The Thibeault's

Our sweet Jake....

2011-12-30T20:12:00.000-05:00

This past Tuesday, we had to say goodbye to our sweet Jake dog. He suddenly became ill and when we took him to the vet we found out that he had cancer in his spleen. A tumor had burst and he was bleeding inside. From what I have read, even dogs who could sucessfully recover from a splenectomy still only survive less than 6 months. In the end we decided that it wouldn't be fair to put thim through all of that stress if the end result would be the same.

I had no idea I was so attached to the big, hairy old guy. Saying goodbye to him was so hard and I felt like the grim reaper. It was awful to say the least. Andrew and I got to spend some alone time with him before he was put down. We talked to him, pet him and cried on him. We fed him treats and he snorted like he always did. He was truly the best dog in the world. There will never, ever be another like him.

To make it even harder, Logan dosen't really comprehend what has happened. We talked about how Jake was sick and he was hurting and that Mommy and Daddy took him to the vets, but he couldn't be fixed. We used the term "passed away" instead of "dead" as it sounded a little less scary. We read the book Dog Heaven and so far this has been an acceptable explanation for him. He does talk about Jake quite a bit still and says that he misses him. When we were picking up his dishes and things, Logan wanted to know if we could take them to "Kevin" (Heaven) so Jake could use them there.

So we've been taking it day by day. The house feels empty and I often am reminded of him. Places he used to lay, sounds he used to make. Jake, wherever you are, I hope there's lots of bacon treats and big soft beds to sleep on... We miss you, buddy!

Big Baby News!

2011-12-21T23:03:00.000-05:00

Big Baby News!!!!!!!!!!

Erin and Casey's family expanded to three this evening at 7:32pm when they welcomed Miss Kendall Brooke to the world.

She's adorable and perfect and I can't wait to get my hands on her and love her up, honorary Auntie style!! Poor Erin was in labor for approximatley 30 hours, according to my calculations... it could be more though! (I didn't get to talk to her at length tonight!) I'm so excited to talk to her and hear her birth story! Birth stories are fascinating to me! You can see Logan's birth story here. I still haven't written out Luke's yet... all of this baby talk is making me want to! It's also making my ovaries do somersaults! I always thought I only wanted 2 babies.... but almost immediatley after Luke was born, I found myself wanting another... and here we are again...So who knows... maybe Team Thibeault is not yet complete!

With this being Christmas week, our Elf on a Shelf, Herbie has been up to his usual shenanigans... here's what Logan will find him doing in the morning:

I think this one is my favorite one to date! I love how Logan gets up every morning and the first thing he does is to look for Herbie. I'll be sad when old Herb has to go back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve...

catch-up...

2011-12-16T20:22:00.000-05:00

It's been quite some time since I last posted. I guess amidst the chaos I felt like I didn't have much to update on... It feels so busy, but when friends ask what we've been up to, it's mostly kids, work, sleep and repeat. It's amazing how much time of our lives that these 3 seemingly mundane things take up!

Today was a big day at our house, as Luke (finally!!) sprouted his first tooth! After 8 1/2 months my baby has a tooth! It only took Logan 4 months to get teeth, so I was beginning to wonder if Luke had any in there at all! It's so exciting and so very sad at the same time. My sweet little baby is starting to become a big boy. It makes me so sad, as he's likely our last baby so I just want him to stay little forever.

We're gearing up for Christmas! Logan is very into it this year which has made it so much fun :) We've "adopted" an Elf on the Shelf (if you don't know what this is, check it out at www.elfontheshelf.com) Logan has named him Herbie and he's a bit mischievous! If you follow my Facebook page, then you've probably seen pictures! It's been a lot of fun for Logan and for us!

My dear friend, Erin is about to have a baby which is so exciting!! We're all quite excited to meet Baby H and welcome him/her to the world. Erin and Casey have chosen not to find out the sex which makes it even more exciting. I have to give her kudos! I don't think I could stand the suspense! For the record, I think it's a girl, and it's going to be born on a Sunday!

silence...

2011-09-24T04:09:00.000-05:00

Silence... it's what you've been getting from me latley! To say we've been busy is putting it lightly. Chickens running around with their heads cut off is probably slightly more accurate!

And silence is what I'm listening to right now... just sweet noises of Logan, Luke, Andrew (and even Jake!) sleeping. I've been tossing in turning in bed for about an hour, unable to get back to sleep after Luke's 3am feeding. Too many lists of things to do running through my mind!

Things seem to be sliding right along as we go from summer to fall. Luke is quickly approaching his 6 month birthday (!!) He's rolling all over the place now and is working on some sort of crawl... (scoot butt up and face plant into the floor... scream and repeat!) We started solid foods this week and Mr. Food Connoisseur with his delicate little palate can't possibly eat it unless it's warmed AND thickened with cereal. It's been really fun to watch him experience new tastes and textures. Is it possible that your second child grows even faster than your first?!

Logan is such a loving big brother. He loves Luke more than anything and has taken to telling him "You're my best friend!" quite often. As a Mom, there are few things sweeter than that! I can only hope that when they get a little older, he still feels the same way about him! He's always so concerned about where Luke is or why he's upset. Hopefully this means that not only does he love his brother but that we're doing a good job of raising a compassionate, caring young man!

A few weekends ago, we took the kids on a (very impromptu!) trip to Boston for a quick over-nighter. We hit up the New England Aquarium, Faniuel Hall and Quincy Market! (and I talked Andrew into a quick stop into Ikea!! wooot!) Logan really loved the aquarium! Staying in the hotel was a cool idea as well... until it was actually time to go to bed. It's a good thing we had a king, because he ended up sleeping with us!

Hanging out at the hotel, waiting to go to the Aquarium!

"Mom!! That fish is like this big!!!"

Logan got to touch Hermit Crabs and Starfish.... and was thoroughly creeped out by it!

Luke slept through the whole thing....

(darn blogger keeps rotating this the wrong way on me!!)

Playing in the Learning Center

Terrible two's??? Try terrible three's!

2011-09-06T15:26:00.000-05:00

Whoever decided that a childs two year old year should be nicknamed "the terrible two's" clearly has never lived with a 3 year old.....

My sweet little baby Logan has turned into Mr. Independent pre-schooler Logan who knows everything and can do everything "BY MYSELF!!!" I love that he's independent and wants to learn to do things for himself; but when we have only a certian amount of time to get out of the house in the morning and he insists on "tying" (read: trying to tie, not suceeding and throwing a tantrum as a result) his shoes, a Mom has to draw the line somewhere!!!!

I know they say to choose your battles and to not fight over the small stuff (I think this also comes from someone who has never lived with a 3 year old, but I digress...) We try to redirect and distract, we try to ignore bad behavior and praise the good and rewards - some of which works sometimes and not others (of course!) We have been muddling through, and I'm hopingthat the day he turns 4 all of this craziness and chaos that our house can sometimes be will vanish (hey, a Mommy can dream, right?)

bleary eyed and sleep deprived

2011-08-27T09:25:00.000-05:00

I've always been told that 1st children are easy so that you have more.... if you had your second child first, that you would have stopped at one! Luke is fairly identical to his brother..... except for this whole sleep thing. At first I chalked it up to the "4 month sleep regression". But here we are, closing in on 5 months old with no relief in sight...

I'm. Still. Tired.

We've started feeding him rice cereal before bed and he's still getting up 3-4 times at night to nurse. As much as I don't want to (read: am not ready to!) put him in his own room, I think I will have to try that. Maybe Andrew and I are noisy sleepers? Are we possibly waking him up? I feel like I'm grasping at straws for something.... anything!

For more exciting news.... I'm GOING PART TIME!!!!!!!!!!!! Starting in October, I will have Tuesday's off! I'm so excited about this I can hardly stand myself... I can't wait to be able to spend more time with my boys!

