Merry Christmas!

Another Christmas has come and gone and it went too fast (as usual). Now we are all back at work and our house is bursting with gifts from the holidays that still need to find a place to be stored. Lexi got a few large items this year including her kitchen, her double-sided easel, and a tricycle (not yet assembled). Don't be mistaken, these are not the ONLY gifts she got, just the few I chose to mention.

We started out the holiday season on Christmas Eve, allowing Lexi to open 2 gifts from mommy and daddy. In return, mommy and daddy got to open their one gift each from Lexi. Then, Santa Claus came on Christmas morning and brought Lexi a Huge Brown Bear that she can actually sit on! We aren't sure where he will be making his home yet, but probably up in Lexi's bedroom. After opening the rest of her presents, we headed off to grandma Chris and paw-paw Chuck's for Christmas Day. This is where she got the kitchen and we ate lots of food and came home with many gifts. Of course we couldn't leave without taking the traditional family picture in front of the fireplace.

Mommy had to work on Friday, so we didn't leave for Paulding county until Saturday morning. We were at G.G. Eileen's house by 11:15 am and stayed there until around 6 pm. Lots more gifts were given and Lexi helped EVERYONE open their wrapped presents (even uncle Don's). This is where she got her easel - thanks G.G. When we left, it was off to Gra-Nola and Paw-Paw Gary's for even more presents! We decided to let Lexi and Kaitlyn open their gifts first - this is where Lexi and Kaity got matching tricycles , and then the two of them went to bed... great idea! By then, it was 9 pm and the rest of us stayed up to munch on frozen pizzas and open our gifts.

Sunday morning it was off to church and back to Gra-Nola's for lunch. Before we knew it, it was 3:30 and we had to start packing up our loot to leave for home. We made it home by 7:15, dropped all the gifts by the door and headed to bed early. Now its back to the grind (after all, we have Christmas bills to pay!) and Matt was unlucky enough to get to work on Monday. I love Christmas, but I need a vacation!

Santa Claus

While at Sam's Club on Saturday, guess who just happened to be there?? Of course - Jolly Old Saint Nick! Lexi wasn't about to sit up there all by herself, so lucky mommy got to go with her! At least we did manage to get a shot of her with the Big Guy for the archives.

I Couldn't Resist!

Thanks Ellisa!!! I just couldn't resist making ElfYourself clips for Lexi and Kaitlyn. They are soooo funny. Check them out and make one for yourself if you so desire.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's a GIRL!

Yes it's true... we are having another girl. We asked Lexi on Sunday if she wanted a brother or a sister, and she clearly said "sister". On Monday morning, our ultrasound proved just that! We are excited and now at least we won't need many clothes (although they will be 6 months apart on seasons). Our due date of May 2 was confirmed and we are starting to prepare Lexi little by little for the addition of another little one. Here are just a few pictures of our new little bundle of joy (for those of you that can actually read ultrasound pictures). The first one is of the head and body with the spinal cord visible. The second is of the belly with one leg and both feet - leg bent at the knee. If you put them end to end, you have a complete baby! Enjoy!

Thanksgiving weekend!

Well, we made it through another Thanksgiving - including a trip to Paulding county. I love going home and seeing everyone, but I hate the drive and non-stop action once we get there (and not to mention the drive back home). Thanksgiving day was low-key. We went to Smithville and spent the day with Matt's family. The meal was a traditional turkey dinner and it was wonderful. Chris always goes overboard with the food, but it always tastes awesome! It was really nice to see Julie, Ben and Andrew and I know they always like seeing Lexi. She got a lot of gifts and LOVED her ice-cream cake from Dairy Queen. After a relaxing day, it was off to work for me on Friday. It would not have been bad, but I knew we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us after I got off at 7, which would put us in Haviland around 11 pm! I think next time we will wait and leave the next morning. One more night in our own bed is well worth it!


Whew! Family pictures are once again over with for another 5-6 years - and by family, I mean the entire Thomas clan... all 16 of us! If you think that was no easy task, you would be exactly right. From clothing selection, to photographer, to location, to including 2 toddlers... let's just say it is over with for a long while now. After that, we enjoyed a couple non-traditional meals of chicken enchiladas at G.G. Eileen's for lunch and croissants with various lunch meat for supper. It was really good to see a couple new (and one permanently new) faces at G.G.'s this year. Welcome Garrett to the family and congrats to you and Maely. You have a busy year ahead of you! Also, Shannon - I hope we didn't scare you off! The 2 little girls are thouroughly entertaining (that is after they have each napped). It is amazing to see how they interact with each other and play off the adults. Lexi loves her new dolly and stroller from Paw-Paw and GraNola, but isn't so sure about letting Kaity hold her new baby. We will have to work on sharing! Also, in addition to Oh Dear! and Oh Shoot! Lexi's new favorite words are BUG-HOUSE! Thanks a lot Paw-Paw Bud!


