Thompson Family Tidings

10 Years later

2009-05-24T21:22:00.001-06:00

It is hard to believe that 10 years ago today I graduated from High School. I would never have imagined that 10 years later I would be happily married, with a beautiful son and another one on the way. I especially would not have guessed that I would be living in Colorado and doing ministry with my husband, and running our own Photography business. At this point I would not change a single thing about my life. But it is fun to think what life will be like in another 10 years. Will we have more kiddos? Will we still be living in Denver? Will we be doing our Photography business full time? Only God knows. :-)

Here are some fun pictures to look at from my Senior year. We will be having our 10-year reunion in October. I can't wait to see everyone. :-)Here is Lindsey, Me, Lisa, and Ashley (Lindsey's twin sis) at our Awards ceremony a few days before graduation. We were all honors students so we are wearing our honors medals.
I was a clown in the Homecoming Pep Rally. It was so fun to be dressed up and perform in front of the whole school. Those shoes were SO big that it made it very difficult to walk.
Here I am with my parents on Graduation day. This is at my Graduation party at our house. It is funny to see how young we all look in this photo! :-)

Here I am at my Grauation party with the HUGE cake my Mom got for the party. But it sure was Yummy. :-)

See you all at the reunion!

Maternity shoot - 16 weeks

2009-04-01T10:14:00.000-06:00

Well, we are excited to announce that we are EXPECTING #2!!!! We kept the news quite for some time, but now are ready to talk about it. These pictures were taken at 16 weeks and my little tummy is coming along nicely. Oh yeah, according to our ultrasound on 3/24 we now know that this little one is another BOY! We can't wait to meet him and introduce him to Shawn.
We LOVE you little one and pray for a safe journey through this pregnancy. :-)

Introducing Little Caleb

2009-01-17T21:41:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed to have a new nephew to love. He is just adorable. We were very fortunate to get the opportunity to photograph Caleb before we left Atlanta. He was only about 10 days old when these pictures were taken. You can just see how much Noel and Cherie already love him. He is truly a blessing to the entire Thompson family.

I love this one. He looks so serious. :)

Cherie is such a beautiful Mother. She has taken to it so naturally.
Noel is such a proud Daddy. He loves to show off his little man.
I love this one. His little feet are so tiny and perfect.

So tiny in his big new room. :)

His nursery turned out so great. Cherie did such a wonderful job on getting all of the details just perfect. :)
She doesn't even look sleep-deprived. What a beautiful new Mom. :)

Thanks Noel and Cherie for a wonderful time photographing Caleb. It was wonderful to be able to capture some of the precious moments in his brand new little world. We love him! :)

Stone Mountain--Atlanta

2009-01-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

We also had a great afternoon at Stone Mountain. They had a Christmas Spectacular event and we were able to enjoy it with the Thompsons. We went on Dec 27th, which was a little difficult because Santa was already on "vacation" after delivering all the presents.

Here is a folk singer/story teller that had entertainment geared to toddlers and preschoolers. It was very amusing and the kids really got into it.

Then Mrs. Claus came and told the kids stories. She was a really good Mrs. Claus! :)

This is the reason the park is called "Stone Mountain". This carving of the Confederate Memorial (Carving depicts three Confederate heroes of the Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and Lt. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson)

The entire carved surface of the Memorial Carving measures three acres, larger than a football field. The carving of the three men towers 400 feet above the ground, measures 90 by 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain.

This guy was a GIANT bubble blower. It was really cool to watch. Shawn was really interested in his bubbles.
They had these wooden signs all over the park. They had funny sayings on them. This one was mine and Kathy's favorite. It said "He who laughs last, Didn't get it at first."

They also had this great 3D Polar Express show. It blew snow on us and had all sorts of cool effects. Shawn was mesmerized. So fun! :)

Coke factory--Atlanta

2009-01-15T22:15:00.001-07:00

While we were in Atlanta we had several outings with Gordon and Kathy. One of them was to Coke factory in downtown Atlanta. It was so much fun to go see the new location and new facility for the Coke factory. Here are some of the fun pictures Bryan captured while we were there.

The huge welcome.

These were beautiful wooden bottles in the lobby of the Coke factory. They were huge! At least 8-15 feet tall. Very impressive entryway.

Once on the tour, they had various Coke signs from around the world. Here are a few of them.

Here is an old Coke machine. The cost of a coke from this machine is 10c.

This used to be a Coke delivery vehicle in Buenos Aires. They opened a distribution plant there in the 1930s.
Here are some advertising products used in the U.S. They also had a similar display for advertising materials in the rest of the world.

Another vending machine, this one cost 25c.
At the end of the tour they had a room where you could taste Coke products from around the world. This is a picture of the Africa station. Anybody interested in trying some Beverly? :) I was able to try some of my favorites from when I was growing up. Bryan and I tried to drink at least a taste from every fountain....I almost made it, then I started feeling sick so I stopped.
The entire tour there is a conveyor belt running little Coke bottles above your head. You watch them being bottled in one section, and then at the very end of the tour you get to take one with you. I was just a LITTLE excited....can you tell? :)
Here we are outside the Coke factory after our tour. We had a great time. If you're in Atlanta in the near future, check it out! :)

Christmas in Atlanta

2009-01-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time in Atlanta for Christmas. We flew out on Monday Dec 22nd and flew home January 3rd. It was a wonderful 10 day trip and we got to see a lot of Bryan's family.

Here are some highlights (some of these pics are courtesy of Bryan's Dad!):

Our first stop in Atlanta was to Noel and Cherie's house. We had to stop by and meet my new NEPHEW!!! Introducing Caleb. This is what he looked like the first time we saw him...fast asleep. :0) He is just SO precious.

Then we headed for the Thompson house. Of course, Kathy had it imaculately decorated. Every year she has a different theme for the house and especially the tree. It was all just so beautiful.

Here is the gorgeous tree. I LOVE Christmas at the Thompson house. :)

Some of the decorations.

Kathy's Christmas village.

Here is Shawn making cookies with his Nana. He loved all the attention from Nana and Papa.

Great Papa (Bryan's grandpa) looking at our Christmas card.

The new family. Baby Caleb is less than a week old here. They look so happy (and hardly sleep deprived). :)

This is the bench that we had made for Caleb. Shaw was just a little obsessed with it. We had to take it apart to mail it to ATL, and when I was getting it ready I found all of Shawn's treasures in the trap door. On Christmas day, Shawn decided he was going to try to fit in the trap door. Too cute. :)

Shawn on Christmas morning.

Here is one with his hat on. He looked so cute in his little Santa outfit.

Great Papa opening presents. We bought him some new shirts.

Noel and Cherie's favorite Christmas present. This was Noel's doing, not ours. Just FYI.

Shawn opening a present from Papa and Nana. It is a Touch and teach book. AWESOME!!

I got to hold Caleb for a little while as he slept. I got a great book--one of Anne Geddes books. Have I mentioned I love her?!

Shawn opening a gift from Great Papa. It was some books. His favorite is "The Little Train Who Could". He loves the pictures and saying "Toot, toot".

Bryan got another Gator shirt. He LOVES his Gators. :)

Noel showing off some of the clothes that we gave them. We bought them hats, shoes and clothes. Really cute stuff, in my opinion! :)

After all the present-opening, we had a delicious lunch. Isn't this table lovely?

After lunch we went to the play area right across from Gordon and Kathy's new house. Doesn't Nana look like he is eating up her Shawn time?

Papa and Nana bought this cute little Pooh car before we arrived. They thought it would keep Shawn entertained....and boy were they right! I am so glad he had this to play with. :)

Going down the slide at the play area. Shawn loved getting to play there, and we were glad it was so close to the house.

More to come from our time in ATL....

Little Gym and Coffee Shop

2008-12-01T21:23:00.007-07:00

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

2008-12-01T13:20:00.003-07:00

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 :(

2008-10-19T09:35:00.003-06:00

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

2008-09-28T22:55:00.002-06:00

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!!!!

2008-08-10T16:24:00.000-06:00

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

2008-08-07T15:44:00.000-06:00

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

2008-08-01T23:23:00.001-06:00

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

2008-07-31T22:57:00.003-06:00

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

2008-07-30T23:19:00.014-06:00

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!

Shawn's First Year

2008-07-29T22:44:00.015-06:00

Wow, I really cannot believe it has been a year since my sweet Angel arrived in this world. He has made such a huge impact on the lives of those around him. He lights up any room he enters and is such a bundle of fun, contagious, energy. I love him so much and I am so thankful to God that he entrusted me with the privledge of raising such a special man of God.

Here is an overview of the last 12 months:

Three weeks before Shawn's arrival (Art & Karyn's Wedding)- 7/7/07

Morning of Shawn's arrival. About to go into the hospital. - 7/28/07

Just before finding out Shawn is breech and being rushed into surgery. - 7/28/07

First pictures of new Shawn. - 7/28/07

First family photo, in surgery recovery room. - 7/28/07

Pictures with Mom. - 7/28/07

Leaving the hospital. - 7/30/07

1st month birthday- 8/28/07

2nd month birthday - 9/28/07

We buy a house and start renovations - 10/3/07

First photo with Santa - 10/29/07

Shawn's 3rd month birthday was spent moving into the house. So, no 3rd month birthday party. Instead, Shawn was center stage as Baby Jesus in our Home Church's Manger scene for Halloween. He was also a Puppy. - 10/29/07

Shawn's photo shoot as a pumpkin - 11/22/07

4th month birthday - 11/28/07

First Snow - 12/8/07

First Christmas - 12/25/07

5th month birthday - 12/28/07

6th month birthday - 1/28/08

First Valentines - 2/11/08

First plane ride - 2/26/08

7th month birthday - 2/28/08

First meeting of Shawn and Great-Papa - 2/29/08

Angel Baby picture - 3/17/08

8th month birthday -3/28/08

9th month birthday - 4/28/08

10th month birthday - 5/28/08

11th month birthday - 6/28/08

Shawn,

I love you more than you will ever know. You are my sweet Angel. You will always be my Baby.

Mommy.

Shawn’s 1st Birthday Party

2008-07-29T20:59:00.003-06:00

Well, it is hard to believe that it is already time for Shawn's first birthday. But more on that tomorrow.

We had Shawn's first birthday party on Sunday. It was a lot of fun. We had the party at the nearby park so that the kids could play on the playground. We have a big backyard but figured we'd need more than just our little playscape to entertain everyone.

We did a neutral party balloons theme. It was really pretty with RED, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE and ORANGE.

Here are some pictures.

Goody bags for all the kids at the party.

These next few are from before the party started. Here is the present table.

One of the four tables, we had food on each table. We had Animal Crackers (a hit with the younger group), popcorn, and cheetos.

The birthday cake. I made it the night before and had just a few issues. :) But I think it turned out okay, and boy was it YUMMY!!

This is Shawn's personal birthday cake. He had a LOT of fun eating it!

The drink table: water, kool-aid and lemonade.

The decorations on Shawn's high chair.

The birthday boy. He was woken up from his afternoon nap prematurely. It took him a little bit to fully wake up and get into the party mood. :)

He is SO close to walking. I thought he might actually do it at his party. But he was just teasing me! This is a super cute outfit his Nana Thompson bought him. It's a 12 month outfit and I had been saving it for his party. Even now it is too big. Needless to say, many thanks to everyone for all the 6-9 and 9-12 month clothes! Very handy to have around right now! :)

This is Shawn's cousin, Eddie. Isn't he adorable! He is only about 10 days younger than Shawn. His party is coming up soon.

Here is Eddie offering us his carrot. Him and Shawn become good buds. They were trying to share food and sippy cups, pretty much anything they got their hands on. They were so cute together.

This is Eddie's big sis, Abby. She has the most gorgeous ringlet curls and is so sweet. She was my helper bringing me gifts for Shawn to open. I hope I have a little Angel like her someday. :)

The birthday boy opening his first gift. This one is from his sweet Nana and Papa in Atlanta.

Here are some of the adorable outfits Nana and Papa bought Shawn. I can't wait to see them on. Thanks again! :)

His Pooh card from Kathy.

Presents from Aunt Cherie and Uncle Noel.

I love this little outfit they bought. He will definitely be styling. :)

An outfit from his favorite Aunt Sara. And the finger puppets are super cute. I can't wait to play with them, I mean, Shawn is excited to play with them! :)

Starting to understand the opening presents thing.

