Uncle Rob

Rob LOVES Zoe!  And it seemed that Zoe kind of liked him too.  I share evidence of these two facts here.

 Eating and talking and just hanging out on our last day in their corner of the world.

 playing with the blocks together

 I know she's a bit blurry- she doesn't sit still so it was not easy to get a photo of her without her being " in action." :) 

 Loved this one!!!!  Uncle Rob was reading and making all the animal sounds for her as they read together.

These are my absolute favorites!!!!  These tell another story.  Rob and Zoe would play "chase" and then he would hide around the corner and call out to Zoe.  She turned around to come chase/find him.

 Not sure what she was doing for sure, but she would holler and point at Rob.  So stinkin' cute!!!  She knew where her Uncle Rob was hiding though!

 Or, she thought she did.  "Where did he go???"

 "Boo!"  "Oh, there you are!"  hahaha  Zoe has the best laugh!!!!

Zoe and her Uncle Rob from Rebekah Thomas on Vimeo.


Untitled from Rebekah Thomas on Vimeo.

And the last one, Zoe gave Rob some kisses and hugs.

Zoe part 2

Yeah, I know. :) You'll have to pardon me. I'm partial to that niece of ours!!!

These first few tell a "story"- Zoe loves phones and wanted Barbara's.

 So, Barbara, being a good cousin tried to show Zoe her phone.  Zoe just wanted the phone, though.

 Barbara, not to be bossed around either, kept trying to show it to Zoe and talk to her about the phone.

 But, as you can see, in the end, Zoe won the phone battle. :)

 Bathtime with Aunt Beka

 She puts that tongue out a lot- cracks us up!

 I loved this face- it was like she was saying, "Aunt Beka, what are you trying to do- drown me?"

 And with that, she was done and ready to get out. She was trying to climb out of Grandma's sink.

 Yay!

Zoe's Sleepover with Aunt Beka, Uncle Rob, Grandma & Papa

My sister and Scott wanted to "trade" kids so we had a kid swap one night.  The "old folks" got to keep Zoe, and the young adults went with Jessica and Scott for a late night of movie watching, eating video games, and talking.  

So, what did Zoe do with us?  It's our secret.  You know- what happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's? :) hahaha

Well, first we had some dinner.  Uncle Rob enjoyed this!  And one thing we learned while we were home, do NOT get in between Zoe and food.  She promptly let us know if we did not feed her quickly enough.  My kind of kid!

 playtime with Uncle Rob (another post coming with tons of pictures of Zoe and her Uncle Rob)

 Zoe got to campout downstairs with us.  While we played Scrabble, Zoe played in her playpen with her toys.  It was so sweet when she started talking to the Ernie character on the toy there in front of her.  She just held it, looked at it, chewed on him, and jabbered at him. Awwwwww...

 Hi Papa!

 Helping her Papa spell some good words!

 She was getting sleepy by now and not too sure what I was doing with my camera.

 I promised Zoe we wouldn't tell on her and she promised to not tell on Uncle Rob and me because we let her stay up late with us and watch some t.v.  :)  Just our little secret!

Then she slept downstairs with Uncle Rob and me.  She woke up about 5:45 not sure of where she was I think, but came and slept/snuggled with me on the love seat.  I will CHERISH that memory for a long time to come!!!

Zoe and Aunt Beka at our 1st Sleepover from Rebekah Thomas on Vimeo.

Zoe

Rob and I are thrilled that we got to be back home for Zoe's first Christmas.  Zoe is our niece- our first, much anticipated, and much adored niece.  It hurts to be so far away from her and not be a part of her day-to-day life, so this was a special treat for us.
I'll try to not bore you to death or make your eyes bleed from photo overload, but I can't hardly restrain myself.  Here are some of my favorite "Zoe" pictures from Christmas.

Let's start with this cute video.  Zoe was not too sure about all of us big people of course.  On that first night we were there, though, she was fascinated with Robert and all his hair. :)

Zoe, Meet Your Hairy Cousin from Rebekah Thomas on Vimeo.

My Momma and her pride & joy, Zoe. :)

 I know I'm partial, but isn't she a cutie?!? :)

 Our oldest, Robert with his cute cousin.  I love their faces in this photo. :)

 She was, as all babies are, more interested in the wrapping paper than the gift. :)

My sister, Jessica with her sweet baby.  For some reason, I didn't take any photos of Scott.  Sorry about that, Sis.  Not sure why that is???

