Happy Birthday Rick!

Today was Rick's 34th birthday!! As a surprise, most of our Life Group from church got together and twelve of us went to a Portland Trailblazers game. Although the Trailblazers lost, we had a great night of fun and basketball with some great friends! It also snowed this afternoon, which Rick is pretty sure has never happened on his birthday before! Tomorrow will be the 4 year anniversary of our first date- I like to tell Rick that turning 30 was the best thing that ever happened to him! I think meeting him was the best thing that ever happened to me- and I haven't even turned 30 yet!

Rick's birthday was announced on the big screen!!

Big news!!

Rick and I have some amazing news to share... we're going to have another baby!! I am 10 weeks pregnant with Baby Thames #3 and we couldn't be more excited! My approximate due date is October 24th, which will be so strange for me to NOT have a baby born in February! :)

We found out the morning of the memorial service for Rick's mom, which seemed fitting as we mourned the loss of one life and were able to celebrate news of new life. Around week 6, I started having some problems which luckily turned out to be nothing, but it was scary nonetheless. But, I had my first official appointment today and we got to see the little heartbeat on an ultrasound for the second time, so we feel comfortable finally sharing the news with all of you.

Since we found out the gender the first two times around and because we have a girl and a boy already, Rick and I have decided to not find out what we're having this time around. I think it will help make this pregnancy exciting and it was also give Rick the chance to step out into the waiting area and make the big announcement of, "It's a boy!" or "It's a girl!" It will be a long wait, but I think it will be worth it in the end to have such a great surprise! Here are the two ultrasound pictures we've gotten so far. The first is from week 7 and the second is from today, week 10.

Tyson's big injury

OK, so it wasn't THAT big, but it seemed pretty big at the time. We had been at my dad's for about an hour on Easter night and Tyson was playing on the one step between the family room and the tile entry floor. He was making his way up the step and his hands slipped, causing him to take a header into the tile floor! Before I could even make it to him, he was dripping blood onto the tile floor and crying hysterically. Between the blood and Tyson's panicked cry, Riley also started freaking out, making the whole situation seem even more chaotic! Looking back on it, Tyson did pretty well and I think Rick and I handled it well too! On the drive back to my mom's that night, Riley kept saying over and over, "Titan hurt ip. Titan ouwie ip." She was so concerned for him, it was cute! Here is a before and after picture from the big event...

Easter Pictures

I have finally gotten around to posting some pictures from our whirlwind Easter trip to the Tri-Cities. It started with the 8:30am church service at Abundant Life here in Oregon, then the 3 hour drive to Kennewick to see my mom and Jim's new house for the first time- which is amazing! She has done such a great job decorating it in 2 short months since they've moved and gotten their furniture from Hawaii. We had a nice Easter dinner with Mom, Jim, Grandma Clarette, Bryan, Robyn, and Cassidy. I actually think it was the first time we had all three of us kids and all three grandkids in the same place, at the same time- and we didn't even get a picture! The Easter bunny visited the kids at our house that morning, at my mom's that afternoon, and again that evening at my dad and Gayle's! It was an eventful day!

In our super-short visit, we were able to get in a quick visit with my friend Michelle that I grew up next door to, her husband Steve, and their son Owen. We also made the drive to Walla Walla to see my grandma and have lunch at the restaurant that bears her name, "Clarette's". She and my grandpa used to own it and the current owners have kept the name and it's fun to eat there when we visit! The four and a half hour drive home from Walla Walla wasn't the most pleasant with both kids in the early stages of a cold- thank goodness for the DVD player in our van! I think Rick and I were both pretty sick of listening to "Finding Nemo", "The Little Mermaid", and "Cinderella" by the time we got done with our road trip.

My only wish is that we would have had time to visit with more people while we were in town. The short time we were there just went by so quickly! We are looking forward to more and more visits as the weather improves and Rick is on summer break from school. We got home and that night I was blessed with a nasty flu bug that had me up most of the night and stuck in bed or on the couch the entire next day. I'm doing much better now, but also battling the same cold the kids have.

We are planning on putting our house on the market in the next month or so- crazy, out of the blue decision- so there is so much to be done around here to get the house ready to sell. Rick has spent the last two days we've been home repairing a wall with water damage from last year, re-caulking around the kitchen, and picking up all the slack with the kids since I have been down for the count with this flu. I'm sure it's not the way he envisioned spending his spring break, but I hope his birthday tomorrow makes up for all the hard work he's been doing around here! He has been amazing! Getting work done around the yard has pretty much gone out the window since we've been enjoying winter weather around here. We woke up to snow this morning and drove home in a massive hail storm this afternoon! I guess the yard work will have to wait a while.

