A Week in Review

I apologize for the lag in blogging, we've just been really busy lately.



Who am I kidding? We're never not busy.



The truth is, there are important things like laundry to be done.



And there are things like cleaning the house, playing with the boys, etc. that take precedence.



Our boys have been so super cute lately.



Will has gotten his first tooth, with number two coming in quickly.



The other night, Britton came over and had supper with us (his parents were here to.). Reed was really excited.





The boys were acting really silly.





Friday, Abbey and the boys went over to the Frey's house.





They had a lot of fun. I can't imagine what it must be like for 6 little boys, all 3 and under in the same house!





But, Abbey and Stacy continue to get the boys together, so they must have a good time.



Nash loves playing with the Frey boys.



Nash is quickly deciding that he can attempt to use his unbelievable charm to get out of tough situations like cleaning up, etc.





While they were hanging out, the boys made ornaments.





Does anyone recognize the green paint?







The ornaments are supposed to be sent to some other Taiwanese adoptive friends as part of an ornament swap.



Apparently, Reed didn't want anyone looking at his ornaments.



Now, it is FREEZING cold here. It snowed all day yesterday.





Unfortunately, I didn't think quickly enough to use the right setting on the camera so you could see our house in the snow.



And it was way to cold to waste any time.

Double the Trouble, Double the Fun

The other night, Reed and Nash decided that all of the towels and sheets in their bathroom would look much better in their bathroom floor.



While I put the boys to bed, Will and Abbey put the towels away.



Will thought that it was a lot of fun!



Then Abbey gave Will a great bath and he really enjoyed it.



Now, the temperature has really dropped here in Tennessee. Yesterday it snowed almost all day long. It didn't stick but it was really pretty.



We had a long day at church yesterday. It's Christmas time, so the need for childcare seems to multiply, so I kept the big kids and Abbey kept the preschoolers.



We were excited to see the Frey's visit our church. We would love for them to come to our church because their boys are such great friends for our boys.



Friday night we continued our tradition of going to the Nashville parade. Before the parade, we ate at Spaghetti Factory. It was delicious.



Uncle Bill made sure that everyone was bundled up really well!



Will thought he looked funny in Uncle Bill's Delta toboggan.



Nash and Reed LOVED the parade. Especially the clowns who are shriners.



Miss Candace snuggled with Will to keep him warm.



I think that Will might enjoy the parade more next year!

A Moment I Want to Remember

I (Abbey) don't blog often (okay, ever), but I had an experience with Reed tonight I want to remember. I'm writing for my own benefit, as this blog serves our family as a scrapbook for our lives. Sorry there are no pictures; Jeff will remedy that tomorrow or Saturday.

Today was a tough day. Reed and Nash were challenging. They emptied Will's closet of diapers (again) with me in the room. Reed says (still no verification) that he took a snail out of the aquarium and threw it behind the entertainment center. Nash stood on the table he knows he's not supposed to stand on because I have told him many times. I caught Reed throwing a drum stick in the air...and explaining he wanted to be like a baton girl in the parade. Will didn't disobey that I'm aware of, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. For now, he's my sweet little old man.

Tonight I was saying prayers with Reed before he went to sleep. In the middle of our prayer, Reed said, "Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?" We talked a bit about it in simple terms. I began to tell him about Jesus being born many years ago. He was quite disturbed that Jesus was born in a "barn" and was outside. He was also troubled that Mary was there when Jesus died on the cross. (He asked; I wasn't going to share that info. He wanted to know if his mama was there.)

One part of the story was particularly interesting for Reed. When I shared that the wise men brought gifts to a young Jesus and began to explain what they brought, Reed interrupted me, asking, "Did they bring Jesus monster trucks?" I began to laugh, and Reed immediately said, "Don't laugh, mommy. It's not funny."

No, Reed, the wise men did not bring Jesus monster trucks, but you certainly bring me joy. I love your desire to learn more about Jesus and really understand what is important in life. Thanks for reminding me of what's really important on a day when it was easy to get discouraged. I'm sure Jesus would have loved monster trucks if he had received them.

Nash and Will's Dedication Service

Sunday, we had the most wonderful opportunity to dedicate our sons to the Lord. We also dedicated ourselves to the task of raising our sons to love and know the Lord.



We were so happy to have so many friends and family attend this special service.



Nash and Will did a wonderful job.



Bro. Michael anointed the boys with oil.



At the last minute, Reed decided that he didn't want to come up to the stage with his brothers.



Afterward, we hosted our friends and family for a lunch in the boys' honor at our neighborhood clubhouse.



It was a lot of fun and really good food.



Megan was happy to get to hold Will.



He is good practice for her since baby Emma is so small still.



Our sweet friends, the Converses were able to join us. That meant a lot to us.



The only hitch was the Pork Loin that refused to cook! Thankfully, Uncle Bill came to the rescue once again, and stopped at Kroger for some ham.



We were happy that Nana and Putty were able to join us. We were a little worried since Nana took a spill a few weeks ago and had arm surgery.



Trudy and Nelson joined us. Trudy and I spend a lot of time together since we carpool, work down the hall, and even go to church together!



Candace and Manya took time holding baby Will. Leah had to leave to go to work, but she made sure she got to hold Will.



The gracious hostess once again wowed everyone with a beautiful and wonderful party.



Lola was there to help do anything we needed.



The kids all had fun running around the clubhouse.



Trudy made delicious, completely from scratch right down to the tree the cherries were picked on, Cherry pie.





Pop had a lot of fun entertaining the boys.



Will was exhausted from all of the attention.



Our livewire Reed was thrilled that the Davidson's came because that meant Caleb was there.





The food was delicious.



The fellowship was better.



We are so blessed.

Double Trouble Strikes Again

The other day when we were getting our Christmas trees out the boys found these Santa hats. They've all taken turns putting them on, and I think that they are all ultra cute with them on.



Once again, the other night, the boys got unusually quiet. The really scary thing is that this unusual quiet that I speak of only takes about 2.5 milliseconds for us to realize that something is not right. Seriously, it's like no time at all and we're like "The boys are too quiet."



There was a "creamy" film all over Nash and it smelled like wintergreen. We were not sure if it was some of Abbey's AVEDA lotion, Comet bathroom cleaner or what. Reed kept taking us to the family room and pointing to a bottle of Aveeno lotion that we put on the boys each night after bath.



It took us a while to convince Reed that the Aveeno lotion is unscented, therefore we knew that it was not possible for the scent that we were smelling to be the lotion that he was saying it was.



Thankfully, Will, the trooper, was able to coo in the floor of the family room while we got down to the bottom of the latest installment of the big boy's silly antics.



Finally, I suggested to Abbey that she look until Will's bed, which is where I originally found the dynamic duo. And the mystery "cream" was Heal Cream. Yes, we now have too little boys whose heads, arms, and chest are completely callous free.



Last night, Abbey and I were insane and joined thousands of other people who should know better and headed to Wal-Mart, Target, and Macy's. We left at 2:00 and got home at 6:00. Reed, of course, was already awake. Abbey let me lay down with Nash who slept until 7:15. So, needless to say, we are pretty tired. We decided to spend another night in Memphis since neither of us felt like driving home sleepy. Nash and Pop were enjoying the Wizard of Oz when Abbey realize Nash was trying to emulate the way Pop had his hand on his head.



Reed enjoyed cuddling with Lola and Will is asleep, but who knows for how long. He's cutting his first tooth.