The Thacker Family

I'm A New Aunt!

2012-02-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

On January 27th, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law welcomed their first baby boy into this world! John Vinton was a little early, actually 10 weeks early, but he was born breathing on his own weighing 3lbs, 4 ozs and was 15.5 inches long.

I'm sad that I haven't got to hold him yet but I know soon I will, and I can't wait!

Welcome to the World, Baby John!

Lessons Learned!

2012-01-23T22:45:00.000-05:00

So this past Friday I wanted to be the 'fun' mommy and take the kids to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and and have a little fun in the play center. Aaron had to work late so I knew it was going to be an adventure doing it all by myself. I explained to them that if they ate all of their food, we would go and play. They were so excited so I thought dinner would go smooth because of their excitement.

The ordering and eating process wasn't too bad. They had a hard time staying seated in the booth but overall, they did good. We did have to take one trip to the bathroom for Kylie and of course I took Blake along and then took one last trip to the potty after they were done eating before we went to play.

When they saw the play center they were so excited! Blake went down the slide like 10 times in 10 minutes so I knew he loved it. Well on the 11th trip down the slip, he came out saying "mommy I peed". I proceeded to tell him that it was ok since he had a diaper on - until he turned around and the entire back of his pants were wet. OMG! I then realized that I didn't bring in his backpack because I thought he would be good to go with the diaper he had on. Little did I know at the time that someone at daycare somehow put his diaper on backwards. REALLY! It is harder to put a diaper on backwards than on the right way. So that is where the leakage came from.

So after I told Blake to get his shoes and jacket on so we could go to the car and change clothes, Kylie was at the top of the play center so I went over to tell her to come down the slide so we could go and change bubby's pants. She was hesitant and kind of distracted so I went back to Blake to help him put on his shoes and jacket. I then went back to Kylie who was in the same position that I left her in 2 minutes earlier and something wasn't right. I then realized she was holding on to the netting and grunting....YES - SHE WAS POOPING! Really?!? I then proceeded to climb up the play center to get her and carry her down and she started crying because she pooped. She also didn't want to leave because she was having so much fun but I told her that we would come back (ok, a little white lie).

So finally Blake had his shoes on but refused to put his jacket on. I finally got Kylie's shoes and jacket on and I dragged two crying kids out of Chick-Fil-A by myself. I put them in their cars seats and we went straight home where they went straight in the tub.

I learned my lesson that night....ALWAYS make sure your child's diaper is on the correct way before going into a play center and ALWAYS put a pull-up on a child who is in the middle of potty training before entering the play center. LESSON LEARNED!

I did get a couple of pictures from my phone -

Catch-Up & Potty Training

2012-01-19T23:32:00.000-05:00

I never know how long its been since I wrote my last blog post until I get on the computer to do my weekly upload of my One Frame a Day pictures and look at the date on this blog of my last update. I feel bad that I don't update this as often as I would like to and for anyone who reads this blog, I promise I will do better :) You can always review that blog (One Frame a Day) to see the daily (or almost daily) pictures of our life. The link can also be found on the left side of my blog.

Some of the happenings at the Thacker home in the past few weeks includes:

- Nana's birthday
- Grandmom's birthday
- School started back for me
- Potty training is in full force - at least for Kylie

Just to name a few. Potty training is the biggest thing in the house right now. Kylie is doing so good! Today she had big girl panties on all day with no accidents at all! Blake, on the other hand, doesn't care one bit. I have tried EVERYTHING and he doesn't care at all. Bribery does not work with him and potty training. If anyone had any suggestions at all, please email me or leave a comment! I am open for ANYTHING!

On a different note, this spring is going to be so busy. I am throwing a shower for my sister-in-law in February, a baby shower for one of my best friends in March, Spring class end in April, my brother graduates from Law School and Blake celebrates his 4th birthday (oh my!) in May. I love being busy but I cannot wait until the summer!

Here are a few pictures of the last few weeks. Most of them can be found on the other blog as well.

Kylie and Katie love to dress up together!

Kylie showing off her new growth chart

2011 Recap & 2012 Goals

2012-01-09T23:09:00.000-05:00

It has taken me more than a week to write this post. I kept thinking about the two women I lost in my life in 2011 and I couldn't think of anything else. This year has been one of the toughest years for our family. If you read my blog you could use it as a recap of our life, but here are a few of the happenings from this past year:

- Blake turned 3, Kylie turned 2 and Aaron and I both turned 30 (wow that sounds old).

- Blake started Pre-School which includes speech therapy sesssions. This has helped his speech SO much this past year!

- Aaron completed his Master's in August and I completed 12 hours of my Master's throughout the year.

- Many of my friends welcomed babies in 2011 including Amanda, Sarah, Abby (twins), Megan, and Emily.

- Aaron's brother Nathan and his wife Emma broke the news that they were expecting in April 2012.

- In 2011 two amazing women from my life passed away which took a toll on our family. Aaron's mother passed away in August and my grandmother passed away in December.
Overall 2011 was hard on myself as well as many others in my family. I am hoping that 2012 will be a happy year and bring our family closer than we are today.

As for 2012, there are so many things that I am looking forward to in the new year. It it nice to be through the holidays and off to a new start. Below are some of the things I am looking forward in 2012 as well as some of my goals for the year:

- Becoming an Aunt again in April to baby boy Thacker! (son of Emma and Nathan).

- Finishing my Master's in August (only 9 more credit hours).

- Completing a few DIY projects around the house.

I am also looking forward to the weddings in 2012:
- My cousin Amy is getting married in July
- My good friend Lindsey is getting married in July

So many of my friends are having babies in 2012!
- Ashley (May), Jennifer (April), Katie (February), and all of my other friends who may not know yet :)

Goals for 2012:
- Find a 'home' church and start attending every week.

- Become a more bonded family - especially once I complete all of my classes and have more time to be at home every evening.

- And of course to lose weight before our family cruise in August.

I can't write a post without including one picture of the kiddos :) Took this during Saturday morning cartoons:

Happy New Year!

Elfie - 2011

2012-01-01T22:26:00.000-05:00

This year our family got our very own Elf! As the story goes, once the boy or girl elf arrives at your house, you must give him a name in order for him to get his magic. Well I left it up to the kids to name him and they went the original route and our Elf's name is Elfie!

For those of you who do not know the story behind the Elf on the Shelf, every night he flies back to the North Pole to report back to Santa on if the kids were good or bad that day. When he comes back to your house, he lands in a different spot. The game for the kids is to wake up and see who can spot Elfie first. The kids loved this part and Aaron and I loved the part that the kids understood that they had to be good because Elfie would tell Santa if they were naughty. Sometimes I wish Elfie would stay at our house year-round!

Below are the pictures I captured of Elfie this year. Some of them were pretty creative so I am sure next year it will be even better.

Enjoy!

Our Christmas - 2011 (part 2)

2012-01-01T21:17:00.001-05:00

I knew Christmas day would be great this year. The kids are starting to understand a little more about Santa and what happens on Christmas morning. We talked Santa up to them before we went to see Santa a few weeks ago and they did so well with not being scared. I was really surprised, but very excited. I may have went a little overboard this year because I started shopping in October and by the time December came around, I has stashed away a lot of things that I had forgotten about.

To get ready for Santa, we made cookies the night before, sat them out for Santa, then sprinkled the reindeer food onto the lawn.

And then Christmas morning.....

I love Kylie's hair! They were both so surprised and excited when they walked out of their room! It was like I was a kid again!!

We also celebrated our Thacker Christmas at our house this year. I must have been so busy with the kids and their toys that I didn't get many pictures of all of us.

This Christmas was hard without Paula and I am kind of glad it is over. We had a great few days but just like every get together, there will always be a void.

We hope you and you families had a wonderful Christmas.

Our Christmas - 2011 (part 1)

2012-01-01T12:53:00.000-05:00

We celebrated 4 Christmases this year like we usually do and luckily it wasn't all in one day :) The first Christmas was with the Hall side of the family. It was bitter sweet because my grandmother wasn't well enough to come to my Uncle's house for the celebration. I think everyone had a good time but there was a void with her not being there.

Our next Christmas was on Christmas Eve. We actually had 2 celebrations on this day so it was a long, fun day. We celebrated the Austin side of the family as well as Christmas with my parents and siblings.

A Very Sad Day

2012-01-01T11:16:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, December 29th, Heaven gained another sweet angel when my grandmother passed away. She was 77 years old and suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Her and my grandfather were married for 61 years so please keep my grandfather in your thoughts and prayers. She was the heart of the Hall family and will be greatly missed. It has been a hard few days but I know she is finally at peace. My Aunt read this beautiful poem at her funeral:

Do not stand at my grave and weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!

Prayers

2011-12-28T23:51:00.000-05:00

I completely believe in the power of prayer and I need some prayers right now for some very special people.

1. Please say a little prayer for my sister-in-law who is 25 weeks pregnant with my little nephew. She recently had some contractions but luckily they were able to stop them. More tests are being done to see what is going on.

2. Please say a prayer for my best friends little girl, Regan. She is 6 months old and they found a 11 cm tumor in her little belly a few weeks ago and she had surgery on Tuesday to remove it. She was moved out of ICU today which is great news. Tomorrow results from the biopsy should be back and we are praying for a benign tumor. She is such a strong little girl and I can't imagine what her parents are going through right now.

3. For all those who prayed for Kylie last week, it was very much appreciated! She had her second set of ear tubes put in and she did great. I am so glad it is over because I know it will help her feel so much better.

Thanks in advance for your prayers!!

Elfie

2011-12-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

I couldn't wait to start the tradition of Elf on the Shelf with the kids this year. Not only would it help them understand how Santa works, I would be able to use it when trying to get the kids to do things they don't want to do :) I seem to be a little more creative as the month has gone on so I am sure next year will be awesome!
I will have a follow-up post after Christmas to give more highlights of where Elfie has shown up this year, but here are just a few places we found him:

Mommy & Kylie

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Kylie and I had a date night and went to see the Nutcracker. I was skeptical because she is only two, but I had high hopes because she loves to watch people dance and I knew there would be plenty of princesses to watch.

We went to dinner at the Bristol first and then made our way to watch the ballet. Nana, Katie, Austin and Maggie were with us as well as my mom's best friend Tina and her daughter and two granddaughters. We all had a great time and Kylie did great. I can't wait to make this a yearly tradition with Kylie. Next year we will make a bigger deal about it and go out a buy an entire new princess dress for it for her to wear. I can't wait!

An Amazing Gift

2011-12-19T22:39:00.001-05:00

I knew this time of year was going to be tough for our family because we are going through all of our firsts without Paula. We do have one amazing gift from God that we get to celebrate right now and that is the pregnancy of Emma and Nathan. I know I am so excited about bringing another little Thacker boy into this family because Blake needs someone to wrestle with! Kylie is pretty excited as well and I captured her on video talking about Aunt Emma being pregnant with a baby. We made this video to send to Emma and Nathan:

Santa!

