Chris, Jennifer, Casper & Sadie

Have you missed me?

2012-03-11T20:47:00.000-05:00

It has been a busy three months since my last post. I'm going to try to get caught up over the next week or so...hang in there for alot of posts!!

When I posted last, Sadie was just coming home from the hospital, here's what happened next...

Mommy had made Sadie a special Christmas outfit and Sadie modeled it a couple of days early. She was a good model, for awhile!

She just so cute, and had so many cute outfits, I just kept taking her picture!

Casper Loves his sister too! The first week at home was pretty quiet, we hung around the house and rested. But then it was Christmas and our schedule got busier!

Sadie – Day Three

2011-12-20T21:34:00.001-06:00

On our last day at the hospital, Mommy and Sadie spent some quiet time together in the morning…with just a small photo shoot!

Joey and Amy Busker visited with Samuel and Caleb. We had fun chatting with them while waiting to be discharged…which seemed to take forever!!

Then it was time to go! Sadie looked so little in her car seat, and so sweet bundled up in the back seat.

Casper was excited to welcome us home and even shared Monkey with Sadie for a few minutes.

He really loves to see what she’s doing and always gives her lots of kisses!

She is one cute baby if I do say so myself!

Sadie – Day Two

2011-12-20T21:20:00.001-06:00

On Sunday morning, Sadie and Mommy spent some alone time preparing for visitors while Daddy went home to get cleaned up and get some rest. Casper stayed with Granny and Poppy Friday and Saturday night – a first for him.

Mommy is already having lots of fun picking out Sadie’s outfits every day…

Mommy’s friends The Swisher’s – Theresa, Carson and Georgie were Sadie’s first visitors, followed by another friend of Mommy’s Heather Stewart. We had fun chatting and talking about how beautiful Sadie was!

Uncle Keith, Aunt Kim, Dayton and Connor came by after church for a visit. The boys tried not to act to excited but I think they were really excited about their new cousin.

Admiring Sadie and giving her kisses…she gets lots of kisses from Casper! Granny brought Casper over after church on Sunday and they stayed for a long time. Casper had a much better visit now that we were in a quiet room without many distractions.

Casper even got to hold Sadie and had fun mimicking some of her facial expressions. Then he practiced holding his monkey just like baby Sadie. He kept saying “See, it matches”.

Paula and Grace Volkmann came to visit on Sunday night too.

Sadie’s Arrival

2011-12-20T21:04:00.001-06:00

Despite all of my attempts to the contrary, Sadie was not coming any earlier than Dr. Trammell had planned. We went ahead on Saturday the 17th with my induction. We got to the hospital around 7 am and after getting registered, changed, etc. finally started medicine about 8 am. For a couple of hours we waited for the medicine to start creating contractions, which it did. Unfortunately, my cervix wasn’t cooperating and I was barely effaced or dilated. At about 11 am the doctor broke my water but I was still not dilating, despite the medication creating lots of contractions at pretty regular intervals. I went ahead and got an epidural shortly after that…no need suffering all day :). When I went to the hospital that morning, I had teased with the nurses that I wanted to be done by noon. That was obviously not going to happen. Around 3 pm I heard Dr. Trammell say that it may be sometime between 7pm and midnight before the baby would be born. Well, if you know me, you know that I accepted that information as a challenge…no way was I waiting until after 7 pm to have this baby!! I wanted Casper to meet his sister on her birthday which meant she had to come before his bedtime.

Mommy the night before Sadie’s arrival, and waiting at the hospital for something to happen.

Granny and Poppy did bring Casper to the hospital around 1 pm, since they were in town. Casper just kept asking “Where is her?” and then saying he needed to go home. We sent them home for his nap, knowing nothing was happening anytime soon.

Sometime in the early afternoon, I finally got to 4 cm and 80% effaced…I felt like we were going to be moving along a little quicker after that point. I was right. The next time they checked I was 5 cm and then all of a sudden my next check was 8 cm. Around 5 o’clock we started getting ready for her arrival. The baby still felt way to high but she was also making it known that it was time to start making an appearance. After a couple of attempts, the nurses and doctor suspected that she was not facing the correct direction. At this point Dr. Trammell got involved and gave Sadie a quick little turn of the head during one of my contractions. Once she was facing the right way, it wasn’t much trouble getting her to come the rest of the way. She finally arrived at 6:20pm. A little more difficult of a delivery than with Casper, but still pretty mild overall. We were so excited to see her!

Dr. Trammell welcoming Sadie to the world, notice the knot in her umbilical cord. Sadie was bigger than we expected at 8 lbs 4 oz…a full pound bigger than Casper was. She was also a little longer at 21.5 inches.

Meeting Baby Sister. When Granny and Poppy first brought Casper in, he just kept saying “oh, wow”, I think he was excited but a little overwhelmed with the machines and nurses and everything else that was going on. He didn’t want to stay and visit long, and it was getting close to his bedtime. He did give her several kisses!

Grandma and Grandpa Troost with the new Thoma family of four. Grandma and Grandpa Thoma with Casper and Sadie.

Sweet Sadie! Daddy’s ladies…daddy even taught Casper to say “Hi Ladies” when he walked in the room to visit us!

Happy Birthday Sadie Joann Thoma!

Introducing Sadie Joann Thoma

2011-12-20T09:20:00.001-06:00

Born Saturday December 17, 2011 at 6:20 pm. She was 8 pounds, 4 ounces and 21.5 inches long. She is practically perfect in every way! More pictures to follow after we finish getting settled…check out her hospital pictures through this link.

Mommy at 38 weeks…

2011-12-11T18:46:00.001-06:00

Here’s a picture of Mommy, as big as can be, ready for the bank Christmas party…yes, I did wear heels, but it was only for a couple of hours. I also threw in the Electric Slide a couple of times to see if we could get Sadie to shake out but she’s just not ready yet!

Here’s my handsome boys. As Chris was getting ready for the party, Casper ran in and got his hat and bowtie so that he could be like Daddy and would be ready to go to Grandma Thoma’s and play drums for the night.

Sadie’s 37 Week Appointment

2011-12-09T10:28:00.001-06:00

Sadie had a good doctor report again this week. She weighed in at 7 pounds 7 ounces (there were some remeasurements done after the pictures were printed) and was in the 85th percentile. She was curled up in a tight little ball and a little hard to measure. She passed all her breathing, movement, and heartbeat tests with flying colors. We kept trying to coax her out but I guess she’s not ready yet. The doctor is still planning an induction on December 17the, but Mommy thinks she might come on her own before then…or maybe that’s just wishful thinking! Either way, a little over a week and she’ll be here!!

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Big Yawn…I think she’s tired of waiting too!

Sadie – 36 Weeks

2011-11-30T20:19:00.001-06:00

Here’s some pictures from Sadie’s visit to the Doctor this week. She was looking good…doing everything she was supposed to.

I also made a date with Dr. Trammell to induce labor at 39 weeks. That would be on December 17th. A couple of days later than I have been hoping but it’s still the most appropriate time. Of course, she could always come on her own any time!!

