Belly dancer

My little girl has been dancing around quite a bit, mostly just because she is working out her muscles, but I have found a way to calm her. Music.



I have enjoyed playing guitar for her (probably a good idea since drumming would scare her at this age. maybe later in life she'll appreciate my other music skills, but for now, I stick with the guitar)





As for the belly part, it has been almost 20 days, and just minutes ago we got the first peek at her "be-bo". The remaining piece of cord has fallen like the last leaf at the start of winter. We are entering a new stage as well. She is eating more and growing bigger. This photo doesn't do her cute little belly justice, as it looks like a little black hole, but one thing hasn't changed and the belly button has added to it. She is still the most beautiful little girl in the world!

-T

Our adorable baby!

Here are the remaining pictures Kimberly from Barefoot Photography captured in her studio. Just click on this link, then go to "proofing" at the bottom of her page and type in "Heidi" as the password. You can view the 22 remaining if you like....

You can view them for the next 30 or so days...enjoy!

http://www.photosbykimberly.com/index2.php

Kairis Debut

Last Friday night, Tim and I took our 7 day old daughter out for a pro-photo shoot up the street, in historical downtown Troutdale. Check out Kimberly's photo blog for some beautiful pictures! You may be wondering how we scored on this one--Kim was looking for a newborn, 2 weeks or younger to take some pics of in a new basket she bought. So, I answered the call, and signed Kairis up for her first debut. :) We all had a great time; weather was perfect for being outside. Kim was so gracious to take more pics of all of us in her studio too! We can't wait to see more! Enjoy!

http://iambarefoot.typepad.com/

It's been awhile...

Our new addition is doing well. Tim and I are adjusting to the day-to-day tasks of raising our daughter, but all the while, savoring as many of these precious moments as we can. Our evenings have consisted of lounging in bed with Kairis, watching the Olympics, Tim attempting to stay focused on writing an 8 page paper on Media and the effects on Preschoolers, and getting much needed sleep. Kairis has gained back her birth weight, plus an additional ounce already. We're so thankful she's healthy and doing well. She's even giving me a four-five hour stretch of sleep at night; since the beginning. I have nothing to complain about! Here are some pictures to enjoy. We have had many firsts; first bath, first trip to church, first photo shoot (2x!) first trip to the mountain I forgot to mention--Tim and I tried to escape the heat on Saturday afternoon, so we took a drive up to Mt. Hood. We had a nice afternoon, but unfortunately, the heat followed us up to the top of the mt. We still had a great time!

Home

I love spending time with my girls! Today was another trip to the hospital to speak with a Lactation nurse. Sure less sleep is hard with a new family, but the challenges of feeding have been our current battle. Things were going great, but it's hard to get a baby fed when she wants what mama don't have yet.

We love her tons and are enjoying a great day with her.

Kairis Elysa Thomas

Sorry I couldn't share any earlier. We forgot to bring our camera cord to the hospital with us. We did bring the camcorder cord so you saw video first. Now thanks to Joel & Lani, we have a cord to download photos, and better yet, Lani has taken some really good ones I am also posting.

So, Kairis comes from the greek word "Charis" meaning "grace" and "Karis" meaning "love" in Welsh. Since I have family history from Wales, I kinda liked the name, and grace and love are great reminders of what God has done in our lives. To carry on in his faithfulness, we also included "iris" at the end of her name referencing how I knew Heidi was "the one"

In 2001 when I left Kansas to go to Bible school in Colorado, I wrote in my journal that I would focus my attention on my Lord rather than girls and He would let me know that "she" was the one by having her give me my favorite flower of a purple iris on my birthday without ant prior knowledge of the journal writing. Well, after a year at CBC, Heidi left me 3 purple irises on my pillow for graduation. 8 days later on my birthday, I open a box from her with a note saying, "I thought it might be fun to get you flowers for your birthday, but since you are traveling with the worship band and I didn't know where you would be, I gave them to you early for graduation." Nobody can make up a story like that, and we wanted to make it a part of our family heritage, so we included "iris" in her name.

Elysa is just a pretty name we both liked, coming from "Elisa" which is Spanish for "Dedicated to God" and "Alyssa" meaning "noble". And untill Kairis gets married, she's stuck with Thomas at the end. ;)

well, enjoy these photos, I'll slip more in tomorrow.




minutes after birth.



1 hour old.



Saturday afternoon, and more to come! Isn't she beautiful?

-T

Introducing...

This video is a little choppy, but here is the newest addition to the Thomas family! Mom is doing well, we are al tired and will be heading home probably tomorrow.

Here we go!

If you can see the time in which I am posting, you can see that no one in their right mind would be up at this hour just to type out a blog... unless he happens to be out away from home. If you haven't guessed by now, Heidi and I are at the hospital, checked in and going through the laboring process. We will keep you up to date as things progress or at least photos and a name when she comes! Keep watching!...

-T

Today's the Day! (and we're still waiting...)

As most all of you know, Heidi and I are expecting our little girl any day now. In fact, today was the due date set by Dr Mitchell and while Heidi and I are as ready as we can be, we are still waiting. Oh we've had our little clues and reminders that she is coming soon, but still we sit with our crib empty. Hopefully we shall see her by the end of the week. If she doesn't come naturally by the end of the week we have a scheduled induction for Sunday morning.
Thank you all for your prayers for us and our little girl. Please continue to pray. We'll keep you as up to date as we can and you can guarantee that in a matter of days, everyone will see pictures and we'll reveal her name! Untill then... patience.