The Kentucky Thalman's

If you haven't ever been to a horse race you haven't lived! It is the most surreal experience ever.  The bugle sounds "da da dada dada da da da da" "They're at the post" "RRRRRIINNNG" Here in Lexington they have horse races twice a year, fall and spring, for 3 weeks at a time at Keeneland.   Every time I hear the bugle sound I get chills.  It is unlike anything I have ever done. This year we were able to go twice.  Once when my mother-in-law and sister-in-law with her little lady Juilanne, were in town and the other was with some friends from church and medical school, the Beardsley's We had some styling kids when we went with the in-laws.  Not to brag, but Jackson might have been the cutest kid there.  He was getting double takes EVERYWHERE and he was definitely flirting with EVERY girl he had contact with.  It's probably because his Nana got him a super cute checkered shirt with a matching hat! Jac...

What a week it has been. He is so curious! It started off with AH-MAZING weather.  Up in the 80's! I LOVED IT.  Jackson on the other hand did not.  He had been fussy for a couple of days and then Tuesday he was burning up.  I thought it was just because of the weather (we didn't want to turn the air on) but turns out he had a fever, 103.7 for about 2 days and tylenol or Ibuprofen didn't seem to help at all.  I thought maybe he had an infection because his boy parts from his  surgery last week. Read HERE!  were swollen. So we took him to the doctor and they said he looked great and it probably wasn't related.  The fever finally broke Thursday and then I noticed a rash (which I thought was from the heat) that was first in his groin area and then moved to behind his ears.  I remembered I had pinned something from pinterest about rashes and kids and I'm glad I did.  I found out what he had from THIS  post, Roseola.  Na...

Easter Sunday is my favorite Sunday (aside from the primary program.  Little kids singing. The. Best.). Everyone is dressed in their new Easter outfits and this Sunday was our fast and testimony meeting. Perfect combo. For those that don't know, at my church we have a fast and testimony meeting once a month where during sacrament meeting anyone can get up and bear their testimony of Christ.  It's usually a very spiritual experience.  Even more so because the kids outdid the adults! Their testimonies are short and sweet and one little girl who had to of been about 8 or 9 even started to choke up.  So sweet. The festivities started with a visit to the Easter bunny.  It took FOREVER to get in but it was worth it. Jackson LOVED the Easter bunny even though it freaks me out.  The bunny's head was all drooped down and I could tell he was asleep so the camera man had to say "Wake up Easter bunny!" Jackson hugged him, kissed him and wouldn't let go.  W...

If you have the chance to do swimming lessons or time in the pool with your baby do it! It has been so fun with Jackson.  We started in March and Jackson is a natural.  The instructor every time is so impressed with his skills and always says, he is a natural water baby. We have been doing the class with Jackson's girlfriend Sophia and her mom and my friend Cari.  Those 2 are cute and have seen each other naked too many times already! Our instructor used to teach for the Parks and Rec department and would teach BABIES how to float or get to the side on their own if they fall into water.  Have you seen  THIS VIDEO?  But now she is at the YMCA and they don't do that so much.  In the class we have been working on getting them to come into the pool (count to 3 so they get that they can't go in without a count), learning how to kick once you get in the water, holding onto the side of the pool,  laying on their back with their ears in th...

Monday Jackson had his 4th surgery/procedure of his short life and hopefully his last for a VERY long time! happy at 6 am Jackson had his hypospadia repair and circumcision. So awkward to talk about or even tell people about or even go to the doctor for.  Every appointment, a penis is drawn on the paper on the exam tables.  So weird. Also, this is your little boy who you want the absolute best for, including a normal sex life when the time comes (don't want to think about it). Hypospadia:  is a male birth defect in which the opening of the tube that carries urine from the body (urethra) develops abnormally, usually on the underside of the penis. The opening can occur anywhere from just below the end of the penis to the scrotum. First degree hypospadias are primarily a cosmetic defect and have little effect on function except for direction of the urinary stream (he would probably have to sit down to pee, which for a little boy might be a huge social problem). If...

He loves finishing my apples with the 2 teeth he has on the bottom! My 9 month old boy weighs 20 pounds and is 27 inches tall.  Both put him in the 25th percentile.  But I bet he eats more than your baby.  This kid eats  Breakfast: 2, 4 oz jars of fruit with 3 oz of 2% greek yogurt with a grain Lunch: 1 jar meat with 2 jars of green vegetables with an occasional "textures" jar Dinner: 3, 4 oz jars of a dinner or 2, 6 oz 3rd food dinners (chunky) Add in nursing 3 times a day and some Cheerio's or puffs while getting his food ready. What a chunk that isn't that chunky.  Kid has abs!   Teething biscuit I made awhile ago.  It kind of fell apart when he would suck on it for a while so probably not recommended for younger babies w/o experience with chewing He has only recently started to like chunky foods.  He used to start gagging the minute anything chunky touched his tongue.  Literally, he would act like ...

This week I decided be a hardcore "homemaker. I mean hardcore for me.  I have done a couple of things around the house that have needed to be done for a LONG time such as Cleaning the oven. I didn't clean it when we moved in last October.  Does that really matter? My food never touches the actual oven so I didn't think it was a big deal.  Well it hasn't been, except for the cumulation of food overflowing, splattering, and dripping.  This has now caused our oven to smoke every time we use it.  It is most likely caused from the carrots I was cooking in foil packets and didn't know the foil had a hole in the bottom. This caused the butter to drip all over the oven floor. Don't buy cheap foil. Also, don't do this if you did a heavy deltoid workout the day before.  Ow. So I took to Pinterest to find an easy way to clean the oven without using the self cleaner and having to buy expensive cleaners.  I found one with baking soda, vinegar, and dawn dish s...