2011-12-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

I was so excited to take the kids to see Santa this year. Aaron and I have really been talking him up to the kids - especially now that Elf on the Shelf has debuted in our house (which is another post). My mom's hospital has a yearly Christmas celebration so that was our first Christmas experience of the year.

Here are a few pictures of the visit with a short video at the end. Blake was hilarious because he went up to Santa and then saw a fake present and grabbed it and thought it was his!

The Most Wonderful (and busiest) Time of Year!

2011-12-19T21:30:00.000-05:00

December is so busy for us! With holiday parties, school ending, Christmases, dinners with Friends, Christmas shopping...I can go on and on....we are so busy but I love it! Especially since I am now officiallly completed with school for the semester. I huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders because it is one less thing I have to worry about and now I can focus on the kids and having a wonderful Christmas. 27 credits down and 9 more to go - only 3 more classes and I will have my MBA!
Here is how our December has gone so far:

The first weekend in December was packed full. Friday night we had Aaron's office party at French Lick Resort & Spa and we had a great time. It was so nice to get away for a night and see the beautiful decorations at the resort. They also have the Polar Express train ride where you can actually go on a train ride and visit Santa! Tickets sell out almost a year in advance so I will be getting our tickets for next year very soon!

Here is the beautiful tree outside of the hotel:

Saturday was my brother Brad's birthday and we went out to eat with the family. My sister and my cousin Lauren and I also did the shopping for my grandparents for our family's Christmas which is this coming weekend. We shopped for 18 stockings and 10 kids presents. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work. We did it pretty quickly and got finished in just over 2 hours. That Sunday was spent writing a paper and doing a presentation for one of my classes. Not fun but the end of the semester was near.

My Miss Priss

2011-11-29T19:00:00.001-05:00

This little girl is a diva. She has just recently turned into one. That may be because I have introduced her to pink nail polish, lip gloss and pretty hair bows...but still. She loves it and so do I. She still has a little tom-boy in her because she loves to wrestle with her bubby and kick a soccer ball.

She also LOVES her baby dolls and pretend cooking. She recently started using a pad of paper and a pen to 'take our orders' to eat. It's too cute!

Cookies!

2011-11-27T15:30:00.002-05:00

Blake and I LOVE chocolate chip cookies. OK maybe I like them a little more than Blake but he does like them. We made some this week and I took a few pictures. For some reason I didn't get any of us eating them :)

Thankful

2011-11-27T14:54:00.002-05:00

There are so many things I am thankful for in my life. My beautiful babies, my amazing husband, my awesome family, our health, just to name a few. This Thanksgiving my heart is so heavy because there is someone so special to our family that should be here celebrating with us. We are so thankful that we had the time with her that we did, but it was just not enough at all. It was our first Thanksgiving without her and it was very hard, as we expected. My mom said that the next year will be the toughest but it will get easier; however it will never get 'easy'.

I found this poem and it fits perfectly.

I cried when you passed away. I cry today still.

Although I loved you dearly, I couldn't make you stay.

A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest.

God broke my heart to prove to me he only takes the best.

We miss you Grammy and we think about you everyday.

We had two Thanksgivings like we do every year. Thursday we celebrated with the Thacker's and Saturday we celebrated with the Hall's. We have had a great 4 days spending time with family and I really don't want to go back to the grind this week. Kylie and I started our morning today with a visit to the ENT because we learned last week that one of her ear tubes fell out. Not fun. We found out because she had strep, an ear infection and thrush. She did great today and didn't have strep or an ear infection. She did get a hearing test that wasn't up to par so we are going back in 2 months for another hearing test and then we will determine if she needs replacement tubes.

Here is a picture of the cutie at the doctor's office this morning. She was watching Micky Mouse on my phone.

Here are a few random pictures from our weekend.

We ate a lot of this....

The kids had fun in the tub....

Austin lost his first tooth!!! You can already see the new tooth coming in.

And we would like to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Aunt Memma (Emma). Her birthday was Sunday and the kids sang Happy Birthday to her while I captured a few pictures. They love to sing Happy Birthday.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Long-Winded....

2011-11-17T21:05:00.001-05:00

These past few weeks have flow by and it's been a while since I have blogged about our doings. Life has been crazy as usual but at least I am a couple weeks closer to being completed with this semester of school. Feels so good to say that!

So about about last couple of weeks, not much has been going on but things have been nonstop. Two weekends ago I had a baby shower and a wedding on Saturday. It was a busy day but a good one. I got to see so many wonderful friends at the baby shower and for some reason I walked in a started crying because I was so happy to see everyone. I miss them all so much and I hate that we all don't live in the dorms at Georgetown anymore. Wait....maybe I am glad that we don't there on campus but I still wish we all lived close. Baby showers and wedding showers bring us all back together now.

Here is a picture of me and my girlfriends at the baby shower. I love and miss them all!!

This cute little guy is my friend Amanda's little man. He is so adorable! I got to have lunch with him and his mommy this week which made.my.week.

That Sunday one of my wonderful, talented friend Catherine took the kids' pictures. The kids did better than I thought they would but I was still sweating when we got done. It is so hard to get 2 kids under 3 to sit still and smile long enough to get a picture! Here is a sneak peek at some of the pics. I love them all!!

Are they great! Kylie has such a cute smile and I know that it's in there. Maybe next time we can get that pretty smile like this picture -

This past weekend Aaron and I had a little getaway to Lexington while Grandmom and Roger watched the kids. It was so nice to get away, but not too far away. On Friday night we went to the UK basketball game and had a blast. On Saturday we went to a concert at a small local place and it was so much fun!

This week we tried a new local sandwich shop and it was pretty good. The kids liked that it also is an ice cream shoppe so we all had ice cream afterwards. Yummy! I got some cute pictures with my phone of the night.

I do need to brag a minute about myself. For each test I have for school I always end up studying 5-8 hours at least. Well I had a test a week or so ago and I go a 96% on it....in finance....I hate finance so I was pumped! And glad it's over, but I have one more for that class and then I am done with that class. We did get some crappy news today at work. My department was recently moved under a different director which is a good move and great opportunity. However that new area is on the complete opposite side of town....and we are moving in 30-45 days :( So on top of one of the bridges closing I will have an extra 20-25 mins to get to work (if you don't live around here all of the bridges connect Louisville and Southern Indiana where I live). Getting to work is not even the worse of it. Getting home will be the bigger pain. Folks I know that are currently out at the new office say that some days it takes them 2 hours to get home! OMG!!! Not.looking.forward.to.it.

I am really hoping when class is over on Dec. 12th that I keep up my blog better than I have been. Every night I am either in class or doing homework or a paper for class. Sorry for the long post. Sometimes I get long-winded :)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T23:33:00.000-05:00

...almost because you can't see the bottom....Happy Birthday, Uncle Nathan!!

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-01T10:37:00.001-04:00

We had a great night of trick or treating. Blake really got into it this year and Kylie did a little. I don't think Kylie felt too good because she was up a few hours in the night and ended up sleeping in our bed. I thought she was still a beautiful princess. Blake was so excited about being a pirate. He has been so into pirates since Jake and the Neverland Pirates first aired on the Disney Channel.

Blake started out slow but by the end of the night, he was running around like Austin's shadow. Kylie did great as well. She was better at saying thank you than trick or treat. Austin and Katie did great too. Austin was the big brother/cousin and all of the kids did what he told them to do. He was also a pirate, Jack Sparrow to be exact, and Katie was Ariel. Don't you just love her wig? :)

Shopping and a Party

2011-10-31T22:18:00.001-04:00

I hate that I only have time to blog once every couple of weeks but honestly I have to make myself sit down and update this blog. These past few weeks have been crazy. It started with an awesome weekend away with my mom, sister and some great friends. We went on our annual shopping trip to Cincinnati and went to 3 outlets and 2 malls. Like every year, it was a great trip and I got a lot of my Christmas shopping done. We also got to have dinner with my brother and his girlfriend, Laura, which is always nice.

Here is a picture of us at a late lunch on Sunday before heading home -

And here is the picture when we got home before we unloaded -

Keep in mind this includes the purchases for only 3 of us. We had a great time like we do every year and I can't wait to see where we are going next year. HERE is our post from last year.

Last week we also celebrated my dad's birthday on Tuesday. He turned the big 6-0 this year! We celebrated by going to our normal spot, Puerto Vallarta. He also had to wear the hat like everyone else.

We not only went out to eat to celebrate his birthday, we threw a BIG surprise party for him on Friday night. It turned out so good and he was so surprised. The party turned out great and the kids had a blast dancing all night.

On Saturday we went to a Halloween party and had a great time listening to a live band. Unfortunately I have no pictures from the night but we didn't miss much because Aaron and I didn't dress up this year. We are dressing up for sure next year and I have already told Kristin and Jonathan that they are going too.

On Sunday morning we had breakfast at Mom and Dad's before Jonathan and Laura had to go back to school and I got this cute picture of Blake singing a song to Papa from my phone.

I will end this post but I will be posting one more post tonight with our night of trick or treating.

Annual Huber's Trip

2011-10-18T21:41:00.001-04:00

Last Monday we made our annual trip to Huber's to pick up pumpkins for our porch. This time it was actually with the daycare because the kids had a field trip scheduled. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time.

The kids LOVED the big slide! They both went down them about 15 times each.

Even Daddy went down!

They were both so proud of their pumpkins!

Blog Hiatus

2011-10-17T23:17:00.002-04:00

Well here I go again...another short hiatus from blogging. Life has yet to slow down these past few weeks. School is still in full force. I do have to brag about my A on my finance test. I studied almost 7 hours for it so I think it paid off. My other class doesn't have test but a lot of work outside of class. After next week we will be half way through the semester!!
Last weekend my girlfriends and I had a nice weekend away. We headed to Nashville on Friday after work to celebrate all of us turning 30 this year. It was so great to spend time with my girls who mean so much to me but I don't get to see a lot of. We all went to school together since we were in middle school so we are a pretty close group. You never realize how much you miss people until you spend some time with them. We had a great weekend but we can all tell that we are getting older!
On the 12th, we went out to eat for Aaron's birthday. I am such a slacker because I normally post on the day of someone's birthday, at least a picture. I actually went to eat with the family and then went to class from 7:30-9:30 so I kind of have an excuse :) We celebrated again this past weekend and some family came over for pizza (Aaron's fav) and Saturday we played poker until 2am. Kristin, Jeremy, Jonathan, Aaron, and I played and I think Jonathan came out the big winner for the night!
My grandmother, who I have talked about just recently, is doing better. Her memory will never be the same but she is starting to eat more and getting a little more strength each day. She recently moved to a different place so I know it will be so much better for her. We can already tell a huge difference in her.

We are also still battling Strep in this house. Kylie had it first and then Blake. Kylie had a temperature yesterday and was up all night so we took her back to the doctor today and she still has it!! Uggg! I am just afraid at this rate that she is a carrier or even worse will have to get her tonsils out :( Hopefully her new medicine will make her better very soon and hopefully Blake won't get it again! Grandpa Roger has been a lifesaver and has kept them this whole time they have been sick. Thank you, PopPop!!
I also was one of the lucky ones who got the new iPhone 4s on Friday! I was due for an upgrade so I decided to go for it. I LOVE it...especially the camera on it. Some of the pictures below are from the phone and you can't even tell. A-Mazing!

