Sharin' the Love

El Nino?

2012-02-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

I remember when I was a kid and there was any sort of weird weather pattern, it seemed like it was always blamed on El Nino. I don't know what is going on here in New Hampshire, but this is what it looked like this past weekend.

That's right, Christian is shielding his eyes from the bright sun. Please notice the exposed grass and the driveway without one flake of snow or ice. It is FEBRUARY and this is totally unheard of! The only time we have had to use the snow blower this winter was on Halloween! It was so pleasant outside that both Ryan and I took our cars out to give them a thorough cleaning. I took this picture to document not only the rare event of me cleaning my car, but the crazy easy winter we are having!
We leave for a visit to sunny Arizona next week to visit Jeff and Kelly. We planned this trip last year when we were in the throws of a brutal winter. We figured we would need an escape by about now. While we are SO looking forward to 70 degree weather and playing outside, it has not been that bad at all. I am taking an extended vacation by flying with the tots up to Sactown after Ryan flies home from Phoenix. We are so pumped to see cousins, Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, the whole Evers crew! See you all in a few weeks!

An Update for the Fam

2012-01-13T05:09:00.000-08:00

I am behind in my blogging. WAY behind. (You are too, Stacey. Even more than me.) I was pretty proud of myself for finishing my Christmas cards BEFORE Thanksgiving this year, but then I realized that I haven't updated my blog for over two months. There is kind of a good reason. My camera stinks, so it generally makes me really frustrated when I try and take pictures and they never turn out. Ryan bought me a new fancy camera for Christmas. Unfortunately it has been backordered forever. Meanwhile, we have been using our iphones and ipods to take pictures.

Here are just a few that document Christmas

And a few that are just cute, like Ashley with her first tiny pig tail and her first bite of guacamole (which she loved!)

And the boy playing with sparklers and holding his little sister

The new camera should be here next week. I'm taking a night class at the local community college to learn how to use it. Stay tuned for some awesome pictures!

Just beacause...

2011-11-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-11-01T06:43:00.001-07:00

Oh wait, I mean Happy Halloween! It's easy to get confused when this is what it looks like outside in October.

To be fair, this is not normal. But I didn't find it amusing. The beautiful fall leaves were still on the trees when the snow started coming down. Because of the weight of the leaves and snow, there was a ton of damage and resulting power outages. We lost our two beautiful pear trees in the front yard. We finally got power back this week after using the generator for several days, but not until after both church and Halloween had been cancelled.

That's right, they cancelled Halloween. Mother Nature, you are a big jerk. Luckily we took the kids to Trunk or Treat last week. The kids looked adorable, Christian as an army man and Ashley as a sunflower. I did my best to get a good picture, but gave up after a while thinking that I would have another opportunity on Halloween night.

Christian had a ball playing the games and LOVED going around to all of the trunks to get candy while Ashley just chilled and took it all in. To many of the other trick or treaters' dismay, the gorilla did not make an appearance this year due to a combination of busy scheduling and lack of planning. We promise he will be there next year.

6 Months Old!

2011-10-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

Holy cow, where has time gone? Ashley had her half birthday this month. We celebrated by taking her to her doctor checkup to get some immunization shots. It's tough being the second child. Here is a little about her...

Ashley is now sitting up and eating baby food like its going out of style. She seems to like vegetables better than fruits, especially sweet potatoes.
sleeps through the night (since she was 2 months old) and follows her nap schedule like clockwork. She will let me know how disappointed she is if I am late for nap time.
loves the jumparoo just like her brother.
sleeps in her swing. I am dreading the day she outgrows it and we have to switch her to the crib.
She is one of the happiest, most easy going babies I have ever seen and is quick to smile at any happy face
loves to wrestle with Daddy and cuddle with Mama
still no teeth
not fond of sitting through Sacrament meeting

Here are the 6 month stats:

16 lbs 2 oz

25.5 in long

50th percentile for height and weight

cuteness off the charts

Weekend Get Away

2011-10-05T04:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend I spent my first night away from my children. Phil and Sherrine offered to stay with our kids while Ry and I headed up north for a little vacation. After doing a little research online, I found a place in Berlin, NH that does ATV tours in the White Mountains. It is peak leaf week, so we payed a premium. We drove halfway on Saturday afternoon to Lincoln. Ryan and I agreed that if we ever get our cabin in the woods someday, it will be near Lincoln. It is beautiful! We had a delicious dinner and checked into our hotel on the slopes of Loon Mountain ski resort.
We woke up early the next morning to drive the rest of the way to Berlin, otherwise known as Armpit, NH. It might as well be Canada. Berlin's one redeeming quality is the hundreds of miles of ATV trails high in the mountains which is perfect not only for fun, but for leaf peeping. Too bad it was super cloudy and rained the. whole. time. When it wasn't raining hard, it rained even harder. The clouds totally obscured every overlook we stopped to see. On a positive note, there was no dust on the trails, we pretty much had the mountain all to ourselves, and the mud and water puddles added some extra fun to our ride. I would totally do this again! Ry and I decided that when we get our cabin in Lincoln someday, we are getting ATVs.
This is the only picture we took mainly because we didn't want to stop riding, and also because getting the camera out involved taking off wet gloves, unzipping the waterproof bag, and shielding the camera from the deluge of rain.

We can't thank you enough, Jinga and Pepe, for watching the tots. We had so much fun! I promise that I will read every conference talk that we missed due to our weekend of freedom.

Playing in the Rain

2011-10-03T04:21:00.000-07:00

A Few Favorites

2011-09-26T04:07:00.000-07:00

To my husband,

2011-09-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

Happy 5th anniversary! Yes, time has flown. I looked back at our wedding pictures today and saw how happy we were surrounded by our family and best friends who were there to support and celebrate with us. It was one of the best days of my life, up there with the births of our two awesome kids. I married you because I knew you would be a wonderful husband and father and I have not ever been disappointed. Thank you for all that you do for us. You are the perfect companion for me. You are fun, hardworking, smart, kind, generous, and loving (without being too sappy of course.) We have grown a lot together in the past five years and I look forward to spending forever with you! I love you!

You Scream, I Scream...

2011-09-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

for the Ice Cream Man!

When we hear "The Entertainer" playing loud and clear, we know the ice cream man is making his rounds in the neighborhood. Christian does a little jig and makes a b-line for the driveway. Today I grabbed my wallet and my camera to capture the excitement as Christian stood at the end of the driveway waving his dollar bill.

I have GOT to get his little dance on video, it is too funny. Unfortunately this Shrek ice cream bar will probably be dinner for tonight since the truck came by at 6. But I can't resist. Love this face!

And this one too

Goodbye summer. I miss you already.

Irene

2011-08-28T18:38:00.001-07:00

It was wicked bad, but it could have been a lot worse. I was supposed to speak today in Sacrament, but church was cancelled because no one knew quite what to expect. There was tons of rain, but it was the wind we were really worried about. There are a bunch of tall trees that could hit the house if they were blown over. Luckily the 70mph winds that were predicted never really panned out. This little apple tree was our only casualty. Behold the carnage.

I think we can even replant this little tree since it didn't break. It's only leaning because of the wet soil.
We lost power briefly for about 10 min. We had the little dvd player all charged up for Christian to watch some Peep. He grabbed his snacks and juice and pulled up baby Ashley's bumbo for a prime seat.

