The Thompson Family

Day 2 of CA trip...Oliver's 1st REAL Bday!

2012-03-02T13:21:00.000-06:00

Papa and I did a little running on Tuesday night in order to have a few surprises for Oliver's very special birthday. I mean, it only happens once every four years :)

His first surprise...chocolate doughnut for breakfast!

Morning snuggles and birthday spankings from Gma Sue. Oliver loved the pinch to grow!

His second surprise!

Swimming with mama by 8:00 in the morning (we'd been up since 5).

It was maybe 60 degrees out, maybe :)

He is a fish!

A special gift from Aunt Getta and Uncle Gordy who made the trip over from Yuma to visit!

Another water toy!

He hasn't let these two sit down!!! I'm being serious!

Palmer also received a special gift.

My birthday boy!!! He is four!!! WOW!

Hanging by the pool with mama, snacking on some vanilla wafers!

Final surprise...a hoop for the pool! We've been using it all over the place!

Oliver enjoyed his 'Happy Birthday' song and birthday cupcakes after supper!

and so did sweet P!

I think Oliver enjoyed his special day in CA! We sure missed daddy, but we'll make up for it this week!

Happy Birthday to the most special four year old ever!!! We love you!

We have arrived...California!

2012-03-01T21:03:00.000-06:00

The boys and I were lucky enough to start the Krebsbach family vacation a little early :)

We hopped on the plane and made the trip to CA with a little help from the grents while daddy stayed back to work a few extra days.

My two sweets! Can you see sweet P's teeth coming through???

Palmer snuggled and slept Minot to Denver.

We have arrived!!!

The boys were perfection on the trip. I think we impressed the grents.

Papa and Gma Sue with their boys!

We're ready for some fun in the sun!

Oliver's Hockey Birthday PaRtY!

2012-03-01T09:44:00.000-06:00

Oliver's 4th party was a home run.

He was in seventh heaven!
it's a lot of pics so he can remember what a special day it was!

When Oliver is at open skate he can't have his stick and there are no nets on the ice.

We called to see if we could bring a few sleds for the little ones...Miss Macy enjoyed!

Oliver adores Jake and the fact that Jake is awesome at hockey and came to his party...WOW!!!

Uncle Cory even wore his hockey jersey!

Macy loves her some Uncle Chad!

Jake made sure to give Oliver lots of attention!

Daddy thought the party was pretty cool too!

He's so serious!

Sweet P was there

and loving the ice just like his big bro!

Let's go!

Birthday boy!

Olivia liked hanging out with Palmer.

Uncle Tadd gave Palmer a couple spins!

Oli taking a little break!

It lasted about 30 seconds!

Gma Sue and Palmer

We invited family and Oliver's best bud, Sam. We love him and his rents!

Oliver was a big part in ordering his cupcake cake.

Palmer is loving babies! He loves our time with Eli!

Few videos to share :)

We still can't get over how much Palmer enjoyed his ice time!

The crew!

This was our first birthday party without my sisters and their families. We survived, but really missed Ayden, Abby, Emery, Amelia and Ruby.

Thanks to all of our family and friends that helped make Oliver's day SOOOOOO special! Seriously, best party yet for this little guy! He's still talking about it!

Happy 4th Birthday Oliver

2012-02-29T23:25:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday to the most SPECIAL four year old boy!!!

Our leap day babe!

I don't even have words to describe how much we love this little guy!

Oliver is loving going to school two days a week. He can now write the entire alphabet, he knows the sounds each letter makes, counts to 100 (wants to do all the time), can count to twenty in Spanish and can spell all the names in our family...he's so proud of that one, especially writing Palmer's name :) Oliver enjoys doing simple math and this last month he's rocking subtraction!!! He is also starting to read or maybe I should say he is really trying! We're working hard at it!

He is still obsessed with sports and our number one at the moment is hockey. He lives and breathes it. It's all we hear about and that's all he wants to do.

He loves to be quizzed on sports...names of teams, colors of teams, players numbers and so on.

He LOVES wearing jerseys. It doesn't matter what team or what sport, he just loves jerseys.

Oliver continues to be terrified of mascots and big crowds.

He enjoys music! We think he's a great singer! Oliver's latest song to be memorized is The Star Spangled Banner...I hear it at least 10x a day!

He is still madly in love with all his cousins. We're asked each morning if we'll see a cousin today!!!

Oliver visited Disneyland this year with his G&G Thompson and the Demars Family. We also spent time in Palm Desert and swam like crazy! We took a family trip to visit Auntie Kas, Dusty and Gray in Orange Beach, AL. Oliver fell hard for surfing! We also took many mini vacations to Minneapolis for doc appointments and much needed fun :)

He is the BEST big brother! He is so helpful when it comes to Palmer and he is definitely Palmer's biggest cheerleader. It's so awesome watching the love between those two. I can just tell already that Oliver is Palmer's idol.

Oliver is all boy with the kindest and most loving heart! We're so proud to be his parents!

Happy Birthday to our first son, Oliver! XOXOXO

You finally have a real birthday :)

BCBS Commercial

2012-02-28T19:17:00.001-06:00

We made our way to Fargo last week for a little commercial shoot for our sweet P.

When Palmer was about one month old we received a call from a special lady at BCBS.
BCBS was starting a new program called the Member Advocate Program (MAP) and they were offering Palmer to be their first case. They would help us navigate health care networks, manage physician referrals, help get preauthorizations for services needed, speak to medical staff for us, explain our bills and most importantly review our claims so they're being paid at the best possible level.
It was music to our ears! :)
I was tired of sitting at the table with my mom going through claims, trying to understand them and making sure things were covered correctly. I was struggling keeping up with them and honestly, it was stressful. The last thing I wanted to do was stress about insurance and bills...I wanted to focus on my two beautiful sons!

