The girls and their new pals in 2009/2010

A little late in posting some photos - but over Christmas and New Years break we met up with some of my dearest friends and their little one (s) and took some photos with whomever would actually sit still/show up/smile! :)

Jack (1) Jen's baby boy!!
Belated 1st Birthday gift giving!

Hey there Mary (officially now 4 1/2)!!

Hugging!

Logan (5), Emma (2) and Sally (2)
Anitra's kids

Emma and Sally hit it off!

Sally was ridiculously excited here!!

Truthfully, our cuddle bug was mostly excited to be
touching her little tootsie with someone else while playing this game!!

Thank you GOD for Mary...

.... and for fitting into smaller jeans.

Today was a great day and I am so thankful for my girl Mary. I am always especially thankful for her exceptional behavior... in public.

Nothing in my closet really fits me right now. It is either too big or too small. I needed to get over to the mall and get some jeans that fit. The girls were ecstatic about going there as they get to play with the "squishy toys" --- rubberized toys on rubberized playground.

Before going into Banana Republic and Gap, I strapped Sally into the stroller and handed her the nigh-nigh (2 seconds later thumb is inserted into mouth and quiet time ensues). Then I bent down to Mary's level and told her to stay by my side, not to run into the clothing racks and to NOT DO ANYTHING TO EMBARRASS ME!

Seriously.

If all went accordingly, fun at the squishy-climby-rubberized-playground area would be had by all, followed up with a chocolate chip cookie.

Operation " new jeans for mom so that she can stop wearing a belt and tugging at her pants all day long" equaled success.

My great night was followed up by my little Mary arriving at home to enter the house and follow bedtime procedure to the letter so that I could blog about her awesomeness.

She is truly rad.

COMPLETELY potty trained!!

We do have a video of Sally receiving her reward that we will post soon --- but she is officially out of diapers!! This month she turns 2.5 and it was just around that time that we trained Mary too. Such a milestone!

Sea World Photo Booth pictures

These photos were so much fun to take and we were
all laughing so much. We were basically pretending we
were inside a photo booth.

Our pass expired on December 31st, so we got a couple of last days in before the end of the month. We had the most fun at the Christmas Shamu show and enjoying the holiday decorations at the park.

Probably the second most fun we had was taking these goofy photos during the Shamu show....

Opening Christmas Gifts

Dolls or cars - Sally likes everything equally so
we encourage both!

When she saw her gifts she just wanted to hug them
for a while instead of opening them.

Keepin' it real with underwear as a stocking stuffer...
My girl was not thrilled with that gift.

She got this nightgown for one of her gifts and put it on right away! So cute!

Here we are - Christmas morning 2009. This is the beginning of the many fun years to come - from here on out Mary is fully aware of the true meaning of Christmas: PRESENTS!! ha, ha.

We had a "Happy Birthday" banner up and she knows that the true meaning of Christmas is Jesus... but for now she is 4 years old and was really excited to see what was going to be in her stocking this year from Santa.

Unfortunately Mommy kind of forgot (due to lack of experience) to talk up the whole Santa Clause tradition and I just threw some presents under the tree and said "Wow! Merry Christmas!!"

Fast forward two days later...

Mary: Why didn't Santa bring us any gifts Mom?

Me: What??!! You got lots of nice gifts this year!

Mary: Those gifts are from you Mom. I know this because you used the same wrapping paper that you used for Daddy's gifts. When is Santa coming?

Long story short - I proceed to tell her that Santa did come and that he brought us nice gifts. She continues to ask about Santa and Jason skips ahead about 4 years and tells her that he is not real.

Can you picture the red face with steam coming out of my ears???

Fortunately within hours she let it go and the next day and days to come we were back to talking about how much fun Santa is and how he will come again next year and that he lives in our hearts and it is really fun, fun, fun.

Mani/Pedi with nail tech. Mommy

The girls really wanted polish on their fingers and toes.

And they really wanted a picture taken of them

And Sally wanted me to take multiple photos of her toes...
Look at those little baby toes! I still want to eat them up
every chance I get! :)


Happy New Year from the 2littlethomases! Tomorrow Mary will
be officially 4 1/2 years old!!

Merry Christmas from the Thomas Family!

Our pretty girls Mary and Sally in their Christmas outfits!

The girls are dancing instead of posing! :)

This is exactly why I love living in San Diego!

Here are my ladies walking along the cliffs on
a beautiful day in December!

On Saturday we took some pictures over at the Pt. Loma Nazarene University campus. We were posing for the annual Christmas
card photo and had a great time!
The weather was gorgeous that day and actually pretty hot at the coast.
Christmas in Southern California never looked so good!

A Mom and her Dog

This post is dedicated to my first born - Clifford.
Clifford is officially 6 1/2 years old and still an important part of the family.
We took him out for family day yesterday in Point Loma and he had a great time
on the playground with the teeter totter.

Well - OK. Maybe it was not his favorite part of the day - but he did enjoy
being off the leash and roaming around the park. He has matured so much that he
just lounges around, sniffs stuff and rolls in the grass. Except for those 2 kids in the back
we had this park all to ourselves. It was great!

We love our dog Clifford!!

Little Thomases baking Christmas cookies!

We are starting a new Christmas tradition here in the
Thomas house. Every Christmas we will make and decorate
sugar cookies with the girls. I told them it was a "cookie decorating party", so
they got really excited and dressed up in their best princess attire.

The dog bone shaped cookies are in honor of Clifford

The girls were so happy and proud to be making cookies!

DONT TOUCH THE TREE! please....

Hands behind your back --- and please
stop touching my ornaments!
(Yes, those are her training pants -- we are
having so much fun using the potty)

Seriously - Christmas is next week? Oops... so much for the Christmas cards going out anytime soon. Maybe we will just be sending Happy New Years cards....

At least we have a tree up and decorated!

The girls were really excited to go and pick out the tree. It was my idea to let Mary pick out the tree and it was Sally's job to look cute in the shopping cart at Target while we take the big box to the register.