Luke is rolling over in both directions and now can pretty much roll himself where ever he wants to go! And Logan is now mastering the art of writing his own name. He's getting pretty good at it which makes me SO proud and so sad at the same time! Why are my little boys growing up so fast????

We also enjoyed Field Days recently.... here are a few pictures!

I think Logan needs a pony......

Luke wasn't as thrilled about the Children's Barnyard as Logan was!

Petting the donkey's with a little help from Justin

Family ride on the merry-go-round

I'm pretty sure Logan sat on every tractor there!

Luke napping at the tractor pulls

(I'm feeling a bit like redneck momma!)

Marriage... it's what brings us together today...

2011-08-18T21:03:00.000-05:00

If your'e a fan of the movie "The Princess Bride" you totally get the title of this post!

5 years ago (tomorrow!) Andrew and I were married! It's crazy to think about how much has changed since then and how our lives, home and family have all grown since then! He's the greatest Husband, father and best friend I could ever ask for.

I can remember at our wedding ceremony how my left leg (why only my left, I have no idea!) shook. Throughout the entire ceremony I could not keep my left leg from shaking.(good thing the skirt of my wedding dress was big so nobody could see!!) We had been planning the wedding for an entire year.... everything about the day was as planned as it could possibly be! Looking back I realize it wasn't nerves or being scared. It was excitement... excited about our special day that we would always remember. Excited about all the possibilities that our life together as husband and wife would bring. Excitement for the family we had talked about having together. And now 5 years, 1 home and 2 children later, I couldn't ask for more.....

sleep..... what's that?

2011-08-13T06:55:00.000-05:00

A 4 month sleep regression? Why don't I remember this happening with Logan? Oh yea... because he was STTN by 3 months! (spoiled much?!) Luke however, in his quest to look identical to his brother but to act as his polar opposite has entered this blessed time period....

I. am. tired.

20 minutes after I'm up for the day, I'm yawning and wishing I had time for a nap. Luke for quite a while was getting up for only one night time feeding at 2:30 am and then this whole sleep regression thing started. He's now up at 11, 2 and 4:30 to eat. At first I thought it was a growth spurt, but it's been 3 weeks now and I REALLY don't want to be forming a habit here.... What's a tired Mommy to do???

mish mash!

2011-08-03T21:10:00.000-05:00

I am a girl of many lists. I always seem to have one going... stuff to get done, groceries to buy, things to pack, bills to pay....... There is just something about being able to check a task off a list that it satisfying to me. It's visually "done".

So as I sit here in the kitchen waiting for my last batch of cookies to finish baking I'm tallying the running list in my head. I feel like as soon as I get 1 thing checked off as done, 3 more have appeared on my list. Since I am back to work full time, I feel like I'm getting further and further behind. I try to manage my time as best I can but it sure is easy to fall off track when you have 2 handsome boys to distract you!

How do my other workin' mama's keep their house in some sort of order during the week?! I'm always behind! Some of the dishes I just put in the dishwasher were from Monday night! (insert BBC vomit face here!) I'm clearly in need of any and all tips!

Last weekend, we hiked up Mooslamoo (on the Salisbury side) to Silver Lake. It was a lot steeper of a hike that I remember it being, so Andrew had to carry Logan up on his shoulders after the first hill! Both of the boys loved it! Jen, Kyle and Carly came along and we all had a really great time!

Luke was awake the whole hike up, all the time we spent at the lake and then about 1/2 way down he fell asleep...chewing on my thumb! He's been gnawing on pretty much anything he can get into his mouth lately. At this age Logan was sprouting his first tooth and I guess Luke isn't about to be left behind with that milestone!

Today's also a big day because My sweet niece Carly turned 1!!! We're really looking forward to her party on Saturday! We scored her some pretty awesome birthday goodies that I can't post about until after her birthday, incase her Mommy reads this post! :)

Then...

and

Now!

Happy Birthday, sweet Carly!! We love you!!!

1 year ago today...

2011-07-27T19:48:00.000-05:00

1 year ago today we found out our family was going to be growing... We finally got the positive result we'd been looking for on the pregnancy test (EPT is probably able to give raises just from all the sticks I peed on!) I was ready for disappointment, just like in the previous months but low and behold.. A BIG FAT POSITIVE! I had no words... Andrew had no words... we sat there for about 10 minutes just grinning at each other. It's a memory that I'll always hold dear to my heart :)

Exactly 365 days ago I imagined what life would be like right now... and you know what? (I know this sounds so sappy... so what! lol, it's MY blog!) It's even better than I had imagined!

A Day Out With Thomas

2011-07-22T06:31:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we went to the Conway Senic Railway in North Conway, NH for Logan's "surprise trip" to see and ride on Thomas the Train.... Thomas is one of his very favorite shows. We didn't tell him where we were going... so as we were looking for a place to park he saw the train and then saw Thomas on the end. I'm pretty surprised that the car seat straps held him down because he was bouncing up and down and yelling "IT'S THOMAS!!!!!!!" It was just the kind of reaction I was hoping that we'd get :) Here are a few pictures from our day:

It was 94 degrees that day... the train cars were not air conditioned... and it was HOT! Luke decided about 1/2 way through the train ride that he was SO done with the Moby and I'm pretty sure everyone in our car heard about it loud and clear! ;-)

After we got off the train, we went to see this enormous turtle... That Logan tried to sit on... the zookeeper about had a coronary! haha!

"Turtle... you eat that tall grass!"

Sir Topam Hat.... Logan was thrilled!!

High 5 for Sir Topam Hat!!! I love this one! :)

It was a great trip! We don't have anything else really planned for this summer which is kind of a bummer... nothing more to have to count down to or look forward to, but that's okay! We're hoping to take a few weekend day trips hiking and things so we will certainly be busy still!

Luke was officially 16 weeks old yesterday, but won't be technically 4 months until the end of next week on the 31st... I've already started getting e-mails from babycenter.com about starting solids...how can 16 weeks look so long but feel so short?! This time last year, we were just finding out that we were finally pregnant with him!

Back to the grind....

2011-07-14T19:57:00.000-05:00

So I've been back to work for a full week now... I'm sure you recall me writing (okay, whining) about it multiple times before! It wasn't so horrible... it is nice to have a bit of a "normal" routine and my bank account is much happier.

The first day I left the boys, I cried 1/2 way to work (okay, maybe more like 3/4 of the way, but it wasn't ALL the way!!) each day was a little less until today I didn't cry. At all!! Yes, I was sad and yes, I thought about how much it sucked to leave my little mini's but no tears... so progress is being made!

We finally got our family pictures back and I love them! Here's a few of my favorites:

You can really see how green Luke's eyes are becoming!

My little ham bone!

Our family!

It was hard to get good ones of everyone... someone was always making a face!

Mom & Dad with their grand kids!

I love the feet shot :)

Love <3

My sweet boys!

This weekend, we are taking Logan on a surprise trip to North Conway, New Hampshire to the railway there for a Day Out With Thomas! He will get to ride on a real steam train that's made to look like Thomas and there's also games and activities for the kids to do... Logan knows we're going on a "special surprise trip" but he does not know what we're doing. I can't wait to see his face when he gets there! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to post!

Is the 3rd time the charm?

2011-07-09T11:32:00.000-05:00

Everyone seems to be asking me the same question lately... "Will you guys try again for a girl?"

Right after Luke was born, I could answer this question without any hesitation. It was a resounding "NO!" I couldn't imagine my life with 3 boys (well 4 if you count Andrew! haha!) Don't get me wrong; I love my boys with every ounce of my being. There is nothing in this world that I wouldn't do for them. I look forward to watching them grow and change and become handsome, smart, responsible young men. However, the thought of nurturing 3 boys to adulthood seems a bit daunting!

But what if we did have another baby?

I wonder about my "Phantom Girl".... Logan's already a little motor head and I have a feeling no matter how many horse shows I drag Luke to, he's going to want in on what Logan and Daddy are doing....

