Little Gym and Coffee Shop

On October 10th we took Shawn to the Little Gym. This is our usual Friday morning activity. He has been in this class since February and absolutely loves it. We can definitely tell the days that he doesn't get to attend, he just seems a little lost. Here are some pictures from that day.

Doing beginning activities with Mommy. I think this is the "stop for a hug and a kiss" part of the song. My favorite part! :)

Looking out the window. There is nothing out there, so I'm not sure what he was looking at.

Then Gerrit joined him at the window. Shawn must have telling him what was out there?

Now Gerrit is telling Shawn what they can get into next. These two are definitely partners in crime! :)

Doing one of the weekly activities. They usually involve some kind of climbing--which Shawn absolutely LOVES!

Again looking out the window. This time he is looking at the Starbucks drive-in across the parking lot.

A Mommy and Shawn moment.

Hanging and swinging from a beam. He is such a dare-devil! He absolutely loves to do this.

He also likes walking on the beam. This one is low, so he can do it by himself.

Here he is on the beam. His instructor Jamie was encouraging him along.

Daddy helping Shawn on the higher beam. This one is a few feet off the ground, so he needs assistance.

Daddy helping Shawn to walk on the beam. Oops! I cut out the beam....it looks like Shawn is walking in mid-air. :)

Shawn bending over to pick up a ball. I think this was Upside down and backwards week in our class.

After our class we met our good friends Stephanie and Bella at a coffee shop in Longmont. It is really cool because it was opened in February by a mother of 4 (her youngest was only 3 weeks old when the coffee shop opened!). She has an area up front for patrons with little kids--there are activity tables for kids, puzzles, books, etc. It was a lot of fun to get to sit an enjoy a cup of coffee with Stephanie and let the two kids play. However, I had to watch Shawn very carefully because he walked over to a small girl sitting in a chair and ate the top off of her muffin!!! I was HORRIFIED!!! You'd think we never feed this kid....although he is underweight, he probably needed the muffin worse than she did! HA!

Shawn exploring the place.

Bella sporting her best "cheese" face. Just adorable!

Stephanie, lets do this again real soon!! :)

Long Awaited Update

I know I have been MIA for way to long! Thanks to everyone for all the friendly pushing to get on here and make an update.

We have been SO busy lately with church, and work, and, of course, with our little Shawn. Here are some of the things we have been doing since our last post.

New Job with World Bible School

I started a position with the Internet department of World Bible School. I am trying to get through my training so that I can be up and running. I will be working from home 30-35 hours per week. My job title is Teacher Coordinator and I am responsible for helping teachers to teach students around the world. I will be answering e-mails from teachers and students, assigning new students to teachers, and working to get new teachers enrolled and acclimated to the system and process. I am really excited for this opportunity and for the work I can do with this amazing ministry. For more information about this great resource and organization, visit http://worldbibleschool.net/.

Quarterlife

This is the ministry at Lakewood that Bryan and I have started and are working with. We are ministering to the young adults and young marrieds. We have been working with this group for almost a year now and have a pretty good core group of people. We teach a class on Sunday mornings and do all sorts of fun activities together—Monday Night Football parties, Girls' Night Out each month, movies, bowling, etc. This group has been such a blessing to us and we love working with them.

Thompson Photography

Our photography business has been thriving. We 'hired' 5 Senior representatives this summer and within a matter of 2 weeks our phone was ringing off the hook for Senior portraits. Seniors are so fun to work with because they all have their own unique style and know exactly what they want to look like. We have ventured all over the greater Denver area to do photo shoots—downtown Golden, downtown Arvada, Clear Creek, and even an alleyway in downtown Denver. We have also been doing a lot of family portraits and love getting to know families better. However, the most exciting news for us these past couple of months is our partnership with the locally owned Victorian House Event Center. They host more than 30 weddings and event each year (and have just added 2 new locations to their event center). We will be working with the Victorian House as their primary photographers and will be photographing a majority of their weddings. We are very excited for this opportunity and for the ability to work with the amazing owners and staff of the Victorian House. Stay tuned for some great pictures from this beautiful venue.