Saying "big box" is an exaggeration as we got a smaller artificial tree for about 50 bucks. Artificial is the way to go for me because this pretty little housewife doesn't want to be vacuuming up any pine needles for weeks to come. Sheesh!

Thank you - we are so blessed!

This is a special thank you blog to our friends up in the East Bay from Clayton Community Church. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and treats recently received. If I had my camera I would take a photo of the girls with their new purses. They are so happy right now. (I left my camera at my Dad's house)

The past month has been difficult for us, but if it were not for the support and prayers from our friends we would not have been able to experience any peace over the loss.

We are doing better each week and while there are still some bumps in the road emotionally, physically I am well and we are taking great delight in our 2littlethomases that are both beautiful and very healthy!!

For now we are the 2littlethomases with great hope for another addition someday in the future.

With much love --- xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving 2009!!

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Rowe Family in
Rolling Hills, Palos Verdes.
Below are the photos from this year's smaller gathering.
The Grandparents of Mary and Sally were in Nevada this holiday, but we
will see them for Christmas down in San Diego!

Addie home from her freshman year at USC, Donnie home from
Jr. Year at Oxidental College,
Molly is still living at home and attends Chadwick High

Cute little turkeys!

This was the kid table for 2littlethomases!

Both of the girls just LOVED having their own
little dinner table that night!

Sally was tickled over seeing her own name card

This was the best part of their evening - dessert!
Mary and Sally really enjoyed licking the whipping cream off
the beater and spoon! Who needs the pie??

Little Sally is growing up

 

When I look at this photo I see a big girl that is learning to toilet train! Watch out public toilets!! HERE WE COME!!

Thanksgiving Celebration at Mary's Preschool

Mary's Preschool had a Thanksgiving celebration with some "Stone Soup" based on the book and dinner rolls from scratch. The kids all helped prepare the meal and parents and siblings were invited. Mary made the place mats for us and the festive hat. Sally had a great time too being at school (she wants to go badly) and we met Mary's best friend McKenna.

Happy Hallopalozza!

Every year our church does a Halloween carnival and it is a totally free event for the community with pizza, music, games, candy, jumpy houses, petting zoo, etc. It is a blast and the girls had a great time! Last year Sally was still uncertain about Halloween, but this year she was really excited to get candy. No one could touch her candy bag and she was super excited to play the carnival games and get her face painted. Mary was happy to see all her friends and to ride on the llama and eat the candy!!
Sally was a Butterfly Fairy and Mary was a Forest Fairy

This game was called "Milk the Cow" and they both did it together.
Really pretty cute - especially considering this is the closest they
will ever get to actually milking anything in their young lives.

Oh, that girl Mary...

Every time I pick up Mary from Preschool now I have to brace myself the latest edition of "What Mary did/said today at school" today from either the teacher, teacher's aid or the Director. They are almost all funny and the women relaying the "Mary stories" are always laughing while telling them.

The first one was when Mary was supposed to get her silhouette drawn (you know the black ones that parents like to frame and hang on the wall) and I sent her to school and gave the money to the teacher. When it came time to sit down for the sketch, Mary said "Oh no!! My Mom does not want me to do this". I feel like whenever I look at the picture I can see her little pouty profile.

The second one was last week during "National Earthquake safety drill day" - all the schools around here participated. The teacher talked about earthquakes and the fact that they were going to simulate an earthquake by shaking the candy jar. Once the candy jar was shaking they were to duck and cover. Everyone in the class did it -- but Mary. She looked at the teacher, crossed her arms and 'hmmphpd' loudly saying "I am not doing that". Even later that day when the Director of the preschool administered the real drill EVERYONE (everyone!!) on the playground saw the candy jar shaking and dropped to the ground; ducking and covering. Not Mary. Once again that little stinker crossed her arms, made a stink face and then went back to playing.

The third one was today. Mrs. Foster (her teacher) came up to inform me that Mary asked her if she knew who Jesus was. The teacher said yes, but another little girl said that she did not know who Jesus was. Mary proceeded to tell them that Jesus is the guy that "tells us to clean up". The teacher chuckled (to herself) and asked her what else she knew about Jesus. Mary shared that "Jesus died on the cross for Easter".. .but that it was "OK, because he came back to life". During clean up time Mrs. Foster told Mary to clean up because Jesus wants her to. So... she did.

Apparently our girl Mary has some issues with compliance, but not when it comes to Jesus telling her to clean up.

Mary was a flower girl this weekend!

There was a slight snafu the night of the rehearsal and Sally ended
up becoming Mary's understudy for the role of "The Flower Girl", but after
much bribery of Barbie paraphernalia if she were to walk down the aisle
and do her job, all went well and in the 11th hour Mary decided that she
wanted to walk all by herself... sort of. I sat midway down the aisle and she
had the option of taking my hand so that I could assist her to the alter.
We walked together and Jason took her out of the sanctuary and to the gardens until the ceremony was over.

Here we are - the proud parents of "The Flower Girl"
We had Molly babysit for us that night as we hit the reception
up in LA - sans bebes is the way to go to a wedding if you want
to actually enjoy your evening... no offense girlies.

Our latest stats for Mary and Sally

At Mary's 4 year well baby check up she weighed in at 38 lbs (75%) and 40.5 inches (75%)

At Sally's 2 year well baby check up she weighed in at 22 lbs (-3%) and 32 3/4 inches (25%)

oh.... and side note - today is my birthday!! I am 32 years old!!

Look who's talking NOW!!!

Ok - so admittedly I thought she would always be our quiet little Sally Thomas. Following in the shadows of her big sister the chatter box. Well - those thoughts are in the past. Maybe it is because I am sick with a head cold and needed some extra rest and she could tell, but today was the day that she decided to get really vocal. All. Day. Long. Starting at 7am.

After breakfast and before our shower I asked her why she was so silly and she told me "because I am naked mama". Exact words. I was laying out an outfit to put her in when we got out of the shower and I wanted to give her a choice so I asked her what she wanted to wear, "clothes, mama".

