Sunday, December 20, 2009

My New Ride

Some of you may remember this sweet little number I used to buzz around town in.


Well, now that I have a new little co-pilot (not to mention a different climate,) I needed something a bit safer with slightly greater storage capacity.

Does it turn as many heads as my old wheels? Not so much. But let me tell you, it is one smooooth ride. Christian loves it, I love it, and Daddy rests easier knowing we are both safer on the road. But mark my words, in twenty years my sweet little convertible and I will ride again. Until then, I will embrace the Mom Mobile years.

Almost crawling

Monday, December 7, 2009

Christmas Explosion


Christmas has arrived at our house. Ryan's dental office has a big Christmas shabang every year, and since it is our first Christmas in our new home, we asked if we could host this year. We thought it would be fun. While the party itself was wonderful and everyone had a good time, I learned that the prep work for a holiday party is not as fun. In fact, it is a lot of work. Thank goodness Ryan took a week and a half off for Thanksgiving because every waking minute was spent cleaning, decorating, fixing, painting, raking, shopping...you get the picture. Phil and Sherrine came up to help us with odds and ends, like decorating the mantle, installing chair rail in the dining room, and fixing the garage door.

What happened to our garage, you ask? Funny story. Someone in our household was backing out of said garage and realized a little too late that they had not opened the door first. I won't tell you who it was because they would be embarrassed. The only hint I will give you is that that person's name does not start with a C. Luckily there wasn't a ton of damage and it was something we could repair ourselves.

Anyhoo, after a full week of work, the giant tree is up, the lights are lit, the stockings are hung by the staircase with care, and we are exhausted. But we are done decorating and it is only Dec 5th.

The party was a roaring success. Everyone had a fun time and the food was delicious! The best part was that it was catered, so I didn't have to do a thing in the kitchen. Not even one dish. They were awesome! Ryan got a Patriots hat with LED lights in the bill in the gift swap. Truly a treasure. And to make the evening perfect, it SNOWED for the first time this winter. Just a dusting, but it was such a festive touch. Winter is here and Christmas is just around the corner. This is my favorite time of the year. And don't worry, Ry. Your next vacation is only a few weeks away and you won't have to lift a finger. It might even be relaxing. Here are a million pictures that document our massive decorating efforts. And one of a really cute baby.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

6 months

18 1/2 lbs
28 1/2 in
4 teeth

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Camping Trip

No, I did not go camping. I was not invited, but I wouldn't have gone even if I was. I love my bed. And my shower. And my flushy toilet. And being warm. Ryan, however, lives for that nature stuff. His 11 yr old scouts have been SOO excited for this trip because he promised to take them SHOOTING as long as their dads came too. I got the scoop from Ryan and it sounded like they had so much fun. There were fire building competitions, smores, dinner by campfire, and I'm sure lots of other rugged stuff.
This is how Ryan spent the night. I might remind you the November is not warm here.
The boys AND their dads were in seventh heaven playing with Ryan's toys. He is such a good teacher and can turn the most staunch critic into a seasoned target shooter in one lesson. Mom and Dad, am I right? Ryan also got to take his new truck off roading to get to the camp site. He was adamant that he would not be a "poser" and only drive his tough truck on the pavement. It even got its first little scratch on the trip, but Ryan didn't shed a tear.
I also got a new car. I will post pictures of the new Mom Mobile soon. Can anybody picture me driving a mini van?



Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Halloween

This was our first Halloween in our new house and neighborhood. There are lots of little kids on our street, so we were hoping for big numbers of trick or treaters. We set up the fog machine on the front porch along with skull strobe lights, a witch sitting in the rocking chair, and a fiber optic pumpkin. It looked very festive and got great reactions from our neighbors.The main event, however, was the trunk or treat at the church on Wednesday night. It wasn't the best night. It was a rainy, yucky day and I had a very cranky little boy due to teething. We were determined to make the best of it and headed to the church. Christian was a hit in his dragon costume and was passed around by my young women all night.
We usually go all out, with Ry dressing up in his now famous gorilla costume hiding in the trunk with the fog machine going and halloween lights flashing and scary music playing, but since it was raining we were forced inside. Luckily I had a backup plan. The decorations weren't as lavish, but still fun. It might not have been our best showing, but still a very fun night.