Also, our website is up and live!!! It is beautiful and we are so excited that we now have a web presence. We are proud to show off some of our most recent clients. Stop by our website and check out some of our work. For more information on our photography business click here.

Baby Caleb

We are VERY excited about the approaching arrival of our nephew Caleb Troy. My beautiful sister-in-law Cherie is expecting on December 23^rd, but there is a chance that he will arrive before his due date. We are very excited to meet this new little bundle and to see what great parents Noel and Cherie will be. Caleb is one lucky little boy. J We will be travelling to Atlanta for 10 days over Christmas and New Years to spend time with Cherie and Caleb. We are also excited to get to photograph the new baby. Trust me; there will be a lot of pictures shared of this little one.

Cherie at 24 weeks preggo -- late August. This is in Caleb's nursery...I can't wait to see all of Cherie's hard work.

Side view, what a cute little belly. :)

Noel and Cherie at Halloween, or should I say Mr. Incredible and Mrs. Bun-in-the-oven. They are going to be such fun parents! :)

Here is beautiful Cherie at around 33 weeks. Gorgeous!

Shawn

Thank you to everyone who has been so concerned about Shawn and his growth. We actually have an appointment tomorrow to do a weight check. We went in about 2 weeks ago for his 2^nd dose of flu vaccine and we put him on the scale. He had his clothes on and weighed 20lbs 6 oz, but the nurse told us that he probably is not quite 20 lbs without clothes on. He is eating a lot more now, and we are glad for the progress that he is making. He is such a sweet boy and loves to be around people. He has been walking since Sept. 16^th and is very, VERY busy. He loves to explore new places and is very into pushing any buttons he can lay his fingers on. We love to go places like the Children's Museum and to the Little Gym. He is growing up so fast and is saying a lot of words now. He also thinks he is an amazing jumper (even though he doesn't actually leave the ground! HA!). I will be posting all of the pictures I have been saving up since the last time I was on here. Stay tuned for those images (especially you, Lindy. Hopefully this fuels your Shawn cravings! J ). Oh yeah, and he's currently cutting 5 (yes FIVE) teeth right now!!! YIKES!

Playing in the fall leaves with Grandpa.

Loving on Mommy in the backyard.

I think that about catches you up. Sorry again for the long batch of silence. Hopefully I will be back on track to posting regularly. God bless you this week! J

Home Sick :(

Well, it is Sunday morning and I am not at church....this has not happened in years! But I am sick and Bryan forbade me from leaving the house. Even though we have so much going on at church right now (coffee bar sponsored by Quarterlife this month, we were supposed to be greeting at the front **visitors** doors, we are teaching a class, I was supposed to teach the nursery during service, and on and on). So Bryan went off to conquer all of these tasks on his own, and Shawn and I stayed home. We figure it would be best for everyone if I stayed home and did not get everyone at Church sick....especially the little wee ones in the nursery.

I started feeling bad a few days ago. I can always tell a cold is coming because my throat starts getting scratchy and sore. I probably should have stayed home yesterday, too, but Bryan and I taught a Photography workshop at church (which was awesome!) and I felt I needed to be there. Also, Shawn and I had to go in and get our flu shots, and I didn't want Bryan to have to suffer through a flu shot alone. :) Then we ended up going to a pumpkin patch with Sara and Heather....I don't think that walking around a field full of dying corn stalks for 2.5 hours helped at all! It was fun, cute pictures to come, but by the time I got home I felt like the walking dead.

Bryan is always SO sweet to me when I am sick. He cooks for me, brings me necessary liquids, takes my pile of ooey gooey tissues to the trash for me, looks after Shawn completely on his own (feeding, bath, bedtime routine, tucking in, etc). I love Bryan all the time, but especially when I am sick and he shows me such committed, unselfish love.

More to come.....


****Well it got a little worse yesterday. By the time Bryan got home he was showing signs of having a cold. So we pretty much laid low and did nothing. Shawn and I have stayed in pajamas for two days (yesterday and now today).

