Happy Father's Day!

What another whirlwind weekend we had! On Friday we spent 2 1/2 hours in an internal medicine specialist's office for Pita and I think only spent 15 minutes with an actual live person. All that only to find out that they have to do MORE bloodwork to determine any further ideas for what could be ailing Pita. So...another $200 later, we're back in the holding pattern till we hear back from the results (we should get a call by Thursday). Nana and Papa arrived just after midnight so we spent most of Saturday at a wedding. It was at Valle Vista Golf Club at 12:30 on Saturday. Smack dab in the middle of Phoebe's naptime. So...that explains the sleepy eyes in most of the pictures...

It was an outdoor wedding - a fact we discovered AFTER we arrived. June has been crazy warm here with the heat index lingering around 100 degrees. At least the ceremony was covered! And there were horses involved so Phoebe was highly entertained.

When we went inside for the reception we were surprised to find this:

You know you've made it when your 14 month old gets her own placecard!

Sunday we waved good bye to Nana and Papa at 8:00 in the morning. Ryan and I slept horribly the night before - I think there was a total of 5 hours between the two of us and Phoebe got up at about 3:30 a.m. - just to keep us company (or perhaps because she's teething - again!). When she fell asleep on our way to church, we spent the entire service sitting in the car waiting to see if she'd wake up - she'd had horrible naps all weekend and we knew if we tried to carry her in in her carseat, she'd have woken up (yes, she's STILL in a pumpkin seat). Not to say we didn't celebrate Ryan for Father's Day! It's hard to believe it's his second one already! He's the best daddy a girl could ask for. My heart just melts to watch him read her bedtime stories. I have a feeling we've got a daddy's girl in the making! Thanks for being such a great dad to our girl, honey. We love you so!

We knew we had to let her sleep because Granddaddy was coming for a visit from Virginia around 2:00. Last time he saw Phoebe was at Aunt Carrie's wedding in Florida and she's grown so much since then. It was a fun visit! I know it's a bit belated, but Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. I know I was lucky enough to have one of the best ones ever!

Saturday night with Auntie Kate & Uncle Steve

Ryan and I got a rare treat Saturday night - babysitters! In exchange for a chance to see a movie, we bought dinner for Auntie Kate and Uncle Steve. It didn't take much pleading because little Phoebe is a dream. However, I think they both witnessed at dinner what we believe is just a preview to the terrible twos still to come. Phew.

Here's a picture of our adorably rotten child - probably pooping. It was at this moment that Uncle Steve declared himself the official photographer for the evening and claimed he did not "do" dirty diapers. Or any diapers for that matter.


So they did the next natural thing, gave Phoebe a bath. Leave it to my siblings to get creative with her hair in the tub. She seems to have an aversion to barrettes and bows so for the meantime, we have to settle for bubbles!

After bath time is over, we've created the habit of playing on our bed before getting pjs on. Don't mind the quilt - it's one Ryan's grandma made and we cherish deeply - it's just not usually on our bed. Pita peed on our quilt the night of the bad storms last week - which went through our quilt, sheets, mattress pad and pillow top - which is really another story in and of itself (we spent the majority of the weekend mattress shopping...) - by the way, she goes back to the vet on Tuesday for more review as the xanax hasn't worked and the pred seems to be only temporary in "fixing" her. Please keep us in your prayers in that situation. But I digress...back to playtime.

Once the pjs are on, it's time for stories and some milk before heading back upstairs to brush teeth and say our prayers.

Uncle Steve graciously stepped in once he was assured there would be no diapers to change. He's a sucker for her cute face, but who wouldn't be?! She's working on pointing out certain body parts - the one she's had nailed down for awhile now is her belly.

She loves books, just like Uncle Steve!

And for the first time in a long time, she slept through the night when someone other than mom or dad put her to sleep. We are SO grateful to have family in town who sacrifice their own social calendar so Ryan & I can keep our sanity. And Phoebe is SO lucky to have them BOTH close till Auntie Kate heads to Messiah in August. Yeah for the summer!

A whole lot of nothing

Not much has been happening in the Wallis' home and we're ok with that. However, that means there's not been much to blog about either and I've not done a good job taking pictures of us doing nothing - hence the mini-hiatus. But I got some pictures on Saturday so I wanted to post them before we had any withdrawl symptoms...

Daddy got up early to go fishing with some of his buddies so Phoebe and I had the morning to ourselves. I suggested we hit a few garage sales but she wasn't too thrilled with the idea.


However, we went and only ended up with a couple of books for a dollar. At least it wasn't a complete waste of time.

