cadbury addiction

it's just a simple addiction. Last night I went to CVS to grab some milk, since that's all I needed. As I was walking to the check out counter, low and behold I spot my FAVORITE candy from the corner of my eye. I don't even look at the price, I just quickly grab about 6 mini bags and drop them on the counter.
The sales clerk asks me: how are you doing tonight? did you find everything you need?
to which my reply was: yes! I was pretty good, but I'm now officially giddy. thanks to these mini cadbury eggs. YUM!
I know have finished all 6 mini bags and wishing I would have gotten more. and they're seasonal, so I have to get my fix over a 3 month period. like I said before, it's just a simple addiction.

christmas 2008

santa came.
we had a wonderful day
the kids were all so happy to see santa had eaten the milk and cookies.
dylan kept opening everyone else's presents. after he opened all of his.
while luke sat on the sidelines trying to figure out how to actually GET to the toys since they're all wired down and require either scissors or a chain saw.
avery sat happily and ate everyone's left over wrapping paper.
here is one picture, of the million I took.

oh what fun!

Here is a little preview of how much fun I had at this photo shoot yesterday...



stay tuned for more of the thiot family!

project:house

Here is a little preview of our house "in the works."

exibit a: living room with blue tape still on the wall from painting
exibit b: the only christmas decoration that I have in my house
exibit c: the guest bath-yay!
exibit d: a picture of what I do at night
exibit e: a view from the living room into kitchen and hallway, with all sorts of tools on the kitchen counter
exibit f: an office-what! yes, we finally have an office. I can't say "my" office, because that would mean that mark would have to knock on the door before entering...lol
exibit g: upstairs bathroom.

we just put wood floor down in the dinning room. I say "we" but really mark did all the work and I cleaned up the mess. It looks so good! The house came with no flooring in there so it was fun to finally not walk around on concrete.

Around this time of giving and receiving....I am so thankful for everything that our family has been blessed with this year! It was a rough last few months but in the end, it all works out. I'm blessed to have a healthy family and such wonderful kids, and of course an amazing husband!

And last but not least, I'm thankful to all my friends and family to which I would not have a blog if it weren't for you. happy holidays!

Good to be back!

It's good to be back in the world of blogging again!! I'm officially blogging in my new house! It's been great! I take care of my kids during the day while trying to get things done, and then I paint until around midnight every night or until my arms are so done! Mark has finished his first semester as a law school student! YAY! 1 down, 5 to go! It was such a hard semester I'm not quite sure how he did it, but through all of the stress of finding a house and me nagging him about it as well, he pulled through! He even took the boys to chuck e cheese for dinner the day he finished his finals. What a rock star dad! So everything is coming together! And my christmas cards.....unbelievable really. I just sat down today and got them done. WHAT! I know, it's crazy! We didn't have time to get together for a family picture since we moved and never had any time! But I got some shots of the kids a few weeks ago and here is a little preview of some of the ones I got. Dylan was in such a "mood" that day and wouldn't show off his cute smile, but I wasn't really in the mood to care either, so here they are! Avery is getting so big and blabbing all the time! Isn't that the cuttest knitted hat you've ever seen!! My friend makes those and has a shop on etsy check it out!
Happy Holidays!!

WHOA! It's been FOREVER!

