Random

First of all, Holly Golightly may think that "Tiffany's" is the greatest place on Earth but I am a firm believer that "Petsmart" out shines the jewelry store any day. I took Sean there the other day to look at the birds, fish, dogs, cats, etc. He enjoyed it as much as I do. I had never been there before I had Bruno (sounds like Bruno was my son or something). It is such a happy place. Animal lovers who just are happy people. When I use to drive home from work I would stop there if I had a bad day- just to feel better. It seriously makes me happy.

Anyway! Just thought I'd share that w/ you!

Side note: I CAN NOT THINK OF A BABY NAME! We are for sure getting induced on January 23rd (unless we have him sooner!) And I can not, for the life of me, think of the perfect name. I did have Jacob Ryan Thomas (Mike's dad's name is Ryan) but Jacob is way to popular. We also had Nathan Scott Thomas (my brothers name is Scott) but I'm not sold on it.

Others:

Isaac Scott Thomas
Gavin Michael or Gavin Edwin (Mike's grandpa's name is Edwin)

I hate the meaning of Jacob (supplanter) and I love the meaning of Isaac (he laughs) Not that it matters too much. What do you think? If not these WHAT?!

Random cute picture of Sean. He is obsessed w/ books!

Five Favorite Things Tag

I was tagged by Kristy. I will just say...narrowing it down to five is difficult!

Five Favorite Things (No particular order)

#1: Dancing w/ Sean and Mike

#2: Sean saying "Boo"

#3: 8 O'Clock Bed Time

#4: Shopping (w/ money)

#5: Getting my hair thinned

I tag: Alisha D, Julia R, Brianna H, Jaimee L, Rebecca G

Old or What?!

Mike wanted to rent a movie tonight- I told him it was too late and I was almost asleep (it was 8 pm); I am so old!

My little prodigy (A.K.A. Sean) has been acting more and more like me lately. It's kind of funny. Each morning he walks to the Christmas tree and points to turn it on (I have to have it on all of the waking time). He also has been putting his toys away after he uses them. He wipes up after he spills. I'm so impressed by my little guy!

Warning: Cheesy Post (Sorry!)

So, tonight, we watched It's a Wonderful Life and man did I enjoy it! I am so blessed b/c I have the awesome ability to forget a movie almost as soon as I've watched it. I don't have a great memory so it's so fun to re-watch movies. It's also a curse (can you imagine me as a student!) Anyway, I completely forgot how good this movie is. It could be that I'm hyper-emotional these days but I literally cried the entire time.

I can't believe how many hours, minutes, and seconds I let go by without enjoying each one with my wonderful husband and my adorable child. Instead of whining each time Sean whines and cries for me to hold him, I really should just enjoy that he loves me and always wants to be with me. A good friend of mine reminded me that when he is fifteen, he won't want to snuggle with his weird overbearing mom. It's true! Sean has been so clingy lately. We went to Idaho for Thanksgiving to meet our new adorable nephew and he was so ornery the entire time. I was exhausted and spent more time wishing I was at home in bed rather than enjoying the time I had with family.

Too bad, this always happens. I know I can't be the only on on the Earth who feels like this. I feel like I let time just slip by and someday I won't have the things that I have now. I need to not spend so much time wishing I had this, that, or whatever, and truly enjoy life.

Life is such a precious gift. I love my family and feel blessed in many ways.

4th Picture

My friend, Emily, tagged me for this 4th picture thing. Well, I kind of had a hard time doing it b/c I'm not very organized and my pictures are not all in nice neat folders. So, I randomly picked a folder and picked the fourth picture...



This is Mike our first year of marriage. I had a Cultural Psych class and had to make Indian Flat Bread. This was his reaction! The sad part is he can eat anything.

Just for fun, I attached me actually making the bread. I was so proud!



I tag Jaimee, Paige, Kristy, and Leslie (sorry if you've been tagged already!)

