Spring Fever

March was unseasonably warm this year.

My boys walked to the park next to our home regularly to gear up for baseball season.

Belle and I raced down the hill with Harrison and had jumping contests.

It was so warm, we decided to brave free-entry day at Hogle Zoo.  It was a madhouse, but one that Belle never wanted to leave.  Mac and Harrison were more indifferent.

We even started playing with the hose.

That warmth convinced us it was time to give a little shape to Harrison's fluffy top.

So he got his first hair cut at four months.  He loved having his head rubbed.

 We even trekked up to Logan to participate in the Shamrock Shuffle; a fun little 5k that the entire Thomas family participated in.  (I don't have any pictures!) Jamie took first in her age division, Michael took first in his, Mark took first in his, and so did Mac.  We have got some serious runners in the family.

The leprechauns outsmarted us once again.  Our sneaky traps and green mustaches were no luck to us.

But they were certainly cute.

Mark found a baseball game for us to go to.  The Utes were playing at the Bees field in early March, so he rallied the family and we took Harrison to his first ball game.

This Salt Lake spring was good to us.

Love Notes

I love love notes.

They are quite possibly one of my favorite things.

My mom used to leave little love notes in my lunchbox as a kid.  "Have a good day! =) XOXO" they would always say.

And I have written them since as long as I can remember.  I wrote one to my mom and left it on her pillow as a kid, explaining how much I loved dogs and needed one.

Mark and I wrote emails to each other while I was doing a service project in Obregon, Mexico and I have them all printed out in a book.  I love them.   He and I still leave a love note for each other on occasion ... they are the best.

So, I have forced my family to start a tradition of writing love notes to each other for Valentine's Day.  It's been six months, but I've got all the notes crammed in a corner of my desk and I wanted to record them on the blog before I tossed them out.

"Dear Belle, I love when you go downstairs with me!  Love, Mac"

"Dear Mac, I love when you play trucks with me.  Love, Belle" 

"Dear Harrison, I love you cause of little dinosaur.  Love, Belle"

"Dear Harrison, I love when you sleep 'cause then Mom gets to do something. Love, Mac" 

"Dear Mom, I love that you play with me.  I love you so much.  Love, Mac"

 "Dear Harrison, I love when you are sitting up and try to look at me out of the tops of your eyes.  Love, Mom"

"Dear Belle, I love when you sing songs to yourself.  You have the most beautiful voice. Love, Mom"

"Dear Belle, I love when you play games with me.  Love, Mac" 

"Dear Mac, I love to come to your class and see what a good listener you are and how nice you are to all those friends in your class.  You are so grown up and so smart!  Love, Mom"

"Dear Harrison, I love when you sit and poop and smile at everyone.  Love, Dad"

"Dear Harrison, I love when you laugh and smile.  Love, Mac" 

"Dear Belle, I love to see you swimming and being so brave.  I love your sweet kisses.  Love, Dad"

"Dear Mac, I love how your eyes get all squinty when you smile so big.  It makes my heart happy.  Love, Mom"

"Dear Dad, I love when you play baseball and games with me.  Love, Mac"

"Dear Mom, I love when you do makeup with me.  Love, Belle"

 "Dear Harrison, I love when you smile and wiggle when I change your diaper. Love, Mom"

"Dear Dad, I love when you watch t.v. with me.  Love, Belle"

 "Dear Belle, I love how worried you get about crying babies and puppies.  You have a heart of gold!  Love, Mom"

"Dear Dad, I love when you let me play your phone. Love, Mac"

And then of course there are the ones between Mark and I ... but those ended up being more personal. Hehe.
So they won't make it on the blog.

This 2015 Valentine's was momentous in that it was the first time we ever got to make valentines for a class.  I wanted Mac to do as much of the work as he could, so I ran through idea after idea of Valentine's cards, hoping one would spark his interest.

He shot them all down.

My mom even sent me ideas to help me figure out how to get my boy excited.  She sent a picture of a sucker with a cape that said something like, "You're super, valentine!"  Mac said no.  I asked if it would be better if the suckers were baseball players instead of super heroes ....

TA-DAH!

He was in.

That boy cut out heart after heart, and we looked up the numbers of all the players for the Angels and assigned them out to each of his classmates.  #27 was of course reserved for Mac himself.

And behold, we assembled an Angels team of classmates.

I think I found my son's love language ... it happens to be very similar to my husband's.

Baseball.