She really likes to say the funniest things now and she loves to answer me with "because" and she is starting to follow me around the house and ask me "why, mama?" and "what are you doing, mama?". Everything ends in mama.

Sally the tattoo artist

Sally got a little creative one morning while we were coloring
with washable markers in the kitchen.
She is not too young for her tat sleeves yet is she?
I would not want to be the one to hinder her artistic mind.

Sally's 2nd Birthday celebration - her second one!

A little late in posting these, but my Mom came to San Diego and we took Sally out for dinner and a "Messy Sundae" at Sammy's Woodfired Pizza in Pt. Loma. She really liked it and had fun eating her messy ice cream treat!!

Mary and Sally posing so pretty by the fountain after our dessert ~
what a beautiful 2 year old girl with her wonderful 4 year old big sister!

Where do raccoons come from?

This is our conversation in the car tonight on the way home from dinner

Mary: Mom, do raccoons grow on trees?

Me (Julie): What? Raccoons? No... Mary, a raccoon is an animal

Mary: No, Mom. Raccoons. Do they grow on trees?... they are like this (holding up her hand making a small shape)

Me: Are you talking about an acorn?

Mary: No...OH!! Mom! A pine corn.

Pine corn = Pine Cone

Happy 2nd Birthday to Sally!!

Today is Sally's 2nd birthday! We are so excited and will be celebrating with my Dad this weekend. He is driving down from Manhattan Beach and will be going out to dinner
with us and helping Sally eat her cupcakes.

Jason and I cant believe that it was only 2 years ago that we were up in Clayton having pizza with friends at Skips and I was in labor. I went home to relax only to time my contractions that were all over the place. Next thing we knew little Sally made her way into the world at John Muir hospital in Walnut Creek and Mary became a big sister!

Yesterday Sally and I went through the box of 2T clothes that used to be
Mary's and she found the boots and this hat and really wanted to
dress up and be silly.

(that is some peanut butter on her face from her breakfast)

Reading her birthday card from Grandma and Grandpa Thomas

Having fun in our new train that Daddy made for the girls

out of the diaper and wipes boxes from Costco

A conversation with Mary

Last night on the way home from VBS I asked Mary what the snack was that she had and she told me "taters tots" (with that extra "s"). Knowing that she despises potatoes and barely eats french fries I proceeded to have her tell me more about the snack.

"They are small like chicken nuggets and just like the playground Mom".

Taters Tots = Teeter Totter --- of course.

I asked her if she liked them and she said yes. I told her that they are sort of made with potato and then she told me that they were disgusting.

Aunt Amy comes for a visit! July 31st - August 4th

Amy came from Indianapolis, IN to visit us in San Diego and we planned for a mini family
reunion at the Bay that weekend.

The San Diego Search and Rescue dive team looking
for the body of a man that jumped into the bay at midnight and did
not make it to shore. Of all the places in the bay to set up our camp for
the day we chose this one only to see the dive team, and coast guard arrive
30 minutes later and proceed to do this from 11am until 4pm.

Oh... and here is cute little Sally building a sand castle.

******************

.

Sally, Juliette (10), Sohpia (7) and Mary

Aunt Amy is to my right (me in the hot bikini, careful to cover up my
*not so hot* squishy tummy). Jason's cousin on his Mom's side is Michael and his
wife is Lisa. They live in Temecula. Across the table are Aunt Virginia and Uncle David (Jason's Aunt and Uncle) and the cousins.

Aunt Amy's last day in town ~ we visited Coronado

Amy has a soft spot for little Sally - what is hard not to love about a cute and
cuddly little 23 month old baby girl??!!!

--- she is almost 2?? Ah!!!!!!!!!!

... And the Mother of The Year award goes to.....

ME!!

Today was one of those days when I felt like I was an employed person getting an annual evaluation from a boss and my report came back with a bonus check and a 100% salary increase!!

Today at Trader Joes, while Mary was in school, Sally shopped with me and could hardly contain herself while I put some veggies in the cart. She was trying to tear open the bag of edamame and yelling "jschoop mama! jschoop!". That is our yiddish for the soy beans. This all started with Mary when we tried to show her how fun it was to eat edamame because you can pop them out of the pod and they go "jschoop" and land on your plate or in your mouth....

After T.J.'s shopping we picked up Mary and proceeded to the local library to return some books and turn in our reading program card for some prizes. Upon entering the library, the girls were SQUEALING with delight to be there and kept saying "Yay Mommy! The library!! Books!!".

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the American Academy of Pediatrics for recommending that I feed my kids daily servings of fruits and veggies.... and for the hot summer in San Diego without air conditioning that has forced me to find cool environments for my little ones that have turned them into book worms.

Why I LOVE LOVE LOVE having little girls

Lets just say that if this is a little glimpse into the future of living with my tidy little ladies - I am a happy Mama.

So far, they have both surpassed Jason's (did you know that he was a full grown adult, age 33?) ability to clean up after themselves! Yep -- that's correct.

Not only does Sally like to take off her dirty diapers and put them in the trash (the TRASH), but Mary has now taken to clearing her place at the table, putting any scraps in the trash can, and her bowl up on the counter to be washed. When she is using plastic dinnerware she will "wash" it in the sink in her bathroom and put it up on the counter to be put away.

Cute huh?? :) I love my girls!!!

A cool little chicky

Like Mother like daughter this cool lady has her shades on and her purse ready to go.

Those strings hanging out go to Mary's fairy wings ...
... because when you are on the go, you never know when you might need some wings.

Getting ready to read!

I was making lunch and then suddenly... it was quiet.

Too quiet.

I instantly wondered what kind of trouble they were getting into now.

Then I remembered the library books that I had just put out on the coffee table for them.

This is what I found!!

2 sweet little thomases sitting quietly while reading library books!

Sally and Mary both love books so much. It is a pleasure to take them to the library and to give them books as gifts because it is just the best thing - better than TV!