Both kids weathered the storm just fine. We are used to being inside during winter snow storms, but it was weird to be cooped up in the summer. The good news is that it is supposed to be sunny and beautiful for the rest of the week so we can dry out a bit.

4 Months

2011-08-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

My little jelly bean is 4 months old! Here are the stats and a few pictures to enjoy...

13 lbs 9 oz

24 in

50th percentile for both height and weight

We put Ashley in the jumparoo to see if we should bring it up from the basement, but she has a little more growing to do

Summer Bounty

2011-08-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Our garden wasn't awesome this year. We got lots of cucumbers, some green onions, and a few beets and carrots, but everything else was underwhelming. However, my flowers have been beautiful this year. I cut a bunch of different summer flowers and brought them inside to enjoy. I think that next year I am going to plant flowers in my raised bed instead of vegetables. I get a lot more pleasure from flowers than from zucchini.

Could I be any more excited?!!

2011-08-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

No. No I could not.

Christian sat on the potty voluntarily for over a half hour. It wasn't very...productive..., however he is happy to give it another try. And so am I.

Summer Fun

2011-08-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

In an effort to redeem myself from being a blogging slacker, here are a few random shots of the kids doing fun summer things- swimming, frolicing in the sun, hanging with cousins, and just being cute.

Maine Attractions

2011-08-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

Last week we decided to pack up the kids for a little outing to the zoo. We had two choices- the Stoneham Zoo in southern Massachusetts or the York Zoo in Maine. The Stoneham Zoo would require a 1 1/2 hour drive on 495 through Mass, trying to avoid rush hour in Boston, heat, and much bigger crowds for a much bigger zoo. The York Zoo meant a 1 hour drive to the coast, no traffic concerns, the possibility of an ocean breeze, and much smaller crowds. Another bonus was that we would drive through Kittery, Maine. I'll explain why that is so awesome later. The choice was easy. We packed up and headed to Maine.
I am happy to report that the zoo did not disappoint. I knew it was small, but it had all of the cool animals- lions, tigers, bears, alligators, elephants, lots of monkeys, zebras...you name it, they had it. We fed the goats and baby deer, visited the butterfly house, and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. Christian loved looking at the animals and baby Ashley was content in her stroller. The weather was beautiful, the crowds were small, and the food reasonably priced. We will definitely return! My only regret is that I didn't ask the zoo keepers what happens to the animals in the winter. I'm pretty sure that African elephants are not used to 10 feet of snow.

Here we are feeding the goats

Christian was brave at first, then decided that Mommy should feed the goats instead. Same went for the baby deer.

Lions
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Alligators

Checking out the kangaroos

Ry and Christian in front of the white tiger

Butterfly house

The day's adventure did not end at the zoo. We stopped at Kittery Trading Post on the way home. It is the largest sporting goods store in New England. It is Mecca to Ryan. They have anything that an outdoors man/survivalist could ever dream of. It also has an awesome fudge stand.

Christian and Ashley checking out the stuffed moose
Funny thing is that there wasn't a moose at the zoo, and they are native to New Hampshire. This picture was taken just before Christian took a header into the moose pit. He was ok after a little bite of rocky road fudge.
This was the result of the day's events. We had two very tired tots. Both Christian and Ashley were very good kids considering all of the exciting things they got to see that day.

Regression?

2011-07-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Christian never took a binky. He also refused to sleep with a blanky. Until baby Ashley came along. She enjoys those things and Christian took notice. He has decided that maybe they are not so bad after all. And the bouncy chair? It is now his seating of choice.

Ashley's Big Day

2011-06-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Father's Day. I tried to keep this in mind by making a yummy breakfast and dinner to thank Ryan for being such a great daddy, but baby Ashley stole the show. Father's Day was also her blessing day. She was an awesome kid through her blessing and didn't make a peep. But most importantly, she looked adorable in her white blessing dress. Mom and I bought this dress while on the island of Burano near Venice known for lace making. This dress was purchased for baby Charlotte, but she loaned it to me for Ashley's blessing. It was fun to remember this special trip that Mom and I took together 6 years ago while looking at this dress. Ahhh Italy...

Garden Time

2011-05-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

We finally had beautiful weather for Ryan's day off on Wednesday, so we decided to make the most of it. We packed up the two tots and headed to Lowes to get seeds for our garden. We also picked out some colorful annuals to decorate the planter by the sidewalk. When we got home, we laid out our seeds for spacing and planted corn, beets, peas, carrots, tomatoes (yuck,) basil, sunflowers, peppers, and cucumbers. We are putting all of the viney stuff like melons and pumpkins behind the planters so they don't take over the lawn like they did last year. I've also learned that we only need ONE zucchini and yellow squash plant. We got really sick of eating those last year. We couldn't even give the stuff away as fast as it grew. Christian was a big help digging holes and watering. Especially watering.

Happy Easter and other stuff

2011-04-29T05:24:00.000-07:00

This was the first holiday that Christian was able to participate and understand the purpose of (meaning looking for candy filled eggs left by the Easter Bunny, not the Resurrection of our Savior-we'll explain that to him later.)
Given that this boy loves everything that includes some sort of ball, I was pumped when I found eggs -or "iggs" as Christian calls them- decorated like basketballs, footballs, and baseballs in the dollar bin at Target. We had a sunny, warm day to start the festivities. Christian found all of his iggs around the yard but quickly learned that they contained m&ms or jelly beans that must be eaten before the next igg was found. The grand prize at the end of the hunt was a chocolate basketball bunny.

Ashley slept through all of the festivities, lazy baby. But she did make her grand appearance at church on Easter Sunday along with the other two babies that were born the same week. We had three new babies in Relief Society. That place is going to be a mad house in a few months when the other two babies are born. Here is a picture of my tiny girl in her best Sunday jammies. I promise to break out the adorable dresses next week.

I would like to add that last night Ashley slept from 9:30 to 2, and than didn't wake up again until 7:15. She wins the Best Baby in the World award. She is also currently asleep.
After church, we headed down to Belmont to celebrate with the Thomas/Romney crew. I mention this because I got to have my FAVORITE potato salad that Sherrine makes special for me. It is a pain to make so I only get it once a year, but it is worth the wait. YUM! I should have taken a picture of it. You can actually see the deliciousness.
The lovely weather continues this week. I can't tell you how relieved I am to finally have winter behind us. It was long, cold, and very snowy. My flowers are coming up and the blossoms on the trees are about to pop. Happy spring, everyone!

Sleeping Beauty

2011-04-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

I love this little girl!

Introducing...

2011-04-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

ASHLEY ANNE THOMAS
7 lbs 4 oz
20 1/2 in

Baby Ashley's arrival was ideal- no pain, no labor, no surprises. Ryan and I drove to the hospital at 9 am Friday morning for the surgery at 11. We checked in, handed the nurses the chocolate chip cookies I made (which were a big hit,) and got situated in our room. I got my IV, epidural, and was off to the operating room. Baby Ashley arrived at 11:27. It was just SO EASY compared to the way nature has planned child birth. We are all doing awesome, so much so that I asked to come home a day early. She nurses easily, sleeps a lot, and is very adorable. She is an angel baby. I hope it lasts!

Big brother Christian came to the hospital later that afternoon to meet his new baby sister.

He has done much better than I had anticipated with another little tot in the family. There has been a little bit of sitting on the stairs though. Overall, things are going very smoothly and we are enjoying becoming a family of four!