I can remember as a little girl showing many horses... Buster, Cutie, Profit, Putt-Putt (great name, huh? :-P) And winning blue ribbons. Even though my Mom was there watching the whole class I couldn't wait to get out of that ring to show her what I'd won! I was so proud. Horse shows are some of my very favorite memories from my childhood and I won't get to share them with my "Phantom Girl".

"Phantom Girl" and I won't get to go shopping together. We won't get to chat about boys or school or what she wants to be when she grows up. I'll never know if she would have looked like me or had my laugh.

But on the flip side I won't have to worry about giving "the talk" (haha Drew! You have to do it twice!) I won't have to wash 4 different outfits per day that aren't even really dirty because she didn't like what she had on. I won't have to worry about the cattiness that always happens between teenaged girls or banging the bathroom door down after she's been showering for an entire hour.

But which side is worse? I'm not really sure...........

Our weekend at the lake!

2011-07-07T21:07:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share some of the fun we had at the lake over the 4th of July weekend!

Fishing on the dock

Logan adores his Uncle Kyle!

This is the correct form for tube entrance!

Relaxin'....

Camp

Andrew thought he'd be "Squanto" and tried paddling the canoe standing up... clearly it had a much wetter ending than anticipated!

Views off the dock

Aunt Jen brought a Slip n' Slide... hours of entertainment!

Happy parade patron!

Hanging at camp is tiring!

All in all a GREAT weekend had by all! Can't wait to do it all over again next year!

It's finally here...

2011-07-05T20:27:00.000-05:00

I go back to work tomorrow.

Why does everyone ask me if I'm ready? NO! Of course I'm not ready. If it were my choice, I'd stay home with the boys all the time. But since we have bills to pay, that isin't really an option....

We went to the lake for the long holiday weekend with my parents, Jen, Kyle and Carly. We all had such a wonderful time and are already talking about going again next year.... We had family pictures done... Maegan sent me a sneak peak of a few and I'm so excited to see the rest!

I'll blog more about the trip another time... right now I need to go get some more sleeping baby snuggles!

Bedtime Goodies

2011-06-28T20:24:00.000-05:00

Right now, both of the boys tend to go to bed at the same time so Andrew does Logan's routine and I do Luke's. Luke went down early tonight, so I got to read with Logan; which I haven't done in a while. I forgot how much fun it is! Tonight, we read 3 of my favorites. Logan knows them all by heart and recites along while I read! They are:

Roar of a Snore - By Marsha Diane Arnold

Goodnight Moon - By Margaret Wise Brown

I Love You, Stinky Face - By Lisa McCourt

I hope that when Logan grows older, he'll get to read these stories to his own kids and will think of the time that we spent together reading them :-)

Take me out to the ball game....

2011-06-26T07:12:00.000-05:00

We're working on the art of the roll over right now... and it's very hard work! Here's a few pictures of the attempts....

We're almost there... he can already spin himself around on the floor so I'm sure the big roll over isn't too far behind!!

On Friday night, we went to a Lake Monsters game (for my non-local friends, they're our minor league baseball team and are affiliated with the Oakland A's) with our friends Zach and Jennie and their daughter, Sophia. We've never taken Logan before... I always thought he'd get bored with it and want to leave by the 2nd inning. But he actually loved it! He got to give Champ a five and even got his hat signed by him! I didn't think to whip out my camera for any pictures of that as I was too busy watching Logan thoroughly enthralled with the biggest, fuzziest, 4 wheeler riding green mascot he's ever seen!

Luke however, didn't make it past the 3rd inning... even with the PA system right above our heads and everyone yelling and cheering, he slept like... well... a baby! :)

So at this point, Logan got his hands on the camera... of about 50 (no, I'm not exaggerating!) pictures that he took, here are a few that I thought I'd share. I asked him to take pictures of what he thought was important at the game...

He took quite a few of the people sitting in front of us... apparently, they're integral to the game ;-)

"Just think of the positives...."

2011-06-24T09:36:00.004-05:00

This is the advice that Andrew gave me when I was ~~talking~~ complaining to him about having to go back to work. Obviously this has been a topic that has been on my mind a lot lately, as I return to work in only 11 days. So here I am, trying to come up with a list of positive things...

1) I won't have to come up with an answer to the question "But why, Mommy?" I'm not exaggerating when I say that I must answer this question 100 times in a day... "But why is Luke crying?... But why do you have to fold that laundry?... But why do I have to take a nap?" (that last one is usually accompanied by foot stomping and some screaming... I guess I won't miss that part either!)

2) Feeling like I really need to keep up with the laundry/dishes/cleaning... Since I'm home all the time, I sort of feel like I have to keep up with all of the above... otherwise, I'm not really contributing much. I've already informed Drew that once I'm back to working 40 hours a week, he can kiss his freshly made bed goodbye. Chances are he's going to be getting into it the same way he got out of it that morning!

3) Adult interaction. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with the boys and all the chats that Logan and I have had... But theres only so many topics that are interesting to a 3 year old boy... Trucks, trains and poo are 3 conversations that can only go so far before you're saying all the same things over again! And why are little boys so obsessed with talking about poo anyway!?

4) Doses of "Cat In The Hat", "Sid The Science Kid" and "Curious George" are something I will only be subject to on weekends... PBS is great, but when you watch it at breakfast every day.... well, you get the picture!

5) Money... is there really any explanation needed for this one??

So I know it won't be totally horrible. I know I'll get through it and once we get settled into a routine we'll all be just fine. But yes, I still have 11 days to dread it and chances are you'll be reading about it again soon ;-)

a good, old fashioned, stomp your feet kind of tantrum...

2011-06-21T08:12:00.002-05:00

Can I just have a minute to throw a bit of a 3 year old tantrum? (trust me, I know all too well how these go down!)

I really, really, reeeeeeally wish I didn't have to go back to work. It's still 2 weeks away and I'm dreading having to leave the boys. It probably does not help that for the past 11 weeks and 5 days, Luke and I haven't left each other's side...

I know, I know. You don't have to say it... I know I need to leave him at least once for a few hours before I have to do it for an entire work day. But this is likely our last baby... (that's another post, however!) I'm never going to have this time again. I don't know if I'm ready to give up this part of my life. When I go back to work, it'll be gone forever. I feel as though we're almost frozen in time right now. I got to freeze my 'normal' life for 3 months. I got to put 100% of my focus into my 2 amazing children and the family Andrew and I have created and now I have to give it up. Monetarily, we both have to work right now so I know there's no way around it, but it just feels so unfair... Bills, mortgage... all of it is just so unfair!

okay... tantrum over.

2 years, really??

2011-06-20T19:19:00.006-05:00

It's been about 2 years since I've blogged. Recently, a few of my friends and some fellow March Mommy's have started blogging and inspired me to start again... so here I am.

So where to start... Let's go with since 2009.......

We went camping for the whole fourth of July week with Jen and Kyle in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. It was HOT.... near 100 degrees every day. We had such a wonderful time and it was a great last hurrah for Jen and Kyle, because.....

This gorgeous little girl made her debut!!! Carly Ann Delabruere was born 8/3/10 about 3 weeks early. She only got more and more beautiful as time went on... here she is now.

Also in the summer of 2010, Andrew and I found out that we would be adding to our little family as well! Logan was so excited to become a big brother. He nicknamed the baby "Baby Popcorn" and for weeks after he was actually born, we still continued to call him that!

