Thomas Family

2nd grade concert

2011-12-05T20:38:00.013-07:00

Tonight was Alyssa's winter concert. She did so good singing, dancing and smiling. She has been talking about it for weeks, even teaching Emma some of the songs at night when they are supposed to be sleeping. I was so proud of her for doing the dancing part especially, she gets pretty nervous doing things in front of crowds.

oh emma

2011-12-05T19:28:00.006-07:00

The other night Emma said..."When I'm grown up my husband is going to do ALL the work. He is going to change the diapers, because changing diapers is YUCKY!"

Then another day she told me the same thing but then she added, "And when my husband is gone I will just save the diaper and not change it and he can change it when he comes home."

santa

2011-12-04T21:22:00.015-07:00

My friend Sarah set up an activity for a bunch of families to bring their kids to see Santa. I was very surprised that Ben sat on his lap without screaming {of course he did have a ball in his hands and that usually makes him happy}. They all did great, I think they were a little star struck, Emma wouldn't look him in the eyes. It was a fun night.

thanksgiving

2011-12-02T19:13:00.023-07:00

We went to Kansas City Missouri for Thanksgiving. My sister Christina and her family live there and my parent's flew in for some turkey and for Christina's daughter Faith's baptism. The kids had so much fun with their cousins, Alyssa did not want to leave. {She had quite the meltdown, even hiding downstairs so we couldn't put her in the car} It was a good break from school, and great to see family.

we went to the mall to a fun train restaurant, the kids loved it.

we stopped to look at the big gingerbread village

the kids helping in the kitchen

faith's baptism day

family picture fail

2011-11-11T13:48:00.019-07:00

A few weeks ago, we tried to take some family pictures. We haven't had one taken for over a year. Since we can't afford a photographer we thought we would try using the tripod. It failed miserably, well I failed a little too. I have yet to figure out our camera. Some of the shots of just the kids turned out but we couldn't get any of the whole family. I thought I had everything set up and then there wasn't enough light or the flash didn't work. Michael has not had any time to spare but we finally had some time this weekend and the weather has been perfect for November.

I really want some good family shots,especially to send out Christmas cards this year since I have failed at that for 2 years. I may drag everybody out with the tripod again tomorrow. Maybe after a few failed attempts I will get it right. A girl can dream.

this was one of the first family shots, there was enough light but I clearly messed something up

then the blurry shot

darn that wind

he doesn't like the kiss sandwich but we keep doing it anyways

alyssa took this one

ben kept jumping

so serious. ben had a mint in his mouth to minimize tantrums

update on alyssa's arm

2011-11-09T19:33:00.011-07:00

I've been meaning to upload some photos of Alyssa's arm pre-surgery and post surgery but I kept forgetting to get them off of Mike's computer. Well here they are. The first ones are of Alyssa getting out of the car at the ER in Sioux Falls. I get a little woozy if I look at these too long {I know, I am such a pansy}. The rest are of her right before surgery and right after. We had more than this but Emma took it upon herself to clean up the picture/video app {stinker} so we are missing some. After the post are some videos at the hospital, one pre-surgery, one right after when she was grumpy and confused and then one after the meds kicked in and she was ready to leave.

She has done good ever since the surgery. We had to go back once a week for 2 weeks to get more x-rays but she is on track to get the cast off on Nov. 16th. Luckily she hasn't had any pain since 2 days after surgery and she has hardly complained about itchiness. She wasted no time getting her cast filled up with signatures. Can't wait until we can get it off but at the same time I am a little worried about her hurting it again. She seems to think that her arm is indestructible with the cast on. I am kind of hoping they make her wear a splint for a few weeks.

In other news, Michael passed his dissertation proposal so we are right smack in the middle of applying for internships. Between getting all of that done and visiting family during Thanksgiving I think that this month is going to fly by.

a skeleton and 2 ballerinas

2011-11-01T21:29:00.007-07:00

I remember saying last year that this year I was not going to make any costumes and I was going to stay away from tulle. Both girls wanted to be ballerinas this year. I found some leotards for cheap and after looking around online found that it would be a better deal for me to just make their skirts. I decided to not tie the tulle on like I have done previously, so I found a tutorial online and started making them. It ended up taking about 6 hours total. Seriously, somebody stop me, don't let me do this again next year. I did like how they turned out.Ben's costume was easy, I found it online for $7, it is pj's that glow in the dark. He didn't want to wear it at first, he threw a little bit of a tantrum. But once it was on, he was ok. He didn't let me put on his beanie that had a skull on it or do any makeup but he was a cute little glow in the dark skeleton.We went to a branch party on Saturday for a trunk or treat and the kids got a ton of candy. Too much. We went to a few of the apartments near us and up and down one street on Monday night and they got a ton more. And unfortunately we only had one family come trick or treating so we have all of that candy too. I hear a dentist in town is giving $1 per pound, I might have to look into that. My hips will thank me at least until Thanksgiving.(my neighbor made this amazing monster's inc. costume for her son)

alyssa's broken arm

2011-10-06T14:13:00.007-07:00

Alyssa broke her left arm yesterday. She was riding her friend's bike {which happens to be the next size up from her own bike} and she fell. Michael and I were both inside when it happened and the only witness was the friend so we don't know for sure if the bike landed on her arm or she just landed on the ground wrong. We took her into the after hours clinic since it was 5pm. Her pediatrician was not there so we saw a PA. She tried to take an x-ray but since Alyssa was in so much pain and scared to move her arm the x-ray wasn't the greatest but they could tell that there was a fracture on the ulna bone. They told us it was unstable and they couldn't do anything for her so they told us to go to the ER in Sioux Falls. We went home to get some stuff together and decided to have Michael take her and I stayed home and put the other two to bed. Michael and Alyssa got back home at midnight. They wrapped her arm in a splint. The ER doctor said he couldn't do anything for her and since it didn't require emergency surgery to go home and call the pediatric orthopedic surgeon in the morning. It was a rough night. Alyssa only slept for about 5 hours on and off. We went to SF this morning, we called and found out the the specialist was going to be doing surgeries all day today so we went to his clinic and saw the PA there. They took more x-rays and found that the break was worse than we thought. Turns out they aren't worried about the ulnar fracture, there is a dislocation of the radius near the elbow and if she didn't get surgery she wouldn't have mobility in her arm. It is called a monteggia fracture. The surgeon was booked through today so we go back tomorrow at 6:30am. They pushed back all his surgeries to get her in. They will give her anesthesia and he will try to fix the dislocation by pushing it back and then put her in a cast which will take about half an hour. If he can't fix it that way he will have to cut her open and use a pin and or plate to fix it, which will take an hour and then she will be in a splint. We are hoping for the first option for obvious reasons. She is very scared and has been sad. She keeps telling us she doesn't want surgery. She does want a purple cast that her friends can sign.
**UPDATE- Friday October 7th** Alyssa had another rough night of sleep, she slept in our bed with me and Michael took the couch. She kept waking up moaning and kept kicking her legs everywhere and rolling from side to side to get comfortable. We got up at 5am and made it to the hospital at 6:45am. Michael went in the OR with her while they gave her the anesthesia and once she was out he came back and we waited. Luckily it was quick. About half an hour later the surgeon came in and told us it went great. He said it was a bit of a challenge to get the bones where he wanted them but it worked and they put the cast on. We didn't get to see how she reacted while waking up, they brought her to us about 30 minutes later, she was shivering and seemed confused and she was quite grumpy for a while. It took some time to convince her to eat something, she finally caved when the pain started hitting her and she knew she had to eat in order to get the pain medication, about 20 minutes later she was asking to go home. She did end up vomiting several times on the way home, as we expected. It is definitely time for a family nap.

Ben's Birthday

2011-09-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Benjamin's 2nd birthday.

our baby is two!

2011-09-12T19:04:00.002-07:00

Our baby is not a baby anymore. Ben is such a big boy. We are so blessed to have him in our family. I will post about his birthday with more pictures soon.
Here is a little bit about Ben at age 2.

you know it's fall...

2011-09-02T16:22:00.001-07:00

when the boys start watching football :)

1st day of 2nd year of Head Start

2011-09-01T18:21:00.004-07:00

Emma started school today. She was so excited, she kept asking me all morning if it was time to go. As soon as we got there she was assigned to help with lunch, she was very happy. When Michael picked her up, her teacher said that she was a big helper all day and a good example to all the new kids. showing off her cupcake backpack

2nd grader

2011-08-25T16:15:00.002-07:00

Today was Alyssa's first day of 2nd grade. We went to meet her teacher last night at the open house, she was sooo nervous but got a little more excited when she saw one of her friends from last year is in her class again. We know nothing about her teacher but she seems very nice. The school is much bigger since it is 2nd-5th grade.
She was a little upset I didn't make her a lunch {she wanted to use her new lunch bag} but I wasn't very organized yesterday. She picked out her clothes, she begged me to make her a shirt with a necklace on it so this was my attempt. She was nervous again this morning. When I picked her up she said she had a great day and I am sure she will be less nervous and more confidant as she meets new friends.

words

2011-07-31T17:44:00.009-07:00

A few conversations I have heard lately...

