Well it has been a busy holiday season as usual. I was able to be home with the boys for about a month so that is very nice. Slade is walking and running everywhere....also falling down a lot so he has a permanent bruise on his head. The boys loved having their first christmas together and Hendrix is really getting into Christmas now so it is really fun to see it through his eyes. Below are some pics from the last month. Slade will turn 1 y/o in Jan....hard to believe! Nutritious Christmas morning breakfast.......
Bacon and M&Ms

Party at our house with some friends


Santa visits Slade

Santa visits Hendrix

Enjoying his new Leapster


Making a gingerbread house with Sasha


Taking Slade for a ride


Christmas picture


Hendrix and Drew at The Grinch on Ice


Slade does not need help getting in his toy box!

The one good snow we have had so far


Cookies from a party I had


Homemade choc covered pretzels for Hendrix's teachers

Hendrix's First Basketball Practice

Well, although my last and most difficult final of the semester is tomorrow, I couldn't miss Hendrix's first basketball practice. We persuaded them to let him try out even though all the other kids are two years older. Turns out it was a great decision. He loves it and he is definitely on par with the rest of the kids. More pics to come I'm sure!

Hello all. New things in our life: Slade is taking about 4-5 steps before turning up the motor and crashing, so he'll likely be walking soon. He has also been rather sick, as my kids usually are their first year, with a trip to the ER in the middle of the night to get a steroid shot because he couldn't breathe and last night a 103.2 fever (on ibuprofen and tylenol) due to some type of infection??) He is doing much better this morning so we'll see if it lasts. I thought I would post a few short videos that I have taken lately. Hope all is well!

Congratulations President Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I really don't know what else to say. Despite living in one of the most backward thinking states on the planet, Obama won, and he won big, which I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone reading this, but I am just so happy and proud that he won so definitively. I have shed many tears of happiness as I'm sure many have. I guess I didn't realize how much I felt invested in this election and it's just so hard being in Ky sometimes where I feel like a fish out of water, so HOW WONDERFUL to know I AM in the majority, and I'm not the crazy one here. I took Hendrix to vote yesturday and tried my best to explain things to him but I'm not sure he really got it. They did however have kids voting which he took part in and, of course, he voted for Obama who he still thinks is part of the family as much as we have talked about him over the past months. I am just so proud that our country is truly in a place where race doesn't matter.....I think it says something for how far we've come, how much hope we can still have that anything can happen, and sets a president for how things will be done in the future. Today, I am REALLY "proud to be an American"!!! Good day to all!!!

We had fun trick or treating!! Now both kids (Hendrix hopped up on sugar) are headed over to my parents to stay the weekend and we are getting up early to go out of town shopping. Here are some pics.

Slade has 4 teeth now, two on top, two on bottom. Hendrix and Brandon went to the library to get some books last night. It's part of Brandon's "school time at night" We are working with Hendrix on writing his letters. He knows them all by sight and what sounds most of them make but now he's learning to read and write........well I say this loosely but it doesn't hurt to try I guess. There are a lot of great internet resources out there with printable workbook and arts and crafts. Everyone go vote next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I would say camping was a success...but freezing at night! We went with my family. My stepbrother has a son about the same age as Hendrix and it's nice that they are at an age where they enjoy playing together now. They had lots of fun running around doing boy things and enjoying the halloween themed weekend. We didn't do as much with the actual Yogi Bear as we have done before but now we have some "favorite" campsites in mind and we'll go again to do all the other stuff next season. Here is a picture of Hendrix and Drew in their Halloween costumes, both pirates by coincidence, and if you click on it, more pictures of the weekend. Ta ta!

