Happy Birthday Thomas!!

I am dedicating this post to my son Thomas because it is his birthday! Those of you who have known Thomas since the beginning are probably sitting there as amazed as I am that he is 6. Wow - time sure does fly. I am not sure where to start when it comes to this little boy. He is and will always be my miracle baby. As many of you are well aware, when I was 16 weeks pregnant with him I had to undergo major surgery to remove a tumor the size of a football from my ovary. To this day, I strongly feel that he is the reason that I am here today. I have this horrible fear of doctors, and when they said I had this "cyst" on my ovary I froze and refused to see a doctor. Well, getting pregnant with Thomas forced me to deal with the issue and get it taken care of. He is everything to me and I will forever be greatful to him for him being here.

To discuss a little bit about his personality - Thomas is probably one of the most active children I have ever met - He can out run anyone anytime and any where. He is like this little engine that never runs out of energy - until nightime when he basically just passes out. He is such a brave boy and a great help to his mom. He loves his sisters (most of the time) and is very willing to help out especially with his baby sister Mattie. Thomas has a love of legos, star wars, and Xbox. Thease are about the only things you can get him to sit still for for long periods of time. He also is one of the most excellent bike riders I have seen. He can get that thing going so fast I think mostly because he has no fear of getting hurt - definitely not like his mother. I have always felt that he will do great things. I know every mother feels that way about their children, but there is something in Thomas that tells me that he is meant to be here at this time to do something great. I can't wait to see what that is.

To all those who have helped Andrew and I in raising this sweet little boy - thank you!! Grandma Bonnie and Granpa Bill, Grandma Helen, and Julie and Adam - thank you for your time and love for Thomas. He may not understand the great influance you have had on his life, but I do and I will forever be greatful to you. I look forward to many more great and wonderful times with this sweet boy. Happy Birthday Honey - I love you!!!

Alright already!!!

Okay - I have been officially tagged twice -by both Misty and A'Lisha. So I will go ahead and tell you 8 quirks about me (this is really hard by the way - requires too much thinking!!)

1) I hate answering the phone at work. I don't know why - but I always have. Not only do I not answer the phone very often, I don't check my messages very much either. Stupid - I know. But I can't help it. I even tell everyone - if you call me you may not get an answer for a couple of weeks - email or IM is always your best option.

2) Cooked carrots - disgusting!!! I love raw carrots - but cooked ones are so gross. People always say they taste the same - but really they don't. I also think it is a texture thing - they are rather smooshy and frankly they smell bad.

3) Watching re-runs of "Without of Trace." I have to say that this is one of my new favorite shows - and I only watch it at 10:00 at night. Hello - it makes me stay up way to late -but I can't help it. I have decided though that watching this show at night helps me to unwind - from my very busy days. Also, I know this show is on during prime time as well - but it is just not the same for me. I am addicted to the late night showings on TBS - oh well what can I say.

4) KSL.com - I love KSL.com. Not only can you get the news - but I love to look at the classifieds. I do that almost daily - though I have only bought one thing in over 2 years from the classifieds. Pretty funny - I am not exactly sure why this is fun for me - but it is not a day without browsing the KSL classifieds.

5) I love looking at houses on the MLS - and no, we are not looking at moving yet. This has become quite a passion for me. I can probably tell you what areas have the most houses for sale, what the average is in the area and what schools your kids would go to. I have way too much fun doing this - and you never know when the information may come in handy.

6)I hate opening mail. When I get home, I will look in the mailbox to see what is there, and if nothing good is there - or there is a bill or something - I leave it in the mailbox for my husband. (I just wrote that and realized how dumb that is - now that is quirky!) I have nothing else to say about this.

7) I love phone games. I have Suduko and Mahjong on my cell phone and play them whenever I am in a meeting - because it is the only way I can pay attention. I think part of my son's ADHD problems come from me - I swear I am getting more attention deficit the older I get. I can't just sit somewhere - I have to be doing something - always!!

8) My feelings get hurt way to easy. I hate that about myself. I take things too personal and than I feel bad if things don't happen the way I think they should. This is something that I try to work on and can usually mask pretty well - but it is very hard for me to not get upset if things happen - even if they were unintentional.

Busy Busy Busy!!!

Ok - the last 2 months have been ultra crazy!! I have been to every little part of the state as well as I just got back from a fabulous (but quick) business trip to Montana. I can now breath! This time of year is really hard because of all the trainings and conferences that happen to hit all at the same time - as well as my yearly grant report. Seriously - I would really be ok with spreading things out a bit - sheesh!! Anyway, kids are doing well - Mattie has 2 teeth. They literally came up overnight. Maybe our "drool fest" will be on hold for awhile since her teeth have come in. We will see - I do seem to remember though, from past experiences, that some teeth do mean more teeth are coming - aghhhh!! Oh well - she is still so dang cute that it makes no difference anyway.

Well - Thomas has officially finished Kindergarten!!! Yeah - we made it. I can't say it was an easy year, but seeing the awesome changes Thomas has made makes the challenges worth every minute. He is matured so much and the fact that he is reading is soooo cool. He is such a smart kid!!! He is very ready for first grade - and was very ready to start yesterday. I had to be the bearer of bad news and tell him that he would have to wait for a few months to move on to another grade. He was not to happy about that but forgave me quickly when I gave him his new X-Box game (Lego Star Wars - HATE IT!!!). He was thrilled to have it - I have to say that I really can't stand it - it gives me a headache. Oh well - as long as he is happy I don't really care.

Kate is my newest fashion Diva. She has a comment for everyone's clothes. She will proudly tell you if she thinks what you are wearing is "icky" - If she didn't look so much like me I would wonder if she was really my child!! She is a priss - but a dang cute one!!! Her grandma Bonnie gave her the cutest flip flops (from Smiths marketplace - on sale for $3.00 - for all those interested) and she squealed like I have never heard before. She wore them all evening and I finally had to sneak them off her feet after she fell asleep. Crazy!!

Life is good - Andrew and I are proud parents of practically perfect children - what more could you ask for!!!!