16+ Months

Things have been in super mega overdrive in the Thomas Family household lately. As most of you know, we bought a bar, Kirby's, in December. Since that time, Alex's already incredibly busy schedule has doubled. It's hard on him and of course a little hard on me and Solomon as well, but we think it will calm down at least by summertime. It seems like there's always something going on with the bar that requires extra attention. For instance, we held the annual "Meat Fest" last weekend. Basically, bands play from open to close and people barbecue outside. This year, Alex added a live auction to raise money to set up a memorial scholarship fund in the late owner's (Steve Schroeder's) name. The scholarship is through WSU and will eventually go to a fine arts student. We raised a lot of money at the auction and through the various donations that people just gave all day long. The place was packed all day and our friend, Sol, generously barbecued all day long (2pm-1am)! Can you imagine doing that!? Exhausting for sure.

This past Saturday, Kirby's played host to a surprise band, Split Lip Rayfield. That was a big deal for us, considering several thousand people had just paid $12-15 the night before to watch them at a well known large venue in Wichita. Again, it was a great night and everyone had a lot of fun.

Back to the title, Solomon turned 16 months on the 15th of this month. He's turning into a little problem solver. I love to watch him try to figure out how things work. He's still loving all of his Christmas toys, especially Elmo's kitchen and his bounce and spin horse. He also loves having us read books to him and it's especially cute when he gives me a book and backs up to sit in my lap. He's learning how to break through all of our barricades which can e a little frustrating at times, but it's funny at the same time. We're taking him to a Tumble Tots class every Wednesday. He's the youngest one in the class so he isn't as "structured" as some of the older kids are but he definitely loves the slide and the wide open spaces to run around. Solomon is also a big fan of shaking his head "no". With few exceptions, on most days he is such a happy little guy and so much fun. Here are a few funny videos.

As for my fun, I had a lot of fun at the Meat Fest last weekend. Alex's friend, Jason, was back from China to get married. It was good to see him. This weekend, I hung out with Abby and Sara F. on Friday night. Saturday, I went to Abby's house and we watched the Miss America pageant and of course made fun of the contestants. Miss Florida was robbed, I swear! :) I've always loved to watch one of those tragic pageants. Yesterday, Alex and I finally caught up on all of our TV/movie viewing. We watched Lost, 24 and Burn After Reading. Lost frustrates me so much, but I guess that's why I like it. Just when a question is answered, another emerges. Ugh...

Back in it

Puppy Love

Sam (our nephew) & Solomon taking a nap (12/26/08)

We are getting back into the swing of things I guess. It's rough though. It was just nice to not have a schedule at all during the break. Work isn't too busy yet, so that's helping.

Solomon is going to start taking Tumble Tots, a gymnastics class for toddlers. It should be fun. I just watched him put his puppy (stuffed) in his little play refrigerator. Then, he just put it in the trunk of his little car. Yet, he seems to like the puppy. I'm not sure if that's how I would treat something I liked! :) He's climbing all over everything, basically trying his best to get up high on something so he can inevitably fall off. It's a little frightening, especially on the things with wheels. He's currently car surfing. He's also babbling non-stop, especially around me and Alex. I wish I knew what he was saying. Sometimes I have an idea, but since he doesn't say many words that I can understand yet, it's hard. His favorite food is currently peanut butter. He snarfs a PB sandwich or PB with crackers. It's a good thing b/c he's not a fan of a lot of meat, so I feel like he gets some protein this way.

Solomon started his new daycare yesterday and it went well. He's now going up to 25 hrs. a week or about 2 1/2 days so that should work out well for me work wise I think.

As for me and Alex, our bar is going well which is a good sign b/c the college kids aren't even back yet. Alex is incredibly busy with his various business ventures. He sometimes only gets 4 hrs. of sleep. :( Hopefully things will slow down soon and some normalcy will return. He may just have to quit one of the contracts that he takes care of.

My friend, Erin, wrote about her New Year's Resolutions on her blog. I have a few as well:

1-Try to lose a few pounds.. really just tone up my tummy.

2-Be more patient with Alex and Solomon and everyone else of course.. even Coco, our dog.

3-Reach out to friends more.