Mizzou Basketball

2011-11-27T17:15:00.001-06:00

Mommy, Daddy, and Casper enjoyed our first Mizzou Basketball game today. Thanks to a friend of Mommy’s we had great seats on the 4th row. Casper loved hearing the band, watching Truman, and cheering along with the cheerleaders. He was excited every time the Tigers made a basket and would point to the band to tell them to start playing music. Joey and Tyler Busker joined us as well. The attendance was low but the Tigers won and we were able to visit and relax while we watched the game.

Sadie – 35 Week

2011-11-24T17:28:00.001-06:00

Here are the pictures from this weeks visit to see Sadie. They took some unofficial measurements and it looks like she’s about 6 lbs 5 ozs, which would be in the 74th percentile. The doctor still says everything is right on track. It’s been a long week since I’m having more and more contractions, and just getting really uncomfortable but it looks like we still have time to wait. I think he will induce me three weeks from today, although he won’t commit to that quite yet.

On the left is Sadie with a big ole’ yawn, on the right it’s just her sweet little chubby cheeks. I can’t wait to see her in real life!!

A Visit with Santa Claus

2011-11-18T20:27:00.001-06:00

Guess who got to see Santa today? You’re right, it was Casper. But I think he had more fun playing with the toys at Bass Pro. He was shooting a toy rifle, bow and arrows, running the train, and driving the remote control trucks. He wasn’t much interested in talking to the big guy, despite his excitement on the way there. Eventually, after Mommy struck up a conversation and Daddy walked up to meet Santa with Casper, he finally relaxed a little. No tears this year, just not interested. Once we got Casper talking about what he wants for Christmas, he had a lot to say to Santa and eventually let go of Daddy’s arm…I think the promise of a Candy Cane helped too.

In case you’re wondering, Casper asked for a new guitar. One of the tuning knobs is broken off his old guitar and it’s for right handed kids anyway…Casper’s a lefty. Santa asked Casper if he knew how to play the guitar and he said “Yes, I sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Hopefully, Santa will get Casper just what he wants!!

Sadie at 34 Weeks

2011-11-18T20:19:00.001-06:00

This weekend’s projects…

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I have become addicted to a site called Pinterest which is an online bulletin board to keep track of interesting things you find on the internet. Most of the items I have ‘pinned’ are craft projects. The site inspired me to complete several projects over the three day weekend this past weekend. Here are some of the pictures…

Ideas “Stolen” from Pinterest…

‘S’ Button artwork for Sadie’s room, all the supplies were on hand so this was a free project!! A Christmas tutu for Sadie, it looks really cute with the onesie I am working on. And footprint Christmas tree art made by Casper and I, we made four of these and framed them for gifts…the frames were the only purchase so these were a very inexpensive project too.

Ideas “Inspired” by Pinterest….

These ideas weren’t found on Pinterest, but I was inspired by seeing all the similar projects that I finally jumped in and completed some of my own. I added straw and birds to a refurbished bird cage to decorate Sadie’s room. I also put a collection of Nativity Christmas ornaments on a wreath since I was worried about them being to heavy for the tree.

I made my own Mistletoe arrangement to hand in my house and use for my Christmas card photo shoot next weekend (stay tuned for that). There were a lot of ideas for jewelry organizers on the site, and I was tired of tangled necklaces, so I used a bulletin board I already had and some stick pins to organize my necklaces. I thought this would make it easier to decide what to wear each day but unfortunately it just reminds me of the pieces I forgot about and makes it harder to choose.

If you need some inspiration, check out Pinterest and look me up…I can’t wait to try some other projects!

Christmas helper…

2011-11-14T13:34:00.000-06:00

Casper helped me put up the Christmas tree the other day and even put up one of his own in the toy room…he also spent some time “fixin’ somethin’”…

Baby Momma – Week 34

2011-11-13T13:31:00.000-06:00

We’re getting closer…officially only six weeks left, even though my Doctor says it will be closer to five weeks. I added a few more touches to Sadie’s room friday (thank goodness for Bank holidays) and got all of the Christmas decorations put up. Before you bash me for putting up my decorations to early, remember I’m only getting bigger and more tired, and I will spend a couple of days before Christmas in the hospital, and a couple sleep deprived with a newborn. I want to enjoy my favorite holiday as long as possible. Besides, thinking of Christmas makes me more thankful…so I’m killing to holidays with one stone.

Chris’s Deer

2011-11-12T13:07:00.001-06:00

Chris hasn’t had much time to bow hunt this year so he took advantage of opening day of rifle season to get this nice buck off our property. He was hunting fairly close to the house so his shot woke me up nice and early. Eventually, we all stomped through the woods to go take a look and get some pictures.

Sadie’s 33 Week Appointment

2011-11-08T19:43:00.001-06:00

This week at Sadie’s appointment, we got to estimate how much she weighs. She’s coming in a little ahead of schedule at 5 lbs. 6oz. which is in the 77th percentile. This is still within the good range and she completed all of her tests (kicking, breathing, heartbeat, etc) in no time. She even gave us some cute pictures too!!

Sadie Jo 32 Weeks

2011-11-02T19:58:00.001-05:00

Sadie’s 32 Week appointment went well. She was a little sleepy but still did all the work she was supposed to like kicking, breathing on her own, and even did a little yawning. She’s getting bigger so its hard to get good pictures, but here are a couple from this week.

The first picture is her profile, you can see a hand right in front of her nose. The second picture is a face forward shot…if you have a hard time seeing it, tilt your head to the right.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-02T18:53:00.001-05:00

Look at that cute little Zebra!

Casper and Mommy went trick or treating with our friends Brenner and Nola from the neighborhood and some other friends of theirs. We rode in a trailer behind the tractor which was fun! This was Casper’s first trick or treating experience and it didn’t take him long to figure it out…he was very good about saying “Trick or Treat”, “Happy Halloween”, and “Thank You” at each house. We we worn out in less than an hour but we came home with lots of candy.

Earlier in the day Casper visited Grandma, Dayton, and Connor. After our trick or treating, Casper showed all his candy to daddy…

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-30T15:37:00.000-05:00

Mommy and Casper finally made it to the Pumpkin Patch Saturday, just in the nick of time. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

Mommy at 32 Weeks

2011-10-29T15:33:00.001-05:00

Sadie’s Room

2011-10-28T19:37:00.001-05:00

Here are the long awaited for pictures of Sadie’s room. Since we have the house on the market, we decided not to get to outrageous but I still wanted it to have some special touches…without being pink.

Overall view…we will be moving the rocker in her room soon, for now the corner with the windows is still empty. Her main is color is light yellow. The general theme is songbirds. I have some shelves that I haven’t hung yet, for those I have a white bird cage, and a yellow and white bird house to display. The basket on the floor is full of “girly” books. The stacked boxes have scripture verses and wildflowers on them. The ladder in the corner has two quilts made by Chris’s Grandma Thoma and one quilt given to him by a friend.

This “Chorus Line” picture was given to Sadie by Aunt Joann, with some modifications by mommy (she painted the frame white and changed to a yellow mat). Mommy also designed, printed, and framed this special poem for Sadie. It’s an Emily Dickinson poem title “Hope is the thing…”. This was primary inspiration for Sadie’s room. I have included the full poem below.