This weekend we also discovered a new song that Kylie and Blake sing at school. Kylie was humming a song that I thought sounded familiar and I finally realized what it was. Baby Bumble Bee! I loved that song when I was little! So with my new phone, I used the video to get her singing it. Remember with the iPhone 4 there is a camera on the front of the phone so you can see yourself and you can tell she is watching herself sing. So cute! You can ignore my awful singing :) Be sure to mute my playlist so you can hear her cute little voice. At this rate I think she is going to be a professional singer!!

I captured this picture this morning. Kylie and Daddy were sleeping the same way and I thought it was so cute!

2 Cute Videos

2011-10-04T23:21:00.000-04:00

Below are two very cute videos of Kylie Rose. The first video is her performing Roll Call from Micky Mouse Clubhouse. She says everyone's name and she is so excited about it! Don't forget to mute my playlist on the bottom of my blog to hear her sweet voice!

Roll Call from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

This video is of Kylie when she should be taking a nap. She decided to stand up in her bed and perform for us. This video is from my phone looking at the video monitor. I think we have our hands full!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!!

2011-09-22T22:34:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!!

We love you and will celebrate with you this weekend!!

Kylie Stats Update

2011-09-22T22:32:00.000-04:00

We went to the doctor yesterday for Kylie's two year check-up. She is a happy and healthy little girl! Her stats were:

33 lbs, 3 ozs - 95th Percentile

36 inches long - 95th Percentile

19 inches - head circumference - 85th Percentile

My baby girl is getting so big!!

Our Busy Life

2011-09-22T22:22:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was full of ups and downs. Saturday was a great day. We went to Disney on Ice and the kids had so much fun. Their favorite skits were The Little Mermaid and Captain Hook. Well maybe The Little Mermaid was my favorite but I think the kids liked it as well. The started to get restless towards the end since it was almost 2 hours long and I am not sure Kylie has ever sat still that long. They ate about a box and a half each of popcorn during the show. We also got out of there without spending an arm and a leg on toys. On Saturday night we had the big UK (Kentucky) vs UL (Louisville) game which is very important around here. It definitely didn't turn out the way we wanted it but we did get to see some friends.
On Sunday I didn't feel too well because I am getting over bronchitis. I may have taken a nap when the kids were napping which was very nice. I should have been doing homework however I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Aaron must have been tired because he fell asleep as well. After I woke up, my sister and I went to visit my Mamaw Hall. As I have mentioned before she has Alzheimer's and she has recently moved to a Memory Home for Alzheimer's patients. However when we got there, they told us that they took her to the ER a couple of hours before. To not go into too many details, she was admitted to the hospital with a very serious UTI and pneumonia. It makes me so sad to even write about it. I have been to see her everyday since Sunday and she has had her ups and downs. Yesterday was probably the best she has been because she was awake when I got there and we had some good conversation. She was pretty tired from a day full of PT, OT and ST so by the time I left she was worn out. Today she was transferred to another facility so I am sure all of moving wore her out. She was pretty sleepy tonight so we didn't get to talk much. We aren't sure what the next few weeks and months hold, but we are very positive that slowly but surely she will get her physical strength back.

It has been a very tough couple of months and there are times that I am so emotional about everything. With losing Paula, Mamaw being sick, work, school and trying to be the best mom and wife, I feel like I am running dry. I want everything to be normal again but I know that it never will be. It is going to take some time to get use to this new normal.
Here are some pictures from the past week or so. There are not many because I have been going from home to work to the hospital to class and then home and by that time, the kids are already in bed.

Kylie moved to her toddler bed on Sunday! She has only gotten out of bed a couple of times but she has done so good!

A Sweet Little Birthday Party

2011-09-15T22:51:00.000-04:00

On Saturday we celebrated Kylie's birthday all day. We had a Minnie Mouse party at our house with a lot of family and friends. The weather turned out to be perfect so the kids got to play outside all day. There are so many people who love Kylie and it showed today at her party. I think she had a wonderful day.

Below is my picture dump from the day. I loved the Minnie Mouse theme! I also must say that I made the cupcakes myself which was a first for me. I used the box cake but the icing was homemade and I must say it turned out great.

On Saturday morning before Kylie's party, I participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer's with a few family and friends. We did it in honor of Mamaw Sarah and I felt so proud.

A Special Day

2011-09-15T12:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to our Guardian Angel.

We miss and love you so much, Grammy!

Happy Birthday, Kylie Rose!

2011-09-09T23:24:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday, Kylie Rose!

Today is Kylie's 2nd Birthday! It doesn't seem like it has been two years. She is such a little diva but the sweetest little girl.

Here are some interesting things about Kylie right now. I will be doing another post on all of her favorite things so this is just a brief summary.

- You love you big brother. Anytime he does something, you have to be right behind him and do it as well. Monkey See, Monkey Do.

- Even though you love to wrestle with your brother, you are a little diva. You even shake your butt when you run!

- You are very attached to one of your babies, your blankie and your paci (yes you still love your paci). You must have all three of them when you go to bed at night or when you don't feel well.

- You are talking so good. Your favorite thing to do is sing and some of your favorite songs are Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle, ABC Song, and You Are My Sunshine. See video below for proof!

- You love to dance. Whenever you hear music, you start to shake your little butt.

- We go in a couple of weeks for your yearly check-up but here are some of your stats that I know:

- You weigh around 33 lbs

- You wear a size 5 diaper

- You are wearing 3T and some 2T clothes

- You wear a size 7 shoe

- You loved swimming in Nana and Papa's pool this summer.

- You recently started at the same daycare as Blake and you love it.

- You go to bed around 8-8:30 and sleep until 7ish.

- You love all kids of foods but some of your favorites include: grilled chicken, rice, beans (funny that these are the key ingredients used at Qdoba), crackers, milk, apple juice, any kind of pasta and anything that mommy and daddy are eating.

- Everyone says that you look just like me. I will take that as a compliment.

Here are some pictures of when Kylie was born. I love looking at them and remembering how little she was! She actually wasn't too little since she weighed 10lbs when she was born!

This was Kylie last year on her birthday.

This was Kylie this morning before daddy took her to daycare. We sang happy birthday with two candles in her sausage biscuit which she loved.

And we had a birthday celebration dinner at Chuck E Cheese tonight and here are a few pictures from the night.

Lastly, here is a video of the kids one night this week. Beware I also sing a bit with the kids. There is also a brief fight fight because Blake wants to sing it my himself. Love these kids! (Be sure to mute my playlist below to hear the kids sing)

Happy Birthday! from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

My Normal Catch-Up

2011-09-08T23:04:00.001-04:00

I feel so behind. Life can't stop but sometimes I would like for it to slow down. I started classes again, work is crazy busy, the kids are always full of energy and I always want to be with them. Before I know it they are going to be teenagers. Speaking of, Kylie turns 2 on Friday! I cannot believe it! Blake just turned 3 and it doesn't seem like Kylie should be turning 2 yet. This only means one thing - my babies are not babies any more and it makes me so sad!

So I have been doing a lot of planning and I cannot wait for the party. However as of today, there is a 30% chance of rain and it cannot rain! So many kids are going to be running around the house and with the playset and bouncy house, I really need the outdoor space!
Two weeks ago one of my best friends got married and had a beautiful wedding. It was a great time and I was honored to be a part of her special day. This past weekend was great. We didn't have much going on so Aaron decided to paint the kitchen. I will honestly say that when I walked in after he had been painting for 7 hours I wanted to cry. I didn't like it AT.ALL. However it has kind of grown on me and we have decided that in a month or so if we still don't like it, we [Aaron] will repaint. I really hope it grows on me some more! I think once I get the frames up on the wall that I ordered I will like it a lot more. We will see. I will post pictures once I get it all together.
On another note, we have had amazing weather this week. It has been cloudy and has sprinkled a bit, but it has been in the upper 60's, lower 70's all week. I just want it to stay cool or get warm again. Aaron is getting over sinus infection, I am getting over something nasty and Blake seems to have something as well. I am sure when we are all better, Kylie will have something going on.
This weekend is Kylie's party and I can't wait to put it all together. I am taking a big leap this year and making the cupcakes myself. We will see! Hopefully they won't be too bad :)

I forgot to mention that a couple of weeks ago my sister and I and two friends went to the Train/Maroon 5 concert at the Kentucky State Fair. It was amazing and we had 8th row seats. I had to include a couple of pictures from a great night.

I better go to bed. Kylie's big day is tomorrow and her big party is on Saturday and I cannot wait. I need a bit of distraction right now.

Picking up the pieces

2011-08-24T22:22:00.000-04:00

It's been three weeks. Three weeks since we lost someone so special to us and there is not a day that goes by that I do not think about her. There are so many unanswered questions because it was so sudden. I am sure there will be a time that I need to get it all off my chest but I am going keep it to myself right now. It feels like a piece of the puzzle is missing and I know we will feel like this for a very long time. Please continue to pray for everyone.

I have thought about giving up this blog because of lack of time and it reminds me a lot of Paula because I know how much she loved reading it. However the past few weeks so many people have told me that they read the blog so I want to keep it up for them and so everything is documented for the kids when they get older. I am also still keeping up my other blog - One Frame a Day - which I take pictures of the kids everyday (almost everyday) and post a picture and then at the end of the year, I will print it off and have a copy made for each of the kids.

So many things have happened the past few weeks. Here are just a few:

- Kylie started at the same daycare as Blake, which she loves.

- Blake started back to preschool and his favorite part is riding the bus!

- We tried potty training with Blake again and he is NOT ready at ALL!

- Blake loves his new big boy bed. He sleeps so good in it and stays in bed all night.

This video is priceless. Aaron calls me KK which has been my nickname my entire life. However I never expected my kids to call me KK. Kylie has picked this up from Aaron calling for me through the house. You will need to mute my playlist to hear what she says.

What's My Name - Kylie from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

Here are some pictures from the past two weeks as well.

Kylie's first day of school

The kids watching a movie in Blake's bed

Aunt Emma and Uncle Nathan came to visit!

Uncle Jonathan showing Kylie the moon

Blake trying to get mommy with the water gun

Grandmom and Grandpa playing cards with the kids

Buzz and Blake....can you tell which one is which? :)

Pretty girl

Here is the last video for the night. Blake and Austin had a great time wrestling with each other. I can only imagine what our house would be like if we had two boys. It is kind of long but very cute.

Wrestling from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

A time to grieve

2011-08-10T22:09:00.002-04:00

No words can even express how heartbroken our family is right now. In the early morning of August 4th, heaven was made much richer when my mother-in-law, Paula, went to be with Jesus. As I write this, my heart aches and it all seems like a really bad dream. I am still at a loss for words and I know that the next weeks, months and years are going to feel so empty without her here.

