Back to School

It's been pretty unbelievable about how busy we have been within the past few weeks. In fact, it's been quite a blurr. There's so much to update on that I am going to break it down by child!
News About Nathan:
I started back to work on August 17th. Nathan began going to his sitter that week also. He is in the same home care provider that Thomas went to when he was an infant. She said that he is doing well. He pretty much only sleeps and eats while he's there. He is now taking a big 8oz. bottle near the 8pm time and goes to bed at 9pm and sleeps until about 4 or 5 am. It is so nice to be able to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. I am starting to feel human again. Nathan is now cooing up a storm and loves looking in the little infant car mirror and smiling at himself. He is such a happy baby and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mother! The picture below is of his first day of "school" at 8 weeks old.

News About Thomas:
Thomas didn't start his school until August 24th so thankfully Ken took off a week to be home with him while I worked. (Ken also was also able to take off the week before that when Thomas had his adenoids and tonsils removed. All is well with Thomas now!) It was nice to practice getting out the house early in the morning with only one kid. I had to ease myself into our reality! We have to be out the door near the 6:45 time in order for me to drop Thomas and Nathan off and be at work by 7:45. It's not as bad as it sounds, but it makes for very LONG days! Thomas started at a new school this year. We went to their Open House last Saturday. He is in the same class as his best buddy, Luke. There are 12 kids in his class with two teachers. We signed him up for Tumble Time on Thursdays to help give his week some excitement. We plan to sign him up for T-Ball in the Spring. He had a good first week. In the beginning he was leery about taking a nap and eating their lunches, but now that we got all of that worked out, I think he is going to have a successful year. I really want him ready for next Fall when he starts Kindergarten. He brought his teachers flowers on the first day just like I did when I went to Nursery School. I love the picture of the boys in front of the school. I actually stopped and "inhaled" the moment when I took the picture. I think I actually said aloud, "Oh my God, I have two kids!"

Thomas, Luke and their teacher Mrs. Garrett.

I wanted to also post the picture of the boys I took on Wednesday morning. Here they are wearing matching monster shirts that the Scheffer family got them. I am so glad they both smiled at the same time! Aren't they cute (even at 6am)?

Thomas Learns to Tie

Thomas learned how to tie! Well....sort of. He didn't learn to tie his shoes. He learned how to tie a neck tie! Several months ago, Thomas became obsessed with the movies The Night at the Museum and its sequel. He loves Ben Stiller's character "Larry Daley". "Larry", the night guard, wears a jacket, "slacks", boots, a set of keys, a flash light, and of course...a neck tie! Thomas often dresses like Larry and doesn't want to come out of character. When he requested a neck tie, which Papa provided, Ken and I were stumped on how to tie it when it accidently became untied. We actually watched YouTube tutorials on how to tie a tie, but we never got the hang of it. Papa had to teach us the correct way. Well, since Thomas dresses in chracter so often we end up re-tying it several times a day. That's when Thomas surprised us this week! He learned how to do it himself! We now have hope that he'll learn to tie his shoes!

Funny Stories

There have been a few occasions that I have wanted to write down conversations that Thomas and I have had. I thought you'd like to have a laugh just like I did...

Story 1: Miller's School Supply
Thomas, Nathan and I recently went to Miller's School Supply to gather some materials for school. If you purchase $35, (which is not hard to do),then you get to go into their chocolate shop and get a free piece of chocolate. Thomas went inside and gave his little ticket to Mrs. Miller. She said, "Hi, Darlin'. What kind of chocolate would you like? Dark or Milk chocolate?" Thomas took a piece of milk chocolate and said thank you. Mrs. Miller replied, "You're welcome Darlin'. Come back and see me." Thomas then said while pointing to his chest, "My name is NOT Darlin'; it's Thomas." Ha! I guess I need to teach him about term of endearment!!

Story 2: The Ring
Thomas has been really enjoying pretend play. He is constantly talking to an imaginary person or animal. When I put Thomas down for a nap last week, I heard him talking and talking. I went inside and asked what he needed. He said, "I need a ring." "A ring?", I asked. "What kind of ring?" He said, " A ring like yours." "Why do you need a ring like mine?", I asked him. He looked up and simply said, " I want to be married." I smiled. "Who are you going to marry?" I asked him. "Myself, " he replied. I expained that you can't marry yourself. I explained how mommy married daddy. He said, "I'll marry you." He demanded for me to go look around the house for a ring. When I brought back a little carnival prize type ring, he said no....that's not the right kind.
"I need one with a stem, " he said. Ha! (The "stem" being the center diamond setting prongs.)

Random Cuteness

There have been a few pictures that I have been meaning to post.

Nathan just loves being with Thomas. They love to snuggle together. Here's a picture of Thomas showing Nathan how to play video games after bath time.













Here's Morris' new resting spot. I find him sometimes laying on the changing pad in Nathan's room. He thinks HE'S the baby!













And here is Nathan loving on his little puppy. OK...I know it doesn't have meaning to him yet, but he smiles when the fuzzy puppy ears touch his cheeks. He smiles so big when we hold it up to him.













Lastly, the other day Mr. Bill and Mary came over for a visit. Nathan showed off his sweet smile!

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!