Day of Play

The second weekend of March we again were able to spend time with Andrew and Michelle before they flew back to Utah. Paul took Friday off and we let Aaron skip school so we could all spend the day together. We started off with a trip to the Houston Museum of Natural Science and even bought a family membership. I hope to take the kids this summer on a regular basis (anyone around here that wants to come with us is more than welcome!) We spent a few hours at the Cockeral Butterfly Exhibit and loved it. I’ve been about 5 times now and still love it every time. We then wandered around some of Herman Park then drove downtown to Discovery Green. After a rousing game of tag and playing on some of the playground equipment we headed to the Galleria Area and saw the Waterwall and wandered through the Galleria before having dinner at Pappadeauxs. It was a long fun day! I love having family in town to play with!











OK...there were just too many pictures to pick...so here's a slideshow of many more!

Chris’s 4 month Check-up

Can you believe he’s over 4 months already? He’s rolled over once…yes, just once…but he did it…I promise! He is still quite the talker and coos and aaaahhhs and gurgles all the time. He loves to smile at everyone, especially his Mom…which just melts my heart. We had some nursing problems this month, but got some medicine from the doctor and thankfully, things are somewhat better now. I am not ready to quit nursing, but I did come close a few times.

At his check up his measurements were 13lbs 14oz, 26 inches long and had a head circumference of 41.5cm which put him in the 25-50, 75-90 and 25-50 percentiles, respectively. He’s growing great and is a joy!

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

The first weekend of March we were pleased to be able to have Paul’s brother Andrew and his wife Michelle come visit us. They were on their way to spend a week in Florida with friends, but spent the weekends before and after their trip with us. Yippee!

We decided we’d spend our Saturday playing at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. First we hit the Livestock Show and the kids had a lot of fun at the petting zoo, watching chicks hatch, learning about all kinds of animals. Then we had lunch and on to the carnival. We went up on the Ferris wheel, then let the kids play on some other rides and adventure activities. Brian did not want to leave the carnival and threw quite a tantrum on our way to the rodeo, but he eventually enjoyed the rodeo also. Michelle had never been to a rodeo before, and the Houston Rodeo is pretty huge, but we all had a good time despite the crowds. We didn’t stick around for much of the concert afterwards, we were all pretty hungry and tired and ready to go home. It was a great day though and we were so glad to be able to share it with Andrew and Michelle.

Lots of new posts coming your way!

I have LOTS of posts half written in my head. I promise...more is coming...and soon!
I just need to download the pictures off both cameras and make the time to actually blog. If you don't see more in the next few days feel free to mock me openly until I blog. But I promise...it is coming!

Triplets?

So obviously my kids are NOT triplets, but I am amazed at how much they look alike. Some people tell me that they think Chris looks like Aaron, then other people tell me that Chris looks like Brian. My mom says that Chris just looks like Chris...whatever that means. I think he looks like what all of my babies look like. Here are some pics of them looking all cute. You determine if you think they look alike.

First, here's Chris giving us some of his smiles. Note the "one" curl on the left side of his head! So adorable! Can you believe he's over 3 months old now?

While trying to get Chris to smile for these photos I smiled so big, and for so long, I pulled a muscle in my cheek!
My cheek hurt for 2 days after!

Now here's some of Aaron with Chris.



Now Brian and Chris.



And finally, here's all 3 of my boys together!

Valentines

Considering it is valentines day today, we opted for a red themed meal. And what else could we do... live lobster.

Aaron and Brian were super excited to cook lobster, but neither one really wanted to touch them. They thought it was pretty cool to see them move around and know they were alive though. Aaron wouldn't even eat it though, but he rarely likes trying new things, so it wasn't very surprising. Getting the meat out of the shell takes a while and the boys didn't have much patience, so they were done with dinner before we were anywhere near done, but that was ok, we then had semi-peace and quiet for a while.

We also had Angel Pie for dessert which is a meringue crust topped with shaved chocolate, topped with whipped cream, topped with an orange custard, topped with more whipped cream and more shaved chocolate. It is heavenly!

Trip to DC

Christian and I spent last weekend in Washington, DC where both my brother and sister live with their families. I had a great time playing with my 3 nephews and my siblings and their spouses. It snowed enough for them to cancel church and with the bad weather and toddler nap times we didn't do any sightseeing, but we hung out and played games and had a great time. It was Christian's first plane ride and he did GREAT!!! He slept most of the time on both flights and while I worried before each flight, I had no reason to. I have a great sling I bought from my friend Kim and wore him through the airport with ease!

I didn't get as many pictures as I should have, but here's just a few of our trip.

Christian and I wearing the sling

My sister Marcia and her son Brycen holding Christian

Christian with his younger cousin Lance

Brycen and Jackson

My brother Marc and his son Lance

Lance - sleeping like a baby!

Winter weather! (although nothing compared to what they are getting this weekend)

My adorable boys!