yes, I've been M.I.A. ...MOVING! It's been CRAZY!!!! I don't have my head on straight just yet, but I'll get there eventually. We closed on our house 2 days before thanksgiving(YAY!) and since then, I've felt like the energizer bunny...until a few days ago, I feel asleep late that night and I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a train. My body finally gave in and said, HEY! I need to sleep!!! and since then, it's taken me a while to get back on track! I actually have been without my computer since the day we closed on our house....I KNOW!!! people ask me how on earth have I been able to know what's going on in the world! Well, I haven't. Other then reading my emails off my iphone, I have yet to TAKE or EDIT any pictures!!! I feel so empty without my camera or computer at my fingertips! But, on the flip side, it's been nice. I've been able to focus on unpacking, painting, finding my way around a new city, find a WAL-MART and a TARGET, find some DONUTS, find out how to potty train my boys, find out how in the world am I going to get christmas cards out this year???!!!! find my head, find my CLOTHES, find my SILVERWARE! figure out how to adjust to being a single mom of 3 with a husband in law school, find out that I have an AWESOME house that I TOTALLY LOVE! The list goes on. So, to sum this all up, I HAVE not really noticed that I've been missing out on the world of blogging. AND we will get internet connection on the 16th of this month. ( yes, I'm at terin's right now writing this) So, therefore, I won't be caught up until then. I'd say I have a lot to do before then anyway. I hope everyone is doing fabulous and enjoying the holidays.

A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.

I couldn't believe how cute this kid was!! I love KIDS! I love that they don't even know me and yet they smile like CRAZY! It was an absolute beautiful day and we took pictures until this little guy let us. What a cute family!! Thanks you guys! It was so much fun and a much needed day away from my "mom job!"

OUR NEW HOUSE!

FINALLY!!!! After a LOOOOOONG search of trying to find a house that's perfect for our growing family....WE DID! Isn't it adorable!! It's so great in every way and it's in a wonderful community! I'm so exctited I can't even stand it! We are supposed to close on it in a couple weeks, so I will have to take some pictures of the inside when we move in. We are going to paint and put carpet in before hand, but I cannot express how happy I am to move into a new house and have mark closer to law school. patience has been the key factor for me not pulling my hair out these last couple of months. Thanks to terin and her family for letting us crash at their house and for putting up with all of the "extra noise" from my wonderful children. Living out of a suitcase or my car has been challenging, but we have managed to pull it off. I've also realized that it is kind of nice having tons of clothes for everybody already in the car. And diapers....and wipes...and formula. It's actually something I may look into doing more often. so what do you think!!??

big brother

It's been alot of fun seeing Luke play his protective role as the big brother to avery. She absolutely LOVES when he talks to her or entertaines her in some way. He's always there to give her a binkie or a blanket and also gives tons of kisses and hugs. I hope this relationship stays this way and doesn't end up being a war zone when they're teenagers. Who am I kidding.....I know it will, it's always that way for a bit around the hormonal times.

caden

This post is 3 months late.....but I finally got a hold of my nephew! He is now 15 months old!! This session was a spur of the moment and lasted about 5 minutes. He is still such a little lover and how could anyone not fall in love with those big brown eyes...which come from my brother! even though he doesn't talk much yet, I feel like when he does he tries to negotiate with you. I can already tell he's gonna be a smart little guy:) soooo cute!




also- I feel the need to apologize for all my fellow blog stalkers.....I have been so HORRIBLE at commenting on anyone's blog lately...I'm going to blame it on my hectic life right now and hopefully I will catch up with comments soon. Just know that I look at my reader and am loving all of the pics and stories out there!!!

halloween

I forgot my camera on halloween....
I can't believe I did. We were at my parents house, so I wasn't about to drive back 40 minutes north just for my camera. So, instead I took pictures the day AFTER halloween! It's better than nothing and the kids won't know the difference anyway! We had a lot of fun though!! Dylan would walk up to the door, say trick or treat, and after he was given a piece of candy, he continued to just stand there like he wasn't given ENOUGH candy. So after telling him it was time to go to another house, he would go ahead and open whatever piece of candy looked the best and have it eaten by the time we reached the next house. Needless to say, by they time we got back to my parents house, half of his candy bag was all wrappers. It was fun to see luke so excited and really KNOW what was going on with halloween. After we left my parents, we then drove to marks parents house. I have to tell you that this house is INSANE on halloween. My mother-in-law goes ALL OUT and has every little thing decorated. Anywhere from skeletons hanging from the ceiling to talking pumpkins and candy bowls to scare the kids as they walk by. I know my sister-in-law took pictures of the decorations, so we will have to post those next! all in all it was a fun day!!

