Meeting Madeline & Taylor!

I was very lucky yesterday...I got to meet Madeline and Taylor for the first time!!! They are the sweetest little twins ever!

I LOVE little babies!!! Caleb was never this tiny (and let me remind you, he was a skinny minny) and the little sounds that they make just make your heart melt. :)

Caleb Yoga

Caught a few camera phone pics of Caleb playing on my unplanned day off. I took an ETO day just because the past 2 weeks had caught up with me and I frankly just needed the rest and have a day to do nothing. I call the bottom picture "Caleb Yoga"...

Angel in a Stranger

Yesterday night on my way home from my B&BW's job, I turned into my neighborhood and saw a little 3yr old boy wandering around on the street. I immediately stopped my car and ran to him, picked him up as he was sobbing hysterically and tried to calm him down. I asked him if he knew where his house was and he shook his head. I asked him where his Mommy or Daddy was and he just said "Mommy gone! Daddy gone!"...

I took him to the first house I came upon to see if they knew where he belonged to. I had to keep shouting at their open window since they apparently couldn't hear the doorbell until a man poked his head out and said that the kid wasn't his and he didn't know where he came from.

I stood outside holding him trying to figure out what to do. I was thinking that I would have to take him into my home and then call the police...then (thankfully!) I heard the panicked voice of a Dad screaming for his son. He was running full speed yelling this kid's name and when he saw me holding his son a look of relief spread all over his face.

The kid reached out and was crying "Daddy!"...and the Dad was thanking me profusely. I inquired as to where he lived and it was in a house around the corner. He said that he had run out of the house to talk to his neighbor and while he was gone, his 3yr old (who had apparently learned how to open the front door and walk out by himself) just walked on out looking for his Daddy.

I couldn't help think what if that had been Caleb. There are truly nice people out there but there are also truly bad people out there. I hope that if Caleb were ever to need somebody to point him back in the right direction that he would meet an angel in a stranger.

Suffice to say, Jay today is double checking that we have all our doors childproofed so that Caleb can't get out without us.

This has gotten me thinking though....in our lives, how many times are we presented with opportunities to act honorably.....how many opportunities can one be heroic and truly good....if we were presented with such a situation, would we be alert enough and aware enough to act the way we need to? Or would we be too busy in our lives to even acknowledge it? It's made me open my eyes a little wider.

A Box Makes the Best Toy

A box makes the best toy....or so I'm told by my 3 year old...so...lately I've been feeling like I'm failing at being a parent. I worked over 37 hours at my PART-TIME job and 40 hours at my regular job...plus the 2 hour a day commute....leaves me with very little time to be a good mom. Good thing Jay is there to pick up my slack.

I tried to put in my 2 week notice on Saturday to be effective today but it didn't turn out so well. I've agreed to postpone my decision/discussion with them until they can phase in a new management team. I think that in a week or two, I'll be the only one left....and the professional in me makes it really hard to just leave them like that.

In the meantime, I'm trying to spend every moment at home with Caleb & Jay....and try not to breakdown when I'm at work ...when I'm so tired my mind doesn't know how my body's still upright.

The Wallace Twins!

The Wallace twins have arrived! Taylor and Madeline. For more info & pics, see The Wallace Family blog :)

In my personally biased opinion....

Of course I'm biased...what mother wouldn't be?...but isn't this the cutest face??

Tag Learning Pen

Caleb loves his Tag learning pen....he's got the Kung-Fu Panda, Spongebob and the Cars books. I love watching him 'read' :)

More pics from Kristen's Shower...

Cupcake!

We went to the library yesterday....with my love of reading and all things books and Jay now needing material to write his papers and Caleb having an increasing interest in picking out his own books, we are at the library every couple of weeks (which is a ritual that I LOVE)...and in the Cameron Village library, there's a giant cupcake that Caleb always runs up to and go "mmm....cake!"