Summer faded into fall and then to winter... We enjoyed holidays with our family as my belly grew larger and appointments with our midwife grew closer together. "Baby Popcorn" was due to arrive 4/3/11. My last appointment was 3/30/11. I was 39 weeks and 3 days, and it was also Andrew's birthday. The one thing Andrew had said all along was that he hoped the baby was not born on his birthday was because he wanted him to have his own, special day... So at this appointment, I had my membranes swept (don't worry... it sounds much more painful and gross than it actually was!) and I was on my way. We had dinner at my parents home and went home and put Logan to bed.... I woke up at 11:52. The red alarm clock numbers are for some reason, something I will always remember. I never went into labor with Logan... I had to be induced so I really didn't know how it felt to start contracting on my own. Anyway, I ran to the bathroom... clearly, I was thinking these were a different kind of cramp ;-) Nothing happened. I went back to bed... about 20 minutes later, it started happening again. That's when I first thought this might be it... I started writing down and timing contractions at this point... and about an hour and a half later I woke Andrew up to tell him that I was in labor... he went from half asleep to jumping out of bed with his eyes as wide as quarters all within about 3 seconds! We timed them for a few more contractions and then called Andrew's mom to come stay with Logan. This was definitely it. We drove to the hospital, got lost in the halls on the way up to Maternity and Luke Donald Thibeault made a fast and furious entrance to the world all within ONE hour.

The last 11 weeks have been a blur of diapers, nursing and intermittent sleeping. Everyone has adjusted pretty well. Logan just adores being Luke's big brother. He proudly proclaims to anyone who asks "Luke is MY baby"

So that brings us to now... I have 2 weeks left before I return to work... It's bittersweet... maybe a little more bitter than sweet, I mean, how can you resist these faces???

Christmas really isin't that far away you know....

2009-10-13T20:42:00.002-05:00

If you know me at all, you know I'm a planner. I need to know all the "W's" - Who, What, Where, When and Why.... If I don't know all these things before an event happens, I'm completley lost. Some may say it's OCD (Andrew!) I say it's a healthy need to know ;)

But I have to say that tonight, I may have taken it a touch too far (nobody can ever tell Andrew I admitted that!) Tonight, I started making out my christmas lists!! Just what I've bought for whom so that I can keep things even and track my spending. In my own defense, Christmas is really not that far away. Less than 3 months now, as a matter of fact. Andrew, however, found this to be an outlandish and completley un-necessary thing to do in the middle of October. True, I am early, but on the same token, I will probably be done with my shopping before December gets here... then who'll be laughing at who???

All Summer Long...

2009-09-11T19:11:00.004-05:00

Another summer long blogging hiatus! With so much going on, I've not really had a lot of time to myself to sit down and actually blog. With Logan in bed early tonight, and the hubby completley absorbed in sports center, here I am! :)

Here's a quick run down of the summer. Rain. And a lot of it. Most of June and July was rain, rain, rain. We still did get a week-long camping trip to Old Orchard Beach, Maine in. We had a few good weather days where we got to enjoy the beach, but of course, there was rain involved too... Still, we made the best of it. Logan wasn't scared of the ocean AT ALL... a little too dare-devilish for Mommy's liking. He really liked jumping directly into the waves. Here's a few pics of the cutest kid on earth, enjoying his first trip to the ocean!

Logan has really started making the transition to a full blown toddler (knock down, drag out tantrums included at no extra charge!) He's talking more and more, and has re-named both sets of Grandparents to boot. Andrew's Mom and Dad are now "Mimi" and "Bampy" and my parents are now "Mema" and "Bepa". It seems as if he comes out with a few new words each day. As of recently, he loves to dance and will show off his moves whenever he can get you to watch. It's pretty much the cutest thing you've ever seen!! (so what if my opinion is biased!?)

In October, we're headed back to Maine to do the Fryeburg Fair with my parents. It's a Thurs-Sun and we camp at the fair. It's a really nice long weekend. One of those places where everything is exactly the same every time you go, and that's the best part :) Between shopping and a LOT of fair food, I'm really looking forward to camping and spending some time as a family!

2009-04-05T22:04:00.001-05:00

I took this survey on facebook in my Circle Of Mom's app, and I thought it'd be fun to post it here, too!

1. How old were you when your first child was born?24

2. What month and year was your youngest child born?January, 2008

3. How did you feel when you first found out you were pregnant?EXCITED!!! We were trying to get pregnant for a little while, so when it happened we were very happy

4. Who did you tell first?Andrew, then my sister right after

5. How many pounds did you gain during your first pregnancy?48.... bad, I know!

6. What did you crave while you were pregnant?Salty stuff. Mostly melted cheese and chips!

7. Did you find out the gender of your first child? Why or why not?Yes. Andrew was gung-ho about finding out from the very beginning. I took some convincing. It definitley made it much easier to buy baby stuff. The next time around though, I don't think that I want to know. We already have all the essential stuff. And I think it's one of lifes few really great suprises....

8. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?nope. Completley textbook until the end when an induction didn't work!

9. How much did your first child weigh?8lbs 11oz

10. Was your first child early, late, or on time?2 weeks late

11. What is the most difficult challenge or health issue that any of your children have faced?He recently had Bronchiolitis (as opposed to Bronchitis) and we had to treat him with a nebulizer, which he absolutley HATED. He screamed the entire time we had to do a treatment. It was terrible!

12. What's your favorite part of being a mom?Watching him learn something new. And also kisses. They're very wet, but they're so sweet :-)

13. Do you think it's easier to be a mom or a dad?Dad. It's hard to explain. As a Mom, you've got 9 months on Dad as far as knowing the baby goes, so the baby always wants Mom. She gets far fewer breaks than the dad does!

14. What is the best piece of advice you could give to someone who is about to have their first child?Sleep! Your democracy is about to become a dictatorship, so enjoy your last few moments of freedom while you have them! :-)

15. Did you always think you'd have kids?Without question.

16. What's been the biggest surprise about motherhood?I was so afraid that I wouldn't know what he wanted when he was crying or how to make him stop... It's weird, because as soon as that baby is born, you just kinda know!!

17. Are there things you miss about life before kids?the ability toleave the house in 10 minutes... now you have to make sure you have snacks and juice and extra clothes and diapers and you have to know how long you're going to be gone so you can pack all of the above accordingly!

18. How many children do you have?1

19. Do you plan to have any more children?probably one more

20. Who's the mom that you admire most?Tie between my Mom and Barb!

The things we carry

2009-03-21T10:04:00.002-05:00

I know I haven't written a blog in a while... a long while! I guess I've been in a bit of a rut, and this morning, while I was packing Logan's diaper bag for a small road trip that we're taking tomorrow, an idea struck me, and here I am.

Since it's been a while since I'd actually completely emptied aforementioned bag, I thought, hey, why not... I've actually got time and lord knows what I'll find. So, in no particular order, here's what I found....

1) An empty tupperware... clean. I'm pretty sure I left it at moms and she threw it in before I left... nice and washed of course! Thanks, Mom!

2) A small container of goldfish.

3) A small container of veggies straws.

4) A toy cell phone.

5) 1/2 a Hannaford's Fresh magazine. I think I gave it to him to rip up while we were grocery shopping to keep him entertained... hey, you do what you have to do!

6) A blue plastic dinosaur.

7) 3 pairs of socks.

8) a spare sucky.

9) Baby Tylenol.

10) A lot of crumpled up Kleenex. I'm hoping it's new, and not used.... either way, I threw it out!

11) 2 Onesies. (both too small now)

12) 1 pair of pants. (also too small)

13) swim trunks. (clearly WAY too small... those were left over from last summer!)

14) A bib.

15) 2 spoons and 1 fork.

16) 4 daytime diapers and 1 night diaper.

17) Wipes case, almost empty.

18) Burt's bees cream.

19) A "tool" keyring, that makes various noises.

20) 3 Matchbox cars.

21) 4 Lego Duplo blocks.

22) A lot of snack shrapnel (stray goldfish, teddy grahams etc...)

23) an envelope of grocery coupons.

24) 5 bucks!!!!!!!!!!! yesssss!

25) an envelope with some of his first hair cut in it

26) 2 pens

27) 1 juice cup (also washed, thanks, Mom!)

