Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas Over the Years - Thomas Family 2003 - Present

2013 marks our 10th Christmas together, and I thought it would be fun to look at photos from each Christmas from the last year to see how we've grown and changed...

2003 - We were just beginning to date, weren't even "official" yet. He stopped by my parents home on his way back from Whistler to visit me. I had been sick that day - hence the ghostly complexion, but he was so sweet. Brought me a Kinder Egg and some holiday cheer. We had an amazing New Years date a couple of weeks later and I knew he was the one for me.


2004 - We were engaged here. This was at a Holiday YSA dance in Portland. I had moved to Portland earlier in 2004 to be closer to Will. We got engaged in October 2004. So in love


2005 - Our first Christmas together as a married couple. This was our first apartment we moved into in Seattle (Bellevue). We had been married about 9 months at this point. You don't know how many "self" portraits we attempted to take with our tripod and camera before finally getting one that wasn't too cheesy.



2006 - Still enjoying newlywed life! This was at Will's company Christmas party for John Buchan Homes. At this time we were managing Ridegwater Apartments in Bothell. I had just worked hard to release my first album.



2007 - I was about 3 months pregnant with Preston in this photo. Christmas in Leavonworth, WA with my parents that year! Very festive and fun. We were very excited about our first bun-in-the-oven here.



2008 - First Christmas with a kid! Preston was 6 months old here. Photo taken at Alki Beach in West Seattle by my Dad (RonSouthworth.com)


2009 - Another Christmas in Leavonworth with my parents, and I was only about 9 weeks pregnant here with Taylor. Feeling a little nauseous on this trip Haha. Preston was 18 months old. 


2010 -- Snowshoeing at Mt. Baker this year. Preston was 2 and 1/2, and Taylor was 4 months old.


Another 2010 - Christmas with the four of us! Preston was 2 and 1/2. Taylor was 4.5 months old. It was so hard to get a family photo - someone was crying or not looking at the camera.


2011 - Christmas at my parents house - Preston was 3.5, and Taylor was a little over a year old.


2012 - Preston was 4, Taylor was 2. This was taken at Alpental Ski Lodge near Snoqualmie Pass on Christmas Eve by my Dad. Such a fun day!


2013 - Christmas Eve this year! Just a few days ago - Preston is 5, and Taylor is 3 and we are pregnant with a 3rd boy due March 16, 2014.


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Sunday, December 22, 2013

More Christmas Festivities!

Only 3 more days until Christmas! Woohoo!

And being that I want to stay on top of blogging and not end up with a mountain of Christmas photos come January, I'm doing another blog post! I know - two in one month? WHAT?! 

Arlington Nativity Festival Concert - Dec 14 - 15, 2013

Last weekend, I performed my only holiday performance this year - which was at the Arlington Nativity Festival. I performed a violin/piano duet with my lovely friend Kelley, of "I Saw Three Ships" (arrangement by K. Bestor).  


My Grandma came over from Eastern Oregon for the weekend, it was great to see her!




I will say it was a CRAZY week leading up to this concert because Will was gone all week on an 8 day business trip. He arrived home Friday night, and the next morning Taylor and I were off to Arlington to a dress rehearsal/sound check, while Will and Preston went to a birthday party of Preston's friend Alex at Chuckie Cheese's.


I will say I am SO glad I said no to all of the requests I got from people asking me to perform this winter. Most of these requests came in in October, and I knew by the time December came around I would be 6.5 months pregnant and not comfortable performing. However, I could not say no to my mom and her concert and so I did say yes to this 2-day event. And it was NOT easy by any means. Whew!  It would be different if I could stand up and play the piano, but sitting down and trying to play the piano is so awkward.  You should try it sometime. Put a watermelon under your shirt and sit down at the piano and try to lean forward, support your back, and reach your arms around the watermelon.  You will know what I'm talking about!

But it went well, the audience loved it, and I'm glad I did it. 



Gingerbread Cookie Decorating! - Dec 18, 2013

I found these gingerbread decorating kits at Costco 2 months ago and bought it and was excited for it to finally be the Christmas season so we could do it.  The boys had been asking for WEEKS to do it, but I wanted to make sure Will was home to do it with us - being that there were 4 gingerbread men and 4 of us.