The super cute book from Nana and Papa. The little ducklings on the front are soft and fuzzy. We've already read it about 6 times since Sunday.

The cute card from Great-Papa (Bryan's grandpa). The little dump truck on the front actually moves. Shawn was just mesmerized by it! :)

And here are the CDs Great-Papa sent. There are 3 60-minute CDs of Christian songs and lullabys. We listened to them today and they are great. I even know most of the songs and could sing along.

This is one of four little Tonka cars Rick and Jacquie bought Shawn. He loves them already and even makes little car sounds when playing with them. He says "Voom, voom". Is this a guy thing, or what?! :)

Shawn finally started getting into the presents and was telling everyone what he got--a Curious George shirt and little shorts.

When it was finally time for cake, he was NOT interested in wearing his party hat and bib. What does the song say? "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!" So, he did. :)

He got better once the hat came off.

Lighting the candle on his brthday cake.

He was mesmerized with the candle. Every month we do a birthdya cupcake with candle and he wants to get to it so badly. We've never let him be this close to it. Frankly, he just didn't know what to do!

Same with the cake. He would touch it very gingerly. Just with his finger at first. He'd stick a finger in and then lick off the frosting.

Then he started sticking his fingers in.

But it wasn't until he got his fork that he really wen't to town on the cake.

Little messy face. He even has blue icing in his hair!

Now on his chest.....

And more icing.....

We figured if we were going to break the no icing rule, we'd let him have his first cookie, too. He really liked the cookie.

We also let him have some ice cream. He enjoyed that as much as the rest. But he only wanted to eat it with his fork.

Can you see the full extent of the mess? He has cake and icing on his legs, arms, belly, all over the high chair. It was a real mess! :)

He even wanted to share with Mommy! :) If you look closely you can even see his top two teeth.

Here are some of the party-goers. Thanks again everyone for make Shawn's birthday SO special. We love you all and cherish our friendship with each of you.

July Girls Night Out

2008-07-23T16:42:00.001-06:00

Well, I didn't post about the past few GNO...sorry! In May, we went to see a movie and it is hard to take a picture inside a movie theatre. :) On May 17th we went to see a "Chick Flick" and had so much fun. There is nothing like seeing a good girl movie with other girls. We saw Made of Honor and laughed (and cried) with the rest of the crowd. It was a great time.

In June we met for coffee in Belmar, and then headed to Lucky Strike for some bowling. The Lucky Strike alley is AWESOME! It is always good to have time with the girls. We had a good turn out and will definitely look to do this again in the future. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and so there are no pictures! OOPS!!

I again forgot my camera at this month's fun GNO. Luckily, my good friend Laura remembered hers and so she got some great pictures. We went to a Paint your own Pottery studio and really enjoyed the time together. There was a good turn out at this event too and we will be adding this one to the schedule again soon (maybe in time for the holidays?!). Here are the pictures from the evening and also some from each of our 'masterpieces'! I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as we enjoyed painting them. :)

Our group on Monday: (L to R) Lynette, Sara, Cory (my good friend from Allied), Rachel S., and Me (Laura is the photographer)

Busy at work

Another shot of us at work.

The other half of the table working.

Laura at work on her Masterpiece! It turned out gorgeous.

Smiling for the camera.

Here are our art pieces. This is Lynette's--she is a HUGE Detroit Redwings fan. She also painted a really cute pair of flip flops.

My friend Cory painted this adorable jewelry box for her three-year-old daughter, her nickname is "Mo". I love it, Cory!

This is the frame I painted for Shawn as a gift for his Birthday. I LOVE the way it turned out. Let's just say I cried when I saw it. More on that in a future post.

This is what Rachel painted. You can't really tell the colors from this picture, the swirls are a pretty chocolate brown, and the dots are maroon. She said these colors match her kitchen and she plans to put it on the wall in her kitchen.

This is Sara's plate and I love the way it turned out. She painted it a dark Eggplant purple-which matches her kitchen. She painted these cool swirls in a puffy black paint along the edge. Shw plans to use it as a candle plate in her kitchen.

And last, but certainly not least, is Laura's plate. Laura and her husband are moving from Colorado to Missouri in September. They are moving there to open a Ranch for Troubled boys called Whetstone. She came prepared with a picture of what she wanted to paint. This is actually a replica of the Colorado state quarter. This picture definitely does NOT do her plate justice. It is absolutely gorgeous and I am in love with it.

Thanks for such a great time, Ladies. See you next month for another great time!

Thompson Photography

2008-07-15T21:40:00.002-06:00

Hey Everyone,

We've been very busy lately. Make sure you stop by our photography blog to see our most recent work and our monthly specials. Click here to see our business blog.

Kristen

P.S. This is why I am SO behind on my blogging. I will try to get caught up soon. :)

Shawn and his Tonka trucks

2008-06-28T23:17:00.011-06:00

My dad and I have been going to yard sales every Saturday. It is so much fun. Kind of like a mini-treasure hunt and you never know what you will find. I have picked up a ton of books, puzzles, toys, etc for Shawn, and my dad is always on the look out for a good deal. Here is one of his latest finds...three Tonka trucks. These are the heavy duty metal ones that we used to play with when I was a kid. We have pictures of my little brother (when he was about 2 or 3) playing with some just like these. This was in the backyard on Thursday.

I hope you enjoy these. :)

This is Shawn's latest funny thing to do. When you say "Hooray" he raises his arms in the air. It is SO cute. :)

Shawn's Great Escape

2008-06-24T23:23:00.006-06:00

Here is Shawn's attempt to escape the Baby gates we've put up to keep him corralled. He is such a fast crawler that we had to devise a way to keep him in an enclosed place. Here is a play by play of his attempt to escape. We find it hilarious!

Hope you enjoyed this as much as we enjoyed watching it. I'm sure it won't be the last attempt! :)

The Month of April -- part 2

2008-06-19T16:24:00.003-06:00

Well, April was pretty busy for us.

1. Our local World Bible School teachers had noticed a need for Bibles in the country of Zimbabwe. So, they decided to do a fundraiser to buy Bibles and send them to their students there. My parents and I were recruited to assist with the effort due to our time in Africa and our extensive work with World Bible School. So on Sunday, April 27th, my Mom and I spoke to the kids class during church service. We educated them about the country of Zimbabwe and of the need there. The kids were challenged to raise money for the effort during the month of May. During the month of June, the adults were challenged to bring in donations and support the church's coffee bar.

Here is my Mom speaking to the kids. We brought in a lot of African artifacts for them to look at and play with. Unfortunately, my Mom told the kids that ostrich eggs are very durable and can withstand a lot of things. One little girl decided to put the egg to the test and threw it against the brick wall--needless to say it completely shattered. Oops! :)

Here are the WBS workers: Jon Preskorn, Me, Shawn (on my back), Mom, and Kathy Preskorn

Shawn tied on like a true African baby. I was SO nervous that he was going to fall off--but he had a great time!

The month of April -- part one

2008-05-08T23:10:00.011-06:00

Okay so I know that I have been a little MIA, but the last two months have been such a whirlwind. Here are the big events of April:

1. Shawn turns 8 months old (3/28). It was a sad day for Shawn as we had to make a trip to the Dr.'s office. Shawn had an ear infection and had to be put on antibiotics. He was such a trooper, and even though he was sick he didn't even act sick. He is such a sweet kid.

We are way past the phase where he will sit near the cupcake and not go for it. So, this month I had to hold him and the cupcake (and try to keep them close enough for the pictures, but far enough apart to avoid a sugar overload).

We also enjoyed taking some pictures of Shawn with Mom and Dad. (Notice his shirt is mis-buttoned? HA!) This one is definitely my new favorite. I love his little tongue sticking out. :)

Here is my little naked boy. I wanted to get a picture of his cute little butt...while he is still willing to show it off. :)

2. April 2nd was the Baby Dedication night at church. Bryan and I were in charge of the event and were super busy getting ready for it. You can read more about it here.

3. On Friday April 4th I walked in and found Shawn doing this:

Yes, standing in his crib. And he was SO proud of himself for doing it, too. Needless to say, Bryan lowered the crib as soon as he got up that morning. He still stands in his crib everytime he wakes up from a nap or in the morning, but at least he is lower in the crib now. He is SO smart. Now he is trying to stand up at everything--the baby gate, in the bathtub, in his high chair, etc.

4. On Friday April 11th, my Mom and I watched the Miss USA pageant. We love to see the dresses and critique basically everything about the contestants and the show in general. This year they went with a much edgier show--live bands throughout the show, more famous judges, a much quicker pace to the whole event, etc. We were totally stoked when Miss Texas won! She was so beautiful and eloquent in her responses. YEAH!! You can keep track of Crystle through her blog.

5. We're still attending classes on Friday's at The Little Gym. We have made some really great friends and love our time there.

Here is Shawn banging two textured sticks together. It helps to strengthen his hand-eye coordination and also builds his depth perception.

6. We had another Girls Night Out. This time we met at Sturbucks for coffee. It was a small group, but we had such a good time talking and getting to know one another better. It was a small crowd because Krysten had just had her baby two days earlier and several of our regulars went over to meet the new little one. Congratulations again Connor and Krysten, he is beautiful.

Just us girls--(l to r) Ani (expecting #3-YEAH!), Me, Sara, and Laura.

7. In mid-April I was very fortunate to get to meet some of my friends from work for lunch. We meet at a restaurant down near our old work place. We had such agreat time catching up and hearing what each other had been up to. Kim (to my right) is the only one still at Allied. All the rest of us have moved on to different jobs, so it was especially nice to reconnect.

In front of the restaurant--(l to r) Danielle, Heather with Shawn, Me, Kim, Jennifer, and Donna

8. I was finally able to get a good picture of Shawn's two front teeth. They came in at 7-months and 7 1/2 months, but he won't ever let me near them to get a picture. They are so cute. He is currently working on is two upper teeth--super fun, let me tell you! :)

9. I finally found a bookshelf that I loved. I have been on a quest to find a large, in-good-shape, and realtively inexpensive bookshelf for months. And I finally found one! We had a special Ladies Day at church and it was a lot of fun. We honored three elderly ladies at church that have had interesting and, at times, challenging lives. It was awesome. Anyways, on the way home we stopped at this huge Antique Mall and after many, many aisles, I finally found what I was looking for. It was only $30 and fits perfectly in Shawn's room. All it needed was a quick paint job and it was ready to decorate.

Here are Shawn and I reading our inaugural book from the bookshelf (picture taken 4/22). Now it is even more filled with books. I just keep finding books to add. Shawn loves to read and is very good at turning the pages when asked, and opening and closing the book. I have started posting some of our favorite books in the right column. Let me know if you have any to suggest. We make a trip to the library about every 2 weeks, and usually check out about 40-45 books. We read them all twice and then take them back. I think this kid is going to be a reader! :)

See part 2 for more stories from April.

A little about me :)

2008-05-08T23:03:00.002-06:00

So, I was tagged by my good friend Lindy!!! Everything you wanted to know and more. J

1. Two things that you despise that no one knows about you~
a) I don't like to be near smoke. I can smell it from a long ways off (like sitting in a car at a stop light). Drives me nuts! I'm glad most places are becoming smoke-free environments.

b) I HATE to be late. It is definitely one of my biggest pet peeves. I try to leave early for everything we do, but now with Shawn I never seem to be on time to anything. Oh well, I'd rather be happy and late, than stressed & cranky and on time.

2. Name something fun you want to do in your life~
a) I really want to travel to all 50 states and to every continent—I've been to 30 states so far and every continent except Asia.

b) I also want to take Bryan to Africa and show him where I grew up.

3. Something that gives you joy, then something that gives you happiness~
a) My greatest joy is my son, Shawn. Bryan and I race to go in and get him in the morning because he is so darn cute! I love everyday as he learns new things.

b) Coffee, reading a magazine, running (I'm ready to start again), volunteering, and hanging out with friends makes me happy!

4. Biggest Fear in Life~
I have 2...
a) Not setting a good Christian example for my kids, my spouse, my family and my friends.

b) That Bryan will leave this earth before me and I will be alone to raise my children.

5. A secret talent you would like to possess~
a) I would love to be able to paint. I wish I was brave enough to give it a try. But I am such a perfectionist that I'm not sure I would be very good at it. Maybe one day I'll give it a go.

