FIVE!

It's so hard for me to believe that Noah and Samuel will be five tomorrow. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is easy for me to go a while without quietly sitting and thinking of how far we've all come. Not too long ago we were sent an email asking if we'd be interested in 10 week old twin boys. And now they are five??!! How can that be??

The wait to bring Noah and Samuel home was agonizing. There were times I thought I would truly lose my mind (and if you ask Chuck, he'll probably tell you that I did lose it!). It's true... once you have them home all that pain of waiting evaporates, though I will never forget it. For us, we were so dang busy with newly adopted twins and a newborn that we couldn't really see straight, let alone think straight. For about the first 18 months of being parents we operated in complete survival mode. I was on high alert for a loooong time. Plus, we went through so many changes in that timeframe. It seems like we are just now settling in as a family. And that is SO nice.

Noah and Samuel are Kindergarteners this year. Michigan has a really late cutoff date for school, so the boys were eligible for Kindergarten this year. I would have kept them home if it weren't for the program that they are in. They are currently in an early childhood developmentally delayed Kindergarten class. The goal is to ready them for 1st grade, but if that doesn't happen, they will repeat regular Kindergarten. If Noah and Samuel weren't so tall for their age, I wouldn't think twice about just having them do Kindergarten next year. But, they are the biggest kids in their class and I don't expect that will change. I want them to have confidence in school, and I'm concerned that they will be WAY bigger than all their classmates if we hold them back a year. That may very well happen if they aren't ready for 1st grade, we will see.

Both boys continue to blossom... and grow! They were in size 6 clothing long before turning five and I'm now buying size 7 shirts so that they still fit in the spring. Michigan has these wonderful sales called Mom to Mom sales. I would be so broke clothing these kids if it weren't for those sales! I think I've only ever bought two pairs of jeans brand new. The rest have been given to us or I've picked them up at Mom to Mom sales. These sales are such a blessing... and it's fun to get out and bargain hunt with my sister!

Noah is such a social little guy. Often he will hang out and chat with the adults rather than play with other kids. He just wants to be where the talking is :) His language and ability to express himself continues to amaze us. If he doesn't understand something, he asks what we mean. It's hard to believe we once could barely communicate with him! Unfortunately his robust personality gets him in trouble sometimes at school. We have our work cut out in that department! Both boys LOVE books. They love going to the library at school each week and picking a book out. And I enjoy buying them books through Scholastic each month. I hope they grow to love reading like I did.

Samuel is such a neat kid. He's not at all social like Noah. He does like to play with other kids, but doesn't NEED to be around others like his brother. Samuel does really well with self play and imaginative play. He's always flying something around and telling me what the things are in his hand - his imagination impresses me! Samuel is settling in well at school and has never had any behavior issuses. My mom comes over every school day and works with the boys on their letters. We are so impressed by how far they've come. It's neat to see them identifying letters and writing them!

Both boys are infatuated with Toy Story currently. We saw Toy Story 3 in the theater over the summer (for free!) and they got into it a little bit. Since moving to MI we've busted out the old VHS tapes of 1 & 2 that Chuck's parents so generously gave us. The boys have loved watching those two movies for the last month or so. And tomorrow they will open Toy Story 3! Most of their presents are Toy Story toys. I'm so excited to see their little faces light up tomorrow night!

So, tomorrow at dinnertime we will head to Caesarland, which is like Chuck E Cheese minus the mouse (Noah is terrified of the mouse, and therefore Chuck E Cheese). Just our family is getting together for dinner, cake, and to watch the kids run and play. N & S have only been in school 5 weeks, so it seemed odd to invite their classmates to a party. Next year we will be sure to do a friends party for the boys :)

Noah and Samuel are some amazing little guys. They are almost always kind and loving with Tristan (unfortunately he doesn't reciprocate that well... I guess that's two years old for ya). They rarely fight. Their energy level has definitely picked up and they sure can make some noise. They continue to be good eaters and try new things. They've both recently decided that vegetables are yucky... funny they never said that until they started school! Tonight both boys had seconds of meatloaf... I think Samuel had thirds.

Thank you to all our friends and family and those on the internet who've prayed for these two special little boys. They are such a gift. They may make me crazy most of the time, but I really wouldn't have it any other way!