4 month Appt & other pics

It is hard to believe that Shawn is already 4 months. I feel like we just found out we were pregnant and now he is already 4 months old!! He had his check up today and the Doctor said that he is very healthy. The Doctor got a lot of enjoyment out of just sitting and watching Shawn wiggle and talk and try to run (I'll have to post a video of this--it is hilarious). Here are his stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 6.3 oz (41%)

Height: 62.5 cm (40%)

Head: 40 cm (18%)

The Dr. said there is still hope that Shawn will be tall like his Daddy (or maybe even taller). It was Shawn's second round of Immunizations. He had to get 3 shots and it was not any easier than the last time.

Here is a picture of Shawn with his bandaids. He was such a trooper!

Here is Shawn smiling at Daddy.

Here he is in the Bath tub. This is definitely one of my new favorites. He doesn't like doing tummy time unless it is in his bathtub. Which is usually fine, unless he has added fluids to the bath tub (if you know what I mean)! :)

We received a Baby gift from Dwight and Ann Evans (formerly of Westover Hills C of C in Austin). These shoes have his name and birth date imprinted on the bottom. He is finally big enough to wear them. I love this picture because he was screaming, but he is still SO cute!

And here is one where you can actually see the shoes. They are so adorable. Thank you so much for the sweet gift. :)

Our trip to the Park

On Tuesday, Shawn and I walked to the park. It was the calm between the two snow storms, so we took advantage of the nice (warm) weather. Here are some pictures from our day.

Our new park --it is only 2 blocks away.

We had SO much fun just looking around. It was very quite.

Sitting in the swing.

Just me and my Mom. :)

Laying in the grass looking at the sky.

The ducks -- the pond is already half frozen!!

All tuckered out after a very long day! :)

Thanksgiving 2007

Bryan, Shawn and I celebrated the Season with a quite weekend home. We've been on the go so much that we really just needed some down time. Bryan and Shawn enjoyed taking a nap together and watching some football, and I was a whirlwind in the kitchen. So we were all doing what we liked to do. We enjoyed spending some much needed quite time together. I didn't get a picture of our little family together, but here is one of Shawn in his "Baby's 1st" (Thanksgiving) bib.

Shawn's first Thanksgiving.

We also did a photo shoot of Shawn in a GIANT pumpkin. I thought the pumpkin wasn't going to be big enough, but it turned out to be too big. I finally had to put a blanket in with him so we wouldn't wobble around inside. I think they turned out really cute!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Gator Fans

Two weeks ago we went to watch the Florida Gator game at our favorite spot--Jackson's. This is a great Sports bar downtown and also the home of the Rocky Mountain Gator Club.





Bryan and I have always loved going down there for the game. So we decided it was time to introduce Shawn to the group. We knew it would be a small crowd due to the team they were playing--Florida Atlantic University. Plus, they were expected to have a blowout game. It was a small crowd which was great for us. But it was definitely fun to get Shawn in on the action early on. The final score was 59-20. GO GATORS!!


We had fun cheering on our favorite player, Tim Tebow. We hope he wins the Heisman. Not only is he a great player, but also a Christian and a great role model for youngsters.
Thanks Nanna and Papa for Shawn's great outfit. He looked so cute in his Gator gear--coverall, booties, pacifier and pacifier holder.

Thompson Photography, LLC

Well, in the past 2 months Thompson Photography has also gone through a lot of changes. First and foremost, we are now a registered business! We are now an LLC and just recently received our tax ID number in the mail.

We have done so much this year and still have a few more events before the end of the year. We have done several weddings, a myriad of family photo shoots and even some special events--like the Santa photo shoot mentioned in my earlier post. We also have a large corporate Christmas party coming up in the next couple of weeks. Bryan has also become the resident photographer at church. He takes the New Members pictures each month and is the photographer at all major church events.

Now that we have our own office for Thompson Photography we know that the business is going to grow exponentially. Please keep this in your prayers as we try to balance a new baby, a new house, Bryan's full time job and all of our other obligations.

Below are some of our favorite photographs from the year:

(these pictures are property of Thompson Photography and are copyright)

Dougherty Family - Morgan

Ava's 6 month shoot

Art & Karyn Heffron engagement picture

Karyn with her Bridesmaids

Kathryn with her Bridemaids

Kevin and Kathryn before the wedding

Kevin and Kathryn after the wedding :)

Kristen at 8 months

Heinrich family Christmas shoot

Update -- Part 5 -- Trunk-or-Treat and Santa

The same weekend that we moved, we also had Santa pictures and Trunk-or-Treat at church. It was a very BUSY weekend for us. We have a resident Santa at our church so he takes pictures with the kids every year before he goes on assignment. This year he is in Chicago and started earlier than most years, so we had to take our pictures earlier. This is the second year that Bryan was the photographer for these pictures. It is great advertising for our business (Thompson Photography). We had fun watching Shawn interact with Santa, even though all he was interested in was sucking on his fingers. [Unfortunately, Blogger will not let me add photos from our Santa shoot. I will see if I can get some loaded!]

That afternoon we also had our "Trunk-or-Treat". We had two outfits for Shawn that night. Our Home Church decided to do the Manger Scene for our display. Shawn was baby Jesus in the Manger, and Bryan and I were Joseph and Mary. It was a lot of fun for our home church to each play a role in the Manger scene. When we had done our part, I changed Shawn into his Halloween costume, he was a puppy. It was so much fun seeing everyone dressed up.

Shawn as baby Jesus

Ms. Lori and Shawn wearing someones Angel crown--so CUTE!

