Acer's First Tree

Happy Holidays Everyone! It's hard to believe that December is almost gone and Acer is 9 1/2 months old... He's still doing the "army crawl" to get places, but he does it with surprising speed! Right now he really loves to pull himself up onto things and stand. He still only has two teeth and a little bit of hair, but we expect more of both in the coming months.

This picture and the slideshow to your right is from our recent expedition into the woods to find ourselves a tree. It was a wonderful hike through thigh deep fresh powder! This picture was taken at the end of the trip while I was cutting the tree down. He had a great time up until we stopped for a while. He has the cutest little snowsuit (Thanks Mel!)

We will be sure to post pictures of Christmas as soon as we can. I think Acer will have a fantastic time with all the paper and boxes. Uncle Rob and Aunt Bunnie sent us a package in a fairly large box last week with some gifts and it turns out that Acer likes the box best of all! Easy for us :)

Much love,
Mish, Allan, and Acer

New Noises...

Not a terribly flattering picture, but oh so funny. This is a picture of Acer doing one of his new favorite things, making fart noises... For nicer pictures, check out the latest slideshow called November.

Great-Great Grandma Frannie!

Hello All...

Sorry once again for the delay in writing. We've had a very busy October and early November with visitors, a quick trip to Buffalo, a first Halloween, and an election! Whew... We saw the Carras who came up for the long Columbus Day weekend, Michelle and Christina, and Carriann with her two beautiful girls...

The Buffalo trip was a whirlwind of new people for Acer. We drove there with Suzy who was attending a workshop training all weekend. The drives were fantastic, lots of sleeping... We only stopped once each way! Acer met new aunts, uncles, cousins, and his great-great grandma Frannie. We stayed with his great grandma and had so much fun playing at her house.

So much is happening, so fast... Acer got his first tooth and then another a couple weeks later. He's just about to start crawling; he can inch himself forward if he really wants something. And, he's almost 20lbs at 8 months old. Hard to believe it's been 8 months already. We hope you enjoy the new slideshow pictures from October. We're trying to get some good pictures of his new tooth (teeth), but he won't sit still.

Take care and Happy November!
Mish, Allan, and Acer

Mish's Baby Pictures!

Allan's Baby Pictures!

Carrots!

Hello Blog Watchers!

It has been a while since we've written on here, sorry... A lot is happening here! Acer can now roll over and over and over. He rolls across the room VERY quickly. He can now sit up on his own as well! It's funny how he resisted for so long and then one day he stopped falling over. He still falls every once in a while, but his balance is impressive. He is also starting to eat some solid foods. So far he has tried avocado, squash, pumpkin, and carrots. It's great to have fresh food from the garden to start him on! As you can see, he wears more food than he eats right now! (Thanks to Gram for the bib. Go Sabres!)

Things are great here. The fall foliage is wonderful this year! We have been trying to spend as much time as possible outside before it gets too cold to be outside without a snowsuit! Acer really loves the leaves. Yesterday he spent an hour sitting and playing with them. Easy entertainment :)

Be sure to check out our latest slideshow of new pictures. Last weekend was Mish's 10 year high school reunion and Kendra came with her son Jonah! We had a really fun time and took lots of pictures!

Take care and enjoy the fall!
Mish, Allan, and Acer

It's Mish!

And you all think Acer looks like Allan... Thanks to Aunt Patti for giving us this picture from late 1980. Check out that TV!

Half Birthday!

Hooray! Today is Acer's half birthday! That's right folks... Acer is now 6 months old. Things sure are happening fast. Acer is rolling over all the time, and VERY quickly! His first teeth should be coming in soon (he's drooling like crazy and biting on everything he can get his hands on). He can almost stay sitting up without support. A couple more weeks for that one. We look forward to that day so he can play on the floor more easily.

We have been very busy here. The garden is producing more than we can keep up with. LOTS of beans, beets, carrots, and the best cherry tomatoes I've ever had (Sun Gold). We went to the Taylor camp up on the lake again for Labor Day and saw Marty and his family, Bo and Cal, Harry and Karen, Janet and her crew, Heidi and Nina, and the Lachtrupp family. What a time! Plus we went to a wedding this past weekend and had a fantastic time dancing and hanging out with new and old friends.