So after surveying all these contents, it got me to thinking... Do all Mom's carry around this much stuff? Am I just a diaper bag pack rat? It's funny, because there are some aspects of my life where neatness, planning and order reign. My desk at work. Logan's schedule. Planning Jen's bridal shower... And then there are some things, like this diaper bag that looks to be completely out of control! I guess it just makes me normal. Not everyone can be neat and perfect all the time. And you know, I wouldn't have this bag any other way!

I give up!

2009-02-18T19:28:00.002-05:00

I think that there is some sort of electronic/ appliance ghost that lives in our house... or maybe anything new and expensive that we acquire knows that it lives in our house now, so it plans an early death.....

We were sitting in the living room on Thursday, watch TV on our BRAND NEW flat screen TV and it died.... the whole screen went completely black... and when you tried to turn it off or on, it made a loud popping noise....

Let me re-count the list of things that have died in the 3 1/2 years that we have lived here: (drum roll, please.........)

1) The first thing that went about 2 months after we moved in was the dryer... keep in mind it came with the house, was extremely old and operated on gas.... so that wasn't a terrible thing. We had some gift cards and coupons for home depot, so not a huge expense for us.

2) Maybe a month later the dishwasher died. My indication on this one was the burnt plastic smell :-)

3) In January of the first year here, the furnace died. That one hurt the wallet a little more... $1700 bucks with installation....

4) Then came our 2nd dishwasher. One of the pipes underneath froze and burst... conveniently when we were not home... we arrived home to a wet dog, an even wetter kitchen and a flooded basement.....

5) Shortly after Logan was born, the TV in our bedroom nearly caught fire. It wasn't even turned on when it started this really high pitched screech, then there was the burning plastic smell and the glow coming out of the back!

6) Just before Christmas 2008, we had a power surge that got both our TV's, all the lights, our circuit box (or whatever that's called!) all the smoke detectors, Logan's monitor and various other electronics

7) our TV this past Sunday.

What the hell?? How do I stop this ghost from ruining all my stuff!? My vote is to move... still working on Andrew on that one..... ;-)

I'm terrible at keeping this thing up!

2009-02-02T21:50:00.002-05:00

Let's face it... I am really, really, really bad at keeping up with this blog.... I can admit it. I know, I know. But let me throw this out there... being a Mom of a walking... scratch that, running toddler is EXHAUSTING. Here are some of Logan's new favorite things:

1) Playing in the toilet water.... (you try to get Andrew to shut the lid, or at least the bathroom door... impossible!)

2) Playing in Jake's water dish, and trying to pull it out of the holder (sucessfully, about 45% of the time) and dumping the whole thing all over himself and the floor.

3) Using his sucky as a shovel to rid my plants of all the soil in the pot (now all my plants are off the floor!)

4) While he's walking around with a snack, he'll "show" it to Jake, Jake will lick it, then Logan eats it. GROSS! They say dogs mouths are cleaner than humans mouths, but when's the last time you saw a human lick their own butt!?

5) He LOVES to play with the house phone. No matter where we are, he will find the phone, and then proceed to throw a huge fit when you take it away... ditto for your keys. (My mom is still looking for the keys to her car... sorry Mom!)

6) Durring aformentioned melt-downs, he figured out hitting mommy in the face gets a whole lot of reaction out of her... We're working on "nice touches"... it's getting better. slowly.

7) He's still putting EVERYTHING in his mouth... I thought kids grew out of that by now....

8) He's decided that laying down or me to change his clothes or to change his diaper is not worth his time. Then he throws the fit... refer to item 6 in my list.

9) We're back to a 10 of 5 wake up call. That's WAY earlier than I care to get up!

So yes, every day is an adventure here... but I still wouldn't trade it for the world! I love that little monkey. The smiles and giggles make it SO worth it!

1 year ago today..........

2009-01-07T21:20:00.006-05:00

I can't believe that Logan is going to be 1 year old tomorrow. A whole year old! Where has the time gone? Where has my little baby gone?

Exactly 1 year ago today at this time, I was lying in bed WIDE AWAKE. I had been to the hospital for an induction on 1/2/08 that hadn't worked, and I was praying that I would go into labor on my own, and I wouldn't have to do it with pitocin again... no such luck. Even at that point, after 42 (!!) weeks of growing this amazing little baby inside me, I still had a hard time picturing myself as a real, live Mommy... What would it be like, would I know what to do? Would I do the right things at the right times? Little did I know that I'd soon find out that I wouldn't have to "know" what to do, it would all just come naturally.

Since I'm feeling all nostalgic (and maybe a little sad!) I wanted to write out Logan's birth story, since I don't think I've ever done it and I guess the longer I wait, the more I will forget!

We went to the hospital (for the 2nd time!!!) on January 8th, 2008 at 7am. I had the same nurse and the same room as the week before. They hooked me up to the fetal monitors, and then tried quite a few times in both hands, then both arms to get an IV into me... with no luck. They had to call in the anesthesiologist to get one into me! Then, they started me on Pitocin and it was on!

I sat in bed and read a magazine, watched some TV and chatted with Andrew, Mom, Jen, Barb and Cassie who were all there and waiting (again!) All the sudden, it felt like Logan did a back flip inside of me and it felt like I was peeing in bed... and I couldn't stop it!!! My water had broken. (no wonder they make you sit on those little bed pads!) He had passed mecounium inside me, so it was green (gross, I know!) Within about 10 minutes of my water breaking, I was in HARD, HARD labor.

I really had wanted to try to not have any drugs. Andrew and I watched my contractions on the monitor paper... All I could do was breathe (who knew that goofy breathing stuff they taught us in our baby class was something we could use?!) The nurse said that because of the Pitocin and the pitocin that my body was naturally making, my contractions were piggybacking. Andrew and I were watching my contractions on the print out from the fetal monitor, and one wouldn't even go below the 1/2 way point before another one started. They turned off the IV pitocin and still there was no change in the piggybacking. Once I got to 5 1/2 centimeters, I couldn't do it anymore. I was so physically exhausted. I felt like if I'm so tired now, how on earth can I push??? So I asked for the intrathecal. It was definitely a good decision. It gave me 3 hours to rest up for the pushing ahead!

Fast forward to about 5:30 and I am fully dilated and ready to push. I think it finally hit me at that point that this was really about to happen! Andrew was awesome. He stood by my head and counted out contractions for me and encouraged me. I can't imagine what being in his shoes was like... feeling like you can't really do anything to help with the actual birth! So I pushed... and pushed...... and then pushed some more. Logan had rotated so that his face was up (our doctor called him sunny side up!) I was having a hard time getting his head and nose past my pelvic bone. All the sudden monitors started going off and all the nurses were rushing around and Dr. Malcolm was yelling stuff at them and nobody was telling us what was happening... they put an oxygen mask on me and I instantly started crying! I can remember saying what's going on, what's going on and poor Andrew was as white as a ghost! I felt like I couldn't breathe with the oxygen mask on.. finally, when the alarms stopped, Dr. Malcolm explained to us that Logan's heart rate had dropped, that he was probably getting stressed from all the pushing and that we needed to get him out now. He told us he was going to use suction, which is like a vacuum they stick on the baby's head, and he'd pull as I pushed to help Logan past my pubic bone... we tried this for about 20 minutes with no luck. He left the room briefly and Andrew and I looked at each other and again, didn't know what was going on!

When Dr. Malcolm came back in, he told us that he was holding another patient out of the OR and that I needed to get Logan out in the next 10 minutes, or we were going to have to go a c-section.... that was all the encouraging I needed.... I was pushing like there was no tomorrow!!! Then, (finally!) at 7:43 pm, we welcomed our 8 pound 11ounce baby boy, Logan Timothy Thibeault to the world! The feeling of relief and excitement and pure exhaustion hit me as soon as they placed him on my chest. He was crying and covered in gook, but he was the most beautiful, amazing thing I had ever seen. Love at first sight is an understatement! Andrew asked Dr. Malcolm if he could touch him! haha! Dr. Malcolm told him Sure, he's yours! Here are some pictures of the first few hours of Logan's life:

And now, he's grown into an amazing little boy who is going to be a whole year old tomorrow.......