Updates

2011-04-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

Nothing super important, I just felt like recording what the Thomas family is doing at the moment. Today is my little boy's 2nd birthday. He's TWO! He's still not talking a whole lot, but has no problem communicating. Today I went in for my pre-op appointment at the down there doctor. I realized as I was waiting for my doctor to come in that at that exact moment 2 years ago, she was delivering Christian. Happy birthday, Bugaboo. We will celebrate with a big par-tay on Sunday when Grandma gets here. Pictures and tribute to follow.
In other news, 7 days from now, I will be on the operating table again for baby #2. My appointment went just swimmingly today and we are scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 9am with surgery to begin at 11am. I am excited and feel blessed to have had such an easy, problem free pregnancy. I feel even more blessed that I don't have to go through labor ever again.
We got Christian's new room all ready after a long and exhausting search for a bed and dresser that was good quality and didn't cost an arm and a leg. We are almost all ready, just waiting for Grandma to come and do the final touches. Stay tuned for a very exciting week starting next Friday!

April Showers

2011-03-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

Well, showers for April babies, to be exact. There are 5, yes, 5 little baby girls due in our ward in the next few weeks. In an effort to save the rest of the ward from being overwhelmed with baby showers, one of the other pregnant moms and I offered to throw a shower for the two first time moms. (Also, we really didn't want to have to write a million thank you notes right before giving birth.) The turnout was great, the food was yummy, and the company was entertaining! It was a very fun afternoon! Thanks, Kelly, for letting me copy your cute ideas. The decorations were a hit.

Man of Few Words

2011-02-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

The boy speaks. Its about time, for crying out loud. His vocabulary is very small but he is willing to try new words all the time. Way to go, little guy!

SNOW

2011-01-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

Dear family,
That wussy little snow storm you experienced this Christmas in NH was not a real NorEaster. THIS is a NorEaster.

The result was 18 inches of snow. We didn't lose power and didn't have to drive anywhere, so it was a pretty enjoyable storm. We just sat by the fireplace and enjoyed the view to a winter wonderland. The snow that we got over Christmas break had melted, but I think we'll be looking at the results of this storm until spring comes.

Our driveway
Next morning

Christmas Wrap Up

2011-01-03T06:15:00.000-08:00

This is the first post written from my NEW computer that Ryan surprised me with for Christmas! Hooray!
I just realized that I have not written anything since November. Sorry, I have been busy. This is also why you did not receive a Christmas card from us this year. Sorry about that too. Please don't be offended, I just didn't make it that far down my to do list.
We have had a house full of monkeys for the past few weeks. My parents, uncle, sister, and her husband and three kids all came to New Hampshire for Christmas this year. Christian and I just got back from the airport to take the last load of family to the airport. The poor Syphus crew had a delayed departure when they found out that their flight through Chicago to Sacramento (that was supposed to leave last Thursday morning) had been cancelled due to fog in Chicago. Southwest rescheduled them on the next available flight which wasn't until the following Monday. Unfortunately, Drew had to get back to work sooner, so he took Trevor Monkey on a flight with one available seat out of Boston on Saturday. Southwest charged them $262 for changing the departure airport. Not cool, Southwest. Not cool. Anyway, everyone is on their way home now. This house is very quiet once again.
We had a mostly fabulous time, with the exception of just about everyone coming down with either a stomach bug and/or cold. We had no snow for the first few days after everyone had arrived. Normally I would be ok with this, but since we had some kids (and adults) that were SO excited for a white Christmas, we were all hoping for enough white stuff to at least make a snowman. We were not disappointed when we had a dusting of maybe a 1/4 inch. Scott, Charlotte, and Mom ran outside to catch snow flakes. Here is the winter wonderland that awaited them.

I know it's not much, but Californians are easily excited. We were able to scrape enough snow off of our driveway and a few neighbors driveways to make a sweet snowman. I had to reassure everyone that our neighbors would not mind if we shoveled their driveways to use for our snowman.

A few days after Christmas were got some real snow when a NorEaster left us about 8 inches to play in. We went sledding and has a massive snow battle. Hopefully Stacey took some sledding pictures since I stayed home to take care of a sick Christian and a Trevor Monkey.
We did a bunch of other fun things, like take a sleigh ride (which was actually a wagon ride due to lack of snow pack,) a trip to Chuck E Cheese where both Scott and I won bonuses on a game to get a bunch of tickets, bowling at Merrimack Bowl, after Christmas shopping at Toys R Us, and ate. Ate a lot. Some of you may not be aware of the annual Evers family Christmas tradition of the Costco trip. This was Ryan's first year he was able to participate and he was so excited! Basically, all of the boys pile in the car and head to Costco. There they are allowed to put any food item in the carts that looks interesting to them. My dad picks up the tab and we snack on their purchases for the remainder of vacation. Here is this year's haul.

I was a little concerned about our lack of freezer space, but then realized that we live in New Hampshire. The world is our freezer. We put a cooler out on the deck to store the loot. We feasted on bagel dogs, bacon wrapped scallops, Mike n Ikes, Laffy Taffy, quesadillas, bagel bites and much, much more.

Oh yes, another little highlight. Christmas. Christmas is SO fun when there are kids around. Scott could barely contain himself and had a very hard time going to sleep. He reminded me of Jeff, who was always incredibly pumped on Christmas Eve and insisted that all three of us kids sleep in the same room. We did this up until Stacey got married at age 26. For some of us, the kid inside never dies. Here is a picture of the mayhem post present opening.

Overall I had a great Christmas, despite the fact the Christian was awful for much of the two weeks my family was here. I mean AWFUL. He brought me to tears on more than one occasion. Granted, he was sick and maybe a little overwhelmed,, but man. This was a tough time for me. He seems to be in better spirits now and I am relieved to have my sweet, happy, cheerful little boy back. I think he gave Ryan and I a little preview of what life will be like for awhile when we bring baby #2 home this spring. Christian's little world will change forever!
Thank you, family, for coming to New Hampster for Christmas. I know it isn't easy to get here and even more difficult to get home for some of you, but we loved having you here. I look forward to hosting Christmas again, maybe after we finish the basement! Love you all!

It's a...

2010-11-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

If you let your child feed himself spaghetti...

2010-11-13T05:13:00.000-08:00

be prepared to pay the consequences. At least he REALLY enjoyed himself.

Elmo's Demise

2010-11-11T05:17:00.000-08:00

Warning: Do not let any children under 5 see this post.

Last Christmas, I spent $60 on a dancing Elmo doll for my 1 year old. He loved it...for the 5 days that it worked. Since I purchased it more than 60 days before Christmas and I no longer had the receipt or original box, Toys R Us was not interested in returning my money. After checking consumer reviews, I learned that this was a very common problem with this particular toy. I was a little miffed to say the least. Here is the result of my wrath.

Let this be a lesson. Don't mess with Mommy.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-09T05:01:00.001-08:00

Special Visitors

2010-10-23T07:34:00.001-07:00

Earlier this month, my Grandpa and Aunt Pauline came out to NH for a visit. We were thrilled to have them and did our best to show them lots of fun things New England has to offer. The leaves weren't spectacular yet, but we still saw some pretty fall colors while we drove around. Christian was especially excited to have visitors and we quickly learned that out little boy is quite the showoff for company. Just wait till the whole Evers crew arrives for Christmas this year. He is going to go NUTS! Our first outing was a drive around the area. It was kind of chilly and overcast, but we also managed to get out to Lull Farm in Hollis to see all of the pumpkins, mums of every color, and every apple variety you can imagine. We picked a few apples so that Pauline could teach me some yummy recipes. Christian had a ball playing with the pumpkins. We capped off the evening with a little pumpkin carving. Ryan was the expert craftsman.