Its HOT in San Diego!

The dog days of summer are just beginning to hit us here in beautiful San Diego -- we feel it so much (although about 3 miles from the coast) due to not having air conditioning.

To stay nice and cool we are enjoying some water play in our backyard with our "shamu" pool ~ really just a whale pool that Mary has named shamu ~ and our fun sprinkler hook up toy.

I am doing lots of bathing suit laundry around here and lathering up of sunscreen like you would not believe! Today I was so desperate for a clean suit for Mary that I actually (NO REALLY!) got out a needle and thread and repaired a suit while my highly impressed girls looked on. I was a super hero to Mary when the straps on her top were fastened back on and we were ready to take on shamu.

When the evening rolls around and the house is too hot to enjoy (after sweaty naps) we hang out in our backyard once again for some hammock time!





(You can see our veggie garden in the back ground. We are growing: carrots, arugula, brussels sprouts, artichokes, tomatoes, corn, basil, rosemary, thyme... and a few other herbs)

Happy 4th of July 2009!!

This year to celebrate the 4th of July we headed up to Manhattan Beach to house-sit for Mimi and Popi while they were in Genoa.




We had fun walking to get our coffee in the morning and going to the beach for a little bit each day to play in the sand.




We also had a BLAST at Auntie Monica's house for her big party!!


















Here are the girls walking up to the party at Monica's in their festive new outfits (from Nana for their birthdays)





























Here is Sally getting toasty in Monica's turtle neck sweater before we head to the roof top patio at her home for a 360 view of the beautiful fireworks along coastal LA County!!


















The girls were both seeing fireworks for the first time ~ ever!! Normally they have been too young and asleep by the time it is dark... but not this year! Miss Mary being 4 years old wanted to stay up for the fun!

Happy 4th Birthday to Mary!

July 1st 2005 our baby girl Mary was born in San Diego at Sharp Grossmont Hospital at approximately 8:50pm. All went well and there were no complications during the pregnancy, labor or delivery. Clifford was a little jealous at first - and he never got over it.

This week she is attending "Garden Camp" through the La Jolla YMCA - a program for 3-5 year old children. She thought that she was going to Kindergarten ("kinder-garden!") and was really excited, but I had to break it to her that she has another year. Little Miss Independent would be the type of kid that would never want to be part of any homeschool program.... especially since she has informed me several times that she is going to be a "bride when she is 18 and have a baby in her tummy that wants to be born... [and that she] is going to marry Pablo".

Over this past weekend on Saturday (after her day of Kayaking) we went to the Corvette Diner with my Mom to celebrate her 4th a little early. It moved from Hillcrest to one of the first buildings at the former Naval Training Center in Pt. Loma. Click here if you want to read a little press release about the restaurant - it is awesome and we had a blast!

Mary goes Kayaking for the first time!

Mary and her Dad went out on the Mission Bay in San Diego for her first time on a kayak! She was really excited to be out in the middle of the bay and picked some kelp out of the water. The weather was perfect that day and even little Sally had a good time getting her toes wet.

Mary and Sally celebrate the Graduation Season!

Miss Addie Rowe (our second cousin once removed) graduated from Chadwick High School on June 14th and we drove up to Palos Verdes for her party and to celebrate her accomplishment of attending USC this Fall! Go Trojans!

Addie, Me, Sally and Molly
(Molly took great care of Mary in Genoa when she went up with
her Popi and Mimi later on that same week for about 5 days)

Me and my Dad

Sandy (Mimi), Me and Dad (Popi)

Me with Great Aunt Barbara and her first born (of 9) Alice

Mary met her match! This is her 3rd cousin twice removed (?) Abby.
They are both the same age and met for the first time at the party.

The girls had a blast playing the drums! I believe they are
musically inclined thanks to the Thomas side of the family.

Sally meets the Umana boys and baby Jack!

While Mary was in Genoa with her Mimi and Popi, Sally and I drove up to Orange County to visit with some of my friends and their children. My friend Jen has a little baby boy Jack that is 6 months old! My friend Stephanie from high school has 4 boys! I only wish that I lived in Orange County to be closer to these great Moms/Women, but we are very happy in San Diego.
Sally and I stayed at her Nana's house (my Mom) for the night.

Thank you Nana for letting us stay the night!

Nana keeps a box of my (yes Julie's!!) old toys for the
girls to play with. Or - to play in...

Me holding Jack and Jen holding Sally.
The kids were a little jealous.

Jack drinking water, but not about to miss a photo opportunity!

This is Sally with Stephanie's youngest boy Ruben.
They were a little unsure of each other.

Paolo with Sally

Paolo (8), Ruben (2), Luca (6) and Marco (7)
(AKA - future Husbands for my girls)
They really are as sweet and polite as they look in this photo!!

Stephanie and her sisters (the Umana ladies) opened
The Umana Academy of Fine Arts in 2004!
We got a tour of the school that currently enrolls Tiny Tots - 7th grade

Stephanie Umana Russell - Tiny Tots and Pre K Director and Founder
Check out the school!

Busy little Thomas Girls in the month of June!

We have been keeping busy in June spending lots of time enjoying the many fun things to do around San Diego County!

Mary is out of school for two weeks so in the meantime we have taken the girls to:

• Sea World (we have a membership pass so we can go and enjoy it for a couple hours during the day before or after nap time)
• The New Children's Museum in Downtown San Diego has been lots of fun!
  
• Quail Botanical Gardens - our personal favorite and the children's garden is getting a make over - CHECK IT OUT!
• Victorias Gardens is where we went to pick strawberries, feed llamas, pigs, chickens and emus - and to ride on a pony!! The photo above is the basket of strawberries that Mary and her Daddy picked while Mommy and Sally fed apples and berries to some horses. They have different size baskets that you can buy and fill up.
  
• The El Cerrito Annual Chili Cook-off - this in in our old neighborhood and we have been going nearly every year - our first family photo was taken last year and our new family photo is this one :

We got Mary to smile by telling her to say "cake". Sally was just not going to smile.
It was Saturday and she only smiles on Sundays.