The Holy Family --Bryan and I as Mary and Joseph and Shawn as Baby Jesus.

Shawn as a Puppy Dog.

Me and Shawn walking around.

Here is one tired little Puppy! :)

Update -- part 4 -- Our new house

So, we BOUGHT A HOUSE! We bought the house with my parents and are so excited for this new phase in our lives. It is a 6 bedroom and four story house and is almost 3000 sq ft. There is enough space for everyone to have a bedroom (Bryan & I, Mom & Dad, Shawn, and a guest bedroom), and for Bryan and my Dad to each have an office. But before we were ready to move in there was a LOT of work to do on the house. My Dad left for Africa before we bought the house, and my Mom left two weeks after we bought the house. Which meant that I had to step up and be the "General Contractor" for the house.


We pulled up the carpet in the entire house and had it replaced. We painted the entire house (Mom, Bryan and I painted the top floor and decided it was too ambitious to think we could paint the entire house, so we hired a painter to do the bottom 3 floors). We had all of the electrical sockets and switches replaced. We had a new Water heater/ A/C /furnace put in--I call it the Monolith because it is a HUGE system!! We pulled down an entire room of 1970s dark wood paneling. At the same time, the fridge went out! So I had to hire a repair man to come in and fix it--luckily it was under warranty and did not cost us a thing.



Once we had the house mostly finished, our Home Church helped us move all of our stuff from our apartment up to the house. They also (in the same day, mind you) moved all of my parents stuff from their storage unit into the house. It was a lot of work and a very long day, but what a blessing to have it all finished. We kept it a secret from my parents and had 1 week to get as much put away and finished as possible. While it wasn't completely done when they got back to the States, they were so excited that they didn't have to come home and move in! :)

Here are some pictures from the house renovation:

We were so glad we were given a Pack and Play from the Reeses. It came in so handy while we were working on the house. Here is a picture of Baby Central! :)

Here is a picture of Shawn giving orders. He was such a slave driver!! :)

Here he is overseeing Grandma's painting. We all worked SO hard.



Here is my Mom ripping up the last of the carpet. It was SO disgusting and it smelled horrible. We were VERY glad to see it go. I will post more pictures of the house with all of the work completed. What a transformation!

Before all the work began we took a trip up to Estes Park with some of my parents friends. We went into Rocky Mountain National Park and hiked one day. That night we went back into the park to hear the elk bugling (their mating call). It was awesome to see the giant males fighting for their ladies. :)

This is one of my favorite pictures of Shawn. He is smiling at Grandpa (7 weeks old).

Update -- part 3 -- Shawn is 2 months (and 3 months)

When we got home from Austin, it was time for Shawn's 2 month check up. I can't believe how fast he is growing up! It was the 'well baby' exam where he gets a lot of shots. It was so hard to be in the room for the shots. Bryan held him down while the nurse did her magic, and I stood in the back and cried. (Hopefully I will be better next week when he gets his 4 month shots).

Here are some of his stats from the 2 month appointment:

Height: 23 inches (57th percentile)

Weight: 11 lbs 11.2 oz (62nd percentile) -- he put on 3.5 pounds in 5 weeks!

The doctor indicated that Shawn had some acid reflux, which is quite common at this age. He prescribed some medicine to be given as needed. It seems to have helped quite a lot.

Before my Mom left to go the Phillipines, we made a trip over the mountains to see my Paternal grandmother. It was the first time she met Shawn and it was a special time for me. Here she is holding Shawn when we went on a tour of the waterfalls in Ouray, CO.

At around 2 1/2 months Shawn started sleeping through the night. He usually sleeps for about 12 hours at night. We have a night time routine of bath, book, feed, and down to sleep--it seems to be the right routine for our little guy. Mind you, he sleeps 12 hours at night but does not usually nap during the day. We are lucky to get 30 minutes of cat-napping at a time. Which means I don't get much done during the day. He especially loves to go shopping....anywhere. He loves to look at all the sights offered in the mall, the grocery store, even in Wal-mart. It is really quite funny.
[I love these little baseball shoes. Now they are too small. :( ]

[This picture is from Trunk or Treat (read other post) but it was also his 3 month birthday.]

At his 3 month check up (we had some concerns so we went in) the doctor said he was developing right on schedule. He was up to 13 lbs 12 oz. The doctor said that he was very advanced for his age--more like 4 or 5 months, rather than just 3 months. He is so alert and perceptive of his environment. Can you tell I am a proud Mama? HA. :)

He loves to laugh and he talks all the time. I keep reading that you should talk to your baby and leave pauses for them to "reply". But I have a hard time getting a word in! I wonder if he is going to be this talkative when he really learns to speak. He loves to watch football with Daddy, so I have to really monitor his time near the television--he will even try to watch t.v. upside down. He is so funny!

Update -- part 2 -- Shower at WBS

While in Austin, Shawn and I were very blessed to be honored at a Baby Shower at World Bible School (WBS). This is where my Dad has worked since we came back from Africa in 1994. I have either grown up with his co-workers kids, or have babysat them in high school. It is a very close family of people working for God.

Here are some pictures from the shower. It was great to get to see my good friends Becky (Reville) Blackwell and Angela Reville. Their parents are some of my surrogate parents. It was also fun to see Becky's beautiful twin daughters--I can't believe they are almost 7!!!

We had such a good time catching up with everyone. Of course, everyone wanted to hold the baby even though he slept through most of the shower.

Thank you everyone for all of the great gifts. All of the clothes are coming in so handy now that the cold weather has arrived. Hopefully we will get to come down again soon. :)