 Zoe is looking up at Uncle Rob.  He wanted a photo of her with his Cardinals blanket.

 On our last day together these two cousins decided to get together finally.  Zoe smiled at Matthew while we were there, and was mesmerized by his height.  Matthew is timid of Zoe because he is so big and she is so little.  I loved these pictures of them together.

 This is my favorite!!!!  She just tucked up to him and grinned so big.  So precious!

 getting tired 

  sleeping beauty

Love how Papa and Zoe are looking at each other here.

 blurry photo- but Robert and Zoe were laughing so hard together- it was adorable

 Zoe wanted to put Barbara's necklace in her mouth.  She just kept sticking it in Barbara's mouth and laughing.

 fascinated by Barbara's face

 Zoe kept playing with Matthew's chain and the ring he put on it.

 tickle time!



Surprise Christmas Trip 2011

We've been in NC for six years.  When we came we hoped/thought we would get to go "home" for Christmases, but that didn't happen.  Multiple paycuts, lack of $, and young people needing to work got in the way of that desire.  I feel guilty (because it's Rebekah, she feels guilty about everything- in case you hadn't already figured that out).

Anywhoo, a miracle occurred this year and all of our kids were able to get off of work for a few days at Christmas.  All the kids also contributed to the cash needed to go home and we snuck off across country as soon as I got out of school and showed up on my parents' doorstep one night before Christmas to surprise them. :)  And surprise them we did!!!! :) :) :) 

To save yourself some time, watch the first few seconds (about 10) and then skip ahead to about 2:35 or so to see the g'parents get their surprise. :)

Operation Surprise the Grandparents from Rebekah Thomas on Vimeo.

It was Zoe's first Christmas, so we hoped it would be an extra special Christmas for my parents. We were able to visit with them for a few days before heading down towards St. Louis to see Rob's mom and a few of my relatives in that area. What a trip- over 2,000 miles in total!

Home

Home.  A simple word. With so many meanings and associations and emotions.

I'm rethinking what that one word means to me now.

home-Greensboro NC- I reside in a place we call home.  I go home after teaching a group of children every day.  We returned home from our Christmas trip to the place we live.  I do love this home we are buying; we had to wait a long time to get it, and I am so thankful for it.  We live here now; have lived in this area for over six years now- longer than we've ever lived in one place before. 

home- Illinois-side of St. Louis metro area- The places where I was born and did most of my growing up.  A sense of "roots" if you will. Many of my extended family are still in that area.  It is the place where my husband was born & grew up, where we met, fell in love and married, where we graduated from, where we struggled those first years of marriage, where we put ourselves through college, where our children were born, and many family memories are there. 

"home"- Quad Cities, IL/IA- What we often refer to as our "home" or "back home" is 900 miles or so away from where we currently live.  It is where my parents and sister/brother-in-law/niece live.  It is where we moved from to move here.  It has a lot of sentiment attached to it- long, green, tall fields of corn; lots of snow and cold; storms (real weather); farm fields where you can see for a long way out and watch storms come in or the combines harvesting the crops; the Mississippi (which I have almost always lived near); many memories of our children growing up, Christmases together, school and sports events; work friends; children we've taught...

The problem Rob and I seem to face is that we find we don't "belong" to any of those homes it seems.  We visited some of them over our Christmas break, and it felt strange to us.  We know these places, we have many memories and recognized the physical places we were in.  But we felt like an outsider looking in.  We grew up and lived in these places but they changed/we changed and we don't quite fit in anymore.  Yet we don't belong to this new "home" we live in either.  We are outsiders here in NC- strange creatures who know what tornadoes look like, know what "real" storms, cold, and snow is.  We don't think the weather here is brutal or horribly cold.  We don't care much for super sweet tea.  We don't talk quite like people here (though I see that starting to change and kind of hate it).  My family notices changes in me and though it's silly I know, I cried over that while we were home. 

I guess all this means is that I will have to look to HOME - the only one that really matters anyway.  This earth is only a place to travel and live for a handful of hopefully double digit years before moving on to the eternal home.  And feeling like out outsider gets old some days.  Feeling alone and disconnected leaves me homesick for HOME.  So I'll try to cherish the good memories of my old homes, learn to make a home here for my children to cherish, and look for the day when I can go HOME to a place that will not leave me feeling homesick or left behind or disappointed.  And until that day comes I will enjoy every day I get to come home to this abode and be with the ones I love and every chance I get to go "home" and see my dear parents, sister, brother, and niece.