Merry Christmas!

This Christmas was so much fun! Joey had some awareness of Santa and definately loved receiving presents. He got this tricycle from his Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Glen. He requested all night for someone to push him on it. He now knows my name and throughout the night would hollar "Shelley!" to come give him a ride.

Christmas Day we spent at my parent's house. It warmed up to 10 degrees, so Joey was able to go for his first snowmobile ride with Grandpa and Dad. I love the 3 dogs in the picture wondering what is about to happen...

JOey got a wagon from Papa...He requested to have his blankey and "chips." He was all set.

...Brittney? Spencer/Heidi? Paris? Brangelina??? NO... it's the Thompson grandkids!!! It was pretty entertaining watching these adults try to get the little ones to pose for a picture.. especially when brian t. started dancing.. too bad i didn't have that on video.

Since my little sister lives in New Orleans... and she has short hair now.. i was lucky enough to braid Livie's hair. Doesn't she look beautiful?? Anytime Liv.. i love doing it! p.s. i love being related to manda!!!

We had a very busy week, we got to hang out with auntie binzer and uncle brian, which was so fun.. especially the marathon game of trivia pursuit. Joey was a trooper with the long days and busy nights. It was great to see family, and follow up christmas night with watching the Muppet Christmas, a family tradition that Lindsey and I have had for a long time. Thank you to everyone for making this a great one!

Making Cookies

Joey assisted us in making cookies today. He somehow knew what to do right away! What a good helper he is!

Taking a picture. He is imitating EVERYTHING these days, from trying to dress himself, to taking pictures, cleaning out the dogs ears.. you name it he's trying it!

Auntie and Uncle are home!! Lindsey and Brian haven't seen Joey since August.. he's doing a lot more than he was then!

Holiday weekend in Elk River!

We went down to the Skubic's for our annual Holiday weekend. Joey and Celia played so well together, and were so much fun to watch. Hearing them talk was hilarious too! Hopefully C.C. didn't learn too many bad boy habits from Joey (or Derek).

We braved the crowds and went to downtown Minneapolis to Macy's to check out "A day in the life of an Elf", which was so fun for the kids (and us!) Here we are patiently waiting in line. Sorry to all who got hit with my stroller.

Joey was having fun playing with C's fishing game. This one is a little out of order but oh well!

Celia was so sweet and full of love, and just wanted to hold JOey's hand, after multiple attempts he finally tolerated it for a few seconds, enough to give it a kiss and then be done. THanks for being so good in the car guys!

Waiting for the Holidazzle Parade. Joey was in awe of all the lights. It was so worth the 6 hour ride back home today in the blizzard!! Thanks guys for a great weekend. See you in a few more sleeps!

XOXO

I've been tagged!

Ironic Jennifer, that this was the 6th picture! Joey's got his too front teeth just like Madi! What a chunk he was too. Now he's thinned out so much and is so busy, 18 month pants are too short but too big around the waist. I wish that were my problem!I tag Joe Ellen, Crystal, and HEather-speaking of I don't have access to your blog...

x-mas tree

Daddy is on midnights this weekend, so we waited for him to wake up, actually I waited, Joey took a three hour nap today too! But we played this morning, Joey enjoyed being dragged accross the floor on the parachute. Check out his hair.

I was so proud of Joey, he put his Crocs on all by himself.. notice which feet...

Finally I woke dad up, and we went and bought our christmas tree. I learned from a patient that buying a christmas tree is not bad for the environment, because prior to being cut down it gives a home for the birds and squirrles, and that they replant more than they harvest, so I didn't feel too guilty buying a tree.

JOey's new words are lights, santa, trees, and snow. He is in love with the tree and the lights.

I'm guessing we are going to be vaccuuming a lot! and maybe we should secure the tree to the ceiling....

Future basketball star?

We have had possibly the roughest two weeks yet. Joey was not recovering from his strep throat so I brought him back to the doctor on Sunday for a different antibiotic. He was still waking up at night, spiking a temp, being very clingy and not himself. Is it possible to make up for two weeks of no energy in one day? I think the new antibiotics are working. He is now back to getting into EVERYTHING! Derek is helping his brother coach 4th grade basketball, it's a great place for JOey to burn off some energy. I like to think of him as a little obstacle the kids have to dodge during their practice.

Happy Thanksgiving!

These are all in the wrong order.. but oh well. Today I cooked a turkey for my parents, derek and joey. After dinner we went outside in the snow!