Wednesday was rainy, so we stayed in for part of the day. Ryan and Papa went to the covered shooting range (which is becoming tradition for all of our visitors,) to do a little target shooting. We thought that since Papa was in the military he would be at least a little familiar with a firearm. I guess they don't shoot that much in the Navy! However, Ry reported that Papa was a natural much like the other Evers men. He did great and was very willing to try all of the toys Ry brought. Have I mentioned that Papa is 90? Yes, 90. Here he is in action.

Meanwhile, the lady folk stayed home to bake. Pauling taught me how to make apple butter. I've always wanted to learn because it is so yummy. I've never canned anything till now. Look Mom! I canned something!

Thursday was much nicer and we ventured out for lunch at Pickity Place. It is a cute little home out in the middle of nowhere built in the 1700's. It has been turned into a restaurant that serves lunch made with herbs and vegetables that they grow on site. I fully plan to take all of the girls here when they come for Christmas. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was very festive. To top off the perfect afternoon, Christian was an excellent boy and didn't make a peep during the meal. I actually got to sit and enjoy my food without having to apologize for a screaming child. It was heaven.
We also took a trip to our local Budweiser brewery. I hear the tour is actually really interesting, but we went to visit the horses. The Merrimack brewery is one of three plants that house the famous Clydesdale horses. They have 18 there, but several were out touring. We watched two of them being groomed. These horses have it so good! Here is their stable. I think they live better than lots of people here.

The grounds are beautifully landscaped and there are several apartments on site for all of the horses' caretakers. They have lots of fun things to see, like some of the wagons they pull and their harnesses. Christian loved looking at the horses and running around all over the place!

Friday we drove north to the lakes region to take a cruise on the Belle around Lake Winnipesaukee. It is one of my favorite places in New Hampshire and I was so happy to be able to show it to Papa and Pauline. The lake was beautiful and the town was not even close to being as crowded as it is during the summer season. What a fun day!

We were so happy that we were able to share this special visit with Papa and Pauline. It was so fun to see my little boy get to know his great grandpa. I know he won't remember this visit when he gets bigger, but I will always have the pictures to remind him.

Live Free and Fly!

2010-09-27T06:03:00.000-07:00

After we got married and I moved to New Hampshire, it was my job to be the "Ambassador of Fun." Meaning I did all the research to plan cool weekend adventures around where we lived since I hadn't found a job yet. Amongst our many adventures was a surprise birthday trip to SkyVenture in downtown Nashua. Yep, we went skydiving. Ok, indoor skydiving. I have always wanted to skydive, but I can't justify jumping out of a perfectly good airplane so this seemed like a good alternative. They take you into a giant vertical wind tunnel that simulates skydiving without any of the danger of falling to a gruesome death. I bought Ryan flight time for his birthday and off we went! We had a very fun time to say the least. I wish I had pictures to document the occasion, but sadly I do not.
We thought it would be fun to take Allie, Joe, and Thomas to SkyVenture so we got them all gift certificates for Christmas last year. We were finally able to go this past weekend (thanks Jinga!) Jen and Tagg decided they wanted to try too, so the Thomas crew sat on the observation deck to watch the Romney crew take flight. Here they are in their diving gear The kids were so brave! We thought they might be a little scared at first, but that was not the case. When it was their turn, they dove into the tunnel without a second thought.

They all did great! After all of paying customers have had their time, the instructor shows off what one can do with a little practice. Here he is in action.

We capped off the afternoon with a little Five Guys Burgers and Fries. What a fun day!

Tax Day 2011

2010-09-09T04:52:00.000-07:00

April 15th is Tax Day. Some people dread this day. Some people (like my Dad) look forward to it with great anticipation. Ryan and I will too, next year. Why? It's not because we are expecting a sweet return, although that would be nice. We could use it to pay for all of the medical bills we will incur when the newest Baby Thomas is born.
That's right, Baby T2 is expected to join our little family on April 15th. Ryan and I are very excited and Christian has NO idea how this will rock his little self-centered world.

I will now attempt to answer any anticipated questions:

How far along are you?
9 weeks

How do you feel?
Not too bad, but not too awesome. Really tired most of the time.

Is this a surprise baby?
No.

Any cravings?
Not really. Nothing like the orange juice and corn dog phase I went through with Christian. I have little desire for sugar which is probably the most notable change.

Do you want a boy or girl?
Ry wants another boy, I don't really have a preference. Since there are two other boy cousins that will be close in age to play with, another boy would be ok. But I would be happy with a girl too.

Does Christian like other babies?
He likes them when someone other than mommy is holding them. When I held my little nephew for the first time, Christian burst into tears and threw a lego across the room. It will be interesting.

Are you going to try a VBAC or another c-section?
I shouldn't even have to answer this one. I've been through labor once and I have no desire to do it again. C-section all the way.

Do you have any names picked out?
We've agreed on a boy's name, but not a girl's.

If I have missed anything, feel free to ask. Family, I am sorry for keeping this from you, but I wanted to have my doctor appointment first. Mom, get your plane ticket. I could use a little help around here come Tax Day 2011. Let's hope for an early spring so the newest Baby T can be greeted with warm sunshine and blooming flowers rather than black ice and Nor-Easters.

Big Boy Haircut

2010-08-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been a whole lot of blog-worthy events lately. Sorry, Mom. But I did take Christian to Supercuts today for his first haircut (other than me trimming his baby mullet a few months ago.) It was a little scary at first and there were some tears, but once we broke out the lollipops and he got to touch the electric clippers, all was well. I am a moron and left the camera in the car, but I did take some pictures when Christian got back in his carseat.

The final result

Behold the Glorious Bounty

2010-08-03T05:29:00.000-07:00

We got home to NH last Wednesday. It has been very hot here for the last few weeks. So hot that they instituted an outside watering ban. You could water by watering can but not by hose. I don't quite get the logic, but we followed the rules anyway. Before we left we arranged for a kid in our ward to come over every other day to water the garden and flower beds. Our lawn has seen better days, but the garden is doing great! Here is what the beds looked like before I left

and when we got home

Geez! The melons are taking over our lawn! We have lots of watermelons, cantaloupes, beets, and cucumbers, still more zucchini and yellow squash than we know what to do with, and I also picked a few peaches. The corn should be ready soon. I learned a lot about what works and what I will do differently next season, but overall I'm pretty proud of our first little garden. I should have been a farmer.

Aloha!

2010-08-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I posted, but for good reason. We just got back from a wonderful vacation with the Evers/Syphus crew. I'm sad to say that I didn't take many pictures, but Stacey has a bunch on her blog including our basic daily itinerary and our new favorite thing to do in Lahaina (mmm...shaved ice!)
Christian and I left for the homeland (LOP) at the beginning of July. This kid took 4, yes 4, very long flights in a short time. I was very concerned with how he would handle this. I am happy to report that he was an EXCELLENT little boy. We only had one very minor meltdown while we were landing for a layover in Chicago because his ears were hurting. Not too bad! Once we got to CA, the party began! We had so much fun playing with cousins, swimming at Mr. Bearry's pool, going to the park, jumping on the trampoline, painting race cars, visiting with aunts, uncles, and great-grandparents, and decorating for our pre-Hawaii luau. Needless to say, with six little kids running around, Stacey's house was quite the zoo. I was coming downstairs one afternoon and got a kick out of the overhead view of the living room. This is what we can expect when everyone comes to New Hampshire for Christmas this year. Ryan flew out the day before we all left for Hawaii. Poor guy had a 6 hours time difference he had to adjust to. We got up and headed to the airport early the next morning. With 14 people in tow, we were quite the sight at the airport. Luckily Christian qualified for a carry on so we didn't have to buy him a ticket. We weren't able to get rooms next to each other, but at least we were in the same building. The kids (and adults) ran back and forth to play, get snacks, watch shows, and eat wallermelon on the balcony with Grampa. Scott and Elle were brave enough to take some sweet waves with the help of Jeff and Grampa.

