and am still waiting for that worse to happen. People say marriage is hard work, and maybe for some it is. I am sure it helps that I am blessed with one of the most patient and laid back men on the face of the earth. But for us marriage has been anything but work. He has held me up during the worst of times and laughed with me during the best. He has patiently loved me when I am being difficult, and celebrated with me when things go our way.

I once read a quote that being in love means you never have to cry alone again, and I can honestly say in the 7 years we have been together that has rung true. He holds me when I am sad and calms my fears when I am worried. He is truly the most amazing man on the earth for me. Those of you that know Andrew and I well know that we could not be more opposite. Where I am loud and talkative, he is quiet and thoughtful, where I am quick and impulsive he is slow and planning. I have no idea why God put us together, but he sure knew what he was doing when he did, I can not imagine a more perfect man than Andrew for me.

My love for him grows stronger every day, and I can not imagine my life without him. I was out with some girlfriends the other day and we were talking about our husbands/boyfriends. I made the comment that if something happened to Andrew I don't think I would know how to breathe. He is my life, he is my love and he is my best friend. I look forward to waking up to him everyday and seeing him every night. He makes me laugh, me makes me happy. I am so very blessed to call him a husband and friend.

So here is to the next 60 years Andrew, may it be filled with love, laughter and lots and lots of trips to Jamaica. Thank you for loving me so fully and completely. Thank you for making my life so wonderful. I love you!

Our Trip to the ER

So most of you know a little about this but thought I would give you the low down to what happened. Thursday morning I noticed Jack's cheeks were red, I called the pediatrician and we decided that he was having a reaction from the antibiotics he was on because he had been in the sun the day before at school and this particular medicine reacts to the sun. About 5:00 that day I noticed that he was covered in a rash. I assumed he was having an allergic reaction to something so I called Andrew and had him pick up some benadryl on the way home from work. We finally got him to take the benadryl by 7:00 and he fell asleep about 8:00.

Allergic reactions scare me and my mind immediately jumps to what if he stops breathing. I had Andrew move him to my bed. I woke up around 11:30 to him talking and told him several times to go back to sleep. I finally woke up enough to listen to him and he was making no sense, I figured he was asleep and talking. I took one look and him and he was awake, now this was getting strange. I grabbed him to cuddle him to me and he was burning up, like so hot it made my skin hurt to hold him. I called Andrew and we forced motrin down him then he and Andrew took a shower together to try to get his fever down. He was still talking total nonsense and by this point could not walk, I dressed him back in his PJs and laid down holding him. He then had a seizure, I was almost 100% positive it was from the fever, but Andrew grabbed him I got dressed, and Jack and I headed to the hospital.

On the way to the ER I texted one of my best friends who works there as a Child Life Specialist. I thought she might be working turns out she was off. She asked me if I wanted her to go watch Emma or meet me at the hospital, I told her we would be fine and I would cal her later. Turns out that was not good enough, when I got to the hospital she met us at the doors to the ER. After tons of Motrin and extra Tylenol they got his fever to break. Thanks to Miranda we got to skip over the second waiting room entirely (where some people had been for over 6 hours!!) and got to a room. The doctor still could not see us for about 3 hours, but we had a nurse watching Jack and we were snuggled in a bed. I can not imagine waiting in the waiting room for 6 hours. Thanks God we have Miranda, she is an amazing friend and even more than that part of our family. My kids call her Aunt Miranda and she is every bit an Aunt to them. I am so thankful she was there to make this scary experience a little better. She ended up leaving and I snuggled Jack until the doctor came in around 6 AM. I do have to say because of her we got rock star treatment and I love her for that. Turned out he was diagnosed with fifths disease. http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/skin/fifth.html

This is a very common virus that kids get. He was also diagnosed with febrile seizures which are seizures caused by a high temp, they are very common in kids and most likely it will never happen again. They have no long term effects mainly are just scary for parents!

We were discharged about 8:00 in the morning on Friday and headed home. Andrew stayed home with Jack that day as I had a baby shower to put on for Emma's kindergarten aide. He and Andrew slept until I got home at 2:30.

It was scary and we are so thankful once again to have friends/family there to help us out, but he is back to 100% today so all is well. He had his first t-ball practice yesterday and we took him to see The Lorax (loved it!!!). All is well and we are back to normal, well as normal as the Wallace family can be:)

Disney World!! Part 1

Second blog entry this week, I am on a roll!

