A Very Happy Christmas!

It was a very happy Christmas for all at our house! Riley woke-up and asked "Did Santa come? LOOK, presents under the tree! LOOK, the cookies and milk are gone! Santa did come!!" He was so very excited. Then, 25 minutes later ALL the presents were opened and the living room was covered in clothes, toys wrapping paper, cardboard ... it was great! It really goes by fast with a 4 year old. Open, next, open, next, open, next. But so much fun!He was just so amazed that Santa got him toys that he didn't even ask for. Too cute!

Just woke-up and ready to open.

He got lots and lots of Star Wars guys.

Victoria caught on pretty quick on the opening presents.

She loved everything that morning.

Victoria playing with Riley's remote control truck.

Playing pool at Pops and Gigi's house on Christmas night.

Riley is very excited about Daddy's new saw.

Riley and Victoria posing in front of Gigi's tree.

Oh and yes, we did FINALLY find a Wii two days after Christmas. Very exciting night in the Thompson house! Here are the two kids boxing (Riley beats Carey at boxing and bowling EVERY time)!

CAREY GOT A JOB!!

Hallelujah!! Praise God!! Carey got a job!! Carey received a job offer from a firm in Richardson. The firm's intention was to hire a licensed attorney for the entry level position and Carey won't be licensed until he passes the bar (which he takes in February). But the firm liked Carey so much, that they decided to hire him also. Too cool! He has an office and everything! They are very nice people and are looking so forward to having him work there. They specialize in social security law. Anyway, it is a huge answer to prayer and we are just too excited!

So I know your next question ... are y'all moving over there? Well, we are not going to do anything until Carey takes the bar. That is our main focus over these next two months. Once that has come and gone, then we will explore all our options. Until then, THE BAR. Please be in prayer for Carey. Pray that the Lord will bless his study time and that he will remain healthy over these next two months.

A Real Live Law School Graduate

Well, he did it! Carey graduated from law school. The ceremony was tolerable. Riley was running fever and slept through the whole thing. Victoria was sick and very uncomfortable, so Mommy spent most of the time walking up and down the isle trying to get her comfortable. But it was great to have a definite end to the past three years.

Riley's Broadway Debut

So ... this past Sunday evening Riley had the performance of his so far short lifetime at church. His little preschool choir sang Christmas songs in front of the church. We were not prepared for his stellar performance. It was too funny! He has always been a joy to be around and as you can see from the video, he lets his joy come out! (I apologize for the jerky filming, I think Carey was going for the NYPD Blue thing ... also, the squealing in the background is Miss Victoria).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Riley was so excited that he had 3 Thanksgivings ... one at school, one at church and one at Gigi's house. So much fun that the one at Gigi's house had snow!

She is Eight Months Old ... Already

I just can't believe our little Miss Victoria is 8 months old! She has been a busy little lady. Let's see ... likes: Anything with a face, paper, wires, eating, the dog, Riley (of course), and she is really starting to enjoy her crib. When she wakes up from her naps or in the morning, she just plays in her crib for about 20 to 30 minutes or so before she lets us know that she is ready to get up. She is such a good sleeper right now. We put her awake in her crib and within minutes she is asleep .... no fussing, no crying. I am truly amazed because Mr. Riley did not do this until he was about 13 months old. She has also seen the light on the baby food. She turns her nose up at the homemade stuff and has her mouth open-wide for the store jar food. So, we have made the switch. Which is good I guess, I need the freezer space desperately. Now ... dislikes: Riding in her car seat, anytime when Mommy is not within viewing distance, peas, and lately being still. She has been perfecting her moves here lately. She is able to navigate across the floor, whether with the army crawl or the roll over. She is also very vocal. The squeals are almost ear-piercing (especially in the bath and when Riley joins in), ba-ba's, da-da's, fa-fa's and pa-pa's. She has moved on from whispering them to actually speaking them. Too much fun. Still no official first word and no official crawl.

Victoria and her "Star Dolly"

We think that she is saving that biter biscuit on her shirt for later.

This is the Best Halloween Ever!!

Riley's exact words during trick or treating "This is the Best Halloween Ever." It is always reassuring as a parent when you do pull one off. I imagine this will be one of those memories that he has forever. It wasn't anything too spectacular, but I guess getting dressed up as a Jedi Knight (with full mustache and beard and the light up light saber) and little sister dressing up too just gets you "so exciting" as he would say it. Too much fun. The biggest laugh we got out of the evening was the sweet lady who was not handing out candy (which we didn't pass out candy either ... cheetos instead) but was handing out little packages of oreos. Riley said a very sincere "Thank you for no candy." Very comical! Four year olds are always good for a laugh with their honesty and sincerity.

Quite the haul ... it is just too bad that Miss Victoria can't eat her stuff yet. Mommy and Daddy will reluctantly consume it on her behalf. And yes, that is a spider that she is chewing on.