That just leaves us with Sunday and the Ginter bunch! After church, we got to Gra-Nola and Paw-Paws and could just smell the lasagna, yumm! Promptly at 1 pm, Andrew, Jessica, Keri and Mike arrived with Connor, Lillian and Carter! Wow was that a busy meal. I think we had more booster chairs than regular chairs around the table. Banky had a fine time cleaning up after the kids! After the meal, the kids all played and then we attempted to get a quick photo, but I think we may have waited a tad too long because over half of them were crying (nap time). The crew bound for Indiana took off just before 4 pm. Not long afterwards Matt and I hit the road with Lexi and Banky - right after Brittany and Matt left with Kaity - and got home right at 7 p.m. Uncle Benny was the last to leave (with a lot of the left-overs).

What a long and tiring weekend, but what great times! I wouldn't trade them for anything! Enjoy the pics and to see more, check out the Kodak site.

1st Snow!

We had our first major snowfall overnight last night! Lexi watched out the window as the snow came down yesterday, but still wasn't sure she wanted to go outside and play in it. Well, today mommy got her all bundled up and went out to play in the snow for the very first time! Our neighbors Paul and Ben were also outside playing in the snow. We went over to say hi and ride down their slide once. Snowpants really make it difficult to climb up the ladder! After that, she still didn't like to step in the snow, but then when mommy started to build a snowman she was a little more interested. Lexi could have helped, but her gloves wouldn't stay on (any suggestions anyone??) When we were finally all done with our snow friend, Lexi of course had to kiss it and give it hugs. Then she didn't want to go back inside... mommy had to promise her a snack to get her in the door. Hopefully this is just the first snow friend of many and maybe next time daddy will be the one to get her all bundled up and take her outside in the snow (we will see about that). Or even better, Paw Paw Chuck can pull her around in the sled!! Maybe this weekend?

Time-out Chair!

Lexi got her first taste of the time-out chair last night. She knows she is not to go upstairs without mommy or daddy, but still she loves to follow Banky up there and then run around. We have sternly warned her and even slapped her little butt, but last night she learned what the time-out chair means. Daddy was the heavy for this first trip. He went upstairs and fetched Lexi and brought her back down and sat her in the recliner. She sat there for 5 long minutes and then was able to get up again. When it was all over, she went running for mommy for comfort, but eventually made up with daddy. Maybe now she will learn to stay downstairs unless mommy or daddy are with her?!

Lexi's 2nd Birthday Party!

Well, Lexi is not quite 2 yet (not until the 22nd) but we did have her first birthday party for her friends. Last year we just celebrated with family, so we decided to let her have some fun at a party with kids her own age (and some a little older). She was super excited when mommy busted out the Cookie Monster cake and also when she saw the Dora balloon we got for her. Chloe and her mom (from next door), Veronica and Alexander with their mom and dad (mommy's friends from college), & Adam and Alexis with their mom (from mommy's work) all came to celebrate with us! A few people couldn't make it, but we still had a great time. Banky was on his best behavior. We all ate pizza, hot dogs and mac-n-cheese and then dug in to the cake. Lexi ate her whole piece, and then asked for another! She got lots of cool gifts, too. A HUGE coloring book with a purse and another coloring book from Chloe, a Disney Princess book with a little movie projector from Adam and Alexis, a neat Sesame Street computer program from Roni and Xander, and a Count von Count doll from mommy and daddy. We played in the basement and had lots of fun, but missed those who couldn't come. I am sure there will be more pictures and stories in a few weeks after we celebrate with family, but until then check out the Kodak site to enjoy more pictures from this party.

Big-Girl Bed Success!

November 1st was Lexi's first night in her Big-Girl Bed (and her nice purple bedroom). I was fully expecting her to end up back in the crib after a half hour or so but to my amazement, she stayed in her new bed ALL NIGHT LONG! Granted, she wasn't alone - Elmo, yellow teddy and Grover were there with her all night - but she did make it through until 7:30 am (which would have been 8:30 had the time not changed)! Mommy made sure to have her Elmo blanket and her bink and diadey and also to turn on her night light. She didn't even have her radio playing like she normally does in her crib. Banky was a little concerned at first and only stopped barking when he discovered it was Lexi in the bed and not some stranger. He also thought he had to jump up on her bed to make sure she was ok. Matt and I turned the baby monitor on extra loud all night, just in case she woke up and needed us, but not a peep was heard all night long! After a successful night, we decided to try Sunday's afternoon nap. The nap was also successful - YAY! We may have just made the transition to her new bedroom in just one day... we will see what the next couple nights bring. If only potty training were this easy!

Butterfly!

Another Halloween has come and gone and Lexi was the most beautiful butterfly I have ever seen! Of course I am not partial because she is my child, but just look at her! The padding in the costume made her little butt plump out and it was just sooo cute. She wasn't all about trick-or-treating this year, so we just hung out in the drive-way and passed out candy to all the ghouls and goblins that came around our house. It was actually a nice evening and we handed out a lot of candy (and even a few doggie treats to the poochies next door). I am sure by next year she will want to tottle down the street and see how much candy she can collect, but for this year I am glad she was satisfied to just pass out candy to others.