saunders

One of my favorite 3 people in the world....John and I were the best of friends growing up...and then he met the beautiful missy who I have come to know and LOVE everything about. From her amazing graphic design talents to her cute style and producing this cute kid who happens to have the most ADORABLE SMILE EVER!!!! He wouldn't stop smiling!! It was kind of a trade off.... he wouldn't really sit still, but he kept the smiles coming all session long! It was so fun and I thought the colors that they wore with the beautiful sunset fit perfectly. thanks yall!! you're the best!!

cole

LOVE IT! I got to photograph a CUTE KID a few days ago and it was so much FUN! I love walking around new and different places and just enjoying little kiddos. Cole brought his "molly" along with him and there wasn't hardly any pictures without it! He was definitely all boy pointing out big trucks or cars that would pass by, and enjoying all of the leaves on a bench we found!!

miss a

5 months, and gaining! I feel like the past couple of weeks she has just gotten heavier and heavier! which is great for many reasons....especially my muscles on my left arm. Do you ever feel like the time goes by so fast and you can't even remember how tiny they were a month ago? Well, I feel the opposite with avery....like, really? she's ONLY 5 months old! Seems like she should be walking by now! I know that's weird to think, but that just tells me that maybe my life has slowed a bit and I've had time to enjoy her. only 5 months old.....and I hope it will feel this way for a while:)

dylan

oh dylan... he's coming out of his baby stage and it's making me so sad! I loved this picture because this is typical dylan. Doesn't like looking at the camera unless I bribe him with candy.... and in 95% of every picture, he has stains all over his shirt. I'm hoping he gets out of this lovely terrible 2, whining, tantrum, picky eating stage soon....but until then, I'm enjoying my little chunky monkey as much as I can while he is still a "baby" to me!

luke

well, we are finally settled in with our fabulus roomates! It's been really fun!! It's like a party every night (after the kids are in bed of course!) We are so grateful to have a roof over our heads right now....especially since it's been raining lately! I took these pictures in front of terin's door-and yes, I'm excited to have new places to take pictures around the house!! I'm sure I'll be posting a lot in the next couple weeks!

update:less than 12 hours

yes, I have been way out of the blogging world.... we are MOVING out of our house TOMORROW! All we have been doing is looking for a new house and packing up our old house. As I am sitting here typing, I look around and there is nothing. My house is almost completely empty...and I'm so sad about it!! But I know this is just how life goes. so I have to live a little, enjoy, relax, stop freaking out and just CHILL!!! I know we will find a place to live...in the meantime, my amazing, wonderful, thoughtful, beautiful, awesome friend has offered to take on my family of 5!! What a trooper!! I am really going to miss this house, but it can only get better... (atleast that's what I keep telling myself) So I will be MIA for a little bit until I get situated. Please feel free to send me advice on life, housing, and most importantly... being patient, and not taking everything out on my kids because we don't have a place to live.
Here are a few pictures of my house, that I will be leaving soon. I've already cried a million times this week and I'm ready to say good bye and get on with it, so I can start wearing mascara again. Here's to a new chapter in our lives...

such a little monkey...

She's almost 5 months old....and I have noticed a couple things about her since she was born that I will finally share with my fellow bloggers. You probably can't tell too much in this picture, but avery's right ear sticks out a little bit more than her left! And every time I feed her a bottle, I hold her head on my left side. EVERY SINGLE TIME...her ear folds over and I have to reposition to put her ear back against her head! Every time she lays down, she rolls to that side...therfore her ear is folded again, and I have no control over that when she sleeps. And my next "quality" that I have noticed about avery... no I do not put any sort of gel or spray in her hair to make it stick up like that! Are you kidding me!! She was born with a full head of hair and it has grown like crazy the past couple months. After her bath the other night, mark was getting her dressed and ready for bed. He purposely left her hair wet from the bath just to see how her spiked hair unraveled itself. As he was feeding her, her hair instantly dried and shot straight up in the back!! what is the deal! It's kind of cute, and since it's kinda the style lately for short hair, I'm o.k. So there you have it. My little monkey with an ear that sticks out more than the other and hair that won't stay down. so cute:)