This weekend so many people told me how special and wonderful she was. It was awesome to see how many lives she touched in her short 54 years here on Earth. I knew she was an amazing person but to actually hear the stories and see the people she touched, I was blown away.

I remember the first time I met Paula. Aaron and I had been dating for a few months and Paula took us out to lunch for Aaron's birthday. I was so nervous to meet her but as soon as I did, I felt so comfortable around her. She was so sweet and caring and I knew we would get along very well.
Over the years, our relationship grew into something very special. Paula was an only child and had two boys of her own. After being in a house full of boys for so long, she always involved me in everything and considered me a part of the family. After Aaron and I dated for a couple of years, we all went on vacation together to South Carolina where Aaron proposed to me. Of course I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to get back to the condo to tell Paula and Roger. The next day Paula and I went to Charleston to tour the town together and she introduced me to everyone we came across as her future daughter. I was so honored to not only to be marrying Aaron, but to gain a new amazing family. I could write a book about all of the things that Paula has done for our family over the years and I am sure many of them are in this blog from the past year and a half. It just breaks my heart to know that she will not be here to see Blake and Kylie grow up to be the amazing young man and woman that she had already helped mold.

I keep thinking about all of the things that we had planned out for the next few months and years. We just bought tickets to see Disney on Ice for September because both of the kids love Micky Mouse. She couldn't wait to take them to Disney World and we had planned on going next summer. She loved the beach and there was always at least one trip a year planned for Myrtle Beach. We were fortunate enough to all go to the beach last fall with the kids for their first trip to the beach and I could see how much she loved it because of how much the kids loved it.

Because we live an hour away, I started this blog and my One Frame a Day blog so that I could document our life and so Paula, Roger and Grandmom could see the kids and every little thing they did. Paula was so proud of Blake and Kylie and always made sure they had want they needed and wanted. She was the best Mimi that any child could ask for and the kids were so fortunate to have them in their life for the little time they did. I know I will do everything to keep her memory alive so that Blake and Kylie will remember what an amazing Mimi she was.

I am a better person today for having her in my life for the 9 years that I did. Aaron was so lucky to have her as a mother. Her and Roger showed him how to love and what it takes to be a wonderful husband and father. Paula was a very Godly woman and I know Jesus was her savior. I know that heaven gained a amazing angel and that she is dancing with her dad once again.

I went outside tonight after the kids went to bed and I noticed the beautiful sky. It made me think of Paula and I know that she is looking down on us telling us telling us not to be sad. She is our guardian angel and will always watch over us. She would want us to be happy and would never want us to continue to be sad. She was always worried about us and always put us first and I know she is still doing that today.

Please continue to pray for our family including Roger, Grandmom, Nathan, Emma, Aaron, Blake, Kylie and myself. As someone said in the guestbook for Paula, one of the fine pages has been torn out of the book of our lives. I completely agree with this and there wasn't a minute today that I didn't think about her. She was loved by so many and will be greatly missed.

Below are some of my favorite pictures of Paula and the kids. I will cherish these pictures and all of the memories that we made forever and will make sure the kids will as well.

CLICK HERE to see the beautiful obituary that Emma and I wrote for her.

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;

my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Monthly Catch-Up

2011-08-01T22:41:00.000-04:00

So I have been incognito lately. You would think I have so much extra time since I am not taking a class right now but I think it makes me even more busy because I am trying to do all of the stuff around the house that I can't do when I am taking classes. I have gotten a lot of stuff done but I still have many things on my 'to do' list.

So what's been happening around the Thacker household?

The kids have absolutely LOVED swimming in Nana and Papa's pool. There are many pictures and videos to prove that including this video from tonight.

Blake's Summer! from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

- Kristin, Megan and I got to go to the NKOTBSB concert and it was awesome! I felt like I was 13 again.

- One of my best friends is getting married in a couple of weeks and we had a little party for her a couple of weeks ago. It was great seeing many great friends.

- We had a family trip to Cincinnati and went to a water park and the kids had a blast.

- Blake had his check-up at the ENT and his hearing test results were great! Thank God!

- Kylie has turned into my little singer. She loves to sing Twinkle, Twinkle and Happy Birthday.

- Speaking of Happy Birthday, the big one for me is just 9 days away...Oh goodness.

- My job has been crazy busy, but I still love it.

- We made one more trip to the zoo and one to Chuck E Cheese with Blake's class. Both were so much fun!

- I finally started and finished Blake's big boy room! I painted last Friday after work and finished putting his room together on Saturday. I love it and so does he! I still need to put things on the wall but I will take pictures soon and post.

- School starts in 2 weeks and I am taking 2 classes which I have not done yet since being in the program. I'm a little sad knowing I will be away from the kids 2 nights a week.

- Aaron has ONE more class left and then he is DONE! I'm so happy for him and of course very jealous :)

And here are some pictures from the past few weeks. Of course I have been keeping up my other One Frame a Day Blog with some of these so if you follow us on that blog, some of these are duplicates.

I think the kids look so much alike in the next two pictures! You can definitely tell they are brother and sister. Look at those smiles!

Visiting Daddy at work...

Kylie's Birthday is a little over a month away. I cannot believe that she is turning 2! I have already started the planning :) She is also starting at Blake's daycare next week and I know I am going to cry when I drop her off. I know she is going to love it!

For some reason I think I will do better updating the blog when classes start. It will be my excuse to get away from school work for a minute. I am making a promise now to update the blog more often :) Maybe I should show Aaron how to update the blog since he will have so much time on his hands.....I won't hold my breath.

I'll be back....

2011-07-31T22:44:00.000-04:00

Very soon! I promise!

Things have been so busy around our house. I am in the process of writing a very long catch-up post.

Stay tuned to see what's been happening and stay cool!

A birthday, a surprise and a couple of water guppies

2011-07-12T23:11:00.001-04:00

We had a great weekend. I think Blake set a record for how many times he jumped in the pool. We all got together Friday for dinner with Jonkey and Laura since they were in town and of course we went to our regular place - Puerto Vallarta. We love mexican food and they have a big room in the back so it is nice when there are 10-14 adults and 4 kids running around. The food comes out fast too which is nice with the kids :)

The reason for the celebration this time is Jonkey's birthday! The big 2-8. His birthday was on Saturday so everyone was over to mom and dad's to swim and we had a cookout. The weather was perfect - very hot and no clouds. Dad also got to come home for the weekend which was an awesome surprise! Here are some pictures from the weekend and the fun we had.

Kenny Rogers....I mean dad and papa Clay :)

Austin was doing the motions to a song here and he was so cute!

Nice picture birthday boy :)

Aunt Kristin got pushed in by the birthday boy. She couldn't be mad since it was the birthday boy :)

Nothing better than a nice movie to end the night.

Happy Birthday, Jonkey! We hope you had a great day!

On another note, we had a play date with Macyn on Monday and I got a shot of the girls cooking for us. They were cracking up at something here.

And I had to include this cute shot from tonight from the cutest little boy. Mommy had a day off because there was a water main break in downtown Louisville so our office was closed. What a great surprise this morning!

Have a great week!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-05T22:38:00.000-04:00

This weekend was great. We got to do a little bit of everything including a quick trip to the zoo, sliding, swinging, swimming and of course playing.

Here are a few videos and pictures from our weekend -

Blake is such a big boy! He will jump (more like step) into the pool and swim all by himself! Of course this is with his swimmies on.

Blake Swimming from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

And of course I had to put a video of Blake sliding down the slide.

Blake Sliding from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

My little bubble guppy.

And a cute little girl in a cute littel suit.

Daddy telling the kids all about the snakes at the zoo.

Whatever this creature is...

The kids watching fireworks on Sunday night.

And all of them watching fireworks on Monday night.

I hope you all had a great 4th!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for....

2011-06-29T22:20:00.000-04:00

ICE CREAM!

On our way to the ice cream shop:

A bowl of rainbow sherbet to end the day:

Not only did we scream for ice cream, but there was some other screaming done as well. I didn't get a picture but of course we had the infamous Thacker exit. If you haven't experienced this yet, you are not missing out. The Thacker exit consists of two kids under 3 screaming at the top of their lungs and flailing their arms and legs like a stranger is trying to kidnap them. I guess at this point we shouldn't expect anything different but sometimes I would like to be able to go out with the kids and not have any kind of breakdown. Oh well, maybe in 10 years :)

Our Crazy, Busy Life

2011-06-28T22:50:00.000-04:00

Breakdown of the past two weeks:

The stomach bug came and attacked our entire house....Kylie started it.
After recovering from the stomach bug, Kylie and Blake got the Hand, Foot and Mouth Virus - aka Mad Cow Disease. Just kidding but it was not fun. Thank goodness they are over it.
Kylie is still a diva...see picture number uno below.
Blake has made great strides with his speech. There are still times that we have no clue what he is saying but we eventually figure it out.
Daddy, Blake and I went to see Cars 2 and it was great. Blake ate almost a entire large popcorn himself.
I had my monthly date with my high school girlfriends and of course it was a blast.
I got to see my college girlfriends whom I haven't seen is so long. We got to celebrate Sarah who will be introducing baby Codi Reese in a couple of months. It was so nice to catch up with everyone.
Have a great week!

High school girlfriends:

College girlfriends - Katie, Jennifer, Sarah, me and Amanda with baby Jax

Baby Jax snoozing away.

My pretty girl cleaning the house.

Wordless Wednesday...almost

2011-06-22T22:11:00.000-04:00

Nemo! from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

Dad's Day

2011-06-19T21:54:00.001-04:00

This dad's day I want to give a tribute to all of the men in my life. I will be writing a little something for a few of them.

Dad:
I have always looked up to you since I was a little girl. I was so lucky to grow up with such a great dad who was also supportive of me. I was also so lucky that you knew so much about sports so you were able to coach me in almost anything. And having you as a teacher at school...most kids would have hated it but I loved having you so close in case I needed you. Thank you for always being so supportive of me and my dreams. I am the mom, wife and person I am today because of you (and of course mom, too). The kids love and adore you so much and I love to see them with you. Thank you for being an awesome papa!

I hate that you are not here so that we can celebrate Father's Day with you. Come home soon because we all miss you so much! Happy Father's Day!
(He works for FEMA and is in Alabama where the big storms hit in May.)

Aaron (The love of my life and baby daddy):
Thank you for being such an amazing father to our kids. It melts my heart to see you with the kids and I couldn't have picked a better father for them. I am so lucky to have someone who wants to be so involved in their lives and wants to always do what is best for them. Thank you for being the husband and daddy you are today and I can't wait to see you with the kids as they get older when they able to understand how lucky they are to have you as a dad. Love you!

Roger (Father-in-Law):
I have you to thank first for Aaron being such an amazing father. Thank you for being the father you were and are to him and an awesome grandpa to our kids. You have always been so generous and kind to me and over the past 8+ years I have known you. Thank you for being the dad and grandpa that you are. We love you and hope you have a great father's day (even though you cooked the bacon and sausage this morning).