But this morning we were worse, again. I woke up feeling terrible. Luckily Shawn slept until 8:40am so I got a little more rest. Bryan and I both woke up with rumbly tummies. It's not bad enough to have a cold, now we also were etremely nautious as well. Bryan at one point asked if we should call someone to come and get Shawn, but who would volunteer to take a baby with cold symptoms whose parents also had a flu bug. Shawn played pretty well by himself all morning. I had to have Bryan change his stinky diaper because I knew my stomach would not handle it today.

Lunch was rough. I was trying to feed Shawn and it was all I could do to not be sick myself. But then it happened.....I threw up.....in the kitchen sink.....with Shawn watching....completely terrified. Luckily Bryan was able to take over and let me lay down on the couch for a little bit. Until he got sick....in the kitchen sink....with Shawn watching....again looking terrified. So I was back on call to finish lunch and get Shawn ready for his afternoon nap. We must have been quite a sight. I put Shawn down for a nap and Bryan and I slept on the couch. We pretty much haven't left the couch at all today.

I feel like a terrible Mommy...letting my son run wild in the playroom with only minimal supervision. Too iskc to do anything. It is days like today that I appreciate having my parents around--although they are hunting on the other side of the state for 10 days. Oh well, maybe they'll be here for the next sickness. :)

FIREPROOF Movie

I know, I know.....long time, no write. I promise Updates are coming. In the meantime, Bryan and I went with our Quarterlife group to see the new movie Fireproof tonight. It is phenomenal. Go see it. Seriously. Go today!!! Everybody should see this movie. Single, Married, or otherwise. Everyone can benefit. Just thought I would share! :)

I LOVE the Olympics!!!!

I think I have always loved the Olympics. Since I was small and watched the Gymnastics portion. I thought the gymnasts were beautiful and elegant. And then there was Penny Haynes. She went to school with me in South Africa when I was young and was a phenomenal swimmer. She represented South Africa in the Olympics in Atlanta -- she won a GOLD in 100m breaststroke and a GOLD in the 200m breaststroke. She swam again in the Sydney Olympics and won a Bronze in 100m breasstroke. It was incredible to get to see her swim so many years later. She was an absolute hero in South Africa.

Then in 2000, I was in Australia during the Olympics. I went on a semester abroad with Harding and had an amazing time over there. We were so excited to get to tour the Olympic Stadium (where the opening ceremonies are held) two weeks before the games began. We got to see the Olympic torch during its race to the Olympic stadium. Once we moved to Brisbane, we were taken to a final round soccer match. We saw Cameroon take on Brazil...if you are into soccer at al you know what a match up this was. Cameroon won the match and went on the the game for the Gold medal. They ultimately won gold and it was so exciting to see them succeed. It was so much fun watching the HUGE swimming rivalry of America versus Australia. But the USA held their own and did us proud.

Bryan and I have both been super excited for the Olympics to begin. The day of the Olympics opening ceremonies, Bryan planned a special date for our little family. We went to the Little Gym, which is what we do every Friday. Then we went for a bike ride at Clear Creek. It was great to bike with Shawn along the river. Bryan had packed a picnic for us and we ate on the bridge overlooking the water. It's nearing the end of the summer, so there were a ton of young people tubing down the river, kayaking in the rapids, and out walking. It was a glorious day. Then we went home and made dinner. We packed it up and drove to our old stomping ground, Belmar. They were having a wonderful jazz band performance, that we enjoyed over dinner. Unfortunately, the band was rained out and we had to seek shelter in the nearest GAP store. Which was fun to have a little time to shop. We had Tivo'd the Opening Ceremonies and went home and watched it while fast forwarding through the commercials. Whay joy! :)

Here are some pics from the day:

Shawn and I on the bike.

Shawn with his new helmet. It has Mickey Mouse on it. I know it is super huge, but it is the smallest that we could find. I think Shawn spent most of our bike ride holding up his helmet so he could see! Shame! :)

Here's one of Shawn enjoying his helmet.Shawn and I watching the kayakers navigating the rapids. They practice in this spot a lot.

