Happy Thanksgiving

We had a very fun and relaxing Thanksgiving in VA. We made sure to hit all the spots that we love and can't get in NC. My personal favorite was eating a CJ's stromboli and chef salad (after my fair share of turkey leftovers) which, I believe, everyone should have once and then they would be addicted like me.
Andrew did his fair share of the cooking for Thanksgiving. He helped us make our pumpkin cheesecake (with no sneezes included) some of the casseroles before getting bored and went on to other things. This was the first year he was excited about having all the food. He actually ate the turkey, carrots, broccoli casserole (he didn't like it) and green beans.
Jonathan was offered, and politely refused, mashed potatoes with his Thanksgiving lunch. I would try to sneak a bite of mp on his spoon and he would get the shudders from the taste. His favorite thing to do at GG's house was to pull every Tupperware out of the cabinet. He even stood up on the ledge to get the one's in the back.
It was a fun time and a much needed break for Chris and I. I actually brought my camera and took pictures.

Jonathan playing in the Tupperware cabinet. GG said it was alright to destroy it.

It is the hardest thing to take pictures of Andrew. If he isn't in the mood then you get this face. So from now on if you see this face, remember he was forced to do it. Here he is playing bingo with his Pa Pa.
Jonathan is now more interested in playing with the camera than taking pictures. You have to be quick if you want to get the shot.Okay, this is Jonathan and Andrew exacty 3 years apart. I knew I had taken a picture of Andrew in Pa Pa's chair but I didn't know I had done it on the same day. Jonathan is older than Andrew when the picture is taken but I can see some similarities. What's weird is I remember taking this picture of Andrew on that day because we were so proud of the VT outfit (and now I can't find it). It's weird what we remember.


We also got to see some of Chris' friends from high school and since they read this, 'Hey, and thanks for having us over. Your house is beautiful!!!' I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is still stuffed from all the turkey.

Captain Obvious

Over the past few weeks Andrew has become Captain Obvious, even though he doesn't know it. Here are some examples:

-Mommy, did you know that Micky Mouse is a mouse?
-Mommy, did you know that Donald Duck is a duck?
-Mommy, smell this Taco Bell bag. Doesn't it smell like tacos?

I wish I could remember them all for you. As he continues to point out the obvious I will continue to share them with you.

Jonathan is now 9 months old and we just went to his 9 month check-up, and all is well with him. He is 18lbs 12ozs and 28 1/2inches long. I did share my concerns with his lack of talking and laughing but he didn't seem too concerned with it but told me to keep him up to date on it.

Something very exciting happened this morning during breakfast, Jonathan signed is first 'more' sign. We've been working to teach him sign (something that we did with Andrew and had great success with) over the past month but today was the first time he did it all by himself. I tried to get a video of it but he didn't cooperate. Here's a picture of him after he signed more and was awaiting his praise. It is so sweet to see them do this.

A Relaxing Friday...

Friday was such a beautiful day that the boys and I had some fun outside.

Click on this picture and you can see I caught the drool bomb mid-fall.

A Lesson In Birds...

Andrew likes to watch Little Einsteins and from time to time I let him. I've watched the show a couple of times, except for the magical instruments and how odd it is they talk music the whole show, there is typically nothing wrong with it. Except for the other day...

I was letting him watch it because I was doing some research on the computer (and by research I mean playing games) and since we had had a full day of activities we were both relaxing. As I researched, I heard a word I wasn't quite for sure I heard correctly coming from the TV. So I went to the living room, low and behold, I heard it again. The show that day was about the boobie seabird (I am blushing just writing the word) of the Galapagos Islands. After about four times hearing the word and realizing the whole show was about it I turned the TV off quickly. Andrew was none to happy about having it turned off but that was a battle I was willing to have.

I began to wonder if I had missed so many shows that taught about all the other birds. Had they exhausted all the other birds so much that they felt compelled to teach them about this bird. Thankfully, Andrew is past (for the most part) repeating everything he hears.

Honestly, I thought it was kind of funny they would pick that bird. I think the writers that day were having a good time and thought they would play a little joke on us parents. Very funny Little Einstein writers but next time talk about the tortoises of the Galapagos Islands.

Triathalon...

On Saturday, Chris, my BFF and 20+ people from our church ran in a triathlon in Emerald Isle. Well, it was suppose to be a triathlon but the ocean wasn't cooperating so the swim part got canceled, which technically made it a biathlon. Nonetheless, it was fun to watch and cheer on everyone. BFF's husband and I were on childcare, cheer leading and picture duty. While they battled the run and the bike we battled our children and never quite getting the picture we wanted. Here's a few pictures of them...