Mommy made a curtain, bumper pad, and dust ruffle out of white eyelet with yellow trim. The eyelet ruffle on the pieces was given to Sadie by Aunt Mary. A feminine look without too much lace.

Sadie’s quilt was hand pieced by Great Grandma May Pearl Thoma and machine quilted by Mommy. She had been holding onto it for several years and didn’t know what to do with it. It was the perfect touch for Sadie’s songbird and wildflower room. Mommy also found a metal hanger the says Love with some birds on it. Of course, she need a personalized diaper bag.

I hope she likes it…Mommy does!

Here’s the Poem…

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul. And sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard, and sore must be the storm, that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chilliest land and on the strangest sea, yet never in extremity it asked a crumb of me.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-28T19:14:00.001-05:00

Lil’ Miss Thing – 31 Weeks

2011-10-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

Sadie had another great doctor appointment this week. She was very active…the ultrasound tech kept asking how I could handle her moving so much. To me, it was nothing new, she moves all the time. She did behave this week and turn back around so she was head down. Here are some pictures…

On the left, this is almost a profile with a little hand in front of her face. On the right is her profile.

This is a forward facing face shot. On the top right you can see her right eye, nose, mouth, and a hand under her chin.

These were fun shots. The left shows a little bit of hair sticking out, which is good because she already has lots of hair bows. The right shows her long legs. On the left is her booty and then her legs stretched out all the way to the right.

She’s so cute! I can’t wait for her to get here!!

Mommy at 30 weeks…

2011-10-22T19:24:00.001-05:00

I’m a little late with my 30 week preggo picture…but here it is. Mommy in Sadie’s closet. I thought you might enjoy a picture of her room coming together too. The clothes hanging up are her newborn – 3 month size clothes. One of the bins on the shelf is full of 3-6 month clothes, and the other is full of bigger clothes. As you can see, she won’t be lacking for clothes once she’s born :) There’s even more in her dresser!

MU vs. OSU 10/22

2011-10-22T19:19:00.001-05:00

Mommy was lucky to get some free tickets to the Mizzou football game today. Even better than free was that they were in Touchdown Terrace…right off the end zone, row 5!! They were great seats! It almost felt like you were on the field.

Casper has talked non-stop about the last football game we went to even though he didn’t seem to like it at the time. Today was similar. I thought he would be excited to go but he kept saying it would be too loud and he wanted to stay home and watch it on TV. We went anyway and he only cried for the first quarter. He freaked out when he saw the band, even though they weren’t even playing yet. Unfortunately, our seats were directly in front of the band and I was concerned how he was going to handle that. It turned out that it didn’t bother him when they were sitting down. The crowds and unfamiliar atmosphere had him upset for awhile, but after I gave him some of the free food and caffeine (yes – free catered concessions), he did much better. Here are some pictures…

Getting ready to go!

Casper loves the cheerleaders and Truman the Tiger!!

The band was fine if they were on the field, or in their seats. But Casper didn’t like it when they got too close!

Casper eventually got into the game. He did a great job with his M-I-Z-Z-O-U, and even got some fist pumps in once and awhile.

Here comes the TEAM! Look how close we were to the action.

Unfortunately, most of the action was at the other end of the field…and was actually OSU.

We had a good time, but the highlight of the day….

Truman!! We even got to him a High Five!

Sadie at 30 weeks

2011-10-19T19:59:00.001-05:00

Just one picture from my appointment this week. Beautiful little Sadie’s profile…you may notice that her head is on the left side this time, that means she’s not head down anymore. The sneaky little girl did some somersaults in the last week and is breech at the moment. We still have plenty of time for her to move around again but I hope she does it sooner rather than later! Everything looked great at this appointment, she was moving and breathing, her heart was beating good, and she kept yawning. So Cute!!

Big Boy Bed

2011-10-13T20:39:00.000-05:00

In preparation for Sadie’s arrival, Casper got a new big boy bed and dresser. He’s pretty excited about it but confused as to why Sadie isn’t sleeping in the crib yet.

Here is Casper showing off his bed…It’s a full size bed with a book case headboard and a bench and drawers at the base, it also has a twin size trundle underneath for friends. He obviously has way to many stuffed animals too…

Sadie Joann – 29 Weeks

2011-10-11T20:35:00.001-05:00

Today started my weekly doctor visits. Since I’m getting up there in age and have gestational diabetes, they will be doing an ultrasound and heart rate test every week for the next 10 weeks. The benefit is that I get to see Sadie every week.

It was fun seeing her today since it had been 9 weeks since my last ultrasound. She weighed in at 3 lbs. 9 oz, which is in the 75th percentile. She has little pouty lips, a little turned up nose, and long legs. Her heartbeat was great and she did some breathing on her own which is good. She’s already head down and was sleeping during our visit. She looked tangled up like a pretzel so it was hard to get good pictures.

Here is her profile – head on the right with a little hand by her face and a foot sticking up on the left. Here are some face shots.

We had some extra time in the ultrasound room so we did have the technician double check to make sure Sadie was still a girl and it was pretty obvious that she was. We also just sat and watched her for a little bit. She was moving her mouth and it looked like she was talking to us. She also opened and closed her right eye like she was winking. When Daddy arrived, she heard his voice and started talking again. I think she’s going to be a sweetie…I just love being able to watch her!! Only 75 days until my due date!!

Grand Rapids

2011-10-11T14:29:00.000-05:00

We also stopped for a short visit with Grandma’s family while we were in Michigan. Aunt Joann and Uncle Greg took us to Robinette’s Apple Orchard and to Meijer Gardens…we had fun!

They had a jumping pillow at Robinettes that looked like lots of fun!

At Meijer Gardens, Casper enjoyed the Statues and Sculptures…with a lot of “what’s that” questions.

He also enjoyed the Children’s area where he played in the water, the tree houses, and the sandbox.

Michigan

2011-10-10T14:18:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned, Casper and I made an unexpected trip to Michigan with my parents last weekend. Unfortunately for those of us here, my Grandfather passed away and we journeyed to Michigan for the funeral. I know Gramps is very happy now spending his days in heaven and so the family enjoyed spending time together and sharing memories.

Since it’s not to often that all six kids and so many of the grandkids (and great grandkids, and great great grandkids) get together, we took the opportunity to take some pictures…

My aunts and uncles – Barb Kleeves, Rod Troost, Diana Hop, Joyce Dora, Mary Perez, and my Dad Keith Troost. Casper couldn’t help himself and ran into the picture yelling “cheeessssee”!

Troost Kids and Spouses: Vern and Barb Kleeves, Rod and Trish Troost, Mary Perez, Joyce and Bill Dora, Keith and Sandy Troost, Larry and Diana Hop.

Casper hanging out with Poppy and Uncle Bill, and also with Aunt Mary, Aunt Joyce, and Aunt Barb.

Me and my Aunts, Joyce, Diana, Mary and Barb.

Casper having fun will Bill Jr.

