This is the life!

Eating dinner the other night Thad decided to put his foot on the table, kick back and relax while eating his pizza! It was too cute not to take a quick picture!!

Hide-N-Seek

Thad LOVES to play hide-n-seek. Adam and Thad go hide first and I count to ten and go find them. It's not to hard to find them, before I even get to the room they are hiding in I hear little giggles or Thad say "Hi Mama!" He is always so excited when I find him and says "More" right away. We switch places and I hide with him while Adam finds us. We have a few good hiding places like closets, hampers, and under the beds!

Thad always wants to hide in simple places right in the hallway.

It's a fun game and we have been playing it every night before he goes to bed.

Thad's 2 year check up

Today was Thad's 2 year checkup with our pediatrician Dr. Hoover. He weighed 30 lbs and was 34 inches tall. He is in the 50% tile for height and 70% for weight! He didn't have to sit on a baby scale anymore! He got to stand like a big boy on the big scale and stand up against the wall to be measured!!! Thad did good during his checkup but after Dr. Hoover was finished doing his exam Thad wanted to examine Dr. Hoover! Of course the one day I didn't bring my camera! It was so cute to see Thad listening to Dr. Hoover's belly with the stethoscope. He had to get one shot and he was NOT happy. I think this is the most he has cried during his shots. He saw the bandaid when we got home and cried again! At the end of the check up he gave Dr. Hoover a BIG hug! At least he's not afraid to go to the Dr.

When we were in the waiting room there was this little girl who came up to Thad who was probably about 3-4 years old. She was very cute and they just stared at each other. Thad kept telling her hi and she was telling us stories about her nails being painted! Her mom was checking in at the front desk and called over to her and said "come here Emma!" It made my heart skip a beat! I knew she was special with a name of Emma!!!!

Love and Laughter

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Birthday Party

We had Thad's birthday party this weekend. He had a cars themed cake!

Opening more presents! He got a train with blocks, a firestation with firetruck and books.

Thad got shy when we sang happy birthday to him. He covered his face the whole time we were singing. It was so cute to see!

He blew the candles out by himself!

I didn't have a messy boy eating his cake. He ate it very nicely with a fork!

Thanks to my parents, Shayna, Tony, Sue, Emily, Frank, Diana, Natalie, Leif for celebrating with us!

Happy 2nd Birthday Thad!

Happy birthday to our sweet little boy. I took the day off to spend with the birthday boy. Before daddy left in the morning for work we opened Thad's gifts. He got a dinosaur that walks and talks, a play computer and more tools for his tool bench. We are having a little pizza party with family at our house Friday night with cake and icecream. We went to lunch with Natalie at Noodles. Thad and I shared the mac-n-cheese! Papa and Nana Knopp will be here later tonight so we are excited to see them!

Thad is such a big boy and is doing new things everyday. His vocabulary is growing and he is repeating everything we say. He is so interested in things he see's and loves playing outside. He gets so excited when he see's a bird or an airplane. He shouts out the name and starts jumping up and down. This is such a fun age to watch him explore the world.

Papa and Nana Knopp got him this cool coze coupe car. He has played with it non stop today!

This is the dinosaur we got him and he is terrified of it! It walks and makes noises. He didn't want it on the floor so I moved it to the kitchen and he was still worried about it on the counter. He kept going in there and saying dino in a whinny voice. I finally moved it to the closet and he isn't worried about it anymore!
He took the next step into being a big boy and we got rid of his binkie or "dittie" as he calls it. We were waiting until he turned two but decided to do it the beginning of the week. The first nap was rough but after a few times of saying "binkie is all gone, you are a big boy now" he finally went to sleep. He slept all night without it and is asking for it less and less. I didn't think it would go that smooth but he made it easy!


We are working on potty training. He is over the fear of sitting on the potty. At first he screamed and fought us but now he likes sitting on the potty. We have a potty chair he likes to sit on and also sits on the big potty. He hasn't actually gone yet but at least he is getting used to sitting on it. We put big boy pants on him and he looks so big!

Look at his little gut!!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy. I can't wait to see you grow up but not too fast!

Birthday Party at Ms. Rhonda's

Thad had his birthday party at his daycare today. They had a pizza party! We made cheerio treats the night before to take to the party. Ms. Rhonda got Thad a little vacuum because he loves to vacuum! He has been helping me all night clean the carpet! His best friend Jesse got him little cars! He had a fun party with his daycare friends to help him celebrate. Here are some pictures from today. Thanks Rhonda for making Thad's birthday so special! Click here to see the smilebox pictures.

Picture Day!!

