Haircut Day!

The time came and went. and then it went on for a few more weeks. Ok FINE! About a month...maybe, possibly even more.

Ryan's hair grew into a mullet, and it was so fun to play with and put into a little ponytail that I just could not bring myself to cut it. I was afraid to cut off all of his "babyhood". But geeze. Now I look back and I wonder to myself, what was I doing to this poor kid? He looks so much better now :)

BEFORE:

After:

I think I did a pretty good job! Slap an apron on me and call me a hairstylist.
Wait, no. Don't do that at all. This was beginner's luck.

Oh, and Tristan got his haircut too!

Yeah, I know. What a pill ;)

2012 Highlights

2012

Yes, my previous post stated that it's been a rough year. But throughout the trials, we have still managed to have a lot of UPS and a lot of JOY and LESSONS and LAUGHTER. Some of our highlights:

• We moved from Renton to Covington, Washington in February. We snagged a beautiful 3 bedroom rambler with a fully fenced yard and an awesome landlord. We couldn't be more pleased.

• We attended not one, but TWO family reunion's. Both the Thompson & the Flom reunions.

• Grandma came to visit us TWICE this year! She was able to be here for both kids birthdays and attend their birthday parties. We loved having her here and it was great to see her interact with the kids. Quite the difference in September from April. I think she was pleased :)

• I got to attend one of my oldest and dearest friends wedding. My childhood BFF, my fellow musketeer, and the love of her life sealed the deal. It was truly a great experience to get to be apart of something we'd dreamed up in our heads as little girls :)

• Mommy turned 25. Daddy turned 24. Chloe turned 5! & little Reesey boy has been apart of our family for 4 years, so he's at least 4 ;) Oh, and we're all alive. 

• Tristan Daniel took leaps and bounds this year. He turned 2 years old, began talking (and never stopping), singing and dancing, counting, and coloring. He made the big switch from the Toddler bed to Big Boy Bed (aka Twin bed). He traded his Lightning McQueen in for Thomas the Train, and most importantly he knows all the lyrics to Taylor Swifts new CD "Red". We're very proud parents :)

• Ryan Joseph LITERALLY took giant steps this year. He began walking and babbling, and sleeping through the night. He made the change from baby to toddler, mashed food to real food, rear facing to forward facing. This boy is quite the little monster. He's our mischevious one. If you don't know where Ryan is, you better go find him because he's most likely digging through your trash. It's a good thing he's the sweetest, cuddliest little mama's boy ever. We think we'll keep him around ;)

• We threw a fun Mickey Mouse themed birthday party for Tristan's 2nd birthday party including a bouncy house and lots of little friends. Ryan 1st birthday was celebrated with a Mustache Bash full of retro Coke bottles, mustaches, cotton candy & the best friends ever. 

• We purchased TWO cars this year. We FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY have a 2nd car. We traded our Jeep in for a 2006 Kia Spectra 5, and then purchased a 94 Honda Civic from one of my coworkers. We love it. Funny, that I think we both prefer to drive the 2door 94? 

• We celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary AND our 4th year of living and breathing amongst each other day in and day out. If you haven't heard it before, you should really hear the story about how we've basically been married since the day we met. Eric came over one night and never went home. And that's the way I like it :)

Whew! What a year :)

Ps. Keep looking out for our "About Me" page and if you haven't seen it, check out our new "This is the after party" page for a brief summary of our blog and the story behind it.

These kinds of things remind me that if only we keep on going, we will look back and be able to say that we got through it all.

Public Service Announcement- Thompson style

Our dear friends and family:

As many of you know, 2012 has been quite a challenging year for the Thompson family. Many of you are confused as to what is going on with us and why, etc. We understand the confusion and while we greatly appreciate all the love and support that has been offered, we ask that any questions or concerns be kept to a minimum while we navigate through this confusing and difficult time. We have decided that as confusing as this time is for us, it is even more confusing and also a bit frustrating to have to be answering everyone's questions and emails, when we don't really know the answers ourselves yet. We hope that our true friends and family understand that we know they are there, and that we will reach out when we feel necessary.

We understand that recent Facebook "announcements" have led to the confusion, and alerted many people of an issue even existing, and for that we apologize. We are still learning and growing up-- sometimes adults get their feelings hurt too :p We don't always react the best or handle things exactly the way they should be handled.

For now, we will be focusing on our family, and taking things day by day. Regardless of which way the road takes us, please know that we will always love and respect each other and the needs of our two boys will always be put first.

Thank you for understanding. We love each and every one of you and we appreciate the continued support.

Join us in 2013 for a fresh start, and a whole lot more blogging! (I PROMISE!!!!)

XOXO
Happy Holidays!!

Love,
the Thompson family

Bikes bikes bikes!

This past summer Tristan became obsessed with the word "Bike"-- I'm pretty sure that this is mostly in reference to motorcycles and dirt bikes because I am 100% brainwashing my child. Gotta start them early, ya know. 

We have been trying to get this kid to ride his bike all year.

 It was one of our family goals that we set (We have failed in most aspects of our goals-- more on that later). We felt strongly that Tristan would be able to achieve this by the end of the year. Unfortunately, Tristan's obsession with bikes has not helped him grow an extra inch or so. He has a really hard time reaching the pedals. We're also pretty sure that the "tricycle" situation is really pointless. Have you ever tried to pedal a tricycle? It can not get any harder. The wheels are plastic. I can barely do it. 

We'll be buying him a real bike with real tires in the spring. For now, he has fun pretending to ride, ie getting on and off the bike, checking the bike out, being pushed, and pushing the bike. 

This past summer:

This past week:

Isn't it crazy what a few months difference can make?! Hopefully this kid will grow a bit so he can reach the pedals better :)

Bye Bye Binky!!

So as many of you know, Tristan has been WELL KNOWN for his love of Binky. Aka lifeline.

In our previous ward, he was known as the "Mute Button" baby because of his Binky that said "Mute Button".

One day... I threw it in the trash.

And that was that. 

UHHHHHH--- MAZING.

We had a short cry on the 2nd day during naptime, but I read him a quick story and life was suddenly right again and off to sleep he went. 

Seriously? If I had known that it would be this easy, we wouldn't have fretted so much about getting rid of it. BUT I still would have used it. Everyone has their opinions on the pacifier. Mine? I never cared. I KNEW he wouldn't be walking across the stage at 18 to receive his diploma with it in his mouth-- SO WHAT if he ended up 4 years old with a pacifier in his mouth...really. I just didn't care. I let him have it because I value my sleep. And in the end, we won. 

Now, we'll just wait another year or so and hope for the best when it comes time for Ryan. 

ps.

THANK YOU GOD.

& also,

HALLELUJAH!