28 Weeks in Michigan

2011-10-09T14:07:00.001-05:00

I admit, I have been exhausted and very busy and my blog has suffered. Unfortunately, I have completely missed out on a 26 week picture and post. I did get a 28 week picture on October 1st. We were visiting Michigan and taking family photos so it wasn’t completely planned, but at least you can see my progress.

I must be growing. Today one gentleman at church asked me if I was expecting and two ladies asked me if I was having twins! Two friends told me I looked great, but who should I believe??

Sorry.

2011-09-19T18:37:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the lack of blog posts lately. I tried to let Casper take over, but he is still working on his typing skills.

24 Weeks

2011-09-08T20:59:00.001-05:00

Here’s a picture from a week in the life of the ever growing Jennifer…

The good news about this week is that everything looked great at my doctor appointment. The bad news about this week is that I failed my first glucose test after my doctor appointment. This means I have to do another test next week. It looks like I may have gestational diabetes again…which is a bummer because it’s a lot of information to keep track of and more doctor appointments. We’ll see how it goes. Last time my diabetes was fairly easy to manage with diet…but I had to eat a lot of salads and a little ice cream, that’s not really my style!

Go Tigers!

2011-09-07T19:54:00.001-05:00

This weekend we got the opportunity to attend the season opener of Missouri Tigers Football with Chris’s parent, Keith, Kim, Dayton and Connor. Unfortunately, it was a hot weekend and definitely didn’t feel like football weather. We were sitting in the sun, around noon, in temperatures over 90 degrees. Casper wasn’t sure whether or not he liked being at the game…between all the people, the heat, the sun, and the noise, he was ready to go home. If you asked him now whether or not he liked it, he would say yes and tell you all about the band, the cannon, and Truman the Tiger.

Brent and Jana

2011-08-26T19:20:00.000-05:00

I think I forgot to post pictures of our trip to southern Missouri where we hung out with Chris’s family including his brother Brent and his wife Jana. Brent and Jana traveled all the way from Louisiana!!

We went swimming…with Dayton and Connor…

Played in the dirt…played baseball…played airplane…

Watched Daddy, Uncle Keith, and Dayton trout fishing…

and helped Daddy fish a little. It was hot!!! But we had a good time.

More of Crazy Casper

2011-08-25T19:14:00.000-05:00

Trying to be like Mommy!

We found this tiger costume in the closet and he decided he needed to wear it all the time.

For a couple of days, he would hardly take it off!

Mommy and Casper at 22 Weeks

2011-08-24T19:11:00.001-05:00

Nothing too exciting this week. I just keep getting bigger. Sadie is moving and kicking more often and that is a lot of fun. Casper is apparently expecting a monkey in the coming months…we’ll see how that turns out!

Michigan Visit – Troost Family in Holland

2011-08-12T20:58:00.000-05:00

In Holland, we spent a lot of quality time visiting and catching up…to much time talking and not enough picture taking! On Sunday we had a family get together at the park. Aunt Joyce played with Casper on the playground…

Casper told some big stories to the boys and climbed tries with Bill Jr.

And Casper spent a lot of time playing with his 3rd cousin Seth…they were the only two kiddos at the party but they played well together despite their age difference.

Lots of other family were there, but like I said I was too busy talking and not taking any pictures.

We stayed at Aunt Mary and Alicia and Carl’s house while we were in town. Casper had fun telling them stories and showing off all his tricks. He played follow the leader with Aunt Mary, walking behind her with the same little hobble. Mommy went to see her Grandpa Troost for a little while, we went to church at Rose Park, and ate lots of yummy blueberries!

Michigan Visit – Aunt Joann and Uncle Greg’s House

2011-08-11T20:47:00.000-05:00

We spent a little time in Michigan just handing around Aunt Joann and Uncle Greg’s house. They had a fun pool with a basketball hoop and two big kids to play with! Kyle and Jim helped Casper get some good shots!

Aunt Joann was teaching Casper how to scoot along the edge to the stairs, he was so brave in the water it was a little scary.

Aunt Joann got a great deal on a new bulldozer for Casper. This ones goes forward, backwards, the shovel lifts, and the trencher digs. It was almost the highlight of the weekend.!

Michigan Visit – Grand Haven State Park

2011-08-10T20:39:00.000-05:00

On Saturday of our visit to Michigan, Casper and Mommy went to Lake Michigan at Grand Haven State Park with Aunt Joann and Uncle Greg. This was Casper’s first chance to play in the sand and water at the beach and he had a great time. The Michiganders all thought it was hot be we thought the weather felt great…cooler than Missouri. Unfortunately, the water was still only 70 degrees, but it was very refreshing after playing in the hot sand.

Playing in the sand was fun…digging holes, building castles, writing ABC’s…

After he got used to the idea, playing in the water was fun too. The lake was pretty shallow a long ways out, so Casper could walk out pretty far. He liked jumping the waves but didn’t really like it when the boats were close to the swimming area.

After playing for a while, we took a walk along the beach and out down the pier to the light house.

Casper and Mommy had fun!!

It’s a Girl! Introducing Sadie Joann Thoma!

2011-08-09T18:55:00.001-05:00

Today was my 20 week prenatal appointment. We had a great visit. Chris, Casper, my mom, and Chris’s mom were all able to go to the ultrasound to see baby Sadie and find out that she was a girl. Chris and I were told at our 12 week appointment that they thought that it was a girl but we hadn’t shared that with anyone else, even though we told a lot of people that we suspected it was a girl. Anyway, here is a picture of me this morning at 20 weeks and 3 days. Casper wanted his picture taken too.

Just for fun, here’s a picture of me in December 2008 at 20 weeks with Casper. I think I’m much smaller this time. I even met my goal to only gain 5 pounds in the first 20 weeks. I know that I will gain more than that in the second half, but at least its a good start.

On to what you’ve been waiting for, here are some pictures of Baby Sadie. These first two are side views, she was tucked in there like a pretzel and sleeping away, so it was hard to get good shots. In these, you can see her head on the right, her right arm touching her face, her left arm over her head, and her left leg. In the picture on the right, you can see a little spot of her right leg.

In these next two, she is looking out at the world. The picture on the left is zoomed in to see her head on the right, her little fist by her right cheek, and her belly on the left. The picture on the right shows the same view, zoomed out to see more of her belly.

Here is a picture of her feet, and the money shot. The picture on the right shows the view of her bottom with an arrow pointing to the important parts…and since there isn’t anything there, it’s a girl.

In comparison, here’s a picture of Casper showing he was a boy, it was pretty obvious!

I mentioned that they said it was a girl at our twelve week appointment so, I thought it would be fun to show you that picture and give you the explanation they gave us. The picture is below. See the two white lines on the left of the picture? At this point in time, the boy/girl parts aren’t completely developed. But, they can tell what they are going to be by the position of those lines. If those lines are parallel to the baby’s body, it’s a girl. If those lines are perpendicular to the baby’s body, it’s a boy. These were fairly parallel, but the tech wasn’t 100% sure. I loved her Angelina Jolie lips in this picture, I was really hoping she was a girl with those pouty lips!

Anyway, now we are even more excited for Sadie Joann to join us in the real world. Only 20 more weeks to wait.