Here is Jason accepting the 2nd place award for
"Best Vegetarian" Chili.
He made an Indian style chili and we called it
Slumdog Millionaire.

The rest of June will consist of Mary going with her Mimi and Popi Maier to their 2nd home in Genoa, Nevada (this is a link worth checking on since you have probably never heard of this town). They are going to drive from Manhattan Beach next week (about 8-9 hours) and then I am going to fly up on Friday and spend a few days and then fly back with Mary. Jason will be home with Sally.

After Genoa Mary will start her Hopscotch Tues/Thursday Art, Music and Movement class and the last week of June is "Garden Camp" at the La Jolla YMCA!! This will run 9-noon Monday-Friday.

There's Something about Sally

This is her favorite game - Caraboo (from Cranium)

Yep! She is sporting a pony!

Little Miss Sally is getting bigger!!
(well - her attitude is getting bigger, but her little body is still skinny).

She went for her well-baby check up today and got a shot. Her stats are:

Weight 21lbs 3 oz (5th %)
Height 32.5" (50th%)

I swear she eats and has been drinking LOTS of milk lately!!

Happy Memorial Day

We had a great time this weekend with the girls going to BBQ's with friends and spending time with Uncle Nathan. ;)

All is well and the girls are happy and healthy. Sally is starting to talk more and more and we were thrilled when she said "Hi Dad" on Sunday.

We hosted a successful BBQ here at the house and it was so great! I am still shocked that the clean up was so easy and my house does not even look like there were 15 adults and a bunch of little kids running around. :)

I will post photos soon!

Dancing Mary

Here is Miss Mary - this was the first day we got her new tap
shoes and little outfit. In April and May we have been taking "Preschool Dance".
She really likes it and has been learning ballet and tap.

Six Swingers in Sunny San Diego

Here we are at the park on Wed. with our friends from church.
This is the best photo I could get of all 6 of the little kids on the swings.
All of them are ranging from age 9 months - almost 4 years!

Aubrey and Levi are Sally's friends

This is Sally's favorite thing to do at this park

Sally and her first friend Malia - one year later!

Then....

From 2littlethomases

And Now!

From Scripps Aquarium

This is just the cutest thing ever! We all went to the Scripps Aquarium today with the girls and everyone got along so well. It was the first time that Kamaya (Malia's Mommy) and I got to see the girls truly interacting with each other.

Our 2nd big girl - Miss Sally

Here is Sally today with Raimee (our friend from the Bay Area)
and down below from earlier this AM helping Daddy plant some
flowers in our backyard. She was getting dirty and having lots
of fun stomping around in Mary's old froggie boots.

This is a clip of her trying not to fall in the boots that are about 2 sizes too big. My girl has some small feet for her age (comparing her to Mary at 20 months).

Mary's FIRST haircut!

The stylist was a little worried that Mary was not liking the haircut experience
because she had been so quiet and serious looking the whole time.

I told her to smile! Her haircut was really only to even out
hair that had NEVER been cut and was just growing since birth!
She still has her curls on the ends and it actually sprang up a little more with the trim.

HELLO? We're alive! I swear!

Hi -
I recently sent out an "invitation" to you all asking you to type in your name and email address. I think it is confusing and asks you to enter in your "GOOGLE" email. If you dont have one, it should not matter.

For now I am going to make this open again so that you all know we are alive and well. I realized that I have not posted anything since the snow day in February.

Our camera and computer have been giving us trouble too.

I will be sure to update soon with some photos and hopefully some videos!!

Taking the City Slickers to the Snow

Here she is... just getting started and then she falls.
I am laughing while taking this... she was not.

Again.. we JUST got here. We drove 1hour and 15 minutes.
She is not happy.

Jason could not get Mary to go on the sled but one time with him
because she was too cold. Here he is with Sally coming down.

Here we are! I am having fun and Sally is still not.

I had a great time despite my totally inappropriate choice of footwear,
gloves and pants.. I LOVED this! :)

This is up in the Laguna Mtns. You can see Jason's truck parked along the side

Wants to get out of here

20 minutes after we get to the Mtn. we are back in the car.
Clearly they are much happier now.
We are going to try this again when they are older and when
it is not sleeting on us.... :) (or whatever)

Happy Valentines Day!

Here is Mary - so excited to be out on her Valentines Day
yogurt date with Mommy and Daddy

She is figured out that if she hams it up I will take her photo

Sally is sharing with Daddy

This is her always keeping one eye on Mary to make sure
that her yogurt does not get swiped

Our messy gal

Now over to Mommy to eat some of her yogurt...

... but because I am a "big girl" I have to do it myself and take
it from the spoon. Mom better not try to feed me.

The San Diego Beach Bunnies in January - ha, ha

So - while the rest of the nation was freezing during the tail end of January, we went to the airport to pick up Jason (Tokyo) had some dinner and then went on over to La Jolla Shores. It was a little bit cooler during the sunset so we put them in their jackets. Jason thinks that Mary is little Miss San Diego in her fleece and flip flops.

These girls just dont know how good they have it!!




Pretty Mary







Mr. Reliable!

Mr. Thomas goes to Tokyo

Here are some photos of when Jason went to Tokyo in January on a business trip with Huawei. They have an office over there and he met up with some clients from the US.





This is one of MANY strange "Chin-grish" t-shirts that Jason saw over there.





More random t-shirt words... I think that they think that wearing really cool graphic tee's with nonsensical English on it looks cool. Probably how I think that my Gap tank with a Chinese symbol on it (that I dont know what it means) is cool and urban esque.









Jason did get a video of a random Asian dude riding this. Imagine a bull-ride. Maybe it is good for the hips? ;)




10% of the population over in Tokyo was wearing a little mask.



This is wear you poop. No kidding. J did not poop here, but I asked him if he saw any of these after I checked out this link - http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~AD8Y-HYS/movie.htm Click on “next” to learn how to use.