This is Chris finishing the run. I got so excited that he was coming around the corner that I snapped the picture too soon. Here's BFF finishing her run.
This is Chris finishing his bike run. I love that he still has the strength to smile at the end of a 12 mile bike ride.
Andrew was so excited that Daddy finished the race. He kept saying he was so proud of Daddy.
Here's BFF finishing her bike race. Her back was hurting her so bad but she still fought through the pain to finish the race. I admit that when she, and many of the others, finished the race I was crying like a baby. I just know how hard everyone trained and how accomplished they must feel.

In other news, Chris just finished his doctorate and now is awaiting December 14 to graduate. This weekend was huge for him!!! I'm so proud of him.

Love,
The wife of Dr. Chris

Pumpkin Faces

Last week Andrew and I carved the pumpkins we got from the pumpkin patch. I forgot to tell you we went to a pumpkin patch and had lots of fun. We did the hay maze, the corn maze, picked some corn, picked some cotton, picked our pumpkins, fed the animals and had a blast riding the hay ride 2 times. It dawned on me somewhere between picking the cotton and picking the corn that I got the raw end of this deal. This farm we were at actually had people come and pay to harvest their crops and feed their animals. They didn't pay me to pick their corn, cotton or pumpkins but I actually paid them to do it. If I'm ever low on cash I'm posting a sign in my front yard, 'Grass Cutting Patch.' I will charge people to come and cut my lawn and dead head my flowers.
In all seriousness, we had so much fun I wouldn't have traded that day for anything. Except I didn't get a single picture because the batteries were dead. Here are the faces we carved in our pumpkins...

Jonathan was about as interested in carving pumpkins as he was taking this picture. All he wanted to do was eat the seeds and I kept trying to tell him we had to roast them first. What can you do with rebellious 8 month olders.
Andrew loved the outcome of carving pumpkins. He didn't like the fact we had to stick our hand in there and get dirty. He kept telling me 'You do it Mommy,' and would hand me the tools I needed to get the job done. He also recommended we make a cross in the pumpkin. He is so much fun to be around.

Florida Pick...

My sister took this of the boys and me. I rarely get to be in the picture because I'm normally the photographer. I'm glad I finally have one.

The Week...

Was a good week for us (so far, since it's only Thursday). We went to our county fair on Saturday, which happened to be the perfect ending to a horrible week for Andrew. He was able to go run around and be a kid. He loved the big slide (I didn't) but we didn't discover he could do it till the end and so he only went down it one time. All he could talk about later was how he just wished he could go down that slide just one more time, forgetting that he rode a horse, a train, bounced in houses, played games and ate total junk (including soda which isn't allowed till he's 5). As for Jonathan, he got so excited he went to sleep through most of the action. Later he woke up for food (the non-junk kind) and didn't ride a single ride.
On Sunday, Andrew got to sing with he children's choir at the night service. He sang like an angel (we guess). During the middle of the first song he went down to ask for a microphone but they wouldn't give it to him. Later I asked why he wanted a microphone and he said 'He wanted to preach Jesus.' You can't blame a boy for trying.

He is so excited to be singing.
He loved this part of the song.
Play time with the boys.
Now Jonathan tries to push but isn't as successful.
Crazy hair night at Cubbies.
Andrew did not want his hair spiked at all. But later he didn't mind and I even got to spray green glitter in it (he was kind of dissappointed because he thought it would be green).

Praise God...

He's healed!!!!! Yesterday I checked his boo boo and I didn't see the packing in there (when I refer to packing it means gauze that looks like a ribbon they push into the wound) I got excited and scared. I thought maybe that he played with it and pulled it out or his pants pulled it out. I called my nurse friend and she said that it was healed. No need for band-aids or packing tape because God healed him (Andrew says 'God healt me Mommy'). Thank you for all your prayers. I truly believe that is why he has healed so quickly.

Moving Out...

Well at least Jonathan tried to sneak into GG's luggage because he wanted to see the world (or at least VA). He is so much fun to watch due to the fact that he can't sit still.
He changed his mind when he realized that Mommy wasn't going too. Check out that orange nose. I didn't realize how orange it had gotten.
I know you want to know about Andrew and I am so excited to say, he is doing much better. I know it was a total God healing because the one in his leg just dried up and the packing fell out over night. We went to the doctors yesterday (his usual ped dr was back and listen to me rant about the lack of concern by other ped dr) and he said the big one on his stomach looks great and to keep doing what we are doing. I don't know why it continues to baffle me (especially after the year we've had) that God hears our prayers and answer them. He loves Andrew so much more than me but that love He has for Andrew is multiplied the # of people on this earth. That love and concern is amazing. God continues to get bigger and bigger to me everyday.

Sidebar for pictures...I took some of Andrew but they all ended up being blurry and he looked very much like a pirate. He thought they were cool.