We had our famly pictures taken at Sears today. Thad did very good and smiled in every shot. We wanted to include Emma in our pictures today so we brought her picture along. I think it turned out really nice. This one is my favorite out of all of them. They did a neat enhancement to it.

Thad practiced smiling all day yesterday. He had a cheesy smile yesterday but when it came time to smile today he smiled like a nice boy!

Thad had a fun time and our photographer was really good. She put a duck on her head and made it fall off. Thad thought that was pretty funny for the first 10 times then he didn't want anything to do with the duck!

Our big boy 2 year old.

I really like these next two pictures. Thad had fun with Emma's picture. He kept saying her name and pointing at her picture.

I am always indecisive on which pictures to order. I always second guess my self! I think Adam gets mad when it's time to pick them out. I always go over my limit because I want to buy them all!!!

Thad-2009

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Zoo day

It was such a nice day today so we went to the zoo. Our first stop was the giraffe's to feed them. Thad fed one giraffe all 6 crackers!

Daddy and Thad by the big bear! It's my goal to get a picture each summer with Thad standing beside the big bear. He didn't want to stand there today by himself so Daddy held him.

Our favorite part of the day was seeing the grizzly bears. They were very active today and were taking a swim. This one was playing with a stick while the other one was sun bathing on the rock.

Thad loves seeing this sheep. He got to ride him today (Adam was right behind him).

We did a short trip today because Thad was getting sleepy. We got to see the monkey's, giraffes, bears, lions, tigers, and the big moose! The moose was chasing the turkeys today!! Thad liked hearing the turkey's gobble while the moose was chasing him!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Kathy!

Happy birthday Nana!!! I had fun with you last weekend swinging on the porch. Thanks for coming to visit me! I hope you have a great birthday!!!!

Love, Thad

Silly boy

If Thad hits his head or falls down and Adam and I aren't in the room he comes running to us and motions us with his hand to come in the other room. He does a reinactment of how he got hurt. He will fall to the ground and point to the floor to show us where he fell. If he hit his head on a door or wall he will hit it again and point to the wall so we know where he hit his head. He is so funny and so smart!!!!

New Table

I finally got a new table!!! We bought a table after we got married and I just had to have a glass table top. I loved the look of it but little did I know I would HATE it later! It always looked dirty, with fingerprints, dust, etc. It was impossible to keep clean with Thad anywhere around. One little touch and it had little fingerprints all over it. He did hit his head alot on it too! These were my selling points to Adam on getting a new table. I didn't want poor Thad to hit his head anymore!!!

It is a high top wood table with leather seat chairs. I LOVE IT! The high top tables must be in because that is pretty much all they had. We needed something small enough for our dining area but big enough for when we have company. This table has a leaf that folds under the table to make it bigger. I can't stop staring at it!! It definitely dresses up that area and Thad hasn't hit his head once!!!

Adam isn't much of a shopper so his mom Kathy and Wayne came out last weekend and helped me pick it out. We were bored one night so we went to a few places to scope out the tables. I'm pretty persuasive and usually get my way so Sunday I took Adam to see what I had to have! He liked it and it was a good deal so we loaded it up in the minivan (another reason I love my van)!!! Thanks Adam for my new table!!! I promise this one will last for more than five years!

Saving Little Hearts 2010 Calendar

It's time for the new 2010 heart calendar! I found out about this calendar last year and submitted Emma and Thad's pictures. I submitted them again for 2010 and you can view the calendar here: http://newsite.savinglittlehearts.com/?pg=311. Emma is in December-second row, first picture and Thad is in July-first row, third picture. You can see each person on every page is such a miracle! Let's help spread awareness about CHD!!!

Prayer hands

Thad has been putting his hands in the "prayer" position lately. He started it about a week ago and now when I take his picture and I tell him to smile he puts his hands like this. He even does it in his sleep!

This picture was back in Russell during Christmas. We were at church and he climbed up in the window seal and folded his hands like he was going to pray.

We have a very sweet boy on our hands!

End of another year.....Blessing 52

This is my last blessing post for this year! I can't believe I made all 52 blessings. It was hard sometimes making sure I had a post for each week of the year.

It's also hard to believe it is the end of 2009. I'm still not sure where this year went. It seems like we were just celebrating Thad's first birthday and now he will be two in January. It was a good year and we have alot to be thankful for. This year brought many blessings including no major health concerns for Thad! He had a few colds, ear infections but nothing major.

I have this entire week off and its been so fun being at home with Thad. He has changed so much in these past two weeks! He is saying more words, repeats everything I say, and is understanding things we say to him. He is a big helper and loves to help around the house. Of course he does his share of scattering toys and making a mess but at least he attempts to help pick it up!

