More changes in the Thomas Family!!

As if it wasn’t enough to bring home a new baby we’ve also got a new van and puppy!! In March we were finally able to get rid of the Durango and the awful car payment and gas mileage that came with it! Sam had just got a new (used) trooper so he said we could use his Elantra. The car had a few problems to say the least – right off the bat we had to replace the clutch, the brakes, and tires. Then if that wasn’t enough the idle speed sensor also went out causing the car to idle uncontrollably. Michael, being the brilliant man that he is, was able to jerry rig it so that it was drivable.

The car hasn’t been registered in2 years or so and since we were driving it we thought we should get that done. We finally had time to get that taken care of while on Maternity leave however it failed both safety and emissions. We were going to have to drop another $600 into the car to get it to pass on top of the $800 we’d already spent. So we decided to explore other options.



A friend of ours in the ward owns a dealership and happened to have a 2002 Pontiac Montana traded in for a newer car. Michael and I saw it online and decided to take it for a test drive over the weekend. We loved it so much that we never took it back! Sam calls it our Mormon Assault Vehicle and Aiden and I call it our bat mobile. We were very blessed to get this van at such a great price and at the perfect time.



Michael and I have been considering getting a puppy for the last year or so. Michael is an animal lover and so is Aiden. I’m not but I think every boy should have a dog. A week or so ago Michael found a pair of pure bred Boxer pups for free online. We called and said we’d call back in an hour or so to look at them because we had some stops to make. By the time we called back the pups were gone. Michael and Aiden were devastated! We really couldn’t afford to buy a puppy – they run $300-800 YIKES! So we decided it would have to wait. On Sunday afternoon just before church Sam came home and opened the back door and said “I’m in trouble”. We all jumped up and ran to the door and there she was, Maggie Mae. He just happened to run into a lady who was selling her last pup and he feel in love and brought her home! It must have been fate.




The boys absolutely love her! And I’m warming up to her too – how can you not, she is so cute! She is getting used to her new home. She is out in the back yard and cries a lot – she doesn’t like to be alone. All the neighbors’ kids come over to play with her and it’s been a fun addition to our family.

Baby Thomas has arrived!

Late Thursday morning, 7/16, I started having contractions and knew it wouldn’t be too much longer before we had our precious angel. I had been working at home all week because I had a feeling I’d be going into labor anytime. Michael was in the office and was anxious to come home, but I told him it would be a while and to finish the day.

Aiden and Michael came home and we packed our bags – ours for the hospital and his for grandma’s house. We watched a movie together then I took him over to grandma’s house. By 8:00pm contractions were every 15 minutes apart and stayed that way until Midnight. At 12:30am I called the mid-wife to let her know I was in labor and headed to the hospital.



We arrived at the hospital at 1am and I was dilated to 3.5 cm and about 80% effaced. They kept me in observation for 2 hours but I only changed a half centimeter so they sent me home. By the time we got to the free way labor had intensified to say the least so we headed back to the hospital. We arrived back at the hospital and my contractions were less than 1 min apart and as long as 3 min.
The anesthesiologist was tied up in a c-section and the baby was coming fast so I ended up delivering Al-natural and everyone in the hospital new it! At 6:18am our darling baby was born. He was 7lbs 1 oz and 18.5 inches long and absolutely gorgeous!



When they handed me my beautiful boy he peed all over me and the nurses! My first thoughts were that he was very purple! I was hyperventilating during labor which caused a shortage of oxygen to the baby (I’ll have to take a Lamaze class for the next one!). I also noticed he had a beautiful head of hair and that his fingernails were very long! We are very happy to have this new addition to our family.

Baby Shower!!

Some friends from work threw a baby luncheon for me and Michael a week or so ago, it was awesome! We had a fabulous time visiting with friends over lunch. They also coordinated a diaper drive and we ended up with 778 diapers and 240 wipes!!! We also got over $100 in cash in addition to so many oh so cute outfits and toys and baby things!! We were completely overwhelmed by their generosity and are totally set in terms of diapers for the next 6 months!!

I had my 37 week check up on Monday and am hopeful I will have this baby early. Total weight gain 17 lbs (that's right I lost a pound!), I'm 2cm dilated, 60% effaced and the baby is sitting low....





I had to post a picture of these bibs because they are so appropriate!!!

My growing boy!