New things in our life................
1. Exams......wait that's not new..........
2. No sleep.......wait that's not new either........
3. New teeth!!!!! No no, not the ones I drill on at school.....Slade has two new top teeth coming in to match the bottom ones he has, and this time his gums are bleeding??? That never happened with Hendrix but go figure.
4. Walking!!! Okay so not really walking, more like pushing along the "walk behind" toys, but we're hoping that means Slade will walk very soon.......not because we want him to be "early", I just dont know how much longer we can carry him around all the time. He is wearing Hendrix's clothes from 18-24 months and he is 8 months, need I say more.
5. We all ran/walked in the Race for the Cure in Louisville last weekend. Slade in his stroller and the rest of us walked, but Hendrix and a friend of mine from school ran a lot of it. My class had a "team" that signed up. This was Kathlyn's second race for the cure this year......so she's like a groupy now.
6. The presidential election, can't wait until it's over so I don't have to hear all the crap any more.
7. A move to the 4 year old room at school for Hendrix!!!! What does that mean??? Absolutely nothing, but Hendrix sure is proud.

8. We will be starting Tae kwon do soon and Tball in the spring which should be fun

Other than that not much here. I am learning a lot in school and beginning to really love dentistry and all the creativity and art that really goes in to the actual hand skills of dentistry. I also love root canals and the before and after pictures of patients after changing their smile. Now I just have to figure out the business side of the whole thing, not a fun part but necessary.

Can't wait until the holidays this year now that Hendrix is at a really fun age. This weekend we are going camping with the family so I'll post pictures after.

Haven't had much time to write lately. To make a long story short Slade had tubes put in his ears last week.....I'm sure you can figure out the why. He feels a lot better now.....for now anyway. The nasty bug he had draining from his ears after surgery infected me and I ended up on antibiotics, and I have two exams and two quizzes this week, and Slade is on like a million meds, drops, suctioning, etc. Blah Blah Blah.....I know it's a lot of complaining but it feels good to say it all. Anyway, we are getting along great....really.....just very busy lately. Hendrix is moving up to the 4 year old "pre-K" room at school a little early because they say he is "bored in his room" which probably means he is misbehaving. Never the less, he is moving to a room with a lot more structured time which is probably good for him. Here are a few pics of Slade right before his surgery, happy as usual even with a very bad earache and some hearing loss already(reversible I am sure). Actually the Dr. that ended up doing the surgery is the husband of one of my classmates and a good friend of mine so it worked out well.

Another trip to the zoo this weekend, fun as usual. It was great weather for the trip here......high of 82 and cloudy. Slade is 7 1/2 months and is now pulling up to stand. Here is a video.

Hello anyone who might take an occasional glance at our blog. This weekend we went to a wedding on Friday of a girl I am in Dental School with, then headed off Sat morning with another friend of mine from school and went camping to another Jellystone campsite, but this one was in Tennessee close to the Opryland Hotel. We swam, camped, and spent most of the day Sunday at the hotel and the mall next door. The hotel has something like 4 acres of enclosed gardens with a river, shops, and restaurants

On the home front, nothing really new, just school and work, juggling kids around and watching them grow like little weeds. Slade is crawling and pulling up a little. He has two teeth still. He is babbling.....sometimes I think he is saying "mama" but I'm not sure yet. Pics are on our blog.

This weekend we went camping to Jellystone Park and hung out with Yogi Bear and his friends. It was great and made us realize how much we miss camping a lot. We decided to go again on Labor Day weekend. It's a great way to run all the energy out of our little boys.....yes Slade had a blast too. Both boys slept great which I was a little worried about, but we just set up the pack n play in the tent and Hendrix has a new cars sleeping bag/air mattress combo that he was excited about. This particular campground has water and electric hook up at every site and we were close to the bathhouse so we really didn't "rough it" as much as usual but it's a great place because it has lots for kids to do like a duck pond for fishing, a clubhouse with games and cartoons, a pool and kiddy pool, a water slide, minni golf, and constant activities headed by the staff like arts and crafts and a light parade and a hay ride we did on Friday night with flashlights and yogi bear leading the way. The kids also start the day by raising the flag with yogi bear. The picture below is linked to our pics website. I am definitely not looking forward to starting school back but we gotta do what we gotta do right? Hope all is well!