This video is AWESOME and Jason took one with his camera, but the YOUTUBE footage is way more crazy. Check it out. This really happens.

Mary goes skiing for the first time!!!

Jason was able to create these finely crafted skiis for Mary so that she could hit the slopes sometime this winter.




This is some quality piece of work you are looking at here.


If you would like to have Jason make some skiis or snowboards for your family just email us directly and we will put them in an envelope for you. HURRY ACT NOW!!

The Animal Odd Couple - video

I really like this video. If you are having a crummy day or feeling the winter blues - go ahead and watch this! You will smile!

Welcome baby Jack Ryan!

We finally got to meet baby Jack on New Years - he was 19 days old and is a very easy baby! Of course there are some rough nights here and there, but he has already gained 14 oz and grown about 1 1/2 inches! Jen and Chris are elated with him and we think he is pretty cool too :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the 2littlethomases! We wish you a happy and healthy 2009 :)

Silly Sally

Now when we tell her to smile - she gives me the cheesy kid smile. Sometimes it is even more squinty and cheesy (see last photo below for the perfect example)














Likes eating with a spoon now!


Likes eating - PERIOD.

Mama finally got a bluetooth for Christmas.. or so it seemed

YES - I KNOW! Since July 1st of 08 I have been talking on my cell phone, while driving - without a hands-free device. Very illegal here in California. Wah-wah...I tried some, but they either broke or I returned them. I told Jason to get me something for Christmas, and this is what happened.




































I would like to add that there is a happy ending to this story and that the day after Christmas he bought me a Jawbone. The best headset ever. I just love it. Thanks husband!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Baby got a new bag for Christmas


Dad showing Sally how to open a present















We had a great Christmas here today at the house and lots of fun opening presents in the morning! Mary definitely understands Christmas this year, and we suspect that Sally does so more this year too. Anytime a present was brought out to be opened she would get really excited and say "ooh!".

Jason did the traditional "Dad thing" of putting the play kitchen together in the garage after the girls went to bed on Christmas eve and then bringing it in for them to find in the morning. They went nuts!

What are the Thomases doing for Festivus this year?

Christmas celebrations began early this year with a visit from Mimi and Popi (my Dad and step-Mom Sandy) on Saturday. The girls had lots of fun visiting with them and opening their gifts. That night we had a nice home-cooked meal... because going to a restaurant at this point in our little girl's lives is just not going to happen!

So far we have been sick for Thanksgiving and now we are on the mend for Christmas. Sally got her first ever ear infection (Mary has never had one so this was a shock to me) and is on antibiotics right now. Mary is slowly getting over her cough and cold. I am doing all I can to not get sick and have persevered by going to the gym and making my best attempt at working out with my trainer at 7:30AM. As you may or may not know - I hate the gym and really dont like working out. ( I am mainly at the gym super early b/c I am refusing to take the girls to the playcare center there anymore b/c we realized that it is "Germ Fest 2008" and they always, always get super sick. Yuck.

My Mom (Nana Sunshine is her name to the girls) is coming down Christmas Eve and staying until Christmas evening. We are doing a Christmas/Birthday dinner here at the house. My Mom has a December birthday, hence the combined festivity.
Christmas day Jason and I have a date planned to go see a movie and perhaps hit up a Chinese restaurant or our local Elijah's for a bite to eat. Ha, ha.

Finally - I am REALLY looking forward to the day after Christmas when I will get to meet baby Jack Ryan! Jennifer Waier-Forwood gave birth on December 13th to a healthy and adorable baby boy - she is very excited and although Mary is bummed that he is a boy, she is happy that Jen has a new baby.

Merry Christmas to everyone and stay tuned for some photos of the girls opening their gifts!

Christmas Card photo shoot in Coronado (Monday)

Here we are in Coronado this past Monday taking our annual Christmas card photo. The weather was great, but the sun was setting so fast that we had a difficult time with the lighting. All in all, we had fun and the photographer took some nice photos of our silly family.


















We really liked this one - except that it was just too squinty of us. Beautiful color though.

Happy 15 months to Sally

We went to the doctor today for our 15 month check up and shots and all is well. Here are her stats and what percentile she is:

Weight --------18 lbs, 13 oz 3%
Height --------30 3/4 " 55 %
Head ----------17 1/2 " 15%

skinny and long with a smallish head - we think she is cute ;)

We HEART The Goulds - We miss you Adam and Raimee!

We so lovingly tease that the only good thing to come out of our life in the East Bay was meeting The Goulds and all of our other friends up there...



Sally had a blast reuniting with Adam and Raimee!

Sunshine Smiles Sally

On this first one she is not quite smiley and happy, but I came into the office to find her in this book box. She is a serious little climber!


Pretty purple girl


See - she smiles about 10% of the time. Ha! The other times are reserved for her look of "Blue Steel"

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at the Rowe's home in Palos Verdes, CA. They live close to my Dad and Step Mom in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

After dinner we had a great time with Sing Star and the girls got their groove on. Jason and I actually did some rocking out too.






This happy photo of the girls should make it onto the family Christmas card...


"Mimi" and Mary





Here we are teaching Mary how to point her finger in the air and work the crowd someday when she becomes famous!

Head Over Heels - Literal Video Version - Classic 80s

OK - so this has nothing to do with ANYTHING related to our little children. However - it is so funny. It is the literal version of the 80s music video. There are a couple other ones on YOUTUBE. This one cracks me up.

Girls Gone Wild

Now that the Sheriff is back in town, things are more normal and vacuumed around here. I had a great time in Henderson, NV visiting with my cousin Melissa. She has a monogramming business CHECK IT OUT HERE

Lots of things got monogrammed this weekend including these cute little jackets that were found at Costco and then personalized! The girls just love them!

