Henry's Home

We brought Henry home on Friday the 29th. Luckily Fern's mom is here to make the transition from 1 kid to 2 easier (i.e. I don't have to wake up to change diapers). Here are some more pics of the lad:

Henry Allen Thompson

Born on 12/27/07 @ 8:32 AM
7 lbs 9 oz---21 inches




Stay tuned for better pics...this was just a few minutes after birth!

A Merry Christmas Indeed

Santa definitely came for Mack and me this Christmas. Fern gave me a TomTom GPS navigator that I love. I will never get lost again (not that I did before). Mack doubled his toy supply including a total of 14 new cars. I think he is in toy overload. When he came out of his room and saw his presents he said "Santa!" very matter-of-factly We spent 2 and a half hours opening presents, mostly because Mack only wanted to play with the cars he opened first. Fern got some pretty cools gifts too but lets face it full-term pregnant women are hard to shop for. Everything I got her was a hit except the embroidered slippers that she described as "fit for an 80 year old woman" Oh well, I'm a dad now which means I have to buy at least one lame gift. On Christmas Eve, Fern hosted a very successful party with tons of holiday snacks. We did the traditional nativity, ate open-faced sandwiches and performed a talent show.

Today we went in for Fern's amniocentesis to make sure the baby's lungs have developed so that she can be induced a week early (hospital policy). Everything went well and we are just waiting for the results. If the tests come back okay we will be having a baby as soon as they have room for us. So, that is the quick update and final update before Henry Allen is born!!!

We'll keep you posted....

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Guess who we saw today! Santa! After weeks and weeks of walking past the "Big Guy" and talking him up to Mack as much as we could, it was finally time. Mack did great! He walked right up to Santa and even gave him a sheepish "Ho, ho, ho." We're very proud to say the least.

Here are a few shots from earlier today of Mack all dressed up with the tree before we ventured out in search of Jolly ol' Saint Nick.

And here is a little of what I have been up to (besides growing a baby, yada yada yada). Sewing. I've been making all sorts of different things, but these are the only three I can show you. Maybe after Christmas it will be safe to post a few pictures of the other things I've made lately, but I think by then we'll be too busy oohing and ahhing over Henry to care about stuff I made way back in December. The first picture is a Christmas banner and the next two are Christmas slippers. The pair on the left were for a friend of mine who had a baby two weeks ago, and the ones on the right are for Mack and have a layer of fleece between the inner and outer layer. My favorite part is that I made them all from scraps I was going to throw away.

In the way of less documented news, Tyler and I decided to treat ourselves to a night at The Edgewater Hotel last Friday night. It was my first time spending the night away from Mack and I can honestly say that --while I do love him--I didn't miss him at all. Tyler's mom, Karen, was nice enough to take Mack for the night last minute after Ty and I decided to book the room on whim through Priceline (aka: we got a great deal). Our stay coincided with a "carol off" downtown, where a bunch of organizations were attempting to out sing each other. It was very festive and we had an amazing time. I can't WAIT to do it again. Sadly, the next day Tyler and Mack both came down with very sore throats. Both have recovered and are doing well now, and I'm glad to get all the illnesses out of the way before Christmas. This is going to be my last post until at least the new year. Until then, I'm turning over all blogging duties to my (hopefully) competent and able husband, Tyler. If you have any specific requests, or complaints, you'll need to take them up with him. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sankt Nikolaus Tag

Today is Sankt Nikolaus Tag, and luckily, Mack has been a very good boy this year. Last night, after Mack had carefully placed his shoes by the front door, Sankt Nikolaus came and left him some goodies. A banana, kinder chocolate and a dinosaur mask. As you can see he was very excited about the chocolate and insisted on eating the banana right away. Unfortunately, he's not feeling 100% this morning and due to a little cold and hasn't really noticed the mask yet. I can't blame him, I don't like things strapped to my face when I have a stuffy nose either. If your wondering why he's all dressed instead of in his PJ's, it's because last night his diaper just wasn't up to job, as I discovered this morning.

The countdown to Christmas has officially begun! Here is Mack starting our homemade advent calender. I made your basic paper ring chain and then stapled some peppermint nougat candy to each link. The links are for Mack, and the candy is for Tyler. For us, Saturday was basically the perfect way to start December. Let me paint you a picture, or at least show you some pictures.
1st: I made blueberry muffins to start of our morning.

2nd: Mack sneaked into our closet, to reemerge wearing a pair of sneakers, a baseball cap and holding two packs of bias tape (for sewing). He was very proud of himself.
3rd: We picked up our Christmas Tree from a nursery about two blocks away.
4th: Mack took a nap while Tyler put the lights on the tree and I made Mexican Hot Chocolate. Yum. Then, Ty and I decorated the tree. This is our first Christmas we'll be spending at our own apartment, so we're VERY excited to have a tree and do all the decorating and preparation for Christmas.

5th: Mack woke up just in time to put a few finishing touches on the tree. He LOVED it! So far he's been very good at not touching the tree or breaking/playing with any of the ornaments. The only things he really goes for are the candy canes, two of which he broke in half this morning. I think the needles on the tree feel a little weird to him so he doesn't like to touch them, but he does seem to enjoy walking around the tree, gently touching each ornament with one little out stretched finger while I say "don't touch." I don't really mind him gently nudging the ornaments, but where do you draw the line with a 19 month old? I can't really explain to him "What you're doing there is fine, but please don't pick up any of them and throw them across the room just because they look like balls. And please don't grab onto the tree and knock the whole thing over." So we stick with "don't touch" and that seems to be working just fine.

6th: While we were finishing up the tree, we noticed it'd started snowing. So we bundled Mack up in his coat, hat, gloves and snow bibs and went out to play. As far as Mack's attitude towards snow, I think the pictures speak for themselves. Let's just say, it makes him a little uncomfortable...In case you haven't heard, we had a good 24hrs of snow and then it rained for the next 24hrs. Washington has had some serious flooding problems, there are a few roads closed around us and some people from the apartment complex came by and lined our patio with sandbags, but that's pretty much been it for us. People around here always assume that since we lived in San Diego, we must hate the rain and snow. Not true! We love the diverse weather here! I mean, I don't love it when people's home are flooded, but it is so nice to live in a place with all FOUR seasons.