Thompson Number Two: Week 20

Weight gained to date: 3 lbs 

Estimated size of baby:  Mango (6.5 inches long, 10 ounces)

Foods I am craving: Chinese food!  Sweet and sour chicken is my best friend these days!

How I am feeling: Getting anxious! I can't believe that this is the HALFWAY point! In 20 weeks baby Flubber will be here!  Also, I am ready to relax after the busy holiday season.  The week of Christmas it seemed like I couldn't get my headache to go away which was frustrating, so I am hoping that I will be able to just relax. 

Notes: Baby Thompson is a BOY!  If you didn't see this post, check it out! We surprised our parents on Christmas with the sex of the baby! 

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To see more baby updates click here! 

Week 8- Week 9- Week 11- Week 12 

Week 13- Week 14- Week 15- Week 16- Week 17- Week 18- Week 19

Let's talk about sex baby.... err the sex of the baby!

Yes! It is that time y'all! We know what the sex of Baby Flubber is, but before the big announcement... I wanted to use my "platform" to go over something... 

A lot of people (both with Everett and with Flubber) have asked me what the gender of the baby is and I usually respond with something along the lines of "the SEX of the baby is..."  and it has occurred to me that most people don't know that there is a difference between gender and sex.  

Gender:  noun

• the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex

Sex:  noun

• either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as male or female

Here's a little further explanation from Medical News Today: 

"The words sex and gender are commonly used interchangeably, but many linguists would argue that their usage is quite distinct. Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics, while gender refers to behaviors, roles, expectations, and activities in society. Sex refers to male or female, while gender refers to masculine or feminine.  Another way of putting it is: Sex refers to a natural or biological feature. 

Gender refers to cultural or learned significance of sex."

Okay now moving on from the educational lesson to what we you have all been waiting on... the big announcement!  Tyler and I found out the sex of the baby last Wednesday, but we wanted to tell our family in a special and fun way so we waited until we saw everyone for Christmas.  I wrapped up a box, put a few balloons in the box along with an ultrasound picture of Baby Flubber's parts (if you know what I mean) in it and had everyone open it.  Oh yeah, and I caught it all on video!

Check out the videos of the reveal! 

So, Baby Flubber is a BOY! Can you believe it? We will have two boys both born in the month of May! Tyler and I are very excited for Everett to be a big brother and have a little brother and hope that they are going to be the best of friends! 

Has anyone else surprised their family or friends with the sex of their baby?  It was fun for Tyler and I to have a secret to share but I am glad that "the cat is out of the bag" now because it is so hard to not slip up and say "he!"  

Thompson Family Christmas Letter 2012

Merry Christmas to all! We hope you and your families are in good health and great spirits! The Thompson household has had all sorts of fun and excitement this year and we can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Tyler and I purchased our first house for our growing family in September of this year. We have put a lot of work into making it ours and of course had a lot of help along the way! In November, Tyler and I hosted an Open House where we invited family and friends over to check out our new place. It was great to be able to have everyone over and spend time with friendly faces.

Tyler has been working the same company for over a year now and he continues to enjoy the work that he is doing. He did have to travel quite a bit this summer and Everett and I were able to accompany him a few times. It was great to be able to have some family time together during the busy summer. Tyler has been keeping busy around the new house with mowing the grass (Everett loves the tractor) and crossing things off the “Honey Do” list.

Everett is busy growing and learning! We have been signing with him since birth and that has really helped him with being able to communicate what he wants and needs. Now he is adding speech into the mix and he amazes me every day as his vocabulary is really starting to take off. Everett loves to play and explore, but when his favorite show “Dinosaur Train” on PBS comes on he stops everything! He is becoming more independent by the day and likes to see what he can do by himself. Everett loves to hang out with daddy and imitate everything that he does! Tyler and I love that little boy and enjoy spending every minute we can with him! 

Aunt Rebecca made Everett an Elf! :)

I have been keeping busy this year with Everett (he’s been mobile since February) as well as a few of his friends as I have started watching a few kiddos from home. I am very blessed to be able to not only stay home with Everett every day but also to be able to watch a few (very well behaved) toddlers as well. Everett loves having his friends over to play and is learning so much from them. I am also lucky that I am able to continue to work part-time from home for my dad’s company. It is great to get to see what my dad does every day and to be able to be a part of that.

The biggest news for the Thompson Family this year is that we are expecting our second baby in May! Yes, another May baby is headed our way! We are overjoyed and are looking forward to meeting our new little one and giving Everett a little brother or sister. For more baby updates, be sure to check out my blog! 

