Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving!!!

Well...it has been about a month and a half since I posted last...and I have my stubborn streak to thank for that!!!! I literally started this post on Thanksgiving night and had every intention of having it posted before most of you had celebrated!!! But alas, it was not meant to be...and since then I have tried no less than 15 times - no exaggeration!!! Invariably I'd steal a moment and set up some pictures to upload then get caught up with the boys or the power (and consequently the internet) would go out and for some reason the autosave must not have been working because I'd come back a step back instead of ahead!!! So frustrating!!! And that's where the stubborn streak kicked in...the more times I tried and failed, the more determined I was not to give up!!! I hope it's worth it....

So here it is..FINALLY...



I think that was all...


These are just a few photos from the night before...
..kneading fun

so many potato and apple peals!!!!

And the day of...there was much shaping of rolls...

some fun shapes...

...and prepping of birds...the funky looking one on the right was fresh from a nearby village!

Breakfast break for Thorin!!
...and moments of discipline...
Sterling had a blast getting in on the action!!! He loves flour and making dough (which he can say as clear as a bell)!!!




...and stolen moments amidst the hubbub...

..and picking of turkeys...


Our friend Nate, helping me set the tables...My vision was to have everyone sitting at one big table (otherwise it just wouldn't have felt like a real Thanksgiving meal!!). There were around 32 people and not a whole lot of space so we ended up with 6 tables in a bit of a 'C' shape. It was tight but no one seemed to mind!! Quite the contrary actually! Lots of people came up to us afterwards and told us that it really felt like Thanksgiving!!!

...and finally, FEASTING...





Hanging out after dinner...Andy and Sterling
Sterling - practicing for his days as an old man smoking stogies.
Andy with Sterling again...we are so blessed to have guys around who really enjoy the boys and treat them as if they were their own nephews!!

This is definitely not the best one of Thorin (his eyes are all funky) but we didn't have many of him from the day so I decided to include it anyway : )

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Thorin Tate is 8 months old - as of 11.12.09!!!

First of all it's still hard for me to believe that I even have kids...that I'm a MOM!!! And then to hear myself say that our second son is 8 months old already just blows my mind!!! I love it!!!

Thorin is a complete doll!!! His smile is totally contagious! People can't help but smile when they look at him! He has such a sweet disposition! He is truly living up to his name -- Tate means Cheerful!!

He is now crawling on his hands and knees!
His 3rd and 4th teeth are coming in!
He is just starting to pull himself up to stand!
He has been sleeping through the night for the most part.
He eats a ton and has loved everything I have given him so far!
He can sit himself up half way and will sit for a bit when I sit him up before falling backwards : )


Brother lovin'!!!
Sterling calls him 'baba' (for brother) or TT (as he still can't pronounce Thorin and he just chooses to shorten Tate : ).
I absolutely love watching them interact!!! They get such a kick out of each other!

Well...there were a couple videos that I really wanted to add to this post but alas both of them have failed to upload : /

Afternoon at the park...

We are so blessed to live in such a nice neighborhood and to have our very own park within it! Sterling LOVES it!!

The swing is his favorite!! He loves going really high - he grins really big and keeps saying, 'high, high'!

The slide comes in at a fairly close second!


All boy!!!

It has been an exceptionally wet winter here so far (which is great for this land!!)!! We had a week of rain followed by a beautifully sunny week - which we soaked up!! And this week has been rainy and cold again!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Thorin...

Lovin' on my boy!!!
Such a sweet happy face...just seconds after this photo he got a little high-centered and did a major face plant : /
He is pretty much always smiling!!! Some one commented of him the other night that he's the smiley-est kid they had ever seen!!!
We were hanging out outside one afternoon and it was so cold that I zipped him up in my sweater.

Bath time

One of the things that I miss in being here is having a bathtub for the boys to play in during bath time. Playing in the tub used to be one of Sterling's favorite pastimes!! Our neighbor loaned this tub to us for Thorin. I finally got it out the other day and wow, was that some WET fun!!! I gained a whole new appreciation for a completely tiled bathroom with a drain in the middle of the floor (very characteristic style of bathrooms in the third world). I got a great video of them cracking each other up that I'd love to share but it had trouble uploading : /



Sterling will still take a bath and love it how ever it comes...even this miniature : )

The boys...hangin'