Wednesday, July 30, 2014

More Crazy, Random Fun

In addition to the normal care and maintenance of 4 young children, we had special days at school that I had to prepare for, as well.  I managed to throw these outfits together late the night before I remembered it was 50's Day, and Bring a Buddy Day (a day when the little ones can visit) at Christa's school.

Fortunately, our family loves the 50s and between costumes that Cline had ordered for a 50s themed birthday party for me a few years ago, and an assortment of dance costumes, we were set!


 Fun with friends at Christa's school!

 Elizabeth is quite the ham, and has a special passion and talent for dancing.  She put together this little diddy, pairing angel wings with a sun hat and a ballerina swimsuit and moved and danced like crazy!

 She knows she's cute...

 Don't judge me.  This is the only way he would sleep!  I don't know if they buried him under pillows and blankets in the NICU or what, but if I wasn't holding him, this was the only alternative.

 Thomas is 4 months!!  I think he was trying to smile for this picture...

Cuddle time with sisters!  This is Thomas's serious face, which I saw a lot every time I tried to pull out the camera.  It inspired a little song/chant in our house, that all of the girls, especially Abby Kate, love to sing to him:

I had a baby boy
He was so serious
Every time I tried
To get a picture of
Him, he would not smile
He would only frown
And then sometimes
He would just look down

And I said
Smile Thomas, smile
Smile Thomas, smile
Smile Thomas, smile Thomas, smile Thomas, smile

Crazy, Random Fun

Still trying to get this blog caught up.... some days I think that will never happen again, but I'm not ready to give up the dream just yet!  Some post-Christmas/early January fun!

 Sometime when this picture was taken, I captured Thomas smiling in this handsome car sweater!

 Girls are loving their American Girl dolls, and ballet is one of their favorite things!  Put them together, and you get amazing wonderful-ness!

 For Thomas's 3 month pictures, we went to the same studio in a neighboring town we've been using since Elizabeth was born.  Thomas wouldn't wake up at all!  I tried everything, but he was out!

So we left with this....

 The fruits of our efforts....  at least I'm making an attempt to get good baby pictures of him??

 I've been very fearful of cutting Elizabeth's hair, because I have had a blast with her gorgeous ringlets. But, after nearly 3 years, it was time for a small clean up.  Elizabeth loved every moment of the experience, and Mrs. Keri did a great job preserving her curls!

 About to begin.

 All done and quite proud!

 We couldn't leave Abby Kate out of the hair-cutting process, so Mrs. Keri fluffed and styled her hair!

 Beautiful girl!

Thomas and I spent a lot of time like this his first few months.  He is about as good of a sleeper as Abby Kate was (my worst sleeper), so cuddling was the only way either of us could get some rest.  (Unless, of course, I was trying to, say, maybe, get a picture of him with his eyes open??)  At any rate, my extensive cuddle time with both Abby Kate and Thomas is something I look back now and cherish from those early days!

Monday, June 16, 2014

Christmas!!
















Thomas's Baptism

Aunt Alicia came to visit for Christmas break.  We decided to have Thomas baptized then, so that Alicia could be there more easily.  It was a wonderful, special service for our family, and we were glad to share it with both sides of our family.








Thomas is 3 Months!

Rome First Christmas parties and indoor fun!  It was a cold and long winter!







Pre--Christmas Festivities 2013


Another attempt to catch up on the last 6 months of our lives!

 The older girls got their very first American Girl dolls right before Christmas as a gift from LaLa.  They went to a cousin's birthday party at the official American Girl Cafe and store and got to pick out matching outfits.  Christa chose pajamas and slippers!  Another big girl milestone hit!

 Everyone asks me all the time if it's different having a boy.  Putting this outfit on him (which reversed to a pumpkin scene) was definitely different!

 Santa Breakfast 2013

 Thomas played Baby Jesus, as all the girls have, at LaLa's church.  This year's Joseph and Mary were quite hysterical with him!  It was obvious that Mary's arm was getting tired, so she tried to hand the baby to Joseph.  Joseph put his hands up and scooted back, clearly not interested in helping.  Mary whispered something along the lines of, "Take him.  He's getting heavy!."  Joseph started pointing to the prop manger and mouthed something along the lines of, "Just put him in there."  Wish I had it on tape - it may be one for a TV show!


 Saint Mary's had a Christmas program as well.  Christa did a great job singing with her class.  "Eyes to see God's gift of love, ears to hear music from above, hand's to show how much we care, being Jesus everywhere."  It was so sweet!

Thomas had an encore performance as Baby Jesus for the school program, as well.  Christa got to play a sheep!