Tra le celebrità catturate dai paparazzi

Because of her celebrity status and cameras following her everywhere this was inevitable. This weekend I (Jason) was alone with the girls at home letting them pretty much do whatever they wanted. Sally was playing in the backyard and had mulch and rocks for dinner and Mary watched a Care Bear video marathon for about 5 hours straight while eating all of her halloween candy. I got a lot done while they were each doing their thing. Clifford was mad that he didn't get walked so he chewed up another one of Mary's dolls. Isn't that sad? Below is more photographic evidence that mommy should never leave daddy alone with the kids for the weekend.

Sally wasn't upset all day at least - but this is right after the camera was assaulted by Mary

Sally really was eating the mulch. I guess you could say she had a "Mulch Mustache"

Blurry tears

Mary has become quite the computer wizard. She clicks around pretty well and can pick and choose which YouTube video she wants to watch

Care Bears at lunch

But seriously we did enjoy the end of the day today with a visit to La Jolla shores beach playground. Mary and Sally both got to ride the swings for a long time while watching the waves crash and the sun set. Then we ate PB&J's and BBQ chips and took a walk/stroller ride on the beach. It was very romantic.

Hallopalooza Celebration

Jason and Strawberry Sally at CVCF's Hallopalooza (3rd Annual Halloween Carnival)



Mary is hiding behind Jason. She still doesnt like to have her photo taken.


(More photos will be added later. My camera battery died and we borrowed our friend's camera to take additional photos of the girls)

Halloween Photos of Mary and Sally!

Yes... yes... OK. I got it now. She is a walker

OK - so after posting the video and folks telling me that Sally should be considered a "walker" (even though the videos did not do justice to her amazing talent - just kidding) - I have come to accept her new found ability to walk and will consider her an excellent walking walker that walks upright in a great walking kind of walker way.

kind of cool family idea

Goldberg family, who every June 17th, sit for a photograph to, in their words, "stop, for a fleeting moment, the arrow of time passing by." They've been at it for over thirty years now...

You can see their entire collection (from 1976-2007) here http://www.zonezero.com/magazine/essays/diegotime/time.html

Sally Walking - Mary Talking

Ok - I really dont consider her "walking". She takes steps. On this video she is mostly cruising and taking a few steps... but if this is considered "walking" I thought I ought to capture it on video. Then the video basically turns into the Mary show. At least Sally is showing off her goofy grin and her other talents (waving). :)

Is she walking yet????

Almost! She sure likes to stand up in the middle of the room and squat back down and then pop up again. She has officially take a full step, and the later today took 2 more. Stay tuned for the big announcement of when she finally starts to walk.... whenever that is!

Messy eater

Spinach and ricotta ravioli - Trader Joes!




She really likes marinara sauce. It is how I can get her to eat some other stuff like veggies too.

Quail Botanical Gardens, Encinitas, CA - Family Day

We decided to do a family day on Sunday at the Botanical Gardens in Encintas





We had a great time exploring the fruit trees, tropical gardens, children's garden, and found our own private little picnic area.
























































guava - Sally and Mary loved it.








































Here is some really cool garden art.

Princess Mary Thomas

Pretty little Mary likes to dress up (ALL THE TIME) in her Princess gear. Yeah - it has definitely gotten old and makes us a little crazy, but I am pretty sure this is only a phase. She does look really cute.

What about Clifford?

We are just consumed with our little girls, but now we are going to share an old puppy video with you. This is the first day we brought him home. He was super spunky and cute and loving our back yard. It's a little shaky and all, but this was 5 years ago and we had never really taken videos much then!

Dress Up Time

She really does smile, I swear! She is just my serious little pumpkin!

Funny pinky girl!














I actually threw these shoes away. Jason saw Mary in them walking around and thought she looked a little too hoochie mama-esque. I agree. I dont need any hoochies in the house.

Then and Now

Sally VIDEO!

Little Sally playing with her ball and just being cute. Clifford thinks it is his ball. She is also such a blankie girl (AKA "nigh-nigh")

Cake Smashing Photos of Sally on her 1st birthday!

This was the cake for the guests. We did a Pink Poodle theme for her!


Happy Mommy and Daddy!


Oooo Lah Lah!









You can always count on Mary to help you eat your cake




Clean up time! On our way to get the cake out of her hair :)

Sally's 1st Birthday Party photos - from Saturday August 23rd

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY to Sally!

Today is August 21st and it is Sally's very first birthday! We are not really celebrating until the weekend with friends and family but, stay tuned for the photos and video posts early next week.

Both Jason and I were so excited when we woke up this morning before the girls and reminisced about August 20th of last year- Monday.

I had gone to the OB earlier that morning around 10am and had begged to be induced. I was seriously over being pregnant and was not about to be pregnant one day longer.

All day on Monday I was in pain and thought I was having contractions, but as I would move around and go upstairs and continue about my day - they subsided. According to my online studies if they go away with movement and are not regular they are probably Braxton and if they were real you could not walk through them.
They got stronger as the day progressed, but I was pretty busy that day having ice cream with Danielle Fadelli and her son Julian and then the babysitter was coming so that we could go to dinner with our "Young Marrieds" group at Skips. It was during dinner that I had some contractions but was still to shy to admit to it and thought maybe I was just crying wolf as they were 30 minutes apart at this point.

We got home around 9pm. I jumped in the tub and started timing the contractions which were totally all over the place. 5 minutes, 8 minutes, 20 minutes... back to 12 minutes.

Thankfully Adam and Raimee came over to stay the night with Mary and we were off to the hospital to have my OB check me out. Here I am asking to be buzzed in!


We got there around 10:45pm and were checked in by 11 ish. I was measuring at 6! Long story SUPER SHORT. Next thing I knew they were breaking my water and giving me an IV and I was BEGGING for the epidural.



NO JOKE - I am dying at this point, the anesthesiologist comes in and as I sit up I go from 7-10 and start wanting to push. She clicks the thing 2x and then leaves and the OB comes rushing back in telling me to just wait.

2 pushes later out pops little Miss Sally at 12:55am on Tuesday August 21st!

Then about 20 minutes later the epidural kicks in.