Palmer was airlifted to Minneapolis when he was five hours old, he's had five surgeries since birth, twenty-two nights in the hospital, seven trips to the cities since February where he sees multiple doctors at two different hospitals, a million head and renal ultrasounds, PT and OT three times a week and the list goes on and on...our advocate is a blessing to our family!

We made a trip to Fargo for the shoot.

My sister and her family were so nice to let us use their home for the filming.

Palmer was AMAZING!!! I know we say it all the time, but he was ridiculous...the crew fell in love!

I wish I had more pictures because the boys were so great and the crew was awesome! I snapped only a few with my phone.

These are so funny! I'm pretty sure Chad didn't sign up for makeup!!!

Oliver made us so proud too! He was such a great big bro!

The star of the day...little palmer thompson (that's his new face and we love it)

He is such a rockstar!

February randoms

2012-02-27T19:39:00.000-06:00

A few quick photos from February

Oliver received his first sonicare toothbrush from me! He loves it!

Our sweet P.

Ayden spent the night!

We played lots of Star Wars!

It was a great night and super fun morning. Oliver was in tears when he left!

Oliver adores his Ayden!

We were able to have special time with cousin Macy. Palmer and her are so sweet together.

Macy helping keep Palmer occupied while he was in his stander.

One of Macy's words is Palmer...it's the sweetest! and she says is perfectly :)

Oliver's 4th Birthday Invitation

2012-02-26T17:20:00.000-06:00

It's PARTY time!!!

thanks to Dusty and Auntie Kassie for helping with invite

The party was so much fun and had Oliver written all over it!

He was in heaven :)

Oliver's Valentine's Day Program 2012

2012-02-25T21:15:00.000-06:00

Oliver was ready to rock his Valentine's Day program at Escuela :)

He is getting so big!

Mama and her boys!

We had our fingers crossed that this program would go better than his first...

and it did!

We still had some nerves.

but we did some actions

we stood and didn't sit

we danced

we sang

woo hoo

Go Oliver!

Our almost four year old.

Olivia and Violet came to watch!

G & G Thompson

brothers

Auntie Jody and her boys

Oli's bud, Miss Sophia.

So sweet!

We'll show them this when they're 16!

A little clip.

It was a day to remember for our family!

Grandpa Sherman is 96!!!

2012-02-24T23:07:00.000-06:00

February 4th we celebrated Grandpa Sherman's 96th BiRThdAy!!!

It was a very special day!

He looks pretty amazing :)

Oliver, Violet, Olivia, Kinzy and Easton enjoying the party.

Sherman and his five children...Shirley, Tom, Glenn, Mary and Blaine.

Grandma Violet would be so proud!

Grandpa Sherman is pretty popular!

Enjoying the party!

Mama skipped out a few minutes early to take this little bugger to the doctor.

We had our first ear infection...boo!

Happy 96th Birthday to a very special grandpa and great grandpa!

We love you Gpa Sherman!

Hockey video of Oliver...present and future

2012-02-22T10:25:00.000-06:00

Video from Oliver's first skating lesson.

Future Oliver Thompson...

Oliver's first skating lesson

2012-02-21T09:36:00.000-06:00

Oliver has now had two skating lessons and it is a HIT!!!

We're really proud of him!

Chad and Oliver usually skate twice a week and it's amazing to see the improvement!

Oliver's UND birthday celebration!

2012-02-19T11:50:00.000-06:00

The boys were awesome on the road to GF...great start!

Oliver had his clothes whipped off in 20 seconds, no lie!

He was ready to swim!

Here goes Oliver!

He's almost four!

Sweet P swimming with daddy.

The boys all in their SIOUX gear!

Here we come!

Daddy dropped Oliver, Palmer and I off at the door.

I was watching this one like a hawk and praying we would have no nerves tonight!

Waiting for daddy patiently after throwing up FOUR times in this garbage can :(

Luckily he gave me a few warning gags, I spotted an open can, ran, placed Palmer on the floor and lifted Oli up just in time.

It's quite the smile for just being sick.

We were all smiles after the teams were introduced and lights were back on.

Palmer was perfection! He seemed to enjoy the music, game, lights and all the people around us. He spotted a pretty girl behind us and flirted like mad! :)

Oliver usually talks non stop in the car on the way home from any sporting event because he is obsessed with sports and ALL the details that go along with it. We still are not sure why Oliver is terrified of mascots and gets so worked up at games. It makes us sad because we feel bad for him, we know he enjoys sports and we love them too. Friday night was like the others...as soon as we made it to the arena door he said, "mama, that was fun. i really liked it!" Chad and I about died. He is hilarious!

As I'm typing this Oliver is downstairs playing hockey with his beloved cousin, Ayden (Oli's idol). I just went to check on them. Play room lights are off, they're singing the national anthem and announcing each others names as they run onto the 'ice'! He then said, '"mama, watch my move when I run out!" That kid doesn't miss a thing!

We said maybe we'll make this a new tradition and try to make a hockey game for his birthday every year. He wasn't so sure about the idea :)

awake, breakfast served and swimming before 8:00

We were then lucky enough to head over to the Reisdorf's (close friends) place for some fun, play time and yummy brunch! We had a blast visiting with old friends, watching our kiddos play and eating George's amazing egg bake! :)

Palmer loves babies! He was sure to give Sam plenty of love :)

I wish I had more pictures. Ann, Erin, Jerrica and I all graduated together and we have seven boys between all of us...no girls! maybe one day

The start of Oliver's BiRThDaY cELebRAtiOn!

2012-02-17T09:30:00.000-06:00

Oliver will turn four this February 29th!!!

We are in SHOCK!

How can it be? We say it every week in this house.

Where did our baby go?

It's a big deal around here because this is our Oliver's actual first birthday.

Our leap year babe :)

We're starting the celebration this weekend with a trip to Grand Forks to see Oliver's first UND Sioux game...WOOWOO!!!

