36 Weeks Pregnant

Went to Kiddie Kandids today with the girls to take some maternity shots. I had a coupon for a free 10x13 picture so I thought it would be fun to have a picture of the girls and my belly. We actually got a pretty good shot of the girls looking at my tummy. They also got some good shots of me, but I couldn't get myself to buy the pictures. The worker there showed me a collage similar to this one that I really liked... so what did I do? I went home and took some of my own pictures using a tripod and came out with this:
I think it turned out pretty good too. Better than spending 30 dollars at Kiddie Kandids. =)

Potty Training

So Jacob and I decided that we should potty train Natalie once she turned two. She showed signs of interest in November, but I wanted to wait until after the holidays to deal with potty training. Well it's after the holidays and things are settling down (um, not really settling down, now that I have to get things prepared for the up coming baby...) and I finished my midterm so I thought now would be the best time to start.

We started yesterday and Natalie did great. She was excited to wear panties like her big sister. She had 3 accidents yesterday and only one today. She goes poops and peeps in the potty. Jocelyn likes to help me by handing me the toilet paper and helping Natalie put on her panties. We have a sticker chart for Natalie and she can put one small sticker for every time she goes pee and a big sticker for poops in the potty. My girls loves stickers so it works great for Natalie. She also gets one M&Ms for peeps and two M&Ms for poops in the potty. To help Jocelyn not get jealous we give her a M&Ms too for helping Natalie. So far it's been working out great. Natalie even runs to the toilet herself too when she has to go!

I am way proud of Natalie... and excited to get her potty trained so only the new baby will be in diapers. It's hard to always keep an eye on Natalie and asking her to go pee all the time, but I know it will be worth it!

DIY Snow Globes

Here are some snow globes I made as birthday gifts for my daughter's friend. It was fun making these and my girls enjoyed watching/helping too.

They were really simple to make.

Supplies:

- glass jars that will fit your plastic toy

- plastic toy

- glitter

- glycerin (I found mine at a local grocery store)

- hot glue

- distilled water (I just used boiled water after it has cooled down)

Optional Supplies:

- ribbon

- felt

Instructions:

- glue toy to the inside of the lid and let it dry

- fill jar almost full of water

- pour in a little bit of glycerin (it depends how big the jar is... I probably put in about 1 T in the Buzz jar)

- add some glitter

- screw on the lid (I did try one where I put hot glue on the inside of the lid before screwing it on, but the glue dried before I was done screwing on the lid... therefore leaving my jar half screwed on... and it leaked)

- put hot glue all around the rim of the lid to seal it

Optional:

- I glued on ribbon to hide the lid and the hot glue

- I cut out a circle out of felt to glue onto the bottom of the lid

Thomas Family Christmas Letter 2010

This has been a great year for us. We are still living in Rockford, IL (1 hour west of Chicago). We miss all of our family and friends back west, and we have gained a greater appreciation for warm weather. On Father’s day we found out we were pregnant with Thomas baby number three! It’s another girl!! Veronica is due on February 26^th, 2011, which happens to be Jacob’s birthday.

Jacob is in his 3^rd year of medical school and is doing well. He has started working clinically and has rotated through Internal Medicine and Surgery so far. He has had loads of great experiences helping patients and assisting with surgeries. He is also working on an honors research project in Radiology, and at this point is planning on becoming a Radiologist after he graduates in 2012. He has to work long hours and get up early but is usually home for dinner and most weekends. The girls LOVE going to eat at the hospital cafeteria with daddy. When he gets a break from school he loves to play with the girls, play video games, read, juggle, play piano and he is now learning to play guitar.

Veronica is about 30 weeks pregnant and ready to be DONE! She is also working on finishing her degree, one class at a time. She is extremely busy taking care of Jocelyn and Natalie (and Jacob) but still finds time to work on her classes. She also keeps herself busy with all her many crafting projects. This year she has made a Mario cake, a Maisy mouse cake, a Poke ball cake, a Fire truck cake, a cake for a medical school event, and most recently a Cinderella castle cake for Natalie’s birthday. She also made personalized name pillows for her nieces and nephews in California with their names sewed on, as well as handbags for her sister and good friend. She also made an amazing felt playhouse to put over a card table for Jocelyn’s birthday. There are many other projects we could mention, but you get the point that this lady stays BUSY.

Jocelyn is now three and a half (the half is very important, she even had a half-birthday celebration). Her favorite princess is now Ariel, not Cinderella. She loves pink and anything girly. All she wants to wear are pretty dresses, even when she goes to bed, because princesses must ALWAYS wear dresses. She is a very bright little girl. Her Chinese is phenomenal and she does very well in English as well. She is very excited to have a new baby sister.

Natalie just had her second birthday. Everyone is so surprised that she is only two because she can speak so well. She can be shy around new people but she is also a crazy little girl and loves to be loud and play rough. For the past six months her favorite thing to do is crawl around on the ground and pretend she is a dog. We are trying to teach not to actually lick things like a dog, but it’s ok to pretend. She also loves all things princess, and her favorite is Cinderella, but she also wants to be like Jocelyn so she likes Ariel too. She copies everything Jocelyn does, and they both know how to get on each others’ nerves. Most the time they get along and love playing with each other.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thomas Family 2010,

Jacob, Veronica, Jocelyn, Natalie (and baby girl #3)

Natalie's 2nd Birthday Cake

The cake on the right is the one that I made for Natalie's 2nd birthday while we were in Arizona. The cake on the left is the one that I used for inspiration =). Natalie loved that cake and talks about it every time she watches Cinderella.

Fabric Flower Necklace

Here is a necklace I made today. It was one of my experiments. It was fun and easy to make.

Basic Handbag

This is a basic handbag that I made for my sister, Valeria's birthday next week. I got this pattern/idea from www.thediydish.com. It was super easy to make too! I like how big it is... I just might make one for myself and use it as a diaper bag =).

32 Weeks Pregnant!