Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Countdown to Christmas
With Christmas now officially on it's way, we spent the weekend getting into the festivities. We took our Christmas picture, decorated the tree, and started hanging lights everywhere! The kids are very into the season and it's going to be quite a job keeping Reece from man-handling the tree, but they are excited! We've stayed close to home the past month and have been blessed with some wonderful late fall, early winter weather. Our sandbox is no longer a pond and the kids have been able to get outside a lot!
It was great hearing from many of you last month. We will try to keep these blogs coming each month. Thanks for all of the wonderful comments!
Alauna Update: The Christmas Elf
Alauna was very ready for us to get a jump start on the holidays. She had been seeing Santa stuff around since Halloween and admired all of the holiday decor. She was quite a helper this year and absolutely loved going through our Christmas tubs. Alauna did a wonderful job decorating our tree and has been busily rearranging ornaments each day.
Alauna continues to go to preschool 2 full days a week and comes home with lots of wonderful projects. She loves coloring and is working on writing her name. They had a feast last week and each child contributed food to it. Alauna's favorite part of the feast were the Goldfish crackers- go figure, she's a tad on the picky side!
Reece Update: The Talker
Reece's latest tricks include some new words! He points at objects that he wants and says "Dat, dat, dat" (that). He also says, "yah" and "nah", "mo" (more), and he clearly says, "Doggy". It is super cute and he seems very proud of himself. Reece is quite the climber and he loves running around outside. He is still a little guy and at his last appointment was just shy of 20 pounds. Reece might be small, but he is a big eater. He pretty much out-eats his sister and must burn off every calorie he eats. Reece is one active little guy!
With Christmas on it's way, we are looking forward to lots of gatherings with friends and family. We hope to catch up with many of you over the coming weeks. Happy Holidays to you all!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Boo!!
Well, it's hard to believe that October is on it's way out. We know some people are anxiously Christmas shopping already, but we finally just got our Halloween costume selection finalized!! With one of our children changing her mind and the other one completely against wearing anything constricting, it wasn't easy! Alauna started out wanting to be the Grinch, but was unhappy with kid version of the CHRISTMAS character so she finally decided to be her most favorite toy these days...a Barbie! As for Reece, we pretty much just found something warm and without feet since he is everywhere!
From the pictures you can tell we did successfully make it out to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the second time this year! We love autumn out there and were very excited to see the Balloon Fiesta, but our main reason for the visit was reuniting with the rest of the Thompsons. It was wonderful watching the kids play and interact together. The last time we were out there Rachael was 6 weeks old and this time she was on the verge of crawling! Hayden and Alauna had their best moments together at the Balloon Fiesta. They were both very excited! We hit the zoo, played at the science museum, learned about dinos at the Natural History Museum, and went to an enormous pumpkin patch! It was a blast! Our tour guides (Ty and Jen) had lots of fun things for us to do and we were very busy! Really, all went very well and the kids did great! Our only real bump in the trip happened on the very last leg of the trip when we spent 30 minutes circling in the air waiting for the fog to lift in Mactown, but we landed!!
Alauna Update: "She's a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie World..."
We honestly never thought we'd be asked a dozen times a day to play Barbies, but that is our reality at the moment. Alauna loves her Barbies and constantly has them out driving around, dressing up, and causing the living room to look like a Barbie tornado has hit. She is really funny about them.
Alauna absolutely loves school. She has made lots of new friends and comes home with all sorts of projects. It definitely keeps her busy! Alauna goes all day, 2 days a week, but they take naps in the afternoon which helps. She enjoys coloring and is getting better at "trying" to stay in the lines (she now acknowledges that there are lines!!)
Reece Update: "Little Wind-Up Boy"
Our latest report on Reece is that he is taking after his father's footsteps in regards to running. Reece doesn't walk anymore, he pretty much runs from room to room. If he isn't running, he is climbing. He still loves the outdoors and enjoys playing in the sandbox. Reece makes car sounds and drives his little cars around on the floor.
He uses a few words here and there, but mostly our communication with him is using baby signs. He signs "more", "all done", and "hungry". Reece says, "yeah" and shakes his head "no". It's getting a little easier figuring out what he needs, but we pretty much know that if he is upset, he is either hungry or tired or hungry again...
Reece busted out a molar sometime last month and he has been drooling a ton so we know more are on the way! It hasn't gotten in the way of his eating. He eats several meals throughout the day and doesn't really turn anything down. Reece is a pro with his fork and prefers to eat in a "civilized way".
Cody and Amber Update:
Cody's hoop season has started and he plays games weekly against some fierce competition. They take the game pretty seriously. We just hope for an injury-free year.
With Alauna in school twice a week, that leaves Reece and Amber home to get things done and hang out together! It's been nice having some alone time with the little man.
From the pictures you can tell we did successfully make it out to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the second time this year! We love autumn out there and were very excited to see the Balloon Fiesta, but our main reason for the visit was reuniting with the rest of the Thompsons. It was wonderful watching the kids play and interact together. The last time we were out there Rachael was 6 weeks old and this time she was on the verge of crawling! Hayden and Alauna had their best moments together at the Balloon Fiesta. They were both very excited! We hit the zoo, played at the science museum, learned about dinos at the Natural History Museum, and went to an enormous pumpkin patch! It was a blast! Our tour guides (Ty and Jen) had lots of fun things for us to do and we were very busy! Really, all went very well and the kids did great! Our only real bump in the trip happened on the very last leg of the trip when we spent 30 minutes circling in the air waiting for the fog to lift in Mactown, but we landed!!
