All Smiles

It's hard to believe that Nathan is already one month old. We are so amazed by how quickly time is passing. Thankfully, Nathan is a wonderful baby. He is a good eater and quickly falls back to sleep during his nightly feedings. He loves being in the swing and taking baths. Since he was almost two weeks old Nathan has been smiling. Within the last week he seems to do more smiling especially when we talk sweetly to him. I just love his toothless grin. I'm not sure how much he weighs, but my guess is at least 9 1/2 pounds. We go for his two month check up in August and I'll have more accurate information then.

Firkin Fun

To celebrate Thomas turning 4, we went mini-bowling at Firkin & Kegler's at Waterford Lakes. The kids had a lot of fun bowling and then playing in the arcade. Thomas was super excited that he got three strikes and one spare. It was nice that some friends from St.Luke's came, too. In the past we have had birthday parties at the house, but with Nathan's recent arrival I didn't feel up to cleaning before and after the party. So, that's why we decided on having the party at another place. Boy....what a difference!! It was so nice that someone else prepared the area and cleaned up afterwards. Since we had the mini-bowling room for 2 hours there was not enough time to open presents while we were there. As soon as we got home that's the first thing he wanted to do. We all had a great time and Ken and I are still amazed that he is FOUR years old!

Happy 4th!

Here are the boys in their red, white and blue.

To celebrate we went to Emily and Tom's house. Grammy Pammy and Daddy Vroom-Vroom (Emily's Mom and Dad) were there, too. Tom had some of his family over also. We had a great cookout. Their neighborhood usually does a huge fireworks display, but didn't this year. Instead, we drove near downtown Oviedo to see the fireworks show at the Aquatic Center. Then, we came home and did sparklers. It was a fun holiday. Our first as a family of four!

Thomas Turns Four!

Wow! Thomas turned four today. It is so hard to believe that he is already four YEARS old. He had such a fun day. He woke up around 9am and I heard him shout, "MOM! The sun is up! Do you know what that means?? It's my birthday!!!!". I love the fact that he was excited about his special day. For about a year he has been begging us to let him chew gum. We've always said you have to be four years old to chew gum. SO.... needless to say, he got gumballs for his birthday. We also got him games for his V-Tech Pocket, a tee ball plate, and a guitar. (If you saw the video from his school performance, you know he NEEDED a guitar!) After we opened presents he got ready to go to the movies with Ken. They went to see the new Ice Age movie in 3D. They had fun but Thomas was ready to leave about 20 minutes before the end of the movie. He wanted to come back home for some more gum. Ha! Later in the afternoon, Nana, Papa and Emily came over to bring him their gifts. They couldn't wait until his birthday party on July 11th. We celebrated by having a Finding Nemo cake with ice cream. Thomas had such a busy, fun day. Again, I can't believe my "baby" is already four!

Nathan's Arrival

Lately, we have been so busy that I have not had time to post some pictures of our sweet Nathan Connor. He arrived on June 16th at 10:33am. He weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs. 9 oz. and measured 20.75 inches. Although, by the time we left the hospital he was down to 8 lbs. 1 oz. He suffered for about 10 days with jaundice. We had to visit the hospital daily to find out his Bilirubin blood level. During this time they delivered a Bili Light to help with the jaundice. Thankfully, he only needed two days of phototherapy.

We are continuing to adjust to life as a family of four. Thomas is adjusting well. He is in love with Nathan and is very gentle towards him. Ken took off two weeks of work to stay home to help. Thank goodness....since we had so many trips to the hospital. He goes back to work on Monday, but that's ok since Nana is going to come and save the day! I'm just not ready to be alone with the two kids yet.
We are so thankful for a quick and relatively easy delivery. We are more thankful that Nathan is here healthy and happy. He has already brought so much joy to our house. It's hard to believe that we now have two children. Our family is now complete.

The End of Big Boy School

This was Thomas' last week of "Big Boy School". It's hard to believe that the year is already finished. Of course, we had to keep it eventful up until the last minute. In the beginning of the week Thomas woke up with pink eye. He came to my side of the bed and said, "Mom...Mom...can you open my eye?" So, after being on drops for 24 hours he went back to school. His first day back at school this week was actually on the day of his End-of-the-Year program. (So...he probably missed "rehearsal" for this special day. Keep that in mind before watching the video.) I was excited for this special day. Nana and Papa came, too. Each class sang a special song. His class sang, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." After the program they had cookies and lemonade, but we decided to go out for lunch.
















It has been a busy year for Thomas. He learned so much at school. He made many friends, too. We had such a hard time in the beginning transitioning from being at home with me. I'm glad that he felt safe and was happy once he established a new routine.
Here are a few pictures from his big day. And of course...the video of his special performance. :) Please excuse the quality of the video. We didn't have the best seats and I'm learning about the features of this fancy camera.

Mother's Day

I have been meaning to post some pictures from our special Mother's Day. There was a Mother's Day Tea at Thomas' school. It was so precious. For months they asked parents to send in an outgrown shoe to prepare for Mother's Day. I sent in a pair of cowboy boots that Thomas wore for probably an entire year. When I showed up at the school gym for the tea party, there on the tables were all these shoes that had been "bronzed". It's such a cute idea. I'm glad that he got to make one for Nana, too.

Also for Mother's Day we took Thomas to Build-a-Bear Workshop in the Altamonte Mall. He got to build an animal for him and one to bring with him to the hospital when he meets Nathan for the first time. We had a lot of fun! Thomas chose a monkey whom he named Dexter. (After the monkey in "Night at the Museum".) Then he made an asthma and allergy free puppy dog that he named, Biltmore, after Nana and Papa's dog. We stuffed them with love (and apparently tracking devices in case we ever lose them). We gave them each a sound button and printed a birth certificate, too. He got to "wash" the animal before heading over to the clothing area. We did NOT buy any clothes, but they were cute. (Had this store been around when I was growing up, my parents would have been broke!) We got to carry the animals home in their own "condo". It was a perfect Mother's Day! It was my last Mother's Day as a mother to one. Next year will be double the fun.