Alyssa: "this is the worst day EVER...I only had ONE dessert" {what?!? we don't have dessert every day}

Benjamin dropped a certain word with 4 letters today at church. He was saying truck. Basically anytime he tries to say the word truck, fork, flag or frog it tends to sound like this certain word. Well half the time flag sounds like that word and the other half of the time he says flag without the l. Luckily it happened in nursery and I think I was the only one who heard it.

I was talking to Emma about her part for the upcoming primary program. I had asked her to tell me something she can do to prepare to go to the temple and one of her answers was sharing, then she said "we need to share, if we don't, Heavenly Father and Jesus won't let us into the church, they will lock the doors"

Speaking about the cartoon The Avatar: The Last Airbender, Alyssa said, "Whoever made this show is the best ever."

the trip

2011-07-18T10:03:00.008-07:00

We made it back from Utah last Tuesday, even though we extended 3 days it still felt like a whirlwind trip. I will start out with the lowest point and then tell about the better parts.

I kind of feel like I cursed us with the last post {hoping for no more hiccups with the car} We left here on the 29th at 10:30, the quick fix in the morning took a bit longer than expected. We traveled to Sidney, Nebraska and stayed the night {note: our children do not sleep well with us in the same room} but we did have a lot of fun in the hotel swimming pool, we had it all to ourselves. We left at about 9 am in hopes of getting to Salt Lake before dinner, but about 15 miles outside of Laramie, Wyoming we started noticing a problem with the car. First the lights on the dashboard started failing and the next thing we knew we couldn't accelerate and started trying to coast as far as we could get, we luckily made it off an exit for a rest stop a few miles from Laramie when the van stopped. I called my parents to look up auto repair/parts places in Laramie and my dad called a shop to possibly tow us into town. Meanwhile Michael popped the hood and started scraping off the acid corrosion around the battery and we decided to try the car, it started and so we hopped in and made it all the way to the repair shop and it died right as we got it parked. A new alternator and 3 hours later we were on our way again. We were blessed that the car even restarted for us so we could make it to the shop and not have to pay for towing especially since they only accepted cash and we barely had enough to pay for the repair. {Also, John helped us get the part for cheaper}

We made it to Utah around 10:30 pm. We spent the first several days seeing a few friends and family. We had a BBQ with our friends Dirk & Laura at Jayson and Rachel's house. The kids had so much fun we had to drag them out of there. We went to John and Julia's for the 3rd to celebrate the 4th with most of Michael's family. It was good to see everyone. We celebrated the 4th with my parents.
The kids always love playing out back at my parents. Ben learned how to climb up the ladder and slide down all by himself, I wish I had some video of it. The highlight of the trip for him was of course the puppies. First thing every morning he would ask for all the family members and then the dogs. It went something like this "Mommy? Sissa? Emma? Grandma? Grandma? {for Grandpa, he didn't quite get the difference} Sammy? SueSue? {the dogs}.
We decided {I persuaded Michael} to stay a few extra days and then we drove up to Idaho Falls for our niece Averi's baptism. I am glad we decided to go, it was good to see my brothers and their families. The night we got back we went to visit Darin & Alicia, I felt bad that the visit was so short but it was good to see them and once again we had to drag the kids away from their friends. The last Sunday there we saw John & Julia again and Jenn & James and then we had Michael's mom over to dinner with my parents.

We got to go on a few dates {sadly we hadn't been on a real date since our anniversary last year}. I got to do a little shopping {it sounds so lame but I really miss being able to just drive 5 minutes in any direction to find whatever you need}
We had a great time, thanks to all our friends and family. I missed my bed and my closet but not the humidity that greeted us when we got home at 11pm.
Here are a few photos from the trip. We kept forgetting we had a camera.

he was right

2011-06-29T08:23:00.002-07:00

the car is fixed. we are off. we hope to make it to utah without any more hiccups {from the car that is, there will be no avoiding hiccups caused by the kids}.

a little hiccup

2011-06-28T10:22:00.002-07:00

We spent all day yesterday preparing for our visit to Utah. The plan was to leave this morning around 7 am. But the van had other plans. Last night we went to run a few last minute errands and the air conditioner went out AGAIN. Third time this summer.
So we are stuck here for now, if we can't get it fixed soon {and for a decent price} we may not be going at all. We only have a 15 day window for the trip. Michael has to be back here before the 13th of July. We don't feel like the trip is worth it {gas prices, 18 hours of travel (twice), hotel stays with children who don't sleep...blah, blah} if we can't stay for at least 10 days. May sound dumb to some of you readers but these trips take a lot out of us and if we can't see all the people we want to see and do some of the things we want to do then we don't know if it is worth the insanity that is traveling with our children {beloved as they are}.
Believe me, we need a break, we want to spend time with family, we want to go on a date. Michael is optimistic so he thinks we will be on our way tonight or tomorrow. I am a little more pessimistic so I think it will take longer but I am hoping for the best. I want him to be right...this time ;)

On a less whiny note, yesterday when I was vacuuming the house Alyssa asked, "Why are you vacuuming?" and then with lots of excitement asked, "Is someone coming over to visit?" Love it. I admit it, I do clean more often when expecting company than not.

recently

2011-06-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't been good at journaling what we have been doing lately. We have forgotten many silly conversations, funny things said and missed out on several pictures. I am going to try to be better.

Michael is BUSY {as always} he was released as EQ Pres. a few months ago and called as the gospel doctrine teacher so he is at least much less busy as far as church goes. I was hoping that school stuff would slow down a little during the summer but he seems busier. We are still trying to decide if we can make it to Utah {if we do, it will be in July sometime, maybe for a week}.

I was called as a counselor in the RS Presidency a few months ago and I'm still the compassionate service coordinator. Michael spoiled me for Mother's day and my birthday, not letting me lift a finger all day. Ben was so cute on my birthday, he kept saying "happy mommy" the whole day and gave me many hugs.

Alyssa finished 1st grade on May 20th. She was sad. She loves school and is convinced she won't see her friends all summer. But she is excited to start 2nd grade in August. She is doing really good reading and loves math too. Alyssa and Emma are supposed to have swim lessons for the next 2 weeks, unfortunately the last 2 days have been canceled due to rain and the forecast doesn't look good. I hope they get a few lessons in, Alyssa needs more confidence in the water, she loves to swim but she gets nervous on her own.

Emma on the other hand is fearless in the water. We went swimming last week and she kept trying to break free from me to swim on her own, she even tried to get away from me on the big slide. I don't think I will be able to handle all 3 kids at the pool on my own. Emma has started to read a little, she knows a lot of sight words and does great with 2 and 3 letter words. She gets so excited when she reads something by herself. Right now, EVERYTHING is about doing it by herself. Great for her self confidence and independence not so great for getting places on time.

ben playing with my b-day balloons Benjamin was clinging to me the whole time we were in the water, he didn't like it. On the way home I asked him if the pool was fun and he said NO! and I asked if he wanted to go to the pool again he said NO! We'll have to work on that one. He also doesn't like being left in Nursery. He goes to the corner by the door and cries until we come back {both the girls went right in without much of a fuss, they loved it} Ben only enjoys it if we are in there with him. I feel bad because I know we must be annoying the teachers by staying but I can't handle his scream-cry. We'll be working on that one too for a while. He has been talking tons, even saying 3-5 word sentences. I love it when I can finally understand what my babies want.
watching a show together while alyssa wiggles yet another loose tooth

emma's last day of school

2011-05-19T13:32:00.006-07:00

We went to the park yesterday for Emma's last day of Head Start, it was a graduation. Out of 18 kids in her class 14 will go to Kindergarten this fall but Emma won't be 5 until December so she will have one more year of Head Start.
She had lunch with Dad, then Ben and I showed up for some of the games and the short program at the end {singing and handing out diplomas}. She was sad to say goodbye to her friends and teachers, she has LOVED going to school this year.
playing duck duck goose
singing {I wish I had video she was SO cute}
getting her diploma

easter

2011-04-26T12:39:00.002-07:00

Easter came fast this year. Well, really since it was at the end of the month, I kind of forgot about it until the week before.
We had a good day, went to church, attempted to take pictures of the kids, had an indoor egg hunt and ate too much candy. I tried to make this strawberry shortcake cake but mine turned out looking not so edible, we ate it anyways and it was delicious. Next time I will actually make the cake instead of buying a store one (I was feeling a bit lazy) and I will mix the frosting a little longer it wasn't quite ready to be spread.
It is REALLY hard to get kids to look at the camera at the same time. Here are a few of our attempts and the one that worked.

getting the kids readyescapingMichael telling Ben to stay success :)

seven

2011-03-22T18:23:00.003-07:00

Happy Birthday Alyssa!She had a great day. She shared a treat (cake pops) with her class at school, it was a big hit.
The girls are obsessed with the new my little pony cartoon so ponies were her number one request for presents. She wanted a strawberry cake with white frosting and flowers on top. I had an idea to put lollipops in the middle of paper or silk flowers and put a bouquet of them on top. Just like Emma's birthday I messed up the cake and we had to go buy a pre-made one but it was okay since we needed to make a trip to buy her a fish too. We caved and got a "pet" for the kids. She always talks about how she will never get a dog or cat since she is allergic. She is excited to be 7 and immediately started talking about what she will do and ask for when she turns 8.

spring break?