Family Snow Day - Alpental Ski Lodge - Dec 20, 2013

We went up to Snoqualmie Pass with Elizabeth/James, and James' dad and other two sons to have a play day in the snow.  My parents were also originally going to join us, but my mom ended up getting really sick and so they had to cancel.

It was a bit wet that day, but nevertheless, we still had fun. We also brought hot tortilla soup, rolls, dessert, hot cocoa, and veggies to eat up there. It was the perfect warmer-upper!




Oh whoops, these 2 photos are actually not from our snow day but from a few days beforehand where it snowed at our house!



Ok, back to family snow day...








Snowflake Lane - Dec 16, 2013

A little out of order, but we went and did "Snowflake Lane" at Bellevue Square Mall. It's where they block the whole street off and have a parade with toy wooden soldiers, the snow queen, Rudolph, and more. The boys loved it! Oh and they shoot "snow" from the tops of the buildings (soap suds).  We brought our own hot cocoa and afterwards went to the nearby park and drank it. So festive!








Random Photos Between Dec 10th - Dec 22nd, 2013

I finally went and did my awful glucose test for this pregnancy.  Not that that is any exciting news, but it was part of my week, so there you have it.


The boys enjoyed playing with the homemade playdough that cousins Jace, Anabel, and Brooklyn sent to them (Will visited them in Colorado on his business trip and brought it back with him).



The boys made "Olaf" the Snowman, from the Disney movie Frozen, in case you couldn't tell. :)


I posted this on my Facebook last week, because Taylor had a particularly trying 3-year old day.  I posted the following picture and text:


Top 10 Reasons my 3 year old has cried today, and why I feel a little bit insane:

1. His graham cracker fell to the floor and broke in half, and so now it's uneatable.

2. Buzz and Woody were no where to be found in time to take them with him to the gym this morning.

3. He put his jacket on upside-down and could not get it zipped.

4. I turned the car right when he wanted me to turn left.

5. His older brother got a few drops of water on him in the bathtub this morning.

6. He woke up.

7. Half way through his bowl of Lucky Charms, he realized it wasn't his favorite cereal.

8. He couldn't get a stack of Styrofoam cups to stack. On carpet.

9. He couldn't find his boots in time to go to the bus stop this morning.

10. He slipped and fell on the hardwood floor, then while coming to me to console him he tripped on the stairs. Once he got to the top of the stairs, he tripped again.

It's rough being 3.
#1moredayuntilhubbygetshome

Just a photo from my view when I am working out at the gym.  Belly, stairmaster, and Pandora dubstep music station playing in my ears. 



Taylor was very excited to help clean out the brownie batter bowl - ha.


And aside from a rough day (the one where he cried a lot), I have also discovered though that he LOVES to help.  If I can find a job for him to do, he gets very excited and honored to help me.  And so more often lately I find little jobs for him to do and he gets very excited and behaves very well.  He also even sings the song from Wonderpets that goes "Teamwork, teamwork". It's very cute.


Preston has discovered that my pregnant belly also serves as a parking lot for cars.


In other news:  

Will sadly did not make it into the Hard Rock 100 this year (2014), which he was hoping for.  It is a race that is hard to get into, and every year he qualifies for more entries by completing other ultras which increase his odds of getting picked, but this still wasn't his lucky year. He is now trying to figure out what race to do instead.


Jack the Elf is still alive and making mischief.


I'm 27 weeks along now...hello 3rd trimester.


I feel huge. Am I going to have a 10 pound baby? LOL



But on the bright side, here is a comparison of me at 25 weeks with Taylor, and 25 weeks with this one. Even though it's now 2 weeks ago compared to where I'm at now, it gives a good reason to celebrate that this time I'm more fit.


And last but not least, Taylor and Preston built a "car" out of our laundry basket by taping a "wheel" to it and using the tape as a seatbelt as well.



Apparently there were drunk drivers on the road...


Crash.....