Alauna Update: "She's a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie World..."
We honestly never thought we'd be asked a dozen times a day to play Barbies, but that is our reality at the moment. Alauna loves her Barbies and constantly has them out driving around, dressing up, and causing the living room to look like a Barbie tornado has hit. She is really funny about them.
Alauna absolutely loves school. She has made lots of new friends and comes home with all sorts of projects. It definitely keeps her busy! Alauna goes all day, 2 days a week, but they take naps in the afternoon which helps. She enjoys coloring and is getting better at "trying" to stay in the lines (she now acknowledges that there are lines!!)
Reece Update: "Little Wind-Up Boy"
Our latest report on Reece is that he is taking after his father's footsteps in regards to running. Reece doesn't walk anymore, he pretty much runs from room to room. If he isn't running, he is climbing. He still loves the outdoors and enjoys playing in the sandbox. Reece makes car sounds and drives his little cars around on the floor.
He uses a few words here and there, but mostly our communication with him is using baby signs. He signs "more", "all done", and "hungry". Reece says, "yeah" and shakes his head "no". It's getting a little easier figuring out what he needs, but we pretty much know that if he is upset, he is either hungry or tired or hungry again...
Reece busted out a molar sometime last month and he has been drooling a ton so we know more are on the way! It hasn't gotten in the way of his eating. He eats several meals throughout the day and doesn't really turn anything down. Reece is a pro with his fork and prefers to eat in a "civilized way".
Cody and Amber Update:
Cody's hoop season has started and he plays games weekly against some fierce competition. They take the game pretty seriously. We just hope for an injury-free year.
With Alauna in school twice a week, that leaves Reece and Amber home to get things done and hang out together! It's been nice having some alone time with the little man.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Fall is in the air...
It is crazy that we are in September already! Our summer definitely flew by. We've been keeping busy with friends, trips up to Willow Creek, and enjoying our backyard. We took a quick trip down to Sacramento in the middle of August. The kids did really great and it gave us hope that we can do more traveling. Sorry we missed seeing some of you, but we will be back soon!
Alauna Update: "The Schooler"
We are now in our second week of preschool and things are going really well. She is enrolled at Turner Learning Center and has been very excited about going to school. She has a few friends that already attend so she was thrilled to see them on her first week. The only real issue we have is getting her up in the morning. That girl wants to sleep in! This morning she told us that she needed "Just 2 more minutes" of laying in her bed. Alauna is very much like her father in the morning (ha ha). Both are not "morning people".
Reece Update: "The Climber"
Reece's latest trick is climbing on things. He gets up on the little kiddy chairs, stands up, and then proudly lets go. It makes us sooo nervous. He has attempted to do the same on the kiddy table too, but we quickly get him down. He is practically running around our house and has also learned how to throw. Reece has a few words in his vocab-mostly just "Dada, Mama, Uh-oh, and Yeah". He is quite the character and still gets up all hours of the night.
Cody and Amber Update: Tour De Humboldt and NM Trip
Last weekend, our friends Michelle and Irv visited and we showed them all around Humboldt. They had never been north of Sacto so it was fun introducing them to the Redwoods. We went up to Fern Canyon, Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Patrick's Pt., and Trinidad.
We also have a big trip planned for October out to New Mexico to visit the cousins. We'll be out there for the Hot Air Balloon Festival and will spend 6 days with the Tyler, Jennifer, Hayden, and Rachael. We are looking forward to the trip!
Alauna Update: "The Schooler"
We are now in our second week of preschool and things are going really well. She is enrolled at Turner Learning Center and has been very excited about going to school. She has a few friends that already attend so she was thrilled to see them on her first week. The only real issue we have is getting her up in the morning. That girl wants to sleep in! This morning she told us that she needed "Just 2 more minutes" of laying in her bed. Alauna is very much like her father in the morning (ha ha). Both are not "morning people".
Reece Update: "The Climber"
Reece's latest trick is climbing on things. He gets up on the little kiddy chairs, stands up, and then proudly lets go. It makes us sooo nervous. He has attempted to do the same on the kiddy table too, but we quickly get him down. He is practically running around our house and has also learned how to throw. Reece has a few words in his vocab-mostly just "Dada, Mama, Uh-oh, and Yeah". He is quite the character and still gets up all hours of the night.
Cody and Amber Update: Tour De Humboldt and NM Trip
Last weekend, our friends Michelle and Irv visited and we showed them all around Humboldt. They had never been north of Sacto so it was fun introducing them to the Redwoods. We went up to Fern Canyon, Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Patrick's Pt., and Trinidad.
We also have a big trip planned for October out to New Mexico to visit the cousins. We'll be out there for the Hot Air Balloon Festival and will spend 6 days with the Tyler, Jennifer, Hayden, and Rachael. We are looking forward to the trip!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Our Last Month of Summer...