6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years~
I see me and Bryan living in a great little house-on plenty of acreage for Bryan :) –with four kids, all active and happy. I want our photography business to be in full swing where we can travel often and shoot pictures around the world. I want to be able to see my in-laws more often.

7. Something that is consuming your thoughts lately~
There are so many things that I think about.....

a) There are several marriages around me that are struggling right now and it is just crushing me. I wish I knew what to say or do to heal the hurting.

b) I am working on ways to grow our photography business. My problem right now is so much to do, so little time. There are only 24 hours in a day….even for a super Mom! J

c) Planning for the young adults ministry Bryan and I are kicking off this summer. Our Girls Night Out is a first phase of this ministry and we plan to go big with other events and groups in June.

d) And on and on and on……

Now I tag... Angela P., Stephanie L., and Kim L. Have fun! J

Today is my Mother-in-Law's Birthday

2008-05-08T10:42:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday, Kathy!!! You are so special to us and we love you dearly. We hope you have a fabulous birthday and wish we could be there with you. Can't wait until we see you again. Love you!

This is Kathy ("Nana") with baby Shawn the day he was born.

Easter (really late...I know!)

2008-04-27T00:09:00.000-06:00

What a great Easter! It was so fun to get to share in this experience with Shawn. To give him a glimpse into our faith and the reason for our hope and belief.

He looked super cute in his little Easter leisure suit--including bow tie! :) My Mom bought this for Shawn and he was the man of the day in this get up. These pictures were taken in our new home studio. We were really excited to finally get to play in it.

Then we took some additional photos of Shawn in his Harding University (mine and Bryan's Alma Mater) jumper. And we also played around with Shawn's new hat I bought at Old Navy. Super cute! :)

Check out our photography blog for more details on the studio, and our monthly special.

YEAH for Babies!!!!

2008-04-15T21:28:00.003-06:00

I am SO excited!!! We got a call and I am going to be an AUNT!!!! Bryan's awesome sister Cherie and her husband, Noel, are expecting! We are super excited about the new baby coming. She is still very early in her pregnancy so we covet all of your prayers and well wishes for a very successful pregnancy. We should meet the new little bundle around Christmas (ETA is Dec 23rd!). So, I guess we are definitely heading to Atlanta for the holidays.

Here are some pics of the new Mommy- and Daddy-to-be!

Here is Cherie with Shawn when he was a week old. She came out with Bryan's parents the day Shawn arrived. It was awesome to have her here! :)

I have some great pictures of Noel and Shawn while we were in Atlanta (but they won't upload!! I'll post them soon.). He loved spending time with Shawn. He got to bathe him twice, feed him several times, and pretty much wouldn't let anyone else hold him. It was so cute to see them together.

N & C--you two are going to be amazing parents. We can't wait to meet the little one. God bless you both during this time!!

My Little Angel

2008-04-10T03:48:00.007-06:00

Every year at our church they do a Baby dedication day. The idea is to spotlight new families and new parents and provide support and encouragement for them. Bryan and I were honored to get to oversee this years celebration. We took the "Angel Baby" pictures which are featured in the event, and I put together the booklet and video slideshow. Each baby's parents writes them a blessing which is featured in the booklet. Bryan and I are such soft hearts that we were both in tears as we penned the letter to our little one. And I will admit that I was tearing up as the slideshow aired and I heard everyone Ooh and Aah all the little ones.

Here is what we wrote to our little man.
Dear Shawn,
So much like an Angel you are to us. But how do we raise an angel in today’s world? In every moment that we hold you and look into your face, we feel complete awe at the wonder of God’s power in the beauty that He has given you. The Bible says that children whose parents raise them in the knowledge and teachings of Christ will always return to him. And so we make this promise to teach you not only the teachings of Christ but what it means to walk in a relationship with Him, through great times and through hard times. We promise to let you fall so you can learn, but we will always be there with love to help pick you up and provide strength and encouragement when you need it. You already show your Dad’s curiosity and desire for discovery, and so we know that this will be an interesting ride, but one that we are so blessed to share with you. You are our precious boy and we love you so much! Daddy and Mommy

These are the pictures of Shawn. For more Angel Baby pictures you can visit our Thompson Photography blog.
This one was taken to test the lighting, but it is SO cute. I love this little Longhorn outfit we received at the WBS shower in Austin. Thanks again!!

March Girls' Night Out

2008-04-07T16:18:00.008-06:00

We had an AWESOME time at our March GNO. We met at Sara's new condo (super cute, by the way!) and baked cookies for the church staff. We ended up with SO many cookies. We ended up filling the Easter bages with cookies for the staff and took all the rest to the Teen class the next day at Church.

It was a night of great conversation and a lot of laughs. It was great to meet Christine for the first time-she is so sweet.

Our next event is April 14th and will be at the Starbucks at Union & Alameda. See you ladies there at 7:00pm.

Waiting on a batch of cookies to finish.

Our gracious hostess, Sara. She is making her delicious snickerdoodles--yes, we sampled a few! :)

The finished product.

Wedding photos

2008-04-06T00:41:00.005-06:00

We photographed a wedding last weekend that was so much fun. We thoroughly enjoyed this couple and their family. You can really tell they are in love and that the families are excited about it. Here are a couple of my favorites, to see more visit our photography blog.

Get to know....ME. :)

2008-04-03T16:30:00.002-06:00

I was tagged by Angie via e-mail. So, I thought it would be fun to post it here for everyone to read. I know I have been a little behind in posting, I am trying to get caught up. We've been super busy!!

( ) Gone on a blind date – Nope, I knew all of my beaus.

(x) Skipped school – With my boyfriend in High School, we went to the mall. My mom gave me permission to do it, too.

( ) Watched someone die – Thankfully, no.

( ) Been to Canada – Close, but not quite across the border.

(x) Been to Mexico – I went with my church the Spring Break of my HS Senior year. We worked with a children’s home and did a VBS. Good memories.

(x) Been to Florida – Our family has a timeshare at Disney World. We try to go down there every 2 years, but it has been a while.

(x) Been on a plane – Too many times to recall.

(x) Been lost – When I was a kid, several times actually.

(x) Been on the opposite side of the country – I’ve been to all 4 corners of this country, and at least 30 states in between.

(x) Gone to Washington, DC – We went several times when I was a kid. My Uncle & Aunt lived in Fairfax, VA and we rode the train into DC. It was fun.

(x) Swam in the ocean – I’ve swam in several oceans—Indian, Atlantic, Pacific

(x) Cried yourself to sleep- not very often, but a few times in my life.

( ) Played cops and robber – No, but I’m sure I will before too long. I think Shawn is going to be a very active kid. :)

(x) Recently colored with crayons – Yes, I taught our Home Church kids one night and we drew pictures.

( ) Sang Karaoke – No, even though Jenny Sims and her family keep trying to get me to come to one of their AWESOME karaoke parties.

(x) Paid for a meal with coins only – Not since I was in college!

(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't – Skydiving in Australia. I didn’t think I would actually be able to do it.

(x) Made prank phone calls – Yes, when I lived in South Africa we spent many, many hours prank calling. We would call people and tell them to win a prize they had to roar like a lion—it was hilarious. But, I am very embarrassed about it now!

( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose – No, not yet anyway.

(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue – Yes, several times with Bryan. We live in Colorado, you know, the state with all the snow!

(x) Danced in the rain – Yes, again with Bryan. I love his sense of adventure!

(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus – Not since I was a kid.

(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe – Yes, every year by my Prince Charming. He seems to find mistletoe everywhere we go!

(x) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about – Yes, the morning I left for Australia, Bryan and I stayed up all night packing and talking. We watched the sunrise and then slept for an hour before leaving for the airport.

(x) Blown bubbles – Yes, at least every other day! Shawn loves them, and so do the kitties. Domino loves to catch them and pop them.

(x) Gone ice-skating – Yes, we used to do it a lot as a kid.

(x) Been skinny dipping – Yes, once when I was a kid, and once with Bryan (after we were married!).

(x) Gone rock climbing – This used to be one of my brother’s favorite activities. We did it quite often in middle and high school.

1. Any nickname? – Kris, Krissy, Shorty

2. Mother's name? Susan Pottberg

3. Favorite drink? Dr. Pepper, any kind of fresh fruit drink

4. Tattoo? - no

5. Body Piercing? – Only earrings, that I don’t change very often

6. Birthplace? – Craig, Colorado

7. Favorite vacation spot? - Disney World with the WHOLE family, Atlanta to see Bryan’s family

8. Ever been to Africa? Yes, lived there for 8 years as a kid

9. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? Yes, cookie dough in college. Jamie & Kristy were bad influences on me!!

10. Ever been on TV? – yes, at least a picture of my face for a clown day I was a part of when I was 8

11. Ever steal a traffic sign? – no, but people have stolen them for me

12. Ever been in a car accident? – Yes, but never a very bad one. More like fender-benders, but never when I was driving.

13. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? - 4 doors

14. Favorite salad dressing? - Ranch or Italian

15. Favorite pie? Chocolate cream, but usually I don’t eat desserts

16. Favorite number? - 2

17. Favorite movie? – Bed of Roses, Center Stage, any “Chick Flick”

18. Favorite holiday? - Christmas

19. Favorite dessert? – Fruit salad

20. Favorite food? – My homemade stew

21. Favorite day of the week – Any day Bryan is home and we have nothing planned.

22. Favorite brand of body wash? - Bath and bodyworks – Cucumber Melon

23. Favorite toothpaste? – Crest with Scope

24. Favorite smell? – Clean laundry (especially if Bryan did it!)

25. What do you do to relax? – I like to take Shawn for a walk in his stroller

26. How do you see yourself in 10 years? - Working with Thompson Photography and entertaining my 4 kids and many visitors in a big house!

I tag Lindy and Laura. Have fun! :)

A week of Firsts

2008-03-15T23:03:00.007-06:00

Here is a post I was working on before we left on our trip, but didn't get a chance to post it. It is from the week of 2/15.

This has been an exciting week for us. We have been able to experience a lot of new things with Shawn.

1. We bought Shawn a new high chair off of Craigslist and he has loved using it. Although, he is still a little small for it as you'll see in the pictures. [Craigslist is AWESOME! It is a community where people buy, sell, and give stuff away. They have great bargains on there for just about everything you are looking for. Click on this link to see if there is a community near you-- http://www.craigslist.org ]

Shawn can just barely see over the tray. My Mom said he needs a booster seat for his high chair!

Not sure what this face is, but I think it is HILARIOUS!!! :)

2. Shawn attended his first Bible Class on Sunday. The baby class is for babies that are 6 months and older, so Shawn was finally old enough to attend. I was so excited that I even brought the camera to take his picture. I took a bunch of cute ones during "Story Time" before I realized that the memory card was not in the camera! OOPS! So the pictures below are posed, but I think they are still cute! :) He is showing off the "Days of Creation" book that they read in class. [He loves Bible class. I am now the teacher during service for the 6 - 12 mos class. It has been fun but challenging. I love the babies!!]

3. We fed Shawn pears for the first time on Sunday. The puree that I made is delicious and I found myself sneaking a little to eat! But he didn't like it very much and the faces he made are priceless!
4. Today we went to our first class at "The Little Gym". It is a great center where they do classes for kids from 4 mos to 10 years. They start with little kids (lovingly called "Bugs") learning new movements and focusing on developmental exercises, and then each class becomes more involved. They also offer gymnastics and dance for kids a little older. Shawn had so much fun playing with Mommy and Daddy, and the other kids there today. We will definitely be joining the weekly program.

Inroducing Shawn to the class.

This was our class that day. Every week there are some new faces and some regulars. The little girl to my right (Molly) has become Shawn's little girlfriend. At our most recent class he was smiling at her, talking to her, and even held her hand! That's my little man!! Working on crawling with Daddy.

Here is Shawn haning from a stick. This helps to tone his abs, which will help with crawling. He was the only baby that could do this! :) Here we are bouncing on a ball. This also helps to tone the abs and develop the core muscles. He loves the ball. We finish every class with bubbles. Shawn loved this so much that I stopped and bought some bubbles on the way home from class. We try to blow bubbles at least once every day. It helps babies to develop better hand-eye coordination. We even learned the sign language sign for bubbles. He loves them!