We hope that things are going well out there. We are looking forward to some fall visitors! Take care!

Love you,
Mish, Al, and Acer

p.s. We'll post some more baby pictures of Allan and Mish after the poll is over... Check it out.

Tammy's Visit!

Yeah! Tammy was here! We had such a fun time last week when "Aunt" Tammy came to visit for a few days. We picked blueberries and blackberries for jam, we made lots of pickles, we went shopping at Zutano (don't worry, we had a gift certificate), we went to Burlington... So much fun. Allan temporarily lost the camera, but luckily Tammy took LOTS of pictures. You can see pictures of the week on our newest slideshow.

Allan spent the first week in August at Camp Takumta (check out their website if you don't know about it). We missed him a lot here and we know he missed us. It's amazing how much Acer can grow and accomplish in a week.

We hope your summer is going well. We're having a blast here. Acer can now roll over and almost sit up on his own. He's getting closer and closer to crawling. Scary, but exciting... We'll be sure to keep you posted!

We love and miss you!

Our Weekend of Bluegrass

So... I started this post last week after we got back from Grey Fox, but saved it and forgot about it. Sorry. Anyway, we had a fantastic long weekend at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in Oak Hill, NY in the Catskills. Keith, Allan, Suzy, Acer, and I arrived Wednesday evening to set up camp. Thanks to yet another "Grey Fox Miracle" Suzy found us a perfect place to call home when another group decided to move to another spot! We had several pop-up tents to set up a "kitchen" and "living room" to hang out in. Allan and I brought a giant tent and a futon in order to be as comfy as possible. No music Wednesday, but Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were filled with amazing bluegrass! For those of you who know bluegrass we saw: Abagail Washburn and Sparrow Quartet, Infamous Stringdusters, Del McCoury, David Grisman, Sam Bush, Hot Rize, Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Uncle Earl, and more! It was definitely one of the best years yet! (Although I think I say that every year) The only problem was that it was sooooo hot... We chose not to go see much daytime music, which we have done a lot of in the past. Acer did incredibly well in the heat, but he was more interested in staying under the pop up tent or in the water, so we mostly saw late afternoon and evening music. This picture is from a really great swimming hole that our friend Jon brought us to (he's from the area). Acer had his first swimming hole experience. This picture is the "baby train" we made to send him back up the hill after swimming. (Don't worry, he went down that way too. No jumping for Acer quite yet...) We were with such great friends and family, all who clearly love Acer :) All in all, a wonderful weekend!

Now we're back home and hoping for some more nice weather to enjoy summer. We are a little sick of the rain. Even our garden is getting a little fed up. We harvested our garlic and onions and are still eating greens, zucchini and yellow squash, our second round of peas, beets, carrots, and a few jalapeno peppers. Tomatoes look great! Just a few more weeks until we can start making sauce and salsa!

Hope you are all enjoying your summers! We love and miss you!

New Friend!

Acer made MANY new friends this 4th of July holiday. This is Mojo, Bo's new puppy. As you can see, they really hit it off! Acer had many other "firsts"... He went to camp for the first time, he took his first swim (not too interested), he got his first mosquito bite... Lots of fun! Thanks to the Taylors for hosting a wonderful holiday, once again! We always love spending time with the Taylor, Boreanaz, and Slavin crew (among many other friends...) Thanks to all for a fantastic birthday!

We hope you are all well and staying cool in this hot, sticky weather.

Love you,
Mish, Allan, and Acer

Naked Time!

We hope you enjoy this picture of Allan and Acer's "post-bath naked time". He really enjoys his baths. The best baths are the ones he takes with one of us... Those are so much fun! Summer is going well here! The garden is thriving... We've eaten all kinds of greens, strawberries, and our first peas came a few days ago. Tasty. We've visited friends, gone for walks, played lots of volleyball, gone swimming in the pond, and we even went to our first concert at Shelburne Farms. It was Michael Franti and Spearhead. Acer had a great time dancing with us and friends... We hope that all of you are enjoying the summer as well. We will be leaving for the lake to spend a little 4th of July vacation time with friends and family.

