The Thearle Family

We've had a fairly eventful October.  Early in the month we went to Dewberry Farm with my sister and newphew.  DF is a working farm that puts together an amazing family event.  There were so many activities for the kids, including a petting zoo, hay rides, train rides, pumpkin patch, etc.  It was surprisingly cold the day we went and we were a little unprepared but still had a terrific time.  There are pictures mixed into all the albums.

Halloween was a multi-event production for us this year.  We managed to put the kids in their costumes on four different occasions: Zoo Boo, Marc's work party, our playgroup party, and trick-or-treating!  We went to the Houston Zoo with Catie, Ed & Jacob for Zoo Boo.  Kids came dressed up and there were carved pumpkins, treat stations, and Halloween related activities going on throughout the zoo.  The guys and gals at Marc's unit did an great job putting together a haunted house and kids activities at their office the day before Halloween.  Gabriel was very into trick-or-treating this year.  He walked eagerly to each house and declared it to be "scary" or "not scary" before going to the door for treats.  All four of us did a few houses together and then Marc took Gabe down the rest of the street while I put Adison to bed and handed out candy.  Adison didn't mind her costume at all but was pretty tired by the time we set out for treats.  Finally, the day after Halloween we attended our playgroup fall party at the park.  We cooked out while the kids all played in their costumes.  It was a lot of fun to see Gabriel into the whole thing this year.  We're looking forward to Adison being up and around next year.  Check out the "Halloween 2009" album for more pics.  

Now for unhappy news.  It is official:  Marc will be going to Cuba for 6 months next May.  This is in addition to several shorter trips to various places prior to this long deployment.  It doesn't look like we will be seeing much of him next year.  The kids and I will do a little traveling while he's gone in order to pass the time, but we will miss him more than words can say.  If anyone was considering a visit we'd love to have some company!!     

 

Hello All!

Marc has been in and out frequently with his various deployments. Fortunately, most of them have been fairly short. We're looking at a long one next year but won't think about that quite yet. For now, we are enjoying our time all together. We took the kids to the fair last weekend with my sister, her family, and a friend. The boys had a great time playing the games, riding the ponies and merry-go-round, and dancing. Check out the very short videos below.

We had a nice, but short, visit from Marc's sister Lisa last week.  She was able to stay a couple days and the kids had a lot of fun with her.  We will be spending Christmas with her and the rest of Marc's family in California.  All of us will head to Tahoe to do some skiing while we are there.  It should be a lot of fun- we can't wait to see how the kids react to snow!! 

We took the kids to their first baseball game a couple weeks ago.  We made it through about 5 innings before Adison called it quits.  That was longer than we had expected!  I've joined a moms group and have several play dates every week.  We went to Jump N Jungle this week (various bounce houses/moonwalks).  Once Gabriel warmed up he had a great time jumping and going down the slide.  We head to the zoo on Friday.  It's still very hot most days so we'll see how it goes.  We're really looking forward to fall and some cooler weather.

Adison is 9 months old today.  She weighs 19.2 lbs (58th percentile) and is 28.25 in (75th percentile).  She is sitting up on her own and rolls all over the place.  She's finally doing some "talking".  No signs of crawling or standing yet but she'll get there when she's ready I guess.  She remains a very happy little girl with a smile for everyone- especially her big brother!

Gabriel weighs about 25 lbs and is almost 35 inches tall.  He's counting to 10 and starting to show some interest in the alphabet.  He still LOVES cars and trains and can't wait for Daddy to get home so he can roughhouse- such a boy!

I've added some more pictures to the family album and to each of the kids albums.  I'll post some more after Halloween.  

It's been quite a while since my last post.  We've been very busy working on the house and nursing each other through various illnesses.  We didn't have a lot of time to look around before the kitchen and master bathroom remodels began.  It was pretty messy and very inconvenient but we are really pleased with the results.  We had some  much needed landscape work done as well.  We have a lot of final touches to do but that will come in time.

BEFORE                                                DURING   

  

AFTER

BEFORE                                                           DURING

   

AFTER

   

BEFORE                                                      AFTER

My mom and step-dad, Jim, came for a visit last month.  While they were here we got together with Catie and her family every day.  We packed in quite a few activities during their 6-day visit.  We had a great time and really enjoyed having so much of the family together at one time.  