Holiday Happenings

2009-01-03T08:41:00.009-05:00

I always feel like I am SO busy before the holidays... trying to figure out which presents to buy people, and what I need to make to bring to get togethers, and how much longer I have left to get it all done in, along with trying to keep my walking (!!!) son out of the dog water bowl, spending 40 hours a week at work and trying to keep the house in some kind of orgainized disaster! It's crazy! As soon as it comes upon us, it's all over... but at least this year, I have some cute pictures to show for it :-)
I present to you... Christmas 2008 - Thibeault style!

Team Thibeault takes a hit!

2008-12-19T19:08:00.003-05:00

It is SNOWING out there... currently, we're getting between 6 and 10 inches, then on Sunday night into Monday, we're supposed to get an even bigger storm! Now don't think of me as a Grinch... I love a white christmas... but come on... enough with the snow! I think I was meant to live someplace where snow can't exist....

So to the point and title of this post....

Last Sunday, Jen and I had a cookie baking day. We baked A LOT of stuff... gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, oatmeal rasin cookies, butterscotch cookies, cookie dough brownies and magic bars! (I'm probably forgetting some, but you get the idea!) Andrew must have been feeling left out, because he was pulling a chef boy-are-me on us. While we made cookies, he made stromboli and soup and also alfredo sauce...

So anyway, we're all in the kitchen, then the lights go very dim... then there's a loud pop in the living room... the lights go really bright, then really dim, then the lights in the kitchen went dim and the ones in the living room were REALLY bright. We went into the living room to figure out what the pop was and came around the corner to find smoke rolling out of our entertainment center!!!!! For those that don't know, our entertainment center is HUGE and very heavy... it took 2 guys to get it in here! So andrew gets all he-man on us and rips it away from the wall (at which time 1/2 of the top part fell on to the floor and all the glass things I had on the shelves fell out and smashed all over the floor) as soon as he ripped the cord to the satelite reciever out of the wall, the smoke stopped... but the damage was done.... light bulbs started popping and both of our TV's were toast, also Logan's monitor, 3 clock radio and the electric componet of our furnace! What is it with our luck with appliances????

So that has been our excitement (and headache) for the last week... we're gearing up for Christmas and I feel like I still have a lot to do... hopefully there is time to get it all done!

Something I love!

2008-11-30T09:13:00.003-05:00

It's called Works For Me Wednesday... Here's the link: http://http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/it_works_for_me/

I can relate to this woman on so many levels! She's awesome, and I always visit her blog on Wednesdays for this very cool little weekly post. She's got great ideas, and great readers with more ideas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T13:11:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, all! :-) In honor of the big day, I'm posting a list of things that I am thankful for...

* My son... it seems like he learns something new every single day. He never ceases to amaze me!

* My family - I know I don't say it a whole lot guys, but I LOVE YOU!

* My Husband - even though he makes me laugh when I'm really mad at him... and that makes me crazy! :-)

* My home - Its a little out of the way, but I love every little thing about it! After 3 1/2 years, it really does feel like a "home" you know? When we first moved out here, I always thought of my parents house as "home", but slowly this has become our home, and a home I love!

* My Job - first off that I have one! It seems like most everyone I know has been affected by downsizing or layoffs or pay decreases, and I (luckily!) have not! Work's actually been really busy latley! And Secondly that I really like my job. My bosses are great and so are the girls I work with.

* My Friends - I really think... scratch that... KNOW that I have some of the best ones out there!

* My Dog - Jake, you're a good boy, even though you shed endless amounts of hair on my floor and you cost me lots of money for random injuries at the vet. You're a loyal guy, and I love ya!

There's many things that I'm thankful for... too many to list here! I hope people take time out today to remember what they're thankful for!

You've gotta be kidding!

2008-11-26T20:57:00.003-05:00

Okay, so if you're reading this, you probably know me... and if you know me, you know I'm a sucker for reality tv....

Now, I know Erin will argue with me that The Hills is not reality TV, but I don't care. I like to think of it as reality TV, even if it is "scripted".... Whatever! It's entertaining, and I like to watch it. :-P

So anyway, I'm watching The Hills on our DVR tonite, and I get to the aftershow and HEIDI AND SPENCER ARE MARRIED!?!? What the hell? Is she a complete idiot!?? Spencer is a dirtbag!!!! She could do so, so, so much better! It's because of him she's no longer friends with Lauren. It's because of him that her relationship with her own sister, Holly is so strained! He made her lose her job for crying out loud! Her boss told her that she shouldn't surround herself with people like Spence! There must be a whole lot to their relationship (or at least hope there i!) that they never show on camera, because there is nothing about Spencer that says marriage material to me!

So is there anyone out there who watches The Hills and is just as appalled as I am? Yuk!

Much Ado About Nothing....

2008-11-25T20:34:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I've last posted, and I feel as though I should put something up.... but..... I've got a whole lot of NOTHING!

I think of lots of things to post on here... like when I am in the shower, or driving Logan to Barb's house, or listening to some patient tell me this is the 6th time they've gotten conjunctivitis in their eye and they don't understand why, but they do wear their contact lenses for 3 weeks straight night and day......... you know, times where I really can't write down what I want to post about....

So now that I have the boy fed, changed and sleeping, and dinner has been made and enjoyed and I have time to sit down and update the blog....................

I still have nothing..........

ugh! :-)

My Wish....

2008-11-08T20:18:00.002-05:00

Today Logan and I ran a bunch of errands in Middlebury... as we were on our way home with a trunk full of horse grain and a back seat full of grocceries, I kept glancing back at him in my rear-view mirror. He was babbling and I was talking back to him. Suddenly he's quiet... too quiet.... I look back and he had fallen asleep... he looked so sweet, innocent and just plain peaceful... Then, this song came on the radio and it was so perfect for the moment... It's everything I feel for Logan... Someday, when he gets married, I want to dance with him at his wedding to this song :-)

Rascall Flatts
"My Wish"

I hope the days come easy and moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,
More then anything, more then anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, Your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more then you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but you never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake, you always give more then you take.
Oh More then anything, more then anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more then you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,Yeah, this, is my wish.

Sorry for the time lapse!

2008-10-26T14:13:00.010-05:00

So clearly, I haven't been keeping up with the blog thing... sorry about that! Now that Logan has learned to pull up on ALL our furniture, and seems to have no fear at all, we're constantly watching him like a hawk in an attempt to limit the bumps and bruises... so far, we've been quasi-sucessful :-)

Let's see... since the last time I posted, we went on our cruise!!!! Ahh, I just love anyplace tropical. We had such a great time!!! I think I'll have to dedicate a whole different blog post to that, but here are some pics to tide you over till then:

We suprised the boys with a limo ride from the airport to our hotel! It was a Chrysler 300 Touring! SO NICE!

The sunsets were SO beautiful!

Formal Night!

It was my first time to be separated from Logan over night, so that was really hard! We always kept busy with all sorts of stuff, so it made it a little bit easier, but I missed him SO much! I'd like to wait a few years and go again and take him, I think he'd have a lot of fun! There were a lot of kids activities and stuff going on!

Logan also got his first illness (not while we were gone, thank god!) in the beginning of this month, he got an ear infection! Poor Dude! We also found out that he's allergic to amoxicillin! So in and out of the doctors office all month long, but we've finally got a healthy Logan again!

We took Logan apple picking, which was so much fun:

I just LOVE that last picture of Andrew and Logan! It's my new wallpaper on my computer at home and at work!

So now we're gearing up for halloween this Friday... Logan's going to be a monkey (how apprporiate!) I don't think that we'll take him very many places, just Andrew' parents, my parents and both sets of grandparents... We'll have to start early or we're going to have one grumpy monkey on our hands!