That doesn't mean that she still won't try!

Trunk or Treat

Well, I am exhausted. We went for a Star Wars theme this year on the trunk and the costumes. We had an absolute blast. Even though Miss Victoria was by far the cutest little one there and I did spend hours and hours on our costumes, we did not walk away with any costume prize. BUT, we did walk away with 2nd runner-up for best trunk (which I guess is really 3rd place, right?). Anyway, it was too much fun. Riley had a blast going from trunk to trunk wearing his Obi Wan Kanobi costume and Victoria made everyone just grin from ear to ear! And yes, she did keep the head band on all evening.

Three generations of Princess Leias.


Watch out ... she is armed!


The Trunk

Fall is Finally Here!

We are just so excited around here that fall has arrived! Fall means more time to play outside, fun things like Halloween, Thanksgiving and getting ready for Victoria's first Christmas, and of course, wearing all our fall clothes! However, fall also brings yucky sicky germs, which we all had the privilege of getting this past week. A horrible stomach virus hit us all starting with Victoria on Sunday and ending with Carey on Wednesday. No fun at all! I quarantined the kiddos and myself for 4 days in hopes that we wouldn't get anyone else sick ... so sorry Maurice family :(. But we are all better and ready to return to the land of the living! Riley just couldn't wait to get out of the house this morning to go to school!

Victoria is 7 months old. I just can't believe how fast it is all going by. She is trying her best to become more mobile. She has just about mastered the sitting up thing. Now she just launches herself from side to side and roll like a champ. She is still not too happy on her belly, so crawling is still a little far off. She is still just smiles all the time. It was such a bummer when she was sick earlier this week. We didn't see a smile out of her for almost a day ... too weird! She is still loving the swing, being outside, being carried around by Momma, but most of all, she loves to watch Riley do anything and everything. She is just mesmerized by him!

Sneaking a lick of ice cream with Daddy. Needless to say,
she didn't think much of the green beans and sweet potatoes later that evening.

Ready to eat lunch with
Big Brother "Riley Garner Thompson Master Jedi Night Skywalker"

We are so very sad to say that Carey lost his grandmother a couple of weeks ago. We were so glad that the Lord did take her quickly after her stroke, but are going to miss her deeply. She was a precious lady and absolutely adored Carey. We are just resting in our faith that she is pain free and in the presence of our Saviour and loved ones now.

5' 10" ... WOW!

Victoria is six months old! We went for her six month check-up today and she is 28" tall and weighs 17lbs 1oz. That puts her in the >97% on height and 75% on weight. Doc said that if she keeps it up, she will be 5'10" .... too cool! The neat thing is that she is the height that Riley was at 6 months ... but he had 3 pounds on her, weighing in at a whopping 20lbs 4oz. Quite the chunk! She is doing great and very healthy. She never does well with the shots and went down early for her afternoon nap. Hopefully she will feel better when she wakes up.

As you can see from the picture, we got her a swing for our "swing setter" as Riley calls it. She loves to swing. Being outside calms her down and she gets really relaxed, so having the swing is just perfect. We are anxious for the cooler days so that we can spend more time playing on the swing setter.

So we have a new Riley-ism, as I will start calling them. Some of his more famous ones are rainbrella for umbrella, to-later for later (ya know like tonight, tomorrow, today), circle box chips for pringles ... seriously, he came up with these all by himself. Anyway, they have been learning the pledge of allegiance at school and the other evening, Pops and Gigi (mommy's parents) were taking us out to dinner and we were all saying it together. Now keep in mind that Riley is crazy about Star Wars right now. We got to the word republic and he said "that is in Star Wars," and we were like "that's right." Then we got to the "one nation, under ____," and waited for him to fill in the blank, thinking that it would be a no-brainer for him. Then he said "Attack." That's right, "one nation, under Attack!" Hilarious isn't it?! Anyway, we will never recite the pledge ever again without thinking of the latest Riley-ism (and probably you won't either!).

As you go throughout your week this week, please keep Carey's best friend Jason in your prayers. He is going on a mission trip to an orphanage in China for two weeks to spread the goodnews of God's love. Pray for traveling mercies, that souls will be won for the Lord and for his sweet family at home for two weeks without him.

Finally!

Ok, I am FINALLY updating the blog! I know, I know ... I have been bad. My intentions are to post weekly to the blog, but it just seems to be going by the way side. I will do better ... I promise.

Anyway, we have been busy, busy 'round here. Everything is starting back up now that it is fall (well fall as far as the time of year, not the weather ... still hot, hot, hot). School, church, the everyday of two kids, and my latest organizing projects (Carey has named me the "Organizing Diva" ... I like it!) are keeping us all busy. Not to mention Carey's mega-job search. He is currently in the process of sending out over 100 resumes to firms from Abilene to Dallas. Please be in prayer over that process ... the Lord is definitely increasing our faith on this one! We only need one job and it is our prayer that we will be able to stay in the area close to family and friends and that the job will provide for us enough that I will still be able to stay-at-home with the kiddos. But above all, we want to be smack dab in the middle of God's will for us!