2011-03-07T08:07:00.006-07:00

It is SO not spring break around here. First, this is what we woke up to this morning. Second, the girls only have Thursday and Friday off {last year it was a whole week}. And last, Michael has the whole week off but not really. He has to work Monday-Wednesday seeing clients and then will be working on school stuff Thursday and Friday. On the bright side, he is giving me a half day to shop {I haven't been to a fabric store in for.ev.er}.

In other news, Benjamin has a fever and vomited 3 times yesterday. We are hoping it is just the fact that he has 5 teeth coming in {2 eye teeth and 3 molars} and NOT another ear infection.
I never got around to writing about it but last month he got sick and it was HORRIBLE. Poor little man had pink eye and a fever and when I took him in he also had an ear infection. But the medication didn't work so 4 days later we were back in and he was put on something else which healed the ear but caused tummy problems {both ends people!} and the worst diaper rash ever, in fact he had 2 different kinds of rash at the same time. It took him 2 weeks to feel good again.

And since I need to leave this post on a positive note I will say that I am grateful that Michael thought to rush B to the kitchen during vomit #3 so it wouldn't hit the carpet again.
Also a plus, we got our tax refund and we did a happy dance. The first purchase after paying down the credit card was Ben's new car seat. After it was put together we couldn't get him out of it.

hibernation

2011-02-01T09:58:00.005-07:00

A few months ago I proposed an idea to Michael. I would take a really long winter's nap and he would take care of everything. He could wake me up in March {or April} when cold and flu season and the horrible arctic wind chill filled days were gone. He didn't go for it. I can't really fault him.

It has been a really long winter. We have had a least one person sick at all times in our family since November and a couple weeks of everyone sick at the same time. I know this is life, sickness, seasons, blah blah. It just wears me down sometimes.

I am trying to be grateful for the winter and some days I am, but not so much today. Today is frigid. Today, school is canceled for the girls, it is too cold to step outside. Today will be long with Michael gone until who knows when and the girls already bickering at 9 am. Today, Spring can't come soon enough.

tangled

2011-01-15T22:50:00.003-07:00

I finally took the girls to see tangled today. They LOVED it! At bedtime Michael had to go in their room a few times to try to get them to stop playing around and they were re-enacting the movie. Then when I went in to check on them after they were asleep, I found Alyssa's blankets and sheets tied to each other and then tied to her head. So cute, wish I had thought to take a picture.

ringing in the new year

2011-01-01T10:54:00.001-07:00

this christmas

2010-12-26T15:04:00.001-07:00

we stayed in Vermillion and stayed inside a lot. We had plans to go to the movies and do some sledding during the break, but the weather was nasty so we stayed in, drank lots of hot cocoa and watched movies, snuggled on the couch. The kids had a good Christmas. They were a little spoiled if you ask me. I found really GREAT deals online this year, complete with free shipping. So for some reason, at the time, that made me think I could buy more. Oh well. We opened one present on Christmas Eve {pajamas}, read Luke 2 and sang Christmas carols. On Christmas day we slept in a little {8 am} played with Santa gifts, ate cinnamon rolls, opened the rest of the gifts, watched the kids play and ate some yummy dinner. We finished off the day with some hot cocoa and a Christmas movie.

Four years ago today...

2010-12-23T12:16:00.006-07:00

we were given the best Christmas gift...our baby girl Emma.Can't believe how fast she has grown. Emma is our little artist, she loves to draw, paint, sing and dance. She has a HUGE imagination. She is very talkative, asking hundreds of questions a day. She still gets noticed everywhere we go for her beautiful head of curly red hair {she says, no my hair is strawberry blond}. We are so blessed to have Emma in our family.

Happy Birthday Pumpkin! We love you!

all i want for christmas is...

2010-12-18T22:23:00.002-07:00

first blizzard of the season

2010-12-11T19:18:00.007-07:00

the pros:

*didn't have to get ready today {well I did shower}
*we stayed inside nice and warm {except for Michael-see cons list}
*cuddling, watching movies, drinking hot cocoa
*online shopping with no crowds :)
*church is cancelled tomorrow {I know, it should be a con but I really didn't want to go out in this weather}

the cons:
*we needed some food so Michael had to walk to the store {snow was up to his hip in some parts}
*we don't know when our street/driveway will be plowed

{this is how far the van got before it was stuck}

*been trying to get a family photo outside for 3 weeks now but each Saturday the weather has not cooperated {which means we may not get our Christmas cards out this year}
*the howling wind, snow drifts and wind chill {it will feel like -25 when we wake up tomorrow but I have already planned on staying in bed as long as possible}

our morning...

2010-11-12T09:59:00.008-07:00

began at 1 am with a sick little girl and a teething baby. Then later on it included changing Benjamin and somehow getting his poop on the rug, TWICE PEOPLE {I never liked that rug anyways}. Sometime during all the normal morning chaos, Michael called to see if his wallet was at home. I couldn't see it anywhere, so he walked home to try to retrace his steps. I frantically searched the house. We called the school to see if it had dropped somewhere when he had taken Alyssa to school. No wallet. Then he decided to drive to the school and check around. Still no wallet. I considered calling the bank to cancel the card {it had only been missing a few hours but I don't like to mess around with stolen/lost id stuff}
Then we asked Emma if she had played with it, she said yes and then gave us three different scenarios of what she did with it. None of the stories led to the wallet. Then right before Michael needed to get back to class he randomly checked the basket of kids books and there it was. Phew. I drove him to school, went to the store, put the kids to bed, did some laundry and found that I had a whopping 15 minutes to put up my feet and eat something {I had forgotten} before I had to pick up Alyssa.

Have I said how much I don't like it when my kids are sick? {I know everyone is with me on this one} And do they have to get sick in the middle of the night and right before the weekend?

2 garden fairies and a skunk

2010-10-31T21:02:00.006-07:00

Our celebrating started on Friday. We went to a halloween party and ate some yummy treats and got to hang out with friends. Of course we brought the kids all decked out in costumes but I forgot to bring the camera.

Saturday we got family pictures in Sioux City, to say Benjamin did NOT like the experience would be an understatement. And Emma had a nice bump on her nose {door:1 Emma:0} But there is always something, right?

Then Saturday night we went to the branch trunk or treat for more good food, games and of course trick or treating in the parking lot. {this lazy mom likes it better than dragging kids from door to door}

Alyssa got sick on Sunday evening, but we had not planned on trick or treating anyways plus the three of them already had a big loot. Speaking of which, I need to go grab myself a little treat {parent taxes}

Hope everyone had a good Halloween.
{I am NOT going to make the girls costumes next year. I do however, already have an idea for a costume for Benjamin, too early?}

our weekend

2010-10-24T17:02:00.009-07:00

1. 1/2 of us are still sick. Benjamin has not been 100% since before his first birthday which is making me think he has some allergy issues {on the bright side, he doesn't mind when I wipe his nose anymore} Michael has been feeling crappy all weekend. And I have one big constant tension headache. We have been lazy.

2. On Friday we took a short drive to a spot overlooking the Missouri River and climbed up a hill to take a few shots of the kids. Sadly, on our way back to the car, Alyssa told us that it was the best trip we have ever taken. The best? We REALLY need a family vacation.
3. Alyssa lost her 5th tooth. Michael pulled out her first front tooth last night {after several attempts to get the string around it failed, he reached in and yanked it out, we even have a blood stain on the bath mat to remember it} She immediately noticed her own lisp. She said, "sometimes when people lose their teeth their voice changes" {the tooth fairy remembered to visit this time and during her visit she injured her knee on Alyssa's bed, tooth fairy is a little gimpy}

4. I felt a bit domestic today and decided to make some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I should make a mental note to ignore those pesky domestic feelings the next time they come around. The cookies turned out okay, they're edible. I just need to stick with the things I can bake. Cookies and me don't get along too well, I would say 1 out of 10 batches turns out okay.