Ultrasound and Mindfulness

Today, we had our ultrasound to make sure the baby is ok. AND HE'S SO FINE!! I'm so excited. He was measuring big (67%) and intrauterine growth retardation is one of the main things of concern. His lungs and stomach looked great which are also of concern. So, hopefully, things will be just fine. The doctor says he will induce at 39 weeks if we wanted (which would be nice to know the day of delivery!) We got to see a 3D ultrasound (LOVED IT!) Little Baby #2 is so adorable. He has a lot of hair, big chubby cheeks, and a perfect little button nose (seriously, I could tell by the very high tech ultrasound:) I love him already. Thanks to everyone who expressed concern for us! We appreciate your friendship!


Speaking of love; can I just say I love Sean so much too. I know most people who see me probably think I'm a nut case (which I am) but I appear to be stressed out 100 percent of the time (usually the case) but I still find time to enjoy my little fussy bugger! One of the greatest things I can say about being a mom is that I can never ever second guess that child's devotion and love for me. He loves me! I hope that I reciprocate those feelings. I get so caught up in trying to "fix" everything that I forget just to let him be a baby. He does not have to give up his bottle, pacifier, and say 100 words before the next baby is here. It will be just fine. I actually didn't really understand what "mindfulness" was until Mike gave me a seminar about it last night:) Just kidding. he does like to reiterate all of his amazing intellectual findings and I mostly just snore away. But this time, I actually listened. I've always thought of it as just thinking about something (like Heavenly Father) or acknowledging it but if you really are aware of the present moment then you will not dwell on the past or worry about the future- you will just feel hope that you can accomplish whatever it is you need to do at that moment. So, when Sean cries instead of going to bed right away it's not the end of the world, he will not get off of his schedule so much that he'll revert back to newborn stage and never sleep again. It will....be ....ok! IF I could really just be mindful more often, I think I would be a more peaceful person.

ANYWAY.....

I think I will straighten my house, watch Planet Earth, and go to bed!

Actually Soliciting Parenting Advice!

Hey- I have a question for those of you who would like to clue me in on their parenting secrets.

I think it's a common baby thing but Sean has been waking up after only 7--8 hours of sleep. He doesn't seem hurt, in pain, sick, or even hungry. I usually end up giving him a few minutes of crying (he usually cries for a few minutes then goes back to sleep only to wake up one hour later and continue crying). So, I end up feeding him a bottle.

He used to sleep 12 hours no problem until about five days ago. This has been going on for about that long. Last night, I was so exhausted I just gave him a sippy cup of milk and this morning when he woke up it was all over himself and his bedding.

Anyway, my question is....what do I do? Do I just let him cry it out for a few nights? will he have some kind of emotional/attachment issue? I could let him cry when he was younger b/c it seemed okay. Now, he is older and I feel like he knows why he cries and I don't want him to feel abandoned.

Any suggestions you parenting genius's?

Sean's 2nd Halloween

Sean was dressed in traditional Vietnemese attire for Halloween this year. It was fun to go trick or treating. He is obsessed with suckers! It's almost embarrasing how many he eats in a week. Good thing he likes to brush his teeth too!

A Good Cry Never Hurt Anyone!

(I chose her b/c not only is she crying but she is not the thinnest of people either exemplifying what I am feeling- fat and emotional!)

Oh the joys of hormones. Don't you just love bursting into tears in front of a complete stranger like almost sobbing uncontrollably over absolutely nothing. I don't know what my problem is (I guess, I can blame it on pregnancy but this has happened plenty of times when I wasn't pregnant). The other day at my doctors appt. I was supposed to get the glucose screening. The last time I did it (mind you it was not that long ago:) they gave me the yucky orange drink to take home, I took it home, drank it and was at the hospital to do the test w/in the hour. This time they sent me to three different places and made me sit there with a fussy little Seanie for the whole hour. When I found out I was in the wrong place the last time, I burst into tears and the two nurses looked at me like..."Okay, what do I do? Do I send her to the psych unit...oh wait she has a huge stomach she must be pregnant. Ohhhh that poor thing...." Proceeding to then pour me with utter sympathy making me cry harder.

It got done. Sean was not that fussy at all. Life was not over.

