THE THAMES FAMILY: January 2010

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Beautiful Bodies

Since Caroline has been able to talk, she has told everyone who would listen that she had a "boo-tiful bo-dy". Obviously she heard it from us first, trying to build up that self-esteem, but we must have done a really good job because she still says it. My grandmother gave her a bathing suit (she is obsessed with all bathing suits and wants to wear them 24/7 around the house - as I'm writing this, she is sitting at the table, eating pizza in a disney princess swimsuit) the other day that she had to wear and then pair with her rain boots she got for Christmas. Rutland on the other hand is just enjoying his newfound nakedness. Caroline also tells him he has a boo-tiful body. Let me just say, his body is night and day from Caroline's. She's got some junk in her trunk and we are just trying to find Rutland's trunk!

Rutland's Baptism

Sweet Rutland was baptized at our new church, Covenant, on January 10th. He wore the beautiful christening gown that his daddy wore, Caroline wore, and about 10 other family members have worn that was handmade by Christopher's grandmother, Katherine. Caroline also wore a handmade dress that I wore and my sister wore as children, sewn by my grandmother, Denise Knight. They were both gorgeous and we are so thankful for our talented grandmothers. We were in for a little surprise when we got to the church and Caroline's name was also in the program to be baptized. She was dedicated as a baby at our old church, Shades Mountain, but since we switched from a Baptist church to a Presbyterian church, it was our choice to go ahead and baptize her with Rutland or wait until she made a profession of faith later in life. We actually decided to wait and let her get baptized later, but did not notify the church in time. So, she was sprinkled too on Sunday, much to her surprise. She was not happy about this little change of plans and it made for a very LOUD baptism ceremony. Here are some of the pictures from that morning at the church.

Let's just say Caroline's got great lungs! And she could win and Academy Award - she can turn it on and turn it off!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Birthing 101

Oh my goodness! My sweet little Caroline is watching Milo and Otis (stars a pug, which we also have at home - Bella) for the 55th time since Christmas and there is a scene where the pug dog has puppies and for some unknown reason, they show the puppies coming out of the mommy - literally. I guess she's never noticed it, but today she did - big time. I was in the kitchen and heard her say "Oh, no mommy. What happened??" She was talking so fast like when she gets really excited and the words get all jumbled up and she's out of breath. It was like she couldn't get it out fast enough AND she really didn't know what she was trying to describe. So, I came into the den, saw what part of the movie was playing and figured out what she was trying to say. She proceeded to tell me, "Mommy, dat puppy dog came out of the mommy's hiney!! Oh no!! Oh no!! She need to go back in the hiney!! What happened?" I played dumb and acted like I didn't understand her, so I just said "yeah, uh hu". Then our pug, Bella, saved the day by jumping up and grabbing the hot dog off her plate, which sent her into another rant "oh no, Bella got my hot dog! Come back!" And off she went chasing after the dog and her hot dog. I've never loved Bella so much. Good girl!! I'm not ready to tackle the birds and the bees with a 2 year old, so I guess I'll have to be a little more observant during Milo and Otis next time. Whew, close one!!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Trouble with a capital T

Rutland is in his climbing stage right now. We often find him "one leg up" on a piece of furniture, the fireplace hearth, or even the side of the bathtub trying to climb in. This is just the latest place I found Rutland...

Christmas in Montgomery

Christmas was a whirlwind to say the least. Traveling with 2 little ones just never ends up being easy, no matter how much planning you do. We actually ended up leaving for Montgomery a little sooner than we had planned on, so poor Christopher stayed behind for 2 more days and had to do most of the grocery shopping, putting together of toys for Christmas Day, cleaning, etc. He was a real trooper and somehow it all got done. We split our time with the Thames' and with my parents and got some great playtime with our cousins, Ella and Gray. Caroline and the girls literally squealed and played from the time we got there to the time we left. There were definitely tears when it was time to head to my parents house. We came back to Birmingham (in the worst rain storm I've ever driven in) Christmas Eve night so the kids would wake up at home and see if Santa came down the chin-che. Thankfully Santa closed his eyes during the many "fits" that Caroline pitched over 2009 and still brought her more than she asked for. And he definitely chose to overlook the broken dishes, knocked over planters, eaten dog food, toys thrown in the toilet, pulling of his sister's hair, and the list could go on forever that sneaky little Rutland has accomplished in less than a year of life. We will give him a pass until that year birthday, but after that and as Harris Crumpton says, "I'll bring the thunder on you"! We had a few "what were you thinking" presents given to the children this year, mostly by grandparents who obviously adhere to the rule of "We're the grandparents. What you do with the gift is your problem." Case in point....my dad (aka Pops) held out strong on our #1 "what were you thinking" gift for several weeks. Granted my mom was with him those initial trips to Sam's to restrain him, but finally he made a trip unsupervised and came home with a 6 ft. (no that is not an exaggeration - see photos below) Minnie Mouse. Obviously Caroline loved it and talks to it like it is the "real" Minnie Mouse from Disney World, but where in the world do you put her on a daily basis. I feel like she needs her own room, closet, bathroom, etc. at our house. So currently she is sitting at our dining room table until she tells us where she would like to move next. Thanks Pops!!! (And FYI, she had to ride back to Birmingham sitting shot gun in Christopher's truck - buckled in of course!) A close second to Minnie is "what were you thinking" gift #2 - a Red Rider BB gun for Rutland, who is 10 months old and definitely responsible enough to shoot a weapon - Sure, why not. I do have to say, his daddy would have been heart broken had he not received his first firearm this Christmas. I'll never understand it, but Christopher was thrilled and so proud when he opened that gift. At least we can put it away until he's 18. And finally, our #3 "what were you thinking" gift was actually given by me to my husband. I had a very unusual selfless moment at Target one day and bought Christopher a Wii. For those of you who don't know, Christopher is the poster child for ADD and completely zones out when in front of a TV. Although there were some choice words exchanged in the first few days after he got it, we haven't had many more problems since. Of course I've been a little preoccupied with my new toy - a new Mac laptop, so it's all good! We had a wonderful Christmas and were so blessed to spend such quality time with family. Here are some photos from the holidays...

Rutland's favorite thing to do Christmas morning was trying to eat the peppermints in Caroline's stocking

My sister, grandmother, and me - yes we have on the same scarf!

Caroline with her new babydoll stroller and wearing EVERY piece of jewelry from her stocking

My sister, Ashley, and her boyfriend, Christian - AWWWW, so cute!

Caroline and me

6ft. Minnie Mouse

Running to "meet" Minnie. Please look at Pop's face - so proud he thought of this one!

Rutland and Papa making their "face". Papa taught him to do this and he will do it on command now. Anyone who says Rutland and I favor, have never seen Shot!