Fall Happenings

One of the best things about living in New England is the fall. The other great thing is that lots of people want to see our beautiful colors, and that means visitors! If you want to come visit, get your October lodging request in early because rooms go quickly at the Thomas Bed and Breakfast. This year we were lucky enough to have California Grandma and Grandpa come for the first week of October followed by the first annual Girls Weekend with long time friends April and Beka. I love having company because it is such a great excuse to get out and explore all of the great things to see around this area. Ryan loves it because I clean the house really well for company and cook yummy dinners.
We did lots of fun things when Mom and Dad were here. Since it was the first time Dad has been here since we bought our house, we did lots of driving around the neighborhood to show him our new digs. We also went to the coast to tour Strawbery Banke (yes, that's strawbery with 1 r and banke with an e, those crazy Brits,) which is a super old town that has been restored to teach the youngins about the way it used to be back in the late 1600's. We also had outings to Lake Winnipesaukee and Wolfeboro, Lull Fruit Farm for fresh produce and apple pies, and a trip to the shooting range with Ryan. Ry brought a bunch of fun .22s to shoot with. Mom and Dad had a great time and killed lots of water bottles, various fruits and vegetables, an aerosol can of sunscreen, and a few other inanimate objects that deserved to die. Dad had an especially fun time. I think I have a great idea for a Christmas present, I just have to make sure its legal in California.
There was also lots of play time with Christian. It was cute to see how Christian took to Grandpa. My son has never been a cuddler. He prefers to wiggle. However, when we put Christian in Grandpa's lap and he was perfectly content to sit and chill for a while. He even fell asleep once. He NEVER does this. Pretty adorable.

April and Beka came the day after Mom and Dad left for a short, but very fun girls' weekend. It is hard to believe, but we haven't all been together for over 10 years. Way too long. But with old friends, it seemed like no time had passed. It was so fun catching up on our families, talking about the good old days, and seeing where life has taken us. Life has been good to us and we are all very blessed. I know that where we ended up is largely due to the fact that we had such good, healthy, strong examples in our friends. I am so grateful to the many outstanding friends I had both in childhood and young adulthood. You guys rule.

There are lot of great pictures on Beka's blog, which you can access from my blog. I figured I wouldn't bother taking pictures when I had a master photographer there. Beka's pictures are so cool. She captures scenes I would probably overlook. Very cool. I also convinced her to take a family picture of Christian, Ry, and I since we hardly have any all together. I think we might even use it for our first Christmas card. That's right, I will attempt to send out Christmas cards for the first time ever this year. We have a child now, I think you have to do things like that.

After everyone left, we remembered that we hadn't had our fall harvest yet. We have a bunch of new fruit trees, and some have even given us fruit the first season they were planted. Here is our fuji apple.

That's right, one apple. It wasn't exactly a bountiful harvest, but we're working on or farming skills for next year. Our little apple was delicious, though. I made a little apple tartlet that we ate with whipped cream. Yummy.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Stay tuned...

I know, I know. It's been a LONG time since I posted anything. There is a really good reason. My computer is at the doctor being fixed right now. I downloaded a virus when a little balloon popped up informing me that my computer is at risk and I should download this security software right away. My computer wouldn't lie to me, would it? Yes it would. My computer is a jerk. It was a nasty virus that ended up causing lots of problems. Luckily I had almost everything backed up, but it is beyond my ability to repair and reload. I should have it back soon and I can begin my marathon posting session. Stay tuned for posts on visits from Grandma and Grandpa, Girls weekend with April and Beka, the Thomas family Fall harvest, trunk or treat, and Halloween. Get ready for pictures of the cutest little dragon you've ever seen!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

Ryan and I celebrated our third year of wedded bliss last Wednesday. Ryan had never been to a concert, so I got tickets to see U2 in Boston to commemorate the event. One little problem, our son refuses to take a bottle. This kid loves his milk straight from the source. So how were we going to make our night out possible? I was pretty determined. We tried to start Christian on baby food, but without much luck. Just as it looked as if we would have to cancel our evening out, we had a break through.
Ryan had a brilliant idea. He brought home a little syringe that dentists use to squirt water in hard to reach areas. He cut off the end to make the opening a bit bigger and smoothed out the rough edges. We sucked up the baby food straight from the jar with the syringe and squirted a little into Christian's mouth. It worked pretty well! We were going to make it to the concert!
We left our little guy with Ryan's family and headed to Gillette stadium. I knew it would be tough to get Christian to sleep since he always falls asleep after nursing. How did it go, you ask?Apparently it was a pretty rough evening for everyone involved, but Ryan and I had a great time! The show was great and we were actually able to enjoy most of it, even though we were constantly thinking of how our son was doing.
We got home a little before midnight to find Phil sound asleep on the couch in the basement next to his sleeping grandson. It was a battle, but he eventually fell asleep. I don't think there will be many evenings out in our near future, but we really appreciated this one! Thanks guys!
Oh yeah, we also had the first real food poopy diaper. Yikes.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Best. Purchase. Ever.

