Thomas Tidbits...: 8 Month Fish!

Well, another month has flown by. Where does the time go? Oh wait, I know - this month was full of...

: ACL (and Clarky visiting) - what a fun weekend. I only went one day and was able to hit up Spoon and Pearl Jam. Being able to walk from our new house was super convenient.

: Nick/Jane/James's Visit - We finally got to meet our amazing nephew, James! He is a chunky monkey and as adorable as can be. The cousins had a blast playing together.

: 4 Year Anniversary - we celebrated for the 4th year in a row at Outstanding in the Field at Boggy Creek. Always a treat and welcome way to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

: KC Trip - I had a solo journey to KC to meet Charlie Clancey... what a sweet boy. Since the Royals were in the playoffs, there were 2 watch parties while I was home. I cashed in on a Mother's Day gift from Justin to stay at a hotel. Waking up and just laying there and not jumping out of bed to cater to the kids was such a treat. I was also able to have a wonderful lunch with Grandma Betty. And to top the weekend off - The Lews were in town, so I logged in some QT with them too. All in all a productive and relaxing weekend.

: Bama's Visit - While I was in KC, Bama came to support Justin in his first overnight solo mission with the kids. Safe to say that he was relieved to have the support.

: Kiki & Brian Move to Austin - Yay for more family in Austin! How lucky are we?? And Katie arrived just in time because...

: My Surgery - I developed an umbilical hernia during my pregnancies and had it repaired the day after Katie arrived. Luckily she's helping us out as I wasn't able to lift anything for the first two weeks (including my kids). Makes for a challenging situation when Justin is out of town. Thank goodness for the reinforcements. After the first two weeks, I can do some minor lifting but still need help. I'm ready to get the green light for lifting and full working out at week 6.

: Halloween - We had quite the festive Halloween week. A kids' costume party at my office, Eleanor's Fall Festival at school, and Halloween trick or treating at our old community, Villa Court. One of Eleanor's favorite books is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so Fisher dressed as the caterpillar and Eleanor as the butterfly. We had every intention to dress as the fruit that the caterpillar eats in the book - a pear and an apple. But it didn't pan out after my surgery and the restrictive nature of the costumes while having to chase down our overly active children.

Whew!

More importantly, our sweet little Fisher turned 8 months. Buddy Tidbits:

: Our baby boy has been in such a great mood lately and is an ANIMAL. He constantly moves - crawling with purpose, climbing (which now includes stairs), pulling up and walking around any piece of furniture. He no longer sits to take a bottle... we now have to chase him around and feed him much like a goat in a petting zoo.

: Just like his big sister, Fisher needs constant stimulation and gets easily bored. So, we constantly have to change scenery - different rooms in the house, walks outside, My Gym, music, etc.

: Lots of giggling (see videos below). Can't get enough of it.

: Buddy loves to stick his tongue out.

: Fisher performs (and knows the difference) when we say "Fish, pat, pat, pat! and Kick, kick, kick!" Always so proud of himself. He now also know how to give High Fives.

: Brother's favorite songs are "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "The Wheels on the Bus"

: Still no teeth, but lots of teething and drooling.

Eleanor Tidbits:

: We kept E up for a casual dinner party with friends a few weeks ago, and now she is obsessed with playing "dinner party." She sets the table (which is usually the floor), tells everyone where to sit, and then cooks and serves dinner.

: 30 month stats:

*Height: 34 in (13%)

*Weight: 25 lbs (10%)

*Head: 48 cm (58%)

: When I had my surgery, I knew it would be tough to Eleanor for me not to hold her. She's been pretty Mommy focused lately. So, Justin and I both picked her up from school on the day of my surgery. We explained to her that mommy has a little boo boo on her belly button, and while it's healing I won't be able to hold her. It's funny how kids pick up on the severity of things because when I asked her if she wanted to see my boo boo, she looked frightened, and said "No." Then followed by - "But, Mommy, can we still hold hands??" Heart MELTED.

: Ellie is in full on Frozen mode now. My bright idea was to buy/watch Frozen the morning after Daylight Savings Time since the kids were up so early. Great call on my part, if I do say so myself. We snuggled up and watched the entire movie, and she was in heaven. She prances around and proudly sings the Frozen songs nearly every day.

: Tonight Eleanor was in the bathroom going #2, and in crawls Fisher. E quickly exclaims, "Brother, give me some SPACE."

Such a happy boy. He really is in a pretty good mood every day as long as he eats and sleeps on schedule.

Silly

Me creeping into his room before I head to bed. It's all I can do to not crawl into his crib with him to snuggle.

Parent's ACL. We've graduated to the chair section (old people), and we are proud of it.

Best air guitar duo at ACL, hands down.

Outstanding in the Field, Year 4

Table for 120 guests

Chicken coop.

Delectable Dinner

Sweet Baby James. At 9 months, he weighs as much as Eleanor at 2.5 years. Big Boy!

Cousin Fun

Ellie loves Baby James

Cool dudes just hanging

James had the best demeanor. Goofy, sweet, fun, and charming;)

Thomas Boys

Fisher checking out Uncle Nick

Eleanor checking out Uncle Nick at the same age

Our resident raccoons that are way too comfortable at our house.

KC! Fast Eddie!

Linds and Charlie

Snuggle time with Charlie Clancey

Natalie + Fiona

Pic doesn't do this justice. Ward Parkway... I miss the leaves changing in the Fall. KC was stunning.

Meanwhile, this little buddy hangs with Bama, Daddy, and Sister in Austin.

Who loves Bama?

Laundry (non) helper

Eleanor setting the scene for her dinner party

This is the only pic we have of Fisher on Halloween (with our old neighbor, Helen, who we miss dearly). He wore his costume for about 30 seconds and promptly ripped it off.

Eleanor and Audrey, best buds

The adults were hanging outside and realized the girls were way too quiet inside. When we went inside to check on them, they were completely naked and told us that they were swapping costumes.