Well, here are our new cars:................And here is why:

I came up over a hill on a local highway in our county where the speed limit is fifty five and a car seemed to be stopped in the middle of the road. All I know is I remember seeing the rear of the car a split second before we hit......going 55mph!!!(it registered as it is supposed to when the air bags are deployed). Needless to say it was a horrible wreck. I am lucky that I had a very good car that protected me perfectly from major harm but the passenger in the little piece of crap truck involved was hurt badly. He was elderly and he shattered his pelvis and broke some ribs, which is kind of weird as they were hit from behind and there was no damage to the cab at all, but he is very old and probably wasn't wearing his seatbelt. I found out later that the truck was going to turn on a road off this highway (yes they have a few little roads now off this highway to turn even though the speed limit is 55 and there are NO TURNING LANES. So, I learned a lot of lessons for sure, mainly that anything can happen at any time. I still don'tknow why the truck was at a complete stop, except that they were older gentlemen. Anyway, I am very glad that I am here to be writing this right now and thankful that the kids werent with me and no one was killed. We now have a civic hybrid that I will drive during the week to school and back since I drive an hour each way. We also have another pilot. I loved my first one, it has a five star crash rating as does the civic and it saved my life. I don't think we will have anything else but Hondas from here on out. The pilot is still mine but with gas prices so high my husband will get the leather heated seats and sunroof most of the time during the week. Yes, I am mourning my loss a little but we will save hundreds of dollars not driving the pilot 100miles per day. Well, hope all is well with everyone reading this.......and stay safe!!

mmmm.....good



We were supposed to have our first party since our new basement has been done AND we fixed the fence, BUT the first party was canceled before it even started. It began with Hendrix and 104 degree fevers, then Brandon started running the same fevers, now sure enough Slade has the same thing...a virus that swoops down and attacks each person for about 3 days. I just hope I don't get it because the way I figure it, it would hit at it's worst on Friday or Saturday, the day of my SISTER'S WEDDING!!! That CAN'T happen so I am washing my hands like crazy and trying not to breathe too much in my house...ha ha. Hendrix is still doing swim lessons and loves it, but not as much as he loves swimming with papa. He does what his teacher says at lessons but is much more daring on his own with papa and will hold his breathe under water much longer.







Where Hendrix practices his moves.



Our new clothes line.









Our new neighbors, mommy and baby bird in one of our trees.

So boards are over..........yah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I have a week off before starting in clinic with full days of patients. Hendrix and Slade are doing great. We are looking forward to having a few cookouts this summer now that we have the basement finished and our fence almost fixed. I can't wait to actually enjoy a little bit of summer before we add classes back into our schedule again in August. As stressful as seeing patients is, at least you can leave that at school at the end of the day......classes mean tests which means all day all night. Well here are some pics we took lately. I took the one of Slade sitting up at around 4 1/2 mos!

Well, it's finished!!!!!!!!!!Besides a fireplace that will go under the big screen and some pics on the walls our basement is finally done! I really can't believe it. Brandon has his music studio, the kids have their play room and we have a better place to entertain guests. I can't tell you how happy I am to have this finished, but as the person doing most of the work-Brandon, I'm sure is even happier. more basement pics

We also opened the pool memorial day weekend. It was a little chilly but fun and the kids loved it. We had a wild turkey come for the event. He seems to think he is the family pet. I like him. He is digging in moms flowers so she is trying to hire kathlyns fiance Travis to shoot him(he is a hunter) but hopefully "Tom" the Turkey will survive. He really is a sweet pet.
Slade has recently had a terrible rash, mostly on his face, that flares up with food but stays there in between despite benadryl and no solid food. He has recently have vaccinations and is getting over an ear infection, so what is the cause of the rash?????Probably a combo of everything. I found out that you arent supposed to give oatmeal cereal to babies under 6mos....whoops I did with Hendrix and he was fine, but I was feeding Slade Beechnut brand and didnt know the oatmeal also had wheat flour in it....a real no no this early. Why would they put wheat flour in their oatmeal!!!!!!!!! After all of this mess with days of rash and no studying for mommy I decided from now on vaccinations will be given two at a time only(one if it is a combo shot) because I am just so sick of all the complications after. I also threw out all the beachnut and went on a mission to find good food for my kids. Our house may go organic if I can ever talk my husband into it, but for now without the extra time to go to Louisville constantly for groceries, we are just going to start small, and as for the baby food, we went back to the brand we fed Hendrix and it is good so far.