{these 3 don't know the difference}

5. I have successfully procrastinated making the girls costumes for a week and a half so this week will be fun {head meet desk} And I get to scramble to put together a costume for Michael {his program does an annual costume/bowling thing and he always gets assigned an impossible costume, but that's a long boring story} Benjamin's costume needs no effort from me and I have chosen to not dress up so that is 2 less things to worry about.

6. Alyssa got her school pictures back on Friday. And I gave in and set up an appointment for us to get family photos at jcp. I do not like studio photos, I prefer outdoor shots. But since our camera doesn't like me, my children don't like me as a cranky amateur photographer, and we don't have money to pay a really good photographer, we will use a coupon and get a studio pose with a white, black or possibly brown background next weekend.

7. Finally got around to ordering the blog books I started 18 months ago. One for 2007 and one for 2008 are on their way. I may get the 2009 book started by next year and ordered by 2012 ;)

michael's birthday

2010-10-15T18:18:00.004-07:00

This year for Michael's 31st birthday I finally worked up the guts to make a homemade cheesecake and I am so glad I did. I'm not sure why I was so afraid to try. Now I need to invest in a nice cheesecake pan. I used a lion house recipe and it was a big hit. Alyssa said, "wow, mom, this is the best cake you have ever made"
Hubs was very appreciative too.{not pretty to look at but very tasty}

I guess it was a good thing the cake was good since I kind of bombed on the birthday presents. It was a crazy couple weeks, so I only got him 2 things. One of which was a package of socks. {before you feel too bad for him though, you should see his reaction every time he gets new socks, he LOVES the feel of new socks on his feet, he put a pair on right after he opened them} And he gets to buy a few things online since we don't get out of town much to shop.
Happy Birthday Hubby! We love you!

repeating history

2010-10-14T12:29:00.006-07:00

I said 2 years ago when I made Alyssa's Belle costume for Halloween that I wasn't going to make a tulle dress costume again.
Then last year, I made her a witch costume and it was {you guessed it} a tulle dress. I swore that this year I was going to make the girls be something other than princesses or fairies or anything that could possibly wear a dress made of tulle.
Searching for costumes became a pain. Alyssa kept asking to be a vampire or something else that I didn't feel was appropriate for a 6 year old to be and when I said no, she said okay then I will be a princess. I thought, I will use reverse psychology or mommy manipulation to get her to be something easy but none of it worked. And it would have been a waste of time because all of the costumes I wanted to get her and Emma just happened to be out of stock in their sizes.
And then she said "Mom, I really, REALLY want to be a pink garden fairy princess" and Emma said "me too, me too."
And there was nothing I could do, tulle just happened to be on sale and so I caved. Now I have 16+ yards of tulle and flowers and wings and I am once again going to make tulle dresses. Seriously?
Oh and Benjamin will be a skunk. Because I found it on ebay for a good price and I don't have to make a thing for it and because he is a stinker and a stinky boy and it just seemed to fit him :)

blame

2010-10-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

Just noticed today that every time Michael (teasingly) says "who needs trouble?" Emma says "Alyssa!" She doesn't ever say "not me" like Alyssa usually says. She always throws Alyssa under the bus. It gave me a good laugh :)

october?

2010-10-04T07:24:00.010-07:00

{totally random bath shot of B, he loves to stick out his tongue when you pour water on his head}

Really? Already? It is almost Michael's birthday and I have NO idea what to get him. It is almost Halloween and I have NO ideas for the kids' costumes. And I have been so bad at blogging lately. I have missed many picture opportunities and many conversations that should have been recorded.

On the way home from picking up the girls today I heard the following conversation:

Alyssa: Guess what Emma! I have a surprise for you in my bag. I got to pick something today at school and I got something just for you.
Emma: {cute little dramatic gasp} Just for me? What is it?
Alyssa: I can't tell you, it's a surprise, but it is your favorite color and it is just for you.
Emma: Just for me?!
Alyssa: Yes, just for you. All for you.
Emma: But I don't want it just for me, I need to share it.
Alyssa: No you don't. It is just for you. I don't need it. It's yours.
Emma: But I have to share with you.
I wish they would remember this conversation the next time they are fighting over something.
Side note: The surprise was a sparkly purple pencil and a pink eraser. I had some sanitizer on my hands when I picked the pencil up off the floor and my hands turned bright purple/pink. After 10 washes they are still a nice shade of pink and very dried out.

benjamin is 1!

2010-09-12T21:30:00.001-07:00

What happened to this year? The first 6 months seemed to go on forever (sleep deprivation will do that) but these last 6 months just flew by.

Benjamin is such a sweet baby boy. He has been following us around like a puppy the last few weeks and doesn't like it when we are out of sight. He took his first steps 3 weeks before his birthday and is now walking everywhere he goes. He LOVES to eat, LOVES balls of any kind (in fact of all of his birthday presents the one that got the biggest smile and has been played with the most is a $1 ball). He is a great sleeper, he now has 4 front teeth. He loves it when we sing to him and read books to him. He loves his sisters, Alyssa plays with him and he just laughs, and he really likes to pull Emma's curls when he gets a chance.
On his birthday we played outside after his nap, he LOVES being outside.
I embellished a onesie and made a matching b-day hat. We opened presents and ate cake. I made him a smash cake, it took a few minutes for it to sink in how good it was and then he did a good job smashing/eating it. And then it started to end up on the floor. Despite having a little cold, he had a great day.

We are so happy and blessed to have him in our family. We love you Benjamin!

emma's first day of school

2010-08-31T21:34:00.002-07:00

Today was Emma's first day of Head Start. I was not ready for this, I know that it is only for 3.5 hours a day, four days a week, but she just seems too little to be going to school on her own. She has been really excited for today, she was sad when Alyssa's first day of school came and she found out she was not going too. Michael let her ride along in the car to drop Alyssa off and she was yelling that she needed her backpack, on the way out the door.
All morning she was asking me if it was time to go yet. And when we got to school and I got her out of the car, she took off towards the school and turned around to wave and say goodbye. I told her we needed to take her inside to sign her in. As soon as we walked in and she put away her backpack, she was off, didn't even give goodbye hugs and kisses. I had to yell her name from the doorway to blow her a kiss and say bye.
She LOVED school and can't wait to go back again tomorrow.
Here she is, my little "BIG" girl.

baby b's first steps

2010-08-30T19:06:00.006-07:00

Benjamin took his first steps on August 24th, Michael said we couldn't count it since it was technically one step. But I still counted it, a few days later he took 3 steps when we were outside talking with our neighbor. Since then he usually takes 4 or 5 at a time. He gets too excited to take more than 5 steps, he starts to lean too forward. We finally caught him walking on camera today. He LOVES to stand and especially likes it when we walk with him holding onto his hands but he still prefers crawling everywhere. He is too little to be walking around. I am so not ready for him to turn one in less than 2 weeks. He's my baby!

today after church...

2010-08-29T14:24:00.009-07:00

Alyssa said to me, "mom you are going to be 35 when we move."
And I said "oh, thanks for doing the math for me ;) how old will you be when we move?"(referring to when Michael starts his internship in 2 years)
Alyssa said "I will be 8 years old. And I will be baptized."
I asked her if she was going to be baptized here in Vermillion and she said yes.
Then Emma piped in, "I'm not going to be baptized when I am 8, I will get too wet. I don't like to get wet."
Alyssa told her, "you get to wear a white suit, it's like you go swimming but you wear a white suit instead of a swimsuit."
And Emma replied, "When I get baptized, I am going to wear a swimsuit, a pink one!"

first day of first grade

2010-08-19T14:10:00.005-07:00

Alyssa's first day of 1st grade went really good. The night before we had an open house at the school and she was nervous about going to school. She was scared to meet new friends and her new teacher. After the open house she told us that 1st grade was going to be good, she said we were right, it is good to meet new friends and new teachers. She really liked that they each had their own desk to sit at because in Kindergarten they had to share tables. We didn't have much time for pictures, we were running just a little bit late, but we took a few. She can't wait to go back tomorrow. I hope her love for school continues. I am not ready to send Emma to school in about 12 days. She is just too little.

too sassy

2010-08-01T19:41:00.008-07:00

Tonight while I was helping Emma brush her teeth I asked her where her pajamas were. She said "I don't want my pajamas, they are too sassy." I said "what do you mean they are sassy?" Emma replied, "they have flowers all over them and they are sassy." Later, while trying once more to convince her to put them on, she said: "Mommy, you just need to accept NO"

mt. rushmore trip

2010-07-29T13:02:00.011-07:00

Here are some of the pictures from our trip with John and Julia.

can't go anywhere without Emma breaking into a little song and dance number :)

deep down in jewel cave (didn't take many pictures because Emma wanted to be held most of the time)

B slept in the carrier in front of Michael
this was the highlight of the cave, the biggest piece of bacon ever (can't remember how this formed)

this was as close as we got to the Crazy Horse monument,
maybe we will go back when it is all finished.

it has been awhile

2010-07-25T21:53:00.002-07:00

I've been in a funk lately. Life has been full of many things to blog about, I just haven't had the motivation or time to sit down and do it. Here's a quick summary of the last month.