5. This week we also promoted Shawn to a cart shopper. By this I mean, he no longer has to look at stores from his car seat pr stroller. We were given one of those cart protecters and have been putting it to good use. Shawn loves the ability to look around and see the entire store, not just what is visible from the car seat.

Today is my Mom's Birthday!! :)

2008-03-13T09:00:00.003-06:00

YEAH! So my Mom officially turned 39 (again) today! :) I am so blessed to get to spend so much time with her lately. I love the verse that says: "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (Proverbs 31:30). I think this sums up my mother perfectly....the praising parts, not the fleeting beauty! :)

Love you Mom. I hope you have a great day!!

Here is my Mom with Shawn about 2 hours after birth.

A long way from home

2008-03-03T08:33:00.004-07:00

I am SO sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I have so much to catch you up on...and I promise I will do it. We are currently on our trip to Atlanta. As I type, we are sitting in our fabulous photography conference in Charleston, SC. I will be posting a lot of photos from our trip and the days leading up to it as soon as I get home. So stay tuned for all of the updates. :)

Bryan's Birthday!

2008-02-17T21:36:00.003-07:00

Today is Bryan's 32nd birthday! In honor of his special day, I have come up with the 32 things that I love most about my husband. And here we go:

1. His smile -- melts my heart everytime!
2. His eyes -- I can just get lost in them, which usually makes him blush! :)
3. His laugh -- it is incredibly infectious :)
4. His hugs -- can make everything else disappear
5. His lips -- I love to kiss them. I know, I know...TMI!! :)
6. His sense-of-humor -- sometimes witty, sometimes dry, but always silly! :)
7. His creative side -- he can see beauty in just about anything, and then he tries to make the pictures capture what he sees
8. His sensitive side -- yes, he sometimes cries in movies! :) And I love that!
9. His love for people -- especially those in need
10. His love of God and devotion to following God's plan for his life -- ie. walking away from corporate America to allow God to utilize all of his gifts
11. His love for Shawn -- it is beautiful to see them interact! Shawn definitely loves his Daddy!
12. His passion...for everything! -- especially Gator sports! HA
13. His desire to always be improving-- He wants to be the very best Bryan possible.
14. His compassion -- he really feels for other people.
15. His perfectionism -- although this one usually drives me nuts! :)
16. His belief in himself -- he knows he can do anything if he puts enough effort into it
17. His ability to make me laugh when I'm down -- like no one else!
18. His love of the outdoors -- he's already planning a camping trip for him and Shawn!
19. His desire to serve, in any capacity -- he is ready to serve, any time, any place
20. His vision for where he wants to be tomorrow, next month, next year, and when we're ready to retire -- Colorado, mountain home, lots of land...just in case you are wondering. :)
21. His silly side -- as silly as they come. I think that is why the teens love him! :)
22. His serious side -- oh yes, he actually does have one!
23. His morning good-bye kiss on my forehead -- I usually sleep right through it! :) But I'm still glad he does it!
24. His ability to make me feel very safe -- no matter what is going on around us, he is such a comfort to me. Especially at night after a really scary movie!
25. His love for movies -- this is our favorite past time. I'm glad we can share it together.
26. His desire to provide more for our family -- he wants our children to be given every opportunity to explore their God-given talents and abilities
27. His willingness to put others first -- he is so selfless.
28. His courage to follow his dreams -- our photography business is growing because of his passion and his determination, and he won't let anything stop that! And he is currently working on several book ideas. One guy, so much imagination!
29. His love of life -- he is just such a cheery guy, and very little gets him down!
30. His good looks! -- I know a little silly, but he is SO hot! :) All the little old ladies at our wedding said he was gorgeous and that he would one day make pretty babies. So far only 1 baby, but they sure were right! :)
31. The way he shows me how much he loves me! -- No need for explanation! :)
32. I am so blessed that he is SO perfect for me! God definitely knew what he was doing when he sent Bryan my way! :)

Feel free to send him a quick brithday hello. His e-mail address is: airmack1@yahoo.com

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

This is the picture we took for our Valentine's cards. I loved this little onsie. Bryan and I actually called each other "Love Bug" while we were dating. I thought this one was so appropriate! :)
Here he is in his Valentine's bib.
Here are the candies that Grandpa got from Grandma. Grandpa offered to share them with Shawn. I have to watch them so carefully!! Always trying to sneak him bad things. :)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S from the THOMPSON family.

My Dad is HOME!!

2008-02-13T22:09:00.003-07:00

YEAH!! My Dad flew home tonight. He left Lagos, Nigeria yesterday afternoon and after 40 hours of travel he finally arrived in Denver. Unfortunately, his bags did not arrive with him. They were apparently left in Cincinnati, OH and should be delivered to our house sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. Poor guy was SO tired and only wanted to eat and go straight to bed. His poor eyes were so bloodshot. But he was so excited to see Shawn and just wanted to hold him and talk to him. Tomorrow is going to be a fun day for them as they spend time together when they are oth awake! HA. But Praise God that he arrived safely and in relatively good health.

Yes, that is a major accomplishment traveling internationally. Especially into the parts of Africa that he travels to. He and his travel mates were in a car accident about 10 days ago. The african preacher they were traveling with was trying to pass a large truck and the truck swerved and sent them off into the shoulder. The driver over-corrected and sent them into the on-coming traffic lane--luckily there were no cars coming towards them on the VERY busy road. During this ordeal, the car blew two tires and bent both axels. Dad said it was pretty scary, and he is usually pretty mellow about these kind of things. He said the pictures are unbelievable, but I'll have to post them tomorrow. We were asked not to say anything about it until he made it home as they didn't want to frighten the families of his travel companions (Ruth is in her late 60s and her family is concerned for her safety in deep, dark Africa!). But they are all safe and hopefully have all made it home by now.

Thank you God, for keeping a watchful eye over Dad and the others.

I'm getting the itch....

2008-02-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

...to run another Marathon. As soon as I crossed the finish line of the Denver Marathon on Oct 15th 2006, I was hooked. I started immediately conspiring to run another one. Plans were altered a little when I got pregnant a week after the marathon. But I am back to conspiring for #2. I was told I couldn't start doing long runs until I finished breastfeeding (something about spoiling your milk?) so I have to wait until at least July to start training seriously. But I keep getting e-mails from the Denver Marathon sponsors, and yesterday I got a magazine in the mail for running shoes. Also, I want to run another one with my Dad before he decides to hang up his shoes. :) I also want to see if I can beat my previous time. I haven't decided which marathon I would like to run. The Denver Marathon was amazing--a great course, good cheering section, very scenic, weather was awesome--but I also like the idea of running one in Austin, TX. This is where I ran in high school and where I would volunteer at marathons. I think for now I will focus on training and then decide which one to run when I get further down the road (no pun intended!).
Here is the picture that gets me inspired:

After finishing : My mom (1/2 Marathon), Me and my Dad (full Marathon)

2nd Girls Night Out

2008-02-07T22:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had our second Girls Night Out. We had so much fun together. We met at Tamsen's house and everyone brought their favorite soup or salad to share. [Thanks ladies for all of your HARD working preparing your dishes from scratch! HA! :) ] We had a great time telling stories, laughing and playing games. Tamsen introduced us to the game: Apples to Apples. I think we would have played longer, but we are getting old and 9:00pm seems really late! :) HA!

Next month we plan to meet at Sara's new house. We will be meeting on the 15th for Pizza and some special baking. More details to come.

Here are some pictures from tonight:

Here is a group shot: (L to R) top-Tamsen, Kristyn, Shelley holding Quinn, and Nikki Bottom-Sara, and Laura (I took the picture).

Playing Apples to Apples Sara with Quinn--how does she always get the babies? HA! :)

Super Bowl to 2008

2008-02-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

YEAH for the Super Bowl. I admit I love football as much as the next...um...football loving girl. However, I am much more fond of college football. Pro-football is just not as exciting to me, but I do like the Superbowl. I like it more for the parties and the social-interaction than the football. And tonight was no different. It was our second year in a row to spend the Superbowl with our teens at the church building. It is always great to spend time with these kids, they are so much fun! :)

We had a room set up for the game, of course. And that is where the guys mostly stayed watching the game projected onto the wall. Then there was a room set up for board games, where most of the girls stayed. There were all sorts of games. I especially enjoyed playing Catch Phrase, but unfortunately my team lost 2-1. Oh well, it was still fun.

Then there was also a room set up for all of the great food that was brought by the teens. We could have fed an army with our spread. (Thanks, Kristin, for getting it all organized.)

Here are some fun photos from the night. Although I didn't have an outfit for Shawn from the teams playing in the game, we dressed him in the home town heroes outfit--GO BRONCOS!!

Oh, and I was cheering for the Patriots. Oh well. :) Here are some pictures from the night:

Holly and Lindsay--I love the war paint. Reminds me of my High School Powder Puff days!

Some of our teens participated in a half-time coke chugging contest. Here is Jordan giving it her best shot!

BEFOREAFTER
The (unplanned) half-time entertainment started with the boys jumping over each others shoulders. It quickly became chair jumping--they started with 3 and before it was all said and done they were up to 5. It was very scary to watch...because I know someday this is the type of thing my son will be doing! HA!Lindsay with Shawn. He loved all the attention he got that night. The teens (guys and gals) were fighting over who was next to hold him. :)

Natasha with Shawn. It was after his bedtime and he was starting to get cranky.

Me playing Catch Phrase with some of the teen girls. I LOVE this game!

Family Date to the Art Museum

2008-02-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Well, as I metioned in an earlier post, Denver has several cultrual features that offer free days**. So today, Shawn and Bryan and I all made a trip to the Denver Art Museum. It was a great day and very fun outing for us. The Art museum expanded about a year and a half ago, but we have been really busy (for some reason:) ) during this time and have not seen the new addition. We were able to see the African art exhibit, which honestly was not as impressive as I had hoped it would be. The best part of the museum was the Modern Art exhibit. I admit some of it was fascinating, but most of it was a little odd or outright strange. Now I admit that I do not have an art degree and probably lack some of the appreciation in art that others have, but Bryan is even worse than I am!!! Bryan's narration of the display was my favorite part of the day. He had a great way of making the wacky displays seem a little odder than they were initially perceived. It was such a fun afternoon. Shawn enjoyed watching all of the people in the museum and the displays he could see.

Then we had a Starbucks warm-me-up drink before we headed for home.

What a great day! :)

**If you are in the Denver area, check out this website for more details, http://scfd.org/?page=home&sub=4.

Shawn's first play date & Cancelled Date Night

2008-01-30T22:16:00.000-07:00

We are so thrilled that our good friends from Harding, Dannie and Shelley, have returned to Denver. They were living in Abilene, TX for a while during Dannie's enrollment in Graduate school. But they will be in Denver through the summer. Their sweet son, Elias, is two months older than Shawn. We decided it was time for a play date, so we had them over for lunch today. It was such a blast to reconnect and tell stories of the good ol' days at Harding. Bryan was Dannie's big brother in their fraternity (Knights) and so they had a lot to catch up on! :)

Some of the highlights of the playdate were:

~Shawn and Elias trying to explore the details of each other's face.

~ Shawn and Elias sharing toys with each other. It was so sweet to watch them share with each other.

~ Elias trying to chew on Shawn's toes! HA! It was so funny!

~Shawn and Elias both trying to slap each other, and Shelley and I trying to encourage them to "play nicely". This is actually a difficult concept for a 6- and 8-month-old to grasp.

Here are some pictures from our time together. Here are the boys laying on the ground together. I love Elias' smile! He is such a sweetheart. :)
In this one you can actually see Shawn swinging at Elias. We're going to have to work on playing nicely with other kids before our next play date! Elias showing Shawn the art of laying on your side. I think he was actually doing the scissors in this one. He is hilarious!
Here is the whole group: (L to R) Bryan, Me with Shawn, Shelley with Elias, and Dannie.

That night Bryan and I decided to sneak out and have an impromptu date night. We were going to go see a cheap movie. However, the weather decided not to cooperate with our plans. It started to snow when we were getting ready to go. Bryan went out to get the car started and brushed off. But it was snowing faster than he could clear off the car. He came in and had an inch of snow on his hat just from a few minutes. So, we called off our date night. Which was probably a good thing because it snowed about 4 inches in 2 hours and the weatherman said it was a "blinding snow". Only in Colorado! :)

Here are 2 pictures of the snow on Bryan's hat. I thought it was such a funny sight.