Lexi's 1st Jack-O-Lantern!

It is that time of year again. Last year, with Lexi not yet one, we decided to skip the pumpkin carving and wait until she could appreciate it more. Well, this year she was definitely into it! Mommy went to Wal-Mart and got a nice-sized pumpkin. Then daddy went to work first by cutting off the top and scooping out the insides, then by drawing and cutting out a wonderful face on our friend the pumpkin. Lexi loved putting her hands in the goopy pumpkin guts and was SO excited when daddy was done with the face. We couldn't put Mr. Pumpkin outside right away, he had to stay in on the kitchen counter for at least the first night (mommy snuck him out first thing in the morning). We did manage to get a few cute poses of Lexi with her Pumpkin friend. She even had to give him a big kiss! Enjoy!

Who Would Have Thought??

Who would have thought that Shelby and I have the same brain waves going on?? Shelby and Jeff are good friends of mine and Matt, Lexi and I went over to their house last night for a cook-out. As I walked in the door and saw what Ava (their little girl) was wearing, I laughed out loud! She was in the identical outfit that I had put on Lexi!! Needless to say we all then had a laugh. After enjoying a great meal, we migrated down to their basement where the two girls colored and enjoyed a snack of teddy grahams. We always have a great time when we get together with Jeff, Shelby and Ava. Hopefully we can do it again soon!

What a Difference a Year Makes!

So, I was clicking through pictures of the last year of our lives and ran across these pictures of Lexi (with Grandma Chris) a year ago at the Smithville Smithies Football game. OH MY GOODNESS!!! Look at the difference in our little girl! She is growing up so fast right before our eyes. I know I just posted the blog about the football game, but I had to put these two pictures up side-by-side just so everyone could see just how much she is changing. By the way, she is wearing the SAME shirt in both pictures. The hat unfortunately no longer fits her growing head, but that is ok. She probably wouldn't leave it on now anyway. Probably by next year, the shirt (and hat) will be passed down to the next little Smithie we have joining the family.

Go Smithies!

Lexi attended her second ever Smithville Smithies football game on friday night. She amazingly could still fit into the shirt G.G. Eileen made for her last year. We went to the game with Grandma Chris, Great Uncle Mike, and Aunt Julie. The Smithies unfortunately didn't pull off the win, but we still had a good time (and our first bag of M&M's). It was Homecoming, so we even got to see a parade! The highlight of the night was after the game when PawPaw Chuck came off the field with the team and took Lexi in his arms. She immediately screamed for PawPaw and wanted to play (even though it was 10PM!) We probably won't make it to another game this year, but there is always next year.

Viva Las Vegas!

All I can say is... WHAT GREAT FRIENDS WE HAVE!! Our latest trip to Las Vegas wouldn't have been half the trip without the two awesome couples that were able to tag along with us. Here is a run-down of our fun-filled week in the city that never sleeps:

Monday - Flew in from Cleveland (4½ hours - yuck!) and ate at Fatburger for lunch. Stopped at the ABC Store and got a few necessities for the week. Hit the pool and/or the bed for a nap and then to Jimmy Buffet's Margarittaville for dinner. After dinner, we walked down the strip to Harrah's where they had karaoke from 6-9 and then the piano bar at 9. What an end to our first day!

Tuesday - Woke up and had a great breakfast of eggs and toast in the suite (thanks, Audrey). Then we made our way to the ticket booth to get same-day tickets to the Cirque du Soleil show "KA". After piecing for lunch and hitting the pool again, we walked to the MGM Casino and ate at Emeril's New Orleans Fish House (yummm). When our bellys were full, we then made our way to the KA Theatre and saw an awesome show - complete with people flying through the air and rapelling off the walls.

Wednesday - The day of much walking! Woke up once again to Audrey in the kitchen making pancakes. After breakfast, we headed out for the Venetian (which for those of you who know Vegas, is NOT a short distance from Planet Hollywood Casino near our resort). Then, since we were already at the Venetian, we decided to keep walking to the Wynn and cross the street to Treasure Island. After hoofing it back to the resort, we showered and dressed for Benihanna's Hibachi Grill at the Hilton for dinner. After eating, we decided that the piano bar was so much fun on Monday night, that we wanted to go back. Instead of going to the same one, we hit the Bar at Times Square in the New York, New York Casino where the pianists were even better. Great times!
Thursday - On our last day in Vegas, we decided to go south and hit the casinos we hadn't seen yet. Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur were among these. After our venture south, we got dressed for our last meal at Olives (at the Bellagio Casino). Not only were we on a balcony overlooking the Bellagio fountains, but we were there when they were going off every 15 minutes! All I can say is WOW! If you are willing to drop a pretty penny, I have to recommend Olives to anyone traveling to Vegas. We ended our trip stopping at the Rio for the party in the sky and then finally at the Orleans where Matt and I walked away with more money than we started with (which is always a plus).

I couldn't have asked for a better trip or better company. Can't wait to do it again soon!