In case your interested, Chris picked Sadie’s first name out of the blue, and it was already on Mommy’s short list. When we found out it was a form of Sarah and meant Princess, we decided that was the right name. When I was looking for possible middle names, I searched for those with a religious meeting. Joann means God is Gracious, and it’s my aunts name so we thought that was a good choice. Besides, we love the idea of calling her Sadie Jo, even if it is a little country.

Michigan Visit – Binder Park Zoo

2011-08-08T19:59:00.000-05:00

Casper and Mommy took a long weekend and went to Michigan this past week. We had lots of fun visiting with family. On Friday, we went to Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek with Aunt Joann and Uncle Greg. It was a lot of fun!

Casper really liked watching the waterfall and some animals like Cheetahs, Kangaroos, and Peacocks

He didn’t like the turtle sculpture very much but he did like the monkeys and the slide.

Casper was afraid to ride the carousel so Mommy and Aunt Joann rode instead. Casper did like the dinosaur sculpture and the flags along the walkway. Every time the train went by he cried. We were really worried about how we were going to get to Africa to see the giraffes but the bus didn’t really bother him. I guess it was worth it to feed the giraffes. It was a great set up and lots of fun to feed them. Casper enjoyed it until he got licked, then he was done with the feeding.

We also went through the aviary and an indoor area with snakes and lizards and a big elephant art piece. It was a good day at the zoo!

18 Weeks and Counting…

2011-08-07T19:04:00.000-05:00

I celebrated 18 weeks of pregnancy on July 23rd. It wasn’t a big event, just another day really…but one day closer to Baby #2!!

Fun pictures…

2011-08-06T19:00:00.000-05:00

Casper is such a character, we just love hearing what he comes up with next. Here he is showing off his new Yellowstone hat and also showing how high he can jump off the bottom step.

The City of Boonville built a new water park this year. Casper and Mommy have only been able to go a couple of times but it has been fun! We will definitely go again.

16 Weeks and Counting…

2011-08-05T18:51:00.000-05:00

My 16th week came towards the end of our vacation. I didn’t get a specific picture, but these show some of my progress. Vacation was a little tricky with a bigger belly, tired body, and lots of potty breaks, but overall everything is going great!

Vacation 2011 Day 8

2011-08-04T18:46:00.000-05:00

On Friday, we headed out of the Grand Tetons to Jackson Hole, where we walked around and had lunch before heading the rest of the way home. It was a long drive across Wyoming and into Colorado and Kansas. Casper was a real trooper in the car during the whole trip. He played a guitar, played drums, exercised with his drum sticks, did a little reading and sleeping and just enjoyed the ride. He really liked pointing out all of the construction equipment along the route…bulldozers, track hoes, cranes, even trains and bridges.

On our way back through Kansas, we were able to find a nice place to take a picture.

Then we stayed in a hotel for the night and went swimming to cool off and end our vacation on a happy note. The next day we traveled the rest of the way home with a not-so-quick stop at the furniture store in Kansas City…we got a new dining room table and couch for the TV room. I’m so excited!!

Vacation 2011 Day 7

2011-08-03T18:37:00.001-05:00

Day 7 of vacation was spent in Yellowstone. We explored for the whole day…

Casper learned to use the spotting scope, they tried looking for bears in the distance but found a badger instead.

We also saw a Coyote

In two different places we saw beautiful Elk still in velvet…the Elk in the first picture had a ranger standing near by. We couldn’t figure out why until we heard later that a hiker had been attacked by a bear on a nearby trail. I’m glad we didn’t know while we were in the area.

Casper and Daddy climbed mountains and played in the snow.

Of course we visited the upper and lower falls of the Yellowstone river, Casper wanted to see them so bad and then just kept saying that they were noisy. On the way out of the park we stopped to see Old Faithful and do a little souvenir shopping. Casper loves to tell people about the geyser and how it went up, up, up in the sky.

After Old Faithful, we headed down to the Grand Tetons. Casper and Daddy enjoyed throwing rocks into the lake near our Campground. I think they could have kept it up for hours.

Vacation 2011 Day 6

2011-07-19T11:05:00.000-05:00

After another cool camping morning, Casper and I sat in the sun while Chris picked up camp. Then we headed to the lodge for showers and decided to make our way back through Montana to Wyoming for a stop in Yellowstone. Casper was happy to ride as long as he had his drumsticks and bucket with him.

Yellowstone didn’t disappoint. Once we hit the park we began seeing animals. We entered from the Northern entrance and started looking a campsite around 4 o’clock but we enjoyed the sights along the way.

Unfortunately, we reallized that all the campsites in the park were full and we had to head out the northeast entrance looking for another campground. We finally found one, after we already passed four that wouldn’t allow tent camping because of bears. We didn’t get any pictures of this site because we got there so late and it was swarming with mosquitoes. Once we got the tent up we hid from the bugs and didn’t get out until morning. We did stop on the way out of the park at the Roosevelt Lodge and enjoyed a great dinner…they even had gluten free spaghetti with Elk and Buffalo meat. It was yummy!

Vacation 2011 Day 5

2011-07-18T10:40:00.000-05:00

After a great night, we woke up to a chilly morning looking for some warm drinks. We headed out to breakfast and then followed the Going to the Sun road from the other direction as far as they would let us travel. We saw more beautiful scenery, a little more wooded on this side of the mountain.

Casper and Chris spent some time throwing rocks into the lake, which is apparently great fun.

Then we saw another waterfall before heading back to the campsite to pack up and drove to Idaho…

We headed to Idaho so Chris could show us where he went Bear hunting a couple of years ago. We went through Lolo pass which was on the Lewis and Clark trail. Although we saw alot of warning signs about Moose in the area, we didn’t get to see any in person. We set up tent, had dinner at Lochsa Lodge, and drove around looking for animals.

Vacation 2011 Day 4

2011-07-17T10:11:00.001-05:00

We woke up on Day 4 and headed north from Helena towards Glacier National Park. We stopped to enjoy the scenery along the way, and for a picnic lunch.

Unfortunately, the Going to the Sun Road, the only road at Glacier that goes all the way across, was not open due to too much snow. We traveled from the East entrance about 15 miles in then turned around and headed back out to go the long way around to the west side.

Casper was really excited about the white water, he kept calling them Waterfalls and loved to watch them flow.

There were many beautiful places to see along the way but it was hard to see the Glacier’s because of all of the snow. Daddy and Casper even played with the snow for a little while.

After we went as far as we could go from the east, we turned around and headed south along the edge of the park towards the west side. The road was precarious, but not unsafe. It looked like the snow had really caused some problems this year. At the south end of the park, was the lodge with beautiful grounds. Casper did some more shadow dancing and played in another Tipi. We were surprised to see our spring flowers blooming there on July 3rd!

At another pull out along the way, was a natural salt lick in the cliffs where mountain goats tended to hang out. Casper was sleeping during this portion of the trip, but Mommy and Daddy enjoyed watching the goats. It was amazing to watch them scale that steep cliff.

Finally, we made it to the other side of the park and set up camp for the night.