Kristen's Shower....blogs blogs everywhere

I have no doubt that this will be posted on a million blogs...Angela's...Kristen's...not to mention facebook...but I still wanted to post them on mine! Just for posterity sake! It was a success! Kristi's house was BEAUTIFUL! Food was great. Cake was amazing...

V-Day

I was so excited to have Valentine's Day off...got to SLEEP IN! and then after a leisurely morning of watching TV and getting my caffeine fix from my milk tea, we set off for lunch at Red Lobster thanks to the gift card that Tammy and Tony gave me for my birthday in November.

Afterwards we went to watch Coraline...the 3D movie. It was good but it scared Caleb a little during the parts when the "other mother" became a scary monster....and he wasn't a big fan of having to wear the glasses throughout the movie....so I guess to him, the movie was just a tad blurry.

Afterwards, we went home and snuggled in to watch a couple of movies that night....SOOO nice to relax and not have to work!

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!

Unwinding with Caleb

So lately, the working 2 jobs thing has started to really kick my butt. Haven't had a full day off to spend with Caleb and Jay since xmas (except for Snow day). I'm either at one job or another every single day and the nights that I'm not scheduled at B&BW, I'm on call there so I usually spend the nights in a sort of dread of having to go into work.

Last night, I was on call but was lucky enough to not have to go in so I got to spend the night watching TV and decompressing with Caleb. Every time he sees me, he says "Mommy! You're Home! NO work!"...

But it'll all be worth it in the end. What goes around comes around. If I have to sacrifice a little sleep now so that Jay can enjoy the full time student thing then it's more than worth it. He loves school and I'm so proud of him!

Mesmorized...

We were at the Cameron Village library on Friday and we decided to take a stroll through Fresh Market and we would each buy something as a treat....Caleb finally settled on a cheese stick (don't think that he really got the idea), Jay got some petit fours and I got myself some stuffed olives from their antipasto bar....all in all, our little 'splurge' only cost us $4.75....

As we strolled by the pastry department, Caleb was just mesmorized into speechlessness when he saw those desserts!

More Buzz Lightyear

It's really funny. When Caleb puts the punch bowl on his head, he really thinks he's buzz lightyear ;)

We were able to get him a buzz lightyear toy (with buzz motorcycle) at the kids exchange at the fairgrounds and he carries it around everywhere now. It's not the character that I would have guessed for him, but he seems to love it. "To Infinity and Beyond!"...maybe this is a future trekkie.

Snow Day!

Snow day in Raleigh....not a common occurence and Caleb had a blast out there with his first real experience in snow. He couldn't wait to get bundled up (and because we couldn't figure out where we put last year's gloves and mittens) he was doubled socked on each hand so that he could play in it.

Jay loved it so much that he saved some snow in the freezer for later :P

We all got a day off of work/school/daycare and spent some much needed family time together.

Potty Training Success!

It's now official!....the potty training has been a success (#2s included now!). We're going to save a fortune on diapers! Woo! He's wearing pullups at night but they've been dry in the morning.

You should see him now. He's so proud of being a big boy and he's been asserting his independence all over the place (from deciding what to wear, what to eat, where to do everything etc.) which is at times a little trying but it's all a process right?

Potty Trained and No More Sippy Cups!

I just have to say how proud I am of Caleb. He pretty much potty trained himself in one day! At first he resisted the no diapers thing and really wanted to put it on but after a couple of (tense) hours (and two small accidents), he got the hang of it and now proudly tells everybody that he's gone potty!

The very same day we decided to throw away all his sippy cups (which takes away his comfort sippy cup full of milk that he usually likes before he goes to sleep) and after 3 hours of crying...(ug)....he's done perfectly fine! Well, last night he kept me up till past midnight because he kept asking for just ONE more little cup of milk....but all in all, that's a lot of stuff to do in the space of two days!

We're so proud of him!

Caleb's 3rd Birthday Party Pics!