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2013!

Much love to you all,

Tyler, Laura, Everett, and Baby "Flubber"

Thompson Number Two: Week 19

Weight gained to date: 1 lb 

Estimated size of baby:  Mango (6 inches long, .5 lbs)

Foods I am craving: I am eating EVERYTHING! 

How I am feeling: Feeling good this week! Still battling my headaches most days but Everett knows how to keep me smiling! 

Notes: Baby Thompson is still kicking away in there! I had a regular check up this past week and his/her heart beat is still strong a steady! Any guesses on the sex of the baby?  Here is how I stack up against a few "wives tales"...

Carrying High: Girl
Heartbeat: Girl
Craving Salty/Sour: Boy
Chinese Calendar: Boy 
Mayan Legend: Boy  
(Note: We know how good they are at predicting things... haha) 
Key Test: Girl
Complexion: Girl
Morning Sickness: Girl

For now, it looks like I am pregnant with a little girl! But we all know how accurate those old wives tales are! We will find out soon as we have an ultrasound scheduled to find out the sex (and make sure everything else is good with the baby!) 

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To see more baby updates click here! 

Week 8- Week 9- Week 11- Week 12 

Week 13- Week 14- Week 15- Week 16- Week 17- Week 18

Letters to Everett: 12/22/12

LOVE that hair!

Sweet boy,

Today you are 19 months old! You are really talking up a storm now that we are restricting the time that you can have your paci to only when you are sleeping/in bed and when you are in the car. You are starting to learn new words almost daily and it is almost getting too hard to keep track of them all!

You are loving having playtime three days a week with your friends that come over for daycare.  I love being able to stay home with you and being able to spend every second I can with you.  You are getting more and more independent and can do so many things with out help from me or daddy. 

You really love bath time and especially being able to splash around.  I think that you ask to take a bath almost every time we walk past the bathtub! :)  You also love to eat anything sweet, you really love to ask for cookies! Almost anytime we put you in the highchair you ask for a cookie- we blame this on Pig Paw.  This past month you have started to become more picky which frustrates me a little because I never know what to feed you!  We will get through it though! 

We are still nursing but only a few times a day now; usually when you wake up in the morning, before nap time, and before bed time.  You don't seem ready to stop yet and that is fine with me! I think that we will probably still be nursing when your little brother or sister comes but that is okay too. :)  

Here's what you've been up to this month: 

12/02/12: Said "ok-ey" for hockey, said goal

12/10/12: Said bye bye

12/16/12: Said "ki-ki" for kitty

12/18/12: Said "tar" for guitar

12/20/12: Pointed to Elmo and said "Elmo"

Words you Say: 

Daa-da (Daddy), Dog, Mommmma, Kaa (Becca), Tyler, Rara (Laura), Hi, This, Yay, Go, Mine, No, Pa pa (Pig Paw and Paw Paw), Dumb, Got it, Did it, Mowg (Mowgli), Uh oh!, Eat, Wa-wa (Water), Bat (Bath), Pass-ey (Paci), Poop, Woo-woo, Ok-ey (hockey), Goal, Bye bye, Ki-ki (Kitty), Tar (Guitar), Elmo, Ceek-key (Cookie) 

Signs you Sign: 

All done, Arms up, Dog, Fan, More, Please, Thank you, Nurse, Eat, Hi/Bye

Momma and daddy love you to the moon and all the way back! 

xoxoxox,

Momma

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For more Letters to Everett, click here! 

Holiday Traditions

What are some of your families favorite holiday traditions?  Do you enjoy going to the mall to visit Santa?  Lighting the menorah together as a family?  Going to see a movie on Christmas day?  I have compiled some of my readers favorite traditions to share with you!  Here are a few of my favorite traditions...

Everett with Santa

• You may have read in my Currently post on Wednesday that one of my favorite Christmas traditions is listening to the Mickey Mouse Twelve Days of Christmas CD and hanging the ornaments on the tree!
• Our annual gingerbread house building contest is always a fun activity for everyone in my family.  We split up into teams and have a set time limit on how long we can build and how much can be made in advance.  Tyler and I's gingerbread creation is going to win this year... I can feel it! 
• My favorite tradition that we had when we were younger was going to my grandmother and poppa's house on Christmas eve and waiting for Santa to come and bring us presents.  Santa would hand deliver presents to my brother, sister, I before he set out on his trip around the world.  