We've had lots of excitement in the Thompson house these days with packing for trips over to Willow Creek, a big dentist appointment, a new car, and a toddler-in-training.
Alauna Update:
We survived her big trip to the dentist! The poor girl had 2 cavities on the upper molars way in the back of her little mouth. It's probably genetics (her mother had cavities at 4), but needless to say we have been brushing the heck out of her teeth lately. She was amazing during the procedure. Her dad was in the dentist chair as well and she lay on him the entire time watching "Barbie Mariposa" on the ceiling. Yes, dentistry has surely improved these days and we can honestly say that she was calm and relaxed while her dentist quickly filled those cavities. With only one month before preschool starts, she has been working on dressing herself and putting her socks and shoes on. Alauna is growing up so fast!
Reece Update:
Our little guy is now on the go. He started walking a few weeks ago and is all over the place. He can already stand up from a crawling position and pretty much walks until he falls. He is very proud of himself and seems to be perfecting his new skill. The past few days, he has been carrying toys around as he attempts to walk. Reece is quite a busy little guy and I'm sure he'll be chasing his sister in no time. He is also an amazing eater and pretty much is now chomping down what we eat at dinner. No new teeth is the past month and at his last appointment he was average height, but below in weight. We think he has a runner's body. Hmmm..., where did he get that from?
Amber and Cody Update:
We bought a new car! Well, new to us. It is a 2003 Honda Pilot and is very roomy and cozy. It has 3rd row seats so we can now transport all of the grandparents too. We drove over to Redding on a Saturday, bought it, and then drove home the same day. We left the kids with grandparents for the day so they missed out on the little road trip.
Now that the smoke is gone, we are heading back up to Willow Creek on the weekends. We upgraded our tent and sleeping bags so it's pretty comfy. Amber's parent's bought some land and a camping trailer in Trinity Village right next to the Moxon's so we are taking advantage of the nice weather and river access. It's like camping with all of the conveniences of home!
We hope you are all enjoying your summer days and look forward to seeing many of you in the coming months.
Alauna Update:
We survived her big trip to the dentist! The poor girl had 2 cavities on the upper molars way in the back of her little mouth. It's probably genetics (her mother had cavities at 4), but needless to say we have been brushing the heck out of her teeth lately. She was amazing during the procedure. Her dad was in the dentist chair as well and she lay on him the entire time watching "Barbie Mariposa" on the ceiling. Yes, dentistry has surely improved these days and we can honestly say that she was calm and relaxed while her dentist quickly filled those cavities. With only one month before preschool starts, she has been working on dressing herself and putting her socks and shoes on. Alauna is growing up so fast!
Reece Update:
Our little guy is now on the go. He started walking a few weeks ago and is all over the place. He can already stand up from a crawling position and pretty much walks until he falls. He is very proud of himself and seems to be perfecting his new skill. The past few days, he has been carrying toys around as he attempts to walk. Reece is quite a busy little guy and I'm sure he'll be chasing his sister in no time. He is also an amazing eater and pretty much is now chomping down what we eat at dinner. No new teeth is the past month and at his last appointment he was average height, but below in weight. We think he has a runner's body. Hmmm..., where did he get that from?
Amber and Cody Update:
We bought a new car! Well, new to us. It is a 2003 Honda Pilot and is very roomy and cozy. It has 3rd row seats so we can now transport all of the grandparents too. We drove over to Redding on a Saturday, bought it, and then drove home the same day. We left the kids with grandparents for the day so they missed out on the little road trip.
Now that the smoke is gone, we are heading back up to Willow Creek on the weekends. We upgraded our tent and sleeping bags so it's pretty comfy. Amber's parent's bought some land and a camping trailer in Trinity Village right next to the Moxon's so we are taking advantage of the nice weather and river access. It's like camping with all of the conveniences of home!
We hope you are all enjoying your summer days and look forward to seeing many of you in the coming months.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Breezing through July
Greetings family and friends!
We've had quite an eventful month with lots of family gatherings, friendly bbqs, and smokey skies... At the end of June, we had a wonderful get-together celebrating the life of Granny Clark, Cody's Grandma. The kids had a blast meeting lots of family and of course, reuniting with their cousins from Albuquerque. The gatherings lasted several nights, but we really enjoyed all of the company! Our 4th of July was spent out front for our annual block party. It was a wild night and they both liked watching the fireworks from afar.
Reece Update:
It's official. Our little guy is on the brink of walking! He has taken two steps off of his little stroller and from the couch. His first birthday is this week and it's so hard to believe that a year has already passed! We are doing a Jungle Monkey themed party this weekend. It will be quite interesting to see what this guy does with cake! He is pretty much hungry all the time and loves mealtime. Reece also figured out how to go down stairs feet first which has been a great discovery with our deck. He loves pointing at things and is fearless when it comes to animals.
Alauna Update:
We started swim lessons this week and Alauna pretty much got her toes wet. She was very proud of going to swim class although I'm not sure if we can even call it that! She was a little bit afraid of the "Man Teacher" and not real interested in leaving the step. Let's just hope the rest of the lessons go better, we still have lessons everyday for the next 2 weeks!