  Gabe, Jim, Adi, Mom & Jake

Adison is 7 months old now.  At her 6-month checkup she weighed 16.5 pounds (47th percentile) and measured 27 inches (97th percentile).  She is rolling over and just got her first tooth yesterday.  She's not a big talker, but who can get a word in with Gabriel babbling ALL the time!  The treatment for her hemangiomas is working really well.  The doctor said she is responding better than average and can probably stop taking the medication sooner than planned.  We are so thankful!  Gabe is counting to 6 but doesn't seem too interested in learning the alphabet yet.  He has so much energy and loves to rough-house with Daddy.  I have to watch out sometimes because he'll jump on me without warning if I'm on the floor playing with Adison.  He is very loving with her and likes to bring her toys to play with, especially if it keeps her from touching his!  

Marc left today for a month on the road.  He's headed to Maryland, New York and then to Virginia.  While he is enjoying his new unit, it looks like he's going to be doing a lot more traveling here.  I'm not too thrilled about that possibility and will have to put some serious work into finding childcare fo the times he's gone.  Right now I'll have to take the kids with me to any appointments and that won't work when I start taking classes.  

I hope you are all well and I'll try to do a better job of posting pictures.  Check out the latest in the albums to the right!               

The Latest...

So we've finally made it to Texas!  We've moved into our house, which needs alot of work.  It is 20 years old and has not been maintained very well.  We haven't even begun to start the cosmetic updating that it needs.  We do like having all the space though, and the neighborhood is beautiful.  We'll post some before/after photos when we get a few projects finished.  

The kids and I had a big month on the road in April.  We visited Marc's family in San Jose and then went to stay with my family in Charleston.  My brother, Bradley, got married while we were there.  I've created an album that includes all of our adventures since my last post.  It includes a visit from Marc's sister and her family.  Marc spent his last month in Hawaii surfing and golfing.  He came back to us tanned and rested but he has to head back to work in the 1st of June so his vacation is almost over.    

Gabriel just celebrated his second birthday.  We spent the afternoon at the pool and had a great time hanging out with all the kids.  It was so nice to have my sister and her family there for the event.  We're looking forward to so many more good times together!  Gabe is putting together four-word sentences and is very good with imanginitive play.  He's getting a bit more defiant and has had a few temper tantrums as well.  I guess we're moving into the "terrible twos"!   

Adison is 4 months old and is such a happy baby.  She smiles so easily and laughs quite a bit, especially at her brother.  She is grasping all her toys and is starting to "talk" as well.  She looks like she's going to roll over soon but she hasn't gotten there yet.  She's down to the 50th percentile for weight now.  While that is perfectly healthy, it is quite a drop from the 85th percentile she was at just 2 months ago so we'll be keeping an eye on her.  As some of you know, Adi has several hemangiomas (benign tumors).  She has one on the tip of her nose that the doctors recommended treating.  We took her to Texas Children's Hospital and were very happy to hear that there is a new treatment available that is more effective and has fewer side effects than previous drugs used.  She will take the medicine until she is about a year old, but it should shrink the hemangiomas without any residual damage.

Hope you are all well.  Enjoy the remainder of your Memorial Day weekend!     

Adison is 2 months old now.  She's 12 lbs, 2 oz and is 23 inches long.  She's still at almost the 90th percentile in both areas!  Such a change from worrying about Gabe's low weight gain :)  Both kids are doing well.  Gabriel is talking all the time and is learning new words every day.  You can't always understand what he's saying but he clearly enjoys saying it.  He's still very into trains, cars, and trucks.  Adison is smiling a lot lately and is crying a bit less.  She's starting to figure out her hands and we're hoping she'll be a thumb sucker because she won't take a pacifier.  

After much searching and several attempts, we've finally got a contract on a home in League City, which is halfway between Houston and Galveston.  Hopefully the inspection will come out clean.  This home is in a gated, golf-course community.  It's 34oo sq ft so we'll have an unbelievable amount of space.  It needs a little updating but we can do the work slowly and make the home our own.  We're very excited to start our next adventure!  

We are looking forward to a visit from Marc's sister Jennifer and her family this coming weekend.  We're eager to see how Gabe interacts with his one-year-old cousin Sadie. 

The kids and I will be leaving here in a couple weeks to head to CA then on to SC.  We will arrive in TX at the beginning of May, which is when Marc will get there as well.  Wish us all luck in our travels!