We're having a party...

As I typed the title of this entry, a children's song pops into my head. "We're having a party, do you want a come along?"

Seems like its been party central around here since Christmas. Here are some photos of Andrew's very small birthday party. For such a serious little guy we went very small. His godparents and Samantha's godparents came over and Grandma Scott was able to come help celebrate. Because Andrew loves bananas, we went with a monkey themed party. His personal cake is on the right. He smiled and giggled when we all sang to him. Didn't care much for the cake. Not a big surprise since he doesn't seem to like 'wet' food. But, this boy is really turning into a toddler. In the last week he is on a sippy cup, whole milk and walking all over the place. His demeanor has improved so much (even with a double ear infection , again :<( ). He really is relaxing more and playing more with Samantha and even on his own. Its wonderful to watch. Maybe he finally finished teething for awhile- 8 teeth (his sister had 0 at this point!).

Birthday boy with mommy. Thanks for all the gifts many of you sent. Andrew has some new clothes, new books and a few new toys. We are on our way to buying Samantha and him an outdoor swing set. Big goal for this spring---more outdoor time for the whole family!

He also celebrated with his daycare friends, Maddie, Katherine, and Maxwell. Blueberry muffins for snack. I will spare you the photo of AJ after I walked away to put the muffins down- he must have thought I was leaving...break down!

Another celebration we were blessed to witness and enjoy, was the marriage of Mary Evelyn Finley and Greg Smith. Many years!

Andrew was wiped out from the day!

Samantha was loving Mary Evelyn. Mary Evelyn has been in Pittsburgh for about 18 months and so she doesn't feel like she knows Samantha well, but Samantha wanted to hug her and congratulate her. (We think she thought Mary Evelyn was a pincessess, no surprise there, she looked like one and is so sweet.)

What else are we celebrating? Samantha not waking Mommy and Daddy up in the middle of the night for 4 straight nights now!! She even goes potty on her own in the middle of the night now! The little things make me smile.

God is so good. Love you all.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Andrew turns one today. About this time 1 year ago we were dropping Samantha off at her godparents to head to the hospital. David was beginning to believe me that I was really in labor 15 days early and that we would be having a new baby (hopefully) by the end of the day.

We arrived at the hospital, got checked in, talked with the doctor, and then Andrew decided to join us. It was that fast (sure felt like it.). Its hard to imagine life before Andrew. Its also hard to even remember not knowing he was a boy (I always thought he was going to be). A few months ago I couldn't even remember the 'girl' name we had picked out.

Andrew is about 19lbs. He is ALMOST walking. He will take 5 steps when encouraged (usually to get to me, what can I say he loves his Mommy!). He is babbling up a storm. He knows what he is saying and sometimes we do too. He says Uut Oh, Momma, Dadda, and done has sounds that we recognize for 'thank you' , banana, ball, here...I am sure there are more we should recognize but just don't yet. His ear infections are hopefully gone for awhile. He is eating a few more things but I won't say the food strike is over yet. He really enjoyed Black Eyed Peas this week. True southern boy.

We will be having a more formal celebration in a few weeks.

Happy Birthday AJ. We love you.

Happy New Year!

Highlights of 2008....what a year....

New baby boy, new HVAC, lots of middle of the night feedings-along with lots of time to love on AJ, Grandparents come to help out - lots!, Samantha's vocabulary and oral communication skills take off, My grant is activated and I find a great experimental model, ear infections and more ear infections, Samantha potty trains, tubes and more ear infections!, Anna's 1st communion, 4th of July party, Joe and Amanda visit for a week, Labor Day visit to Ohio, Laser tag with friends, Laura and Oliver's wedding, Hiring a babysitter to go out with the Beazley's, Thanksgiving in Ohio and the announcement of a new neice or nephew, Making our Advent calendar and Jesse tree ornaments, St. Nicholas Party, Samantha learns Christmas songs, Andrew starts to say first words, Christmas in Mississippi.

What does 2009 hold for us...

New roof, new neice or nephew, "Big Jordan's" wedding combined with a trip to beach ? (Samantha's request), Science conference in Seattle, Girls weekend to celebrate Charlotte's 60th Bday, making a dent in the mortgage, Titan's playoff victories?....God is good.

A little 'part' of Christmas

In this post I wanted to put a few pictures up of gifts the kids opened. We wish we could have been with everyone at the same time on Christmas but in this life that will not likely ever happen. Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Just a little excitement. Puzzles. Lots of puzzles. She loves them and we love that she loves them.

Andrew's nativity set.
Samantha's Nativity set (definitely not age appropriate for AJ since EVERYTHING is still tasted).

I honestly think that Samantha liked most of Andrews gifts more than he did...here you can see she has already started to borrow his new cars. Come to think of it, I don't think I have seen that yellow once since this picture was taken. It has been fun to watch them play together with some of his new toys. Especially the cars and his dinosaur drop and roll...they do fight over his new rocking toy from Uncle Joey.

The Christmas Season

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Christmas morning Samantha found Jesus and Grandmommy helped her put him in the manger. Samantha was very patient waiting for the 'boys' to get up to open presents. She was up until about 2am after the Liturgy and really very pleasant the whole time (she had had a 3 hour nap before going to Liturgy). A few people have asked her what Santa brought. Her reply, "Santa didn't come. I didn't want him to." This was true. She was a little concerned about the idea of someone coming into her house while she was sleeping. Fine with us.

Dressed for Christmas with Uncle John. Uncle John came in from Austin to celebrate with us. It was great to see him and hear about all of the neat projects he has going on from furniture building to home construction to school design.

Cheek to cheek. Andrew loves skin. Here he is leaning on Granddaddy's face. Mary Wren took the opportunity to get some snuggle time also. How cute is that?

Mindy and Michael are doing very well and are very busy with the kids. Nicholas is so sweet giving everyone (including Andrew) kisses. We had warm weather while in Jackson. It was actually very humid. We spent some time outside with bubbles and balls. The kids loved it.

Mary Wren is 3.5 years old now. She loves to dress up and loves babies. She wants to be in the action all the time. Endless energy.

Lydia is doing great. She is very ambitious and a great helper. She also likes her sleep. We were impressed she could sleep with Mary Wren (the late talker) and Samantha (the early riser).
We are just getting to know Ellie. She is very kind hearted and loves the younger cousins. Uncle David picked out a Hannah Montana game for her and she was estatic with her gift. She is such a combination of pre-teen and little girl right now. She still loves her baby dolls but also wants to play video games.

Laura and Oliver are still grinning ear to ear. They have spent quite a bit of time already painting and doing minor renovation things on their townhome. Laura is still running to keep in shape.

Christmas season is such a time of joy and happiness. We thank everyone who made our Christmas so great -the actual day in Mississippi and all of the well wishes and gifts that have come from so many friends and family. Thank God for His Son. Thank God for you.

We are thankful for our faith. We are thankful for our family. We are thankful for our friends. We are thankful for our health. We are thankful for jobs.