I am so happy that we have little Sally around and that the 2littlethomases get along so well. Mary loves having a little baby in the house and told me that she wants
more. ............ that is so not happening anytime soon.

Mary can write a couple of letters!

She was making "L's" and then I asked her to make an "A" and she did. I am so amazed.

I dont even know if this is normal or really super cool! Hooray! I am bragging.

Fun with the cousins in Temecula

Last weekend we went up to Temecula to visit with Michael (Jason's cousin) and his wife Lisa and their two daughters Juliette (9) and Sophia (6).

Jason Davis and his family visit San Diego

Meant to put these up a while ago. The Davis family rented a beach house here in San Diego and we had dinner with them and Mary had a blast meeting Kelsey (Joe and Sharon's granddaughter) who is 3 also.

Jason went to school with Jason Davis and they are all originally from Indiana.

DORCS

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Mary and Sally getting silly before bedtime!

Mary and Sally playing peek-a-boo before bedtime. I wish that I had caught this well before, but we were both so busy watching and laughing at them and finally Jason told me to grab the camera. He was my lighting crew.

Painting outside and then clean up time!

Mary and Sally meet some new boys - Caedon and Cole

The photos below are of Caedon and Cole Moss - Missi's boys! I had not seen my friend Missi since Jan 07! I have known her since 8th grade and we have always been in contact since.



Sorry Dad - all they had were GIRL bibs at the Thomas' house. This is Baby Cole - he is 7 months


Mary being coy with Caedon. They are 3 weeks apart!






Sally loves the swing at the park and loves her new shoes too!

Did you hear the latest about Sally?

Sally says "Hi" on video

Hopefully you can see this? I am learning how to upload stuff to You Tube and then embed it here on the blogspot.com. If it doesnt work I will take it down and try again later.

Our future Family Christmas Card photo

Here we are at the beautiful Mission Bay in San Diego getting ready for a nice family photo. We forgot our blue jeans, bare feet and perfectly ironed white shirts, but we did not forget the true family spirit and joy behind the smiles.
Why is the photo crooked? It is not, the bay is.

Click on the photos to view them LARGER


Merry Christmas from the Thomas Family. Wishing you and yours a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!


Not our best shot, but seriously the only one where we are all looking (are we all looking??) and not crying.


This is our 2nd choice. We just want to highlight the semi-clean-and-not-too-skinky- that-day-bay and Sally's hair


This is a good shot of my eye lids, Mary's arm pits, Sally's reddish hair and Jason's "perma smile". Scroll up and down and notice it is the same in all photos.


Here is Sally's blankie covering the blood spots from an earlier accident when her one
tooth hit her lip and bled everywhere. Notice Mary's hands

Sally crawling - lets see if this works (now it is 4 weeks old)

Zoo with Logan and Emma - Anitra's kids (from Maui)

We had so much fun spending time with Logan (4) and Emma (1) at the San Diego Zoo last week. I had not seen Anitra since our Maui trip in 2006 and it was so much fun for us to meet each of the newest additions!

Mary turns 3 - on July 1st- and enjoys a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Thomas

Mary had a blast celebrating with cupcakes, Grandma and Grandpa and getting new bike!

Our future friend - due to arrive July 20th

This is Ryan and Lisa Sims. They are due to have their first child, a boy, on July 20th. The name is still unknown, but we are excited to meet little baby Sims soon!

Swimming in San Diego with Mommy

Worried Grandparents - there were adults surrounding the children at all times both in the pool and at the water's edge.

I just put my foot in my mouth

Literally - here I am with my foot in my mouth






I am a total thumb sucker and because Mary is a blankie girl I am one too.

Baby Mary 2005

CLICK ON THE PHOTO



This is a link from 2005 of Mary. Before we ever started blogging we had these photos up.

I cannot believe she was ever that little!

Whats Mary up to these days???

Mary has been doing quite well thanks for asking....
Jason has been out of town A LOT and will be traveling most of June. We are staying busy at the Birch Aquarium with our friends and going for walks and touring up San Diego.

The busy body had a jam packed weekend that started with picking up Daddy from the airport on Friday and jetting over to the zoo for a little dinner picnic (yes - we did chase another peacock around, but no video or photos this time). Saturday we went to the 5th Annual El Cerrito Chili Cook-off at Rob's house. There were about 10 young kids there and Mary was having a blast running around and eating the shredded cheese (long story).


Today we got up and decided to head over to the Wild Animal Park and check out the Heart of Africa. The Park has changed SO much over the past 2 years - we were actually quite disappointed with the short little bus ride. They got rid of the monorail that goes around most of the park so that you can see all of Asia and Africa. Now it is just a small part of the Africa - ONLY. The alleged future enhancements are still a year off according to the Park employees.

All in all we had a great weekend and Jason will be around until Tuesday when he heads out to Spokane, Washington this week. Next week he is gone M-F in Walnut Creek. Ironic?

Since I am a single Mom for most of June... please feel free to invite me over for dinner. HA.
(no, really)

;)
xoxo

Sally - Happy 9 Months little lady!

And we do mean little - our little lady weighs in at 15 lbs. 14 oz. Here are her stats:

Weight - 5th percentile
Height - 29" 90% percentile

We make 'em long and lean.....

The doctors are not concerned about her weight. They never even bat an eyelash at me over it! I think with childhood obesity on the rise they are just happy that she is not too big (they tell me: "she wont struggle with her weight").

What is really funny is that Jason is super stoked that she is the 90%th percentile on the height. He just cant get over his tall gal. :)

BIG ANNOUCEMENT DAY!!!

WOW! More great news! The 2littlethomsaes Auntie Monica is engaged to the love of her life! She is engaged to Michael Shirman and will be planning a wedding for sometime in 2009. Congratulations to Monica! I have known Monica since 1998 in our Banana Republic days and she was in my wedding and has been with me through so many exciting life changes. I pray that she enjoys the wonderful union of marriage as much as we do and that she is blessed with a wonderful family of her own someday soon.... and that she will have her own blogspot with baby photos~~~ xoxo