Shawn's half-birthday!!!

2008-01-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

YEAH!!! Shawn has reached his half-year birthday. He is now 6 months old. I can't believe how quickly my little munchkin has grown. The time with him has absolutely flown by. But he gets cuter and more fun by the day. We are truly so BLESSED with our dear sweet son.

Yesterday was Shawn's 6-month appointment. It was a good appointment, but I was a little surprised by some of his measurement results. Apparently I was WAY OFF in my guestimation of his weight at 5 months. I said that he was around 17 pounds at that time and we guessed he was now at least 20 pounds. However, he did not quite measure up to my estimates. Here are his measurements:

Weight: 15 lbs 13.6 oz (21st %)

Height: 26.25 in (45th %)

Head: 16.75 (18th %)

The doctor said that his weight is plateuing a little bit. He said it is common in breast-fed babies as they do not get as much fat as formula-fed babies. Also, at this age babies start to become more active and are thus burning more calories so weight slows slightly. He suggested that we begin feeding Shawn veggies twice a day (we currently just feed him a veggie at lunch and cereal for breakfast and dinner). But overall he said Shawn is doing fabulously and he always loves interacting with him during the appointment. We were given a developmental survey to complete about what Shawn is able to do (ie. rollover both ways, make various sounds, use his hands to pick up objects, etc). He passed this survey with flying colors and the doctor was very impressed at all that he is currently doing. He gave us the go ahead to take Shawn swimming, start feeding him finger foods like biter biscuits (HA! Shelley!), and pin wheels. We gave him the biter biscuits and he LOVED them. We are going to slowly start introducing pureed fruit and other finger foods into his diet in the next few weeks. We have successfully made it through all of the beginner vegetables.

At the 6-month appointment he was given the final dose of vaccinations until his 1st birthday. Everytime we go for shots, I think it will be easier. But again, we found ourselves crying right along side Shawn. It is so hard to sit there and watch someone cause my son pain. But I have to remember that it is in his best interest and that he bounces back from it faster than Bryan and I do! HA! :)

I will try to post pictures from his 6-month photo shoot. In the meantime, here are some pictures we've taken recently.

Shawn getting ready to try his new biter biscuits. This is the BEFORE.

Mid-way through the biter biscuits. AFTER the biter biscuits. He finally gave up on the biscuits and just began licking the sticky goo off of his hands. :)

Here are my favorite from his first taste of GREEN BEANS.

Before we started. He wasn't very excited. I think he would rather have skipped the green beans and just gone straight to his nap!

First bite...not sure what to think. :)

He didn't mind green beans as much as the avacados!

Some of my favorites from Playtime:

Trying to get ahold of Daddy's camera. He always sees Daddy with it so he can't wait to get his hands on it!

Playing in his exersaucer. He loves this thing. He especially loves to eat the frog's legs. I guess he has some southern in him after all! :)

He also likes to chew on just about any part of this thing that he can get in his mouth. In this case it is the flower.

He is also obsessed with my hot pink slippers, which are also my favorite. Maybe I'll have to look into getting him a pair...but not hot pink! :)

Trip to the ZOO

2008-01-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had a great day at the Zoo. We met some of our good friends from Church there--David and Stephanie and their daughter Bella, and Sara B. They have Free Days here in Denver at several of the cultural offerings--ie. Zoo, Art Museum, Botanical Gardens, etc. So, we decided to take advantage of the great weather, and free admission and enjoy a day at the Zoo. We had a great time seeing all of the animals, and Stephanie and I spent time comparing notes on childcare and tips for traveling with a baby (for our upcoming trip to Atlanta).

Shawn especially loved that it was his first trip in his stroller as a "big boy". We have the type of stroller travel system that has the ability to transport the car seat carrier on top. It has been such a lifesaver these past six months (Thanks again, Noel and Cherie!!! :) ). But our sweet, inquisitive son loves to look around and see what is going on. So, our Zoo trip was his first trip in the stroller outside of his car seat. Now that he can sit up well, he was perfectly fit to ride in the stroller and absolutely LOVED IT!!!!

Here are some pictures from our GREAT day! :)

Shawn riding in his stroller...all bundled up. :)

Aunt Sara puching Shawn in his stroller. She loved getting to show him around the zoo.

Dave and Bella riding the merry-go-round. She loved waving at us as she went around. It was too cute! :)

Shawn all bundled up a little later in the day. It started getting a little cooler, so I put on his gloves and hat. He couldn't quite figure out how to get his hands out to suck on! :)

Shawn with his favorite Aunt Sara. He really loves her! :)

Up close of Shawn. He was watching all of the other kids there that day.

Me making faces at Bryan. This was after I realized he was taking pictures of me. I got home and he had about twenty of me not looking at him! He is so crazy! :)

All of us at the end of the day: (L to R) Sara, Me, Shawn (sleeping), Stephanie, Bella, and Dave.

For some AWESOME pictures Bryan took of the animals, click here to visit our business Blog -- www.thompsonphotog.blogspot.com .

Our next adventure, Carrots!

2008-01-21T02:14:00.000-07:00

So, we fed the Shawn Carrots today. It went a lot better than the Avacados, but he still made some ADORABLE faces. (We got smarter and fed him on the kitchen table--easier to clean up! Which was good because he made a HUGE mess blowing Carrot puree everywhere!) We had so much fun laughing at him as he ate. But then he started hamming it up for the camera. That is when he started rubbing carrots in his hair! LOVELY! After the meal, we gave him a quick bath and put him down for a nap. It sure was fun though! :)

He was not at all excited. I think he knew what was coming!

First bite of carrots.

First reaction to carrots.

He's not sure what to think.

Ah, maybe it's not that bad. (I love my expression! Ididn't know I was in the shot!)

Hey Mom, you're pretty funny! (I love this picture!)

Spit 'em out!

Then the blowing raspberries started. And the carrot juice coated the table!

EEEEEWWWWW! Gross!

This stuff makes great ammunition to spit at Mommy (I had it all over me by the time we were finished!).

Hey, let's try it as hairgel! That is much more fun than eating it.

Okay, spit it out and then rub it in the hair.

All over his face....

and his hair!

But he sure is CUTE!! :)

M&M's Characters!!

2008-01-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

I found this on-line and I thought it was so fun. So I made one for all three of us. I hope you enjoy!

Here is Kristen. I am running through a forest with my coffee mug. My M&M name is "Momma Shorty, Deluxe Edition" (due to my new Mommy status and short stature).

Here is Bryan. He is taking pictures in a snowy Colorado meadow--he sure does love his snow! His M&M name is "President Genius Pants, M.B.A." (due to his entrepreneurial spirit).
Here is Shawn. He is learning to surf with his bear (although we should probably work on walking before surfing! This one is for you Aunty Chanty.). His M&M name is "Chief Sugar-Britches, the Great" (because he is in charge around here, but is super cute while doing so!).

And here is a family picture with all of us. This is on vacation in the Bahamas! (Wouldn't that be nice right now, as the snow falls outside!!!)

Have a GREAT day!! :)

New clothes and homemade baby food

2008-01-20T01:18:00.000-07:00

It seemed to take Shawn forever to outgrow his 0-3 months clothes. (Or maybe I was just tired of seeing the same clothes over and over due to "blow outs"!) Either way, I finally packed up his teeny-tiny clothes mid-December and unloaded the 3-6 month clothes. It was so exciting to have new outfits to dress him in. And he looked so cute in them! But in the last month he has completely outgrown them! So, we made a trip to the local baby clothes store called "Once Upon a Child" (thanks Stephanie for mentioning this store!). If there is one in your area you should definitely check it out. It is a consignment store for name brand, gently used clothes. While we were there they were having a HUGE sale and I bought 28 items for $15. It was such a bargain for all the great things I got!

We also found a cute duck that quacks several songs. When we showed it to Shawn he hugged on it and wouldn't let go until after we left the store with it! HA! We also found a great set of giant building blocks. I brought them home and ran them through the dishwasher before giving them to Shawn. Bryan took this picture. I know it is random, but I love all of the vibrant colors.

Shawn's new blocks.

I have decided that I am going to make Shawn's baby food from scratch. I am very excited and have received a lot of support from my friends at church. So, as you saw in my previous post, we started with Avacados. And then I made a batch of Carrots. The Avacados were fairly easy to make because they squish easily. My handmixer and I made short work of them. However, the carrots were a little more challenging--steaming, a hand mixer, and two blenders later, they were finally ready to be put in the ice cube trays. Once they are frozen they are put in a baggy and I can remove one cube as needed. I am going to make a batch of Green Beans next. I'm hoping they blend better than the carrots!

In the kitchen making baby food.

Avacados--don't they look yummy? HA!

Carrots--now these do look kind of yummy. And they taste pretty good, too.

Game night and Good friends

2008-01-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

We hosted a small gathering for dinner and game night tonight. We had such a good time! We invited Sara from church, and my cousins Heather and Bryan. We all had dinner--roast and potatoes, YUM--and then started into the games. We played Mad Gab and my team won (go Mom and Heather!), then Bryan's team won (go Sara and Brian). Then we decided to try our luck at '80s Trivial Pursuit. Boy is that game hard!! I was either too young to remember the '80s or was in Africa (starting in 1986) and so I was not very good at the game (sorry Sara). However, I did get the question about the host of 'Price is Right'--Bob Barker, duh. My mom said I loved him as a baby/toddler and would watch the show every day. HA! We'll miss you, Bob! :(

Here are some quick photos from the night:

Quick group shot: (L to R) Sara Billingsley, Mom, Bryan, Heather, cousin Brian

Sara and I conspiring on our answer.

Brian being goofy! :)

The New 'do!

2008-01-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well, last Thursday I gave Bryan a haircut. It was the first one he has let me give him in about 5.5 years. Not because I am a bad stylist (he actually said I did a great job), but because it usually takes me several hours to do the job. I am always so worried that I am going to mess up his hair, that I cut a little and have him go check it...then I cut a little more and have him go check it. You get the point. This time was MUCH easier. We got a wonderful hair cutting set when we got married. We started with a 2 guard, then used a 4 guard on the top and then I cut the top to finger-length. It actually turned out very nice, although he wouldn't let me take his picture, so you'll just have to take my word for it! :)

Well, after looking at all of our old pictures (see our 6th Anniversary post) of me with short hair, I sort of got a whim to cut my hair. So, it took me a few days to convince my hairdresser to take the job. Although it could be because my hairdresser is my Mom and she LOVES my long hair. [She has been cutting my hair since my first hair cut. The first time I went to a hairdresser other than her was when I was a sophomore in college and was studying in Australia--I tried to convince her to come over for a quick trim, but she wasn't up for the trip! HA!] I finally talked her into it and below are the before and after pictures. We guess that it was close to 4 inches that was cut off. I am so pleased with it. I really needed a change and now it is so much easier to manage!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

First "real" food

2008-01-14T23:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we gave Shawn his first real food, and let me tell you, it was hilarious!! We started out last Sunday with Avacados. He wasn't quite sure about them at first, but now he eats them like a pro. I could explain his reactions, but his face speaks better than a thousand words. So we'll let the pictures tell the story...

Yeah, it's time to eat!

Hurry up, Mom, I'm super hungry!

What is THIS stuff??

I'm not sure what to do next...do I spit it out? Maybe if I hold my breathe it will go away! :)

No such luck. I think I have to chew this stuff?

Maybe the next bite will taste better?Nope. This stuff tastes terrible!

Okay, just swallow it.

Fine, I'll give it another try. It's got to get better.

No. It is NOT getting any better.Grandma, save me. Bring back the good stuff. I promise I'll be a good boy!

Is it the good stuff yet?Nope, still the green stuff.

How much of this stuff do I have to eat?

I can't take much more of this!

No, really, I can't. I think I'm going to lose it!

Or, just spit it out...

I am not enjoying this green stuff!Oh, wait. The last bite? I can do this!

Man, this stuff is really gross.Okay, I think I have finally had enough of this stuff.

Wait I think I am going to be sick......

And then, he threw up! Shame. My poor baby. :(

Next on the menu is Carrots. Maybe he'll like them more than Avacados! :)

Dad leaves for Africa

2008-01-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Please take a minute to say a quick prayer for my Dad. He is leaving for Africa--Ghana and Nigeria--tonight. He will be gone for a month and will be travelling extensively over there. Please pray for safety and for his health to remain good. Thanks!!