• Diana from Elements of DM says...

• "On Christmas eve we have this huge party at my parents house with at least 25 people, and there is food, drinks, music, and at midnight a prayer hugs and kisses for the Lord has been born.  Even as small children it was exciting because it was the one day a year we were allowed to stay up all night! The next morning once we're all up we'd watch Christmas Vacation, you know the one with Chevy Chase! Presents have never been a huge deal but we'd open those as well eventually!"

Chaunie's daughter Mya, and her gingerbread house

• Chaunie from Tiny Blue Lines says...

• "My favorite is making the graham cracker "gingerbread" houses with my kids. I glue crackers together with cream cheese frosting and decorate it with candy! Always fun, plus I get to eat them."

• Kelli from To Teach What is Good says...

• "One tradition that we have always done since I was a kid and my husband and daughter and I do now is Christmas Eve gifts. We always open one gift on Christmas Eve and we always know what it's going to be. It's Christmas Pajamas! Every year we pick out which pajamas we'd like and then I buy them and wrap them up for everyone. So far, we've never done matching Pajamas, but now as my daughter is getting older, I'm really leaning towards matching family PJs!"

• Jessica A. from Come What May says...

• "Peruvian tradition: dinner really late at night (like 10), then you stay up until 12 midnight to drink hot chocolate and "paneton" (like fruit cake but 100x better). Then we open presents. So most of the celebrating is done the 24th at night."

Jackie's son Kasen making Christmas cookies

• Raeann (yes, that's my mom) says... 

• "Christmas breakfast, going to the plays, time with family."

• Jackie says...

• "We always open one gift Christmas Eve and we get a new ornament every year too!  Kasen will pick his own when he is old enough so I picked his first two." 

• Starr Nicole  says...

• "We have two traditions in our family.. The first is every year the family sits down and makes an ornament to put on the tree. Then our second tradition it to wear Christmas pjs and watch Christmas movies for 25 days of Christmas and whatever we watch we make a food to go with it.. Examples: for The Grinch Who Stole Christmas we drank Grinch floats and ate Grinch popcorn, for Elf we drank hot cocoa and ate maple cookies, for Frosty the Snowman we drank snow shakes and ate frosty bits... Super fun and yummy snacks."

• Jessica V. says...

• "We do the one gift Christmas Eve night too. We also make Santa special cookies just for him with his name on them and leave egg nog instead of milk. Then Christmas morning we always have orange cinnamon rolls for breakfast."

• Amie from Casa Campbell says...

• "I always make cupcakes.  After all, it is a birthday party!"

Teresa's beautiful Christmas Tree

• Teresa (my mother in law) says... 

• "When Tyler and Jordan were little, we would dress in our pajama's on Christmas Eve and ride around and look at Christmas lights. Now WE (whoever is home-not visiting other family members), go to the movies Christmas night."

• Sarah says...

• "We have two traditions. All gifts from family are opened on Christmas Eve (Santa only on Christmas morning -- and he gets things for grownups too). On Christmas day, after the gifts, we go see a movie and then go eat Chinese food (a Jewish tradition, but we started following it about 10 years ago even though we aren't Jewish. Then again, we aren't Christian either and we celebrate Christmas, so...)"

• Brittany C. says...

• "We make our own stockings on Christmas Eve. The kids love that. We also read the Cajun Night Before Christmas."

• Laurie says...

• "Here's a few from my childhood and some from Nickand I as a couple: leave cookies & eggnog for Santa & carrots for the reindeer, open gifts in stockings before parents wake up but nothing that's under the tree til everyone is awake, visit national tree the night of Christmas eve, if we go out whether to eat, get gas, last minute store run or movies etc we always buy something for whoever helps us (i.e. gift card for cashier, big tip for waiter/waitress, candy from snack bar) that goes for any major holiday. "

• Brittany P. says...

• "As a child, my mother would give us Christmas pjs and one ornament on Christmas Eve. And right before we would go to bed we would read the story of the candy cane. This is definitely one tradition I do with Jackson. Since Josh and I have been together (dating, engaged and married), we have gone to see the national Christmas tree. We actually got engaged during one of our visits. We now do that with Jack every year."

• Judy (my wonderful aunt) says...

• "We read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas eve and drink Christmas milk (egg nog). Christmas morning after the presents are opened we have a special breakfast of little smokies, cheese fondue, homemade breads (banana,zucchini, pumpkin, etc), mixed fruit, and grapple juice (1/2 grape, 1/2 apple)."

