December 13th, 2004 Edition
Hi everyone! We are safe here in Texas, in our house,
and settling in. All is going fairly well, even down to Tom
getting a new calling already. We are busy preparing for
Christmas, finishing the unpacking, making our house feel like home,
making new friends, keeping in touch with the old friends, as well as
family, and getting ready for a new baby somewhere in there.
We will be joining a new homeschool group soon, or maybe helping start
our own LDS one, have found a new OB, no new pediatrician yet but we're
looking, love the new library, have the new house, love the new
ward, love our new friends, had a great Thanksgiving with some of those
friends, and have a newly baptized member of the Church in our
home. (Congratulations Michael!) The kids have new friends,
new Primary teachers, and new routines. Nathanael, for those
first few days, kept wanting to get in the van and drive away, but I
think he likes it here now.
Tom's new position in his company is going well. He loves
decorating his very own cubicle. (even though we are still
shocked he has a CHAIR instead of wandering Walmarts for his
workdays). He's stolen the kids tiny Christmas tree, and brought
some pictures of the kids and our family to decorate his
workspace. He's also taken our Mannheim Steamroller Christmas
CDs. (insert annoyed look here). Tom also likes being busy
and even challenged at times. We see ourselves staying in Texas
for quite a while.
Tabitha is busy attempting to rest after a very busy 2 months of
packing and moving, and life without Tom. I am definitely glad to
be back together with our whole family. I am not sure what I
think about being without a calling, but we did just get here.
Being Young Women's president kept me very very busy! And that's
on top of being a wife and mom and homeschooling parent! We only
have one car, so I'm mostly just at home finishing unpacking and
getting things more like home. And keeping the contractions down
to a dull roar.
Michael is now 8 years old. I need to get his 8 year old/ 2nd
grade pictures taken soon. He had his birthday with new friends
here already, and has a new best friend who is 8 and homeschools as
well. He has started Cub Scouts here and is enjoying that.
He loves legos and spends a great deal of time working with them.
He was baptized on the 4th of December and confirmed the 5th, and was
excited that his grandparents were able to come all the way from
Utah. All the kids are enjoying a nice fenced backyard and a
great patio. He still is constantly learning and is so happy that
our books are unpacked but is anxiously awaiting Mom's unpacking of the
other lego containers, as well as other missing items. He loves the new
library and visiting there. His page is here
Benjamin is 6 years old and loves playing with Michael's new
legos. I also do not have his 6 year old/ Kindergarten pictures
taken yet, but will soon. He also has new friends that he loves
to play with, either at our house or theirs. Did I mention we
have lots of neighbors now? He is a huge help and does great with
Primary class. He is learning to read and even tries to read the
hymns on Sunday and sings with Mom. He still loves Star Wars,
Harry Potter, superheroes (Spiderman right now) and helping Mom. His
page is here. He can't wait
until his turn to be baptized. One fun thing we are doing with
homeschooling is being involved with Pizza Hut's BookIt program, where
you set reading goals for yourself and get free personal pizzas when
you meet your goals. Michael and Benjamin have met their goals
for both October and November, and love getting their own Pizza.
Emilie looks forward to joining in (and getting her own pizza) next
year when she is Kindergarten age.
Emilie is 4 1/2 years old and is our ballerina princess. She has
her own room now (until baby gets big enough to sleep through the
night). (the 3 boys are all in the bigger bedroom, oddly enough
decorated with butterfly wallpaper, but we'll have that covered with
pictures and posters soon enough, I'm sure). She loves Strawberry
Shortcake, Angelina Ballerina, and anything Disney Princess or just
plain girly. She looks forward to getting a BIG bed after
February (tax refund) and giving her toddler bed to Nathanael.
She is growing so fast she'll be too big for her little bed. We
are looking at bunk beds that separate so she will have her own bed
even if she never gets the little sister she hopes for. She loves
dressing up... and just this past week another family moved in with 3
little girls... who seem to share this love, as evidenced from their
visit last night. (another new neighbor who ALSO go to church
with us, and their Dad works with Tom!) My children have played
with more kids since we've moved here than anywhere else we've
lived! (lack of opportunity, for the most part). Emilie is
excited to help with the new baby, whether it is a boy OR a girl, and
is a big help to Mom most of the time. Her
page is here.
Nathanael is 21 months old and for the most part, completely clueless
about losing his baby status to a newcomer. He does pat Mom's
belly and says BABY and seems to love babies he sees around the new
area... but we'll see. He has a bit of a temper but most of that
is probably due to having a cold and teething right now. He can
sing Bob the Builder, the Darth Vader theme, and Baa Baa Black Sheep
with surprising accuracy in tine and rhythm. He also loves to hum
"I am a Child of God". His favorite books are "Who Says Quack"
and "Goodnight Gorilla" (oh, and Brown Bear Brown Bear too) probably
because they have so many animals and opportunities to make animal
sounds. He can point to his siblings by name when you ask him, as
well as most body parts. He is a smart little guy but don't spell
"P-L-U-G" or he'll chase you down for his pacifier. Yeah, he
still has his for naps and bedtime, and we aren't going to take
it away for at least a few more months unless he gives it up on his
own. (poor guy had to wean, then move, then get a new baby
brother in 6 months time!) He says NO, HOT, something that sounds
like MICHAEL, MOMMY, DADDY, BOB, lots of animal noises, (s)HOOO for
shoes, HAAAAAAAA for baaing like a sheep, and he also does a great
"evil bad guy laugh". He likes Nursery but isn't sure about the
new group of kids he's having to get used to. His
page is here.
Baby 6 has no name yet. Just a few suggestions is all. I've
redone his page, so you can find the newest updates better. We
are in the final stretch here, 8 months pregnant and all that fun
stuff. His page is HERE
We have a new OB, new hospital, and things are looking great. We
are not ready for him to show up yet, but if he comes early we just
need to go pick up the new car seat and some diapers and get the bed
set up in our room, oh, and wash all the baby clothes. We just
keep telling the kids that the new baby will come after Christmas.
Let me know if you want to drop by! Or if I neglected to send you
our new address/phone number. Our emails won't change, thanks to
John. We are working on getting new pictures up soon, I have 4
rolls of film to develop including pictures of Michael's Raingutter
Regatta, moving days, old house, new house, Michael's birthday,
probably Benjamin's birthday too in there somewhere... I'll let you
know! Have a wonderful holiday season, I don't see us sending out
Christmas cards this year either. Moving two Christmases in a
row, who'da thunk it? That's two moves in one calendar year, yep,
that's right folks.
We will get a new family picture after the new arrival gets here.
HUGS! Call us anytime!
Love,
Tabitha, Tom, and family
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