(update 7/16) We are now swim class dropouts. We will be doing a "Parent and Child" class in about a month. You can lead a 3 year old to water, but you can't make her swim...
Alauna is also very entertained by her brother's attempts at walking. The two of them love racing around the house with their strollers! She has been skipping nap time the past few weeks and spends the hour in her bed talking to her dolls.
Cody and Amber Update:
Our 8th anniversary was July 15th! Yes, it's been a wild and crazy 8 years, but it has seriously gone by so fast. We went out to Tomo's, a yummy sushi place, kid-free and hungry! It was a much needed night out!
In other news, we are still having to deal with the haze caused by the fires about 50 miles east of us. It's made for some beautiful sunsets, but some bad breathing conditions. Our clear blue skies should return soon, we hope!
It was great seeing many of you during the past month. We enjoyed all of the gatherings, bbqs, and parties and look forward to more good times ahead!
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
We've had quite an eventful month with lots of family gatherings, friendly bbqs, and smokey skies... At the end of June, we had a wonderful get-together celebrating the life of Granny Clark, Cody's Grandma. The kids had a blast meeting lots of family and of course, reuniting with their cousins from Albuquerque. The gatherings lasted several nights, but we really enjoyed all of the company! Our 4th of July was spent out front for our annual block party. It was a wild night and they both liked watching the fireworks from afar.
Reece Update:
It's official. Our little guy is on the brink of walking! He has taken two steps off of his little stroller and from the couch. His first birthday is this week and it's so hard to believe that a year has already passed! We are doing a Jungle Monkey themed party this weekend. It will be quite interesting to see what this guy does with cake! He is pretty much hungry all the time and loves mealtime. Reece also figured out how to go down stairs feet first which has been a great discovery with our deck. He loves pointing at things and is fearless when it comes to animals.
Alauna Update:
We started swim lessons this week and Alauna pretty much got her toes wet. She was very proud of going to swim class although I'm not sure if we can even call it that! She was a little bit afraid of the "Man Teacher" and not real interested in leaving the step. Let's just hope the rest of the lessons go better, we still have lessons everyday for the next 2 weeks!
(update 7/16) We are now swim class dropouts. We will be doing a "Parent and Child" class in about a month. You can lead a 3 year old to water, but you can't make her swim...
Alauna is also very entertained by her brother's attempts at walking. The two of them love racing around the house with their strollers! She has been skipping nap time the past few weeks and spends the hour in her bed talking to her dolls.
Cody and Amber Update:
Our 8th anniversary was July 15th! Yes, it's been a wild and crazy 8 years, but it has seriously gone by so fast. We went out to Tomo's, a yummy sushi place, kid-free and hungry! It was a much needed night out!
In other news, we are still having to deal with the haze caused by the fires about 50 miles east of us. It's made for some beautiful sunsets, but some bad breathing conditions. Our clear blue skies should return soon, we hope!
It was great seeing many of you during the past month. We enjoyed all of the gatherings, bbqs, and parties and look forward to more good times ahead!
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Mid June
Here we are already in June! We've kept ourselves quite busy with day to day life and trips on the weekends. The kids are growing so fast and they each have their own little spirited personalities!
We survived our very first camping trip up to Willow Creek last weekend. We were lucky to have the amenities from the Moxon's cabin like running water, a bathroom, and fridge, but we slept outside! Cody and Alauna slept in a tent and Amber and Reece slept in the back of the CRV. Since our experience, we invested in new sleeping bags and a tent we can all fit in! The kids did great! Mom was a little uncomfy with only blankets (We only had 2 bags) and dad insisted we are bringing up the inflatable beds next time, but we actually had a good time. We're planning on heading up again very soon- maybe even this weekend!
We also took the family over to Redding for Memorial Weekend to do some shopping and visit Turtle Bay. Both of the kids enjoyed the exhibits and all of the live animals. The botanical gardens are very nice this time of year too! We're making it a yearly ritual. Cody's mom came with us and helped entertain our 2 little ones!
Alauna Update: "The Artist"
Our daughter continues to keep us laughing with her outlook on life. She is a great helper during the day and loves keeping Reece out of trouble. She draws these hilarious people with basically a circle with a couple of small circles for eyes, and a bunch of lines coming off the circle for legs and hair. Alauna's other passion is painting rocks. We now have our garden filled with lovely multi-color rocks. She learned how to paste a few weeks ago and loves doing projects! Alauna is getting really good at coloring close to the lines and loves cutting too!
Reece Update: "The Cruiser"
Our little guy spends most of his days walking along furniture, leaning on things as he plays, and ultimately falling down. Reece is very spunky and is constantly on the move. He is a fast crawler and must burn all of the calories he eats. Reece babbles a bunch and we swear he says, "Uh-nana" for Alauna. He loves dirt and must go through 4 outfits a day! Reece is doing a great job feeding himself. He prefers to pick up food with his little fingers at mealtime and his favorite food is avocado.
Cody and Amber Update: "The Wii Addicts"
Cody now has us hooked on the Wii Fit. We do yoga, ski, and play games all on the lovely piece of $90 plastic they call the "Fit". It's hard to tell if we are really getting in shape on the thing, but it is a lot of fun! We play Wii with friends and amazingly, all of our parents too! Cody's Grandma is having her memorial at the Grange in Blue Lake on June 29th at noon. His 6 aunts and their families are coming out for the occasion. It will be great to catch up with everyone and celebrate Grandma Martha's life.