He is so excited and I think we're just as excited! :)

My almost four year old.

This little honey will be making the big trip with us. We're still inseperable :)

Check out those two toofers...so cute!

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-16T09:59:00.000-06:00

We had a lovely Valentine's Day!

We celebrated with cupcakes for our friends and family.

Oliver was bored after frosting two cupcakes!

Oliver only goes to Lindsay's on Mondays so he missed out on Vday box making...this was our attempt :)

Oliver loved it!

Daddy worked Valentine's night so Oliver and I decided to have a special date night (thanks to Gma Sue and Papa). We went to Qdoba for supper to see daddy and because it was BOGO free with a kiss! :)

Oliver was too embarrassed to kiss me at the till, but we stayed for almost 90 minutes watching people kiss.

He blushed with each kiss that we watched...too cute!

Daddy was home in the morning with us and helped Palmer take a much needed snooze after therapy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Shots with mama

2012-02-14T07:34:00.000-06:00

I'm so in love

XOXOXO

Oliver and Gray

2012-02-12T08:24:00.001-06:00

Oliver received the cutest pj's in the mail from his family down south!

He is in madly in LOVE with them!

Thank you to Millie, Gray, Kassie and Dusty. We heart them!

Mr. Gray sporting his pair! He is too cute!

We really miss our family down south, the warm Alabama air, gorgeous beaches and those

lovely jellyfish!

Love you guys

Pictures of my boys

2012-02-10T19:09:00.000-06:00

This first picture is so my boys (especially daddy). I have a hard time getting the boys to sleep together and when they're with daddy...no problem.

and this was in a hotel which makes it even more impressive!

You may notice tooth #2 popped through...tooth P. He now has O and P.

Super Bowl Sunday!

The boys sporting their UND jerseys (clearance at Target...woowoo! thanks for the heads up Auntie Amy). We're hitting a big SIOUX game next week for a part of Oli's birthday gift!

Oliver enjoying outdoor play and hot chocolate in February with no snow. It's been a crazy ND winter!

Palmer working hard!

2012-02-09T18:00:00.000-06:00

Here are a few shots and videos of Mr. Palmer working so hard!

Seriously, he is a trooper!

Check that out...STANDING!

And yes, Oliver is the BEST big bro!

Palmer loves Nancy!

We're so proud of you!

Hockey videos of the boys

2012-02-08T08:15:00.000-06:00

These are a few videos of our boys playing hockey.

As you can see, Palmer catches on real quick!

I think they'll enjoys these when they're older! :)

Grandparents Tea Party at Escuela

2012-02-07T09:36:00.000-06:00

Oliver was so excited and proud to have all of his grandparents coming to his tea party :)

He looked so handsome!

Sitting with the men.

Listening to Miss Paula discuss manners.

I think Oliver really clicks with Miss Cindy.

Picking hats out for his grandparents.

Perfect fit for papa Maury.

Oliver told me that hat he picked for Gma Sue was one you'd wear if you were getting married.

I thought it was so cute and when I saw the pics I totally got it!

He's proud!

and a cowboy hat for Gma Shirley he said.

I think he kinda loves his grandparents! :)

BEST picture EVER!!!

Thank you to the grandmas for working the camera around the room :)

I just love these!

Hilarious and so sweet!

Love!

It can't get much cuter!

Oliver wasn't into the dancing in front of everyone.

Gma Shirley even tried!

How cool are Oli's grents???

We have some lucky boys!

Thanks to our rents for taking time out of their days to spend a fun hour with our Oliver at preschool. He was beaming all day long!

Palmer's Birthday night with his grents

2012-02-01T08:17:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful celebration with all of our grandparents in honor of

Palmer's 1st birthday!

Palmer was dressed in his pj's for the evening cake bash.

So cute!

Oliver and his grandpa and papa enjoyed some cake and ice cream.

Palmer was loving all the attention.

Look at all those grandparents. We are pretty darn lucky!

It's time to sing...

He liked hearing his birthday song surrounded by his grandparents and in his home.

YAY...I'm ONE!

Thanks to our parents and grandparents for making Palmer's first birthday extra special.

Four grandparents and five greats...pretty amazing!

P's wild, STRAIGHT hair :)

2012-01-31T10:33:00.000-06:00

Palmer definitely got his straight hair from his mama and daddy!

He still just has the one tooth.

It really couldn't be much straighter and cuter! :)

Palmer's Birthday invite/announcement

2012-01-30T12:33:00.000-06:00

What a wonderful year!!!

Love you!

Palmer's 1st Birthday BASH!!!

2012-01-28T14:22:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed Palmer's first birthday with a big family celebration in Bismarck.

It was the perfect meeting place for our families.

Our family~January 21st, 2012

Chad and I spent most of the ride down to Bismarck reminiscing about Palmer's birth day and the weeks that followed. It is truly hard to believe that it was an entire year ago.

We set up Palmer's birthday bash in our hotel room!

It wasn't the largest space, but we made it work and had a blast!

We had a music party for our sweet P! Music cake, guitar strings (licorice pull n peels) and drumsticks (candy coated pretzel rods)!

Seriously, what would we do without you??? It's hard to believe how worried we were about you...you are perfection!

Palmer is enamored with his daddy lately! :)

Yes, you love him so much!

Of course we busted the guitar before we took pics! :)

We had a special cake made for P's big day just like we did for Oli's first birthday! We had to go with the rockstar/music theme!

Enjoy all the pictures! We have a few! :)

Violet

Uncle Tadd

Oliver

Olivia

Ayden

Ashlyn, Auntie Jody and the birthday boy!

Emery

Amelia

Palmer loving the water!

Ruby

Uncle Ryan and Emery

Abby

Kaden and Kaylie

My two older sisters and I

Ashlyn

Violet and Oliver

Kaden and Oli

Amelia and Abby

Easton

Abby, Amelia and Oliver

Ayden

Kaden

Amelia

Palmer and daddy

followed by Oliver

He LOVED it!!!