We are excited to go into 2010 and see what exciting new adventures it has planned for us. We hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year!

Blessing 51-Christmas

We spent Christmas in Russell this year. We left Saturday the 19th and spent a week there. We suprised my mom and came early. She thought we were coming the following Tuesday but we snuck out a little early. My dad helped with the plotting and we spent a night out at their cabin at Cedar Bluff Lake. We snuck in while she was taking a nap and was shocked to see us and thought she was dreaming!

Our trip started off a little rocky. Saturday night Thad wasn't feeling well and had a fever. I was freaking out being that far away from Dr.'s and of course I forget his thermometer. After tylenol and sleep he felt much better in the morning but then Sunday night was the same thing. We took him to the Dr. in Russell and he had a double ear infection! She gave him antiobiotics and by Tuesday he was back to his old self again. It always scares me going back to the small towns in Russell, not having a pediatrician in the same town. He was fine and I was much better too once I saw him feeling better.

We got to meet Avery for the first time. She is my brother Mike and his girlfriend Alicia's new baby. She is just a month old and cute as can be! She is a little snuggler and you can tell she gets held alot. We got to babysit a few nights and cuddled her the whole night! Thad was very fascinated with the baby. He kept saying "hi baby" and wanting me to put her on the floor. I didn't trust him enough to get too close to her but we did snap this picture real quick!

He just kept smiling at her and telling her hi.

We hung around Russell for the week and got together Christmas day- my parents, sister Michelle, Doug, Shayna, Hannah and Macie, my brother Mike and his girlfriend Alicia, Dawson, Jaelynne (Alicia's daughter) and their new baby girl Avery. We had a big feast and opened presents. Santa brought Thad a Little Tykes basketball goal. He also got a truck, building blocks, pajama's, pop up books, his first bible, a wiggle worm and so much more! He had fun this year opening all his presents. Everytime we said Santa's name or he saw a picture of him he would say "Ho, Ho, Ho" It was fun to see him get so excited opening up a gift and wanting to play with it right away.

It's always fun to get all the grandkids together. They have a good time and Thad keeps up with them all. They like to play downstairs with all the toys and make their own games up.

We also got a family picture together. So you can put names with faces here is the order. Back row- Adam, me, Michelle, Hannah, Doug, Shayna, Macie. Front row-Luci, Thad, Steve, Mike, Dawson, Alicia, Avery and Jaelynne.

Here is the wiggle worm Grandma Kathy (Adam's mom) and Papa Wayne got for Thad. You sit on it and bounce and it moves like a inch worm.

On Saturday we went to the Budke Christmas in Hays and got together with my mom's side of the family. It's always a fun time and has been a tradition for many years. We rent a big hall and have a big feast with more presents and of course lots of goodies to eat.

It's always nice to get together with family and remember what Christmas is all about. Yes it's fun to open presents but we know the real reason Christmas exists and are thankful for Jesus and all he has done for us. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Bye Bye Car Payments!!! (Blessing 50)

We bought our van in July of 2008. It was our goal to pay it off in a year and we came very close. After we passed the year mark we made a new goal to pay it off by the end of 2009. We just made our last car payment this week and now we have NO car payments. It's a relief to know we don't owe the bank anymore and it's one less bill each month!

I'm still loving the van, even though people are shocked sometimes when I tell them I drive a mini van! We are still on Dave Ramsey's plan to be debt free. One step closer to being debt free and now we can move onto our student loans.

BYE BYE VAN PAYMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Santa and Thad

We went to see Santa and Thad did very good. He was a little nervous at first so I held him and we all took a picture with Santa. After we were done he felt a little more comfortable so he wanted to give Santa "knuckles" and a high five. He sat on Santa's lap real quick and he snapped the picture. He looks very serious in the picture and was calling my name the whole time. He did very good and didn't even cry! At the end he was telling Santa good bye and gave him a tug on his beard!

Blessing 49

It is a Winter Wonderland in Colorado! The ground is covered in snow and days like this it makes me appreciate my nice warm house! It is so cold outside and the wind doesn't help. I got a snow day today so Thad and I hung out where it was nice and warm. We have one of those fake fire place's which blows out warm air and gives the illusion of a fire going. We cranked it on and sat in front of the fire most of the day. We watched some cartoons, ate cookies and drank milk. We had a nice day at home and now waiting on Adam to come home. (We are also still in our pajamas!!!)

It's a blessing to have a warm place to be when it's so cold outside. We are thankful to have a house to come to everyday. We pray for those who are homeless and don't have a place to call home.