When we got back from Utah Michael started teaching. We had a very low key 4th of July celebration with a few fireworks for the kids. The weather has been very stormy, hot and humid, with that comes tons of mosquitoes so we have not been outside much. We have been to the pool only a handful of times.

the kids on the 4th

We met John, Julia and Sidonie at a fun KOA, we swam, then visited Mt. Rushmore and jewel cave, the 2nd longest cave in the world {pictures to come}. Then they drove back with us to Vermillion through some very ugly and scary thunderstorms.

My Uncle Mac passed away on July 10th after complications from surgeries. B and I flew to Las Vegas for his funeral two weeks ago. It was very sad, he was such a good man, but it was great to see family I haven't seen in too long. It was HOT (114 degrees hot), so when we visit my aunt and cousins again it will have to be in the winter.

This weekend we are going to visit Christina and Brandon in Omaha. Then next weekend we will leave for a week to the Williams family reunion in Salt Lake. When we get back we will have less than a week until Alyssa starts school Aug. 19th. And summer will be pretty much over. How did that happen!?

most days...

2010-06-27T21:34:00.002-07:00

you will find Emma playing, dancing and singing in her underwear or her green nightgown. I am not sure why I even get her dressed every morning because within an hour her clothes will be off and she will bring me her nightgown to turn it right side out for her, she says "momma will you turn my sleeve in out".

And you will find Alyssa begging to swim at the pool, play the wii, ride her bike, play with play-doh or eat snacks. Her latest persistent request is to drink strawberry milk. And now that we have started a new sticker reward system she loves to look at the list of things to do and say things like "mom, I just shared a toy with Emma, can I have a sticker" or "Mom, I tried really hard to go to sleep good last night so I think I earned 2 stickers for trying even though I played".

On most days you can find Benjamin happy that he can move around and get into more stuff. He has discovered the vcr and cable box. He can't get enough food. I always feed him first and when he is all nice and full he will watch the rest of us eat with his mouth open, drool and all, until I give him some of my food. Speaking of drool, he just had his first "kiss" a couple of days ago. We had dinner with friends and their cute baby girl R leaned in with mouth open, tongue out and planted a nice big wet one on B's mouth. So cute ;)

Pretty much everyday you will find me in my pj's, playing with the kids, reading to the kids, dancing and singing with the kids, trying to teach the kids, watching weird shows like yo gabba gabba with the kids and of course some yelling at the kids because let's face it, they drive me crazy. But I love them...most days :) And yes, you will find me on the computer as well and occasionally at the sewing machine.

If my walls could talk you would hear things like this...
Emma: "Momma, this isn't about you" (while trying to break up a fight).
Alyssa: "When daddy gets home, I am going to tell on you for giving me a timeout" and
Me: "Leave mommy alone for 5 minutes, I am in timeout" Now that I think about it, if timeouts are supposed to be according to age, I really should be giving myself a 33 minute timeout. Hmm, what could I do for 33 minutes all by myself?

9 month check

2010-06-24T14:32:00.010-07:00

B had his 9 month well child check today. He is doing good, healthy, growing, learning and all that good stuff. Didn't have to get any shots but he did get a finger poke to check for anemia (doesn't have it) and he didn't cry, he just squirmed a little. He did NOT like laying down on the paper covered exam bed. I really like our pediatrician. He is so great with our kids, always very friendly and informative. We can even call him at home on the weekends if we have questions.
B's stats are: Height 28 3/4 inches (75th) and weight 18 lbs. (25th). Like all my kids, as soon as they are moving their weight drops a little.
He loves to read books with us, is sleeping great, still loves all the food I give him (Alyssa and Emma slowly started getting picky by this age), and he is all over the place now that he is crawling, his favorite spot is the bookshelf to take down all the books. And I would say it is an understatement that he likes spaghetti.

our summer trip

2010-06-18T20:25:00.015-07:00

We got back from Utah last night, well actually this morning at 1 am. Needless to say, it was a long drive. We made it in 16 hours. The kids weren't too bad for us, slept a little better than on the way there, except for Alyssa who ended up playing games on the ipod at the end in order to keep her quiet.
We had a great time in UT, we visited with family, my mom and I got manicures and pedicures for my b-day, the kids rode on ponies, we shopped, of course we ate some yummy food, I cut my hair, and we even got to go on a few dates and see some movies.
Some highlights were that Benjamin finally crawled after a couple months of the army crawl, scooting backwards, spinning around on his stomach and getting up on his hands and knees and rocking. He is quite happy with his newly acquired skill. He also finally said mama, Michael swears that Benjamin said mama on mother's day but I never heard it and hadn't heard it until we were in Utah. He also learned how to wave hi/bye-bye on our way home, he was just kind of moving his arm a little to say hi previously but I got him to open and shut his hand and now he does it on command, so cute :) He gets so happy when he does it.
Here are a few of the hundreds of pictures taken while we were there.

celebrating my 33rd b-day
Thomas family BBQ at John & Julia's complete with bounce house
Grandma Thomas with all her grandkids
the girls after church (the only one where Alyssa wasn't rolling her eyes at me)
Benjamin and daddy on the computer (b LOVES the computer)
Emma and her pony Goldie

Benjamin riding on Goldie
he loved the pony ride
Alyssa and her pony Daisy

the girls playing out back in their pj's

the kids on the "beach" at Daybreakthis was a surprise, I turned around and they were holding hands :)

playing at the Gateway fountain

Emma broke into dance when the music started

Benjamin loved being in the driver's seat, of course he was happy whenever he got out of his car seat on the way home

a little break

2010-06-01T18:17:00.004-07:00

We made it to Utah in just under 16 hours which is a record for us. The kids did surprisingly well considering their aversion to sleeping in the car. Benjamin only took a few short naps until the last 2 hours and then finally they all slept for most of the end. No pictures from the drive but I am sure we will take plenty while we are here. Since it is a quick trip we will mainly visit with family. But we may squeeze in time for a pony ride and splashing in the gateway fountain for the girls, a little shopping and eating at a few of our favorite restaurants for me, and homework for Michael. I know, blah, but he has 2 online courses this summer and he has to keep up, even while on vacation.

last day

2010-05-28T08:28:00.006-07:00

Today was Alyssa's last day of Kindergarten. She was sad, she will miss school, Miss Prasnicki and her friends. Can't believe she will be a first grader in August and Emma will be in Head Start. OK, can't think about that right now. It is summer and it is time to play!
And here are her shoes, they barely made it to the end and are headed straight for the garbage. There is even a hole underneath that constantly collected sand, I know, should have bought her new ones a month ago but I just couldn't being so close to the end.
Bye bye crusty shoes, hello flip flops.

happiness is...

2010-05-27T14:26:00.011-07:00

in the little things

a bottlea swinga red dress to twirla playgroundjust to name a few.

our bottomless pit

2010-05-20T10:51:00.008-07:00

I promise we are not starving this one. Don't let her thinness fool you. She eats ALL day long. She is begging me for more food within minutes of finishing her meals and snacks. She LOVES food. She totally has my appetite. In our defense the kitchen and living room are one big room, which is a constant reminder to eat :) She has been blessed with her Aunt Tiffani's (my sister) metabolism.This morning I found her in the corner by the garbage eating the crumbs out of the cereal box that I had neglected to put in the garbage. She was going to town on it. Literally 20 minutes after she had her morning snack. She started spilling it on the ground and eating it off the ground. I told her to not eat the cereal off the ground, after a brief pause, she began picking it up off the ground and putting it into the bag, she then said as she began eating it out of the bag again, "I'm not eating it off the ground, I am eating it from the bag."

maybe

2010-05-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

I can't be sure, but maybe just maybe I should be exercising more. Maybe I should take my bike down for a ride every once in awhile, the bike that Michael hung up when we moved here and has not been moved since. Maybe the first clue, aside from my pants getting too snug, is this picture.

Can't see what I am talking about?
OK, here's a closer look.