Papa Clay:
Happy Father's Day! I am so fortunate to have you in my life, let alone my own grandfather. Thank you for always being a loving and supportive papa. I love you!

Happy Father's Day to all of the other men in my life you are fathers and all of the future fathers.

The Look

2011-06-14T22:10:00.001-04:00

I have to share this adorable video of my cute little kiddies. This is what we call 'The Look' in action.

The Look from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

This Week in Review

2011-06-13T22:50:00.000-04:00

So my weekly catch-up....not sure where to even begin. These past two weeks have been so busy! It all started with a trip to the zoo. We bought a season pass which means I will milk it as much as possible. The kids absolutely loved it! We didn't wear ourselves out and try to make it to every exhibit because I know we will be back plenty of times these next few months. Some of the kids favorites: elephants, lions, gazelles, tigers. And Blake's least favorite: gorillas. He was so scared! He didn't realize that there was a thick glass between him and the monkeys...and of course, Kylie had no fear at all. Below are a few pictures from our day.

On Friday Aaron and I headed to Belterra (the casino boat) for a little getaway for our anniversary. It was so nice but I missed my kiddos. We had an amazing dinner at Jeff Ruby's and spent some time at the blackjack table. On Saturday we went to see Hangover 2 and went to see a Red's game. It was so hot but so much fun.

Just to reminisce, here is a picture of our wedding party from our wedding day.

Last week went by pretty fast because of class and everyone in our house had the case of the stomach bug. It was AWFUL. Kylie started it and Blake ended it. Thank goodness it is now gone from the house and I hope it never finds its way back here. Luckily Grammy and Grandpa came to visit and help take care of us.

Oh and good news: Only two more classes left for me this summer!

Have a great week!

A Busy Month

2011-06-01T23:21:00.000-04:00

It has been almost a month since I have last posted but I have a good reason. School and kids (and hubby) have taken up all of my time and of course, they always come first. So here is a little breakdown of what has been happening at our house.

I last posted that Blake celebrated his 3rd birthday. I cannot believe I have a 3 year old! That just makes me a year older :) I love his more and more every day and cherish every second I have with him.

We went to see Dr. Pringle for his 3 year check up and he looked perfect! His stats were:

Height: 39 1/4 inches (90%) - grew 5 inches in a year!

Weight: 37 1/2 lbs (90%) - gained 7 1/2 lbs in a year!

Here are a couple of other things we did in the month of May:

- Went on a field trip with Blake's daycare to the Zoo

- Austin graduated from Preschool

- I finished one class and started another

- Mom and Dad opened their pool!

- Kylie has started talking a lot more....and with that also comes a lot of attitude!

- I blogged on Monday that my best friend Emily had her baby girl, Regan. She is so adorable!

Most of the photos from this month are on my other One Frame a Day blog but I have included some others. I know that this month I will have many more starting with tomorrow because we are taking the kids to the zoo!

Until next time....hopefully it won't be too long!

Beautiful Baby Girl!

2011-05-30T22:50:00.001-04:00

Things have been crazy lately but I had to post this picture of another beautiful baby girl that one of my best friends just had. I love her already :)

Welcome to the world, Baby Regan!!

Happy Birthday, Blake!!!

2011-05-08T22:09:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to my amazing little boy.

Today, along with Mother's Day, we celebrated Blake's 3rd birthday. It was a perfect day to celebrate outside with perfect weather. We pushed the time up because my dad works for FEMA and he has been called to Alabama due to all of the tornadoes (how amazing is that). It was a great party and I think everyone had a good time. Especially all of the kiddos playing outside.

Here is a quick recap from the last few years.

This picture is of Blake about a week old. Oh how I missed these days!

This picture is of Blake's 1st Birthday party. He looks so young!

And this picture is of Blake's 2nd birthday party.

The theme this year was Cars and I think the cake turned out pretty darn cute!

Here are a few more pictures from the day.

We bought the bouncy house for the party to hopefully use it many more times this summer and every one after. The kids loved it today!

One of Blake's favorite toys of the day....the big Buzz Lightyear. He was fascinated!

And my favorite picture of the day. Nathan captured this and I love it. Blake was so embarrassed that everyone was singing Happy Birthday to him :)

Thank you everyone who celebrated with us today! Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T00:12:00.001-04:00

I have been so blessed with many special women in my life. I thank God everyday for everyone of them and all that that do for me and my family.

This Mother's Day I want to tell a little bit about the special ladies in my life. First is two very special women who will forever be in my heart and memories. I think about them every day and I wish there were here to celebrate with us. I know they would love my kids and would be so proud of me and my accomplishments.

My Granny, Vera, passed away when I was a Junior in High School. Granny was a special lady and everyone absolutely loved her. I was so lucky to have her in my life for the 17 years I did. She was very involved in her great-grandkids lives, including mine. She attending every single basketball game of mine that should could until she got sick. She blessed us with 90 years on this Earth and we were so lucky to have those 90 years. I love and miss you so much, Granny!

My Grandma Jeanne passed away when I was a Sophomore in College. She fought a very brave fight against breast and lung cancer for 3+ years until God took her to be with Granny, pain-free. My Grandma was so special to me. Many people say that we are a lot alike and I love to hear that. She was such a hard worker and would do anything for anyone. I have many special memories with her and was so blessed to have her in my life for the time I did. I know she loved me so much and I know she would LOVE my kids. Along with Granny, she was at every ball game of mine and supported me in every way possible. I miss her greatly, especially her smile and laugh.

My Mama Hall is so special to me. She has been so healthy her entire life, until recently when Alzheimer's has set in. She has many good days, but she continues to increasingly have bad ones. It's a scary disease, especially if someone you love has it. No matter what, I will always have the memories we created together forever. I love you Mama!

My mom is my best friend. She continues to always be there for me through thick and thin. She has has been my biggest cheerleader throughout my life and continues to be today. She is the best mom in the world and now is the best Nana to Blake and Kylie. Throughout my life I have never been without and I have her to thank for that (and my dad, too). She is such a strong woman and I can only hope to be as strong and successful like her one day. I am so lucky that God chose her to be my mom and I am so appreciative of everything she does for me.

I cannot forget two other ladies who I have been blessed with in my life. Aaron's Grandmom and Mom have taken me in like the daughter and grand-daughter they never had. They are both a very big part of our lives and I am so thankful for that. They are both so good to Aaron and I and both of the kids absolutely love them. I am so lucky to have amazing and loving in-laws.

And of course I cannot forget my sister. Even though she is not my mom, she is my sister and is a wonderful mom herself. She is a full-time mom, Nurse manager, wife and she is getting ready to go back to school to get her doctorate degree in Nursing. She is an amazing person whom I have looked up to my entire life. I am so lucky to have her in my life.

There are many other special women in my life including many Aunts, Great-Aunts, a sister-in-law, and friends whom I am very thankful for as well. Happy Mother's day to all of the moms and future moms out there!

A wedding, a baby, and elephants...Oh My!

2011-04-29T23:37:00.000-04:00

It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. You know that lump in your throat....yea, mine is finally gone now that my class is over. I can just scream with joy right now :)

So for my catch-up from this past week and a half (be aware this is a long post with lots of pictures):

This past weekend Aaron's cousin got married so we traveled to West Virginia for the big celebration. Blake was a ring bearer, but unfortunately didn't walk down the aisle. Oh well, maybe next time? It was so good to see family we don't get to see too often. The kids didn't sleep too good because they thought it was play time. I slept in a bed with Blake and I still have bruises on my arms and ribs from him rolling around in bed. Overall, it was a good weekend and I think the kids had a blast at the reception. Here are a few pictures and of course an awesome 'must see' video of the kids dancing at the reception. You must watch it! Blake gets his dancing skills from his daddy :)

Kids Dancing...Priceless! from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

This past week there were terrible storms that ripped through this area and hit pretty hard in Alabama. I can't image if a tornado took out my entire town, or even a larger city like Louisville. The kids were pretty mesmerized by the rain and wind one evening and I captured a picture of them yelling at the door.

Here is a picture I captured on my way home from work one day. The sky was amazing!

Also, one of my best friends had her precious baby boy this week! I was so excited to get her text that Jax entered this world weighing a whopping 9lbs, 11.3 ozs! I am so happy for Jasper and Amanda!

Aaron picked up the kids and when I got home, I walked into this:

It was pretty funny because they were having a blast. I am pretty crazy about keeping my house clean but I rolled around in it with them for a little bit. They were loving it!

We celebrated Easter a little early this year since we were out of town for Easter Sunday. The Easter Bunny brought the kids a Beta fish and they love him! They have named him Nemo :)

Tonight we went to the circus which came to our little town. I was so excited for Blake to see all of the animals. We spent $60 for about an hour of entertainment. Amazing. At least the kids got to see elephants. The look on their faces when they first saw them was priceless.

And lastly, I started the Jillian Michaels 'Shred' program (I have linked to Amazon but I know Target has it too and it's only $9) and I LOVE it. I really don't have a lot of time to work out and I really don't like to just run on the treadmill. So I thought I would give it a try and I am really glad that I did. I love that it's only 20 mins (with about 5 mins of warm-up and cool down). It's really hard but I definitely recommend if you don't have a lot of time but want to do something. I can already tell a difference with just doing it 4 times already!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I know I will since I will NOT be studying at all!

Today was....

2011-04-27T22:11:00.000-04:00

MY LAST DAY OF SPRING CLASSES!!!!

I cannot express how happy I am to be done!

Whooo Hoooo!

Yee Haa!!!

Whoop, Whoop!!! (There it is!)

I finally have some time for my kids and hubby! At least until May 9th when Summer classes start. I have a lot to catch up on this blog. For now, I am going to catch up on my 84 new items in Google Reader, catch up on my DVR, and write some blog posts of my own!

Point B

2011-04-19T22:22:00.000-04:00

I had to repost this from my friend Sara. I love it.

Point B by Sarah Kay

If I should have a daughter…Instead of 'Mom', she’s gonna call me “Point B." Because that way, she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me. And I’m going to paint the solar system on the back of her hands so that she has to learn the entire universe before she can say, “Oh, I know that like the back of my hand."

She’s gonna learn that this life will hit you, hard, in the face, wait for you to get back up so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air. There is hurt, here, that cannot be fixed by band-aids or poetry, so the first time she realizes that Wonder-Woman isn’t coming, I’ll make sure she knows she doesn’t have to wear the cape all by herself. Because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I’ve tried.

And “Baby,” I’ll tell her, “don’t keep your nose up in the air like that. I know that trick. You’re just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else, find the boy who lit the fire in the first place to see if you can change him.”

But I know that she will anyway, so instead I’ll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boats nearby, ‘cause there is no heartbreak that chocolate can’t fix. Okay, there’s a few heartbreaks chocolate can’t fix. But that’s what the rain boots are for, because rain will wash away everything if you let it.