Then today, I ended up reading someones blog that I had not seen in a long time only to find out he got married and one year later his wife died! A video tribute was on his blog and I was bursting into tears!!!

THEN......

I decided to "surf" the Internet (even though were were advised not to in Gen. Conf.)and find out any possible thing that could go wrong w/ the diagnosis of "single umbilical artery." Big mistake. Now, I'm freaking out about every possible thing even though I got a blessing and it says everything will be just fine and reminded me to have faith. A good friend of mine (a very blunt one) reminded me today that she (unlike me) will never have to tell her kids she "didn't want them" or they were a "surprise or mistake." She gently reminded me how stressed I was when I found out I was pregnant. It was not that I did not want this baby (not at all) but I'm just so pessimistic and hard on myself I honestly didn't think I could mentally and physically be a mom to a pretty needy toddler and a newborn! Anyway, she meant no harm I'm sure; it just stung a little. If anything goes wrong I will never forgive myself for being so stressed about being pregnant. I already deeply love this baby boy. When he moves, I just get so happy. Even when it's completely inconvenient like when I'm just about to sleep and he decides to practice his gymnastics ferociously. I still am so happy that he is moving and hopefully happy and healthy.

OKAY.....enough.

I'm done.

Really, life is wonderful. Everything will be okay and crying is totally normal. I think I'll go cry now..

Missouri Vacation

Mike, Sean, and I took a "mini-vacation" to Kennett, Missouri last week. I'm from there and we try to go back yearly. This year was so much fun. We stayed w/ my older sister, Samantha, and her family. They took great care of us!

We went to visit Jimmy (Samantha's husband) and my brother Scotty on the cotton farm. Mike was in heaven. He loved it! He got to ride on the big cotton picker and watch how they make cotton modules. I just wanted to take pictures of it all! The sad thing is we took a ton one day and it was great lighting and the kids were all having fun. Then, we found out our SD card was not formatted and we lost it all! I was so sad. So, we tried to do it all over again but of course it wasn't the same. Oh well, it was still a fun adventure. For a second, Mike almost had a new career (working on the cotton farm!) Too bad he had to come back to working on the Psych unit! I'm not sure which I would prefer!
Sean also got to visit his cousin, Jimmy Lee. He is two months younger than Sean and they LOVED each other! It was so much fun to see them play. I'm excited for them to grow up buddies!

Sean also got to live with a dog for a few days! My sister has a black lab, Sissy. Sean loved her. It was so much fun. I love visiting my mom and family. I usually pretty happy to come home and get in my normal routine but I miss it like crazy. Sean was so happy there. He's been fussy the past two days as he adjusts to life w/o constant attention and kisses from Samantha! Poor guy, has to live with a grumpy old boring mom! I try to be fun, but it's just not the same.

I'm back! Sorry!

Well, I put our blog to private (not that anyone looks at it:) b/c I got some weird message and I couldn't link to the sender. Now, our desktop computer has some crazy virus. Then, I got too lazy trying to add addresses so I changed it back for your viewing pleasure:)
P.S. wasn't general conference awesome. I was impressed that I only slept through Elder Oaks talk (his voice is so soothing!)

Ahhh The Good Ol' Days

Today has been one of those days!! Sean has hit his head at least a dozen times. I was so worried I watched him take his nap (to ensure there was no concussion!) I remember the good ol' days when he would just lay on the couch and sleep his little day away. And, though, he still likes to sleep, the kid no longer lounges around on the couch- he bounces around it resulting in a big fall on the coffee table! He also loves to slide down the slide at the park. He's getting very good at it. He can do it almost by himself. He loves to climb around the stairs on the playground. Today, he fell trying to go up by himself. It was sad to see the proud face followed by the awful fall.




The Peaceful Newborn!









By the end of the day, he actually just lounged on my bed watching "Planet Earth." It was fun to snuggle and remember when he actually liked to cuddle with me (besides when he's hurt!) I love the kid! I'm glad he is so inquisitive and thankfully the bumps don't last!

I Knew It!