Some of the scenery along the bike path.

Shawn and Daddy playing in the river. Shawn is definitely a water baby! :)

Standing on a rock in the water. He loved kicking and splashing in the flowing water.

GO USA!!!!!

Geoffrey's Birthday Club

On Wednesday we took Shawn to Toys 'R Us. We were shopping for Eddy's birthday present. But while we were there we decided to let Shawn revel in his Geoffrey's Birthday Club celebration. If you haven't enrolled your kids in the club, hurry in to your nearest Toys 'R Us. We gave them the card we received in the mail, and they lavished Shawn with birthday fun. He got balloons, a birthday hat, they announced him and his birthday over the loud system and played a happy birthday song. It was so special and he loved all the extra attention.

Here are some pictures of the Birthday boy. :)

Showing off his birthday balloon.

Trying to eat his birthday balloon.

Realizing I just slipped his hat on his head.

Trying to rip his hat off his head.

Not suceeding.

All-in-all we had a great time. Seriously, parents, sign your kids up. It is FUN!

Shawn's 1-year Appointment

Well, today was Shawn's 1-year appointment. It did not go quite as I had envisioned. He has grown quite a bit in the last few months. The problem is his weight is not keeping up with his height. So, Shawn has been put on a high-calorie diet for the next 6 months. Here are his stats:

Height: 30.34 inches (65th percentile)
Weight: 18.13 lbs (less than 20th percentile)--one site actually said his length is in the 5th percentile!

In the last two months he has put on 5 oz, but has grown substantially. The Doctor was not overly worried but she thought that he needed to be consuming more calories than his current intake. He is just SO active that is is burning off more than he is consuming. He is still nursing and his appetite has quadrupled in the past two months. So I knew something was going on, but I was still a little shocked to hear just how lightweight he actually is.

So, he is now allowed to eat whatever he wants....within reason. We are supposed to encourage more proteins, peanut butter, butter, egs, meat, and even ice cream. Right now I am just trying to get him to eat anything. While we were there, the Doctor said that he has an ear infection. This is the third one in 4 months, and she indicated that if he gets one more in the next 6 months and we will have to go meet with an ENT to explore our options (she mentioned tubes). YIKES!


Please pray for Shawn. Pray that he starts to gain some weight, and that he recovers from this ear infection and remains healthy for the next several months. Thanks! :)

Kid's Day Out -- Butterfly Pavilion

All summer long there have been activities planned for the kids at church. We have missed a lot of them due to scheduling and trips, but we finally made it to one! Today we visited the Butterfly Pavilion. It was a very interesting place to visit. The have a ton of bug specimen and some beautiful exhibits. They have a tarantula to hold, fish to touch, and, of course...butterflies. It was a lot of fun.

Shawn trying to grab the tarantula (named Rosie)....yes, he is laughing at it. I was terrified and he thought it was funny. He is more like his Dad than I admit! :)
Jack pointing at 'Dorie". If you haven't seen "Finding Nemo," you should!

Shawn touching a starfish. We finally had to remove him because he was actually moving the starfish in the water. I don't think that was part of the plan.A beautiful butterfly. I love the shape of this one.
A cluster of butterflies eating off of a tray. They love dead fruit. Go figure?

Here is a stow-away butterfly that rode around on our stroller for most of the time in the pavilion. It was very calm on the ride. I tried to get Shawn to see it, but I don't think he was interested. There were so many butterflies to look at.
A larger-than-life, moving ant exhibit. They were kind of frightening and reminded me of the movie "Honey, I shrunk the Kids". This is a favorite of my family when I was a kid.

Some of the kids that were there with us. Shawn in the middle. He loved spending time with other kids. He is fascinated by older kids.Shawn trying to get one of the displays to move. He is SO super cute. :)

Thanks, Erika, for planning this outing. You were awesome this year and hope to see you again soon! Good luck this year at ACU. :)

Shawn's 1st Birthday - A day of firsts

Monday was Shawn's birthday. It was both a sad and joyous day for me. I cried (a lot), and laughed a lot, too. I had planned several new things to mark this milestone for Shawn.

