Hi out there! We are still alive and kicking and really enjoying life right now. Here's a catch-up on life in St. Louis!
Nathan. Nathan is going to pre-Kindergarten every morning and is loving it. He's at our church's school where he went last year (and where I taught). Well, I
think he loves it, at least! He doesn't tell me much about it. He likes to keep school secrets :) He's got a new friend at school who is coming over for an afternoon playdate tomorrow and apparently the other little boy is VERY excited, as is Nathan!
Nathan loves dressing up, as you can see above. He is enjoying wearing his old Halloween costumes and mixing and matching the pieces.
He's also enjoying cutting every chance he gets, which is often. I have paper and scissors and tape that the boys can use and so Nathan really likes to cut out various animals and tape pieces of paper together to make funny things. In the above picture I think he taped these two pieces of cut paper onto his face to be a mean mouth and probably turn himself into a dinosaur. (Yes, he's still obsessed with dinosaurs....I know much more about them than I ever cared to know!)
Nathan also loves playing with his friends in our neighborhood. In the picture below his friend, who is almost 7, is reading to him. That little boy is so sweet to Nathan and the other younger kids.
Here he is on his first day of school this year. He was so excited!
Isaac and I are really enjoying spending more time together this year. I am now staying home full-time (yippieeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!) and during Toby's nap in the morning it's just Isaac and Mommy. I haven't had much time with Isaac by himself because Nathan was always with us. I am enjoying getting to know Isaac better as an individual and not just in relation to Nathan.
Isaac is more introverted than Nathan so sometimes he prefers to play by himself, or play inside when there are lots of kids outside. He also likes things to be done properly, as can be seen in the picture below with the trains lined up. We have a set of wooden blocks that have a wooden box and he likes to put the blocks back in the box. There isn't a lot of extra room in the box so the blocks have to be put in
just so to fit well and Isaac is really good at it. He also loves puzzles, even ones that seem like they should be too hard for him. I am waiting for him to be old enough to load the dishwasher. He'll probably be better at it than I am!
I am also pleased to announce that Isaac is potty trained! Well, about 80%. We started him about 6 months younger than we did Nathan (so he was about 2 1/4 when we started). We still have a little way to go before he's all the way there, but at least we're done with diapers!
And then there's sweet little Toby :) Toby is an incredibly easy baby. Jimmy and I keep pinching ourselves. We are certainly thankful that God has chosen to bless us with these perfect little ones.
Toby is 4 months old and he's a good sleeper and good eater. He loves to smile with those cute dimples! He also loves to laugh. It's hard to get a good video of him laughing, though, because as soon as I get out the camera he gets very serious :) When I clean up his neck he just thinks it's the funniest thing ever. He also gave the doctor some great belly laughs when she was checking out his abdomen the other day.
He's always exploring! He loves to chew on his hands and will sometimes pop out his paci to get his fingers in his mouth. He's rolled over a few times and I can't believe that the time is coming near when he'll be mobile! Wow, times flies faster and faster with each child!
Jimmy is really enjoying working with Manhattan GMAT. He's teaching two classes right now, one online and one in person. He's taking a full load of classes at the seminary. I'm also auditing a class, Marriage and Family Counseling. I really enjoy getting to audit classes! It makes me realize that I don't want to take them for credit because I don't want to do the work :) We are also both involved with children's ministry at our church. Jimmy is heading up Sunday school at the first service, and I'm teaching a 1st/2nd grade class at the second service. I enjoy having that teaching outlet (it's my first time teaching Sunday school!).
Life is really good right now :)
Up soon: pictures from our trip to Virginia in August!
Aunt Jane supervising rest time.
Nathan got all of the boys hooked on dinosaurs during our trip (though here he's playing with Buzz Lightyear).
Our tent cabin in the Sequoias. Inside were two double beds and a small bedside table, but no electricity!
Uncle Ryan reading and explaining something...I think about airplanes.
The fabulous grandparents who supervised dinner so the big kids could eat together in relative peace. :) Thank you Grandma and Papa!
The big kids and the little kids.
The eight big kids.
Boys being dinosaurs.
Of course you know this picture doesn't do the view justice (even after I tinkered with the color).
I love Nathan's excitement in this picture!
Boys praying before bedtime.
Four generations of Brock men. The choices were either a good picture of the boys or a good picture of the men. I chose a good picture of the men :)
Yes, she is absolutely as delightful as she looks! :)
Kisses for Toby.