So, here are several pictures from Easter and our spring break week...

"Myself, myself!"

This seems to be Riley's new favorite thing to say, she's our little Miss Independent! Everything- getting into her car seat and clipping in, dressing, and she LOVES to help out with Tyson whenever she can. She has been a great help, it just takes a little longer to get some things done! Tyson is also enjoying his independence, learning how to feed himself- and here are a couple of pictures of our mealtime fun!


He's getting the hang of it now!

Catching up via blogs

Last night, Rick went to see a movie with the guys from our bible study, so I had the evening at home to myself. The kids went down easily around 7:45pm and I settled in to watch "Survivor" (which was on a day early due to March Madness games tonight) and the "American Idol" results show. I am completely spoiled with TiVo and therefore not used to having to sit through commercials and with so much extra time on my hands during the commercials, I found myself getting lost in the world of blogs- and it was a blast!

To back up a little, 3 years after graduating from high school I left the Tri-Cities to travel the country as a flight attendant and never was very good about keeping up with many people I knew in high school anyways. I was also unable to attend our KHS 10 year reunion because Rick, Riley, and I had already planned a trip to Hawaii to visit my family living there. Right around that time I got back into contact with two fellow Lions cheerleaders, Heather and Mandy, both of whom have blogs I check regularly.

So, jump forward to last night and I was passing commercial time by reading blogs. I started looking at links to other blogs and opened an entire window to the past! I was able to read updates on other former cheerleaders, girls I walked with at graduation, and other people I had gone to school with since middle school. It was fun to see familiar faces who have gone on to marry and have beautiful children. I guess I never realized how many people kept up blogs- but what a great way to stay connected with so many miles between friends and family.

I can definitely credit email as the reason I have kept in touch with so many people over the years, but I am having so much fun keeping a blog and having another way to keep up with others. As our kids grow, I'm excited to have more and more fun memories and pictures to share!

Must be time

So, I've been out of town the past few days working and apparently missing out on some fun at home with Riley and her recent progress, or lack thereof, in potty training. She now tells us when she has to go potty, likes to have her "by-per" (diaper) off and hang out in the bathroom, but doesn't have much interest in actually sitting on the potty. She has gone a few of times, but mostly just likes to play in the bathroom. And she also likes the idea that she gets a "teet" (treat) when she sits and goes. We've been giving her 2-3 chocolate chips after she goes.

Anyways, Rick went in today to get Riley up from her nap and he found her standing in her crib, wearing only her shirt and a very guilty look on her face. She had taken off her pants AND diaper, thrown the bone dry diaper over the back of the crib, and gone potty in her bed!! I think Rick was thankful it was only wet and not the alternative, but I think it's safe to say our daughter is ready for some Pull-ups and a little more potty training. I would post the picture Rick emailed me- but it would be slightly inappropriate! I'm sure you can all imagine the guilty look of a pantless 2-year-old though! I suppose we'll be heading to the library for some books for Riley to read about potties. Any advice on some good ones?

Happy Birthday Papa!

Today is my dad's birthday- Papa to Riley and Tyson. So, Riley sang "Happy Birthday" to Papa and I snapped a couple of pictures. We wish we could be there in person to celebrate with him, but we'll be there in a couple of weeks. Happy Birthday Dad!!

We'd like to wish a Happy Birthday to our good friend Jeff, who also has a birthday today. Rick and the other men from our church Life Group are taking Jeff to dinner tonight at Red Robin. I hope they have a great time!

Future American Idol?

Riley loves, loves, loves to sing these days! She has a Winnie the Pooh book filled with songs and nursery rhymes that she is obsessed with, so before nap time and bedtime we read through it and sing her favorite songs. It has become my favorite part of the bedtime routine, especially seeing how much she loves to follow along with the motions and sing along. Some of her favorites are: "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", "I'm a Little Teapot", "Pat-a-Cake", "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", and the clean-up song. She loves anything with motions that go along with them and loves to have Mommy sing them again and again and again! Tyson also likes to get in on the action, his favorites are "Pat-a-Cake" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".

I really enjoy teaching songs and nursery rhymes to our children that I remember learning from my own mom and grandma. Some of my favorite "Mom Moments" have come from singing with the kids lately! Maybe I'll try and figure out how to post video on here someday and post some of Riley's beautiful singing!