I want her to see the world through the underside of a glass bottom boat, to look through a magnifying glass at the galaxies that exist on the pin point of a human mind. Because that’s how my mom taught me. That there’ll be days like this, “There’ll be days like this my momma said” when you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises. When you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you wanna save are the ones standing on your cape. When your boots will fill with rain and you’ll be up to your knees in disappointment and those are the very days you have all the more reason to say “thank you,” ‘cause there is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it’s sent away.

You will put the “wind” in win some lose some, you will put the “star” in starting over and over, and no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life.

And yes, on a scale of one to over-trusting I am pretty [] naive but I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar. It can crumble so easily but don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.

“Baby,” I’ll tell her “remember your mama is a worrier but your papa is a warrior and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more.”

Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things and always apologize when you’ve done something wrong but don’t you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.

Your voice is small but don’t ever stop singing and when they finally hand you heartbreak, slip hatred and war under your doorstep, and hand you hand-outs on street corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother

Here's a link to the author reciting it. She's good.

Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter ...

To my amazing, loving daughter, Kylie.

Our Life and a Party!

2011-04-18T22:17:00.000-04:00

This past week has been a crazy one. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great week, but busy and eventful.
I want to remember how busy and crazy our lives are 10 years down the road so I am going to walk through a normal week in the Thacker house.

Monday – Usually no set schedule. I try to leave for work at 7ish and Aaron leaves at 7:15 to take both kids to daycare (this is typical during the week). I get off around 4ish and run any quick errands then pick up Kylie by 5:30 and Blake by 6.

Tuesday – Aaron has class from 6-8:45 pm so I am on my own for the night. I usually pick up the kids and head home to fix a quick dinner and play with them outside if the weather permits – hopefully we can be outside more often now that it is getting warmer (with the exception of the April showers).

Wednesday – I have class from 6-8:45 pm so I usually don’t get to see the kids in the evening L Aaron usually picks them up and grabs something to go for dinner for them. I get home around 9:15 from class and get to catch up with Aaron, unless he is doing homework.

Thursday – Same as Tuesday – Aaron has class from 6-8:45pm so the kids and I are on our own.

Friday – No set schedule unless we are going out of town. Aaron works later and gets home around 6:30pm but we usually stay home and hang out as a family.

Saturday and Sunday – Aaron and I usually have to take turns doing homework unless our parents take the kids or come over to watch them. This past weekend both of our parents (and Grandmom) came to watch the kids so we could work on papers that are due this week. Thank goodness!! We usually have other stuff going on as well like Birthday parties, baby showers, guests from out of town, etc. I LOVE Saturdays because I know I still have Sunday to hang out with the family and catch up on things.

So there you go. A normal week for us. Can you see why I cannot wait for us to be done with school!? We hardly have any time together as a family of four. I know I need to take advantage of every second I have with my babies because I know they won’t be this little for long.

This past week was a typical week for us (like above). On Saturday my niece Katie had her 3rd Birthday Party so we went to Kristin and Jeremy’s for her party. It was a princess party so Kylie wore Katie’s Snow White dress. She looked so old in it. I cannot believe that Katie is 3!! Happy Birthday Pretty Princess!!

Saturday was also Thunder Over Louisville which I will not brave with the kids until they are at least 6 or 7 years old. I think they will be scared to death if I took them down there now! At least it was pretty to watch on TV. Blake enjoyed watching them with a Capri Sun tonight.

Going to Katie’ party reminded me that I need to get on the ball for Blake’s birthday, too. I CANNOT believe I am going to have a 3 year old! Has it really been 3 years?!? This year the theme will be……..CARS! It was really a toss-up between Cars and Toy Store because he is really starting to like Toy Story. But since he has loved Cars for so long, we knew we couldn’t go wrong with Lightening McQueen.

I am so excited because we decided that we wanted to go ahead and make the investment of a bouncy house for the kids’ birthday parties. We thought it would end up saving us money in the long run if we don’t have to rent one or go to an actual bouncy house facility. I think the kids will love it!!

This week one of my best friends Amanda will be having her baby! I cannot wait to meet the little guy. I know her and her husband are very anxious to meet him too!

Weekly Catch-Up

2011-04-08T23:24:00.000-04:00

I have been falling behind with my posts this year and I promised myself I wouldn't. I am really trying to be better about updating it but things have been crazy busy with the kids, school, the house, baby showers, birthday parties, family, etc, etc....the list is never ending. It seems as though at the end of each week I usually post any happenings from the week into one long post so here it goes.

I have been updating One Frame a Day which I am happy about. I may not update it each day but I take the daily pictures usually 5 or 6 days a week.

School is finally starting to wind down. Actually let me take that back....it is getting pretty busy since it is the end of the semester, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for this class. T-minus 3 more classes!!

Tomorrow I am throwing a baby 'sprinkle' for my bestie Emily. I am super excited to see everyone and it is going to be 82 degrees! They didn't find what they are having but I am going to predict now that it's a boy! Her first little girl just had her first birthday. How cute is she!!!

Two weeks ago I start Weight Watchers. This will be my 4th or 5th time I have done it and now that the entire system has changed, I think that this is not only going to be a diet, but a complete lifestyle change. I really like the new program and I am looking forward to the next couple of months and watching the weight come off. For week #1, I lost 9.2 lbs and I weigh in tomorrow for week #2. This baby weight needs to be gone!

These past few months I have had some skin issues that I haven't talked about at all on the blog. I have been very self-conscious about it and it has been pretty painful. It is mainly on the legs and arms and just recently made its way to my face. My doctor realized that the treatment I have been on for the past 7 weeks is not working so he finally put me on steroids. I wasn't too happy about this since I am trying to lose weight and one side effect of steroids is hunger...ugh! It never fails. However I have been on them for 3 days now and I am seeing an enormous difference! I am so excited that now I may be able to wear dresses this summer! Thing is, if the condition comes back, we will need to do more extensive tests to try to find out what it really is. Please say a little prayer that they never return (please and thanks)!

The weather this week has been absolutely gorgeous. The kids and I went on a walk on Thursday and also got to experience the first day this summer of popsicles and sidewalk chalk. I can't wait for many more of these days!!

My niece had her tonsils out last Friday and has done fantastic. She was so funny before surgery and so sweet after. She has pretty much made a full recovery!

RANDOM ALERT: I love Chinese food so I was SO excited when I found a Weight Watcher recipe for Chicken Fried Rice. I made it on Tuesday when Aaron was in class and it was amazing so I wanted to share.

-Cooking Spray

-4 large egg whites

-1/2 cup scallions

-2 garlic cloves (I used minced garlic)

-12 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts

-1/2 cup carrots

-2 cups cooked brown rice

-1/2 cup frozen green peas

-3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

And yes I took a picture :) Only 4 points for 1 cup!

These two little people are still the light of my life.

Here are a couple of updates on Blake:

His new favorite response for any question we ask him: "Yep"
He LOVES to be outside. Everyday when we get home, he runs to the backdoor yelling 'outside'!
Last night he ate three bananas before bed. Yep I said 3.

Here are a few updates on Kylie:

She is getting over a nasty ear infection this week. Weird since she has tubes (is this normal?)
She loves wearing flip flops. When I put them on her, she cries if they fall off or if I take them off of her.
She hums and sings Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It makes my heart smile to hear her little voice.

Have a great weekend!!

Katie!

2011-03-31T22:27:00.000-04:00

Katie is getting her tonsils out tomorrow morning so please say a little prayer for her (and Kristin and Jeremy). She has no clue what is about happen.

Go Big Blue!

2011-03-25T11:25:00.000-04:00

This week has FLOWN by! I didn't even have class but I got into bed late every night and still didn't everything done at home (or work) that I wanted to.

To start it off, Kentucky won their last game to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen! We were VERY excited and cannot wait to watch them beat the #1 seed Ohio State tonight. Go Cats!

On Saturday, my MIL and SIL, Emma went to see the the musical Cats and it was amazing!

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

We also got to play outside a few days this week since it was in the upper 70's here.

They have also gotten a lot of use out of a present they got from Santa that mommy just put together!

They love it!

As for this weekend, another school/homework free weekend for me. Watching UK play tonight with Aaron and hanging out with the kids sounds like the best weekend to me! I am sure I will be taking lots of pictures of the kids in Kentucky Blue and blogging about our weekend on Sunday :)

Family Updates

2011-03-17T23:29:00.001-04:00

This past week has been the longest.week.ever. Period. I had a test in my class last night and I studied 20 hrs for it. Along with a crazy, busy schedule at work lately and two full-of-energy kiddos, I am mentally and physically exhausted. So this post will be an update post on my little family since I haven't been able to blog much lately.

Aaron in his second to last semester of his master's program so he can see the light. His final class is over in August and he is patiently waiting for it to conclude. Work has been pretty busy as well for him. He was pretty excited tonight as Kentucky won their first game of the NCAA tournament. Hopefully they will go far in the tournament this year with their young team.

As for me, work is crazy as usual, school is draining me and I am loving on the kids as much as I can right now. I stress out way too much and life is too short to stress over the little things. Like the quote states on the header at the top of my blog 'enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.' I completely believe in this quote right now. As for the weight loss journey, I am at a stand still. I was on a kick for awhile with working out, but with everything going on, I don't have the time or energy right now. I.need.motivation. You would think the big 3-0 would be my motivation which is only 5 months away!

Blake's speech has been improving so much! In the past two months, he has come a long way. There are still times we have no clue what he is trying to tell us but with much patience, we have learned his language. We are taking it one day at a time and within the next month, he will be evaluated with the school system to see if he qualifies for speech therapy through the school. He loves school and is learning so much. He is also a little bossy with sissy telling her "No Kylie" when he doesn't want her to do something. Kylie usually just ignores him. Here are some of his favorites right now: Handy Manny, chocolate pudding, apple juice and pretzels, coloring, Cars (the movie and toy), pizza.

My little American Idol Kylie has been getting so big. She had her 18 month check-up on Monday and her stats are: 29 lbs, 1 oz - 95% and 33 1/3 inch tall - 95%. She is a bossy, loving, active, controlling little diva. She is talking so good, pretty much repeating anything we say. She is still taking her paci and I am not sure when we will let that go. Some of her favorites right now: Jewelry, dancing and singing, apple juice and pretzels, doing anything her 'bubby' is doing.

Kylie Singing from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

I have a feeling we will be spending every single evening outside this summer. We had a beautiful 70 degree weather evening so when I got home with the kids, we immediately went outside for 2 hours and went swinging and sliding. I will completely content with that :) Can't you tell how happy they are with their St. Patty's day shirts on!

My last post was dedicated to a friend's little boy who was going to have a very important surgery. He did awesome through the surgery and has had a great recovery. Please continue to pray for him as he goes back for another surgery on April 4th for the stent removal.

Please also pray for all of my friends who are pregnant. There are SO many who are pregnant or are trying to get pregnant who I think about very often. Here are a few who have broken the news about their pregnancy to keep in your prayers: Amanda, Sarah, Abby, Megan, Emily, Megan (expecting twins!)