Another new happening in the Thomas house......we have gone Green. Well, that is the fad right now right? I don't really care why or how this whole thing got going but I'm glad it did. I feel like I needed a boost to start doing the right thing all the time not just occasionally, and this was it. Hendrix has learned all about recycling and we now have huge garbage cans in our kitchen that he helped me label for different recylables. One thing I have learned is how many things cant be recycled which is a shame but I guess some is better than none. We are also being super conscious of lights left on and water usage, along with gas.....although the car/gas thing is our biggest culprit. I am not sure I am ready to give up my SUV convenience and I dont have the money for a hybrid SUV just yet but someday. I also drive to Louisville every day which is bad, but hopefully these other things will start to help, and I really want to teach my kids to be crazy about their environment. Well, enough rambling for now. Oh, congrats to Obama!! Now Hendrix, who says "mom, look...Obama!" EVERY TIME he is on TV (thanks papa) will be saying his name constantly. I think Hendrix thinks Obama is one of our family or friends.

Slade has been such a "better" baby than Hendrix was. He is always happy and content and he is already sleeping through the night in his crib upstairs. Last night from 8pm until this mornign at 6am. We went for Slade's 4mo check last week. He had his shots and showed his stuff. She usually asks if they are rolling over and this check up but he continued to roll on the table during the whole appointment so I think she got the idea. I hope he remains this active because he will need it......he is almost 18 lbs!!!!!!!That is the 90th percentile for weight, oh yes he is large and in charge. He is also 90th percentile for head circ and 80th for height in case anyone cares, which I don't. It's amazing how things change with your second child. Now I focus on such different aspects of their growth and development than I did with Hendrix. Speaking of Hendrix he is now sleeping in his bed again thank goodness, though it took some jeddi (sp?) mind trick by mommy AND dare I say.............................he is potty trained!!! No accidents in almost a week. It was like a switch was turned or something. Our couches seem like they will never arrive but when they do I'll take the "finished" pics of our basement and post.

Hello again. Well, the we're busy as usual around here. The basement is finally done!! Pics to come because the furniture isn't coming until next week.

I finally found probably my favorite thing in Dentistry so far....Endodontics. Doing root canals is surprisingly fun to me, but I won't be specializing so I'll just dabble in a little endo instead of going hard core. We had Kat's first bridal shower at my house weekend before last. It turned out really fun. We actually ate outside then opened presents inside. I had asked Travis a bunch of questions that I then asked Kat....some were about her some him, to see how much they knew about each other. It was hilarious. They really do know each other very well already!

The boys are doing good. Slade has had his first illness, a cold that has lasted 2 weeks, thanks daycare!

Hendrix is an absolute mess. He has decided in the last week that he is no longer sleeping up in his bed so we are dealing with that, he has recently been caught twice spreading syrup in his hair and all over his body because according to him it makes him look like a tiger. He also has been trading socks with his friends at school on the playground. He will leave with his very nice Gymboree socks and come home with some ratty plain white boy socks. Finally after asking him, I find out he wants ratty white boy socks.............and the testosterone begins. Lastly, here is what he does when he is really bored and yes he does know better

Brandon has been playing quite a bit of guitar, and getting paid so not so bad I guess. Here is a small clip that I shot of the band messing around at a friend's party. They play all kinds of stuff, but crowd pleasers are a must at thess parties so it ends up being 80s music instead of B's favorite, the Blues.