Thanks, Mom and Dad for such a fun trip. I can hardly wait until we can all get together again for Christmas!

Patti's Revenge

2010-06-18T16:04:00.001-07:00

I was not my mother's neatest child. I was routinely grounded for not cleaning my room. I would prolong my chore of doing the dishes for HOURS. My clean laundry would remain unfolded until I wore it again. I have gotten much better over the years, but if you saw my house today you might think otherwise. But now IT'S NOT MY FAULT! This picture proves it.

My little tornado can empty a drawer in a split second, and as soon as I have that one picked up, he's off to make the next mess elsewhere. Yes, Mom, I can hear you laughing two thousand miles away.

Ode to Jeff

2010-06-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is a big day for Ryan. His dream vacation begins at 8:30 am at the Sig Sauer Academy in Exeter. Yes, its GUN SCHOOL! We live about 45 minutes away from one of the most well known tactical training schools in the country. When we got our sweet tax return this year, Ry got the OK to sign up for his dream course, the Combative Carbine Operator Course. Doesn't that sound like a day at Disneyland? Well to my dear, sweet husband, yes. Yes it does. I fully expect Ryan to be tossing and turning tonight in bed. I will ask him what is wrong, and he will respond, "I'm too excited to sleep!"

I laughed as I told him that Jeff used to get really worked up for big events when he was a kid. Whether it was the first day of school, soccer practice, or an LOP swim meet, he would lovingly lay out his outfit for the upcoming day on his bedroom floor. His soccer uniform was my favorite, the shirt on the floor tucked into the shorts, socks in the shoes complete with the shin guards on top...you get the picture. So in honor of Jeff, Ryan has prepared his gear in similar fashion, from the tactical vest and flashlight in the pocket down to the gloves holding Sport Beans.

P.S.

Dear criminals,
Our house is not the one you want to rob. I'm not even kidding.

Empty Nesters

2010-06-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

It's official. Our little birdies are all grown up. Last night as I was getting ready to mow the lawn, Ryan called me over to look at something in the grass. It was our little baby birds that have taken up residence in the tree on our porch. After a quick look around, we found the other two scampering around on the walkway. We kept trying to put them back in the nest, but they were clearly ready to fly the coop. It's amazing how fast they grew. They only hatched about a week ago! I wonder if I'm doing something wrong as a mom because Christian has been with us for over a year and he's not even close to leaving home. I guess human babies take a little longer to cook.

The mom and dad birds were hovering around and were not happy that Ryan and I were there. They were pretty fearless flying around us and trying to lure us away from their babies. It was kind of cool to see that they were willing to risk their own safety to save their kids. All of Mother Nature's creatures love their kids. God speed, little birds. See you when you come home to nest next year. We'll keep the porch light on for you.

Lake Winnipesaukee

2010-06-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

Being a Thomas has its perks. This weekend we headed up to my sister and brother in laws' house on Lake Winnipesaukee. Yes, Winnipesaukee. I realize it has a silly name, but c'mon. Look at this place. It's gorgeous.

This is the lake that was in "What About Bob?" (I'm sailing!) The lakes region is a beautiful hour long drive from our house in Merrimack. We left our humble home Friday afternoon to drive to this palace on the water. This was the view from our room.

This is a water lover's paradise. Think of it as a super sized Lake of the Pines for rich people. Instead of old people riding around in golf carts, you have to watch out for the Marriots driving around in their vintage Rolls Royces. Christian went for his first boat ride on the "biggie boat"

we jetskiid till our thumbs were sore from holding the throttle,
splashed in the water,

played tennis, rested, and sunned on the beach to our hearts content. There was also much playing of Settlers of Catan (at which I rule,) and Hearts (at which I stink.) It was a weekend full of great company, tons of fun, and of course delicious food. Yes, that is rice crispy sushi with gummy fish. Probably the only sushi Mom would ever try. Isn't it cute?

Thanks, Jen and Tagg, for the SUPER FUN weekend! Can't wait to do it again!

Our Little Nest

2010-05-13T09:20:00.001-07:00

This is one of the pots on our front porch. I was out watering this morning when a little bird flew out of the pine tree. I took a closer look and here is what I found:
There are three little blue eggs in a tiny nest! How fun! I would have taken a better picture, but I didn't want to touch the tree. I've heard that if humans touch a nest or eggs, the mother bird can smell our human stink and won't come back. I don't know if this is actually true, but didn't want to chance it. My sister in law, Jen, also found a bird nest in the wreath she hung on her front door. I am very curious to see if these little eggs hatch. Even if our garden doesn't grow anything this year, maybe we can take pride in watching these little baby birds grow up on our front porch.

Teething

2010-05-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

You can almost hear the whining in this picture.

To Me From Me

2010-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

I decided to indulge a little for Mother's Day and get myself a little treat. If you will refer back to my post titled Top 10 Things I Hate about New England, number 6 is "No See's candy." It's hard living so far from a See's store, but after a little research, I discovered that these little babies can now be shipped anywhere your heart desires. Even a CUSTOM MIX! (which is the only way to go.) I was one happy Mother when this delicious package of chocolatey goodness arrived on my doorstep today. Now I will get to the point of this post, which is actually to let everyone know what the selections for the perfect box are:

Rum Nougats

Marzipan

Mayfairs

Strawberry Creams

Key Lime Pie truffles

Pecan Rolls

California Brittle

Caramel Almond Squares

Coconut Creams

Chocolate covered caramels, no nuts (these are Ryan's favorites in case I'm feeling generous.)

If anyone should happen to need a great idea for me for Christmas, birthdays, Mother's Day, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, Labor Day, or any other gift giving holiday, please refer to this list. Thank you in advance.

SPRING!

2010-05-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying...I LOVE SPRING! It really was a very mild winter. I can't complain. But there is nothing like seeing the little red baby leaves on the trees to lift your frozen spirits. Spring came early this year. In fact, there are even the beginnings of tiny peaches and cherries on the branches of our fruit trees where pink blossoms once thrived. We're going to get fruit this year! How exciting is that?!

Mom, you're going to kill me, but I didn't get any pictures of the blossoms this year. You'll just have to come out here and see for yourself next year. Trust me, it was spectacular. Ryan and I spent last weekend weeding and planting in the side yard. It is so much fun to pick out plants and flowers that I have always loved! Last year we made a feeble attempt in this planter, but learned the hard way that lawn clippings with grass seed does not make the best mulch. After much weeding, we were shocked to find that the bleeding hearts we planted and thought had died last year grew back this spring with a vengeance. They are huge and beautiful! We also planted columbines and red rhododendrons for spring color. Pink peonies, purple hydrangea bushes and a white hydrangea tree will blossom later this summer. Believe it or not, there are no deer here to eat our beautiful plants. Lucky us!