Yes folks, that there is a bird's nest.So I should take it for a ride right? Or maybe I should let the birds keep their little nest.

kindergarten concert

2010-04-29T18:47:00.004-07:00

Tonight was Alyssa's kindergarten spring concert. I thought I had everything prepared but I was so very wrong. We were rushed to get there but made it in time. I pulled out the video camera which I thought was charged but it wasn't so I had to just record while they were singing and then turn it off in between to keep the charge.
Then at the end I tried to take some pictures of her on the stage and realized that the sd card was not in the camera. She did a good job. She is sick and was feeling a little miserable so we caught her coughing a bunch and wiping her nose on her shirt or hand, on camera. We got home and she kept saying she was cold and complaining of ear pain so we decided she needed to get into the Dr. It turns out it isn't an ear infection. She just has a cold with a fever and some fluid in both ears.
*Update 5 days later* The ear pain went away and then came back again but without a fever and now she has an ear infection. SO tired of her getting sick. I hope she has a healthy summer being away from all the germs at school, of course we will pick stuff up from the park and the pool.

the to-do list

2010-04-19T09:52:00.021-07:00

It's unbelievable how many to-do lists I have hanging around, they are everywhere. Of course I cause this dilemma by constantly adding unnecessary projects to the lists. I have lists hanging next to my computer, lists in my purse, lists in my mind I keep forgetting to write down, a HUGE list of blogs bookmarked with ideas of things to someday make. What I really need to add to one of these lists is a to-do list spring cleaning, I really need to learn some editing skills. Another problem is that when tackling my lists I get very sidetracked, I can't seem to finish anything that I start before moving on to something new.
Here are a few of my unfinished projects:
while cleaning off the computer desk I found this baby announcement that I had made way back when B was about 6 weeks old, I had several printed up to send out to some family and friends and then I forgot. (I blame zombie mom for this)
Here is one of my piles of fabric, each intended to be something cute I just have to make. Some skirts for the girls, some bibs for B's out of control drool and dresses for my niece and grandniece.Then there is this pile in the closet (don't look Mom).There is a photo project, an artwork holder to be made from an old shutter, a key/mail thingy, hooded towels for the girls, a new blanket for Emma's bed, pillows for our bed and the couch, wall decor for our room, Michael's old dress shirts which I kept to make dresses or skirts for the girls, some ugly fabric ($0.25 from thrift store) I bought to test this skirt tutorial for myself (I don't want to buy nice fabric if I don't like how the skirt fits) and a pile of old jeans I am saving to make a picnic blanket.
Also on the to-do list is organizing said closet, but I must mention that the pile is 70% food storage and only 30% projects (I just totally made those numbers up).
I have to say that right now I am eliminating something on my list by updating the blog. I had 5 posts waiting to be published, I kept forgetting to add pictures or finish what I had to say.
And I did finish these outfits for the girls (easter dresses, well, Alyssa's started out as a dress but then I messed up big time and had to make it into a skirt).Now if I can just clean the house and take a HUGE pile of stuff to the consignment store one whole list will be crossed off and I can get started on the other ones. Better stop blogging and get started.

unexpected

2010-04-12T16:24:00.010-07:00

So today baby B is 7 months old. We thought for sure he had a cold last week since we have all been passing around colds this last month. He had a runny nose and was super cranky, but he surprised us with his first tooth yesterday. He is miserable but still finds moments to laugh and babble. He likes it when I rub and put pressure where the tooth is breaking through. He also has had a rash which I thought was from drool but there is one spot on his cheek that started getting worse and then started to weep a few days ago so I decided to have the Dr. check it out since nothing we were doing was helping. I took him in today and we got a few prescriptions to hopefully get rid of it. However, I suspect it will return because it is eczema (that got infected) and both Alyssa and Emma had recurring problems with eczema as babies and toddlers. On a side note, he weighs 17 lbs. 6 oz., it is nice to know he isn't starving. He said da-da the other day, so cute :) He is also sitting up on his own and scooting backwards all over the place (mainly when he is upset). He gets on his hands and knees so he is close to crawling but I am not ready for that, I like that I can put him in the middle of the floor sitting with some toys and if I leave the room he is still there when I get back. Oh and after the appointment I discovered there was a second tooth coming in on the bottom. Poor baby :( Alyssa's first tooth came in at 5 1/2 months and we didn't see it coming, her teeth came in fast and she hardly made a fuss. Emma's first tooth took for.e.ver to come in at about 9 1/2 months.

a haircut and an egg hunt

2010-04-03T14:47:00.007-07:00

Emma got her first haircut today, I know I am a little slow. Michael took her and I forgot to send the camera with him. She came home with a huge smile and a sucker in her mouth saying, "Mommy, I got my hair cutted" Apparently she was the star of the shop, the ladies there were oohing and aahing over her hair. It doesn't look too different to me, they only took off 1/2 an inch but it seems a lot easier to brush through for now.
Later the kids participated in a little easter egg hunt in the backyard. Alyssa took off and had to be stopped after a few minutes because she was on her way to collecting most of the eggs. Emma just walked around slowly and got super excited every time she found one. She had to come in to show Benjamin and I her eggs and what was inside.

3 seconds flat

2010-03-31T08:16:00.007-07:00

Today Emma got a surprise in the mail, I ordered her a swimsuit. Before I could even finish saying, "Emma, look, you got a new swimsuit", she had all of her clothes off and was ready for me to put it on her.She LOVES that it is pink and has a tutu attached, she LOVES to spin, twirl and bow in it and talk about what a pretty ballerina she is.She LOVES to talk about how she is going to go swimming in it soon. As soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect for her, good thing I found such a good deal (pat on back) and that I had decided to look around the website more after first ordering myself some new shoes. I LOVE good deals and free shipping :)

emma was heard to say

2010-03-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

while building a house with her sandwich pieces today emma said, "oh my gosh...oh my...oh my goodness...ah shucks...ah shucks...ah...hammerhead sharks (giggle)...that's silly momma...ah hammerhead sharks"
(the other day at snack time) emma: momma, i want a snack...um, a cupcake!
Me: no, cupcake, you can have fish crackers and maybe a few bear crackers.
emma: ok, i will eat them like a horse (using her face).
Me: (feeling a little ocd about the cleanup) no, just use your hands.
Emma: Momma, can you go.
Me: Go? what are you going to do if I go?
Emma: (with a big grin) eat like a horse.
Hey, at least she is honest about her stinkerness.

6 years old!

2010-03-22T08:12:00.007-07:00

Alyssa is 6! Happy Birthday Sissa!
We love you!We had a busy day which included getting Alyssa to school (cupcakes for her class in hand), taking Michael to school, decorating, wrapping, making the cake, praying for Michael to do well with his masters thesis proposal (it was approved :) yeah), picking Michael up, picking Alyssa up, running to the store for forgotten items, decorating the cake (last minute theme request for a ballerina cake), some playing outside, making dinner, eating, presents, singing, eating, 2 phone calls, 2 skype calls, kids in bed. Alyssa had a great day, she was very excited to wear her birthday dress (I made it on Saturday), she loved her gifts; some tag books, a book, coloring books and crayons with a sharpener (she hates it when her crayons get dull), a hula hoop and her much desired ballerina barbie.On a side note, we received the letter from the doctor about her allergy testing, it came back negative for environmental allergens (weed, pollen, mold) which was weird since she seems to get hay fever every spring, but the test showed a very significant reaction to dog and cat dander. So no pets for us, we probably wouldn't have had one anyways, Michael is very allergic as well and I am too lazy to care for cats and dogs.

the one with the mean phlebotomist

2010-03-16T15:40:00.004-07:00

In this episode of a day in the life of the Thomas family, Alyssa, who will soon be 6 years old and Benjamin who is 6 months old visit the doctor for a check-up.
Note to self: never, never, never make an appointment during B's nap. Also, never, never if you can make an appointment for more than 1 child at a time. I am not sure how but our appt. was over an hour and a half long.
I will start with the good stuff. B is growing good and doing well, hitting his milestones, he is 16 1/2 lbs. (50th) and 27 1/4 inches (90th). Alyssa is growing well too, still in the 50th percentile for height and weight. We talked about several questions that we had for the both of them and sneaked in a few questions about Emma even though she didn't have an appt. Then came the hard part, B's shots, he was okay with the first one, but he knew what was happening when she wiped his other leg and then he got REAL mad. He is still not happy 3 hours later. I hate shots :(
Then there was Alyssa's meltdown. First off, I have to say, I am a mean mom, we had promised her that there would be no shots or pokes today. However, after discussing the possibility of asthma or allergy issues, we decided to have her blood drawn today to get it tested instead of going to an allergist for several pokes in the back. We attempted to prep her while the nurse went to get the phlebotomist but there wasn't enough time, so when they walked in, Alyssa was ambushed. She needs time to let news soak in and to take deep breaths and get brave (which really doesn't take long, just a few minutes). As soon as she saw the tiny baby needle she lost it. I was trying to hold one arm so she would stop trying to grab the arm they had just cleaned with alcohol and she wouldn't stop struggling. Both Michael and I were trying to talk her down so she would listen but she kept screaming "I want to go home, don't poke me, I need to calm down first". Meanwhile the nurse was trying to hold her legs and keep her calm too (Alyssa ended up kicking the nurse a few times). Then there was the phlebotomist, she was not having it, she didn't want to wait for Alyssa to calm down, she said she had other kids to poke, she was nice for about 30 seconds of Alyssa's meltdown and then she said okay we're not doing this and pushed her down put some weight on her and stuck the needle in. Once Alyssa realized her arm wasn't going to fall off she calmed a little and watched the blood go into the vial, she asked the lady if it was done and was told no, then Alyssa asked, "can you be done, please?" and the lady said no, in a rather grumpy voice. Alyssa was okay after getting the bandaid on and realizing that she would get a prize from the doctor's office for being brave. The lady was quite annoyed with us. Looking back on it maybe she is just like a photographer that gets grumpy with parents who try to get their child to smile only causing the child to look at the parents instead of the photographer. She probably doesn't like it when parents interfere with her work. And maybe I am biased since Grandma Thomas is a pro at drawing blood from little kids but it probably wouldn't have been so dramatic had she let Alyssa have her "calm down and get brave" time. We will remember this for next time. Hopefully there isn't a next time, for a while at least.