So I guess our family will continue writing love letters and watching ball games ... it has worked wonders so far.

Location, Location, Location.

We bought this little house because of its location.

10 minutes from the office, 10 minutes from the mountains, 5 minutes from the freeway, walking distance to a grocery store and movie theater, and about all the shopping I could ever need to decorate and maintain a home.

The neighborhood itself is just adorable; it boasts a wide range of starter homes and giant live-and-die-here-types of homes, with a cute little apartment complex nearby that keeps everything interesting.

And the people?  Oh gosh.  I love the neighbors.

They're all so different.  Mormons, Muslims, Catholics, Atheists ... Asians, Hispanics, Indians, and Caucasians.  There are new little families with one or two kids, elderly couples, empty nesters, and people wrangling teenagers.

I've started up a book club to try to get to know more of them.

I've met a handful; it is always so fun to connect with women of all ages and backgrounds through a book.  Gives you some common ground; somewhere to start a real, meaningful conversation.  Most memorable of the book club meetings had to be when Rima came.  We had read "A Thousand Splendid Suns", a book following two women living in Afghanistan during the takeover of the Taliban.  She set us straight on a lot of the culture there.  She grew up in Saudi Arabia and insisted she did not know Afghanistan, but she certainly had a better idea of it than the rest of us!  We talked about the burka and how for many women it was a badge of honor, of being loved and protected and privileged.  How the head covering is, for many, a cultural fashion statement more than a token of faith.  I have loved getting to know her and learning her perspective on things!

A cute young mom in the apartment started up park days ... I was so relieved!  That was probably the best way I made friends in our California ward; getting outside in the fresh air for some adult interaction while the kids learn to play with others is absolutely the most refreshing thing.  It saved me when I was all by myself with Mac, and now that I have three kids, it saves us all.  Belle has found a couple of really great little girls to pal around with; Hailey and Afton are her "best friends" and she asks for them on a daily basis.

Hailey's mom teaches ballet, and even put on a couple of free intro-to-ballet classes at the church.  Of course we just had to go.  Belle was in heaven prancing around the gym with Hailey.

Mac has some little buddies as well.  He even played on a baseball team with Sam this year.

We've had a few little families over for dinner and loved every one.

It's not like it was in California; I don't think it ever will be the same.  Because here, friends come second to family.  And we finally have family around!

But this home feels like it is exactly where we need to be.

Nick-Nastics

I had a feeling Belle might like gymnastics.

I mean, she's been climbing, balancing, jumping, and rolling on things since she could move.

I like gymnastics too.  It feels to me like the perfect marriage between sporty and girly.  She can build muscle and be proud of how she can make her body work for her.  She can learn rhythm and poise and grace.  Gymnastics opens up so many options as far as interests go; and if she wants to delve into the dance world, I go with her there.  If she wants to get into sports like I was, I'll show her the way.

But for now, I just love watching her grin and hop and wave as she prances around the gym.

We did three sessions at this great, cheap little introductory program.  She asked me every day if it was time for "nicknastics", and ran to get clothes on when I finally said yes.  It's been kind of refreshing to have her so excited to listen.  (Getting dressed is a challenge most days.)

At the end of those three sessions, I signed her up for the big meet.  She was thrilled.

We got there extra early to save seats for Bumpa and Nana.

When they called her name, they did so hesitantly and asked for "BEL-en" (like "Helen" with a B), and so I hollered out "Beh-LEHN", and Belle lept to her feet, threw both hands in the air and ran up to the stage.  She got her trophy and certificate, held them both high in the air, jumped up and down a couple times, then went back to her seat.

Miss Belle.  I am so proud of you.  You have got something you love, and you work hard at it.  I love to see you so proud of yourself.

Benefits of Being a Chiropractor's Family

I remember when Mark first told me he wasn't sure he wanted to be an eye surgeon.

He was leaning against the counter in our tiny $200 a month basement apartment.  His arms were folded and he just stared at me, gauging my reaction.

Honestly, I felt relieved.

I mean ... ten more YEARS of school??  I know it's worth it once you're on the other side of that coin, but I was having a hard time fathoming being in debt and living off of loans and whatever paltry teacher's salary I could get together ... if I got a job before we started our family.  What about kids?  My mom had been home for us; it was important to me to be there for them while they were small.  Would I be able to do that with med school?

Mark felt the same.  "I'm already stressed.  I feel like my time is maxed out with school; I never see you.  We don't even have kids yet!"  He was doing a double major, studying for the MCAT ... and yeah, it was pretty apparent he was stressed.  "I just can't imagine doing this for ten more years."