In other news, I won a giveaway at Lyndsie Gives Away! How awesome is that! I won something from Tadpoles and Tiaras. They have such cute things!! I can't wait to get something from their cute collections.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I know I will!

Prayers for Hudson!

2011-03-11T13:53:00.000-05:00

Please everyone say a little prayer today for Hudson. He is the son of a friend of mine from college who is getting a new airway today! He currently has a trach and today they are doing a very delicate and complicated surgery in which surgeons will build him a new airway. You can read more about thier journey HERE on Brittany's blog.

We will be praying for you, HB! I know you will do GREAT and mommy and daddy will soon be able to hear that sweet voice of yours they have been waiting to hear.

My Family

2011-03-07T22:33:00.000-05:00

This week at Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner it is show us your family you grew up with. I'm not sure if I have highlighted everyone in my family at once so I wanted to take advantage of this and tell everyone about my awesome family!

I don't have a picture of just us and the kids that is recent so here is the best one but the kiddos are missing. We were at our Alumni Dinner/Dance for this picture.

I grew up in a VERY loving and supportive home. My family consists of my dad, Mike; my mom, Debbie; my older sister, Kristin; my younger brother, Jonathan; and my youngest brother, Brad. I loved growing up in a big family and I still love it today. It has been a blessing to have such a close family and I am sure we will continue to stay this close until we are old and gray :)

My dad is a retired teacher who still works. He still substitute teaches to keep himself busy and out of the house. He also works for FEMA part-time when he is needed. My dad coached many of sports teams growing up and I love those memories with him. Many people said that I am a lot like him in that he is business minded and a leader. I tend to agree :) Kylie has become quite the Papa's girl over the past month.

My mom is the director of surgery at a large hospital in Louisville. She is an amazing nurse and mother. We were very lucky to have her home with us growing up since she worked part-time when we were younger. As I have gotten older, I have come to appreciate her more and more, especially now that I am a mom myself. She is the most humble, giving person I know and would do anything for anyone. She is the best Nana to Blake and Kylie and they both love her.

My sister Kristin is my best friend. She is the Manager of an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at another large hospital in Louisville. She is also an amazing nurse and sister who is very goal-oriented and determined in her work and her personal life. She went to college and played basketball and I followed in her footsteps to the same college two years later. Our bond as teammates, friends and sisters grew even more when we were away at college together. Those couple of years were amazing and I am so fortunate to get to talk to her everyday and live right down the road from her.

Kristin met her husband Jeremy while at college and they have been together for 10 years and married for 7 years. Jeremy is like a brother since he has been in the family for so long. Kristin and Jeremy have two kids whom I feel are my own. Austin is 5 years old and Katie is 2 1/2.

My younger brother Jonathan is 2 years younger than I am. I miss him greatly right now because he is four hours away at Law School. Jonathan has such a kind and loving heart and loves Blake and Kylie to the moon and back. Since we were only a couple of years apart, our relationship grew when we were in high school and college and continues to grow today.

Brad is my youngest brother who is 6 years younger than me. He is also in Law School but a little closer so I get to see him more often. Even though Brad is 23 years old, he will also be the cute little boy running under the bleachers at our basketball games. The kids adore Uncle 'Bad' and they both get so excited when he comes over to play.

Well there is my family that I was fortunate enough to be a part of. I am so lucky to have such a close and loving family. I can only pray that Aaron and I have the same with our kids.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2011-03-02T23:27:00.000-05:00

I'm linking up with Jaime today for What I'm Loving Wednesday.

1. I'm loving that it is Girl Scout Cookie time! Thin Mints are my favorite right now.

2. I'm loving that after class tonight, I only have 7 more classes until this semester is over. Economics for MBA's has been hard!

3. I'm loving Kylie's new look she gives us. I probably won't like it in 10 years, but it's so cute right now!

4. I'm loving the decision I made to do One Frame A Day. I think this will be something I do every year! You can check it out HERE or there is a link on the left side of this blog.

5. I'm loving all of my friends who are preggers! I love babies and can't wait to meet their new little ones. However it is giving me a little bit of the baby fever :)
Emily and Amanda - I can't wait to meet Baby M and Baby W!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

February 23

2011-02-25T22:21:00.000-05:00

This past Wednesday was Jackson's birthday! He turned 8 years old....which means I feel old! Last year for his birthday I posted some very cute pictures of him on this blog last year which you can find HERE.

Jackson is such a spoiled puppy. He is a very needy dog too. He loves attention especially when guests visit the house. We have seen a few changes in him within the past year since he has gotten older. He sleeps a lot and his allergies have gotten a lot worse. He snores like crazy! We still love him though. Mr. Gray beard is my favorite dog in the whole world!

Happy Birthday, Jackson!!

Happy Birthday, Austin!

2011-02-20T21:59:00.000-05:00

Our weekend started on Friday night at Chuck E Cheese where we celebrated Austin's 5th birthday. I think the kids had a blast and we were exhausted!

I cannot believe Austin is 5! It seems like yesterday Kristin called and said she was in labor.

On Saturday we celebrated at Kristin and Jeremy's with a family party. Austin was so excited! He had a Ninja Turtle themed party. The cake was adorable!

On Saturday night Aaron and I went out with Kristin and Jeremy since Jeremy's sister Lisa was in from California. Some other friends met us out as well and we had a blast! We never go out so it was nice to hang out with friends. We don't get to see our friend Jeanne very much and it was very nice to hang out with her for little bit.

We had a great weekend and I really wish I had tomorrow off. Oh well! Hope everyone has a great week!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2011-02-16T22:49:00.001-05:00

I thought I would link up with Jaime for What I'm Loving Wednesday.

I'm loving 'The Good Wife'. Aaron and I are watching it on DVR right now!

I'm loving my job right now. Starting this week I am working from home on Fridays!!

I'm loving this fabulous drink. I honestly CANNOT live without it.

I'm loving this camera lens for my Canon. I have been stashing away some cash here and there so I can get it without messing up our budget! :)

I'm loving that this weekend is my nephew's 5th birthday because I get to see all of my family.

I'm loving my new couch! It is the most comfortable couch EVER!

And of course I'm loving my hubby and my babies.

(Even with Kylie's crazy after-bath hair.)

Happy Hump Day!!

Weekend Wrap-Up

2011-02-13T22:31:00.000-05:00

This weekend has been so nice. We didn't do much since the kids were recovering from strep. I hate that we didn't get to take advantage of the 61 degree weather today but I didn't want to take the chance and get the kids sick again. We did get out of the house on Saturday to go to Austin's basketball game at the YMCA which was awesome. He is so competitive and is already very athletic. As you can see I didn't get any of Blake because he didn't sit still long enough.

This one is for Uncle Jonathan. We are not only UK fans but the kids and I are also IU fans!

My parents watched the kids on Saturday night so that Aaron and I could have a date night. I was so excited because we were going to one of our favorite places, J.Alexanders. We had a wonderful meal and good conversation.

Today we didn't do much. I didn't leave the house and Aaron only did because he ran to the store. The kids stayed in their PJ's until bath time. I think that is a good day! I put Kylie's hair in pigtails and she looked so cute!

Random shot of Blake playing

These kids would brush their teeth 10 times a day if I let them. I love this shot of them.

And we had a bit of a tragedy this evening. the back cover finally fell off our Go, Dog. Go! book. This was Blake's first book that he LOVED. We read it to him 30 times a day and I still have it memorized. Kylie has learned to love it as well so if you want a cute little book, go get this one. Good thing we have a back-up copy!

And look what my Valentine got me!! I borrowed my mom's last weekend and I mentioned to Aaron that I loved it so he got me one! It is the Hoover Wet/Dry FloorMate. It works wonder in the kitchen and the entryway. I highly recommend it if you are in the market for one.

I hope everyone has a great week! Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!

Diagnosis

2011-02-10T22:49:00.000-05:00

Well we made the trip to the pediatrician's office this morning because of Blake's rash, pretty much knowing it was strep. This picture was taken when we were playing in the waiting room -

One hour later and we had two prescriptions for antibiotics - one for Blake and one for Kylie. Yep, Kylie had strep too. No wonder she has been fussy lately! I just thought it was her last molar that has been trying to come through for the past month.

On another note, this past weekend I talked with some of my girlfriends who have recently potty trained their little boys and got some great ideas when it is time for Blake (thanks Jen and Sarah!) So I found a box to put a bunch of little things in that Blake loves including suckers, silly bands, matchbox cars. With this, anytime he sits on the potty he will get to pick something out of the box. Once he does this for a week or so (maybe longer), he will then have to go #1 in order to pick something out of the box. Baby steps here :)

So as you can see, he sat on the potty tonight! Twice! First time he chose the silly bands and the second time he chose smarties. I was so proud of him and he was pretty pround of himself, too! Here he was showing me his silly bands -

I also have this very cute video of Kylie. Be sure to mute the music at the bottom of the blog before playing it. Her sweet laugh gets me every time.

Kylie 02.10.11 from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

I LOVE that tomorrow is Friday! Yeah for the weekend!

Someone has the giggles....and strep

2011-02-09T21:51:00.000-05:00

My brain is mush right now. I just got home from taking my Economics test and my head is POUNDING. Not sure why I felt like I needed to get on the computer but I wanted to post this cute picture of my little man. He has the giggles and you can't even tell but he has strep rash. Poor baby gets a rash all over his body every time he has strep so I pretty sure he has it. We will be making an early morning trip to the doctor to get tested and more than likely take Kylie as well since she has been fussy lately.

Happy Wednesday!

Baby Bird!

2011-02-06T22:01:00.000-05:00

We had a baby shower today for a dear friend of mine who is due in April. It was so good to see many of my college girlfriends. I realize how much I miss all of them when I get to spend time with them.

Amanda, Baby Bird's mommy, is a really good friend of mine from college. We have gotten even closer over the past few years since she lives and works pretty close to me. I am so excited for her and her husband to become parents. This little guy they are about to bring into this world is so lucky to have amazing, wonderful parents like Jasper and Amanda. I cannot wait to meet their little man!

Jasper and Amanda are keeping the name a secret until he is born which is killing me. I love embroidered things so it is driving me nuts! So we are calling the little guy Baby Bird because of Amanda's nickname in college.

I love planning showers and parties so I knew it was going to be a fun day.

Amazing Cupcakes and Dipped Marshmallows

Diaper Cake

A fun craft we had for the crafty mom-to-be....the nursery is a 'bird' theme with the colors below. I think they turned out adorable!

Kylie and Macy had similar hair styles....both had the pebbles hairdo.

The boys enjoying some fruit snacks.

Blake, Caleb (Sarah's little one) and Christian (Jen's little one)

Girls Shot

Front Row: Lindsey, Katie, Amanda, Shea, Sarah

Back Row: Ashley, Me, Jen

The hostesses and mom-to-be

Me, Amanda and Ashley

I had such a wonderful time at the party and I hope everyone else did too!

My little guy

2011-02-02T23:12:00.000-05:00

I had class tonight but when I got home, I was very excited that my little man decided to stay up to see me. I needed it after a long day at work then 3 hours at school.