goodbye and hello

2010-03-15T13:15:00.001-07:00

There are some goodbyes and hellos that need to be said. First off is a big HUGE goodbye and please don't come back, to sleepless nights (okay, so I know that there will still be many sleepless nights with sickness, teething, nightmares etc.) but Benjamin is fi.nal.ly sleeping through the night. I LOVE that Benjamin is sleeping better, it is so nice, so wonderful, he is happier, mom is happier, life is good. Unfortunately, I am not sleeping through the night which I very much HATE. I have not slept for more than 5 hours in a row for about a year now (pregnancy + B's first 6 months) Not sure why I can't sleep when the kids are all sleeping, but I just keep waking up for no good reason. Most nights I can get back to sleep fairly easy, then there are nights like last night where I couldn't get to sleep until after 1 am and then woke up at 5 am for about an hour.
Hello to cute baby jabbering. I LOVE that B is babbling all the time, it really is cute, but on the other hand I am not so happy that now he thinks it is more important to talk, look around and get distracted then to eat, so feeding him takes twice as long.
Goodbye to the binky, Benjamin will no longer take the binky, tried to put it in his mouth one night and he popped it right out and hasn't taken it since. All of my kids have given it up willingly by this time. Alyssa never really took a binky, Emma gave it up around 6 months and went straight for the thumb. Benjamin, too, has found his thumb which I am not very fond of, since Emma still sucks her thumb at night. But it's nice not searching everywhere for missing binkies.
Goodbye to diapers for Emma, okay so we said goodbye to these a while back, I kept forgetting to blog about it. I bought an ebook online and Emma was potty trained in 2 days. She was so ready though, she had been trying to potty train herself for a while, I just got lazy with the baby and all of my zombiness so I kept putting it off. She is such a good girl and so smart I don't know how I am going to keep up with her. One day we heard her on the toilet saying, "come on, pee, go. Go pee go." However, we now have to constantly monitor her, she has discovered how fun it is to unroll all the toilet paper into the toilet, we have lost a few rolls.
And lastly, a hello to copying. Alyssa has begun one of the most annoying child tools ever, copying what everyone else says. I knew it would come one day to our home I just hoped that it wouldn't. So annoying + so stinkin lovable = kids.

baby b's half birthday

2010-03-12T12:59:00.009-07:00

Benjamin is 6 months today! Crazy! He will have his Dr. appt. on Tuesday, not looking forward to the shots.Benjamin is doing good, he is FINALLY sleeping at night! For 2 weeks he has slept from 11:30pm-7:30/8:00am. We put him down at 8/8:30 every night and he cries for a little bit, sometimes on and off for a while, sometimes not at all. I then feed him at 11 and put him back down. I am hoping to drop that last feeding in the next few weeks, he doesn't need it but we wanted to get him sleeping longer first. He loves solids, not a big fan of cereal or squash for some reason but he LOVES sweet potatoes, carrots and surprisingly peas. We tried peas the other day and I was very skeptical since Alyssa and Emma would spit peas right back at me as babies. But B really likes peas and was upset when it was all gone. He is trying to sit unassisted (the record is about a minute).He still doesn't love being on his tummy but he is okay for longer if surrounded by toys and has scooted forward a few times and he loves to stand holding onto our hands or the couch. He doesn't take very long naps most days which makes for long days and not getting much done but I can't complain since I am sleeping more at night. He drools non-stop and chews on everything but there are no teeth yet.Happy 1/2 birthday B, we are so blessed to have you in our family!

alyssa's valentines and more talk of sleep

2010-02-12T09:46:00.009-07:00

I saw this idea here and I just had to try it for Alyssa's valentines for school, I was going to use lollipops until I saw these cookie suckers here and had to try them as well. It was harder to get the stick into the cookies than it looked (I broke half the package of cookies) so next time I will just use lollipops. Actually, I read the letter about valentines again and realized that it just said cards with no mention of treats (oops) so I hope that it was okay that I sent Alyssa to school with a bunch of treats ;)In other news, Benjamin, who is 5 months old today, actually slept for 5 whole hours in a row last night (first time), was up for 15 minutes then slept 2 more hours. I don't want to jinx myself too much by talking about it, but it is so good to not feel like a buzzy headed zombie mom. The night before was a horrible night, he slept 2 hours, then was awake for 3 (he would fall asleep as I walked him and then wake up immediately after I put him down) then I finally handed him over to Michael so I could get in one more hour before getting Alyssa up for school. He slept for about 45 minutes. I feel like I am constantly talking about sleep on this blog and on fb but when you don't get something that you need it is always on your mind. I have faith that he will eventually sleep through the night but I don't have much hope that it will happen soon. For now, I will TRY to be happy with what I do get and try not to be grumpy when I don't get any.

The girls feeding Benjamin, Emma wanted to help too,
she said she was holding his tail :)

sneaky

2010-02-08T15:10:00.010-07:00

After school today, Alyssa was in one of her talk about everything moods and informed me of a habit of hers which totally grossed me out, yet I have no one to blame but myself because I introduced her to this particular thing which I happen to love as well- just not in the same way that she does. Confused? Well, I will explain. She randomly asked me to guess her favorite food to eat, ever. I said chips? She said no. Cake? No. Ice cream? No. Candy? No. I give up, tell me. No, you have to guess mom. It comes in a thing that has glass on the bottom and glass on the top. Really, I don't know. Okay, mom, I'll tell you my favorite thing to eat, and I like to sneak up on it (her explanation- she likes to sneak and eat this item when mom and dad are not around), it's BUTTER. This is the part when I cringed and kind of jumped out of my seat, half grossed out and half laughing. Michael walked in the house at this point and I asked her to re-explain it to him. He asked her to show him what she does. She sneaked up to the counter, reached the butter dish and took a swipe of butter and put it in her mouth with a big grin. She said she likes it, it is sooo good. Now, I LOVE butter, I probably use it too much. But I don't think I have ever just taken a swipe of it to eat, it has to be on something and preferably melted. I had her reenact it again for pictures. To say the least, the butter will now be out of reach and I will attempt to use it in moderation.
This one, affectionately referred to as b, baby b, boo, boo-noo, noo-boo, or my fave a combination, the boo-noo-boo is still sleeping horribly and so for my well being and in turn the well being of the whole family, we will be letting him cry it out soon. The one thing we do know about his non-sleeping status is that he wakes up crying and shortly after has a lot of gas. We have tried many tricks, tips, medicines to help him out and still we have nights like Friday night when he woke up 11 times in a 12 hour period. We will see how it goes.
And finally I could not end without posting a little about Emma. Here she is waking up from a much needed nap, she was little miss cranky pants ALL morning. Now she is still a little cranky but she is more sunshine, and that is what I need on a cold winter day like today. And yes, she wears pj's, all day, most days. Me too :)

career paths

2010-01-30T08:46:00.004-07:00

In a conversation Alyssa was having with Michael the other day she told him that she wasn't sure what she wanted to do when she grew up. Her exact words were "I can't decide if I want to be a doctor and help people who are sick or if I want to be a cowgirl and ride horses all day." Michael talked to her about both being good things to do. She said "I just don't know what to choose, I want to do both." Michael then suggested that she could be a doctor during the week and a cowgirl on the weekend. She said "Oh, yea, that's a really good idea, I can help people all week and then I can ride horses all weekend" And then she randomly said that she would also have a sword so she could fight all of the bad guys. (She has been watching barbie and three musketeers too much)
Emma wants to be a princess, she practices all day wearing princess dresses and dancing around the house.
As for Benjamin, so far he shows great promise to be a chubby happy insomniac.

lovey

2010-01-26T12:34:00.010-07:00

Okay, when Emma was a baby I made her a lovey (small security blanket). Needless to say, it is her life and definitely her security. She drags this thing everywhere. Lovey is her best friend. Lovey is stuffed in the back of her pants as a kitty tail or a horsey tail. Lovey is a cape, a blanket, a hat, a skirt, a toy's blanket or hiding place. Lovey needs to take naps, gets hungry, is happy, sad or mad, has time outs, needs its picture taken, and needs to go in the bouncer or the swing with a binkie in its "mouth" or to be buckled into a carseat. Lovey has it's own personality, referred to as a she, and talked to and Lovey can talk back in its own distinct voice. Lovey is no longer the soft pretty pink lovey it once was, it is worn, dingy and if ever Lovey needs a cleaning it must happen before nap or bedtime or we will not hear the end of it. Lovey MUST be in hand at bedtime. Lovey is lost at least once a day, no matter how many times I tell Emma to take Lovey back upstairs or leave it on her bed, Lovey always ends up downstairs and eventually gets misplaced. Then comes the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Today we lost the Lovey again right before nap and I tore up the downstairs and the upstairs looking for it, it is nowhere to be found. I don't know what to do about this Lovey. I hope that she will eventually outgrow the need for it, I am not sure if she will ever love another human being as much as she loves her Lovey. As I type this she is upstairs in her room, supposed to be napping, and she is whining for the Lovey. AAAAAHHH!!!!! Lovey, where are you?

