Eating and sitting and a kitty, Oh My!

At 5 1/2 months Thomas is reveling in a few new experiences. 

First up, drinking from a sippy cup. He is also mastering drinking from a big person glass. Mom is going to have to get a video of that one.

Ready, set . . . . 

 sippy!

 Eating solid ROCKS!

 Thomas and Reggie are becoming fast friends. Thomas will watch Reggie every where he goes. Now that Thomas is sitting on his own, he can have more up close and personal visits with Reggie.

 There he goes . . .

Life is good!

First Christmas for Thomas

2011 Christmas will always be a special one. Celebrating with a baby adds a whole new level of fun, smiles, wrapping, unwrapping and assembling!! :-)

 Here is Scot assembling a jumper for Thomas on Christmas Eve at about 11 PM. Get used to this Scot, you will have many more years of late night assembly in your future. (He looks thrilled, huh?)

 Our first Christmas as a family. Nice work on the jumper, Scot.

 Christmas morning, he LOVES it!

 The Scheffel family - Thomas at 5 months.

 Later that day we had all of the family over for Christmas brunch. Here is Grandma Scheffel showing Thomas the star on the tree.

Uncle Andrew and Thomas in deep conversation.

 Thomas checking out his new toys.

I am a little worried for the T-Rex . . . .

 Remember that lovely before picture? Here is the 'after'. SO MUCH FUN!

 One more 'after' shot.

The next day we went to breakfast at the Scheffel's. Of course any time Thomas can cuddle with Jodi, he takes FULL advantage. :-)

The Dopko family.

It was SUCH a merry Christmas! :-)

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!