Vacation 2011 Day 3

2011-07-13T19:55:00.000-05:00

We woke up on day 3 to a beautiful and cool Saturday morning outside Casper. As Casper would say, we “climbed mountains” in the morning…

Then Casper and Daddy played with trucks in the dirt for awhile before we set out to find some antelope. The ride through the hunting area was rough and we got kind of lost once, but the scenery was beautiful and we did see several antelope.

We even got to see this one up close and personal.

Then we headed down the highway towards Montana. Where we stopped outside Little Bighorn to play in tipis.

And, we let Casper do a little shadow dance. What is shadow dancing? Why, it’s dancing with your shadow while yelling “Rock N Roll”!

Then we settled at a hotel in Helena MT for the night and took a little dip in the swimming pool.

Vacation 2011 Day 2

2011-07-12T19:20:00.000-05:00

For Day 2, we traveled from Lyman Colorado through Denver to Casper Wyoming. We stayed just outside Casper in Chris’s antelope hunting area. He wanted to show me all of the neat rock formations he discovered when he was hunting.

We played in the Cheyenne rest area for awhile…

Then we headed into Casper. It’s such a great downtown area…we walked around some, went to a camera shop and a music store, per Casper’s request. Then we stopped by the conservation department to ask some questions, and made a Walmart stop for supplies.

Then we headed into the wilderness to the secret hunting spot…

Casper got to spend his first night in a tent! It took him forever to get settled down but slept well once he finally fell asleep.

We saw several antelope on the way to the site, and some beautiful rock formations once we got there. It was a great place for antelope hunting!

Vacation 2011 Day 1

2011-07-11T19:12:00.000-05:00

We planned a great vacation this year…we headed to Glacier National Park in Northwestern Montana. It’s a long drive up there! Especially with a prego momma and a potty training two year old. But we all did great! We took lots of little stops along the way to eat snacks, play football, and use the potty chair at the rest areas. Casper was so good!

Day 1 we left Missouri and headed through Kansas to Lyman Colorado. We stopped at Cabela’s in Kansas City for a last minute supply stop – we needed a good cooler! We also stopped at several rest areas. Around Hays Kansas the car started making some interesting noises…the fuel pump sounded like it was going out. We picked up a new fuel pump and the appropriate tools, just in case. Fortunately, we made it the whole trip with no problems. Chris ran a little gas cleaner through the tank and it was fine. We returned the fuel pump on the way home!

Here’s our only picture from Day 1. Shortly after Casper was born, we started taking his picture at the sign for every state he has traveled. I think he’s up to 13 states already! We missed Kansas and caught that sign on the way home. We should have taken a picture of the temperature gauge in Kansas, it was at 118 degrees!! It’s no surprise that we just kept on driving…

14 Weeks and counting…

2011-07-10T19:02:00.001-05:00

Like I mentioned in my previous post, it’s been a busy couple of weeks. I did neglect to take a picture on my fourteenth week. So here is a picture and 14 weeks 6 days…and a preview of our vacation!

Yes, that is me and Casper in Casper Wyoming.

I personally like this picture a little better, the baby bump isn’t quite so obvious! This is our campsite outside Casper Wyoming on July 1st.

Sorry!

2011-07-10T18:55:00.001-05:00

Between hosting a family of five for a week, a lightening strike that ruined our internet service for a week, and a 10 day vacation out west, I have been a terrible blogger! I will do my best to make up for it with several posts this week including my 14 and 16 week pregnancy photos, and pictures from our vacation. Please accept my humble apologies, you have not been forgotten!

12 Weeks 3 Days

2011-06-14T20:36:00.001-05:00

Today was my 12 Week ultrasound so I thought it would be a good time to share pictures of our new little one. The baby wasn’t very cooperative so we didn’t get a lot of great pictures but these will do. It’s good to know that everything is on track and the baby seems healthy and ready to grow.

This is a profile with the baby’s head on the right. You can see the pouty little lips, rounded belly, and a little leg kicking around.

This one is also a profile, the baby has a hand in it’s mouth.

Another profile picture, you can see it’s legs kicking around on the left.

This is a front view of the baby’s face (on the right) you can see the big eye sockets and it’s right hand waving hello!

On a side note, I am progressing along well also. I have only gained 1 pound so far, even though it looks like more! I do think I am smaller than I was with Casper, but time will tell…

My next ultrasound is August 9th, and that’s when we should be able to find out what kind of baby we are having…so start thinking of names!!

Bieber Fever

2011-06-12T21:07:00.001-05:00

We watched the Justin Bieber movie this weekend and were amazed at how Justin’s childhood reminds us of Casper. Guitar, drums, singing…Justin and Casper have similar home movies. We even found out that Justin played guitar left handed…just like Casper. Here’s some videos from this weekend either during or after the Bieber movie…I think he picked up some tips.

Dancing…

Playing guitar and singing (with some cicade background singers)…

Playing creative guitar (Bieber did this during the movie)…

If anyone would like to be his agent, give me a call!

Women’s Network I Love the 80’s Skating Party

2011-06-02T20:07:00.001-05:00

Thought you might enjoy a peek at are costumes for the evening…

Casper was getting into a little Risky Business, and Momma was just trying to be a star! I actually did win the Adult Costume Contest…woohoo!!

Casper had fun watching from the sidelines, giving high-fives, and flirting with the girls.

Mommy – 10 Weeks

2011-05-28T15:01:00.001-05:00

Nothing to exciting about this picture, I just thought I’d keep my out of town friends and family posted on my progress. We are right at 10 weeks in this pregnancy, I haven’t gained anyway…just lost a waist line. I actually think I might be behind schedule from last time as far as size goes…which is fine with me!

On a side note, here’s some pictures of crazy big brother who was modeling for Daddy this morning!

Baby - 10 Weeks…

2011-05-26T21:43:00.001-05:00

We had another great doctor appointment today and got to see Baby’s heart beating strong, it was even moving around some. Everything looks great. This was my final appointment at Mid Missouri Reproductive, which is bittersweet. I am so thankful for everything they’ve done for me but happy to move on to my Ob/Gyn for the rest of this process knowing that means everything is progressing nicely. Dr. Wilshire was out of the office today so my old doctor, Dr. Penney, attended to me instead. It was great seeing him and sharing our two success stories. I will go back to the office next week and get pictures of the whole staff for Baby’s scrapbook. Here is a picture from today, you can see Baby’s head on the left, two little arms, a big round belly, and if you look really close, some little legs.

Big Boy Bed

2011-05-23T21:26:00.001-05:00

This week Casper transitioned into a toddler bed…well, really we just took one of the railings off his crib. But he thinks it’s pretty special! He has been so excited! He loves to sit in his bed and read books. He is always dragging one of us in there to play or read with him. He definitely thinks he is hot stuff!

It’s been so cute to see how he handles the change. The first couple of nights he did really good, he didn’t even get out of bed in the morning, he would just let us know he was awake and wait for us to come get him. Every night we say our prayers, give our kisses, and the he says “stay in bed”. But, since this weekend, he hasn’t been following the rules. On Sunday morning, he opened the door to our room, holding his blanket and monkey, and said “Hi!” then “diaper”. I rolled over and saw that he had taken a new diaper out of the dresser and brought it into us so we could change him. Last night he fell asleep and woke up while it was still light out, he was very confused thinking it was morning and tried really hard to get us to let him stay awake. This morning, after I heard the pitter patter of little feet across the hard wood floor, he opened the door and said “Hi mommy! Daddy work? Mommy bed?” Yes dear, daddy’s at work and mommy is still in bed!