We also added a little color to the front planters. The yellow forsythia, pink azaleas, and purple mini rhodies are past their prime, but the white azaleas can give you an idea of what they looked like.

We finished our outside projects this afternoon when we planted our garden boxes. We built these earlier this spring but had to wait to plant till after the last frost. Being the eager beavers we are, Ry and I tried to start seeds in February. We learned this was a little too soon and not much survived the long wait till planting. This is the before shot with just some snap peas, sunflowers, corn, and peppers sprouting. Hopefully by the end of the summer we will have cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, zucchini, yellow squash, beets, pumpkins, and strawberries as well. I even threw in some daisies and dahlias to pretty things up a bit. I'll keep you posted to see how things are growing.

Easter in May?

2010-05-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

No, we did not celebrate Easter in May. I just took my sweet time in posting the pictures due to the previously mentioned missing camera cable. Good news, I found it. We had the whole Thomas/Romney crew up to New Hampshire for the festivities. The weather cooperated beautifully for our Easter egg hunt, almost 80 degrees! This time last year the kids had to put on their parkas and snow boots to search for eggs in a foot of snow. Thank you, Mother Nature, for the early spring.

I busted out the fine china, crystal stemware, and Gammy's silver to set the table. I am really going to make an effort to use my nice stuff and not just let it sit in the china cabinet forever gathering dust. The table did look beautiful, even though it was a folding table borrowed from the church. Someday we'll get a real dining set...

The food was really yummy and I still have the bone from the huge honey baked ham in the freezer just waiting to be made into soup. I wish Gammy was here to teach me the secret to her delicious bean and ham soup. Here is the spread.

I decided to make an Easter egg cake for Christian's first birthday. It was two layers, one chocolate and one white with strawberry icing. It only took me a few hours and a major melt down after I dropped one on the layers on the floor to get this

I was pleased. We gave Christian the first slice thinking he would tear into it and devour it.

Not so much. This is what he really thought of my cake.

This boy definitely did not get my sweet tooth! Presents followed cake eating. Christian loves his new toys and still plays with them. Yes, that is a roll of toilet paper. Mommy wanted to get him a toy I KNEW he would love. Happy Easter, everyone!

Christian is 1!

2010-04-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

My baby isn't a baby anymore. This year has gone by so fast, but it has been the best year of our lives. Christian has brought us laughter, joy, and unconditional love. It has been so much fun to see him learn and grow and watch his little personality take shape. We (especially Ryan) can hardly wait to add to our little family. No, I am not announcing anything. You just hold your horses.
Here is what is going on in Christian's life:
-he is 21lbs 1 oz (23%), 30 1/4 in (64%)
-12, yes, TWELVE teeth
-crawling like a champ, learning to walk, and going up and down stairs. He is VERY proud of himself when he stands and takes several steps
-loves to play chase and wrestle with Dad and read stories with Mom
-favorite foods include any kind of cheese, spaghetti, green beans, cheese, Gerber wagon wheels, cantaloupe, cheese, and chocolate chips. Did I mention he likes cheese?
-loves to play with balls, any size
-loves to take baths and would stay in there all day if Mom would let him

Happy birthday, Bugaboo!

To Whet Your Appetite

2010-04-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

I am aware that I have not posted for a very long time. I will spare you all of my excuses. I have TONS to post, like Christian's 1st birthday, Easter, walking videos, spring pictures. But until I find that blasted camera cable, I'm out of luck. So here is a video from my Flip, the only thing I can download right now.

Top 10 Things I Hate About New England

2010-03-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

I promised this update after completing the Top 10 Things I Love About New England this spring. Well, we are in the depths of winter and my attitude had changed. That's what 4 days without power will do to you. No TV and no Internet make Cindy crazy. Here it is, my much anticipated list...
10. Nor-easters. I can't complain too much. It has been a very mild winter. It is March and there is no snow on the ground. None. But it's not really the snow I mind, it is the carnage that it brings. There are lots of trees here, and trees generally don't like snow and wind. We had a major wind and rain storm last Thursday night. Ryan and I barely slept because we were too busy watching the trees in our back yard sway like wheat in a field. Our concern was warranted. Our neighbor three houses down got nailed by a falling tree that took out their back deck, roof, and sky light. When Ryan and I drove around the next day, it was unbelievable how much damage was done in our area. We were very lucky to emerge unscathed. We did lose power for 4 days. Good thing I married the emergency preparedness guru. Ryan had the generator going early the next morning with plenty of gas for several days, the Coleman stove fired up for breakfast, and the BBQ on the porch for dinner that night. While many people had to go to hotels for several days, we were warm, comfortable, and well fed. Thanks for taking such good care of us, Ry! Now back to my list...
9. 6 month winters. It's WAY too long to be inside. I require fresh air.
8. Mosquitoes. I don't know why God created mosquitoes. They serve no purpose but to annoy me and make me itch.
7. Humidity. It's sticky and miserable. Good thing it doesn't last long.
6. No See's candy. I love you See's. Oh, how I miss you. Why can't you come east of the Rockies?
5. No In-n-Out. See above.
4. Hawaii is really far away.
3. Whenever I hear someone say 'dude' or 'sweet' it brings tears to my eyes. I miss California lingo. I promise to never EVER let 'wicked bad' slip into my vocabulary.
2. Pasty skin. I left my tan in California. I am now pastier than I have ever been in my life. I don't see this changing any time soon.
1. I really really miss my family. Thank goodness for Southwest.
Enough of this negativity. Now that I got it all out of my system, I can say that there are more and more things I love about New England every year. Just not the winter. On the bright side, it is March. I just have to hang in there a little bit longer till spring. Until then, I can dream of our Hawaii trip this July. Maybe I'll get a tan.

Goin' Back to Cali

2010-02-10T09:44:00.000-08:00

We are back! After a great two week vacation visiting the Evers'/Syphus crew, Christian and I survived (barely) the 10 hour flight back to New Hampshire. You're not going to believe it, but the weather is actually better here. We had 14 days straight of solid rain in CA. I better not hear any complaining about droughts or forest fires this summer.

Anyway, it was a good thing I ended up going when I did because Mom and Stacey really needed the extra set of hands to watch tots and get stuff done. Poor Mom took a spill when on vacation in Cancun and ended up breaking her foot in three places. After surgery in a Mexican hospital, she was left with 4 pins in her foot to set the bones. Doesn't that look beastly? Two more weeks and she can walk on it again. Believe me, she is anxious to put this behind her.

Stacey also had her hands full because Drew also had a little surgery that put him out of commission for a while. No Mom and no Drew makes a busy Stacey. We did manage to get out and do a few fun things. We enjoyed a fun dinner with Grandma Jinga, Great Gram, and Aunt Chris. No visit from Aunt D (me) would be complete without a trip to Strikes for some bowling, Chuck E. Cheese (where I managed to get the 100 ticket bonus on my favorite game, Wheel of Fortune,) and of course, multiple trips to In-N-Out. Christian and Trevor sampled their first french fries. Both agreed they were delicious.

