Growing and learning in September

Happy Fall everyone! Here is our latest set of pictures of the girls! Natalia is growing very quickly, already weighing 11.5 pounds! She loves to smile and talk to us all the time. I think she is already feeling the need to keep up with Sofia. Sofia is learning to be a good and gentle big sister; and always giving us a big laugh with the interesting things she has to say and the imaginary world she creates. We love and miss all of you. We are very excited for Thanksgiving!

Pro-Life Signs

I know some of you do not have (or check ;D) Facebook, so I thought I would paste this on the blog. Mrs. Jeffries asked us for these photos to use for pro-life signs. They are located near Christ the King on Dale Mabry.

Beach

We've really enjoyed the videos of Cecilia and Ryan Jr, so I thought I would share these with you from our Miami beach vacation.

Mary, you mentioned Isabella being a ham for the camera. Well, here she is in action :)

Veronica had to get used to the wind, but she's still a happy baby! And a bonus clip of Isabella at the end.

Videos

Here are some videos to accompany the picture update. :) Ryan Jr. showing off his muscles:

This is the "wet cloth game" Ryan invented. Who knew a wet cloth could be so much fun? What cracks us up is Ryan Jr.'s shaking and closing his eyes in anticipation of the cloth!

Cecilia just being Cecilia at breakfast time. You can hear her "talk" which is to always pick just one syllable of a word to say.

Cecilia thinks it's hilarious when Ryan Jr. slobbers on his cup like this. I think the best part of this video is the very end when Cecilia sneaks some food off Ryan Jr.'s highchair.

This was taken during football watching yesterday. Ryan Jr.'s fake coughing noise has been one of his favorites lately. Enjoy!

August and September

Hey everyone! It's been so long since we posted so I figured I'd back up to the month of August to do a little picture update of what the Virginia Tompkins have been up to. We have had a busy summer since Joe and Nicolette's wedding, with lots of pool trips and outings, as well as a trip to New York over Labor Day weekend for my Aunt Raquel's wedding. Ryan is working hard at CACI and has been playing flag football on the weekends in a Catholic pick-up league. He's excited that the Fantasy Football season has started, and he looks forward to beating you all like a drum. I have been enjoying the research phase of my "cookie business," tinkering with different cookie and icing recipes and experimenting with shipping methods, and I have already gotten some orders. I had so many awesome suggestions for a name, but I keep going back to "Mookies" as my favorite so far. :) Cecilia and Ryan Jr. are both getting crazier all the time. Cecilia has been talking a lot more and continues to put her own little accent on words. For a while, her version of "yes" was a German-sounding "Ya!" but now it has morphed into "Yesh." Last night, as we watched the Notre Dame game, Ryan and I were cracking up as Cecilia repeated almost everything Ryan said during the game, whether it was "Yeah!!" or "NOOO!" or "Oh maaan!", Cecilia's voice served as Ryan's echo. Ryan Jr. is growing up and is very much "all boy"": hyper-active and always looking for ways to wreak havic and destruction, make messes, and annoy his big sister. Because he spends all day trying to walk, climb and jump, he is constantly getting bruised and beaten up, and always looks like he's been in a fight, as you can see from the pictures:We have really been enjoying all the activity on the blog, as well as having the opportunity to webcam with many of you. We cannot wait to come visit FL again soon, and in the meantime we'll be in touch. :) We love you and miss you all!

Pictures....finally!

Update

Isabella's surgery went very well. From the moment she left our arms to when the doctor came in to discuss her surgery was maybe 20-25 minutes? They removed the fluid from her ears and put the tubes in. He said her hearing should come back right away, but we are to wait 3 weeks before her hearing is tested again. That appointment is scheduled for 9/28. They removed part of her adenoids since it was infected. They looked down her throat and discovered her airway is smaller than normal. This explains why she's more prone to croup. He said it should only get better as she grows. The results for the sinus culture and the tissue sample for reflux should be in around Tuesday. I will update you with those results once I receive them. Thank you for your prayers!