• Jeanette (another of my wonderful aunts) says... 

• "When Keith and Bruce were small we used to fill their stocking and put it on their bed after they were sleeping. They knew they could look and play with the things in their stocking whenever they woke up but had to wait for Pete and I before they could go to the tree and see what Santa brought. One of our other traditions was to have a Whitman's Sampler under the tree which we opened as we were unwrapping gifts--chocolates before breakfast!! We still have a Whitman's Sampler every year."

• Lisa (you might remember her from this post) says...

• "My favorite is the breakfast my dad makes every year- cinnamon rolls and orange rolls, the kind from the pop open can:) Every year as long as I remember- My parents now sleep over my house every Christmas eve because I don't want to wake up Christmas morning without them." 

• Asher (Lisa's 10 year old son) says...

• "Presents, watching charlie brown's Christmas, putting up the pickle ornament, and being with my family and Christmas eve PJs."

• Bonnie (my cool grandma) says...

Kelli's son Jackson by the Christmas Tree

• "It makes me happy to see all of my Son's wives continuing with the holiday brunch I started with my family many years ago. It is so wonderful to see them add their own ideas and treats to the menu."

• Kelli says...

• "We bake goodies on Christmas eve and open a gift and watch Polar Express. I told JR that I wanna start making Christmas tree shaped pancakes in the morning."

• Janice (another one of my wonderful aunts) says... 

• "I make chocolate chip waffles Christmas morning. Yum. They used to be in the shape of Mickey mouse. I wonder what happened to that? Also, one gift Christmas eve. We get a new ornament every year.  Everywhere we visit that is new, we look for ornaments and find them even in May and June.  San Francisco, Hawaii, Portland, Toronto, Vegas Baby... and so on... even every year we visit mom at the beach."

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about everyone's holiday traditions, maybe it will inspire you to start a few more of your own! 

Currently: 12/19/12

Reading: I am currently reading A Heart Like His by Beth Moore.  This book is all about King David and his love for God.  This is the first Beth Moore book that I have read and I am really enjoying it so far.  

Photo found here

"A Heart Like His looks at the bond of mutual love and admiration between a man who was not unlike any of us and the one true God who is all good and all powerful. Beth Moore walks us through an exploration of David's incredible life, drawing spiritual insights from a man who boldly fulfilled his divine destiny not merely by what he did, but who he loved and served. Bringing lessons from David's life to bear on your own, this picture of a man who loved and followed God will help you to serve with a heart focused on Him no matter the circumstance."

Praying About: After the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy I have really been thinking about the future of our family and the way that we will continue to grow.  It is so sad and disappointing to me that we live in a world that is full of so much hatred and vile and I can't imagine bringing more children into this world.  I know that sounds sad and depressing and  I am SO so thankful for Everett and baby "Flubber" that is on the way but I do not want to purposefully bring another child into this world after baby Flubber is born.   Tyler and I do plan on bringing more children into our family through foster care and adoption.  There are SO many kids that are already in this world who don't have the love and support that they deserve and we are really hoping that we can help to bring some love and kindness into the world. 

Looking Forward To:  Meeting baby Flubber! I can't believe that I am already 18 weeks into this pregnancy!  This is really, seriously going by so fast and I feel like I have so much "work" to do before s/he makes his/her appearance!  I have been working with the Thompson Tot's kiddos lately with using our manners, not climbing on the furniture, listening, etc in order to have them more prepared when the baby comes.  I want to work with Everett a little more on using our "inside voice" and gentle hands.  

I can't wait to hold this baby and get to know him/her.  I know that Everett is going to be a great big brother and I am quite excited to see their bond grow.  For more baby updates, click here! 

Listening To: The Twelve Days of Christmas CD by Mickey Mouse and friends! Sorry for the crappy quality picture, apparently it is an almost non-existent CD these days.  I guess CD's are on the way out!  One of my favorite Christmas traditions is listening to this CD and hanging the ornaments on the tree!  For more fun traditions come back on Friday and check out my post! 

Photo found here

Planning On:  So in order to reach a goal you have to set a goal, right? So here it is, I am planning on breaking my soda addiction on January 1st!  I did this last year and I actually kept it up for a few months! I have been consuming soda on an almost daily basis due to the headaches that I have been having but I am ready to give them up because I know they are terrible for you!  So I am going to indulge these next few weeks and then I'm kicking my soda habit to the curb! Hold me to it guys! 