We got Christian a Jumparoo several weeks ago. At first we weren't sure if he'd be that pumped about it. That concern has proven to be unfounded. I put Christian in it at least a few times a day, and this is always the end result. He jumps himself into exhaustion and then takes a sweet nap. I have tried to capture it on video for a while now. I have some cute pictures, but Ryan finally got it on film. Its a little dark, but still adorable. Best hundred bucks we've ever spent.

Friday, August 28, 2009

One of these things is not like the other...



This is the Thomas family DVR. Guess which programs belong to whom?

Saturday, August 22, 2009

My First Hurricane

Ok, the picture is kind of misleading. This obviously isn't New Hampshire. While we do get the occasional hurricane, we are too far north and inland to get much hullabaloo from the storms. We really just get the leftovers as the storms move their way up the coast.

Last night, Bill blew in at around 7pm. Ryan and I looked out the window and saw very angry looking clouds on the horizon. We decided to sit in our rocking chairs on the porch like little old people and watch the light show. And what a show it was. Clouds churned faster than I have ever seen and lightning lit up the sky. The thunder even shook our windows a few times. We were greatful for the respite from the heat and humidity, which were pretty unbearable. It was a fun ending to a great day, sitting out in our rocking chairs, holding my son, and marveling with my husband at the power of Mother Nature. Good times.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Christian Clark Thomas

4 months
16 pounds 11 ounces
26 1/2 inches
2 bottom teeth!








Monday, August 3, 2009

Our Son, the Spaz

Remember Philip the Hyper Hypo from SNL? Watch the videos below. Look familiar? I used to think that Christian would only freak out when I had caffeine. Now I'm not so sure it has anything to do with me. Seriously, this kid never stops moving. My son is a spaz. A really cute spaz.


Sunday, July 26, 2009

I Love You, Target


I hate WalMart. It is true that their prices are the lowest around, only because they scrimp elsewhere like overtime pay and health care for their employees. I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for, and at WalMart all you will get is crap. If you are lucky you might get a cashier who speaks English, but don't count on it.
I was forced to make a purchase at Walmart this weekend. I was attending a baby shower and it was the only place the family was registered. I checked the registry the night before to select my purchase and was off to the store the next day. The following is my Walmart experience.
I walk in and am promptly greeted by a little old man who is at least 150 years old. I ask if he can direct me to the baby registry printer. He can't. He refers me to the customer service counter. The line is a mile long. I find an employee to ask, who of course doesn't think they even have a baby registry anymore. I assure her they do. She skips the line and asks the customer service lady where I can find the information I am looking for. Her reply, "I don't know, maybe it's by the jewelry department?" Of course. Right where it should be. Jewelry. Not the baby department. That would be silly. I know that in Target, you walk in and the registry is right by the customer service counter where it belongs. Why, oh why, could I not be at Target right now?
I head off to the jewelry dept in search of the elusive registry printer. I do not find it here. What I do find is a man behind the camera counter with an Internet connection who looks up the registry for me on the website. Mission accomplished. The rest would be easy, right?
I trudge off to the baby dept to look for the diaper pail I am after. It isn't where the label says it should be. Instead I find an open car seat box and a McDonald's drink cup. In fact, nothing is where it should be. There are all sorts of things that have been moved around or mis-stocked. Ok, I'll pick something else. I'll get the baby monitor. Off to the cashier. What? This rang up $25 more than the tag says. I ask the cashier. She explains that sometimes the Internet price is different. Really? A $25 dollar Internet discount on a monitor that is only $35 to begin with? I'll go get something else. This happens two more times. Long story short, I finally walk out of Walmart an hour later with a crib mattress. Stupid Walmart. This would never happen at Target. I'm sorry Target. I will never cheat on you again.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Still More Projects

