Merry Christmas!

Tracking Santa on the computer on Christmas Eve..
Nicholas was "beyond excited" to see him flying over Spain!

Wow! I think this was the Christmas to end all Christmases! The boys were SPOILED by their grandparents and aunts and uncles this year. Legos, GeoTrax sets, and Pillow Pets were among the delights, in addition to our family gift- a Play Station 3 and PS Move.
Here are some photos from Christmas morning:

Christmas Concert

On December 19, the boys performed in a Christmas concert at church. Unfortunately, I lost the audio when I recorded it with our camera! But, here is a link that a friend posted on FB:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1772108061531&set=a.1645890386168.91319.1204161537#!/video/video.php?v=10150119640232049&comments

Daniel is in the front row in a green shirt, and Nicholas is two rows behind him towards the left corner in a light blue shirt and tie. The kids were so sweet! I know God must have been smiling watching this.

Andrew's Baptism

Sunday was a special day for our family. Andrew was baptized at our church, Sycamore Presbyterian. Being brought up Baptist, for me the baptism always signified one's salvation. For an infant, this obviously couldn't be the case. Our pastor explained its meaning with an analogy. It's like an envelope bearing the sender's mark. Andrew has the sign and seal of one of God's children, but until the Holy Spirit is at work in him and he accepts Christ, it's like the envelope is empty. When he makes a confession of faith, then he will not only have the outward sign, but the (more important) internal mark of a true believer.

Chris and I promised to pray with him and for him, while the church congregation promised to help in Andrew's admonition and training. We are so blessed and privileged to have the opportunity to raise another child and teach him about the Lord!

A Momentous Week

Nicholas is such a sweet big brother. He loves to comb Andrew's hair and make him laugh. :)

Hmmmm...Not sure what to think about this rice cereal!

Wow! Andrew reached three important milestones last week- sleeping through the night, eating solids, and getting his first tooth. Needless to say, we (Read I) are excited that he is now sleeping for 10-11 hours nonstop. The tooth has proved a bit annoying during nursing time, but hopefully it won't be too much of a problem. Above are some pics from the last few weeks.

Mississippi

Thank you to my dear Chris, who stayed home with Nicholas and Daniel so that Andrew and I could fly to Mississippi and visit my parents and grandparents this month. Andrew did well on the plane, and I had some very sweet times with my Mississippi and Tennessee relatives.

As you can see, he got lots and LOTS of attention during the weekend! My parents and grandparents are so dear to me. Now that I am a mom, I am more thankful than ever for their love. Thank you all for being a constant source of encouragement, and most importantly, for allowing me to see your love for the Lord and raising me up to be a God-fearing woman. I love you all SO very much!

Halloween

For Halloween this year, we had a knight and a firefighter. The boys were super-excited! Unfortunately, our little dragon fell asleep before the trick-or-treating began. I need to take a picture of him in his costume before he outgrows it!

Look-Alikes

Photos of Nicholas (left) and Andrew, both at three months. Notice a resemblance?

August/September Photos

Some photos from the past month:

Chris juggles all three boys on the river boat at Busch Gardens.

The captain let Nicholas take a turn at the wheel.

My handsome guys after church last Sunday

Things quickly deteriorated!

This captures Daniel at age three so well.

Andrew's Smiles

Seeing your baby smile has got to be one of the most delightful things a person can experience! Here is a video I took a few days ago. (Please excuse the shaky camera work.)

Homeschool Update

We have completed our first month of homeschooling now, and seem to be getting into a routine- kind of. With Andrew's unpredictable schedule, and the activities that have just started up, it's been tough to get a firm routine, but we are trying- while still pretty flexible.

Many mornings, we wake up and start school right after breakfast since this is when Andrew usually settles down for his (first) morning nap. Daniel and Nicholas say the pledge, do the calendar, and report the weather forecast for the day. Next, Nicholas and I work on sight words, phonics and reading while Daniel occupies himself with some independent fine-motor activities or the book basket I have prepared for him.

Next the boys enjoy some read-aloud time, followed by a break for Nicholas while I work with Daniel on his weekly alphabet projects. After this, he will usually play in his room while Nicholas and I do math (his very favorite). Last comes "recess" (outside play), snack, and maybe a science experiment.

We started Classical Conversations this past Tuesday, and Nicholas absolutely loved it! Andrew and I were able to stay in the room with him while he did memory work, art, show-and-tell, and science. We also began our weekly Bible study at church. While I did the study, Nicholas was in a room with other homeschool kids and Daniel was in a preschool class, where he sings, learns Bible stories, does projects, and plays outside.

So, this year is going to be pretty busy! In addition to the above activities, Daniel will be going to preschool on Mondays, giving Nicholas and I a chance to work one-on-one. Above are photos of Nicholas holding one of the first "real" books he was able to read by himself!

One of the advantages of homeschooling: being done by 11:00 so the boys can play outside! Above, they decided to have a "car wash" for their vehicles in the driveway.

Cousins!

The boys had a blast with the sprinklers!

We were excited to have my brother and his family visit last week. For the first time, all SIX of the Thomas-Wells cousins were together! As you can imagine, it was often a madhouse, but we had a great time with them, and the boys loved having each other. No one was ever in need of a playmate!

Above are some photos from the week, including our trip to Jamestown. Thank you for making the drive up here, Shawn and Erin. We hope we can see you all again soon!

TV time gave the tired parents a break- and some peace and quiet!

The baby boys were SO sweet!

Chris and Andrew (who slept the whole time) at Jamestown

Aboard the Godspeed

The boys in their armor

Andrew: Two Months

As I was trying to get a "sweet" photo of the boys on the floor, N&D kept trying to goof off, and the more frustrated I got with them, the sillier they became! The above photo was worth the silliness. :-)




Andrew is still a "dream baby" at two months! He is truly a delight, and has begun smiling from time to time (when he's well-fed and rested). He is sleeping for longer stretches at night, and even made it from 7:30 p.m. last night until 4 a.m. this morning!

At his last doctor's visit, he weighed 11 lbs and 10 oz, and had grown from 20 inches to 22! Looks like he will take after his big brothers in appetite and girth. :-)

Daniel Turns Three

Our at-home celebration (Unfortunately, we were so busy video-taping Daniel w/ his cake that we forgot to take still pictures!) This was his big gift from us
(with Grandma Jo's PlayMobil fire truck).

Daniel wanted a Thomas cake like the one Grammie got him last year.

His party was at the park!

There were about 20 kids present! We almost ran out of cake!

Daniel is our verbose three-year-old! He has had to deal with some big changes this summer, but he has handled it pretty well, despite the occasional lapse into baby-talk and lots of silliness. Daniel still loves construction trucks and trains, and I wouldn't change it for the world. Let him enjoy these "little boy things" as long as possible!

After a few weeks of diligence on our part, he is FINALLY almost potty-trained. There are still accidents, and we have to remind him often, but he has had several dry days lately.

Daniel is definitely in the "questioning" phase! In the car, especially, he asks about a million questions- about the trucks going by, why people throw trash on the road, the list goes on... He will start preschool on Monday mornings at the home of a friend, but we are learning letters during homeschool time right now.

We love our sweet, happy boy so much!