Chad, Palmer, Nate and Kaylie

Oliver and mama

I think we can all agree that Oliver was loving his life! :)

Jody and Ruby hit it off! Ruby is in LOVE with her Uncle Chad and Jody said she made sure to let Ruby know that Uncle Chad was her brother...so sweet!

Funny!

Palmer and mama on his 1st birthday!

We forgot the bumbo so the bed with a towel had to do!

Palmer did not like the birthday song...

at all!

maybe a taste will help!

We gave it one more shot!

All done!

Enjoying our small space!

Palmer giving mama a snuggle!

Opening presents on the clean hotel floor! :)

Palmer loved the puzzle from Ashlyn and Easton!

Cute matching sweatshirts for our handsome boys from G&G Thompson.

Violet showing it off!

Olivia made Palmer a special homemade gift...so nice!

It was an awesome day! We had so much fun swimming, eating, enjoying our family and most of all celebrating our sweet P's special day! We've come along way since October 2010 and it's all because of this adorable little boy!

Thanks to all of our family for making the trip to Bismarck, special gifts for Palmer and all the love! We'd be lost without all of you!

Happy 1st Birthday to our SWEET Palmer!

2012-01-22T15:36:00.001-06:00

January 21st 2011 was an amazing day for our family! This little honey made his surprising entrance into this world one month early and in the wrong city!

We were blessed with our second gorgeous boy...Palmer Myron Thompson.

Thank you Miss Heidi for these fabulous shots :) We're in LOVE!

How can it be a year already???

Palmer has made our lives so much better! We'd be lost without his smile, his kisses, his sweet personality, his adorable giggle and most of all his love.

Palmer is weighing in at 22 pounds, 29 inches long and cute as can be!

He is kicking some booty in PT and OT! He shows his therapists weekly what a little rockstar he is :) He is enjoying his new AFO's and bearing more weight by the day. He is becoming more daring and really trying to explore the floor. We aren't crawling yet, but thinking it's in our near future. He is getting pretty good at scooting on the hardwood floors.

Palmer knows a few body parts (nose & eyes), he loves to give kisses, waves, signs for more and milk. Palmer says mama, dada, ball and Oliver is pretty sure he hears him say, Oliver! :)

He loves music just as much as his big brother does...we have dance parties often! Palmer is quite the dancer, he really can shake it!

He adores his grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and most of all his big brother, Oliver! He seems to be a sports lover too (I don't think he's going to have much choice in this area).

He loves spending his Mondays with his Auntie Jody, the girls and some days he even gets one on one time with his Uncle Tadd. He truly loves it and so do we!!!

Palmer seems to have a few favorite foods...yogurt, jelly toast, blueberries, veggie soup and eggs.

This picture is the sweetest of them all!

We had no idea if we'd ever get a shot of our little guy standing with daddy!

Our little hero!!!

We love you bigger than the sky and the sky never ends!

Love,

Daddy, Mama and your big bro, Oliver XOXOXO

mama's photo shoot with Palmer

2012-01-20T15:06:00.000-06:00

Palmer and I had a little photo shoot trying to get a good picture for his ONE year invite/announcement.

He was such a good sport.

Enjoy all the pics!

This is so Oliver, it's CRAZY!!!

I'm going to be ONE!

We had so much fun!

Palmer is almost ONE!!!

2012-01-20T07:44:00.000-06:00

How can it be???

This sweetie pie is almost one!

Love you sweet P.

Oliver started SOCCER!

2012-01-18T21:37:00.000-06:00

Oliver will be practicing his soccer skills for the next six or so Sunday afternoons.

He loves any sport. Soccer is definitely not his favorite, but it's a team sport and involves running, kicking, sweating and a ball!

Oliver is on the right. The stretching part was so cute.

He loved that he was on Violet's team!

and yes, we taped a number on his back.

He is obsessed.

The STANDER

2012-01-17T19:55:00.000-06:00

January 5th was another exciting day. Nancy, our PT, brought Palmer his stander.

I wonder if all kiddos smile their first time in a contraption like this?

We sent this above picture to lots of friends and family. We were so excited and proud of our little man!

Palmer is working hard daily.

Thursday, January 12th - look at those chubbers!

Palmer and his first pair of AFO's

2012-01-16T18:24:00.000-06:00

This was a really monumental day in our world, especially for our sweet P. We were very anxious for this appointment and had a lot of mixed emotions walking into that room.

Seriously, how could Steve not love this little guy?

These pictures bring tears to my eyes. This is our sweet P. He is the sweetest of them all :)

Steve had to go make adjustments here and there so we had lots of playtime.

Love that face!

I was one proud mama!

Chad playing with our new camera.

Palmer was impressed with his new kicks. We were hoping he'd like because we only had two options with laces in his size. The little things we took for granted with Oliver.

Palmer's first pair of kicks!

We brought multiple pairs of socks, but in the end we left with some fancy medical AFO socks.

Palmer standing on mama with his new AFO's. All of mama's sad and worrisome tears turned into happy tears.

We're loving the blue and Palmer is ROCKING them!

Krebsbach 2011 Christmas Picture

2012-01-15T16:21:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Kassie and Dusty (and Ryan's tripod) for getting an awesome picture of our growing family this Christmas!

and Chad thought we'd never use that gazebo :)

Krebsbach Christmas 2011

Crafting

2012-01-14T22:38:00.000-06:00

I would love to be more creative and spend more time working on decor, handmade gifts for others, my wardrobe, cooking, art projects with kiddos and so on...

My little sis, Kassie, has really started to take on the creative world. I was so excited to spend some time with her over the holiday and learn a few new ideas

My first really good flower.

Kassie giggled at my first sampling of flowers :)

A handmade wreath for MIL's Christmas gift.