Extra Saturday

Today felt like a free day with the family because I was suppose to be at work all day. I ended up getting sick on Thursday evening and coming home early from my trip. So, after dealing with doctor stuff yesterday, I treated myself to a movie since the kids were at daycare. Rick didn't want to see "The Other Boleyn Girl", so it worked out well and I enjoyed the movie. Although, I have to say, the history of the British family is pretty messed up!

Anyways, today started out with breakfast at Jazzy Bagels in historic downtown Gresham, where the kids had fun sharing a peanut butter bagel. Rick thought it would be fun to go to the RV show at the Expo Center so we could dream about the RV we would love to own someday! We had a couple of hours until it opened so we decided to drive around Happy Valley looking at houses for sale, just to get an idea of what is available. Rick had seen a house online last week and wanted to try and find it. When we finally did, I was instantly in love with it! It's in a cul-de-sac with a huge lot and backyard, which seem to be impossible to find these days. It's 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, and has a three car garage plus RV parking. So it's basically our dream house with parking for our dream RV or boat too! It will probably be a long time before we move, but it was the first time I actually liked one of the houses we've seen for sale.

The RV show was pretty interesting and turned out to be a fun way to spend a chilly day here in Portland. The kids both seem to enjoy it too. Tyson was confined to the stroller, but Riley loved climbing into the big RV's and sitting in the driver's seats or finding the "potties". And speaking of potty, Riley asked to use the potty last night before bed, so we took off her diaper and she actually went pee-pee!! We were SOOO excited! Right after she went, she started saying "treat, treat" because she knows she gets a few chocolate chips when she goes. I dream of the day we only have to change one set of buns in diapers, so I hope this is a step towards that dream!

We had a late lunch/early dinner and then decided to try out the Saturday night service our church started a few weeks ago. We figured with the time change tomorrow morning, rather than waking up super early for our normal service, we would just take the Sunday off. It was weird being at church on Saturday night, without really knowing anyone. We really enjoy the social aspect of church, knowing the volunteers that work with the kids in their classrooms, and other familiar faces we're used to seeing. We didn't even get to sit in our "usual" spot because the outer sides were roped off to accommodate the smaller crowd. I think we'll be back to our comfortable Sunday morning 8:30am service next week, but it was fun to try something new for a change!

After church, we were able to come home, get the kids ready for bed, put them down at a reasonable time, and now each of us have time to catch up on emails, blogs, and other computer stuff. I'm also trying to catch up on episodes of "Lost" that Rick has already watched. I truly enjoyed today and spending time with Rick and the kids doing such ordinary things. I wish I could be home every Saturday to enjoy normal family things...

Personal goals

As many of you know, I have been attending college for a while now and I'm scheduled to graduate with my degree in Human Development on May 10th. For the first time since I began the program at Warner Pacific College, I actually feel like I'm going to finish! I'm halfway done with my second to last class and begin my last class in April, which is only a two weekend elective. I'm also slated to start my Master's Degree in July, also through the Warner Pacific Adult Degree Program. It will follow the same format as the Bachelor's program, classes one night a week for four hours, with each class lasting 5 weeks. The student teaching part would begin in the Fall of 2009.

For the class I'm taking now, Adult Development, the instructor asked us to make measurable personal goals for the five week class. I chose two: to drink at least 64 oz. of water a day and do at least 30 mins. of physical activity a day. I've been doing really well so far, only missing my workout yesterday, so I'm planning on two 30 minute walks today to make up for it. It's amazing how much better I feel already- I love the fresh air and I also do some of my best thinking while I'm out running. This morning I even took the kids mall walking because of the rainy/cold weather in order to get one of my workouts in.

My new best friend has become the iPod Nano I received for Christmas, along with the adapter to go with the Nike+ shoes I already had. It's amazing! There is a little chip that goes into your Nike+ shoes and then as you run or walk with the Nano on, it records your workout times, distance, and approximate calories burned. Then you can sync it to your computer on Nike.com and it keeps track of your entire workout history! On Saturday, I ran a little over 5 1/2 miles and Lance Armstrong himself (well his voice anyway) came onto my iPod and congratulated me on my longest workout to date with the Nano! Hooray for me! It has been a great motivator for me to get active and actually see my progress and results. I love, love, love it!

The Thames household has also been battling a nasty cold- going through 2-3 small boxes of Kleenex a day! I just hope we are all healthy in time to enjoy Rick's spring break in a couple of weeks!