In case you don't know, my Dad works for World Bible School. It is a ministry that reaches people throughout the world using Bible correspondence courses and personal relationships. They have taught over 2 million students in 141 nations around the world. It is an amazing work that our family has been involved with since about 1988 (wow, 20 years!). I love the organization and loving hearing all of the great things coming forth from their efforts. My dad is the Vice-President for International Relations, and he gets to travel all over the world visiting his staff members in their local offices. I know, he has such a cool job!

If you want to learn more, visit: http://www.wbschool.org/

Thompson Photography starts it's own BLOG!

2008-01-08T23:10:00.001-07:00

It is official. We now have a blog for our photography business. Stop by and check it out and tell me what you think. Bryan designed the header with a lot of our favorite pictures. There will be a lot more to come, I promise. We are going to use the blog to advertise for Thompson Photography (TP) and to show examples from some of our photo shoots. Also, we will be listing the specials that we are currently running, so stop by often and check it out!

http://www.thompsonphotog.blogspot.com/.

Shawn is 5 months old!!

2008-01-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

I know I am a little late in posting this as his 5-month birthday was December 28th. But there have been so many things to write about that I am running a few days behind.

We didn't have a Doctor's appointment this month--YEAH! No shots!! :) But it also means that I am going to have to estimate his height and weight. Here are my measurements:

Height: 24.5 inches

Weight: 17.5 lbs

He is so much fun these days!! I am falling more in love with him as each day passes. Here is a quick run down of what he is able to do.

- He is eating cereal everyday, and he loves it. He makes this hilarious "Mmmm" sound as he eats--it is SO cute. We are looking at what to feed him next, but I am leaning towards Avacado for his first real solid food (thanks Sue Ann for the great idea!). I am going to try to make all of his baby food from scratch. I'll let you know how it goes!

- Along with the food, he is also trying to put EVERYTHING in his mouth. He will grab a hold of something and immediately open his mouth and lean forward. The funniest things so far have been: the kittie's tail and foot (two separate occasions), the kittie's face--he actually pulled one of Mia's whiskers out (OUCH!), the grocery bag recycling bin in our kitchen, everyone's finger that holds him, Lori's entire chair at Home Church (it kept Shelley laughing!),

- I have been teaching him some basic sign language. We are starting with the basics: food, more, finished. I am looking to add some signs as we go. If anyone has any ideas please let me know!

- He is really mastering the art of rolling over. It keeps him entertained for at least several minutes! :)

- He has also mastered pulling out his pacifier and putting it back in. There is a great video of him leaning down to the table and picking up his pacifier with his mouth (and then everyone in the room roaring with laughter). I will try to post it this week along with some other videos.

- He is sleeping through the night again. He had about two weeks of sleeping through the night in mid-October (around 10 weeks old) and then he reverted to 1 feeding midway through the night. But he is back on track and usually sleeps from 7:30pm to 5:30am, then feeds and goes back to sleep until 9:30am. Yes, that is 14 hours of sleep. YEAH!!

- He is adjusting to the idea of 2 midday naps. He usually puts himself to sleep very well, but occasionally needs a little more Mommy snuggle time before he is convinced to go to sleep.

- He is still very alert and loves to look at new things. He is inventing ways of looking at things not in his direct line of sight, ie. leaning his head completely backwards to view something behind him. Needless to say, I have to hold onto him very tightly.

- I think he is very close to crawling as he is starting to inch towards things. We are going to "Baby Proof" the house this weekend when we take down all of the Christmas decorations.

- We have been thinking that a tooth was imminent for several weeks now, but none have popped through. Trust me, there will be pictures posted of his first pearly white tooth!

That is all for now. Here are a few from his 5 month photo shoot.

In honor of all the snow we've had, we took some of Shawn in his warm hat and mittens.

Shawn with his cupcake.

Another of Shawn with his cupcake.

Shawn trying to get at his cupcake--don't worry, the picture makes him look closer than he actually was. (It is going to get increasingly more difficult to take this picture without letting him get the cupcake. We're saving that for his 1-year-old photo shoot.)

Shawn with his Aunty Chanty before she left for Austin.

Here are some with Uncle Jeremy (Kristen's younger brother). Shawn spent the first week just looking very intently at Jeremy. By the end of Jeremy's time here, they were great buds! With Uncle Jeremy, before he flew back to Austin.

Wearing Uncle Jeremy's hat.

Future Longhorn!!!

Girls Night Out

2008-01-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had a Girls Night Out. There were 6 of us (and 3 month-old Quinn) from our church. We met at Chili's and had a great night of conversating, story-telling and laughing. This is definitely the first of many nights like this to come. We even braved the snow storm to come together. We also discussed the possibility of making regular activities for the "Young Marrieds" and "Young Professionals" group at church--although we decided we need a better name for our age group. Hey Ladies, let's shoot for Feb 8 for our next get together. :)

Here is a quick pic from the night. Hopefully the first of many!!

From L to R: Me, Sara, Tamsen with baby Quinn, Kristyn, Rachel, and Rachel.

[Shawn got to spend some quality time with Daddy! :) ]

New Years Eve Party

2008-01-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

My Mom and brother, and Bryan, Shawn and I all went to our Home Church (and Friends) New Years Eve Party. It was at the Fraziers house and was such a blast. There was probably about 50 people there and even the Fraziers' big house felt packed to the max! There were so many different things going on in every area of the house:

--Pool and Karaoke in the basement
--Football, cards, a Catch Phrase game (YEAH! My team won!) and eating on the main level
--and one cute kid sleeping upstairs (and Ryan watching Jurassic Park! HA!)

Here are some pictures from the night.

Here is some of our group singing karaoke. (check out Jim's face...priceless!)

Me and some of our great teens. From L to R: Jordan, Me, Meghan, Elizabeth, and Garrit.

Bryan and my bro, Jeremy, playing pool.

Me and the girls--Jenny, Heidi, and Sara.

Bryan and I just moments after our New Years smooch! :)

This is what Shawn looked like most of the night. He woke up at midnight when everyone was cheering and letting off bottle popers. He was so surprised to see all of the people and the big party he was missing out on!

Here is Shawn with his proud Daddy. Bryan loves to show him off.

All the kids decorated Keith with confetti. He is so patient! HA. :)

Keith gave his confetti to Shawn who thought it was wonderful...and then he tried to eat it! :)

Here is Shawn with his favorite babysitter and our good friend, Sara. She sure does love him.

Over the river, and through the woods.... (long post)

2008-01-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

...to my Grandmother's house we go.

We spent Christmas week at my Grandmother's house. We had a great time with my Grandma and my Dad's family. Although the week had a rocky start it was well worth it. We drove over the mountains with my parents and siblings. They drove in my Dad's pick-up, and Bryan, Shawn and I drove in my parents car. We were about half way on our four-hour drive, when we were flagged down by a passing car. We had a tire going flat, and there is not much open at 3:00pm on Christmas Eve. Luckily, Bryan was able to buy some flat repair spray and fix the tire so that we could continue on to Grandma's house. (We got the tired repaired on our way back to Denver on Friday.)

Shawn and I before we left for Grandma's house. This is our fireplace in our new house.

We were able to do a lot and see several of my extended family during the week. My cousin Dustin recently got engaged so we were glad to see him and get to discuss the upcoming wedding. My Aunt Kay came down with a kidney stone the Friday before Christmas and was a little under the weather the entire time we were over there. But it was still great to get to see her. :) We also got to spend time with my Uncle Jim and Aunt Vickie. They came over for Christmas lunch and for several evenings of games and Christmas munchies.

Here we are Christmas morning. My poor Aunt Kay is in the chair in the background.

It was very exciting to share in Shawn's first Christmas. Although he is still a little too young to understand and fully engage in everything, he had a great time. He thoroughly enjoyed laying on his back and staring at the Christmas tree, singing Christmas songs--especially Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, eating Christmas bows and crinkling Christmas paper. And of course he showed everyone what an accomplished roller he has become. He rolled over several times Christmas afternoon as everyone cheered him on! He loved all of the attention. :)

Christmas evening was spent with my Mom's Father and Step-Mom. We went to my Mom's Uncle Tom's Cabin on Log Hill. It was snowing and just beautiful. We were able to spend a few hours with them and some of my Mom's extended family. It was great to get to spend time with my Grandfather and get some more pictures of him and Shawn together.

Shawn with Grandpa Foster.

My sister, Grandfather, Shawn, Me and my Mother on Christmas day.

My Dad received four sets of snow shoes for Christmas (two pairs from my Mom and two pairs he bought himself!). So Bryan, my parents, my sister and my Aunt and Uncle went up snow shoeing one day. They had a wonderful time and were able to see a lot of wonderful, albeit snow-covered, sights. This gave me a chance to spend the day with my Grandmother. We went to Montrose and had lunch, did a little shopping, and then watched a movie together--Hallmark's "The Christmas Card" [Yes, Kathy it is wonderful!!!:)]. It was a great day and we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to spend time together.

My Dad, sister, Bryan, and my Aunt Vickie and Uncle Jim (holding Joey) up snow-shoeing. It sure looks beautiful. :)

The next day my parents and sister went to Powderhorn Ski Resort for the day. My poor Dad hurt his ankle on the first run of the day and was unable to ski the remainder of the day. But my Mom and sister had fun! :) Bryan and I spent the day with my Grandmother. We went into Montrose again. We went shopping and were able to find some beautiful fabric. My Grandmother is in the process of making all of her grandchildren quilts (she has 24 grandchildren and currently 10 great-grandchildren). She has already made Shawn a beautiful quilt and I am thinking of having her make some extra quilts for our future children. :) We had another great day with Grandma.

Here are some pictures from the week:

Shawn in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. I love his little Santa outfit.

Shawn with Grandma Pottberg. Her sweatshirt says,

"GRANDMA, the next best thing to SANTA."
Shawn eating ribbon. This is a present from Nana and Papa we didn't open before.The books from Nana and Papa. He was ready to stop and read them right then!I love this picture! This is the face he made after he tried to eat the wrapping paper. :)
Shawn with Daddy's hat on.
Here he is with the little shoes my Mom bought him.

My Dad has been really into gold-panning since my parents cruise to Alaska in 2003. Ever since then he goes panning every time they come to Colorado. When we found out I was pregnant my Dad started calling the baby "Minni Miner". He is always threatening to steal Shawn and take him with into the mountains panning. Dad bought Shawn his own gold pan for Christmas, but it had this tag in it! Oh, Grandpa!! HA! :)

My family is obsessed with Shawn's size. The next two pictures are showing off how "BIG" Shawn is. The first is with him and the turkey we cooked for our Christmas dinner with the Thompsons (apparently we have a picture just like this of my brother when he was a baby). Shawn is actually only 2 lbs larger than this turkey!! The second picture is Shawn in the turkey roaster. He filled the entire thing! HA!

Picture 1 (see above)

Picture 2 (see above)Here is Shawn with his favorite "Aunty Chanty".

Here is a close up of him in his "Baby's 1st Christmas" bib.

The Thompson's visit (a long post)

2008-01-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time with the Thompsons. Gordon and Kathy are two of my favorite people in the world and it was great to have them all to ourselves for a whole week. We hope to get to see them again soon.

We had a very full week, with lots of time for great food and great fellowship. Here are the highlights:

Shawn with the welcome sign we took to the Airport.

SUNDAY: They flew in from Atlanta and we rushed to church. It was important to be there on time because Rob, our Youth Minister, was doing the lesson and used Shawn as a "visual aid". He was speaking about Mary, Jesus' mother, and what an awesome responsibility she had to raise Christ. He took Shawn on stage and was talking about holding Jesus and knowing He created the stars. He pointed to the sky and Shawn followed his movements. He pointed to the crowd on another point and again Shawn followed Rob's movements. It was so funny to watch and everyone thought that we had rehearsed. Unfortunately we were too rushed to get it on video tape. I will try to see if we can get a copy from church.

We went home for a big lunch and for Kathy to feed Shawn his first solid foods. It was quite an experience. I had read that babies can sometimes take a week to get used to the taste of food and may not actually eat the cereal. HA! Not my son, my son ate every last drop of cereal I had prepared. On the second day when Kathy fed him, he fussed when she wasn't feeding him fast enough, and cried when all of the food was gone!

