Jason and I put child safety locks on a few of our cabinets a couple of weeks ago. I had to grab my camera the other night to take the picture below because it just made me laugh. The locks are supposed to keep the child out, right? Although Ian can't get anything out of the cabinet (which is good)...he can still reach his tiny arm through the cracks and move things around. ;)
Finally! I just finished it up...and man...it got good there towards the end. I read until about 12:15AM last night because I couldn't put it down. I read the last two chapters tonight.
It's a good thing I bought Breaking Dawn last week. 
I CANNOT wait to get into that one. I hear it is the best of the 4!
Today was the annual Clemson/Carolina rivalry game. It was an exciting game! They played the best today that they have played all year. I was proud of them!
Final Score: Clemson 31 Carolina 14
Although Clemson has not announced who will take over as head coach next year...I really and truly hope that they will hire Dabo as the head coach. I think he's the real deal. Watching him on the sidelines today was so much fun. He coached with enthusiasm. He was cheering on players...but also correcting when necessary.
Dabo has coached the Tigers to 4 wins out of 5 games since he took over as interim head coach...and brought Clemson to bowl eligibility after a 3-4 record at mid season. If that doesn't say that he deserves a chance at the job...I don't know what does.
We shall see in the weeks to come!
One thing is definitely for sure...the Tigers are going BOWLING!! YAY! GO TIGERS!!
Today is the day after Thanksgiving...and to the Thomas family, that means the day we decorate for Christmas!!!!
So, we started our day by bringing all of the decorations down from the attic.
We then went and grabbed some lunch and headed off to find the perfect tree. We bought from our preacher's son, Paul, who has set up a lot right down the road from our house. We came home and Jason set the tree up and put the lights on it.
Ian loves the tree! Every now and then he'll go over to the tree and want to touch the ornaments. We keep saying, "no Ian, don't touch"...and he'll run off. Then, after a little while, he's back...and wanting to touch it again. I told Jason, for a month it's going to be "don't touch"..."get away from there"..."put that back". Oh well, you'll have that with a 19 month old...which is ok with me, because I love seeing his face light up each time he comes into the room with the tree and hear him yell, "Kissmess Chee"!
Here are some pictures from our day and from around our house:
Our house:
Ok...so...let me give a little background to the video below...
While Jason was at Anderson, there was a guy that used to come into AC's cafeteria and he would seek out the tables with the girls. This guy was tall and skinny, and Jason said he kind of stuck his neck out and swivel his head back and forth like a predator looking for prey. So, Jason, Trey, Swirl, Tim and others gave this guy the nickname, Velociraptor. They would even make the "sound" of the "Velociraptor" when this guy would enter the cafeteria. All of them could do it except Swirl. Poor Swirl! Swirl has a unique version of the Velociraptor, which is HILARIOUS!
Anyways, we have now passed the Velociraptor sound down to our 19 month old son, aren't you proud?
Jason says he actually has a better version than Swirl. Although quite impressed with Ian's Velociraptor skills...I still love Swirl's! And although not planned, Ian is wearing his dinosaur pj's in the video!! How appropriate!
I am thankful for:
1.)my Salvation
2.)my sweet son, Ian
3.)a Godly husband who is my best friend
4.)my job
5.)my whole entire family
6.)my house and car
7.)my friends
8.)my country
9.)my church
10.)Breyer's triple chocolate ice cream
11.)turkey and dressing (ok so I am hungry and anticipating the yummy meal we'll be eating in just a few hours)
12.)hot baths
13.)Cherry coke
14.)Clemson football
15.)Our trip to Hawaii in a month!
I have SO much to be thankful for and could not possibly list everything here...but these are a few of the many things for which I give thanks. I am so blessed! I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!
ok...so maybe not...but here is some beautiful (in my eyes anyway) Thanksgiving artwork from Ian that he made at daycare:
Ok...so maybe he had a little help..but it's still beautiful to me! haha
They also made Indian headpieces with several feathers made out of construction paper, which was super cute...which he HAD to wear home from daycare that day. Why don't I have a picture of that? Because he ripped the feathers off before I could get to my camera! Oh well!