My wonderful in-laws paid for a family vacation to take our kids to Disney World in December. Andrew and I decided to add on 3 extra days of just our family. It was an amazing trip and we all made memories, the kids are still talking about it. It was the perfect time of year to go. The Christmas decorations were in full swing and there were no as in zero lines. It was truly amazing to walk on all the rides.

I will break this entry into two parts because there is a lot to share. The first part will be when just our family of four was there and the second when my in-laws came.

We got there on Saturday the kids did great on the flights, and loved the magic express bus we took. We spent the day checking out the hotel and went to chef mickeys that night to kick it all off.

On the bus on the way to our hotel

Chef Mickey's

We started out the next day with Jack waking up and throwing up,

he seemed okay so off we went. We were about to eat breakfast at Crystal Palace and Emma was excited. I took one look at Jack and grabbed him and ran outside held him over the bushes and he puked everywhere! Poor thing was so sick so Andrew took him back to the hotel and Emma and I spent the day at the magic kingdom. We had an amazing time, but missed little jack. Luckily after a long nap he was feeling much better so he and Andrew met us for the afternoon at the park.

First Day at the Magic Kingdom, notice their matching Christmas Mickey Shirts:)

Emma and I missed Jack but it was magical to have just the two of us for a time!

The second day we started off with a princess breakfast at Epcot. We had done the lunch before when we came with my parents and the food was horrible so we thought we would try breakfast instead. It was a good call the food was amazing, and so were the princesses. This is by far my favorite princess meal.

And yes Emma has on a personalized minnie mouse princess shirt, well because that is how I roll:) We had a great time at Epcot, there is not a whole lot for the kids to do, but they loved test track, Emma loved soaring, and the seas with Nemo was a hit. Jack fell asleep in the mid afternoon so we took a break an had some Chinese for lunch. Overall it was a wonderful day. Here are some of our Epcot adventures.

That night we decided to hang out at the hotel and play on the beach. We also roasted marshmallows which they do every night. It was so much fun and we really enjoyed the first part of our vacation it was the only one we have ever been on with just our family of four and it was wonderful!

That is it for part 1, I will be working on part 2 tomorrow and will add that sometime tonight, or tomorrow. We are having a baby shower for Emma's kindergarten aide tomorrow so I am working on that too, busy time of year but I would not change it!

I am back!!!

It has been almost a year but I am back. The last three month of our lives have been a roller coaster to say the least. I am blogging front the i pad so this might not be too long, we shall see.

First an update on our crazy lives. Most of you know this story but for those who don't here goes. In late November Andrew and I found out we were expecting number three to say we were surprised would be an understatement this pregnancy was a huge birth control fail. It was not in the plans for this time in our lives, but as soon as the shock wore off we both began to really embrace it. We only told a few family and friends as it was something we were still trying to wrap our heads around. We left for a family trip to Disney world, and everything was wonderful, it was an amazing trip and deserves a blog post in itself. Sadly we miscarried when we were at Disney work, it was a natural miscarriage and other than cramps and bleeding it was not that bad physically. Emotionally Andrew and I were a mess, but we leaned on each other and got through it. Looking back I am actually glad we were at Disney as watching your kids experience true magic has a way of helping you focus on the positives in life. We decided after the miscarriage that we really did want a number three and would just go for.

Well what can I say Andrew and I have no problem making babies. We found out four weeks later we were pregnant. At 6 weeks pregnant we went to the doctor for our first ultrasound and found out we were having TWINS for the second time in a month we were blown away. Once again we only chose to tell a few people as we were trying to wrap our heads around this shock. Two weeks later we went back and saw two heartbeats again the doctor assured us we were in the clear so we spread the news to everyone. Well Murphy's law struck and just days after we shared the news we found out we had lost baby a and baby b was soon to follow. To make a long emotional journey short we decided to do a d and c on valentines day (happy birthday Andrew). That was one of the toughest weeks of our lives. Of course Emma my child who is never sick came down with a fever and I had to call my mom the night before because we needed someone to stay with her during my surgery. My Mom was our lifesaver during this time. She had already come up the week before because I was so sick I could not take care of the kids or house, and when we called her the day before my procedure she jumped on a plane literally two hours after I called to say I needed her to come and help us out. Once again she held our family and house together for that week.