My baby boy is growing up – it’s hard to believe Aiden will be four in just 4 short months! He graduated from his Toddler class this past April and started Pre-school in May. He really is thriving and just loves his teacher and class mates. He has already mastered his phonograms and is starting to work on his writing skills. He can already count past 10 and recognizes each number. He has learned the days of the week and has memorized several nursery rhymes. He’s going to be such a great role model for his baby brother!!

Yard work!

One of mine and Michaels’ favorite things to do is work in the yard. I frequently neglect my household chores so that I can spend the day working in the outside in the dirt. It has been so much fun planting our garden and watching our perennials come back.

We planted over 90 tulip bulbs last fall and they were absolutely gorgeous this spring.



Our roses are coming back in full force and have made fabulous cut flowers for the house.



We started an herb garden last summer and it came back beautifully.



Our perennials are getting ready to bloom and are really starting to fill out.



Here is our gorgeous square foot garden! We’ve already enjoyed spinach and have started to get an abundance of peas! Michael says we will never get a meal out of them though because I pick every pea I see and snack on them.



Four of the eight tomatoes we started in the house survived – apparently you have to harden the plants before you put them outside. Michael planted several different types of peppers so we can make salsa. We also planted beats, squash, and cucumbers.

Belly Update!



I’m 35 weeks pregnant and ready to pop! Michael and I are both very anxious for the arrival of our precious angel baby. We still aren’t set on a name but we’ll know when we see him. Total weight gain so far is 18lbs! I’m impressed that I’ve been able to stay within my weight goal given my eating habits; Michael often accuses me of hoarding food!!!!

My most recent cravings have been watermelon, cantaloupe, water and ice! I’ve never been an ice chewer however I can’t seem to get enough of it lately! I’ve been drinking 100plus oz of water a day just so I can chew ice! I’ve also started to get morning sickness again, ugh. I’ve found that Perrier and diet ginger ale work wonders for nausea though. My dr. suggested that I get plenty of rest and that I nap during the day HA!

Aiden is so excited to be a big brother! He was very cute helping Michael and I prepare the baby nursery! Aiden fell in love with the movie Baby Mama and will periodically quote lines from the movie. Aiden loves the song “Stay up late” from talking heads, we like to sing the first verse to each other about little “fee feet and little toes”.

Key West Adventure!

So, admittedly I’ve lost my motivation to blog. I’m very pregnant and tired anyway, couple that with added stress and responsibility at work and I just haven’t had it in me to do anything extra. I figured that it was about time to post an update on our Florida Trip.

Michael and I really wanted lounge on the beach in Maui but it was too costly in terms of points and we wanted to get away for more than 3 days. So, we opted for the Florida Keys. Neither of us really knew anything about the keys but we figured it was surrounded by water and we had enough points to get us a 5 day get away so we went for it!



We booked a beautiful room at the beachside hotel and made plans to do nothing but bask in the sun. Michael and I didn’t leave our room for the first 24 hours because we were tired and so high strung. It literally took us two days to unwind. We decided to make our way to the beach on the second day and were surprised to find a tiny beach with shallow water as far as the eye could see. What we didn’t anticipate that the beachside hotel was on the Gulf of Mexico and that it was not conducive to swimming.



So we decided to go with Plan b and find some activities to do. We booked a 26 mile Jet Ski tour around Key West, it was a blast! The water was like glass on the Gulf side but once we got to the Atlantic Ocean side we hit 3 ft swells which made for a very rough ride! I started to feel like the worst mom ever and was worried I would go into pre-term labor! Good news is both the baby and I survived and it was a lot of fun.



The next day we booked a trip to go snorkeling – we absolutely loved doing this in St. John’s so we had to take advantage of the environment. We took a huge sail boat out to the coral reef and jumped into the water. We swam around the coral reef hand in hand and had a blast exploring the tropical fish.



My top 5 do’s for Key West:

1. Do fly into Miami, rent a convertible and drive through the everglades and keys
2. Do stay at the Beachside hotel (especially if you get upgraded to a suite)
3. Do take a jet ski tour
4. Do go snorkeling
5. Do watch the sun set

My top 5 don’ts for Key West:

1. Don’t eat off the resort – it’s costly and isn’t good plus there are a lot of drunks!
2. Don’t bother going into town
3. Don’t walk from the Airport to your hotel
4. Don’t plan on swimming
5. Don’t bother doing your hair