More baby stuff!

2008-08-28T07:16:00.004-05:00

I saw this on one of my FAVE sites, BabyCenter, and it sort of sticks with the theme of my countdown posts, so here's "The top 10 reasons why I love Breastfeeding" by Candace Lindemann

10. I lost the baby weight immediately. Wish me luck that happens again because there’s more to lose this time!

9. I didn’t have to buy any equipment–I’m cheap like that.

8. All I had to do was hold the baby and latch–and I’m lazy like that, too. I could even sleep-feed…and I do love to get my sleep.

7. I could go anywhere. I never had to worry about packing enough formula and bottles or keeping it cool or hot. If baby and I wanted to go somewhere, we just went! Baby’s meal was always ready and always the right temperature.

6. It is natural and traditional. I like the idea that nursing my child connects me to millions of mothers throughout history.

5. It suits my free-spirited (read: disorganized) attitude. I’m not a clock person and trying to remember to prepare a bottle before baby gets hungry (read: has a nuclear meltdown) is just too much stress for me.

4. I felt more important and special and sure of my body than I ever had in my life. Not only do I have this awesome power to make food with my body, my baby and my body work together to ensure it is the right food at the right stage.

3. It is healthy. My medically vulnerable baby with a heart condition gained an astounding amount of weight (hitting the 90th percentile curve for height and weight) and never got a cold.

2. It promotes bonding. There are lots of ways to bond with baby and this was a very special one for us.

1. It made my baby so very happy. I’m not pretending I heard a choir of angels belt out Hallelujah or felt indescribably transcendent joy every time we latched (in fact sometimes I felt downright exhausted), but my baby sure looked like she did.

Being a Mommy

2008-08-20T19:24:00.004-05:00

There's some things I've learned about Mommy-hood that none of the books ever said.... I decided to list my top 10 right here for your reading pleasure :-)

10) Poop can be an explosive thing. It can go from happily contained in a diaper to shooting up a babys back and out of the neck of his onesie in less than 2.6 seconds. Anytime you plan on leaving the house, pack multiple spare outfits... you'll need them.

9) For the first month or so, your baby will have NO concept of night time and that it was invented for sleeping! :-) He won't really care that you feel like you're sitting on a barbed wire fence.. he'll want to be awake at 2 am and you don't get a whole lot of say in the matter! As time goes on it'll get a little better. But only a little!

8) The first time the baby does sleep through the night, you will wake every hour waiting for him to wake up. When he dosen't, you'll feel the compelling need to make sure he's still breathing. You'll get less sleep that night than you did all those other nights when he was waking you up!!

7) The first real, intentional smile... it'll make your heart melt. You'll probably cry!

6) 9 months of pregnancy feels like it takes a LONG time... once the baby's here, time will NEVER feel like that again... cherish it!

5) You'll feel like the slime on the bottom of a dirty pool the first time you do something for someone you've probably forgotten ever existed...you... even if it's having Daddy watch him while you have an uniterrupted shower, or something that takes even less time, it'll still feel that way! There's no way around it.

4) Spit happens. It happens a lot. Be prepared. As soon as you're dressed for work, he can (and usually will) spit up on you!

3) You'll have a completley new view of your parents. You'll now think back to all those things you did to them while you were growing up, and realize.... oh... my... god....

2) You could have the worst day in the world, and the second you see that toothy grin, or hear that silly little giggle, instantly your day is better!

1) Nobody tells you how much it HURTS when you (and baby) are learning to nurse... and nobody tells you how much it hurts when it has to end.....

Goings on!

2008-08-14T18:03:00.004-05:00

Life has been chaotic, and I haven't had a lot of time to post! Between work and everything else going on, sometimes I feel like we don't have a chance to breathe! Logan's becomming more and more mobile as the days sail on by, so I'm spending even more time on the go!

We took Logan to the fair last week, and as much as Andrew dosen't like to admit it, he LOVED the miniature horse in the childrens barn yard! He was laughing and screeching at it! He didn't do it to any of the other animals... a sign that he needs a pony maybe? :-)

This is the tail end of him and the pony, in the beginning he was laughing and screeching MUCH louder... like loud enough to illicit stares from other Mom's and Dad's.... oh well, as long as my kid's having fun, too bad for them! :-)

We leave to go on our cruise in 30 days! We're really looking forward to getting in at least 1 weeks worth of summer time! It's going to be really hard to leave Logan though... I'm dreading that time at the airport when I have to let go of him :-( I know that he is in really great hands though, and that both of his Grandma's will take excellent care of him, so it makes it a little bit easier... only a little!

Crusin'

2008-07-18T20:23:00.009-05:00

Our cruise is in 58 days!! I'm so excited that I can hardly stand myself!

We leave Miami on a Sunday, and arrive in our first port on Monday morning! Here's what we're doing:

Monday

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

On Tuesday, we have a "Fun Day At Sea"

Wednesday

St. Thomas, USVI

Thursday

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Friday

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

Saturday is a "Fun Day at Sea" And then we're back in port in Miami on Sunday!

This is our boat, the Carnival Triumph

Gross Tonnage: 101,509
Length: 893 Feet
Beam: 116 Feet
Cruising Speed: 21 knots
Guest Capacity: 2,758 (double occupancy)
Total Staff: 1,100
Registry: The Bahamas

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

The boy loves to eat!

2008-07-07T17:17:00.006-05:00

Could this kid be any cuter? :-) It started out as trying to get the spoon out of my head and ended up as him wearing his cereal... It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital... and now he's eating (semi) solid food?! Where is the time going?!

We took Logan to the fireworks in Bristol over this past weekend. We were worried the noise might scare him, but he LOVED it! He'd suck on his sucky until one went off, he'd stop while it was lit up in the air, and as soon as it was gone, he'd start sucking again! We took him to the parade as well, and he seemed like he really was watching each thing as it went by! We had a great time watching him look at the trucks and floats and horses. I can only imagine what it's going to be like next year when he realized that what they're throwing is candy! :-)

Major Updates!

2008-06-19T20:44:00.005-05:00

Erin has inspired me with the beginning of her blog to get back to it and start posting in mine again! It's been a very long time and A LOT has changed for us!

The biggest change in our life has been the addition of our son, Logan Timothy Thibeault! I had a very easy pregnancy with no complications. Logan was born January 8th at 7:43 pm. He weighed 8 lbs 11oz and was 21" long! He was 10 LONG days over due... but even after 2 inductions and 13 hours of labor, he was worth every second of it all! This is our new little family just after he arrived!

And now........here he is at 5 and a half months old!

It's pretty crazy how time has flown by! He's so much fun, and it's hard to remember what our life was like before him! He's always making us laugh. He's such an easy-going and happy baby! Becomming a Mom has been a life changing experience, but something I wouldn't trade for the world! There's nothing better than seeing that toothy grin first thing in the morning!

I'm back to work again. I'm now working at Middlebury Eye Associates, and I really like it there! Everyone is super, and it's SO NICE to have a job that doesn't make me call Andrew, crying my eyes out every single day! GMB sounded great at the time I was hired, but certianly wasn't all it was cracked up to be! In the end, I'm VERY glad I'm not there any more and that I am at a company where employees are valued and treated with respect!

I guess that's it for now! I'll try to keep up with more regular posts now! Feel free to leave comments! I love them! :-)

The Great Diswasher Hurricane of '07

2007-01-30T11:59:00.000-05:00

When: Saturday, January 27, 2007
Where: Our Kitchen & Basement

The morning of Saturday January 27th started out perfectly fine for us... Andrew didn't have to work (woohoo!) so we got to sleep in! Once we got up, we lounged around the house for a good portion of the day, and then decided that we wanted to go to Williston to grab some dinner and catch a movie... I'm thinking wow, this sure is a great day!