Well, today we had our appointment with the doctor (follow up for the ultrasound). I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG! Something was wrong- I could tell by that sonogramer lady(whatever they're called). Apparently, the umbilical cord only has two vessels instead of three. They usually have two veins and one artery but the poor little guy only has one vein and one artery (cause, unknown). So, it happens in 1-100 pregnancies and 2/3 pregnancies deliver healthy babies.....so I should be good - right? Well, that didn't stop me from doing tons of research on the internet. The words that stuck out were....chromosome abnormalities, fetal distress, heart and kidney problems, STILLBIRTH! Yeah, nothing to stress about. Whatever! I'm so stressed out. I can't believe this. I can't believe I was so apathetic about being pregnant in the beginning. I was so scared. I remember hearing, "Just have faith" every time I would stress about having two fussy babies. Now I'm hearing that even louder. I know I need to be faithful but it's way hard to not stress out!!! The doctor is doing another ultrasound in 6-8 weeks. I'm sure it will be fine. He was not too worried! Anyway, keep us in your prayers.

Crafty Road Trip

Sean and I ventured out to Rexburg, Idaho to see Megan and Matt. It was a fun trip. We picked up Caitie on our way. We got to see her cute apartment at USU. Sean was good the whole way there (coming back was another story).







SEAN JUST CHILLIN' IN THE BACKSEAT!








The first night was stayed he was a little loopy from all the excitement. He was walking around and falling and laughing. It was as if I slipped something "extra" in his sippy (which I am known to do (Diet Mt. Dew, of course!) I finally got him to sleep and he was fine the rest of the weekend.
Megan is so crafty and I mentioned I wanted a Fall wreath so she decided we should just make one. I was so proud of the turn out (of course, if you know me at all, you know I am NOT crafty!) It was a very fun weekend!

TWINS!!!!

So, we had our "routine" ultrasound yesterday. It was exciting. They verified that it was a boy! YAY! I'm not sure what I would do w/ a girl (not yet anyway!) Well, the pictures turned out great, he looks great! The ultrasound girl (I'm not sure their title) printed a ton for us. We didn't get a chance to talk to the doctor b/c he's out of town. I'm excited to go in next week and I'm hoping he verifies everything is okay with baby #2 (still no name!)

So, in the pictures, he looks just like Sean! It's crazy. I kept saying, "He looks like a clown." And Mike reminded me that is what I kept saying about Sean!


SEAN IN HIS ULTRASOUND! BARELY MOVED AND HAD TO BE PRODDED!



BABY #2 IN HIS ULTRASOUND- FLEXED LIKE CRAZY AND WAS NOT SHY AT ALL! HOPEFULLY HE WON'T HAVE COLIC, MILK ALLERGY, EAR INFECTIONS, AND TUBES!





Anyway, I'm so excited to have this baby. I know it's going to be hard- but I'm sure it will be worth it. Sean will have a play mate! Now, if you have any good name suggestions, let me know! We're stumped! We've thought about "Michael Scott Thomas" (all of you "Office Fans" would appreciate!)

Practice Makes Perfect

Sean gets to practice walking and I practice taking pictures. However, he needs less practice than I do!

My baby bump (or mountain)!

Ok, I'm officially bugged. Right now, I'm 19 weeks pregnant. If you saw me pregnant w/ Sean, you may remember how huge I was. I'm getting that huge. I'm ok w/ that. Apparently, everyone else I come into contact w/ is so surprised that when someone is pregnant, their stomachs grow.....hmmmm...

If I hear another comment about my growing belly I might seriously go crazy.

Ok, listed are a few comments I've received....true and ridiculous.

"Lori, you've blossomed." (gently put)

"You don't look pregnant at all" (yeah, right!)

"Your stomach is huge! And so fast." I then replied, "I know, everyone keeps telling me that" (in an annoyed voice)
Then this person said, "You should put those people in their place. People are so rude!" (That one is my favorite)

OK, and the last one was when I was sitting at church. A lady said, "You don't look pregnant at all." I then pointed to my rolling thunder and she said, "That's just fat from your previous pregnancy." OOOOOHHHH I feel much better now. Thanks for clearning that up for me!