This is what I saw when I got home along with 'dare you are!' from Blake. This is one of Blake's favorite saying right now and Aaron and I giggle every time he says it.

Someone followed me into my room and wanted a 'dink' (drink) so I snapped this pic of my handsome little guy.

Before bed we read a little Dr. Seuss.

And got a sticker for sitting on the potty.....we are taking baby steps here :)

I didn't get to spend as much time with this little guy tonight but for the hour that I did, we had so much fun!

ps...If you follow me, don't forget to click the follow button to the right. Also, if you have a blog and follow me, be sure to grab my new button to the right and it it your blog :)

More Changes

2011-01-30T21:46:00.000-05:00

Changes are happening everywhere! A few little changes that have occurred lately in my life include my new blog makeover and my living room makeover. I am so excited that everything is finally done. I am a little obsessive compulsive about keeping my house clean so when it is out of order, I get anxious and nervous. So here is the final product! I think I may get new pillows to go with the blue/green combination. Our new couch and chair are AMAZING!

We also decided to keep the hallway and entryway walls beige because it complimented the blue really good. The blue walls are a little bit more blue than we wanted. We were going for a gray/bluish color and this is what we got. I still love it.

In other news, Blake went to the ENT on Monday for his check-up and hearing test. He was cooperative for the test (as good as any other 2 year old) and the doctor and audiologist were pleased with the improvements with his hearing test. While we were there, I had the doctor check him out because I thought he had a sinus infection and he does. So he has been on antibiotics since then and is feeling so much better.

Kylie started feeling bad on Friday so on Saturday morning, I called the doctor but they couldn't fit her in. She did, however, call her in some decongestant. It has helped so hopefully she will start to feel better soon. Here are some pictures from Saturday of the kids running around and Kylie dancing. She was so funny!

(This is my new favorite picture of my dancing queen!)

Have a wonderful week! I have a short week because I am taking off on Friday to prepare for a baby shower I am throwing on Saturday. I cannot wait to see all of my old college girlfriends!!

I would love one of these!!

2011-01-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

I would love to win THIS giveaway!! Look how cute these are!

An Inspiring Woman and a Cute Video

2011-01-28T07:38:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I met a beautiful, amazing woman. Her name is Heather French Henry and she was Miss America in 2000. I even got to wear her crown! She spoke at a woman's leader event I was volunteering at and I have to say, she was an amazing speaker. I was even inspired!

Also, here is a video of a cute little girl from tonight. Jackson stole one of her nuggets so she was telling him no, but then made up with him :)

(Be sure to mute the music at the bottom of my blog before playing it)

Also, please excuse my messy house! It looks like that every night before the kids go to bed!

Kylie - No, No, No from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

My Baby Blue

2011-01-24T22:01:00.001-05:00

I just left my sweet baby boy's room and I wanted to write this because I hope to never forget the precious things he says and does. Lately I have been laying on the floor when I put him to bed because there were a few nights that he was getting up every time I laid him down. It has gotten to be a habit because I am able to lay there and talk to him for a bit then kiss him goodnight and tiptoe out. Each night when I turn out the light and turn his music on, he will point to the little pillow on the floor and say 'he go mommy' (here you go mommy). He'll also show me his pillow pet and say 'dog' (which his pillow pet is a dog) and 'piwow' (pillow) to show me he has his too. His noise maker also has a projector that I turn on and right now it has fish on it so he will point up there and say 'fish'. We will also go back and forth a couple of times and say 'night-night' until he is tired of saying it.
Tonight I put my hand on his bed and said 'hold mommy's hand' and he put his sweet little hand in mine. To tell the truth, the tears swelled up in my eyes and I just couldn't hold it. As I type this, I am having to hold them back (I don't know what is going on!). It scares me because he is getting too big too fast. The best thing about it: he's a mommy's boy :)

I snapped these pictures before we laid down to go to sleep tonight.

The love I feel for the kids is unbelievable. I am so lucky to have such wonderful kids and have the most amazing job in the world. It is the the hardest job I have ever had but the most rewarding.

Cheers to all of the mommies and future mommies out there!

1 Year Ago Today....

2011-01-23T22:29:00.000-05:00

One year ago today I started this little blog. A little over 100 posts and here we are. I love looking back on the year to see everything we have done and all that we have accomplished.

Here is the first picture I posted on my blog:

And here are the kids now. Amazing the difference a year can make.

Thinking about this past year, not a lot has changed but here are a few things:

Blake turned 2 and Kylie turned 1
Aaron and I turned 29 and I am hoping this next year by goes by really slow because I am dreading the big 3-0
I completed 9 more hours of my Masters - which means I have completed 15 total with 21 more to go :)
We've gotten a lot closer as a family of four. Both of the kids have their moments, but they are really good kids.
Blake started school (pre-preschool) and has grown so much. He had surgery in September to have tubes put in his ears which has helped his speech grow so much.
Kylie learned to crawl, walk and somewhat run. Her sweet little face doesn't look like a baby any longer, more like a beautiful little girl.

My life is great and I have so much to be thankful for. I can't wait to see what this year brings!

A little change, some paint, and some snow!!

2011-01-20T23:42:00.001-05:00

As you can see I have a new look! I LOVE it!! Thank you Leslie for doing such a wonderful job! (If you have a blog and you are interested in getting an upgrade, click here and let Leslie take care of you!)
It sure doesn't feel like I haven't updated the blog in 11 days. Maybe because I have updated my One Frame a Day blog every day since the beginning of the year (because I am on the computer every night) I know I am going to love when December comes around and I can look back at these pictures and see the little things we did each day. Click HERE if you want to check it out.

Last weekend the kids went to the In-Laws for the weekend and Aaron and I went to an event for his work. It was nice to go out. We both had a good time.

Sunday we head to Celebrate Aaron's Grandmom's birthday and pick up the kids. I think the kids had a great time and so did Grammy and Grandpa! I hope you had a wonderful birthday Grandmom!!

On our way home Sunday night Aaron and I got a wild hair and made the decision to head to Lowe's and buy paint to paint the living room. Aaron was off on Monday so he planned on painting all day which he did (Thanks babe!). It is a huge change for me because I strayed from the normal beige color. I was gong for the grayish-blue and it turned out to be more of a bluish. I still love it and I am so excited to get new furniture and new stuff on the walls! I don't have any pictures right now but I will post some as the decorating progresses.

Here are my babies when we were in Lowe's getting paint:

I told Blake to give Kylie a hug in this one and this is what I got :)

On Monday I went to dinner with my girlfriends from high school which is always a good time. Two of them had their babies but mine stayed home with Daddy. They are still not at a fun age to take out to eat - especially when you are trying to have conversations. We had a great time and I can't wait until next month when we do it again!

The rest of the week has been pretty low key with the exception of school on Wednesday and 6 inches of snow tonight. We are supposed to have ice on top of all of it tomorrow morning so the ride to work should be fun. I hope we at least have a 2 hour delay. Maybe the day off would be nice :)

Also I would like to mentor that Abby gave me a sweet blog award today that I will be talking more about tomorrow so stay tuned!! (Thanks Abby!)

Lazy Weekend

2011-01-09T21:43:00.001-05:00

This weekend was so nice. The kids and I didn't leave the house once and honestly I didn't do much other than laundry, some cleaning and playing with the kids. School starts next week for Aaron and I so it was nice to not have a set schedule.

This week will be a test of what it will be like for the next few months. Aaron has classes on Tuesday and Thursday and I have class on Wednesday. It has been a really nice month off of school so I am really not looking forward to being away from the babies that one night a week. On top of that, work was crazy busy this past week so I hope this week is a little better.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Kylie with her new slippers!

Blake was so cute at lunch on Sunday. He had fun with his macaroni and Cheetos!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-01-06T06:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, awesome mom! We Love You!!!

16 Months!

2011-01-06T06:46:00.002-05:00

Happy 16 Months to my baby girl (a little early)!

Today Kylie had her check-up and here are her stats -

Weight: 28lbs 4ozs (99%)
Height: 33in (99%)
Head: 18 1/2 (75%)

She got 2 shots and was not too happy. She is also teething really bad so she has been pretty fussy lately. Here was my pretty girl tonight. She loves to put lotion on her hands and rub it in. She was so sweet! Also, I had to include the last picture. Look at her gums! She is teething so bad. Poor baby has molars coming in on the top and bottom.

2011 Resolutions & Goals

2011-01-05T21:09:00.002-05:00

I wanted to be accountable for my goals this year so what better way than to post about them! Here are a few things that I hope to accomplish this next year:

Lose weight (like every other year and many other people!) My goal is 40 lbs by August (My 30th Birthday!) To go along with this goal, I would love to make it a habit to start running on our treadmill.
Work hard in all of my classes that I am taking this year for my Masters. I will be taking 4 classes total this year.
Be a better wife and mother
Cook more homemade dinners (this one is hard because of class)
Find a 'home' church and start going on a regular basis
Continue to work hard and grow at work. I honestly love my job right now!
Potty train Blake...and possibly Kylie :)
Continue to document our life on this blog

There are many, many more I could put down but I won't bore you. On another note, I am pretty proud of myself for successfully completed the first five days of 'one frame a day'. You can follow it HERE if you like.

Happy Hump Day!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T23:34:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! 2010 was a great year and I am excited to see what 2011 brings us. I started this blog in January of 2010 so it pretty much sums up our year. I am really happy that I started this blog to document our lives for myself, the kids and the rest of our family. I am also excited about a new project I am working on which will last throughout the year. I have mentioned it before and I have already posted my first post today. You can find it HERE (click on the word to see the blog) and please follow along if you like!

Last night for New Years Eve we had a pretty low key night. My brothers and their girlfriends came over to hang out and watch all of the basketball and football games on TV. My parents also joined us for the IU/Ohio State basketball game. My sister and brother-in-law couldn't make it because they were celebrating the new year in Las Vegas! It was a suprise trip for Jeremy from Kristin for graduating with his Masters in December.

The game of the date was the big rivalry of Louisville & Kentucky. Basketball is HUGE around here, especially this game. It was a close game but Kentucky pulled out the win which made our family happy - especially Aaron! Here are some pictures of the kids in their UK gear before the game:

And here are the pictures from the wild and crazy...I mean quiet and relaxing night. Honestly we all went to bed at 12:05am!

Laura and Jonathan. As you can see, Laura has a Kentucky shirt on and Jonathan has an IU shirt on!

Maggie and Brad - Both Louisville Fans

Aaron, Blake and I. Kylie was already snoozing.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years! May 2011 bring you everything you want and more!

Wild Child

2010-12-29T22:03:00.001-05:00

I caught Kylie dancing again. I just had to share and it was requested by Kari to post :) Her dance moves are too cute!

Kylie Dancing Again! from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

My dad has watched Kylie the past couple of days and today when I picked her up, this is what she had on - a dress with jeans, a bead necklace and a headband. It was hilarious and dad was so proud of how she looked. Haha it makes me laugh to see it again!