Ryan and I got back to NH late Saturday night. Still on CA time, we slept in till the crack of noon. Its especially fun trying to get a baby to adjust his sleeping schedule. Anyway, it was a nice day out so we decided to work on the patio project we started before vacation. It was actually a lot easier than we thought. Watching all of those HGTV landscaping shows really paid off.
I also tackled a big painting project yesterday. I finished the small hallway and started up the stairs before I realized the paint store guy gave me the wrong base and it didn't match the other walls. Now I will have to cover it with primer and start over. Lesson learned.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Cali Vacation

Why haven't there been any new posts to our blog you ask? Its because we've been on vacation for the last month. I am very brave. I flew cross country by myself with my 2 1/2 month old son who only likes to be held if I am standing. I spent a solid 6 hours walking up and down the aisles of a Southwest plane trying to keep Mr. Cranky Pants at least semi happy. It was all for a good cause. I really wanted Christian to meet all of his Evers cousins. Jeff and Kelly and their two girls were also out for a visit before Jeff started dental school in Arizona. It was the first time we all got to see all of the new babies. Ryan joined us for the last week and a half. It was really nice to be together again after two weeks apart.
We started our vacation at Papa's beach house near Monterrey. It was so much fun to see all six kids interact. I have noticed that when my nieces and nephews want to play with Christian, they must put their little faces about a centimeter away from Christian's face. I don't know why, but Thomas, Scott, Elle, and Charlotte all do the same thing. Here is Elle moving in for a closer look. Funny kids.
It was so fun to see all of the babies' little personalities start to come out. This is one of my favorite pictures. I think it shows each of them perfectly. Trevor= chillin'. Christian= general disapproval. Laney= workin'out. We also took all six kids to get professional portraits done. They turned out very well and are posted on both Stacey and Kelly's blogs if you want to take a look. Here are some other shots from the trip.
Meeting the Great Grandparents


After an eventful day at Chuck E. Cheese

Battling the jungle animals with Trevor

I think someone might have gotten a hold of my camera...

Tubby time

First swim with Grandpa

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Top 10 Things I Love About New England

If you told me I would be writing this post two years ago, I would have laughed (or more accurately, cried.) It was a very tough move from California to the east coast for me. I once told Ryan I would rather gouge my eyes out than live in New Hampshire. Well, I've come a long way, baby. It's amazing what two years can do. I have come to appreciate the unique things that this part of the country has to offer. So without further ado, here is my Top 10 list of things I love about New England.


10. The fall. This picture says it all. Beautiful. If you want to visit us, the best time of the year to come is the second and third week in October.


9. The spring. Follows autumn closely on my list. There is nothing better than the blossoms on the trees in April to raise your spirits after a long, crappy winter.


8. Boston sports fans. If you thought Kings fans were nuts, you haven't seen anything until you've been to a Red Sox game. Jeff and Stacey, am I right??



7. Got a hankerin' for a donut? Good news. There is a Dunkin Donuts (aka "Dunks") just a block away. What? You are out in the middle of nowhere? It doesn't matter. There is a Dunks nearby. I promise. Ryan passed 6 on his way to work from our old apartment.


6. History. Want to teach your kids about the Revolutionary War? Just drive 45 min down the road and you can walk the route Paul Revere took on his midnight ride or visit the sight of the Boston Tea Party.


5. The accents. I will never forget getting off the plane in Boston the first time and trying not to laugh hysterically how people were talking. It was wicked funny.


4. Ice Cream. The seasonal road side ice cream stands are to die for. They sell home made ice cream with flavors like Purple Cow and Moose Tracks, not the store bought mass produced junk. I celebrate the day when The Big One opens for business in the spring.



3. No state income tax or sales tax. Live free or die!



2. Nature trails. When you can only be outside 6 months of the year, you tend to take advantage of the outdoors more. This is my favorite place, Mine Falls. I ran countless miles training for my half marathon here. I also took a sweet tumble on my mountain bike. Biggest, nastiest bruise ever. It was on my butt so I couldn't take a picture, although I was tempted.


1. NorEasters. It is kind of fun when you know a big old storm is coming. You can just hunker down, light a fire, and enjoy watching the snow fall. This will also be on my list of Top 10 Things I Hate About New England. Stay tuned for that post coming this winter.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Christian Clark Thomas

2 months

13 pounds 6 ounces

24 in long