Friday night we took Ian to have his picture made with Santa.
I should preface this with the fact that I bought Ian a book about Santa about a week ago (similar to his Halloween book), where Santa says ho ho ho at the back of the book...it is so cute!
I bought it to familiarize him with Santa.
However, that obviously did not help too much! He wasn't going to sit on Santa's lap for NOTHING. He just kept backing up, saying "no no no". He would however walk up to him as long as Santa stood still in one spot:
Oh well, it was still fun. Maybe next year he'll like Santa! ;)
I did get a few shots of Ian with his cousins:
Ian seems to be feeling better today.
Last night was rough as I had anticipated. We were up with him again several times. At 1:30AM, I got up and went in there and Ian was crying and saying "hurts, hurts". He was also shaking with chills. So, I changed his diaper, put some fleece pj's on him to help him get warm, gave him some Tylenol, and rocked him for a short time. We don't have to rock him to get him to go to sleep...but I just wanted to, to give him some TLC. After I laid him back down, we never heard another peep out of him. I guess the Tylenol helped him feel better.
Today, Jason took him by the ENT for a hearing test. It was a followup test. They did a hearing test right after his surgery, but one of his ears didn't pass and the nurse said that it could be due to swelling from the surgery and that they would repeat the test in 9 months. Jason said that both ears passed this time. Yay!
After that, Jason took him by my mom's office. My mom suggested getting a urine sample since he wasn't showing any other symptoms...thinking that it may be a urinary tract infection. However, after Jason got there and they checked his temp, he didn't have any fever and seemed to be feeling better.
So, still not really sure what Ian had going on...I guess it was just a little bug. He was a wild man tonight when I got home from cycling though...so I'm glad the bug seems to be gone!
Since I laid him down tonight around 9, he has cried out twice. I just got through rubbing his back to try and get him to go back to sleep.
I'm afraid we're in for a long night. Still no outward symptoms. Weird.
I hope whatever is going on...passes quickly...before Thanksgiving!
No, I'm not referring to the radio station. I'm actually referring to Ian's temperature this morning.
It's been the weirdest thing.
First of all, Ian had a rough night. J was up with him once and I was up with him twice...once at 3AM, 4:30 and 5:30. The 4:30 episode kind of worried me because Ian's skin was SO hot. I could feel his little heart pounding and he was crying and obviously did not feel well. No symptoms though, no runny nose, no coughing, no vomiting or diarrhea...nothing. I checked his temp and it was 101.9. So, I gave him some ibuprofen and laid him back down.
This morning, he still wasn't himself. He was still so hot. So, I checked it again...this time 102.5. Yikes! He just laid on me all morning. Needless to say, we did not make it to church. Still no obvious symptoms. I did hear him pass gas a few times though. So, maybe his tummy was hurting? Not sure, he just kept saying, "hurts, hurts". Bless him!
So, I asked him around 9:30 AM if he wanted to lay back down and to my surprise, he said, "K", which means yes. So, I laid him back down and he slept for an hour. This is unusual because these days, he only takes one nap a day, and that is at 1PM in the afternoon. So, I definitely knew he wasn't feeling well.
After I got him up, he seemed to be feeling better, and was active and playing again.
I did lay him down for his afternoon nap around 2 and he slept until 5. Yes, 3 hours! This child normally sleeps almost 2 hours in the afternoon, but 3 hours is unusual. I guess he needed the rest.
While he slept this afternoon, I did run and get some Christmas shopping done while Jason stayed with him...and I got about 5 chapters in Eclipse read this morning while he was sleeping. My cable was out...so I had no TV and no internet access...so I had plenty of time to catch up on my reading.
Still not real sure the reason for the fever. However, the fever seemed to be down tonight and he seemed to be feeling ok. Hopefully, this was just a quick little stomach bug or something.
Wow, I cannot believe that we have reached our 200th post!!
I started this blog on Monday, February 4th, 2008. I remember when I started, I wasn't intending on posting everyday...just when we went on vacation, when something BIG happened in my life, or Ian reached a milestone, etc. However, I find myself wanting to post everyday. I try to write "something"...even if it is a post about ice cream! It kind of serves as an outlet for me. I love capturing different moments as my family and I go through life.
