06.30.11 - Caption contest

This would be a good photo for a caption contest! Leave your best suggestion in the comments!

06.29.11 - Peeping Tommy

After three years and three babies, a lot of things tend to start looking the same. So, in an effort to make bath time look a little different, I photographed it from the backyard.

06.28.11 - Bubbles, bubbles

Soon Tommy's gonna need to wear bibs all the time.

06.27.11 - Finger

Tommy has an ingrown fingernail that hurts like the devil.

06.26.11 - Theodore

Tommy accompanied me to my friend Karen's birthday barbecue tonight. He was a hit, especially with Karen's sister, Robin, and son, Theodore. Turns out, they live not too far from us so I think we're gonna have a play date soon.

06.25.11 - Bunco babes

Tommy accompanied me to bunco tonight and really enjoyed meeting all the bunco babes, especially Connie. Connie tried to share her ice cream with Tommy and Tommy talked up a storm to her and shared all the happenings of his day.

06.24.11 - Little drive

Maddie wanted to go for a "little drive" tonight so we loaded up and drove around for awhile. Not too far but far enough that Maddie needed a pit stop to potty. So while Angie and Maddie were inside a QT, I snapped this photo of Tommy (and Nate.) I think Nate's got the right idea. Riding rear-facing has to be such a drag.

06.23.11 - Smiles for Grandma

Angie had a rough day so after work I loaded up the kids (and Harley) and went to hang out at my parents' house for awhile. Grandma Shepherd held Tommy for awhile after a feeding and managed to get a couple of smiles out of him.

06.22.11 - Library

Tommy watches as Maddie returns her library books.

06.21.11 - Chubby

Mommy does the "chubby" face on Tommy. Maybe if we squeeze his cheeks just right, it will pop his eyes into place!

06.20.11 - Gettin' hongry!

When Tommy gets hungry, he chews on his hands or works his tongue. Tonight Mommy and Maddie went grocery shopping and I was able to hold him off until they got home.

06.19.11 - A special Father's day

Tommy was baptized during Mass this morning. The timing wasn't perfect, given that we didn't get back home from Mac's wedding in Erie until nearly 2 a.m. But, with it being Father Mike's last Mass at St. Vincent and my crazy busy spring wedding schedule, it was our only opportunity. A special thanks goes out all the family who rushed back for the event, to Brent and Emily for agreeing to be godparents, to Tori for snapping a few photos (including the one above) and to Father Mike for being so warm and accepting. He officiated our wedding, baptized our children and, ultimately, pulled me a little closer to the Catholic faith, which has been a long process. There really are no words to express our gratitude. He spent 24 years as pastor of St. Vincent, a tenure almost unprecedented, but we only knew him for a few. We're going to miss him.

06.18.11 - Mac's wedding

We traveled to SE Kansas today to witness Angie's cousin's wedding. Traveling with three young children is no easy task. Keeping them from running off at a wedding is even more difficult. Fortunately, we had some help from other family members, including Uncle Brent who held on to Tommy before we departed for the reception.

06.17.11 - Camoflouge

I like how Tommy's jams nearly blend in with his bed sheets. Or, it could be that the day got away before we got a picture. ;)

06.16.11 - For me, Dad?

Shopping in the snack aisle at Target tonight, Tommy asks, "Is that for me?"

"No, son, that's for me."

06.15.11 - Ainsley

We hosted a backyard barbecue tonight in honor of our friends Andrew and Tori (and their daughter Kenleigh) before they move later this month and Tommy, while he was awake, was the center of attention. This is Ainsley, a stinkin' cute four-year-old who lives up the street. I see a lot more play dates in our future. In fact, I think they're coming back tomorrow. :)

06.14.11 - Eye lashes

One of Tommy's distinguishing features are his whispy blonde eye lashes.

06.13.11 - Yay for sleep!

As is characteristic with everyone in the Shepherd household, Tommy loves his sleepy. He is getting 9-10 hours each night. Mommy and Daddy likey.

06.12.11 - After church

After church, we stopped by Gramma Karen and Grampy Keith's house. Tommy slept while Gramma Karen read books to Maddie.

06.11.11 - Nightly Routine

Tommy's nightly routine consists of lavender massages and watching lots of baseball with his Mom. Maddie got rocked and read to in her room and Nate wasn't a cuddler but he always got laid in his crib with lullabies. Tommy is the third kid so he gets to watch baseball in the living room. Lucky? I think so.

06.10.11 - Bedtime routine

Tommy talks to Daddy as he puts his jammies on.

06.09.11 - Couch potatoes

There were some tornado warnings tonight so the whole family had to retreat to the basement. Tommy and Maddie vegged out on the couch together and watched a Mickey Mouse movie. Good times.

06.08.11 - Quack!

Maddie's love of ducks wasn't passed on to Nate (he loves monkeys) but we are trying to pass it on to Tommy. Every time we squeezed the duck he would smile really big. Of course he wouldn't do it once we got the camera.

06.07.11 - Figures

We loaded up the crew and headed to Target tonight for a few necessities. We thought we might also grab some ice cream before heading home but Tommy was being Mr. Fussy Pants so we didn't. Of course, as soon as we got home, he was fast asleep. Figures. So, we had ice cream at home instead.

06.06.11 - Thomas Aaron meets Uncle Aaron

When deciding on a name for Tommy, we were pretty sure from the start that we wanted to use the name of my Little Brother, Aaron, who I was matched with in Topeka. Of course, Aaron isn't so little anymore having graduated high school last month and now standing more than a head taller than me. Aaron and his family were back in Topeka from Cincinnati this past week so on Monday we loaded up with Tommy and made the trip up. We enjoyed lunch at HuHot, where Tommy proceeded to spit up all over my shirt*, and then visited the Sabatini art gallery at the library, where Kansas-based photographer Jim Richardson currently has an exhibit on display featuring his work for National Geographic.

*Of course, we packed extra outfits for Tommy but not for ourselves. You'd think after the third kid, we'd learn a thing or two.

06.05.11 - Photo by Maddie

Maddie takes a photo of Tommy.

06.04.11 - Outside with Nan

Nan holds Tommy while Angie watches Maddie and Nate as they run through the sprinklers. It was nearly 100 degrees today!

06.03.11 - "Mag-nu"

Maddie shares one of her Highlights "mag-nus" (her word for magazine) with Tommy as they read bedtime stories.

06.02.11 - I ♥ Tom

We delivered dinner to Grandpa Greg's family tonight as Grandma Nancy is recovering from surgery. We could see the sidewalk chalk graffiti as we pulled into the driveway. Once you got past all the Justin Bieber tagging (their girls are that age), there was actually this nice little grouping of hearts, each with a family member's name in it. I had to chuckle a little when I saw Tommy's heart with "Tom" written inside of it. Pop calls him Tom, and we think that's pretty neat.

06.01.11 - Not a Cardinals fan

I'm not a Cardinals fan, I'm a Giants fan!

The Giants are playing the Cardinals in the third of a four-game series tonight. I was surprised to come home and find Tommy in the Cardinals onesie that James bought us for Nate. "I don't care if he roots for the Cardinals," Angie said, "as long as they don't win."