A very special Christmas Eve

This year Christmas Eve was particularly special. Not only was it a first for us as a family but my brother, Andrew and Scot's brother, Pete and his girlfriend, Jodi were in town to celebrate with us. We went to Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church followed by an open house at my parents house.

My brother and dad treated us to a Christmas music concert. It brought tears to my eyes.

Thomas charming Aunt Kay and Uncle Kelly.

 Pete and Jodi enjoying the free concert.

 Grandpa D and Thomas.

 Grandpa S and his namesake, Thomas.

 Of course Thomas loves Jodi AKA the 'baby whisperer'.

The next day we went and visited GREAT grandma Dopko. She sure does love our little Thomas.

Next up . . .Christmas Day! :-)

xoxo,
Sarah

The Most Wonderful Time . . .

I better start updating this blog before I get voted off the island. ;-)

To say the least, we have been busy enjoying Thomas's first holiday season.

 2011 was a busy baby year among our friends. All five babies are between 5 and 7 months! It is going to be so much fun to watch them grow.

 Thomas met Santa at a Christmas party thrown by our good friends. Our friend Tom is Santa. :-) Posing with Thomas is his gal pal Regan. She and Thomas were born on the same day, two hours apart! Regan's mom and I are already planning the wedding. ;-)

 Thomas and Santa.

 Just another morning in the Scheffel house. Thomas checking out what daddy is eating. Looks like a nice, healthy choice dad!

 Thoams found his toes!

 Capturing my precious boy during playtime on camera.

 Loves to stick out his tongue.

 What a little ham.

 Needless to say, I am crazy in love with this baby.

 Thomas and his gal, Claire. He loves to touch her.

Like I said, 2011 was a busy baby year! Scot and I are in a growth group and three of the 7 couples had babies this year. Thomas is 5 months, Claire (left) is 6 months and Ava (right) is 7 months. So fun!!

General Awesomeness

I got a new phone, it takes amazing pictures. As I scroll though the photo album on my phone I notice that all of the pictures are of Thomas. I don't have a problem with this because he is awesome. Here are a few recent awesome times with Thomas. 

Yep, we braved Black Friday with Thomas! In truth we didn't go shopping until 10:30 am so it really was not so bad (other than traffic) and we had a great time. Here is little Thomas picking up something at Macy's.

 'Well hello, welcome to my Exersaucer.'

 4 month doctor appointment. He was such a good boy during the appointment. He didn't even make a peep after his shots. Here he is checking out the fish tank in the waiting room.

 And here he is hamming it up with daddy in the exam room. He likes to be naked so I think he loves the doctor because he can parade around in his diaper.

 Oh yea, we are trying some rice cereal! Not really interested yet but the practice session sure was cute.

Thomas has discovered his tongue this week. He loves to stick it out and curl it up.

See I told you, general awesomeness. :-)

A Thanksgiving Dinner Club

Scot and I are fortunate enough to get together with a group of friends once a month for a dinner club. We all live within walking distance of each other and we all like to eat! This month the theme was Thanksgiving (go figure). As always the food was incredible and as always I ate way too much!

Yep, we fried a turkey. Note: You cannot fry a turkey without a cold Bud Light in your hand.

 The two newest additions to dinner club: Thomas and Alex. Notice Thomas's scowl, that is a classic Thomas facial expression. :-)

 Scot and his turkey, it turned out incredible!

 Matt checking on the side dishes.

 Tom and Tom.

 Tom and mom. (This feels like a Dr. Seuss rhyme) - HA!

The gang around the table.

 So good I had to take a picture of my plate. ;-)

 Rowan teaching Thomas the ABC's.

Thomas listening to Rowan's wise teachings. :-)

Thanks friends!

Playtime in the Exersaucer

4 Months

I had to check the calendar at least twice yesterday. Could it already be Nov. 22 and can Thomas actually already be 4 months old! He is bringing joy into our lives everyday and we could not be more happy or feel more blessed.
The little guy is laughing, smiling, talking and drooling all the time these days!

 Tummy time!

Scot giving Thomas a 'hands on' tour of the pantry.

Practicing sitting in the Bumbo and cooking in the kitchen. You are not quite ready yet little man.

 Super fan.

 Here is our newest accomplishment! We LOVE the exersaucer. Now we can play while standing up!

 Yes, I am partial but I have decided this might be the cutest little guy around.

Happy 4 month birthday my love.

Happy Halloween!

Thomas had his first Halloween and to celebrate the occassion we had a little Halloween open house. Family and friends stoped by for some food and trick or treating!

Scot was a farmer, I was a scarecrow and little T was an ear of corn!



 Baby corn with his grandma Dopko.

 The farmer and his corn. Corn is also Scot's favorite food - watch out little T! :-)

 Friends and family gathered in, where else, the kitchen. :-)

Lazy girl jack-o-lanterns turned out pretty good. I just took plastic trick or treating pumpkins and put tea lights in them.

Happy Halloween!

Thomas is 3 months!

Holy cow, where did the time go?!?!
Here is a little video of the big man. Sorry for a lack of videos, they take FOREVER to upload and this mommy has little patience for such things these days. :-)

Thumb sucker

Thomas has discovered his thumb, well actually his entire hand usually involved when he needs a little self soothing or is bored. I need to capture it on video but in the meantime . . . .

 Sucking his thumb during 'tummy time'. 

Going for the entire hand while spending time in his swing. 

I don't mind, I was a thumb sucker too and I turned out pretty good. ;-)

Yes, I really am this cute. ;-)

Where have you been?

Well it turns out it is not easy for me to blog and also raise a baby. Go figure. :-) However, Thomas and his mommy have discovered something so revolutionary that we are still blown away - the mid-day nap!!! Currently Thomas has been sleeping for almost 2 hours - I can't believe it! I actually find myself walking around the house looking for things to do.

A lot has been happening around here. Let's catch up quickly.

First up: Thomas turned 1 month old!

 He is in LOVE with this play mat. He could stare at the blinking light and listen to the songs it plays all day. Sadly, mom and dad now have the music memorized.

Thomas met his cousin Caleb! I have no doubt this little guy will be getting Thomas into all sorts of trouble when they are older. :-)

One stylish grandma at the zoo! 

Of course, Thomas is a Bronco fan!

Thomas met his Great GREAT grandpa. There is a 90 year difference between these two. :-)

Little Thomas has developed a SERIOUS mullet.

Mullet close up. Awesome. Scot wants to cut it. I say no way!

Thomas turns 2 months! Whew, that was a quick two months!