And then the trip home. While we were waiting at the terminal to board, we were informed that our flight was cancelled because the plane hit a flock of birds when landing. Southwest refunded my $100 that I spent on the ticket and booked me the next day. Airport, take two. Oh, Christian was a handful. Luckily, I had two of the BEST flight attendants I have ever had. They let me and Christian hang out and crawl around for almost three hours in the back of the plane. When it was time to sit back in our seats, Christian was done after 20 min. One of the flight attendants came to me and asked if it was alright if he took Christian in the back to play some more. Are you kidding? OF COURSE! My saviors. I got their names and employee numbers and called Southwest the next day to sing their praises. Hey Beckaroo, one of them was single and was very cute. I am willing to bet my left arm that he is LDS. His name is Brent and is based in Las Vegas. I have his employee number if that helps. Just a suggestion :)

Since both boys are now eating real food, there were many baths given after mealtime. Don't adjust your computer screen. Trevor is not really part Indian, Christian is just really that white.

It's Official

2010-01-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

I couldn't be prouder. I know that he is only doing what every other baby his age is doing. But still, he is CRAWLING! What a big boy.

On a side note, this is going to make our 10 hour trip to California tomorrow extra fun.

Product of the Month

2010-01-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

Since we moved into our new house, we have had an ongoing battle with dust bunny tumbleweeds. I know why they call them dust bunnies now. They breed in new carpet and multiply by the hour. I usually lose this battle for a couple of reasons. One, I'm not that dedicated to housekeeping. It's more fun to play with my little boy than vacuum. Second, our vacuum sucks. Or more accurately, doesn't suck. It was a hand me down, and while we appreciated it, it was time to put the old bag to rest. It had a good long life of service but had become obsolete. Now that Christian is semi-mobile and likes to taste every speck he finds on the floor, we felt the need to upgrade and take better care of the floor.
After some research, we decided on this little beaut. The Shark Navigator. Let me tell you, this is an awesome vacuum. It TOTALLY sucks. Our carpet looks 100% better. It picked up so much fuzz in the family room that I had to empty the dust cup after 1 pass. We also got the little Shark for the hardwood and tile floors. I haven't tried it yet because Ry wanted to use it first. So far so good. If you are in the market for a new vacuum, this is it.

Christian's First Christmas

2010-01-03T12:43:00.000-08:00

I can hardly wait for the years when kids are jumping on my bed to wake me up for Christmas morning, begging to go downstairs to see if Santa has come. Bundling everyone up to go outside for afternoon sledding after the presents have been opened. Naps by the fire holding snuggly kids exhausted by the day's excitement. But that was not this year. In fact, this is how Christian spent his first Christmas morning, sound asleep in the hallway in the basement after a restless Christmas Eve night in his port-a-crib. He did eventually make an appearance after all the gifts had been opened and the toys picked up. Christian got some sweet toys, like an animatronic Elmo and Mickey Mouse, blocks, an activity table, and much more. The most fun thing on each, of course, was the tag. Go figure. We had a really fun time at Aunt Jen's. Here are some shots of the festivities.

The cousins in their new jammies

Christian riding Thomas' new mini ATV.Allie and ChristianFun toy from Aunt Stacey (payback for Elmo Chicken given to Scott in '05)

My New Ride

2009-12-20T12:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-20T12:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas Explosion

2009-12-07T05:23:00.000-08:00

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.

6 months

2009-11-07T04:38:00.000-08:00

18 1/2 lbs

28 1/2 in

4 teeth

Camping Trip

2009-11-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

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?

Halloween

2009-11-04T17:08:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-04T07:39:00.000-08:00

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.

Stay tuned...

2009-10-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

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!

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

2009-09-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

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.

Best. Purchase. Ever.

2009-09-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2009-08-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

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

My First Hurricane

2009-08-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

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.

Christian Clark Thomas

2009-08-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

4 months

16 pounds 11 ounces

26 1/2 inches

2 bottom teeth!

Our Son, the Spaz

2009-08-03T05:43:00.000-07:00

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.

I Love You, Target

2009-07-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

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.

Still More Projects

2009-07-18T05:10:00.000-07:00

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.

Cali Vacation

2009-07-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

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

Top 10 Things I Love About New England

2009-06-18T05:22:00.000-07:00

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.

Christian Clark Thomas

2009-06-14T06:21:00.000-07:00

2 months

13 pounds 6 ounces

24 in long

Baby Blessings and Weekend Fun

2009-06-09T04:56:00.000-07:00

Christian received his baby blessing last Sunday at our ward in Merrimack. Ryan gave him a beautiful blessing which of course Christian wailed all the way through. I knew we were in trouble right from the start when he decided he was hungry as soon as we walked through the doors for Sacrament meeting. He wasn't interested in a bottle, he wanted the real thing. Of course it was the one time I couldn't take him out. Oh well. Ryan's whole family was there. Phil and Tagg stood in the circle as did Matt Rogers, Ry's mission companion and long time friend. Afterward, we all came back to our house to celebrate with a little BBQ. Perfect weather, fun company, yummy food...what a great day!Matt, his wife Sarah, and their two kids came up from Connecticut to spend the weekend with us before the blessing. We started the day with a little go-cart racing and batting practice at Mel's Funway Park. Matt and his backseat driver Noah took the gold in the go cart challenge. I was the champ in the batting cages, but I only did wuss pitches. After watching Ry and Matt try to hit 65 mph fastballs, we decided that the slow pitch softballs were probably more our style. Yep,I missed my calling as a softball player. To think I wasted all those years on basketball and volleyball...
After such a fun and eventful weekend, we all needed a little nap.

Another Milestone

2009-05-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

As a new mother, I have learned to celebrate the small victories. I told everyone I knew when Christian first slept through the night. He does this regularly now. I about peed my pants when he gave me his first smile (sadly, this is not an exaggeration. I've been told that Kegals can help with this little problem.) And now, my new triumph...
Today I buttoned my jeans. HOORAY! Ok, they're the jeans I bought during my first trimester that had a little room to grow, but still. At least I'm not looping a rubber band between the button and button hole anymore. I gained a solid 60 lbs, 35 of which came during the third trimester. I soaked up water better than a ShamWow. A woman in my ward told me that my feet looked like hooves. Sadly, she was right. That weight all came off within a week, now I'm left with the hard stuff to lose. Tonight I'm going to have Ryan bring up the spin bike. Summer's a-comin.

My New Flip Camera

2009-05-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

One of the perks of dentistry is that some of the specialists that Ryan refers to give him sweet gifts. An orthodontist gave us a Flip video camera that is designed to record videos for the web. Its not super high resolution, but its smaller than my cell phone and perfect to carry around. It does a good job for its intended purpose. And since I've been bugging Ryan about getting a video camera to capture all of Christian's cute moments for our blog, he's off the hook now!

These binkies are so funny! It reminds us of those fish that cling to the side of the tank that clean the algae off the glass. Ryan put his finger in the middle of the binky and said "Wow! This kid has got some serious suction!" Yes. I know. Believe me, I know. He's like a Hoover vacuum and a toothless alligator combined. Once this kid sprouts teeth, I'm SO done with nursing.

Spring Projects

2009-05-21T04:49:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung at the Thomas household. For weeks now, Ryan has been spending every free waking moment doing projects around the house. The list included building a workbench to do all of his man crafts on, organizing the basement and garage, and most importantly, the YARD. I almost think that Ryan's desire to work in the yard has almost eclipsed his one true love... firearms. Rest assured he has found some time to make a few trips to Stateline Guns (it's Ryan's equivalent of Macy's for the Evers girls.)
So, thanks to Ryan's mom and dad, things are shaping up around here. They make the trip from Belmont to New Hampshire every Wed and Sat to help with our To Do list and teach us things that former apartment dwellers need to know about keeping up a house. Last weekend, the boys planted the fruit trees in the back yard. Ryan really wanted to plant an apple tree when Christian was born to mark to occasion. Well, when the time came it wasn't just an apple tree. When the truck pulled up from the nursery, they unloaded two apples, two cherries , a peach, and plum tree. Ryan assured me that he got a great deal since there is a sale at the nursery every time it rains. I believe I have pulled this line before (It was such a great deal I couldn't afford NOT to buy it! I'm sure I actually saved us money!) Anyhoo, Christian's orchard got planted and it looks great. We will have many years of beautiful spring blossoms and tasty home grown fruit.