Enjoy your June, we'll catch you again in July!!!!
We survived our very first camping trip up to Willow Creek last weekend. We were lucky to have the amenities from the Moxon's cabin like running water, a bathroom, and fridge, but we slept outside! Cody and Alauna slept in a tent and Amber and Reece slept in the back of the CRV. Since our experience, we invested in new sleeping bags and a tent we can all fit in! The kids did great! Mom was a little uncomfy with only blankets (We only had 2 bags) and dad insisted we are bringing up the inflatable beds next time, but we actually had a good time. We're planning on heading up again very soon- maybe even this weekend!
We also took the family over to Redding for Memorial Weekend to do some shopping and visit Turtle Bay. Both of the kids enjoyed the exhibits and all of the live animals. The botanical gardens are very nice this time of year too! We're making it a yearly ritual. Cody's mom came with us and helped entertain our 2 little ones!
Alauna Update: "The Artist"
Our daughter continues to keep us laughing with her outlook on life. She is a great helper during the day and loves keeping Reece out of trouble. She draws these hilarious people with basically a circle with a couple of small circles for eyes, and a bunch of lines coming off the circle for legs and hair. Alauna's other passion is painting rocks. We now have our garden filled with lovely multi-color rocks. She learned how to paste a few weeks ago and loves doing projects! Alauna is getting really good at coloring close to the lines and loves cutting too!
Reece Update: "The Cruiser"
Our little guy spends most of his days walking along furniture, leaning on things as he plays, and ultimately falling down. Reece is very spunky and is constantly on the move. He is a fast crawler and must burn all of the calories he eats. Reece babbles a bunch and we swear he says, "Uh-nana" for Alauna. He loves dirt and must go through 4 outfits a day! Reece is doing a great job feeding himself. He prefers to pick up food with his little fingers at mealtime and his favorite food is avocado.
Cody and Amber Update: "The Wii Addicts"
Cody now has us hooked on the Wii Fit. We do yoga, ski, and play games all on the lovely piece of $90 plastic they call the "Fit". It's hard to tell if we are really getting in shape on the thing, but it is a lot of fun! We play Wii with friends and amazingly, all of our parents too! Cody's Grandma is having her memorial at the Grange in Blue Lake on June 29th at noon. His 6 aunts and their families are coming out for the occasion. It will be great to catch up with everyone and celebrate Grandma Martha's life.
Enjoy your June, we'll catch you again in July!!!!
Monday, May 19, 2008
May Flowers
Well, all of our rainy days in April must have really paid off this month because we had ourselves a mini heatwave! Yes, Humboldt County saw the mercury hit in the 90's the past week and we were all able to enjoy an early summer. We spent all day Saturday outside with a trip to Agate Beach with the Lehman Family and ending the afternoon with a bbq at the Jamisons. We definitely needed this weather and it helped all of our new seedlings in our garden grow too!
Memorial weekend is approaching and we are heading over to Redding with Rajean to check out what's new at Turtle Bay and to shop. We went last year and it was a nice short little getaway. Back to the heat!!
Sadly, Cody's Granny passed away a few weeks ago at her home. We were quite surprised because she had been doing really well. She had been fighting cancer for the past few years and things quickly went downhill.
Alauna Update: So we survived our preschool orientation and it looks like we've found a good place for Alauna to attend in the fall. She had already made a few new friends while we were there! She is growing up soo fast. Alauna has been helping out with our garden and really loves playing with her Reece. She is also lucky to have both of her grandmas close by and she keeps them busy during their visits.
Reece Update: Our little guy is crawling quickly all over the house and pulls up on anything and anyone. One of Reece's top teeth came in yesterday sometime. Probably hitting his mouth on the dishwasher Friday night sped that up, but it has been on the surface for a few weeks now, so it must have been ready. He babbles a ton with sounds like "Mamamama" and "Bababa". It's amazing that he is already 10 months old. He's eating lots of different foods now and most of the time he can eat some part of our meal. Reece prefers to feed himself so we're having to give him lots of soft finger foods. His favorite thing to eat is a bagel!
Cody and Amber Update:
Cody spent the last few weekends, with the help of Kevin and A's dad, building a deck off of our house!! It has been so great with the nice weather. We ate dinner on it several times last week and the kids play on it everyday. It has been the greatest addition to our house! Now Cody's working on finishing the project up with adding a bench and a few steps. Way to go Daddy!!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
April Travels
Aloha!!!
We survived our first vacation with two kids! Alauna and Reece loved hanging out with their dad for the week and Barbie Grandma and Papa Ted helped out a ton! We spent most of the days back and forth to the beach with a few trips into Kona. We stayed on the Kohala Coast in Waikaloa which was about 45 minutes north of Kona. We were lucky to have a beach close by and our condo was comfy for all 6 of us. We also took a lengthy drive around the entire island with stops at the volcano, Thurston Lava Tube, waterfalls, and a Rainforest Zoo in Hilo. We had great time in Hawaii and really the only issue was our trip home. It took us 2 days to get home after our flight out of Kona was delayed thus missing the last flight into Arcata. They hooked us up with a hotel, meal tickets, and airline vouchers, but we were ready to get home! It was definitely work traveling with the little ones, but we are already looking forward to more adventures in the future.