A little update. Acer is now laughing! He likes bouncing on the bed, tickling, funny noises, and other people laughing with him. He's currently enjoying chewing on his hands, toys, our fingers, clothes, really anything he can get in his mouth (we think he's started teething) He's growing pretty fast. He's probably about 15lbs by now... Wow!

Take care,
Mish, Allan, and Acer

Stuck in Kansas City!

48 hours after being stuck in Kansas City, we are home and happy, but not without feeling a little angry about what we had to go through. For those of you who didn't know, we went to Missouri for a Thompson family reunion! The reunion was so much fun. We were at the family farm in Marshall, Missouri and spent the day and evening with family, fried food, and fireworks! It was fun to meet all the Thompson clan and take our first airplane trip with Acer. He was fantastic! He kept all our spirits up when we got stuck in Kansas City for 2 days due to weather, mechanical issues, and down-right rediculousness of the KCI airport and United Airlines. This picture wasn't taken this weekend (our camera batteries died), but I think it speaks for how we (Mish, Allan, Keith, Suzy, Loren, Kristen, Otho, and Louis) feel about Kansas City International Airport and United Airlines.

Happy Summer,
Mish

Lazy Day

Just thought we'd share a recent picture of Acer hanging out
with his dad last week. We're really starting to get the hang of things here (although just when we think we have some kind of pattern, he changes it...) He slept for almost 7 hours last night. He woke up once and cried for a few seconds and fell back asleep until 5 am! He sleeps and eats very well. We know, we're lucky... Not all nights are like that though. Most nights we get a 4-5 hours stretch. It's going to be a rainy week here, so we'll be trying to find things to do around the house. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, laundry and dishes are never ending :) We hope you are enjoying May! Take care.

Happy Baby!

It's finally spring and boy are we all happy. May arrived with some rain and colder weather, but today is sunny and warm. It's funny that I'm inside writing this post on a beautiful day and I didn't do anything when it was cold and rainy. I can only say that it's hard to type with one hand when I'm holding Acer (Allan's with him now). But... He's waking up, so I will report that Acer is now over 11 pounds. He sleeps and eats very well. And as you can see, he's smiling a lot! He really likes to sit and play with us, smiling and "talking". We are having so much fun! He really is a great baby. Take care and Happy Cinco De Mayo!

-Mish

A Grandmother's Visit

We had a couple of nice warm sunny days when Mish's mom came to visit. Great for hanging out on the porch and enjoying the afternoon with Grandpa Otho too. We had a wonderful time... (I wrote this weeks ago, but forgot to post it. Sorry)

He may be a thumb sucker...

This picture was taken a few days ago when Acer was feeling like he needed some more comfort. We haven't seen him do it since then, but now we know he can!

For the past week Acer's great-grandmother was visiting and helping out. She left yesterday and we miss her already. His grandmother comes this Saturday for 4 days! Then we will start enjoying our spring! Acer and I hope to get up to the sugaring site this week. Plus we are starting seeds! Spring is on it's way, slowly...

We love and miss you all!
Mish, Allan, and Acer

p.s. Acer weighed 7lbs 15 oz on Monday, March 31st!

Back to Back

Here's a fun picture of Acer and Allan goofing around... Things are good here at our house. Acer is growing very nicely. Our midwife came today and weighed him; he is now over 7 pounds! He eats very well. His great-grandmother is in town helping out. Our kitchen will be cleaner than Acer's bottom by the time she goes home! Not too much else to report. The sugaring has picked back up, which is fun. 5 quarts of syrup expected today! We love you all!

-Mish, Allan, and Acer

Out of Bed!

Hurray, Acer and I made our first trip upstairs together after 10 days in bed. It has been quite a recovery so far, but with the help of so many people (Allan is an amazing caregiver...) I am healing nicely. There's nothing like a beautiful little boy to speed the healing. So, we are very slowly getting back into "the groove" and returning to some of the things we used to do around the house. I am working on catching up on emails, helping Allan in the kitchen and folding laundry, and well I guess not too much else.

