The Holidays!

Well, I have been pretty terrible about keeping up with this blog so here is an extremely abbreviated summary of Halloween through New Years. Due to Thomas' fair skin and lack of hair, the obvious choice for a Halloween Costume this year was Charlie Brown! This may have been the easiest Homemade costume ever. A yellow polo shirt and some black felt worked great. We had a great day trick or treating with Ava and Ella despite the cold weather too!

Thanksgiving was a great day of family, and food. We spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa LaRoche and the Hacker family. Grandma made a fabulous meal of which Thomas enjoyed Stuffing and Cranberry sauce (He was a little picky).

Christmas this year was extremely busy and lots of fun. We spent the 23rd with the Husar's and Thomas was quite the source of entertainment for everyone. Christmas Eve was spent with the Brownlee's and on this night Thomas showed everyone just where he gets his heft from. I think he was eating dinner for nearly an hour straight. Christmas Day was spent with the Hackers and Grandma and Grandpa LaRoche. Thomas loved running around with all the kids and playing with everything that Santa brought for everyone. Christmas Night we headed to the airport and hopped a flight to New Mexico where we spent the next 4 days with the Ligons! We loved that Thomas was able to see so much of his extended family over the Days of Christmas. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Adventures.

For New Years we headed to Wisconsin where we rented a very interesting house with our friends from Knox. Thomas was quite the trooper during the 4 hour car ride too.

So there you have it... our holidays in a nutshell. I realize that I haven't included any video so while this is unrelated to the holidays, I hope you enjoy seeing how far Thomas has come since the videos posted this summer. He is quite the strong man and he is running all over the place these days.

Fall 2012

This fall we have been busier than ever. Dan is working hard at his job and his internship (he is working on his masters in social work). I am back to teaching 6th and 7th grade language arts. Thomas started spending time with his babysitter 3 days a week and grandpa 2 days a week. Despite all of this we still have found some time for fun! We babysat the hackers for a few days, and then made it to a lake house for a few days over Labor Day weekend.

We were fortunate to have Nana and Granddad Ligon visit on their way out east. We took a trip to the aquarium where Thomas was fascinated with the underwater viewing area.
Thomas turned 1 a few weeks ago and we were happy to host a small party to celebrate! Thomas has also started walking in the last few weeks. This has kept us all on our toes!

More of Summer 2012

Thomas celebrated turning 9 months old in July and wanted to show off his newest trick in his monthly picture, standing all on his own!

We had a few more Pinterest success stories with my nieces. After the waterless pool we made soap clouds by microwaving ivory soap and then made our own colored soaps with food coloring and cookies cutters.

Next we made slime with glue and starch. That was a hit too! Even Jimmy loved this one!

This next craft was by far the favorite (and the easiest). We made paper towel butterflies. Seriously people, paper towels, food coloring, water and twist ties. The girls LOVED them.

We spent time swinging, swimming, and celebrating the Olympics!

Thomas also discovered just what it is he loves most about his "Aunt" Maggie (Grandma and Grandpa's dog), her tail! Oh and lets not forget teething, Thomas chews on EVERYTHING!

Summer 2012, The First Half

We have had quite and exciting summer so far. We kicked it off by leaving Thomas to stay with his cousins, aunt and uncle and grandparents while we took to the skies and headed to California for the lovely wedding of Rusty and Ronnie. Fun was certainly had by all!

Once we came back to reality, we were saddened by the news of the passing of my grandmother, Mary LaRoche. After honoring and remembering her, we were back to normal, sort of.

Dan went back to working hard at both Hephzibah and his masters program. I took some professional development trainings and a class on technology (which is when I had the time to start this blog!). All the while Thomas was learning how to crawl! Our little baby isn't so little anymore and he is certainly on the move! Soon after he learned to crawl, he started pulling himself up onto his knees and and to a standing position!

Thomas and I have had the pleasure of spending lots of time with his cousins this summer, and most recently we made the most of a very hot summer day with a waterless pool. Ava and Ella had a blast while Thomas enjoyed watching their excitement from the side lines.

This past weekend we participated in the Kicks for a Cure kickball tournament where our team may not have won much (or at all as the case may be) but we raised some money for a good cause. Thomas came along for the day and was quite the trooper!

Thomas James Ligon

Here are a few pictures of Thomas over the last year. Look at how much he has changed in such a short amount of time! His 9 month picture will be taken in the next week so you can look forward to that update too!

Welcome!

I have put together this blog in the hopes that you will be able to see a little more of our family. I will try my best to update the blog monthly, or as exciting things are happening anyway, and send an email with the link for you to follow when I do.