She loved it and so did I!!!

My first flower barrette for my nieces!

Thank you to Kassie for being so patient with me :) I loved crafting with you (Dusty too).

Oliver's Escuela Christmas Program 2011

2012-01-14T16:14:00.000-06:00

I'm so BEHIND on pictures!!! I dislike getting so behind, but life seems to never slow down!

Please enjoy a few more pictures of Oliver's big Christmas program :)

A little video for you to enjoy!

As the kiddos were walking into the church I told Chad how my stomach was turning and he looked at me and said, "mmm, I wonder where he gets it from?!?!" So long story short, we were expecting shyness, no singing, and thought maybe he'd come sit with us, but we weren't really expecting him to cover his ears and sit down once in awhile. I still can't believe he was the only one that didn't perform!

That's our boy!

He sure is a cutie though!

Mr. Smiley when it's all over :)

Papa Maury and Grandma Sue

Oliver and his Auntie Kassie that lives in ALABAMA!

Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Myron

Chad and I with our boys!

We won't forget this program!

Christmas Day...Our Family Christmas

2012-01-07T08:13:00.000-06:00

We were so lucky to have a day to ourselves this year to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

We're still trying to come up with new traditions for our family and it seems to be more fun every year.

Did Santa come???

I think so! Oliver spotted the goodies!

Santa brought more football guys, enough to make a team!!!

Sweet P

Palmer showing his excitement for Oliver.

We went to Christmas Day service this year...daddy sang again.

My boys

I'm a lucky girl to have these three in my life!

My friend, Ashley, made these adorable bow ties for the boys. I love them. It took awhile for Oliver to embrace the bow tie. I told him that Ayden wears them all the time...done deal!

Later that afternoon we opened a few gifts for the boys. Oliver found penguin wrapping paper in his stocking so he knew his gifts would all be wrapped in penguins. We started this last year (found this idea on a blog and loved it). He helped Palmer find his candy cane paper wrapped gifts.

Oliver was so excited about his new jersey :) All the jerseys he wears are hand me downs or garage sale finds. He loves them all. No, we're not Packer fans, but it's a jersey with a number on it so we heart it!

but this was a Vikings jersey :)

happiness

This was a TJ Maxx find and yes, Rice no longer plays for the Vikings (might explain the fantastic deal). He doesn't care...look at that face!

We're honestly living in this jersey.

We needed a new puzzle!

We do a new pair of pj's every year.

We had to do matching this year!

New farm flashcards for P!

Working hard on the new puzzle.

It was a wonderful day together. We snacked all day, read many Christmas books, took a family nap, talked a lot about baby Jesus, made birthday cupcakes for Jesus,spent many hours playing football and had some exciting therapy rounds with Palmer's new toys. It was AWESOME and very special celebrating our first Christmas as a family of four.

Oliver practicing his skating

2012-01-04T14:30:00.000-06:00

He is in love with this sport. What are we to do or maybe I should say, what am I to do?

The Thompson and Krebsbach Christmases

2012-01-04T12:07:00.000-06:00

We really are blessed to live in the same town as both of our parents and in the same state as all of our siblings. It makes holidays really busy, hectic, tiring and so much fun!

Here we go...

Palmer received a new drum set from G&G Thompson and many other goodies! Oliver's drum was shot from all his drumming!

The kiddos with GG Lila minus Palmer.

Now we got sweet P!

The grand kids with G&G Thompson.

We decided on pajama day for Christmas or sweats. It was awesome!

Oliver received new hockey socks and the movie RIO from the grents...we were so excited!

and a new Lego set!

It might be a new tradition...singing Christmas carols!

Palmer loving it and Chad recording a few little clips.

It was a hit!

P has a love for music too and showing off that adorable single tooth!

Love that face!

and now the other Christmas...

Palmer had a fever on Christmas Eve and Day. He was still a trooper, but not his super happy self.

Amelia helping Palmer with his new toys.

The kiddos opened their presents in order of age so we were able to snap a few shots of the cousins. They all loved their gifts!

Palmer lounging with daddy.

Ayden received a super cool Lego set from Uncle Chris, the architect :)

Dusty (Kassie's boyfriend) really nailed Oli's gift...

a GREEN mouth guard, eye black and orange cones for sports drills. Right on the money!!!

Daddy showing how it's done!

Oli couldn't control his excitement!

Oliver trying to play it cool!

That's pure JOY!

He is a die hard sports kid!

He looks like a natural to me!

If you asked Oliver what he 'wanted' for Christmas, he would say, "all I want is a football field and football guys". Well, Gma Shirley got his football guy collection started on our Minneapolis trip so Gma Sue added to it for Christmas and Santa finished it off.

It was Papa's job to make a field if possible. As usual, he went above and beyond and made the COOLEST field ever...OLIVER FIELD!

Oliver isn't the only one that loves this field, we do!!! It has given us some extra time in the last week to catch up on all kinds of things!

Thanks to both of our families for spending Christmas with us and spoiling us with your love and special gifts.

Decorating cookies on the December 23rd

2012-01-03T19:34:00.000-06:00

The Hawley family arrived on December 23rd and I had some sugar cookies all ready to be all

prettied up!

Amelia, Ruby and Oliver decorating like crazy!

Oliver's masterpiece!

Amelia's work of art!

Ruby's perfect detailing!

Palmer was in on the action too! (Auntie Kas in the background working away)

Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-29T07:01:00.000-06:00

We hope you all had a fabulous holiday season.

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!!!

The days leading up to Christmas

2011-12-28T15:28:00.000-06:00

We had an exciting week leading up to Christmas. So much to do and so little time.

Ayden, our elf was up to no good...

Oliver was not impressed with Ayden :)

Ayden was really creative this year. It was a really fun Christmas season with our elf!

Palmer showing how long his hair is getting!

We made red and green orange julius's...yum! Oli adding the green food coloring on this night.