I just wanted to share a picture with you of Acer's first bath. It was the day before my first upstairs trip so Allan bathed him in our bathroom sink. A little tiny even for a peanut like Acer... Today we will try out the kitchen sink. He seems to enjoy the warm water.

Once again, thank you for all the food, flowers, phone calls, visits, and loving support these past couple of weeks. -Mish

Acer's Arrival

Ahh, time to breathe and meet Acer Boreanaz Thompson, Born March 8th, 2008 at 4:57am. 6lbs 3oz. A healthy baby boy. A healthy baby family.

The Short Story:

We tapped our 50 sugar maples (Acer saccharum) on Thursday and began our sugaring season. Friday was an exceptional day and Loren and I were at it until 11:30pm. An hour later, 12:30am and with less sleep, Mish's water broke. Contractions began quick and strong, but we still felt comfortable. Mish was so strong and I was amazed to see her working through these powerful contractions. She looked so powerful. She was in labor, a fast moving labor. 2 1/2 hours later after her water broke we were on the way to the hospital. Our Wonderful midwives felt a butt and said, whoa boy. Withstanding the will to push (later described as one of the hardest body functions to work against), this breached baby (butt first) had to wait for a doctor to see. Doc Woodruff felt a foot and said "uh-oh, would you agree to a caesarean?" We (she) agreed and to the OR we went, and within 5 hours of Mish's water breaking, I had Acer in my hands. After 3 days in the hospital, we are happy to be home.



The Story:

The arrival of Acer is the begining of an amazing chapter of our life story. We are still wondering what we're doing with a child and are enjoying spending these healing hours answering that question. As a new father, I am amazed at the immediate emotions of love, protection, and wonder I continue to experience. Watching a new mother, I have realized that there is nothing more to life than the natural nurture of a mother to her new baby. It is beautiful. Life is beautiful.


Yes, Acer can come out and play!

Sweet times...

So... It's been a whole month since we put anything up here. Pretty pitiful! Can you believe that we've been very busy?! Anyway, sorry about the delay for those of you who regularly check this blog.


Things are going very well here! We continue to get more and more snow... It's hard to believe how much snow we got this winter. Hopefully spring is on its way. Sugaring season should begin pretty soon! We probably won't make quite as much as we originally hoped (with a baby and jobs and all...) but it will be a good one! This picture is from last year's sugaring.

For those of you who don't know, we found new midwives and are now planning a homebirth. We were feeling like things were just weren't quite right with our other midwives, plus we didn't love the birthing center. Too many things were out of our control. So we are VERY happy with our new midwives and our choice to be at home. You can check out this site on homebirth if you are interested in learning more: http://www.homebirth.org.uk/ It's a British site, but a great resource. This one is also pretty good but basic: http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/plabor/0,,6rl1,00.html

Only 3 weeks left to go now... We'll try to get at least one more belly picture up before the birth. In these next three weeks we are planning on continuing to clean the house, having a pre-birth celebration with friends and family, doing a belly cast, and just getting ourselves as ready as we can! Who knows, maybe the next time you check this, we will have news of the birth!!!

Take care,
Mish, Allan, and Wolfgang

Bigger Mama

Here's the most recent picture of Mish's expanding belly! Things are going very well here in Vermont. The baby is hiccuping and kicking and punching and rollin' all around. Not much else new to report. All healthy and happy!

-Mish, Al, and Wolfgang

A 5 Generation Holiday

Allan and I hope that you all had a great holiday this year! We went to Buffalo for Christmas, which was crazy, but so much fun. We saw lots of family, went to a Sabres game, and ate TONS of great food. One of the highlights of Christmas was being able to be together with my father, my grandmother, and my great-grandmother (left to right in the picture, in case you couldn't tell). Don't we all look fantastic? It's pretty amazing to know that baby Thombo has a great-great grandmother who will soon be 97 years old and a great-grandmother who will soon be 76 years old! I can't wait to take a picture of all 5 of us.

Hugs and Kisses
-Mish