Christian may not appreciate the fruit trees and all the effort required to plant them in our rocky Granite State soil quite yet, but I'm sure he'll love taking care of them when he gets a little older.

The boys also busted out the power tools to take them for a test drive. One of Ryan's favorite purchases is a Toro super tool with lots of different attachments. It can be a tree trimmer, blower, edger, roto tiller, and more. It is truly the Autobot of garden tools.

After a full day of work, the trees in the backyard were stripped of their dead branches, the grass was edged, porch blown off, and the future planter in the side yard was roto tilled and prepped for planting.

I even got to try my hand with the new lawn mower. Oh, the smell of freshly cut grass! This was always Jeff's job growing up, so this was my first real attempt. I must say, the lawn looked pretty sweet after I got done with it. Maybe a few little boo boos, but overall a pretty decent job.

Ryan and I now realize how much work a house is, but also how rewarding it can be. We have loved seeing the transformation after all of the work that we put into it. Thanks again, Phil and Sherrine, for all of your help!

Per Grandma's Request...

2009-05-18T05:48:00.001-07:00

Mom said she wanted to see more Christian pictures. Here you go.

Milestone

2009-05-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to report that my son slept from 10 pm till 5:30 am last night. Way to go little guy! I, on the other hand, got up every hour after 2 am to check on him to make sure he was still ok. Also to pump my bazooms. I suppose I'll never sleep through the night as long as I'm nursing him. Stupid nature.

Home Improvement

2009-05-09T05:40:00.000-07:00

We closed on our first house March 13th and have been working diligently to get everything organized ever since. Its amazing how much work a house is! I never knew that new carpet could create so much fuzz or that there could be so much construction dust. I did manage to straighten up a few rooms long enough to take a picture while Christian was happily in his Baby Bjorn. Here is the photo tour of the rooms that are completely done. Thanks to Mom, these rooms have some color. She passed the time waiting for me to go into labor by painting 5 of the rooms in our house. Thanks Mom!

The first room we finished was Christian's nursery. I realized the week before my due date that if I didn't paint now, it probably wouldn't get done. So Ryan and I went to Sherwin Williams to pick out a paint color and get supplies. Ryan picked the perfect shade of green and after two coats, a few touch ups, and many trips to Babies R Us, the nursery was done. Christian still prefers to sleep in his bouncy chair or car seat, but I know that some day he will appreciate the beautiful crib that his parents got him.

The kitchen isn't quite done yet. It still needs a coat of paint, probably green to match the granite, but that job will have to wait (Mom, when are you coming back to visit??) I love this kitchen! What you can't see is the big old pantry off to the right that gives me all the storage I need. There is also a laundry/mud room to the right that houses our brand new front load washer and dryer. This was probably the purchase that Ryan and I were most excited about. After years of apartment dwelling with tiny pint sized washers, it was a big day for us when we could actually wash more than two pair of jeans at the same time. All hail Whirlpool!

The family room is the only completely finished room. The family room and the entry hall have super high ceilings, so we asked the builder to paint it in our purchase offer. We were so pumped to be able to pick out colors and not have to live another day with all white apartment walls! Thanks to Ryan's parents who were downsizing their house, we were also able to get some cool antique pieces and big rug to decorate with. As a side note, the Lazy Boy in the corner is one of my favorite purchases for the house. It is perfect for nursing and rocking tired babies to sleep. A must for any parent. Also, you can see Christian sleeping in his bouncy chair in this picture. He has probably slept more nights in his chair in the family room than in his crib because once he is asleep, I am too nervous to move him. As the saying goes, let sleeping dogs lie. The last picture is another view of the family room looking towards the entry hall. We are still working on the two front rooms. They will require some major furniture purchases so they will have to wait. Until then, I can work on the upstairs bedrooms. They are pretty much done but still need paint. Mom...

The Little Guy

2009-05-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

On April Fool's Day, our lives changed forever. Ryan and I welcomed our sweet little baby, Christian Clark Thomas to the world. I was never much of a baby person. I like them when they are at least 6 months old and you can play with them and see their little smiles and personalities. I was nervous that I wouldn't feel that kind of connection to an infant. I didn't believe people when they told me it was different when it is your own child. They were so right. I can't describe how much instant love I felt for this little guy. Even when he whines and cries (which is often)all I want to do is comfort and cuddle him to let him know how much he is loved.

I went into labor 2 days after my due date on Tues March 31st. After one premature trip the the hospital, 26 hours of labor, and 3 hours of pushing, my doctor told us that the baby was face up and would have to be delivered by c-section. I would have paid a million dollars to know this BEFORE labor, but oh well. Surgery went smoothly and Christian Clark Thomas was born at 10:51am April 1st. He was a healthy 8lb 4.4oz and 20.75in. The great thing is that now I can actually schedule the rest of my deliveries at my convenience. No more guessing on the birth date, relatives can fly out knowing they will make it in time, and best of all, no more labor pains! I suppose I can't complain. And Stacey and Kelly, you were right. The hospital RULES!

His first breath

Warning: Graphic video- my c-section!

Home Sweet Home

2009-05-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

This March, Ryan and I officially became grown ups. We decided it was time to make the jump from renters to home owners. We looked (and looked and looked) and finally found the perfect house for us two weeks before I was due with our first baby. I was pretty much useless during the move and poor Ryan had to do all of the packing. It was SO much work, but so rewarding! We had a great apartment in Merrimack, but I will not miss the greenish white walls, interesting smells in the common hallways, parking lot noise in the middle of the night, hauling groceries up 2 flights of stairs...

The house wasn't completely done when we moved in. It needed landscaping, paint, and another coat of asphalt on the driveway. Two weeks ago, the crews came over and finished everything in a few days. It was so fun to see the transformation of the yard.

Here's the before

And after

Ryan has grand plans for the yard but there is still so much to be done inside and out. This Wednesday's project include planting the fruit trees in the backyard and building planter boxes for the garden. Ryan and his dad will tackle those projects while my mother in law and I will work on organizing the reading room and family room (assuming I have a cooperative little boy.)

Alright Already!

2009-05-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

After over two years of pestering from my dear family, I have finally given in and decided it was high time I started a blog. I guess I never felt my life was that interesting that anybody would actually want to read about it. After all, it was just Ryan and I. While we did do lots of fun things exploring around New England the first year of our marriage, we pretty much got into the routine of work, tv, food, and the occasional outing during the second year. Not so exciting. However, during the last few months, our lives have taken an exciting turn. I now feel like I have a blog-worthy life. What were the triggering events? We joined the ranks of adulthood. We are now homeowners and PARENTS! (I don't recommend doing this in the same month like we did.)
So, I promise to do my best to keep everyone updated as we do various projects around the house, show you just how beautiful New Hampshire is in the springtime, and share as our little boy grows and reaches new milestones. Enjoy!