Andrew's First Birthday

Andrew has now celebrated his 1st birthday twice. He has one more big celebration to go at Grandma and Grandpa Wallace's next week. Here are some pictures from his birthday party that the staff threw for him at church.



The cake was ok...


All the attention was a little scary...


But the best part of the party was the balloons!

A Couple More Glimpses of the Past

While we are on the subject of old pictures, these are pictures of Andrew's great, great grandparents, Rachel and Harry. See any family resemblance?

Old Pictures

My grandfather passed away this morning. He was 89 and had been sick for a very long time. He went peacefully in his sleep.

Brian and I were assigned the task of creating a slide show to run during calling hours. In the mix of old pictures that my mom brought over for us to work with, there were two that really stood out to me.

The first is perhaps one of the saddest pictures I've ever seen. It is the last picture taken of my Grandfather's brother, Garfield when he left for WWII. He never came home. Somehow it seems fitting that his face is obscured by the window casing. He could be anyone's son, anyone's brother, going off to any war.


The second picture makes up for the tragedy of the first picture with an aura of absolute optimism. I have thought of my grandfather as many things. A pastor, a farmer, a hard worker, a worrier;...but one thing I have never thought of him as...a flirt.

Smiley

Exercise makes for a very happy Little Wally.

Andrew's First Cultural Experience

Some time ago (the end of October to be more precise), we took a family outing with Grandma and Grandpa Wallace to Phipp's Conservatory to see the Dale Chihuly Glass Exhibit. Unfortunately, we didn't use our regular camera that day so we forgot to download the pictures until today.


Andrew seemed generally unimpressed with the exhibit.






Brian, on the other hand, was a big fan...especially when he saw the giant piece of rock candy in the outdoor garden...

Standing Up

Andrew has become quite the pro at standing up. This little baby has some strong little legs!

Andrew Practices Eating

With solid foods in the near future, Andrew thinks he better start practicing.

Thoughts for Folks Who Can't Resist Buying Cute Little Baby Clothes

Andrew's first Christmas is just around the corner. And for our wonderful friends and family who are eager to help him celebrate this joyous occasion, here are a couple notes on our current situation in baby clothes.

• Andrew will probably be moving into the 6-9 month clothing range (that's 9 mo. in Carter's sizes) just before Christmas.
  
• He already has 7 winter fabric footsie outfits
• He has 4 footsie outfits made of thinner fabric
  
• He could use some long sleeved onesies...he only has 3 as of now (Onesies are better than traditional shirts for him because they don't ride up his tummy every time he gets picked up. I also put a onesie under his sweaters to create friction so they don't ride up as much.)
• He could probably use a couple pair of pants (Right now he has 1 pair of khakis, one pair of navy blue corduroys, a pair of blue knit pants, and a pair of light blue corduroy overalls). Carter's makes some pants that have snaps on the inseam that are especially great for diaper changes...but any pair of pants will do.
  
• A couple cute sweaters or sweatshirts would also be nice
• Andrew will probably be in the 9-12 mo. clothing sizes in the spring/early summer. He doesn't have much at all in this size, so anything is welcome.
  
• He has plenty of socks and bibs for the time being.
  

Sonshine

Christmas List

There has been some mention about what I (or my son) could use for Christmas. Click the button below to go to my Amazon.com wish list. Obviously, I don't care if things happen to be purchased from there or not, but it was a convenient way to compile a list with pictures, so there you go.