Alauna Update:
It's hard to believe, but we have preschool orientation in a few weeks! Alauna will be attending 2 full days a week which will be an interesting transition. She is so busy during the day that it will probably be good for her. We have got to sign her up for swim lessons soon because she really thought she was swimming in Hawaii and that girl would have sunk like a rock!! Alauna still enjoys being the "Little Mom" around the house and watches every move Reece makes. She has a ton of energy and zips around the house wanting Reece to follow her. She still enjoys spending most of her time outdoors and absolutely adores all bugs, moths, and pretty much any living thing she can find. Yesterday, her new friend was a toad we found in the garden, while today it was a moth. Alauna really loves nature!
Reece Update:
Time is really flying by and our little guy is 3/4 of a year old! He loves eating and we've been through many fruits and veggies the past month. He is doing a great job of picking up small bits of food with his little fingers and seems to be good at grinding with his back gums. Reece is constantly on the go. He probably would have crawled right into the ocean had we not been there to pull him back. He also has a huge fascination for our woodstove which is driving us crazy! Reece is pulling himself up on just about everything including us! We had a quick trip to the doctor before heading on our trip and he was diagnosed with a sinus infection. Reece was prescribed antibiotics and while in Hawaii, he was cured! We also found out he weighs 16 pounds, 1 oz. which is a little on the small side, but he is burning a ton of calories chasing his sister!
Cody and Amber Update:
We normally don't have much going on through the month besides boasting about our children (kidding!). However, last week we went with some friends to a "Death Cab for Cutie" concert which was a lot of fun. Really good music and it was at Humboldt State so it was very close!
We'll probably be staying close to home the next few months so if any of you have a desire to come up to Humboldt for some cool coastal weather, give us a call! We miss you all and enjoy your May!
The Thompsons
We survived our first vacation with two kids! Alauna and Reece loved hanging out with their dad for the week and Barbie Grandma and Papa Ted helped out a ton! We spent most of the days back and forth to the beach with a few trips into Kona. We stayed on the Kohala Coast in Waikaloa which was about 45 minutes north of Kona. We were lucky to have a beach close by and our condo was comfy for all 6 of us. We also took a lengthy drive around the entire island with stops at the volcano, Thurston Lava Tube, waterfalls, and a Rainforest Zoo in Hilo. We had great time in Hawaii and really the only issue was our trip home. It took us 2 days to get home after our flight out of Kona was delayed thus missing the last flight into Arcata. They hooked us up with a hotel, meal tickets, and airline vouchers, but we were ready to get home! It was definitely work traveling with the little ones, but we are already looking forward to more adventures in the future.
Alauna Update:
It's hard to believe, but we have preschool orientation in a few weeks! Alauna will be attending 2 full days a week which will be an interesting transition. She is so busy during the day that it will probably be good for her. We have got to sign her up for swim lessons soon because she really thought she was swimming in Hawaii and that girl would have sunk like a rock!! Alauna still enjoys being the "Little Mom" around the house and watches every move Reece makes. She has a ton of energy and zips around the house wanting Reece to follow her. She still enjoys spending most of her time outdoors and absolutely adores all bugs, moths, and pretty much any living thing she can find. Yesterday, her new friend was a toad we found in the garden, while today it was a moth. Alauna really loves nature!
Reece Update:
Time is really flying by and our little guy is 3/4 of a year old! He loves eating and we've been through many fruits and veggies the past month. He is doing a great job of picking up small bits of food with his little fingers and seems to be good at grinding with his back gums. Reece is constantly on the go. He probably would have crawled right into the ocean had we not been there to pull him back. He also has a huge fascination for our woodstove which is driving us crazy! Reece is pulling himself up on just about everything including us! We had a quick trip to the doctor before heading on our trip and he was diagnosed with a sinus infection. Reece was prescribed antibiotics and while in Hawaii, he was cured! We also found out he weighs 16 pounds, 1 oz. which is a little on the small side, but he is burning a ton of calories chasing his sister!
Cody and Amber Update:
We normally don't have much going on through the month besides boasting about our children (kidding!). However, last week we went with some friends to a "Death Cab for Cutie" concert which was a lot of fun. Really good music and it was at Humboldt State so it was very close!
We'll probably be staying close to home the next few months so if any of you have a desire to come up to Humboldt for some cool coastal weather, give us a call! We miss you all and enjoy your May!
The Thompsons
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
March Madness
March is slowly coming to an end and we are looking forward to some warm spring days. We started some seedlings a few weeks ago and already have small tomato, pea, and zucchini plants. Alauna checks them every day and loves watering them. Both of the kids are very much into being outside and in those short breaks between rain, we are out in the yard.