Seriously, I think that all people should just not comment at all. I know I'm guilty of it too. But, I hope that I've learned my lesson. If anything, just ask how that person is doing. That's it, nothing else. No need to remind them they are growing rapidly. In fact, no comment regarding their looks is really necessary (at least in my case!)

I Miss Bruno!

Many of you know that I had the world's cutest dog! (Though, some may argue otherwise)! He was cute. That's what kept us from throwing him from our balcony at times. He was also the world's worst dog! When you think of a dog, you should automatically think, "Man's best friend." Bruno was that and our worst enemy as well. He would bite all of the time. All we had to say was, "Bruno, no!" and he'd start growling and bearing his teeth. He hated being told what to do. He was spoiled in every way and I know that is our fault. But, I TRULY LOVED THIS DOG. I have a hard time allowing myself to get attached to people and things but I let myself get completely in love with this dog. It was like an abusive relationship. He would bite, I would cry, we would make up, and it would happen over and over again. Anyway,
he had to be put down last month because he got a herniated disc in his back and was unable to walk. This would not be as big of deal except for the fact that he wouldn't let you touch him to go potty either. Anyway, I didn't have to do it, luckily. His new owners were kind enough to do it and bury him in their nice big yard that Bruno loved.
Anyway, I still hear him sometimes and that's why I had to get this off my chest. I still hear him whining at me to go on a walk. Every time I say the word walk out loud, I think of him. His pictures are all over my house and in every picture of Sean, he's in the background somewhere getting in our business! I MISS HIM. Mike says I have complicated grief and am only remembering the good things but it's hard when they're gone. It's hard to remember the bad.
Anyway, I will never ever ever get another pet of any kind. I know it would be good for Sean. Oh well, he can learn discipline and responsibility elsewhere!

Happy Birthday Sean

Yes, we made it! Sean is one. What a great year. The fussy bugger actually has turned out to be not so ornery. He loves animals so we took him to the zoo. He was enthralled by everything. It was fantastic. He also had a little get together with some of his peeps. Even his arch enemy- Rylee came to wish him a happy birthday. I have to tell you the funniest part of the little party (besides the cat fight between Reece and Carter), Sean eating his cupcake.
He was so happy and usually he drops food, not this time! He made sure to cram it all in his mouth. He ate it so fast too, Mike was very impressed.
It was a fun day. I'm glad they only turn one once b/c MAN I'M TIRED!

No Place Like Home

We went to Mesquite. Aunt Caitie (Mike's sister) was nice enough to babysit for us. She was willing to do it for the whole week- we lasted four days! After two, I was so ready to see Sean again. It was a nice break though. We ate lots of food and saw "The Dark Knight" and "Hancock-" both were very good.

Our favorite part of the trip was seeing Le Miserables at Tuahcan. It was awesome. We had never been there. We definitely want to make it a tradition- we loved it. Some of the actors had actually been in a few movies and on Broadway!

It was fabulous!

We were glad to be home though! It was sad b/c Sean was confused and hung on to Caitie for dear life! He started crying when I tried to pick him up. It took him a whole 30 minutes to love me again!! Sad, huh? I let him eat tons of sugar and I gave him a lot of attention. Needless to say, he was hyper and very glad we were home. I love this picture. It's like he's saying, "I forgive you and still love you, Mom!"

Mesquite

Sean loves his bath. I don't know a kid who doesn't! He is obsessed with pulling all of my things off of the side. He now throws them out of the tub and tries to get out to get them. I hope that phase ends soon- it's quite tedious!

We only have five more days till Mike and I leave for Mesquite! We'll be gone for a whole week. WITHOUT SEAN! We will have Bruno though. He's really sick with a herniated disc (he can't walk) so we will be boarding him in a hotel near our condo there! (okay, it's an animal hospital). I'm excited. The longest I've been away from Sean is five hours (besides sleeping). I hope I last. I plan on getting a really good tan, reading the new Twilight book, and sleeping and eating a lot. For our anniversary (the 7th) I bought us tickets to see Les Mis the play at Tuacahn. It's Mike's favorite book so I hope it's a good play! I'll let ya know!