Anticipating: Getting to celebrate Christmas with my sweet baby Everett.  We are spending Christmas Eve with Tyler's dad, step-mom, and their families; Christmas morning and dinner will be spent with my family; and the day after Christmas we will be spending with Tyler's mom, step-dad, and their family.  It is fun being a mom during Christmas because everyone tells you what they got for your kid!  I know that Everett is going to be beyond excited when he sees his family and his presents.  We want Christmas to be more about giving then getting but since he is so little we haven't quite figured out how to get that message across. Thoughts anyone?

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For more Currently posts, click here!  Thanks again to Danielle for the original inspiration for these posts!

Thompson Number Two: Week 18

Weight gained to date: As of last Wednesday I was back down to my starting weight.  

Estimated size of baby: Sweet Potato (5.5 inches long, 5 ounces)

Foods I am craving: I am eating EVERYTHING! 

How I am feeling: Feeling good this week.  I am happy that the "zombie virus" has not made any more appearances at our house and I am hoping it stays that way! 

Notes: I felt the baby move/kick for the first time this past week! I totally forgot how cool and weird it is to feel that feeling.  I am sure once the baby really starts kicking there will be times I wish s/he would stop, but for now I am enjoying it! 

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To see more baby updates click here! 

Week Eight- Week Nine- Week Eleven- Week Twelve- 

Week Thirteen- Week Fourteen- Week Fifteen- Week Sixteen- Week Seventeen

Around the Nest: Christmas Time at the Thompson's House

Welcome to our Christmas wonderland here at Casa de Thompson!  To be honest, it has been "Christmas" over here since the day after Thanksgiving.  I couldn't wait to get the decorations out and get our house and us in the holiday mood! So here is a little preview of what our house is looking like these days! 

And the stockings were hung by the chimney wood stove with care...

The Santa in the lower right hand section is Tyler's from when he was a kid! 

Even the cut out got a little holiday sprucing! 

This is a hard area to photograph because of all the natural light- it is right when you walk in the front door. 

Bernard, the elf guards our front table! 

Naked tree!

All dolled up! 

So there you have it! Come back this week and read about a few of my favorite Christmas traditions! Do you have any favorite traditions? I would love to share some here on the blog! 

Pinterest Recipe... Caprese Dip Fail!

While perusing around Pinterest the other day I saw (what I thought was) the coolest idea for a caprese dip.  Basically, you take all the ingredients for caprese salad, chop them up, put them in an oven safe dish, and heat them in the oven until the cheese melts. Sounds easy and delish right?

So here is what the concoction looked liked prior to putting it in the oven... I was really excited about this! I put it in a 350 degree oven and checked on it and stirred it every five to seven minutes.  The one thing that I was really surprised about was all of the extra liquid that appeared as it was cooking.  I had to drain it two or more times as the liquid wouldn't stir in. Weird. 

Here's what it looked like after it was all melted and combined.  Now this wouldn't be a complete fail if you were able to consume all of the dip in about two minutes.. otherwise it gets HARD.  Like, I could have sliced it and put it on the bread slices. Grrrr so frustrating.  It still tasted delicious however I really was hoping for that nice ooey gooey dip that I was promised! :)  

I have been brainstorming about this and I think that the only way to keep that consistency would be to keep it continually heated, maybe in a crock pot or on the stove top on low- then you run into the possibility of the cheese burning.  Have any of you tried this? 

Thompson Number Two: Week 17

Weight gained to date: 1 lb.  My doctor said that I could gain 1lb per week from here out! I am hoping that I don't gain that much, but we will see! 

Estimated size of baby: Turnip (5 inches long, 5 ounces)

Foods I am craving: I keep going back and forth from craving sweets to craving salty food! I am pretty much open to everything, well except for the things that I don't like! :) 

Foods I am staying away from:  Still able to eat everything!  

How I am feeling: Sheesh! Well I apparently caught the "zombie virus" from someone (I wish I knew who) and was up throwing up all Monday night and most of Tuesday! I made a visit to Patient First and got two bags of fluid as a precaution because I did not want to visit the land of dehydration again!  Luckily, it only lasted 24 hours.. unluckily I have passed it on to NINE different people!  I am happy to report that the Thompson's are all back to normal as well as are all the kiddos over here at Thompson's Tots! 

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To see more baby updates click here! 

Week Eight- Week Nine- Week Eleven- Week Twelve- 

Week Thirteen- Week Fourteen- Week Fifteen- Week Sixteen