He really enjoyed these!

Loving his green OJ!

Aunt Jody sends me some good pics on Mondays...he is ADORAB:E!!!

Oli, Palmer and I spend a few hours here and there making caramel apples for our friends, coworkers and therapists.

Oliver and I had a special date on the 23rd. We really miss our Tuesday mornings at B&N with our friends so we made sure to hit the extra one they had this week. We soaked in our one on one time playing with friends, snapping pics of each other, eating Oliver's favorite mall food (Chx fries from BK), checked out the toy aisle at Target and some good old chatting (my favorite). Thanks to daddy for taking time away from work and making sure Palmer worked hard at his physical therapy appt.

Oliver's spread.

I heart one on one time!

Palmer helped wrap many presents.

He mostly liked the bows!

Oliver and I made oreo balls for the first time.

They were a hit!

We battled for naps!

B&N morning play time!

It was a fun, but CRAZY week!

AFO's...the casting

2011-12-25T17:28:00.000-06:00

December 9th was a big day in our world...Palmer was fitted for his first pair of AFO's (ankle foot orthotics).

We were very excited for this day and also a bit anxious. Palmer can only bear weight for small periods of time and most of the weight is on his right leg.

He was such a champ!

I feel like whenever we're getting a little more comfortable in our new world, something new gets thrown our way :) We knew this was coming and it's wonderful, but it's not easy for us.

The AFO's are designed to help stabilize unstable or weak joints, to decrease the chance of formation of contractures, and to assist in Palmer's posture and general stability of the lower extremities. The AFO's are made out of a light plastic that is shaped to his ankles.

We decided on a simple blue for color :)

Palmer was unbelievable!!!

Palmer telling his mama that it's all good...this is a good thing, mama!

I snapped lots of photos and took a few videos to document this big occasion :)

Palmer liked to help Steve as much as possible!

The right leg is done.

Palmer listening to some tunes and watching videos. He got a little upset off and on, but was crazy good!

We heart this picture! Seriously, Palmer is a rockstar!

Here they are!!!

We return on Dec. 29th for a big fitting appointment and then we will start easing Palmer into them. The goal will be for Palmer to wear them all day, just off for naps and bedtime. We pray that all will go well and Palmer will think they're cool :)

Nancy, our PT will bring a standing frame this week for Palmer to use. The standing frame is used to help with independent standing. This is so important for balance, head control, upper extremity motor development, bone strength, growth and of course for his smarts. :) We will be sure to take pics!

relaxing night

2011-12-24T00:05:00.000-06:00

One of our favorite things to do as a family is to stay at home, relax, play games/sports, cook, make popcorn and orange julius's and maybe make it through an entire movie...we love it!

Our sweet Palmer. He is such a honey!!!

Palmer wanting to take a closer look at the new camera.

The busiest 3 year old ever!

brothers

Oliver opening up his gift to us that he made at school :) He couldn't wait until Christmas!

Mama and her boys :)

We're ready for Christmas!

Making wreath cookies with Oliver

2011-12-23T17:30:00.000-06:00

We had a kids' cookie exchange mid December so we tried out a few new kid friendly recipes.

My patience was definitely tested :)

We had a lot of fun with the Christmas wreaths.

We made three new recipes and had lots of fun!

Oliver's Program

2011-12-20T11:26:00.000-06:00

Hi there, I'm Kassie (Angie's sister) and I am here for a guest post today...my blog can be found here.

So, Oliver had his Christmas program the other day.

He was all excited about it - he was even going to ask his teachers if they could sing 'God Bless America' in addition to the other songs.

Needless to say, Oliver's plans changed a little...

My dad thought Oliver had suddenly come down with a double ear infection.

Look at the excitement on Oliver's face...he just couldn't control himself.

You should have seen him the second the program finished - loads of energy, talking non-stop, chatting it up with the teachers...interesting.

His lack of performance? We're going to chalk it up to nerves.

And a picture of myself with sweet Palmer :)

He is always all smiles...and I LOVE it.

Ang will be back to post more pictures from the day - I just chose to share the entertaining ones :)

First December SKATE

2011-12-18T14:35:00.000-06:00

Oliver was so excited to try out his new hockey helmet on the ICE.

We skate in the basement at our house daily. It's hockey, hockey, hockey, football, basketball, hockey, hockey and hockey. He loves it and I'm a little worried!

Please enjoy all the little video clips of our Oliver skating his heart out!

O + P = cuteness

2011-12-17T20:21:00.000-06:00

My favorite 3 year old and 10 1/2 month old. We have been crazy busy this month with work, decorating for Christmas, play dates, baking, cookie exchanges, therapy, Escuela, Christmas parties, wrapping presents, making teacher gifts for the first time. skating and trying to have as much possible family down time as possible (that's our favorite). We have so many pictures to post for our boys!

Bath time is always a fun time for the boys,

I think there is nothing sweeter than fresh, clean boys in matching Christmas pj's :)

I heart them

Singing Christmas Tree

2011-12-17T19:53:00.000-06:00

My mom really wanted to take Oliver to the singing Christmas tree this year. It's always such a gamble, do we go, do we not go, will he enjoy or get sick? We're just never sure when those nerves are going to act up. Oliver loves music, I mean loves it! We thought we'd give her a shot :)

The lights were still on and it hadn't started yet...happy face :)

The lights are starting to dim...

Oliver starting to shake like crazy and asking to leave :(

The choir in their robes made it even worse. At least we tried, right? Thanks MAMA!!!

Daddy's 31st Birthday and Palmer's 1st tooth!!!

2011-12-11T12:54:00.000-06:00

Chad turned 31 on December 2nd and Palmer spent the day working hard on his first tooth.

It was quite the day!

This is hard work, MAMA!

He wanted his mama 24/7 for about 2-3 days. All he wanted was to be held, cuddled, rocked or nursed. It was sweet, but I was thankful when the fever left him and the tooth popped through. It's tooth "O" for all you dental people :) and it's cute!

