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.