While waiting for Andrew to get out of the shower, I loaded the dishwasher and picked up the kitchen. Yay me! I even had a chance to move laundry along and swiffer the living room! As we were getting ready to walk out the door, I stick my ear up to the dishwasher vent... grr, just as I suspected. It wasn't sucking in water AGAIN! Whatever... I just hit the cancel/drain button and decided to deal with it when I got back home...

So on the way to Williston, I convince my dearest husband to take me to the Christmas Tree Shop before we go to dinner.... I love the Christmas Tree Shop! Andrew, however does not share my passion for this wonderful establishment. He has in fact nicknamed it the "Dollar and a Half Store" Usually if I can suceed in getting him in there, he pretends to make his own PA announcements to let me know that the store is "closing". This time, he followed me around, and even kept his internal PA system off! He even had some fun looking though some stuff! (as much as he wont admit it, he definitley picked out the travel mugs!)

So as we're leaving the Christmas Tree Shop, we see Tracy's car in the lot at Isabean... So we decided to go visit her at work... not 15 minutes later, in walks Brian with Gavin! Wow! what luck! We get to visit with ALL the Goodale's! So after staying to visit and play with the baby, we realize we better get to dinner or we'll never make our movie!

Off we walk to Nicco's... the line was pretty long, so we went with plan B and went over to Asian Bistro... We only had to wait for 10 minutes before we got a table! perfect! We had a very tasty dinner :-) Since we talked a little longer than intended, and didn't get right in for dinner, we missed our movie, and there wasn't another showing starting till 9:45... since it was only 7:30, we didn't want to wait that long, so we decided to head home... no big deal, we just saved $16 by not going to the movies, right???

So we get in the car and drive home... I put my key in the lock and open the door. I'm greeted by Jake! He's VERY happy to see us... even happier than usual... hmm... As I walk in I hear water trickling.... thats odd...... I turn on the light in the kitchen and see a little fountain of water coming from the dishwasher!!!!!!!!!!! ack! my kitchen is a puddle!!!! Andrew flung open the kitchen sink cabinet doors to turn off the water, and of course was greeted by a giant pile of cleaning supplies (we made a costco trip the weekend before!) So he's throwing them out of his way, I'm picking them out of the puddle that is our kitchen and throwing them on the counter.... I'm sure it was hysterical to watch if you were a fly on the wall of our new indoor swimming pool!

While Andrew ran downstairs to get the shop vac to suck up all this water, I threw every towel we own on the kitchen floor. Then, I hear from the basement.... "uhhh..... Jessssssss..." I ran down and here's what I saw......

At about this time panic set in (for me... andrew thought it was all pretty funny still) and I called who else, MY DAD! he came out and brought another shop vac and a squee-gee and helped us out SO MUCH! He's awesome. A life saver....

So needless to say, THANK GOD we didn't make the movie!! Otherwise it would have been another 3 hours at least till we got home!

I think appliances hate us......

RIP
Dishwasher #1
Dryer
Furnace
Dishwasher #2

What it is....

2007-01-26T11:34:00.000-05:00

Okay, so everyone keeps asking what it is that I'll be doing at Green Mountain Beverage... Sooo, to answer this question once and for all, here's some of the things that I'll be doing! :-)

* Making sure distributors and retailers have all promo items they need
* Managing promo inventory
* Sourcing & quotes of promo items
* Researching & booking festivals & trade shows
* Market Research

I'll of course, be getting to do all this stuff from my very OWN office!! :-) Its silly how much the little things in life make you so happy!!!!

Hard Cider, Anyone??

2007-01-22T16:33:00.000-05:00

I've got a new job! Starting 2/5/07, I'll be a Marketing Assistant at Green Mountain Beverage in Middlebury!!!!! I'm beyond excited! Work thats only a 15 minute drive as opposed to an hour! And, I get my own office to boot :-p

Check it out at www.gmbeverage.com and make sure to take the factory tour! Its pretty cool!

Happy New Year!!

2007-01-02T09:17:00.000-05:00

We had an incredibly busy holiday! Lots of fun, friends and food! It was great! We had a little New Years Eve bash, which was a lot of fun! Even Mom and Barb tried dance dance revolution! I do have pictures of that which I will definitley have to unload from my camera and post! They're far better than the words I could try to use to describe the scene! :-)

So this year my new years revolution is to save more money. I've even opened a new savings account, so there's no excuses!! I always seem to forget about my resolutions come May or June... (isin't that awful? :-)) but I really want to stick to this one. Saving money is never bad, right?

So now that things will be calming down from the holidays, I'm not really sure whats next for us! We're always busy and have some sort of project going, so I'm sure it won't be long before something new is happening!

The best thing about Christmas is....

2006-12-05T11:56:00.000-05:00

RUDOLPH!!!!!!

And its on this Friday at 8 pm...

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER® recounts the tale of a shy, young reindeer whose Christmas spirit is dampened because his shiny red nose has made him the laughing stock of all Christmastown. Frustrated by their inability to fit in, Rudolph and his friend Hermey, the Elf who wants to be a dentist, set out on their own. However, they soon find themselves pursued by the Abominable Snowmonster. They flee to the island of Misfit Toys in the Arctic wilderness where Yukon Cornelius, a prospector they meet along the way, comes to their rescue. Returning to Christmastown, they learn that bad weather may cause Christmas to be canceled. But Rudolph's headlight--his illuminated nose--saves Christmas by serving as a beacon to guide Santa's sleigh.

I present to you....

2006-11-29T11:57:00.000-05:00

a BRAND NEW living room!!!

Its been a while!

2006-10-05T08:37:00.000-05:00

We've been busy!

Currently, our living room is carpet-less, molding-less and chair rail-less! We're in the middle of the big remodel :) I'm at work, so I don't have any pictures of it to post right now, but just picture our ginormus living room, with just 1 couch and the tv on the sub floor. Sure is cozy!

We are headed to Maine early on Saturday morning to meet up with my parents, Jen and Grandpa at the Fryeburg Fair in Maine. We'll spend the nite and come home on Sunday afternoon. (Thanks Cassie for taking care of Jake and the horses!) And speaking of Jake, he is down to 109 lbs from 137 when we first got him this spring!! I'll have to take som new "skinny" pictures of him to post too!

Back to work :( Make sure to leave us comments! We love to read them!

we love the home depot.....

2006-09-19T12:13:00.000-05:00

Its HGTV extreme home make over... Thibeault Style!! Over the weekend, we purchased a new living room set from Ashley Furniture.... We should be getting it on or around October 11th! I couldn't find a picture of the recliner that we got too, but its an exact match for the sofa and love seat, so you get the idea!!

Tonite we have plans to head to the easiest place to spend money in the whole wide world. (aka The Home Depot) to check out pergo flooring, and some paint color combo's. I want to do a cranberry red.... Andrew isin't convinced on that one... yet!! haha! We will make sure to post before and after's when we've finally finished the whole room!

The first post!

2006-09-11T10:15:00.000-05:00

Wow, our first post! Exciting!

I made this blog mostly just to keep our friends and family posted on whats going on with us! We're so busy and things change so often! But, everyone has a small internet addicton, so this I figured this would be the easiest for everyone!

We had such a great time at the wedding! It was all we wanted and more!! The day went by so fast, but we had so much fun and made a lot of memories that we will treasure for years to come. We had a very fun and relaxing week in York Beach, Maine filled with sleeping in, beach time, shopping, whale watching and just watching the ocean. We think we may want to make york beach a yearly trip, even if it is just for a weekend :)

So now we're both back to the daily grind of work and house stuff. Andrew's working on getting together a list of what he's going to need to put a cold storage shed on the other side of the barn for his new tractor and his summer car. And of course mowing his prized lawn... heaven forbid 1 blade of grass is out of place!! :p Now I finally have more time to spend with my horses and I'm still working on these thank you notes which I promise, all of you will get at some point! haha :)

So we'll post from time to time and keep everyone updated on what we're up to! We'd love comments and anything else you want to leave us!!!