Once Phoebe woke up from her three hour nap (which trust me, she rarely does) we headed out to do a little house hunting and find a park to play at. She didn't care much for looking at houses but had a fabulous time at the park!

Here she's not completely sure of this rocking thing-a-ma-jig - I think she'll appreciate it more when her feet touch the ground!

She loves the swing!

We took a loaf of bread with us in case we found any ducks. By the time we were through, I think we had about ten ducks and a mean looking goose - Phoebe had a ball!

I think my favorite part of the weekend (and Ryan's too) was when we were walking back from the ducks to the swings and Phoebe reached out for Ryan's hand. It melted both our hearts.

How can you not love that face?!

And here's a little update for those of you who don't get to interact with Phoebe on a regular basis. She's become a little chatterbox. Of course, once the camera was rolling she wasn't nearly as chatty as she'd been beforehand, but you still get the idea. Recently, she'll pick up a book and just start "reading." She's absolutely delightful!

Memorial Day Weekend

I am utterly exhausted after our long weekend but we made a lot of fun memories and didn't take enough pictures! Nana and Papa flew in Thursday evening from Georgia for Race weekend. While Daddy worked and Papa golfed, we headed outside to do some shopping since it was too nice to stay inside! Phoebe loved the fountain outside and the three-way mirrors in the last store we hit.

Then Nana and Papa headed out with friends while we headed to Upland to celebrate Auntie Kate's hooding ceremony. We first hit Ivanhoe's for dinner (I think I only ate a meal there once while I was a student so it was kind of weird - but it proved that their ice cream is reason enough to visit!).

We got to tour the campus a little bit - I know YiaYia and Papou had visions of Phoebe being a student there in 17 years...

LOVE this picture!!!

We're SO proud of Auntie Kate and thrilled that she'll be gainfully employed in Pennsylvania this August at Messiah College. It's SO much better than Ireland or Washington so we're excited she'll only be 6-7 hours away. And we're really excited that she'll be home next week for the summer.

Saturday morning Nana helped us plant our garden (better late than never, right?). Papa was golfing (again!) so we planted tomatoes, corn, green beans, sugar sna peas, cucumbers, zucchini, green peppers and sunflowers. We'll be delighted if ANY of it grows! For now, Phoebe just enjoys helping us water it each day! That afternoon we headed to the zoo. Now that Phoebe is interested in everything, I've been wanting to visit and see how she'd do. She loved it, despite the crowds!

We even ran into the White River Gardens to see the Butterflies in Bloom exhibit. They were getting ready for a wedding - I'm sure it was a gorgeous ceremony!

Sunday we headed to church and had lunch with Aunt Carrie and cousin Lucas while Papa and Uncle Mike were at the race. That afternoon we headed to YiaYia and Papou's to celebrate Papou's 59th birthday. Holy cow! We can't wait for Phoebe to hang out with them on his new porch swing!

Monday was the only day it rained so we spent a lazy morning at home, hit the tail end of Shawn's birthday party (I left my camera in the car, otherwise I would have got some fun shots of the kids tackling Ryan and Phoebe just trying to keep up). Then we had dinner with Nana and Papa, Chris, Corrie and baby Bailey at Buffalo Wild Wings. Phoebe did really well around Bailey who is almost 3 months old now - I wasn't sure if she'd be jealous but she just wanted to touch her.


At lunch on Sunday, she slid sideways in the highchair at Maggiano's and banged her face. This is just to document her first (and we hope, only) black eye...

And now we're back to life as "normal" and thankful it's a short week. Nana and Papa flew back today and we're already looking forward to seeing them at the end of June when they come back for a wedding!

Getting SO big!

For part of her birthday gift, we got Phoebe this chair (thank you to all the Great Grandparents for your contributions!) because whenever I would visit her at daycare, she'd run to the little chairs and tables and climb up ready to go. It finally arrived and we were thrilled to see she loves her new chair!

And she wouldn't be a normal kid if she didn't enjoy the box it came in just as much! Do you see the little curls at the back of her head?! We're wondering if she might get more curls as her hair continues to fill in.

We got her "walking papers" at the end of this week saying she'd be moving up to the next class in daycare June 1st. Once I found out a few weeks ago that she wasn't being moved, I totally forgot about working on sippy cups and lack of pacifier. However, now that we're in countdown mode, I'm freaking out just a little. She's totally not interested in a sippy cup when she should be drinking her bottle. So...even though the pediatrician said no juice, I caved. And she drank practically the entire thing (watered down organic pear juice, no less!)! Now if only we can get her to do the same with milk, we'll be all set. Again, any advice would be MUCH appreciated!

She also enjoys this hand-me-down rocking Tigger from my cousin Cassie and her family. We got to hit the pre-sale to their garage sale last summer and are still bringing out new things for Phoebe to play with and wear (we still owe you guys, too!!!).

