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 $$$.