Tonight, he was playing in his room and Chris saw him out of the corner of his eye. He had taken one of the railings from his bed (that were kept stored under the bed) and turned it into a slide. He was having a great time sliding out of his bed! He’s just so darn cute!

Baby Thoma – 8 weeks

2011-05-13T20:49:00.001-05:00

I had another Doctor appointment this week and was able to see another picture of the baby. I even got to see the little heart beating.

In this picture below, you can see the baby’s head on the right, and the little arms.

As seems to be usual with this Mommy…there is already a belly on the way. So, here’s our first Mommy picture at 8 weeks.

Yes, I feel as tired as I look!

Mother’s Day

2011-05-10T15:59:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day! Chris surprised me by leaving a package for me in the bathroom. I saw it when I got up in the middle of the night. It was beautiful Pearl Earrings, I was flabbergasted. Then, when I got Casper up the next morning, there was another package for me with two beautiful Pearl Necklaces. The set was gorgeous, I was so surprised! Chris and Casper did a great job of picking out my gift, I felt very special!

Later in the day, everyone came to our house for dinner. We had a good steak dinner and then played croquet in the front yard. It was fun! Casper really liked hurdling the croquet posts, I think he might have some talent!

Healthy Kids Day

2011-05-09T19:49:00.001-05:00

Casper, Mommy, and Granny went to Healthy Kids Day at the Cooper County Hospital this weekend. He had some health screenings, got lots of free stuff, won some cookies in the cake walk, but his favorite thing was playing outside. Out there he got to see a fire truck, an ambulance, and a helicopter. But even better than that, there were balls…footballs, basketballs, beach balls. Casper even got to play with a pro foot ball player, Attiyah Ellison with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Big Announcement

2011-05-01T21:53:00.001-05:00

I know most of you have already heard, but for those that haven’t…

The Thoma Family is pleased to announce the expected Christmas Eve arrival of a special bundle of joy!!

We began this round of the process in late March with hormone shots and other medications. On April 8th, we did a frozen embryo transfer of two embryos. As seen in the picture below, one embryo had already “hatched”. We were told both embryos had positives and negatives features.

We will never know which embryo “attached”, but we do know that at this time we are currently expecting one baby. As of the ultrasound on Thursday, everything was moving along normally and looked good! In the pictures below, you can see the placenta, which is the large black area, with a smudge of a little baby on the left of the oval. As of this ultrasound, we are six weeks pregnant and due on December 24, 2011.

Please keep our family in your prayers during this pregnancy. Pray to calm our anxiety and quiet our nervousness. Pray that the baby remains healthy and grows on schedule. Pray that this will be a happy and joyful addition to our family.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-26T13:04:00.000-05:00

Casper looked so handsome for church on Easter morning, I just couldn’t help but take a few pictures…

He loved his Easter Basket full of M&M’s, and his Sesame Street Songs Video.

Before church, he took some time to stop and smell the Azaleas…

And picked Mommy a tulip.

Thoma Family Easter

2011-04-25T12:55:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Easter yesterday with Chris’s family. Casper picked tulips for Grandma!

Connor and Casper were the only ones interested in hunting eggs, so Connor showed Casper the way…

It didn’t take long for Casper to figure out what to do…

We tried to get a nice picture of the boys, but they were being silly. Casper likes to copy everything that Connor does…

Here’s some nice pictures…

Casper was telling Daddy all about his “hunt”, and showing off his trophies!

ATHENA Awards Banquet

2011-04-24T13:05:00.000-05:00

As you may remember, I was nominated this year for the ATHENA Young Professional Award. I am pleased to announce that the recipient was my great friend Shelly DeVore. I had a great time being a part of the festivities and celebrating Shelly’s success. Here are some pictures from the event.

	I think you know this guy! Doesn’t he look handsome? I’m so glad he was able to be there to meet my friends and learn more about Women’s Network. I’m going to be the President next year so I’m sure he will be learning more about Women’s Network in the future.
Karen Taylor and Vicki Dunscombe are both past ATHENA Leadership Award winners and great friends and mentors of mine. Vicki was my manager at the bank until she retired in 2007. Karen is an Executive Vice President at the bank.
	Theresa Swisher is a good friend and someone I have worked closely with for several years – we’ve seen it all! Judy Starr is my current manager, friend and mentor. She is also and Executive Vice President at the Bank, and the Chief Financial Officer.
The ATHENA Young Professional Finalists, Shatenita Horton, Shelly DeVore, and Jennifer Thoma!
	Past AYPA Recipients and 2011 Finalists, Me, Kerrie Bloss, Kelley Marchbanks, Shatenita Horton, and Shelly DeVore.
Past ATHENA Leadership Award recipients, Past ATHENA Young Professional Award recipients, and 2011 finalists.
	My crazy friends…Kerrie Bloss and Kate Grant!

Easter Eggs

2011-04-23T11:38:00.001-05:00

First, we have to read the directions and get set up…

Then, we inspect the eggs…

We add vinegar and tablets to the cups and practice our colors while we watch them change…

Then we really try to be gentle while we add the eggs…

We wait patiently for them to finish '’cooking”…

Then we let the eggs cool…because, of course, they’re “hot”…

Then we display our masterpieces!

Afterward, Mommy explains how the Easter Bunny comes to the house and hides the eggs. After we find the eggs, then we can open the presents and candy that the Easter Bunny left!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Two Year Old Pictures

2011-04-19T18:33:00.001-05:00

I have posted some of these to Facebook, but here’s all of my favorites from our family and Casper’s two year old photo shoot with Heather Stewart. Didn’t she do a great job!

Casper is 2!!

2011-04-10T21:35:00.001-05:00

We had a great birthday party for Casper today. Here are some of the highlights of the Two Two Train party for our special little engineer.

Our train decorations were so cute! Casper was gone while I was decorating and when he got home he was so excited to see balloons and cake, he just kept dancing around laughing and skipping!

Aunt Sherry and Uncle Richard were there, Granny & Poppy were there, Grandma and Poppa were there, and Uncle Keith, Aunt Kim, Dayton and Connor were there.

Casper got a lot of great gifts!

Casper read every card and played with every gift for a little while before moving onto the next. He was so polite and said Thank You for every gift. Grandma and Poppa gave him a baby doll with stroller, and a doggy bank. Keith and Kim gave him a dinosaur play set with a dinosaur book. Richard and Sherry gave him a kite, some clothes, a golf set, and a bowling set.

Granny and Poppy gave Casper a picnic table. Mommy and Daddy gave Casper a few books, some bath toys, and a train table.

We all enjoyed a good cake and ice cream!

It was a great birthday!

a little ditty…

2011-04-10T14:43:00.001-05:00

After practicing and rehearsing at Grandma Thoma’s most of the day, Casper shared this with us yesterday afternoon…

Shootin’ Hoops

2011-04-04T10:41:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a big garage sale in Boonville, Casper got an early Birthday present!