Blogging has proved beneficial to me and my family in many ways. One way is I have looked back and said, "now, when was Ian sick with that stomach bug?" "What antibiotic did he take?" "When did he have his last shots?" Etc.
This blog has also served the purpose of letting others see what all is going on with the Thomas family and a way to keep in touch with friends who are far away.
Also, it has been fun to look back over what all has happened with our family over the last 9 months. We have been to the beach twice. We welcomed in a new family member, my nephew, Ryan Thomas Bulman. Ian learned to walk! I managed to complete P90X, as well as my first triathlon! We battled LICE...yuck...so glad that is in the past! ;) And one of my most favorite memories of the last 9 months was when Ian was selected as a finalist in the B93.7 Bee Baby Idol contest and WON! It was so exciting and we had a blast meeting Hawk and Tom!! (Sorry Tom, for bringing attention to the 2nd picture again...hee hee!)
I really appreciate all of my blog readers...thank you for visiting!
Wonder what all will happen over the course of our next 200 posts?! Stay tuned...
Check it out! CLICK HERE!
Also, to see my team at work getting our dance on CLICK HERE!
During the winter last year, Ian had earache after earache. After 3 rounds of antibiotics with no success, the doctor sent us to the ENT who said Ian needed tubes. So, we went ahead with the surgery. Ian recovered very well, and was a different child within a day of the surgery. I'm not exaggerating!
Anyways, today, we went for a followup appointment.
Well, as soon as Dr. Wier stepped in the exam room, you would have thought Ian was being tortured...and Dr. Wier had not even gotten within 5 feet. Either my child has a white coat phobia or he remembers Dr. Wier from 9 months ago. Either way, he was not happy to see Dr. Wier today. I felt so bad and tried my best to calm Ian down.
No idea why Ian acted the way he did...totally not how he usually acts at a doctor's office.
Dr. Wier looked in his ears...and tried to explain to me (over Ian's LOUD crying) that everything looked good. The tubes were still in place and looked great. He said to make sure that we watch and make sure he doesn't get too much water in them during bath time. Ok, has he seen Ian in the bath tub? This child splashes like nobody's business. We'll do our best!
is coming out this Friday. I actually bought tickets to the Thursday night/Friday morning 12:01AM showing of the movie. I am so excited! I'm going with Amber and I cannot wait! I've got my vampire teeth ready! ;) kidding
Breyer's triple chocolate ice cream!!!!! Yum! It is SOOOO freakin good!! I eat a bowl just about every night. In fact, I'm eating a bowl as I type this blog. My day today started early...really early...5AM! No, it wasn't Ian...it was actually work. No fun! We had a problem and were called...all our EDI jobs were blowing up. I was completely out of it when I first answered the phone because I was dreaming when the phone rang. Dodi probably thought, she's talking crazy. ;)
After finally realizing what was going on...I logged on and began to look into the issues.
Finally, we straightened everything out around 8:30AM...of course by then, it was daylight and Ian was up. No going back to bed for me!
After I showered, I headed to Gaffney with my mom and sister to get started on my Christmas shopping. Although not as productive as I had hoped...I did get a few things. One thing was Ian's Christmas PJ's. Hey...that's important!
Then, I came back home and Jason, Ian, and I headed to Monkey Joes. I've been wanting to go and let Ian just play till his hearts content. Although he was scared at first, he quickly got over it and had a blast! We slid down every slide they had...several times. He was not too sure of Monkey Joe himself though, and neither was Jason :) :
Here are 2 other videos from our visit:
One interesting thing that happened while at Monkey Joes (I'm still in shock)...is this one little boy slid down one of the slides and literally bit my toe. Yes, this happened! I was sitting at the bottom of the slide waiting on Ian, and he slid right down and took a bite. Not hard...but definitely a bite. Can you believe that?! I told Jason later, and he said the same boy pinched him one time after sliding. Weird!
After Monkey Joe's, we headed into Barnes and Nobles and got Ian a couple of books.