sydney

this little girl is only 2 weeks older than avery, and look at those yummy cheeks!!! The most squishy little arms and legs I've ever seen!! She smiled and smiled and when mom sang her favorite song, she would stop moving, look at mom, and enjoy the music! and the second the song was over, she was back to being a squirmy cute little 5 month old.

get the scissors out

I was so ready to cut his hair myself!! I had been meaning to get it cut for a long time now....it's was time... you couldn't see his ears! or his eyes for that matter! My boys don't have the beautiful wavy hair that could just go long and look good. Dylan's hair is as straight as a board. This particular morning, I just made up my mind and said let's go! so this was right before we left. I should have put it in some pony tails, but I was in a hurry! Since avery is my "luke look a like" I figured this is what a "dylan look a like" would be...

back to the park!

Finally, some "not so blazing hot days!".....It's been BEAUTIFUL here!!! I love love love the fall weather that will hopefully come here for good in a few weeks! Well, we headed to the park, um, every day this week so far! Yesterday it was just me and the boys and it was so much fun! BONUS: I totally had left my camera in my car earlier that day since it was grandparents day at preschool....so yes I happened to have my camera as we arrived at the park! We were the only ones there....I was actually wondering were all of my fellow neighbors were on such a beautiful evening...we then headed to sonic for some ice-cream for dinner!! it was such a fun day, and I was glad to be with my boys, as much as I missed avery....I needed some "luke and dylan bondage time!!"



by the way-that mop on dylan's head got chopped off today!!! I did take a picture of his long hair right before we left...I'll have to post that next!

little "a"

another cute little bug!! Her mom would make her laugh all the time!!! she would have to dance around and sing some songs, but little "a" was lovin' it!!! what a beautiful little girl!!

bows?

this week is the first week I started to put bows in avery's hair!!! Is that CRAZY that I've waited this long! I don't know why I didn't before....well, 2 reasons actually....everytime I tried a bow, her head would look even smaller! and number 2...I don't have a bow to match every single outfit! and this is a big deal!! You try to put in a solid colored bow and it's not the EXACT color of her outfit, so it doesn't work!! I need some more bows apparently!!

smothered

we were on the way out the door yesterday and I saw my boys laying right next to avery....and the look on her face was priceless. She is going to be one protected little girl:)

off to school....

the day has come where my boys go off to preschool to give me a few hours a week to clean house without interuptions, search more homes, spend quality time with my little girl, do some laundry.....and many many more things!! Luke couldn't stop asking when we were going to school. I kept saying, " 2 more days, 2 more days!" and then 30 minutes later he would ask again. That night we were saying family prayers, and Luke offered. In the middle of the prayer, he said" I pray we can go to school in 2 minutes...." I couldn't help but laugh because he was so excited. I did the mom thing and went out and took pictures in our front yard....it's not like they're in 1st grade yet or anything, but I thought it would be fun. Also realizing while I'm taking the picture that dylan has no shoes and luke's pants came undone!

little "a"

Isn't she adorable!! I took this one at stacey and pierce's open house and I just happened to shoot it on a white wall!! I thought it captured a moment!

the walk on the beach...

I forgot to post one of my most favorites from florida! We took family pictures on the beach(which you will be getting for a christmas card I'm sure!) and afterwards the kids were just running around while I was snapping pictures of them. I told my boys to go walk down the beach and hold hands since that's so cliche but I didn't care. So I get ready and look through my camera and Trey has run over there with them and latched on!! So I just took it with all three of them! I thought that was a pretty cute moment:)