Yep, it's true...my first tooth is finally here at 10 1/2 months!

Playing a little hockey.

Daddy used our special plate since it was his special day. Oliver was a little upset!

Palmer is kinda showing off his swollen gum here...looking at the pic, it's his bottom right side.

Homemade chicken pesto pizza and a cheese for Oli at our fancy table that we use for everything in this house!

How did we hit 30??? WOW!

I loved that Chad just wanted to be home with his family for his special day. It was perfect!

We finished the night off with a yummy, homemade orange-pineapple julius for dessert. Oliver is obsessed with them :)

Happy Birthday to the best daddy and husband ever! We're blessed!

Baby Elias Jesse

2011-12-11T12:40:00.000-06:00

Baby Elias (Eli) Jesse Maxson was born on November 23rd to two of my closest friends, Jake and Jerrica Maxson

Rachel and I were so lucky to go spend a few hours with the new family of three when Eli was only about 15 hours old...it was special!

My two besties and sweet Eli!!!

The new family!

My newest love :) he is perfection to say the least!

He already has a crew of pals just waiting for him to grow up a little :)

We love you guys and couldn't be happier for you!

Palmer's final day of appointments!

2011-12-09T23:25:00.000-06:00

We were able to enjoy a little down time on Tuesday morning before we made sure we were all packed up and ready to hit the road after P's appointments. We all had such a nice and fun time staying at Pat and Mary's place...it really felt like home!!! We can't thank them enough for their hospitality and most of all for being so wonderful with our boys. They loved it!

Oliver was lucky enough to stay behind again while we made our way to the hospital. Palmer started out the day in the radiology department. We're starting to get to know the staff quite well. We had our favorite US lady :)

It was so sweet, Palmer held her hand the entire time and helped guide the wand around his kidneys. He was so good :)

Making some eye contact :)

Palmer was madly in love with her magic wand! It really helped during his head US. He just relaxed like he was getting a nice head massage :)

Okay, the results...Palmer is doing AWESOME!!!

We met with a new neuro team at Gillette on Monday for a second opinion and they seem very happy with Palmer's care...YAY! Our physiatrist, who we love, seemed so impressed with Palmer's movement and overall development. She spent over an hour with us, answering all of our questions and getting to know our sweet P. His kidneys look perfect and head US showed good ventricle size. His shunt is working well! Palmer did get a script for his first pair of AFO's and a stander. We can't wait to see our little guy standing :)
Palmer seriously ROCKED these 2 days of appointments. He was so happy, sweet, showed off like mad and knew just when to give his mama some love (he is a smart little boy). I remember when we were pregnant and so many moms and dads were telling us how their SB baby changed their lives for the better...Palmer absolutely has!!! I am a better person because of this little guy. Love you sweet P! XOXOXO

Mini Vacation Day 5...Palmer's first round of appointments

2011-12-05T23:27:00.000-06:00

We really enjoyed using our Thanksgiving Holiday for some fun, but on Monday we had to get down to business...Palmer's two big days of appointments.

We had an early start on Monday. Oliver stayed behind for some fun with his grents and Aunt Mary. We had to be at Gillette Children's in St. Paul by 7:45 for weigh in and height. Palmer was all ready to get the day started!

Hanging with daddy.

We thought we'd break out the Christmas clothes as soon as Thanksgiving was over :)

Oliver still has never had his blood pressure taken. Palmer is so sweet for the nurses and docs.

After a FANTASTIC meeting with our main doc at Gillette we headed over to the therapy side of the hospital. It is a site to see, that's for sure. It's a beautiful facility with so many beautiful kids getting some of the newest therapies.

Palmer ROCKED his OT evaluation. I swear this kid knows when he's being tested. Chad and I were pretty much rolling on the floor with belly laughs...P is a charmer!

Palmer had a full day of docs and therapy on Monday. We left the clinic around 3:30. We left feeling very blessed. Our SB journey has not been an easy ride by any means, but Palmer is doing so well and we're not having to deal with some of the issues that can sometimes go along with SB. We're not saying that Palmer is in the clear, but he is kicking butt at the moment and we couldn't be more proud!

We were greeted at the Holbrook household by a very happy boy! He was spoiled all day by his grandma and great aunt :) They played, went out for lunch and hit up a toy store!!! I think I'd be all smiles too.

We asked Aunt Mary if the hot tub was working and hot...it was! Daddy went for a run and Oliver tried to wait as patiently as possible for him to return so they could take a dip in the tub.

This was Oliver's first outside "house" hot tub :)

I'm still not sure why I didn't climb in there :)

What a day it was! We went to bed very tired, very anxious for the next round of appointments with our main docs at Children's Minneapolis and feeling extremely blessed with wonderful family, doctors, therapists and awesome care!

Mini Vacation Day 4

2011-12-04T21:18:00.000-06:00

Day four was filled with lots of fun! Oliver and I spent the morning swimming while Palmer snuggled with the grents and daddy! Oliver is getting so brave and daring in the water. He is so excited for swimming lessons so he can be just like his cousins :) We had a yummy brunch at one of our favorite spots...Panera and then headed over to Uncle Pat and Aunt Mary's house. We got settled into our new beautiful accommodations, played with all of their FABULOUS toys (they have two grandsons around Oliver's age) and made our way downtown Minneapolis for the Holidazzle Parade and Macy's Holiday display. It has been at least 7 years since we've done this...it was wonderful!

Family shot :)

Oliver wasn't so sure of all this holiday stuff. I wonder when we will be over the whole mascot and nerves thing???

Oliver was very content in the stroller on our first trip through :) Checking out the display with Aunt Mary.

Palmer on the other hand thought it was fab!