Lounging around…

2011-04-03T15:38:00.001-05:00

Casper takes after Daddy, they are always busy! But when they’re not, this is what it looks like around the house (I'll save Chris’s modesty, and only show you pictures of Casper) …

Aunt Jo & Uncle Greg

2011-03-29T18:47:00.001-05:00

We got to celebrate Casper’s birthday a little early with a visit from Aunt Joann and Uncle Greg.

Casper loved his new outdoor toys! These will keep him very busy in the sandbox.

Aunt Joann got lots of kisses! Casper hasn’t wanted to give anyone a kiss since she left…

Uncle Richard and Aunt Sherry came over to visit too!

Casper and Aunt Jo played with his new bath toys…

Casper showed them what a good reader he is.

Then we had to say goodbye…Aunt Joann and Uncle Greg went back to Michigan. We hope she will call on Oovoo soon!

ATHENA Young Professional Award Finalist

2011-03-17T16:52:00.001-05:00

I am excited to announce that I have recently been named a finalist for the 2011 Columbia Women's Network ATHENA Young Professional Award. Three finalists were named at the March Women's Network luncheon including Shatenita Horton and Shelly DeVore. I am very honored to be included with this group of amazing women.

The ATHENA Young Professional Award is given to an emerging leader who demonstrates excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession, who provides valuable service by contributing time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community and who clearly serves as a role model for young women personally and professionally.

The ATHENA Leadership model has been critical to my professional career as there have been several mentors of mine who have received this prestige award. I aspire to attain just a fraction of the successess of my predecessors but more importantly, I aspire to pass on the support and encouragement they have given me. Thank you Karen, Vicki, Kelley, and Kerrie, you are each an inspiration to me!

Missouri Children’s Museum

2011-03-05T17:41:00.001-06:00

Casper and Mommy had fun at the Children’s Museum today. This was our first trip to the one in Columbia and we plan on going back!

We went grocery shopping, Casper got all fruits and vegetables, he really like running the cash register.

Our groceries totaled $7792…sounds about right!

We played dress-up…

We played with legos, trains, and other boy things. We also played with the kitchen, dolls, and some girl things.

Casper practiced being a veterinarian.

He also painted a beautiful masterpiece!

2011-03-04T18:54:00.001-06:00

Here are pictures for Casper’s first album cover, this is the front and back…

Random Silliness

2011-02-23T21:27:00.001-06:00

For some reason, Casper wanted to sit in the closet and read with his hat and mittens on??

Casper loves his bath, he likes to say “I swim!”

He loves his new Mizzou hoodie that Mommy made him…

Sometimes, he’s just plain nuts…

Spoiled guy got a new drum set from Grandma Thoma…

and a new t-ball set from Granny and Poppy, but he has better things to do than t-ball!

Getting outside…

2011-02-16T22:11:00.000-06:00

Casper has been so cooped up in the house with all the snow we’ve had and the cold that he had. He finally got a chance to play outside for awhile today and worked on cleaning up some of the leftover snow. Granny said he’s definitely a Thoma, he wouldn’t let her sit down and rest, he kept making sure that she was working. He’s such a slave driver!

Back to work Granny!

My music man…

2011-02-15T22:07:00.001-06:00

Casper’s caption “I drum”…he can also say “cymbal” and knows exactly what it is, but we are not sure where he learned that…

Poppy’s been recording songs with Chris in our basement “studio”, Casper loves to play guitar with Poppy and is even starting to sing along quite a bit. The other day, Casper wanted to play with my phone and kept nagging me with “i phone, i phone.” When I got tired of it I told him to go find his guitar and play me a song. He came back with his guitar, strummed a few notes, and then sang in his best blues style…”i phhoonne, i phhoonne”. How can you say no to that, it was his first original song!

Happy Valentine’s Day

2011-02-14T19:39:00.001-06:00

I Love You

Snowpocalypse

2011-02-02T13:09:00.001-06:00

So the forecasters weren’t just blowing snow this time. We really had a blizzard. They say about 18” dropped in 12 hours or so and we set some sort of top ten record for total snowfall in one day. Here are some time elapsed photos of our house. I didn’t keep track of what time I took these but they were all taken on the same day. I left Casper’s shovel in the yard to use as a snow marker.

They even shut down I-70 statewide for most of the afternoon and all night last night…we weren’t going anywhere!

This morning, I took Casper out to see the snow but he wasn’t very interested. All he wanted was his shovel which was buried in the middle of the yard. He had a complete meltdown that I wouldn’t get it for him and then he had another meltdown when I made him come inside. Hopefully he will be as anxious to shovel the driveway when he’s a teenager!

Chris couldn’t even get the tractor to move all that snow. He walked about 1 mile to his brothers to get the skid loader, but it wouldn’t start. So he and his brother just went up and down our driveway until he could get one of the cars out.

Casper is about 34” tall and you can see how high the snow was compared to him. He’s not actually standing on solid ground in any of the pictures either, just on a packed down layer. He was fussing so much about his shovel that I set him down in the yard and told him he could go get it…he didn’t think I was very funny.

Poor baby wants to be outside! I had to put all his gear in the closet because he kept trying to put it on and open the door so he could go back out. It was pretty cold and his nose was really runny, or I might have let him stay awhile longer…although there wasn’t much to do out there.

Drummer Boy

2011-01-29T19:41:00.000-06:00

More Snow…

2011-01-23T19:58:00.001-06:00

We had more snow this week and on Saturday Mommy and Daddy finally had a chance to take Casper out to play.

We made snow angels and shoveled…

As with every good day, we ended with a guitar solo!

Touchdown!

2011-01-22T12:57:00.000-06:00

Morning Serenade

2011-01-22T09:15:00.000-06:00

Casper was singing to Mommy as she was getting ready this morning.

Log Cabin

2011-01-03T22:33:00.001-06:00

Several years ago my Dad made some log cabin doll houses for several family members…Aunt Joann recently regifted hers to Casper when Poppy, Richard, and Sherry made a trip to Michigan. Dad just brought it over today to give to Casper. It looks like he had a good time playing with it. I know this is a toy he was missing…where else would his monkey have breakfast? And how is Casper supposed to serve tea without his own dining room?

Notice Monkey sitting at the table with Casper’s sippy cup and tea cup…

Notice stuffed animal sleeping in the loft and Casper’s tea pot ready to pour…

I think he is installing a satellite “dish” in this one!

New Years Eve

2011-01-01T07:51:00.001-06:00

We had a fun day yesterday! I was on vacation so Casper and I spent the morning together then Mommy went to run the First Night Columbia 5K and Granny and Poppy brought Casper to watch. I was pleased with my race and my time…and with the 60 degree weather!

Then we went out to dinner with Granny and Poppy and to bed early…we only celebrated New Year’s Eve long enough to get a scrapbook picture with the hat I made Casper.

He’s got personality!

2010-12-28T22:01:00.001-06:00

Here’s some random pictures I thought you would enjoy…

Cuddling up with a good book.

“What kind of engine does this thing have?”

Getting so grown up…