Joey only ate the cranberries and jello. For some reason he's just not into turkey, stuffing or mashed potatoes. the kid doesn't know what he's missing.

This is only the 2nd time i've made a turkey. the first time was in AZ with our Canadian friends the Doberstein's. So actually this is the first turkey i've made in MN.

Joey was very patient while mommy tried to cook. he even checked it out while it was cooking. it was definately a quieter thanksgiving than most, but nice to just be at home. we are looking forward to seeing auntie binzer and uncle brian in a few weeks, and going to the skubics for our holiday weekend. hope everyone had a great day!

"Treadmill"

I was in the bathroom with JOey, he grabbed his monster jammy bottoms and his swimtrunks, sat down and was trying to put them on. He kept saying "mill." He asked for help, so i put the pants on, then the shorts too, and he headed downstairs! The treadmill is in the basement with some of his toys, and i suppose he has seen me change into shorts to go on it... I am thankful for toddlers... he sure makes us laugh.

A video for Auntie Binzer

Just playing

wearing daddy's hat...
It's been a crazy week. We had the funeral for my Grandma yesterday, and everything went fine with little family drama. On Thursday I took JOey to the doctor, and found out we both had strep. Then friday morning, before the funeral, Joey woke up with a swollen, gunky right eye. So we brought him back in to the MD for eye drops. We are all a little sleep deprived... I'm craving my boring routine.....

Some sad news

My dad just called and said Grandma Aysta passed away this morning. I think the funeral may be on Friday.

I want blue

Jo-jo and C.C.

We went to Thompson's last night for delicious spaghetti. We got to see E.T., Jeff and Celia too.

Trying to "share" the trains with two toddlers....these two are so entertaining. See you in a month Skubics!

"Talking" on the phone to Grandma

Joey decided he wanted to talk on the phone tonight. Although he didn't talk much, just pushed a lot of buttons.. ask Grandma B!

My baby boy is growing up so fast.

Lining up my tractors...

Should I be worried???
It has gotten a little bit easier getting ready for work in the mornings, Joey is pretty good about entertaining himself. This is what he was doing when I was trying to fix my hair.

Joey's new haircut

Joey got a real hair cut today!! no more wings!!!

Happy Halloween!!

We basically had to wrestle JOey to get his halloween costume on, and we still couldn't get the pants on. But we were able to hit a couple houses on our street.

Kelly and I dressed up for work as pirates. I had to trade my boots for a pair of Nike's at about 3:00. I was a pirate on the run... hahhaha

Leo stopped by with his mom and dad and baby Clark. Leo calls Joey, Joey Hey-Ho (Aho). He was a construction worker from Hoover Construction.

Joey in action......

Tuesday play date

Well it's been a while since we had a play date. The last one we were supposed to have, Julie had to cancel to have baby Clark. The boys have gotten a lot busier! Katie, Will, Me, Joey, Jules, Clark and Leo. We hosted at our house and had a fun time!

Joey sleeping in his new "big boy bed"

The convertible crib has been converted! Joey was successful in climbing out of his crib last night, not so successful in the landing. There were a few tears. Today's mission, get Joey to stay and sleep in his bed. Daddy was successful!!

Trying to figure out how to do video..

We're back online!

Derek went to Best Buy today and purchased a new HP desktop computer. So now I have to try and figure out how to use it!! Above is JOey's new potty chair. As you can see he's finding multiple uses for it.
JUst playing in the leaves!

Fun Fall

Joey's helping Grandma B with her crutches. The MD told mom to try and ween off her crutches over the weekend. She still has the staples in, and those will come out Monday. She's off of work until Nov 1st, but she is doing well. Keep on truck'n Grandma!!!
While Grandma has been forced to elevate and ice her leg, she was able to knit Joey a new winter hat!!
Joey had fun running through the pile!
Daddy carved Joey's pumpkin the other night. Every time he comes down from upstairs he gets so excited! It has been so fun experiencing things through a child's eyes.

Today I ran a 5K down in Duluth. We got to ride the North Shore train 3 miles up the lake walk, and family and spectators got to ride and watch the racers as they headed back to Fitger's. Joey has been in to trains lately. "choo choo!"

Pumpkins

Drew and Hailey were working on their pumpkins when we were over. Joey helped clean some pumpkin guts, and Derek helped draw Drew's face design.