Uncle Pat, Aunt Mary, Gma Shirley and Gpa Myron were such great sports! Oliver was lucky enough to pick out a new Christmas book and a few candies at the toy/candy shop. Thank you Gma :)

Holidazzle Parade 2011...WOOHOO!!!

Oliver was still doing okay...

and then it just got a little too scary or weird for him. He wanted inside and fast :)

So like I said, our family were great sports :) After the parade not going so well, we ventured back up to the 8th floor and had the place almost to ourselves!!! and Oliver got out of the stroller and actually wanted to touch some of the displays!!! These nerves shall pass someday!

We'll be losing all these red eyes soon! I broke our nice camera and we've been using our oldie. Better pics to come, but these will do for now!

Seriously, he is the sweetest little boy. He is our little rockstar. I heart him!

and by the way, he rocked his 2 days of appointments...to be continued :)

Day 3 of our road trip to Minneapolis

2011-12-04T10:23:00.000-06:00

Day three of our trip was spent in Fargo, finishing our drive to Minneapolis, enjoying a family swim at our hotel and a late night dinner date downtown Stillwater thanks to Chad's parents who pulled in around 8:30 :)

Oliver loves the water and we think Palmer does too!

My three great loves!!!

Thanksgiving part 2 and Fargo FUN!

2011-12-03T08:54:00.000-06:00

We arrived in Fargo just in time for some Thanksgiving leftovers and good old quality time with the Hawley family.

We enjoyed some swim and gym at the Y. The kiddos loved this!

These girls love their Uncle Chad :) especially Ruby!

We spent Friday morning downtown, checked out a few shops and had lunch at a yummy new pizza place. We never turn down pizza in our family :)

Uncle Chad/Daddy bonding and getting a little workout in!

Rubers and Oliver having a good time in the tub!

These two have a lot in common and get along great!

Palmer getting tickled by Uncle Chris or maybe I should say tortured!

Palmer with Auntie Sarah and Uncle Chris.

The Hawley family spoiled us rotten as usual!!! We had such a fun time catching up, shopping, eating and playing :) We appreciate always letting us stay with you guys to shorten our Minneapolis drives and for being the BEST host/hostess...WE LOVE YOU all so much!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-12-02T18:50:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd show a picture of our thankful tree this year! Oliver really loved the idea and was excited to tell me each morning what he was thankful for :)

We would then take a piece of paper, write down what we were thankful for and place it on a branch. He had some wonderful ideas, like all of his family, food, our warm home, God, our church, music, heaven (because that's where Sadie and some of our grandparents are), football and Lego's...just to name a few. Our absolute favorite was when he said he was thankful for Palmer's shunt. He is such a smart boy and picks up on everything. It's pretty amazing what he all takes in from our conversations and that he understands P's shunt is a life saver.

We're more thankful than ever this year. It has truly been a roller coaster of year since last October and I'm really not sure what Chad and I would do without each other, our families and close friends. It is amazing how something like the SB diagnosis can make your life better in so many ways. That is what we try to focus on in this house. It's not always easy, but we do our best!

We hope everyone has a VERY Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving Day 2011

2011-12-02T18:46:00.000-06:00

We had a different Thanksgiving this year...we enjoyed a nice morning at home, finished packing for our big road trip (Palmer's appointments in Minneapolis), lunch with the Thompson side, drove to Fargo and a nice evening with my sister and her family. We were sad to miss out on the Krebsbach Thanksgiving. We're usually so lucky to have two amazing meals!

Oliver loving his blueberry pancakes with chocolate chips!

Palmer enjoyed a few bites himself :)

Oliver showing off his camera skills again!

Oliver is working on the National Anthem so he was so into the football game! We almost have it down, we will record soon!

Special time with Auntie Jody!

Doctor Olivia

Olivia, Violet and Oliver enjoying the costumes!

Fun times with Uncle Tadd. Palmer is a lover of boys/men...Oliver was the same way! It's so sweet and his uncles eat it up!

Palmer with GGpa Sherman.

Violet, Olivia, Oliver and Easton showing their awesome costumes off with Gma Shirley.

The feathered turkeys are back!

2011-11-26T07:09:00.000-06:00

Well, our feathered friends are back and they are cuter than ever!

We made a really big family!

Oliver is enjoying taking lots of pictures lately :)

I still can't believe it's already Thanksgiving 2011...how can another year almost be gone???

How is he almost four? In three months we will have ourselves a four year old.

and look at him work!

The feathers had to be just right!

Happy Turkey Day!

Football and Fall

2011-11-25T16:04:00.000-06:00

These pictures are one month old, but I wanted to post them. This is our little Oliver...he is crazy, wild about sports, full of energy and loves his brother like mad.

Oliver is pretty much always in Palmer's face :)

I see this face a lot!

TACKLE!!!

Here he comes!

You can just see the joy on his face :)

LOVE

Palmer is not impressed with the entertainment.

Oliver was sure that daddy had a turn.

Oliver was not happy when I wanted to finish raking!

The rest of these shots are pretty funny...

This is what it's like at our house on a daily basis, haha!

We're enjoying some fall weather for Thanksgiving this year. It's fabulous!

A normal day with my boys.

2011-11-23T21:36:00.000-06:00

Here is a cute picture of my boys before church on Sunday. These shirts are hand me downs from our friends, Wilson and Drew...Love it!

Here are a few videos of our boys dancing and playing. Oliver invents new drum sets all the time.

Palmer is now 10 months old...CRAZY!!! I will update soon.

He is the most lovable boy EVER!

Enjoying a yummy "family breakfast" before Escuela. Oliver likes us to all sit together every morning for breakfast...he calls it the ''family breakfast".

Palmer likes the pancakes too :)

God Bless America by Oliver Thompson

2011-11-12T21:50:00.000-06:00

As most of you know, Oliver loves music and LOVES to sing. He has his daddy's talent of memorizing songs in no time! Here is a clip of him singing his latest favorite...