First on the schedule for the day was a haircut. I was adament about not touching Shawn's hair until he was at least 1. So, the very first thing we did was trim Shawn's bangs.

He was a little concerned at first about all the fuss around his head. We let him play with the comb for a little bit and that seemed to calm him for a little bit. Do you see how long his bangs are? They got to where I had to constantly brush his hair to the side to keep it out of his eyes.

So, we gave him a spoon to distract him. This is a BIG hit right now. I think he is teething again.

When the spoon lost it's appeal, I read him the book Nana and Papa sent him for his birthday. That seemed to do the trick. :)

This shows you how long that hair on top is. This is our attempt at a mohawk-but his hair is so long it won't even stand up! WOW!

The first cut. Look at all that hair!

He didn't like the feel of the scissors so we had to try something new.

Here was our solution. :) He didn't actually get to the sucker, but he liked sucking on the wrapper.

All finished. Boy was he excited!

Well, folks, here you have it. His first Big Boy haircut. The first of many, I'm sure! :)

Dressed and ready for the rest of the day.

Killing some time reading his new book.

(Kathy: I LOVE this little outfit. And it actually fits him. YEAH! :) )

Second, we decided it was time to promote Shawn to his Big Boy carseat. Although we're not sure he is at 20 lbs, at his 10 month check up they said he was 18.8 lbs and should be at 20 lbs by his birthday. So we got out the new carseat and washed all the fabric parts (then it took Bryan about 1.5 hours to put it all back together! HA). Here it is prior to the first installation.

Here is Shawn trying it out for the first time. I think he really likes it!

Then, he decided to try on Grandpa's sunglasses. Isn't he cute? These only stayed on for about 2 seconds before he pulled them off. But this is actually record for sunglasses! :)

Third, we started Shawn his first savings account. Here we are standing in front of our bank ready to open his account. This is the piggy bank that my mom gave to Shawn before he was born, and we have been collecting loose change for a year now. It was so exciting to get it counted and see how much he had in the bank..... $21.75!! WOW!!

Fourth, we decided it was time for Shawn to climb his first 14er (a mountain that is over 14,000 ft above sea level--there are 58 in Colorado). We actually drove to the top and walked up the last 150 ft. But it was raining and freezing, so we walked really fast! :)

Grandma with Shawn, and I walking up to the top. Can you tell we weren't expecting the weather change we encountered? I'm wearing shorts and flip flops in freezing weather!

Me, Mom, Dad with Shawn on top. You can see snow still on the mountain behind us.

Me, Bryan, Dad with Shawn on top.

Grandpa and Shawn heading back off the mountain. There was a lot of static in the air, which is a precursor to lightning!

Grandma, Grandpa with Shawn, and Me. You can see the observatory behind us. There used to be a restaurant up there (highest in the world) but it burned down due to a lightning strike. :(

All of us standing in front of the Mt Evans sign. We met a family from Austin up there. They had a son who lives in Denver, but he went to Round Rock High School (my high school's biggest rival) and even graduated the same year I did. He is living in Denver doing photography. It was really strange to talk with him, there were so many similarities. SMALL WORLD!!! :)

The rest of these are scenic pictures Bryan took.

These are Big Horn sheep standing beside the road. They are losing their winter coat so they looked really mangy.

For dinner we stopped in Idaho Springs at Beau Jo's. This is a local hot spot and I highly recommend it to anyone passing through. They have yummy pizza. Here is Shawn eyeing my pizza. Well, it is actually pasta served in a pizza crust...very interesting!

The birthday boy and his proud Mama.

With Grandpa next to the mine shaft. Beau Jo's has a live mine shaft in the middle of the restaurant. The town of Idaho Springs still has several active mines operating.

Happy Birthday, Shawn! I hope you had a great day!