We had a really fun Easter Weekend with lots of family and friends. On Saturday, the Jamison's hosted an egg hunt up at their house and Alauna had a blast looking for eggs. It was much more successful than last years attempt at an elementary school when Alauna cried during most of the egg hunt! On Sunday, the Easter Bunny left Alauna a color-changing Barbie and left Reece a wooden Sassy doll (his 1st man-doll!). We then had breakfast with the Jones' and dinner with Cody's family. A very busy, but eventful weekend!
Reece Update:
Big news for our little guy. Last week (8 months, 3 days old), Reece began crawling! He figured it out and now he's all over the place. It's so cute to see him moving about and he seems so proud of himself. At the beginning of March, he got his first tooth and it sticks out all by itself. The other bottom one next to it just broke through so it will hopefully catch up with other. He did finally sit up at the beginning of March as well and really likes playing with his toys in his lap. So our little man is quickly growing up with new toofies and a new way to get around!
Alauna Update:
Our little 3 year old is also keeping us busy. She loves reading, painting, doing puzzles, and baking. We could do without all the baked goods around the house, but she has such a good time mixing and measuring that it's almost worth it. Alauna still loves catching bugs and has continued her mission to adopt all baby dolls. Her latest addition to the family is "Mint"- the name was all her's! Alauna is our little mommy of the house and has made it her business to watch Reece's every move too. Now that he is crawling, they are having a great time playing together!
So the Thompsons are doing great. We have only a few weeks to go before our big adventure to Hawaii. This is Reece's first trip to the islands and Alauna's third! We're trying out the Big Island this time and hope there are no major eruptions in the next few weeks! Packing for this one is going to be interesting, but we are mostly just looking forward to a much needed vacation.
Enjoy your month of April!
The Thompsons
We had a really fun Easter Weekend with lots of family and friends. On Saturday, the Jamison's hosted an egg hunt up at their house and Alauna had a blast looking for eggs. It was much more successful than last years attempt at an elementary school when Alauna cried during most of the egg hunt! On Sunday, the Easter Bunny left Alauna a color-changing Barbie and left Reece a wooden Sassy doll (his 1st man-doll!). We then had breakfast with the Jones' and dinner with Cody's family. A very busy, but eventful weekend!
Reece Update:
Big news for our little guy. Last week (8 months, 3 days old), Reece began crawling! He figured it out and now he's all over the place. It's so cute to see him moving about and he seems so proud of himself. At the beginning of March, he got his first tooth and it sticks out all by itself. The other bottom one next to it just broke through so it will hopefully catch up with other. He did finally sit up at the beginning of March as well and really likes playing with his toys in his lap. So our little man is quickly growing up with new toofies and a new way to get around!
Alauna Update:
Our little 3 year old is also keeping us busy. She loves reading, painting, doing puzzles, and baking. We could do without all the baked goods around the house, but she has such a good time mixing and measuring that it's almost worth it. Alauna still loves catching bugs and has continued her mission to adopt all baby dolls. Her latest addition to the family is "Mint"- the name was all her's! Alauna is our little mommy of the house and has made it her business to watch Reece's every move too. Now that he is crawling, they are having a great time playing together!
So the Thompsons are doing great. We have only a few weeks to go before our big adventure to Hawaii. This is Reece's first trip to the islands and Alauna's third! We're trying out the Big Island this time and hope there are no major eruptions in the next few weeks! Packing for this one is going to be interesting, but we are mostly just looking forward to a much needed vacation.
Enjoy your month of April!
The Thompsons
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Trip to New Mexico With 2 Kiddos
We survived our big trip out to Albuquerque! Flying with 2 small children was definitely challenging, but it was worth it! Fortunately, the flights are short;an hour down to SF from Arcata and another 2 hours from SF to ABQ. Soo all was well on the flight there. Both kids were pretty easy. Reece slept and Alauna watched her portable dvd player. Once there, Alauna had her own bedroom (baby Rachael's room) and Reece crashed with us. Alauna and her cousin Hayden got along great. They played a bunch and were very concerned about what the other person was doing. Cody's bro and fam took us all over. We hit the Albu Zoo, Natural History Museum, Aquarium, and Botanical Gardens. We also got lots of holds with our new baby niece, Rachael. She is such a cutie and both of the kids loved her. Reece squealed when we held her next to him and she would even smile back. We had a wonderful time out there and really miss that part of our family. The kids would have a blast growing up together. Really the trip was completely successful except for our flights home. We got stuck in the SF airport for several hours and it wasn't pretty. We finally got home after nearly 6 hours at that dang airport. Alauna was so happy to be home. They were stuck on New Mexico time for a few days (an hour later out there), but all is back to normal. Now we look forward to our next trip which is only a month and a half away. We survived a 2 hour flight, the new challenge is 5 hours to Hawaii!
Alauna Update:
Our daughter enjoys telling us daily what will make her mad or sad or happy. She is very in touch with her emotions and keeps us informed of any changes. We've been playing games with her which is a lot of fun. Cariboo is one of our favorites.
Reece Update:
The little guy in the house has been enjoying all kinds of new foods. He really liked green beans of all things. I am still making all of his food. I steam, purree (I love my Magic Bullet), pour food into trays, and then put the cubed food into freezer bags. Then heat up a few cubes at meal time. Homemade food is so much tastier than jarred! Reece is just days away from sprouting his first tooth. His gums are very swollen and he's got all the signs. He is also on the brink of crawling (yikes!!) Reece goes from his tummy, to his haunches, and then rocks. He really just needs to learn how to move his arms because his legs are moving. Still a little wobbly with sitting, but the guy is so active that he cannot sit still!