Ryan took this picture of her on Saturday - everyone says she's got the bluest eyes but no photo ever seems to do them justice.


Sunday after church, we headed to a birthday party and Phoebe got to swing and play with big kid toys. She had a blast while Mommy and Daddy got to catch up with good friends.

Here she is exploring their cabinets right before she took a face plant on their kitchen floor. However, she was a trooper and went right back to playing after a hug from the both of us.

She's getting to be such a big girl and is watching us so intently. Friday I changed her diaper and afterwards, she picked it up and walked into the kitchen to throw it away in the trash. Then she went to the hand sanitizer and "pumped" it and rubbed her hands together. I tell you, the girl is one smart cookie! She even grabbed my kabuki brush and pretended to put powder on her face while I was getting ready this morning. It's hard to believe she's 13 months and already picking up on so much.

Mother's Day Weekend

Sorry for the delay in posting - last weekend was a rather uneventful and yet one weekend in the last year, that I'd really like to block from my memory! Phoebe began cutting her one year molars and two more bottom teeth all at once. She refused her pacifier and her bottle so it made for one hungry, cranky baby who could not be soothed. Long nights, early mornings and we thought for sure she either had an ear infection or swine flu, but the doctor assured us she had neither! Sunday morning last week, Phoebe and I were in her room playing while Ryan showered. I was sorting clothes since she's growing like a weed and she was just entertaining herself when all of a sudden she got the door open and was on her way down the stairs before I could even move. I can not explain the fear I felt in that moment as I raced down the stairs after my tumbling daughter. I think it scared me more than it did her because I was the one sobbing when the whole ordeal was over, not her! We went out and bought a gate immediately. So for those of you to-be-parents - hear me loud and clear - as soon as your child is mobile - buy a gate - it's simply not worth the anxiety that comes with a tumble. Not that a gate will always work, but we're kicking ourselves for not having one last weekend!

But the teething has eased and the bruise on her little forehead is just about gone so things are surely returning to "normal" around here! Friday night Phoebe spent the night with YiaYia and Papou. It was nice to be on our own for awhile - we've decided we need to do it more often! Saturday we ran errands and then headed to Anderson to celebrate my cousin Miriam since she graduated from seminary. We're so proud of her for pushing through and can't wait to see what she'll do next!

We got to see Jen, Joel, Bella and Gabby who were in from Phoenix - it amazes me that ALL kids seem to grow like crazy!



Phoebe got to play with Bella in the gym. It amazes me that kids don't get sick more often. Here Phoebe is kissing a ball that looked like it'd seen better days...


We just put together the wagon Nana and Papa got Phoebe for Christmas since the men's softball league has officially started at church. She saw the wagon at East Side while we were there for the party and immediately climbed in. Here she is trying to figure out how to pull Bella, who weighs a bit more than a few stuffed animals, like in the one we have at home...





Sunday we went to church and then had brunch with Auntie Kate and Uncle Steve before heading to Anderson to get family pictures taken and then celebrate Gabby's first birthday. The trips worked out perfectly as they were timed around her naptime. This picture she looks like such a big girl as she observes Gabby chatting away.

Here's Auntie Kate hanging out with Papou. She just defended her thesis last week and has two weeks before she graduates with her masters from Taylor. We're praying a job opportunity opens up closer to us - right now her options are either Pennsylvania or Ireland, so God is working on my selfishness right now. Oh how I want Phoebe to have at least one aunt close - so either Aunt Carrie and Uncle Mike better work on moving to Indiana or Auntie Kate better put her application in a few more places closer to home!

The kids were easily entertained with bubbles and stickers, cupcakes and gummi bears so the party was a great success!

Miriam borrowed the cupcake pan for Gabby's cake and it's now back in our hands so if anyone else is interested in borrowing it, please let me know! Gabby wasn't quite sure what to do with the cake at first...

But she quickly figured it out and managed to do more damage to her cake than Phoebe did with hers!

We had a great time seeing everyone and are already excited to see how the family pictures turned out. Not sure if we'll be able to post them but I'll certainly get them here if we're allowed.

Phoebe is turning out to be quite the cuddler and I couldn't help but post this quick head snuggle she shared with Daddy today.

It's hard to believe this is already my second Mother's Day. I stand amazed at my own mother and all that she has done for me, sacrificed for me and put up with from me over the years. I am so excited to watch her develop into a great YiaYia for Phoebe. I truly feel blessed that God found me deserving of a child such as Phoebe Rae. She is truly a delight - if only we could get her to say something other than "Dada" the world simply can't get any better.