Kathy feeding Shawn his first solid food. He LOVED it! :) Shawn with cereal all over his face. Just precious!
Kathy and I having some fun with Shawn. These are the snowmen that she sent to us in the mail. They are SO cute, they greet you when you walk in the door. Shawn thinks they are great!

That night we watched Polar Express and drank hot chocolate (we did this on more than one night. I love hot chocolate!). What a great end to a wonderful day. :)

Kathy reading to Shawn before bed. She did this each night with him. Shawn sure does love to read! Kathy bought him two huge collections of Disney books. I think we've almost read all of them! :)

MONDAY: We left early on Monday morning to drive to Colorado Springs. My parents, Gordon and Kathy, and Bryan, Shawn and I all went on a tour of the Focus on the Family campus. It was a great tour and is such a wonderful ministry! If you have a minute check out their website to see all of the neat things they have in the works (www.family.org/).

All of us at Focus on the Family (my Dad is taking the pic).

Then we went to my Uncle Bob's house (my Dad's brother) and had a visit with his family. His step-son Robert had fallen on the previous Friday and broken his arm. So my Aunt Jamie and Robert stayed home, but some of the rest of the family joined us for dinner. We went to Red Lobster and had a wonderful meal and a lot of fun telling stories.

TUESDAY: My Mom, Kathy and I were supposed to spend the entire day baking but we got a late start and then had trouble finding some of our ingredients at the store. But Kathy and I had fun spending time together in kitchen. Kathy is a great cook and I love spending time with her in her "element".

Shawn in the middle of the cookies Kathy and I made.

That night we went out for a very fancy (and ultimately very expensive dinner) at Radizios Grill. It is a Brazilian Barbecue restaurant and has very delicious ethnic cuisine. It brought back great memories of my time in Brazil. It was fun to get all dressed up and spend some time downtown. We drove around and looked at all of the fun city lights before dinner. Denver felt so festive that night. Bryan and I at Radizios Grill.

The whole group at Radizios Grill.

WEDNESDAY: Gordon and Kathy, and Bryan, Shawn and I drove to Fort Collins for the day. It is a college town (home to Colorado State University) and only an hour and a half from our house. We had a great lunch at a little sub-shop near campus and spent some time driving around the city. It gave us a great opportunity to talk and catch up with Bryan's parents.

THURSDAY: Gordon and Kathy, and Bryan, Shawn and I spent some time at the Flatiron Crossings mall. It was so crowded but we had fun shopping. We separated and the boys shopped for the girls, and the girls shopped for the guys. Bryan was trying so hard to shop for me and not let me know what he was getting. But we kept running into him around the mall and he was getting so frustrated! HA. Then we stopped for an afternoon coffee at Starbucks on the way home. It was a very enjoyable day.

FRIDAY: We had originally planned to spend Friday in the mountains visiting the little ski town of Breckenridge. But they had had snow earlier in the week, and frankly we were all a little burned out from a busy week. So we spent the day mostly at home, except for a short trip out for last minute shopping. The two Grandmas bought Shawn a very fun gift for Christmas--a 3-in-1 activity center. Gordon spent the latter part of Friday afternoon putting it together--I think it took like 2 hours--thanks again Gordon!! :)

Grandma and Nana with Shawn on his special gift. :)

SATURDAY: We had decided Saturday would be our early Christmas day. So we had one last trip out to buy last minute gifts before we got them all wrapped and under the tree. Then we all sat down for a great big Christmas dinner. It was wonderful to get to have this special meal with Gordon and Kathy. The whole crew at Christmas dinner (my sister and brother on right).

Then we went into the den to open gifts with the Thompsons. It was so special for us and we enjoyed the time together immensely. We also let Shawn try out his new toy. He wasn't quite sure about it at first but now he loves to bounce in it and push the buttons to make it sing.

Bryan with the Florida Gators jersey I bought him for Christmas. GO GATORS!!

Gordon with his "Boys will be Boys" picture frame--with a pic of him and Shawn.

I love this picture! Everyone looks so happy. Here are the Thompsons and my Mom in the background.

SUNDAY: We all got up and ready for church. Bryan was introduced to the congregation in his new role as Media Coordinator (see previous post--"Bryan's last day"). After church we all changed for some family photos. We went to lunch at Johnny Carino's and then headed to the park for our photos. We were all dressed in color coordinating outfits, but it was SO cold that none of us took our coats off (the high was only in the 30s but it felt MUCH colder). We spent about five minutes taking pictures before we all ran back to the warmth of the cars. So, I guess we will have to try again the next time we are all together.

After the photo fiasco, we went to the nearby theater for a matinee movie. We watched National Treasure (a very good movie, I will add). We had such an enjoyable time. Shawn actually slept in my arms through the entire movie. He woke up the last 5 minutes for the final action scene and was very mesmerized.

We spent a quite night at home and Nana and Papa prepared to leave. Our fun week was coming to an end and it was very sad.

MONDAY: The Thompsons left for the airport early Monday morning. It was very hard to see them leave. We had such a great, action-packed week. Maybe next time will be more relaxed!

For the next installment of our Christmas vacation, see "Over the river and through the woods".

December Update

2008-01-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry, everyone. The second half of December has just gone by SO quickly. Here is a quick recap.

12/12 -- Shawn rolls over for the first time. (I know that I posted previously that he had done a roll over. But I realize that he was only 7 weeks old and it was probably completely by mistake!) I was too excited to get his first roll over on video, but I will post a clip of his roll over on Christmas day.

12/14 -- Bryan's last day of work! I know I posted about it earlier. But I have a funny addition to the story. I was so excited when Bryan finally made it home (he stayed later than expected because he wanted to make sure he left no work of his for the person assuming his position--what a great guy!), that I yelled, "YEAH, Daddy is home for good!" Poor little Shawn was laying on the floor and was caught so off guard by his Mommy yelling that he started to cry. Not quite the welcome home Bryan was expecting! :)

12/15 -- Mine and Bryan's 6th Anniversary. See separate post for this one. ;)

12/16 -- The Thompson's (Bryan's parents, Gordon & Kathy) flew in from Atlanta to spend a week. It was such a great time. See separate post for all of the picture and details of their visit.

12/22 -- My sister and brother, Chantell and Jeremy, arrived from Austin. They left at 10:30 am and arrived at 2:30 am on Sat. You should hear the stories of their trip. We'll just say there was a lot of SNOW, a 1 ton van, and some 2 180 degree spins. I am SO glad I was not there. [I don't do well with snow, or spinning out of control. Just ask Travis Carr!! :) ]

12/24 -- The Thompson's leave for home. :( It was very hard to see them go. Later that day we drove over the mountains to my Grandmother's house (my Dad's mom) for Christmas. See separate post for pictures and the whole story of our trip.

12/28 -- We drove home from my Grandmother's house. It was also Shawn's 5 month birthday. I can't believe how fast he is growing up!!!

12/29 -- My Mom, sister, Shawn, and I spent the afternoon shopping at the mall. It wsa a lot of fun spending time with them. Shawn was so awake and alert the entire time. Until we went into Old Navy. One minute he was awake looking around, and the next he was absolutely out on my Mom's shoulder. It was actually rather amusing to see! He just doesn't want to miss one single moment. :)

12/30 -- My sister flies home to Austin. :(

12/31 -- The best New Years party at the Fraziers house. See separate post for all of the great pictures from the event.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! :)

Our 6 Years together

2007-12-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well, Bryan and I celebrated our Anniversary on the 15th. We have been together for 8 years and married for 6. We married two years to the day after meeting. It has been a whirlwind 6 years with lots of laughs and adventures and a few tears. But definitely the best years of my life so far. Here are a few of the highlights of our time together:

- We've lived in two states and have moved 6 times in 6 years.

- We've sent out change of address info in our Christmas card four years in a row (YIKES!).

- We've adopted two furry kitties.

- We've traveled extensively.

- We've welcomed our first child, Shawn Austin, on 7/28/07. He has been a wonderful addition!

- We've climbed 4 14ers (mountains in Colorado over 14,000 ft in elevation).

- We've been in 8 weddings (not including our own, 6 for Kristen and 2 for Bryan).

- We've worked together at 3 different jobs, and have now started our own business (Thompson Photography).

- We've each graduated twice (Undergrad and Masters programs at Harding University).

Here are some of my favorite pictures of us together:

Our first BIG date at Harding (5/2000).

Kiss at the Airport before Kristen leaves for a semester in Australia (8/9/00).

Bryan's first trip to Colorado (Christmas '00).

Bryan's first day skiing (New Years '00).

Our Engagement (3/18/01).

Pledging time at Harding (Bryan was a Beau for Shantih Women's club) (9/02).

Road trip. Not sure where we are going. (Spring Break '02).

Going to a Shantih "Wacky Tacky" function (2002).

Our Summer in Austin. (7/4/03).

At my Grandpa Freddie's Funeral (9/18/03).

Josh and Shiloh Jones' Wedding (12/20/03).

Noel and Cherie Coleman's Wedding (Bryan's sister) (4/25/04).

MBA Graduation, with MBA director Allen Figley (7/31/04).

First day in Denver, CO (8/1/04).

First road trip in CO, to Estes Park with Gordon and Kathy and my Mom (8/4/04).

Trip to Austin--in front of Univ. of Texas Bell Tower (after Longhorns won Football National Championships) (2/19/05).

Bryan's business trip to Chicago (6/05).

5 year Anniversary weekend in Breckenridge--sleigh ride in the mountains (12/18/06).

Christmas in Colorado (12/2006).

With Shawn an hour after birth (7/28/07).

Bryan's Last Day

2007-12-14T11:43:00.001-07:00

Today is Bryan's last day at Allied Insurance. It has been a great company to work for and such a blessing to us. He (and I) have made so many amazing friends while we were employed there and we are really going to miss all of you. However, we are so excited for what God is doing and for the opportunities He is putting before us.

In case you haven't heard, Bryan has accepted a position at our church, Lakewood Church of Christ. He is going to be the Media Coordinator, which means he will be facilitating all media outlets during services, classes, special events, etc. He will also be in charge of the Church's website (http://lakewoodcc.net/). They are discussing adding other responsibilities, but this will be the majority of his position at this time. He is really excited for the opportunity to use his talents to serve God.

He will also be getting our photography business website built. The flexibility in his schedule (instead of 12 hours away from home each day) will enable us to start doing more photo shoots and growing our business faster.

The Thompsons are coming!!!

2007-12-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

We are so excited that Bryan's parents are coming to spend a week with us at Christmas. They fly in this Sunday and will stay until next Monday (24th). We have so much we are going to do while they are here--a whole day of baking, shopping, a tour of Focus on the Family, a trip to Breckenridge, Movies, a family photo shoot and more. I will leave all of that for another post. Expect a lot of pictures to be generated in the next few weeks!

In order to get ready for their arrival, we started wrapping gifts and getting the tree ready. Here are some pictures (we had a little too much fun)! :)

Shawn sitting in a BIG bucket of bows (trying to eat a bow).

Shawn ENJOYING sitting in a bucket of bows.

Kisses from Mom.

Sitting on a GIANT wrapped box (and loving it)!!

Standing in front of our half-decorated tree.

Tim Tebow wins!!!!

2007-12-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

YEAH!!! We are so excited for the Florida Gators quarterback, Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman on Saturday. We are excited because:

* he is the first sophomore EVER to win the award;

*he is a great role model;

* he had a great season;

* but most importantly, he is a CHRISTIAN. His family served as missionaries in the Philippines, and he loves working with his church when he is home.

Here is a link to ESPN.com to learn more about him:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=183484

4 month Appt & other pics

2007-11-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-24T23:00:00.001-07:00

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

2007-11-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-11-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

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. :)

Update -- part 1 -- Trip to Texas

2007-11-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

I know I have been a little absent from this blog. There has been so much going on in the past two months. I am going to try and give a quick overview to catch you all up.

In mid-September, Shawn and I made a trip to Allied Insurance to visit Bryan at work. It was great to see all of my old co-workers and to show off our new little bundle. Shawn was 6 weeks old and looks so small now in these pictures.

Then the following week my Mom, Shawn and I drove down to Austin, Texas to help my parents move up to Colorado. My parents sold their house (below) and we were loading up all of their household belongings for the move to Colorado. It was a whirlwind trip and we did a lot while we were there. Shawn didn't enjoy the trip down to Texas as it was 20 hours in his carseat. But he was a trooper and loved getting to meet his Uncle Jeremy (seen below) and other special people.