*update* just found Lovey under the couch cushion, took it upstairs to give to Emma, should have seen the smile on her face, she then took Alyssa's lovey and had it kiss her Lovey and said "baby Lovey your back" and in Lovey's voice "yes I am"

4 months

2010-01-23T11:10:00.005-07:00

Benjamin had his 4 month appointment on January 12th,

here are his stats:
14 lbs. 9 oz.-50th percentile
26 1/2 inches-75th percentile
16 1/4 inches head-50th percentile
He is healthy, strong and doing well.
He is rolling (front to back), stills hates tummy time,
LOVES his feet, loves to chat, likes his bumbo seat, drools constantly,
is content playing on his own for 10-20 minutes at a time,
and loves eating rice cereal.
He is still not sleeping great, we are working on this.
He is a good baby and makes us smile everyday.

lost teeth

2010-01-23T08:33:00.005-07:00

Alyssa lost 2 bottom teeth yesterday.
One fell out at school and Michael pulled the second one
out when she got home from school.

our holidays in utah

2010-01-07T17:55:00.008-07:00

We went to Utah for the holidays, of course the way there and back was not fun, a little more bearable on the way home because we split it into 2 days. The time passed too quickly, there was not enough time to see everyone we wanted to see and do all that we wanted to do but it was a good visit and a good break from SD. We were able to spend a lot of the time with Christina, Brandon & kids and New Year's day with Sean, Mary & kids and some of our friends. We also spent Christmas evening with the Thomas family. We did a little shopping, ate a lot of good food, drank lots of cocoa, watched movies, played, did some sitting around talking, and ate some more good food. It wouldn't have been a vacation without some car trouble and some illness, Benjamin got an ear infection in his left ear, poor baby, but was better as soon as we got him on an antibiotic and thanks to John the van problem wasn't too painful.
Benjamin as baby Jesus in the nativity scene on Christmas Eve.

Mary, Joseph and baby Jesusthe whole scene including Michael as the donkey

Benjamin & Grandma Williams talkingthe kids with Great Grandma Larson & Grandma Thomas not reenacting 'home alone' just being silly

Emma is 3!

2009-12-23T12:21:00.007-07:00

I know I say this every time but I can't believe Emma is already 3!
We celebrated her birthday by taking her to build-a-bear to make a bear, we did this with Alyssa too when she was 3. Emma picked a pink bear, of course and named her Seraphina (it is from a barbie movie). I forgot to take photos of the process, she loved it.This is a doll at my parent's house that has red hair and is sticking her tongue out. Emma thought she would copy.Alyssa shares her birthday with Aunt Christina.When I asked Emma what kind of cake she wanted she said
"a snowman cake", this is what I came up with.The next few are photos of Emma singing 'once there was a snowman'
before we had her cake.Happy Birthday Emma!
You are a joy and a stinker and we wouldn't want you any other way,
we are blessed to have you in our family and hope you had a fun birthday.

what happened to november?

2009-12-09T15:18:00.014-07:00

Seriously, I have no idea how it is already December 9th and yet it felt like such a long month. We went to Utah for Michael's sister Jenn's wedding and then ended up staying for Thanksgiving, the drive there was so-so, the time there was good (thanks mom for helping with the baby so I could get some sleep) but the ride home was so bad, Emma threw up several times, Alyssa had some major fear of public toilet issues, Benjamin was not as good as on the way there, I didn't sleep for nearly 36 hours, and it ended up taking a lot longer to get home then expected. A bright spot in the whole trip was Benjamin's baby blessing. We ended up blessing him on Sunday November 22nd at my parent's house. It was a good day. Here are some pictures of the trip. We are planning on going back to Utah for Christmas, although, I am very anxious about the travel, maybe I need a little something to keep me sane/passed out. Speaking of Christmas, I am not ready this year, usually I have most the gifts bought and everything decorated by the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year I feel so unprepared, but I am trying to relax and just listen to Christmas music and watch Christmas movies so I can feel better about not having anything done.

2 month check up

2009-11-16T18:31:00.002-07:00

Went to Benjamin's 2 month appointment today. He is in excellent health, doing good. I guess according to the Dr. it is typical for him to be sleeping the way he is, not as reassuring to hear as I thought it would be. It makes it tempting to give him a bottle at night since formula fed babies sleep for longer periods by this age, but I will just keep waiting for the blessed night that he sleeps for longer than 3 hours. He of course did not like his shots and is still letting us know about it. As for his stats, Benjamin weighs 12 lbs. 6 oz. (75th percentile), is 24 inches long (90th percentile) and his head is 15 1/2 inches (50th percentile).

2 months old

2009-11-12T07:49:00.006-07:00

Benjamin is 2 months old today. His Dr. check up isn't until Monday, I am very curious to see how much he weighs. He still isn't sleeping well, and no, I am not expecting him to be sleeping through the night or to even sleep 5 hours, although that would be nice. No, I am expecting him to sleep at least 3 hours and he is not. He has slept for 3 hours in a row a few times, I know that I mentioned before that I had slept once for 4 hours, Benjamin was not sleeping much during that time, Michael was keeping him happy so I could sleep. Lately he has been sleeping for 1 1/2 maybe 2 hours at a time at night. He still stays up for a few hours in the middle of the night. And he quite often wakes up from daytime naps too early. Needless to say, sleep, will be the major topic of discussion at his appointment next week. Not that I expect an answer but who knows, maybe I just need to hear from the Dr. that it is normal and will get better. So I feel like a zombie mommy and I am trying not to hope that sleep will come soon so I will just keep dreaming that he will be sleeping better by at least Christmas. And if not, you may not hear from me for awhile because I will have checked myself into the loony bin. Benjamin, we love you, you are so smiley and cute and pleasant most of the time, but PLEASE sleep :)

halloween pics

2009-11-09T08:43:00.006-07:00

I'll be brief, my head is a little buzzy (occupational hazard of being the tired mom of a newborn). We went to a primary halloween party the wednesday before halloween, of course I forgot the camera, then on halloween we were rushed to get the kids ready and out trick or treating so we only took a few pics.
Alyssa was a witch. Emma was Ariel. Benjamin was a bear.

dear baby b

2009-11-02T12:17:00.004-07:00

We wanted to let you know that since you are now 7 weeks old, we need to take a look at your performance report and evaluate whether or not we can keep you on. First off and most importantly you don't let me sleep much, 3 (one time 4) hours in a row is the max, but most the time just 2 hours and I am not sure how much longer we can handle this without going insane. Then there are those naps during the day when you are supposed to sleep for an hour or so and you wake up too early. I will say in your behalf that you eat very well but you are extremely difficult to burp and when you get the hiccups they stay for way too long. As for the other stuff, I think we are getting the hang of it...well, there was that one time that I changed your poopy diaper only to have you poop again on my hand and after cleaning you up and placing the new diaper underneath your bum you pooped once again and then you peed on me, the blanket, your clothes, the couch and of course all over your face. That just can't happen. So what we need is for you to give us just one good reason to keep you around.

Okay, okay you can stay...for now...we will talk again in a few weeks.

happy 30th michael

2009-10-15T09:00:00.003-07:00

Hope you have a good 30th b-day, sorry you have to be at school all day, although it will probably be more enjoyable than hanging out with the whiny wiffi and kids at home. We will have to do some better celebrating this weekend. Thank you for taking care of me and always making sure that I get some sleep, you are too good to me :) We love you so much and are grateful for all that you do for us.
Happy Birthday!
Love- jenni, alyssa, emma & benjamin

can't get enough

2009-10-07T15:02:00.008-07:00

benjamin's first bath (a week and a half ago) he was not a happy baby, but it was a success considering there were no surprises in the water
he is just too cute :)