I KNOW I'm biased, but I really do have the cutest boys!

I love dressing them up identical for church!

Let's start with my littlest guy. Christian has his 2 month check-up last week and he is doing well and growing strong. He measured in at 23.5 inches tall and weighed in at 11 lb 12.5 oz which puts him in the 50% for weight and 75% for height. He slept through the night twice last week and we hope this trend continues. He gives amazing smiles and coos at us and is a lot of fun to be around. Last week he had a cold though, which was really sad, but he's feeling better now although he still has a cough.

He is so alert and awake!

Unless he's sleepy of course!

He gives fabulous smiles, and often sneers.

There's nothing better than a baby sleeping on your chest

Now on to my most mischievous boy. Brian has so much energy! He loves preschool twice a week and had a lot of fun last week when there was Father's night at his school. He and Paul came home singing and dancing really silly songs and I'm glad they had such a good time. Brian's favorite thing these days is playing the Wii. We got several new games for Christmas and after watching me workout every morning he wants to play himself and that usually lets me get my shower in so I let him.

Looking out the window of the playground at the park

Relaxing at the playground at the mall

Flying high at the trampoline at the mall. He had NO FEAR and flew amazingly high.

Kid A (Aaron) is doing great. He loves his kindergarten class and one of his good friends that is in his class at church and school moved just 4 houses away from us. Aaron and I are reading "Little House in the Big Woods" and are having a lot of fun taking turns reading a page each. Aaron also loves the Wii and is really good at most of the games. He likes to do his exercise on the Wii Fit Plus and we look forward to the weather getting warmer so he can ride his bike.

He also flew high at the mall, but was a lot more scared of the height and was happy being closer to the ground.

Going down the slide at the playground

Last year he couldn't reach this...when did he get so big?

Paul is amazing. His big project at work, where he was the Project Manager responsible for putting together an updated website for the ExxonMobil Chemical Company just went live this past week. The site is running great and we are really proud of his hard work. Check it out HERE. He is starting his second semester of his MBA program at Rice and is enjoying what he his learning and getting good grades. He works really hard at church, school and work and is still a great husband and dad. We miss him when he's not here, but we are so proud of him and love him a lot.

He's the best and he's all mine!

I am working on being more organized and am doing well, but still have a long way to go. I've been working out everyday with the Wii EA Sports Active and Wii Fit Plus. I've written a blog entry on my other site about working out though, so you can check that out if you'd like. I need to make more freezer meals, so for those that are here in the Katy area, I'd love to do a group freezer meal event. Let me know if you are interested.

As for other exciting events, Paul's sister Sara came in town this past weekend and we've had so much fun playing games and letting her hold the baby. We welcome any other friends or family members who want to come hang out.

Thanks for visiting. We love you!

Well, it's time to go make dinner now so I'd better run! Write comments!

Christmas, New Years and What not!

I started a post about Christmas, but didn't get the pics off the camera...then a week later I started a post about New Years, but again hadn't gotten the camera...now it's been another whole week without me working on the camera. I'll just post what I have and you'll have to deal with no pictures!

We've had a great 2009 and are so excited for 2010. This was our first Christmas with just our immediate family and we were happy having a relaxing day of opening presents and being together. We had a potluck dinner with some of our friends and it was totally a full house (8 adults and 11 kids) with so much food! We had a great time and feel very blessed to have such good friends.

I was so happy to have Paul home the week before and after Christmas, especially since Aaron and Brian didn't have school then either so our whole family was together. We spent time working on puzzles, playing our new Wii games, shopping, eating, reading and just spending time together.

Now a new year has started and we've sat down and made New Years Resolutions, both as a family and each member individually. We hope to do a lot of reading, exercising and spending lots of time together as a family. I hope to update this blog at least 2 times a month whether we do anything super interesting or not, just as a way of journaling our life. Plan on checking often just to see what we are up to.

Christmas Letter 2009

We decided not to send out as many Christmas cards this year, so I'm posting it here for those of you who don't get one. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family, Christmas 2009

This Christmas season finds the Thomas Family happy, healthy and very much blessed. Here’s our update since last year.

Last Christmas we spent our holidays in Houston with Jen’s family. We greatly missed having Jen’s father around but we still had a good time and were grateful to spend time with Jen’s Grandparents. A few days after Christmas, Grandma Fuller passed away so Jen and her mom and siblings hopped on a plane to fly to Sacramento, California for the funeral. Paul stayed home with the boys and had a good time with them. The week after that funeral, Paul’s Grandfather died so our whole family flew to Salt Lake City, Utah then drove up to Pocatello, Idaho for another funeral. While funerals are not the best way to start off a new year, being with family is and we greatly enjoyed the extra time we were able to spend with our loved ones.