Happy spring to all of you!
The Thompson Family
Alauna Update:
Our daughter enjoys telling us daily what will make her mad or sad or happy. She is very in touch with her emotions and keeps us informed of any changes. We've been playing games with her which is a lot of fun. Cariboo is one of our favorites.
Reece Update:
The little guy in the house has been enjoying all kinds of new foods. He really liked green beans of all things. I am still making all of his food. I steam, purree (I love my Magic Bullet), pour food into trays, and then put the cubed food into freezer bags. Then heat up a few cubes at meal time. Homemade food is so much tastier than jarred! Reece is just days away from sprouting his first tooth. His gums are very swollen and he's got all the signs. He is also on the brink of crawling (yikes!!) Reece goes from his tummy, to his haunches, and then rocks. He really just needs to learn how to move his arms because his legs are moving. Still a little wobbly with sitting, but the guy is so active that he cannot sit still!
Happy spring to all of you!
The Thompson Family
Monday, January 28, 2008
February 1st- The First Attempt at Blogging
We decided to try something new in an attempt to advance our page technologically. There were some flaws with our web page and really it was only able to take us so far. Sooo here we go. . .
Thompson Family Update
By some chance of the snow gods, we actually saw white stuff fall from the sky over the weekend. Alauna walked out in it, but wasn't very impressed. Unfortunately, it didn't stick and by morning all that we had was a thin layer of hail. Alauna enjoyed her third birthday party over the weekend as well. On Saturday, we had around 10 kids and their parents bobbing around in the Arcata Pool. Yes, a pool party in January. We pulled it off thanks to the indoor pool. The theme was luau and we had a blast!She loved the water and had a great time with her friends. Her real birthday was the 31st and we celebrated it with our close family. Alauna is at that crazy independent 3 year old age. 3's are a lot of fun, but so moody and bossy! We are beginning to play board games with her which, when timed right, is very cute. She is still all over her brother: kissing his hands, touching his toes, and getting in his face. He loves it... for the most part! We took her to the doc for her 3 year check-up and after 3 years, she is in the 50th percentile in weight and height. She is 3 feet tall and 30 pounds!
Reece is now over a month into eating and feeding him is so funny. He makes the best faces when any new foods come his way. We are trying a new food every 4-5 days and look forward to an even wider variety of 7 month old foods. He loves yogurt and bananas, and eats avocado, butternut squash, pears, mango, applesauce, sweet potatoes, and baby cereals. He is close to sitting up, but is so active he reaches for things and flops over. Reece likes to roll over and is starting to scoot on his tummy. He is busy, busy, busy. He is finally taking naps, but is up every 3 hours at night. At his appointment a few weeks ago, he was 15 pounds, and 26 1/2 in. in length- a little guy!
Our next big adventure begins in a few short weeks when we attempt an airplane trip to Albuquerque with our 2 rugrats. We are looking forward to meeting our new family member, Rachael Thompson, as well as getting all of the Thompson kids together again. We'll be out there for 5 days visiting with Cody's brother and family. We hope for a smooth trip!
Thompson Family Update
By some chance of the snow gods, we actually saw white stuff fall from the sky over the weekend. Alauna walked out in it, but wasn't very impressed. Unfortunately, it didn't stick and by morning all that we had was a thin layer of hail. Alauna enjoyed her third birthday party over the weekend as well. On Saturday, we had around 10 kids and their parents bobbing around in the Arcata Pool. Yes, a pool party in January. We pulled it off thanks to the indoor pool. The theme was luau and we had a blast!She loved the water and had a great time with her friends. Her real birthday was the 31st and we celebrated it with our close family. Alauna is at that crazy independent 3 year old age. 3's are a lot of fun, but so moody and bossy! We are beginning to play board games with her which, when timed right, is very cute. She is still all over her brother: kissing his hands, touching his toes, and getting in his face. He loves it... for the most part! We took her to the doc for her 3 year check-up and after 3 years, she is in the 50th percentile in weight and height. She is 3 feet tall and 30 pounds!
Reece is now over a month into eating and feeding him is so funny. He makes the best faces when any new foods come his way. We are trying a new food every 4-5 days and look forward to an even wider variety of 7 month old foods. He loves yogurt and bananas, and eats avocado, butternut squash, pears, mango, applesauce, sweet potatoes, and baby cereals. He is close to sitting up, but is so active he reaches for things and flops over. Reece likes to roll over and is starting to scoot on his tummy. He is busy, busy, busy. He is finally taking naps, but is up every 3 hours at night. At his appointment a few weeks ago, he was 15 pounds, and 26 1/2 in. in length- a little guy!
Our next big adventure begins in a few short weeks when we attempt an airplane trip to Albuquerque with our 2 rugrats. We are looking forward to meeting our new family member, Rachael Thompson, as well as getting all of the Thompson kids together again. We'll be out there for 5 days visiting with Cody's brother and family. We hope for a smooth trip!
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