Riley is really enjoying school. The only struggle is on coloring, but I am confident that he will be an adult one day that can color inside the lines, so we aren't too worried about that. Carey has been really working with him on reading. He seems to be getting it here lately. Very exciting!

Victoria is just as happy as ever! She pretty much "owns" any room that she is in. Her smile is contagious. She is growing, growing, growing. She loves to eat, grab whatever is within arms reach, be naked, get carried around like a rag-doll and watch Daddy and Riley play video games. She hates riding in the car, peas (YUCK!), and Mommy changing clothes ump-teen times (I just want her to look her cutest!!). She has been Miss Drools-Alot lately, so we just apt for no clothes when we are at home. She will be six months tomorrow, which means icky shots on Monday at her check-up ... no fun. But it also means her 1/2 birthday! I think that she needs a new outfit to celebrate that (maybe Mommy needs one too!).

Here are just a few more FINALLIES:

Carey FINALLY met his match (staring down the white tiger at the zoo).

Victoria FINALLY got to meet the Cox family and she had a blast!

Riley FINALLY had his first dental appointment and NO CAVITIES!!

And we FINALLY went to see the Star Wars exhibit at the museum.
Kinda cool, but not worth all the $$$.

First Day of School

So, I am a little late ... Riley's first day of school (Pre-K) was over a week ago. It went great and so have the subsequent school days. He goes to school from 8:20 - 12:30 MWF at Trinity Christian Academy in Willow Park. His teacher is Mrs. Bryson and you can tell that she loves little boys. He did tell me last Monday that he "accidentally got a time out" because he wouldn't be quiet when the teacher told him to (got that from his Mommy). I told him that it is sometimes hard to follow that rule and at times you just can't help yourself! The first thing he told me after his first day of school was that he knew all the rules, like no running, chasing or pushing ... I am thinking that those are the ones that he broke! He told me that his friend's name is Bud and that none of the girls in his class are his friends.

He does seem to have grown-up overnight now that he is going to school. Lately we have been talking alot about Jesus, who he is and what he did for us. He informed me the other day that Jesus is God (which is true with the Trinity). I guess he told one of his little friends at church this, because the next morning at breakfast he told me that (name deleted to protect the innocent) "so-and-so at church said that Jesus wasn't God and that he died two months ago, so I said no he didn't, he lives in heaven." Just awesome that these little 4 year olds are having theological discussions, isn't it?! And also, "heaven is in outer space, a far ways away." Too cool!

Who's the Big Girl?!!

Victoria has graduated to the high chair! She is a little short for it so we put a folded up towel under her. She is just lovin' this eating thing. So far she has had cereal, oatmeal, green beans, acorn and butternut squash and apples. I have been able to make the vegetables and fruit myself by steaming, pureeing in the food processor, and freezing in ice cube trays. It is really quite easy and a whole lot cheaper (thanks Kip for the inspiration!). Victoria loves it all, but especially loves the green beans. She gobbles those up in no time!

We bumped her up to 3 meals a day ... she just seemed to be starving. Breakfast is usually a flavored cereal or oatmeal, lunch is green beans straight up and squash flavored cereal, and dinner is green beans straight up, squash and apple flavored cereal. We will be introducing sweet potatoes and pears over the next week, and then we will probably wait another month or so before we introduce anything else.

I am ready to eat Momma!

Mmmm yummm ... greener beaners!

All done!

Our Vacation

Here are some pictures from our vacation we took up to Michigan to visit Carey's family:

Feeding the giraffes at Arbuckle Wilderness in Oklahoma (or Africa as Riley called it).



Riley riding a camel in "Africa."

Walking on the streets of downtown Chicago.

Carey, Riley and Vader at the Lego store in Chicago
(Vader was made entirely out of legos ... very cool)

Riley playing Guitar Hero at Cousin Tyler and Corbin's house.

Our Glamor Girl with Grandpa watching Uncle Craig play softball.

Riley testing out the waters of Lake Michigan.

We had a super time. Carey and I both were sick for part of the trip, but fortunately our sicknesses did not overlap. We had so much fun hanging out with TylerCorbin, going to the cottage to swim and boat, and just chillin' with Grandma Great and Grandpa and Grandma and the gang.

Peace Out Grandma Great

Riley is keeping cool in Grandma Great's sprinklers.

You can probably guess what Uncle Craig
is teaching Riley to do! Thanks Craig ... paybacks!

With pretty Aunt Mandy!

Victoria says "This is MY Grandpa!"

"And this is MY Grandma!"

Here we all are hanging out on the front porch of Grandpa and Grandma's house.