Hurricane Sean

After having kids, I have decided a clean house is not important. Well, it's not that it's not important; it's just not possible! I promise you I can vacuum every single day and still have graham crackers stuck to the carpet. We tried to put our computer in our bedroom and use it as a t.v. yeah, it was at Sean's reach so needless to say- it did not last long in there. His favorite toy of all time is the computer mouse.
The first toy I ever bought him was a little medical bag with supplied is it. It has a bottle of pills and it's so funny to see him walk around with that thing. It's always in his hand. We hope it is not a sign of things to come. I'm not sure if Mike can handle drug seekers at work and home!
Today he took so many steps! Holy cow, it was so awesome. He was so proud too. He walked like 10 feet (okay maybe 5 but still!!!)

It's so fun to see him walking!

Sean's Little Life Story

This is Sean getting his tubes in. He actually did very well through the surgery. He's tough but always sick!!!
Sean is always sick. I keep telling myself not to have any more kids:) We all know how that's going to go down. He ended up with a big rash all over his body, diarrhea, a snotty nose, a bloody mouth, a temperature, and a really needy needy personality (oh wait he was born with that) all this weekend. What a great time we've had:) The thing is, I take him to the doctor all of the time, and they always say, "He has a virus." Then I pay them 80 dollars and we're back to square one. It's so depressing.
So, needless to say, I'm exhausted, Mike's exhausted. I'm not surprised if he just doesn't come home tonight:) Just kidding. I wouldn't if I were him. He's almost done with school this semester. IN TWO WEEKS!!! We're going to Mesquite for a whole 7 days w/o Sean. Mike's mom and dad and Caitie are so kind. They are taking care of him for us! We owe them big.

I'm fat and happy!

Well today was so fun. The Thomas family (Ann, Pat, Meg, Mike, Caitie) and I went to Tuscano's for lunch. I ate so much food! Mike and I were so onery today before the lunch but we were too bloated to argue anymore so that was nice. On the way home, we had an idea:

We are going to start a band:) We have no musical abilities but it would be so fun. We started talking about it after we discussed the randomest band names and how they could've gotten their names. He told me the funny story of how Hootie and the Blowfish got their name!

Anyway, Matt and I are going to be lead singers b/c we're crazy like that. Megan is going to be the ditzy cute back up dancer, Caitie will play drums, Erin will rock out on the keyboard, and of course, Ryan and Ann will play the guitar. Pat will be the bodyguard- what else! Mike will be the manager and their you have it! It will be so fun. Now for a name............

WARNING: BLOGGING IS KIND OF HARD!

It's like having a detailed journal and I don't know if I'm very good at it. I have managed to make a few comments! If you have suggestions... feel free to enlighten me w/ your insight! I tried to download this program that has tons of free creative things to add to your blog- yeah can't find it! Oh well, at least I get to make comments on your blogs!

Man, I want to be cute!

So, here goes. I'm going to try harder to be interesting:) I read my friends blogs and I think..."ahhh they look so cute and they have so much fun...." or "they live such interesting lives..." then I complain that my life is boring. Today I told Mike I want to go on vacation! Yah, like that's possible with him taking a full class load at the U and working full time. But, oh well.. we'll get to do those things someday!!!


I've tried this blogging thing once before. Was horrible at it. So then I tried facebook.....and that's okay. It's just not as detailed as a blog.


Well, I hope you guys are all doing well. Sean and I are having fun staying at home. He is such a boy! I can't believe how many times I wipe his face in a day. It's hilarious to watch him eat. I swear most of it ends up on the floor. I have finally given up and I quit letting him feed himself (well, that's what we've been doing today). I just feed him until he seems totally not interested (which is demonstrated by him picking whatever I put in his mouth out and throwing it on the floor). I then say, "All done!!" and hope he doesn't starve to death! He's a big hefty boy- I'm sure he will be just fine.


Anyway, I hope I'm better than the last time at blogging!