While in Austin we were able to go to my former church (Westover Hills C of C) on both Wednesday night and Sunday morning--which was wonderful. I was able to see a lot of people I had not seen in years. And of course it was great to show off my adorable son to everyone. We also watched the UT game -- Hook 'em Horns!! :)

Our trip back to Colorado was much better as we stopped and spent the night in Abilene. While there we were able to see one of my great friends from high school, Lisa and her new baby girl Addison (Addison is 2 weeks older than Shawn). It was so fun to see Lisa as a Mommy!

(Sorry the picture is so fuzzy!! It had been a very long day! :) )

My Husband is AWESOME!

2007-11-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I was having a rough day today. I had been peed on, pooped on and thrown up on in a very short time span. And I was feeling very run down. So I called Bryan and told him I needed a little time out. He called me back about 30 minutes later and said that I needed to be dressed and ready to go at 7:30 pm, for a surprise night out. Long story short, he had booked me time at a nearby Spa for an hour long massage. It was wonderful and just what I needed. I felt so renewed after my massage.

Bryan is so thoughtful and I love him so much. God has truly blessed me with an incredible spouse. I wouldn't be half the person I am without him.

A little AWOL

2007-10-11T10:33:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. There is a lot going on for us right now. I was in Texas for 10 days helping my parents get packed up and moved up here to Colorado. And......we bought a house!! We have been over there everyday for a week painting, pulling up carpet, and scrubbing the place down. It needed some TLC and hopefully will be move-in ready in about a week. Here are a few pictures to tied you over. I will try to post more in the next couple of days.
I left the baby with my parents one morning so I could get a little more sleep. My dad was getting packed up for his trip to Africa (he is still over there). When I got up they were SO proud of themselves. These are the pictures they had to show me.
I told them it looked like we were sending Shawn to visit his Nanna and Papa in Georgia! Love and miss you two.

Houston, we have a ROLL OVER!!!

2007-09-21T16:30:00.000-06:00

Well, yesterday was a big day for Shawn. He rolled over!!!! I woke up and fed him in the morning and put him back into his crib on his stomach. A few minutes later I heard him in his crib making noises (not unusual for him, he is VERY talkative--takes after his dad!). I went over to check on him and he was facing up. He looked very confused. He is definitely going to keep me on my toes!! I sure do love this little man. :)

Our Baby Class Reunion

2007-08-30T21:52:00.000-06:00

We were part of a baby prenatal class. Instead of having monthly 1-on-1s with the doctor we were in this class. Every month we met and had a guest speaker and a visiting doctor to answer questions. It was a great time of learning and sharing and we really became close to the other 5 couples. We met after everyone had delivered for a reunion and discussion of our birth experience. We've decided to have another reunion in a year to see how everyone is doing and to see how much our little ones have grown.

Here is our class: (L to R) Camille & Ted with baby Cassidy, Chris and Stacy with baby Connor, me and Shawn (Bryan wasn't able to attend due to work), and Valerie and a friend with baby Aija. There were two other couples that couldn't make it to the reunion.

Here are the moms and babies with Becky, one of our nurses. She was wonderful!

Introducing our little additions. It was so fun to meet the babies that had kicked us, kept us up at night and caused the morning sickness! :)

Shawn's Blessing

2007-08-26T22:00:00.000-06:00

Baby Shawn was honored at church today. Our church has a tradition of blessing the new babies and their families. They also commit to helping to guide the child as they grow older. It was such a neat experience and we were so excited for it to finally be our turn.
Here are the three of us getting ready to go up in stage.
Here Tasha is explaining the new procedure for the blessings (they just started a new tradition and we were the first to go through it). We are on stage with our preacher, Reg Cox, and one of our Elders, Gary Southern.
They then said a prayer for Shawn. It was funny (hence why everyone is smiling) because during the prayer Gary said that they were raising hands before God and Shawn raised both his hands. I was the only one not aware of this until afterwards. I guess I will just have to watch the video.
They also presented Shawn with a beautiful blanket and Bryan and I with a year subscription to Focus on the Child (part of the Focus on the Family website). The verse on the blanket says: (Matthew 19:14) "But Jesus said, 'Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'"

Foster Family mini-reunion

2007-08-25T21:41:00.000-06:00

We had a Bar-B-Que at my uncle Rick's house to celebrate my grandfather's 75th birthday. It was a great time of celebration with a lot of family present. It was a lot of fun to see two of my cousins who have had babies this year--altogether we will have 5 new babies born on my mom's side of the family this year.
Here are 3 of the 5 new additions. (L to R) Jacquie with Edison (born the first week in August), Becky with Emily (born in March), me with Shawn, and Jennifer with her daughter Fenix.

It was also an opportunity for us to get a 4-generation picture. This is my grandfather (Gerald), my mother (Susan), me, and baby Shawn. There is a 75 year age difference here.

Our trip to the Zoo

2007-08-23T21:55:00.000-06:00

My good friend Stephanie and her daughter Bella (15 mos), my mom and I met at the Zoo today. We had such a great time. The weather was beautiful and I really enjoyed walking around the big open park. It was also good to get lots of sage advice from Stephanie.

Bella is an absolute Hoot. It was so much fun to see Bella watching the animals. She loved the Zebras.

She also was very interested in Shawn. She kept checking on him in his stroller. Here she is looking to see what was under Shawn's blanket (his toes).

Here areShawn and I at the zoo. He slept through most of the park, except for during lunch time. He knew right when to wake up! :)

Our little furry kids

2007-08-20T22:08:00.000-06:00

We have two wonderful, curious kids. Here are our kitties--Domino (front) and Mia (back). They are so much fun and have such great personalities.

Mia has been especially fun since Shawn arrived. She loves Shawn and wants to be anywhere that he is. As you can see in this picture, she loves to sleep near him. I was laying on the couch with Shawn sleeping on my chest, and Mia decided to crawl up and sleep with Shawn, too. She is very protective of him.

Aunty Chanty's visit

2007-08-07T21:48:00.000-06:00

We have been so blessed to have family visit in these first few weeks. First we had Bryan's family for a week, and then my sister came for 10 days. It was Chantell's first trip to Denver in a long time, so we tried to show her the sights. We went bowling one day. We also went to the Red Rocks amphitheater.
Here we are bowling. My mom was also there but she is taking the picture.

Here is my family (minus my 2 brothers) at Red Rocks. They have great concerts here and it has an amazing view of the city.
This is a great picture. I think this one is kind of artsy.

Some of Shawn's favorite people!

2007-08-06T21:14:00.000-06:00

Here are some of Shawn's very favorite people in the whole world.

Of course I love my Dad! :)

Here is my Nana Pottberg. She was so nervous about my surprise arrival. She sat in the waiting room and was so relieved when one of the nurses told her I had arrived safely.

Here I am with my Papa Pottberg. He likes to call me the mini-miner. He loves when I smile at him.

This is my Grandma Thompson. She was so excited to get to meet me the night I was born. She was so excited she cried!

My Grandpa Thompson had a smile on his face the entire time he was in Denver visiting me!

My Aunt Cherie loves me so much. She even bought me this new outfit! :)

Here I am with my "Aunty Chanty". She can't wait to sew me some cool new duds.

Thanks to everyone!

2007-08-05T19:33:00.000-06:00

Friends and Family,
I wanted to take a moment to say thanks for all of the sweet cards and e-mails we have received. Thanks also for all of the visits and requests to visit. We would love to have you all come over and meet the new addition to our family.

Pictures from the hospital

2007-08-04T20:41:00.000-06:00

Here are some more pictures from the hospital.

This is when we arrived. I was tired (it was 5:30 in the morning) and having contractions...which should explain my efforts at smiling.

This is when we finally were admitted. I was SO relieved to be staying and excited that it was finally happening.

Here is Shawn right after birth. He was so alert, the nurses were just amazed.

Here we are in the recovery room. I was so numb from the pain medication, they wouldn't let me hold the baby unless I was supervised! :) Bryan was so overwhelmed with emotions. He is such a great Dad already!
Here are some of our great nurses. This was taken in my room after I was allowed to be moved. My family thinks this picture is hilarious because I am so drugged I looked like I am high! :)

Here I am admiring my new little one when I was finally able to look him over. WOW, he is amazing. God is awesome!!

Visit from Nanna and Papa, and Aunt Cherie

2007-08-04T15:55:00.000-06:00

We were so blessed to get a visit from Bryan's parents and sister the night Shawn was born (good planning Nanna!!). We had such a great time with them and were very blessed by all of their help. Kathy and Cherie cooked and cleaned, and even bought Shawn some clothes that fit him!! Thanks for everything! :)

Bryan had a great time taking Gordon and Cherie (and my Dad) into the Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park. Bryan was so excited to show them the beauty of Colorado.

We were all so sad to see them leave. But we eagerly await their next trip to Colorado. Here we all are at the airport.

My first bath at home

2007-08-02T21:30:00.000-06:00

Here is my Mom getting me ready for my first bath at home. I was not quite sure about getting rubbed down. But I was very brave and did not even cry.

Baby Shawn Arrives

2007-07-31T22:56:00.000-06:00

Shawn is finally here!!! It all begin on Tuesday (7/24) when Kristen began early labor at around two in the afternoon and it intensified throughout the night. At around 4:00 a.m. the labor just stopped. Needlessly to say we were both exhausted and frustrated. Then over the next three days labor continued off and on and we kept thinking each day was the day. Well, Saturday (7/28) morning Kristen began labor again at about 1:30 am. We of course thought Shawn was 'crying wolf' again, so we didn't think much of it. By 4:30 Kris' contractions had intensified and had reduced to 5 minutes apart so we left for the hospital. Once at the hospital everything checked out, the baby was healthy, Kris was healthy, and they moved us up to labor and delivery. We knew it was finally going to be the day (which coincidentally was Shawn's due date).

Everything was going smoothly until about 11:45 am when they came in to do a quick ultra-sound to see if Shawn was facing forward or backward. That is when the nurse informed us that Shawn was breech and that Kristen was going to have to have a C-Section. Talk about shock! Shawn had been head down since 30 weeks and at our doctor visit the previous Tuesday we were told he still was. So, in those last four days he suddenly decided to switch directions. Within an hour we were in surgery and Shawn was born at 1:06 pm. He was 20 inches long and weighed 8 lbs and 1 oz. Thankfully he is a cute brown-haired, blue-eyed boy that has already stolen our hearts and made the whole week worth it. GOD IS SO GOOD!!!! :)

We can't wait for Shawn to meet all of you.

Kristen's last day of work!

2007-07-20T20:13:00.000-06:00

Today was a bitter sweet day for me...it was my last day as a working woman. I am officially one week from my due date and I am starting to feel the exhaustion from working. I have been working at Allied Insurance for two and half years as a Commercial Underwriter. It has been a great job and I have learned so much. Probably the best part of my job is working with my husband, Bryan. He is a Personal Underwriter and worked on the floor above me. It was great to drive to work together each day, eat lunch together, and share in the day-to-day happenings together. The second best thing about my job is working with my Agents (especially you, Lee!).

It was very hard to say good-bye to my friends and co-workers (although it was nice having the farewell parties and being taken out to lunch everyday my last week!). I admit I cried as I drove away for the final time as an employee. But I know I will still be in the loop because of Bryan. Thanks for all the great memories!

Update

2007-07-01T20:50:00.000-06:00

Well, I have finally broken down and started a Blog page. I figured it would be a great way to communicate our family happenings and to share photos with everyone. Since this is a new source of communication for me, I thought it would be good to start off with a quick update.

Bryan and I have been married for five and a half years now (Dec 15th, 2001). We decided to wait until we had been married 5 years before starting a family, and so our little bundle is on his way. We are expecting a son at the end of the month (7/28). We are currently living in Lakewood, Colorado--a suburb of Denver. We moved here three years ago when we finished our MBAs at Harding University in Searcy, AR. Bryan and I are both working at Allied Insurance for the time being, I will be staying home when the baby arrives. Bryan and I have started a Photography business--Thompson Photography. We do a little bit of everything--weddings, families, babies, etc. The business is growing quickly, and I will be handling the day-to-day operations when I get home.

We are so blessed. I love everything about our lives right now!! God is so good! :)