The direction to go from there seemed obvious.  With his dad, grandpa, uncle, and two brothers as chiropractors -- not to mention the fact that chiropractic school required the same pre-requisites as med school -- we could switch plans without making any real changes to the things we were doing at the time.

So we finished up at Utah State and moved on to California for chiropractic school.  It was stressful and fun and a real adventure.  We were certainly ready for school to be done by the end; we were both sick of living off of loans and government aid.  We were grownups; dang it!

But now, four years after graduation and three kids later ...

This was the best decision for us.

I LOVE Mark's job.  His skill as a healer is invaluable.  I can't imagine raising our babies without it.  He is my first line of defense for everything.  Ear infections, sore throat, pulled muscles; I always have Mark work on it first.  I would take my kids to the hospital next; but his treatments always do the trick.  My kids have never needed to go.

It is a lot of work to run your own business, and he feels the weight of it all.  I can tell.  But he's doing well.  People love him.  His latest review sums it up pretty well:

"So far I have really liked this chiropractor. He seems like he knows his stuff and is honest with me and my family. He seems to want to provide quality care but he doesn't push anything on you. He gives his recommendations and let's you decide. I would recommend him to family and friends. My jaw was hurting for months and after 2 visits my jaw was almost 100% better. My wife, me and our daughter (11 months old) are his patients and we will keep going to him indefinitely."

In the first three months of Mark's second year at The Works, he made more money than he did the entire year before. People like him, and they tell their friends.  And they give him gifts.  We've had several Alaskan Salmon steaks from one of his patients' most recent fishing trips, chocolate galore, clothing, and trades.  They trade their services for his; which got us a king-sized gel bed:

And private swimming lessons.

This little girl is actually swimming ... which is amazing; considering she wouldn't even let her face get wet beforehand.

And Mac?  Well he's learning strokes and diving off the diving board.

There's even a Mommy and Me class starting at 6 months old; I might have to get Harrison in next ...

Blessing Harrison

Oh my sweet, sweet tiny man.

Harrison got his baby blessing on January 4th.

Mark blessed him, and Bumpa, Uncle Jake, Uncle Benny, and Uncle Curtis stood in the circle.

They blessed him at our church across the street, at nine a.m. ... I couldn't believe how many family members showed up that early!

We spent the night before prepping; Mark grabbed folding chair after folding chair from the church.  My sister Jamie cleaned blinds and swept floors.  My parents helped me meal-prep for a brunch after the blessing.

Morning of, we were a whirlwind.  Harrison handled it like a champ.  Which is his usual.  Poor guy had a good little case of newborn zits; made worse by the fact that I was eating chocolate ... which I have since discovered he's pretty sensitive to.  But he smiled and cooed and waited patiently till we had everyone ready ... then I dressed and fed him and we attempted a family picture.

However, Mac was not having it.  Mark had just told him he could not take ANYONE's phones to sacrament meeting (a rule we always have, but for some reason he thought that because all our family was in town that rule was out the window), and so Mac sat in a huff in the corner.

So while I tried to reason with him, this was the family picture we got:

Then Mark was off with Belle and most of the family to save some seats for the rest of us.

Harrison cooed and smiled at me as I fed and changed him.

Mac huffed.

Eventually I convinced him that Harrison would be so sad if he didn't see this special day (it's been a while, but I think I had to threaten to take all phone access away for the week ... wish I could say he felt the need to be there for his baby brother!).

Harrison, Mac, and I sat down just in time, and the blessing was perfect.  The Spirit was strong, Mark was wonderful, and Harrison just stared at everyone silently.

And upon our return to the house, the breakfast burritos were a hit.

Our tiny half-finished home was filled to the gills, and it felt wonderful to be able to provide a place and food for all our loved ones.  We even happened to find an incredible deal on the perfect sectional, and it was delivered two days before they all arrived.

It was a loud Sunday afternoon; full of all the best things.  Five women helping me in the kitchen, kids tripping over each other and giggling downstairs.  Dad told the story of how he met Mom, and Mom interjected here and there to keep his story factual.  Chris told everyone what she knew about her possible judicial mission for the church, and the kids ran up and down the stairs.

Late that evening, when the house was quiet, Mark and I snuggled our tiny Harrison in the front room.  Mark said, "There are a lot of people who love you, buddy.  They filled up our house today."

And my heart was full.