We traveled two other times this year, both to visit Paul’s family. In June the whole family got together for a family vacation in Kawai’i, Hawaii and had a great time. We spent a whole week relaxing and playing together and loved it. In October we flew to Salt Lake City, Utah again to participate in the wedding of Michelle and Andrew (Paul’s brother). Again, we enjoyed being with our family and are glad we were able to stay so close to them despite living far away.

The biggest news for our family is that Christian John Thomas was born on November 9, 2009 at 11:52am and weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 19.5 inches long. He is a gorgeous little baby and is such a joy. Although he currently sleeps and eats most of the time we’ve seen several smiles and are so glad he’s a part of our family

Brian (3) has had a great year. He attends preschool on Mondays and Tuesdays for 3 hours and really enjoys it. He has gotten potty trained. He loves to read and play and while he is very strong-willed he is also very kind and sensitive and is a wonderful big brother to Christian

Aaron (5) still amazes us with all he can do. In the spring he played on his first t-ball team and had a lot of fun then this summer he and Brian took swimming lessons and Aaron made great progress putting his face under the water for the first time. In August he started kindergarten which here in Houston is a full day program. He rides the school bus, has lots of friends in our neighborhood, and is a happy healthy little boy.

Jen was pregnant most of the year and felt like that defined her, but she had an easy pregnancy and recovered after Chris’s birth very easily so she can’t complain. While she didn’t do much engineering or teaching sign language this year, she kept busy with her family and church callings and blogging and on facebook. As a part of our Young Women Presidency she attended the week long girls camp held this summer despite being 6 months pregnant at the time. She was sad to be released from her calling in YW this fall but has learned to love being a part of our ward Relief Society presidency. It’s quite a difference having responsibility for the women versus the youth, but she enjoys the women she works with and is learning a lot.

Paul is still working for ExxonMobil and has worked on several high profile projects and has gained great experience as a project manager. His big news is that he began an MBA program at Rice University this fall. Between his church calling of ward mission leader, his work at Exxon and his schooling he keeps very busy but is most happy when he gets to spend time with his wife and three sons.

As Christmas approaches again we are very grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ and we celebrate His birth by remembering all He has done for us. We express love and gratitude for how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends and family and so many blessings in our life. Merry Christmas to all and we hope to keep in touch with each of you all year long (check out and comment on our blog for more updates)

Love,

The Thomas Family

Paul, Jen, Aaron, Brian and Christian

It's a busy time of year

We've had a busy few weeks since Thanksgiving and thought we'd share the latest update on what we've been doing.

One week after Thanksgiving Grammy and Grandpa Thomas came to visit. We had a great visit with them although mostly we just sat at home and chatted with each other. We visited Rice University so they could see where Paul goes to school and Paul and I employed them as a babysitter so we could get some Christmas shopping done for the boys, but other than that we just hung out and let them hold the baby.

They must have brought their Utah weather with them because the day after they got here it snowed. Really snowed - in Houston! The boys were pretty excited to have us build them a little snowman and throw some snowballs. While it's nothing compared to what Grammy and Grandpa get in Utah, it was one of the biggest snowstorms we've had in Houston in many years.

The real reason for Paul's parents to visit was for Dave to participate in Christian's baby blessing. Sunday afternoon Paul, his father, our home teacher and our Bishop stood in a circle and gave Christian a name and a blessing. Chis cried throughout the blessing, but it was still a beautiful blessing and a beautiful event for our family. My mom and our friends Julie and Justin were there too and we all had a nice dinner at our house after. It it always fun to celebrate with family and friends!

This past Tuesday was Brian's preschool Christmas Program. He sang "Joy to the World", "Santa Clause is coming to town" and "We wish you a Merry Christmas." He did a great job and it was a lot of fun to see all the 3 yr old in his school singing and behaving as 3 yr olds often do!

Wednesday was Chris' 1 month birthday. I can't believe he's already a month old. He's getting bigger all the time and is doing great. He has more awake periods now and we've been able to see several genuine smiles which we love. He sleeps a lot better when he's upright (in his car seat or swing, or in the baby sling I wear) so we have started putting him to sleep in his car seat so that I can get more sleep at night. When I wake up every 2-3 hours to feed him, the sleep deprivation starts to add up and I turn into a grumpy mommy, but when he gives me 4 hours at night I become a better mommy and am much more patient. He's a joy to have in our family and both boys love him a lot!

Thursday night we woke the kids up shortly after we had put them in bed so that they could see Santa Clause riding through our neighborhood on the local Firetruck. He was checking to see if our boys were naughty or nice, and I guess they are nice cause he threw out candy to them and they were really excited about it!

Lastly, today was our Ward Christmas Party and our boys were one of the 12 talents for the 12 days of Christmas. The two of them stood at the front of the congregation and sang "Joy to the World" for everyone to hear. They did a great job and I was really proud of them.

We're almost ready for Christmas and I'm looking forward to having all 4 of my boys home the week before and after Christmas. I'm sure we'll update you then on everything we did.