Thomas turns 2

Thomas' birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year. We celebrated his special day by having a bunch of friends over for a BIG Thanksgiving Feast. It was a beautiful, warm day and the kids enjoyed playing in the backyard with their friends for most of the day.

Since Thomas' birthday was on Thanksgiving we decided to for go the traditional cake and ice cream. Instead we had pie and ice cream. Thomas didn't seem to mind.

After everyone left Thomas opened up his presents. This year he got several different bath toys. Thomas loves his baths. Anytime he hears the bath water, he quickly runs to the bathroom and insists on his clothes be taken off including his diaper. If you are slow at helping him, he figures it out himself and what he can't get off, he leaves on. I like to get the water going before I jump in the shower. I usually turn it on and leave the room to get the kids busy doing something. Several times, I have return to my room to shower and have caught him in my shower fully dressed.

Thomas also is very much into imaginative play. He loves to play in the basement on our car rug with cars and trucks. Lined up against the wall and rug is all of our Fisher Price farm, city, parking garage, etc. He can sit or should I say lay for several hours playing with the little people, farm animals and cars/trucks. So for his birthday we decided to add to it with a another fisher price set. As you can see from the picture, all of my boys enjoyed playing with Thomas' new toys.

Thomas is a fun, sweet, cute little boy. He LOVES his mommy. He is always willing to give hugs and kisses and to cuddle. He tries hard to be independent. He loves to play with all of his brothers and tries hard to keep up with them. He is an easy going boy, who goes with the flows of things. He loves to ride his bike, play with cars.

Viva Las Vegas

A few months back, I was feeling very sad that I hadn't seen my sisters and my mom for some time. As I was talking on the phone with one of my sisters, I mentioned we should take a girls trip. Just my mom and sisters, no kids. After talking and doing a little planning we were able to sell all the husbands on the deal. So early November we all boarded planes except for Mom who drove from St. George and headed to Las Vegas. For a long weekend together.

Here we are in the airport parking garage. Tami is the oldest, then myself, the youngest and my middle sister Michelle. It was EXCITING to see them.

Our first stop was to get some lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing a lot of shopping! Which was a lot of fun for me, since my boys hate to shop. (They are typical boys.)

That night we went to see Phantom of the Opera. We had the best seats, front row center. I have never sat that close in a show before. It was amazing to see every little detail of the actors and actresses! Little side note: On my flight from Denver to Vegas, I sat next to the Aunt of the actor who played Roule. It was fun visiting with her and learning more about the actor. We actually ended up seeing her at the show along with her sister and mother.

We laughed so hard the whole weekend and had a great time together!

Our last night in Vegas, we went and saw the show Mamma Mia. Fantastic performance very different from Phantom. I had a wonderful time with my mom and sisters. It was fun to spend a few days together bonding.

Leesburg Fire Station

Matthew and the other Cub scouts took a field trip to the Leesburg Fire Station. The boys and I tagged along, I knew the boys would love seeing the fire trucks. Thomas went crazy seeing the great big fire trucks up close. He loved being able to climb up inside of one, he did not want to get out. Joshua was scared and wanted to leave when the firemen put on his firefighter gear including his mask. It was a great opportunity to teach Joshy not to be scared, but to see that the uniform protects the firemen from getting hurt by the fire. Once he understood, he was okay with the whole thing.

Matthew has such great scout leaders who are very organized and make scouting a lot of fun. He looks forward to scouts every week.

Thomas' New Shoes

The night before I left for Vegas we were at Target getting a few travel items. Thomas did not want to sit in the cart so we let him walk around the store. As soon as we got Thomas out of the cart, we noticed him dragging his left foot as he walked. His shoes had been getting snug, but we weren't sure that was the reason why he was dragging his foot. Well, after we did a little experimenting we discovered his shoes were too small for him. So, after Target we ran to the outlets, to see if we could buy him some shoes before they closed. Long story short, I couldn't find any shoes that I liked or shoes that were in his size. Ryan was given the task of finding a new pair of shoes for Thomas. So while I was in Vegas, Ryan took Thomas to buy him new shoes. Ryan was able to find a pair a shoes the following day at his first stop. He pretty much tried the shoes on Thomas and they never came off his feet for the remainder of the weekend. To say that Thomas loves his new shoes, is very much an understatement. He wakes up every morning and brings his shoes to you and insists that you put them on his feet. He has even learned to put them on himself. He loves to run around and make the flashy lights come on.

Thomas my Climber

The SMILE should say it all!

It all started Thursday afternoon, when I sent Matthew upstairs to wake up Thomas from his nap. However Matthew found Thomas in the hallway instead of his crib. Matthew quickly called for me to come see. Matthew had asked Thomas how he got out of his bed and Thomas quickly ran to his crib, grinning ear to ear. When I got upstairs, Matthew had lifted Thomas into his crib and said to Thomas, "Show Mommy how you got out of your crib." Thomas quickly lifted his leg high over his head and rested it on the end rail of his crib. He then used his upper arm strength to pull him up to the top of the arch rail. Once he had his whole body over the railing, he simply let go of the railing with his hands and dropped to the floor laughing. By now all the boys had gathered in Thomas' room and were rolling with laughter. Mistake #1 on my part, Thomas had an audience and was thrilled to be showing off with his newest trick.

When bedtime finally rolled around we could not contain Thomas in his crib. As soon as we put him in the crib and pulled the railing up, he would climb out of the crib before we could get out of the room. Each time he would get out of his bed, he was grinning ear to ear. Needless to say, he was very PROUD of his new found freedom.

I spent hours the following day trying to get Thomas to take a nap in his crib while he continued to do the same routine from the night before. I finally gave up. For bedtime that night, he ended up falling asleep in the car while we were out getting last minute things for my trip to Vegas and looking for shoes for him.

Ryan being the best husband ever, dropped me off the airport the next morning at 4am. I wished him "GOOD LUCK" on getting Thomas to bed for naps and bedtime. I was leaving on a girls trip with my mom and sisters to Las Vegas and would be gone for the next four days.

HEE HEE, PERFECT TIMING ON MY PART!

Halloween 08

Halloween this year was a blast! After the Trunk or Treat at the church and the take from Halloween night, we have candy everywhere!!!