So anyway that pretty much sums up our last three months, it has been sad, it has been emotional, it has been eye opening. Andrew and I have decided that we are officially two and done. My doctor assured me that she has no doubts I could carry a healthy pregnancy and that the miscarriages were flukes, but our chance of twins again is extremely high and this is not a risk we are willing to take. So instead we will focus on the two amazing healthy kids we have, and what we will be able to give and provide to them. Having two enables us to travel with just the two of us and as a family, be involved in tons of activities for the kids, provide the kids things that are not necessary, but so fun to have. So we will focus on the gifts we have been given and the amazing life we have been blessed with.

I am doing well thanks in part to my family, my loving friends, my amazing kids, and above all else my fabulous husband. Andrew and I celebrate our 7th anniversary next week and no seven year itch for us we are stronger than ever, and I am more in love than I have ever been. The past three months took their toll on me physically and on our house as a whole. Andrew and I decided that I needed to take some time for me so I quit my job (that too is a post in itself), and am focusing on me and getting our house back in order, and I am so glad I did. I have lost 8 pounds in the last two weeks but still have quite a bit to go. I joined a gym, am eating healthy, got my hair, nails and eyebrows done. I feel great and really needed this time.Andrew and I are getting ready for a Jamaica trip in April,and I can't wait!

Andrew is doing well. We had a birthday redo for him last week as his real birthday pretty much sucked. Work is going well, he is finding that a leadership position means a lot more management and a lot less engineering, but he is excelling and loving it so far. He has an amazing group of friends and has recently made his way back to the golf course with some of the guys in addition to happy hour and hopefully future poker nights. I am so glad he has had someone to lean on during these times,and so happy God brought these amazing men into his life.

The kids oh the kids they should probably have a post by themselves but here is a mini-update on each of them.

I will start with Emma because she is the oldest and age has its privileges. Hmm where to begin? Since I plan to do a separate post for each kid I will give you the very basics. Emma is in private kindergarten this year due to her birthday and not meeting the states cut off for public. She is doing amazing and learning amazing things. She is reading four to five letter words, telling time on the hour, adding, subtracting, counting and writing her numbers to 200, counting pennies, nickels, and dimes to a dollar, learned the principles of science and socially having a great time with her peers. All who are involved in her education really want her in first grade next year, but this is where the mommy instinct comes in and tells me no! She will be in public kinder next year, she might be bored but she will survive for a year and we are praying for an awesome teacher that will challenge her and keep her in her toes. She is involved in so many activities! Right now we have swimming and dance on Monday's, t-ball on Tuesday's, gymnastics and church on Wednesday's, and t-ball games on Saturday. She just finished up winter cheerleading to replace it with t-ball. She loved cheerleading and it was so nice to have my mom, sister, and niece join us for her last game. It might sound like a lot but we still have tons of downtime at home which I guess is one of the blessings to being a stay at home mom. In other big news she got her ears pierced last week when my family was in town, after a girls lunch to celebrate my sisters birthday we went to clares to get it done. There were no tears she was so happy and proud of her earrings, she can't wait to change the out in four weeks. Overall my daughter is amazing and I love her so much my heart aches. She is kind, caring, compassionate and oh so smart. I know that is probably my mommy goggles talking, but if I am not her biggest fan who would be?

On to my not so little man. He is too doing wonderfully. He loves preschool and has a new little girl in his class whom it seems he has a crush on(too cute!). Jack is swimming and starts t-ball next week. We are looking into karate for him. He is obsessed with star wars and Legos which makes his daddy oh so proud. Oh and did you know there are star wars legos and star wars Lego movies? He is in heaven! He is so smart, the PE teacher at school is taken with both of them, she always used to give me a hard time about how Emma is so smart, well she thinks jack is smarter than Emma and says it will only be a few years until he outsmarts us all:) it is so nice to have the kids at a school where they are surrounded by hugs and love all day. Jack is all boy and I love it! He loves guns, dirt, sports, movies, legos and anything boy related. He is without a doubt a mamas boy and you will not hear me complain. I love all my hugs and snuggles. He is so sweet and rough at them same time. I adore my little man whose smile can melt me, and get me to say yes to almost anything. My heart is full. God sure knew what he was doing giving me a boy and girl I am so blessed.

Emma and jack are siblings to the truest extent of the meaning. They are either fighting or getting in trouble together. They love each other fiercely and will stand up for each other no matter what. They are so close in age I think this helps. I hope they always remain close.

So this was a lot longer than I had planned. My goal is to blog three times a week even if it is just pictures. My next post will be about our amazing trip to Disney world with my in-laws so check back soon, oh and that one will have pictures I promise!