forgot to post this!!!!!LOL!

love teesa.

Mom & Dad's Anniversary Mass

I just thought this picture was precious.

And why not sneak in a pregnant lady picture?!

HAPPY 30th ANNIVERSARY!!!!

happy 30th anniversary Mom and Dad!!! you guys are the BEST PARENTS EVER!!! thank you for all you've done!!

Some videos too

Here's a video of the kids playing together one day. I wanted to include it to show Mom and Dad how much Ryan Jr. (and Cecilia) enjoy the soccer ball toy that they gave Ryan Jr. for his birthday! At the end, Cecilia did not really get the concept of blowing a kiss to the camera, and instead came over and literally kissed the camera.

This is one of Ryan Jr. getting into the fridge. He loves to rearrange the food on the shelves while I make dinner, but this particular time he attempted to sneak a taste of some chocolate syrup. You can see how pleased he is with himself!

Here is a little tutorial on parenthood from Ryan and Ryan Jr.:

Here is a video of Cecilia singing some of her favorite Disney princess songs. She's got them all down, although she's a little hard to hear when she sings "Little Town" by Belle, but if you listen closely you can hear her say "baker...tray...same...we came...poor little town." She tries to change the subject and ask for "Blues Clues" ( and later "blue doggie") and is very relieved when I ask her to say bye to the camera.

VA Tompkins update

Here is a slideshow of our pictures of the kids from January-February 2012. We have had a quiet couple of months, mostly taking it easy indoors because of the cold temperatures and the fact that I've been incredibly sick with first trimester pregnancy nausea, so there is not much news to report! This past week has been especially rough as we have all been hit with "the plague" that is currently going through NOVA: it starts out as a stomach flu, then morphs into a cold-like illness with cough, sore throat, dry mouth, and lethargy. Just about everyone I know has succumbed to the sickness, except for Ryan...it must be because he is in such peak physical shape. :p

Baby Tompkins is doing well, and I was able to hear his/her heartbeat at my last appointment. I'm currently 15 weeks so we are getting closer to the 20 week sonogram, when we get to see if we are having a boy or a girl. So far, our intuition is that the baby is a girl, but you never can tell! What are your predictions? I'm already able to feel the baby move, which is the earliest I've been able to detect the baby's movements so far-- perhaps this is a sign of a very active baby? In other baby news, we're currently planning on a hospital birth for the baby, but I'm still considering switching to a midwife and having a homebirth. What concerns me the most is timing; we are anticipating that this will be a speedy labor, and I'd really rather not come close to giving birth on the side of the road again, like we almost did with Ryan Jr.! The thought of going into labor and just staying put in our cozy little home sounds really inviting to me, but I know that the thought of a homebirth is very worrisome to some (for example: my mother). I'm a little torn and welcome any advice any of you might have to share. :) 

Cecilia and Ryan Jr. are both doing well, although they are currently in a phase of continually getting on eachothers nerves. Cecilia finds it extremely entertaining to come up to an unsuspecting Ryan Jr. and yank him by the shoulders (or the collar of his shirt). We have tried everything to get her to stop manhandling Ryan Jr., and I finally resorted to sitting her down, showing her a picture of Jesus and Mary, and explaining to her that her mean behavior towards Ryan Jr. makes Jesus and Mary sad, and that we must always try to please Jesus and Mary and make them happy. This seemed to have an impact, and since then I have heard Cecilia talking about this many times, including when she doesn't like something Ryan Jr. is doing and responds by telling him "Make Jesus happy, baby Rynan!" She is also really enjoying a few Montessori activities I've shown her as well as her new favorite activity: puzzles. Ryan Jr. is officially a "big boy" and now sleeps in Cecilia's room at night, which means that Ryan and I have our room to ourselves again (for a few more months, at least). Every night when we kiss them both goodnight and leave the room, we put on the baby monitor and listen to the two of them talk to eachother as they fall asleep. It's really sweet and we laugh at the funny things we hear Cecilia saying to Ryan Jr.; she really loves having a roommate (and more importantly, an audience for her singing). 

We have loved everyone's updates on the blog and hope to skype and catch up with everyone soon! Until then, we miss you all very much and send you our love!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELA!

you're a funny, sweet, great, wonderful, beautiful, laughable, holy, comforting, sister!:) i love u! happy birthday!:)))) love tees

Happy birthday Angela!

May you continue to grow in grace and beauty! We love you!

A New Year!

A day we'll never forget!

Today Isabella received her hearing aids. We were able to video tape her initial reaction (there's a delay when the aids are first turned on, you'll know when it kicks on). It was emotional for both Daddy & Mommy. She has been so excited all day and has enjoyed listening to so many new sounds. Enjoy the videos!

"Tiny" Update

Hello dearest family!

With February here, we thought that an update on our little family was in order. It's hard to believe that our "Tiny Tompkins" is now 6 months along and that May is approaching so quickly! We are including some pregnant lady pics so you can see Baby's progress and pics of our latest adventures. Baby is quite the mover and shaker -- so much so that Joe and I have a fun time just watching my stomach bounce around! Since we haven't gotten to the doctor in a while, we are comforted by the strong kicks that assure us that Baby is quite healthy.

As you all know, Joe worked extremely hard last semester and achieved fantastic grades! This semester, however, he is finding it hard to "get into the groove" and would appreciate your prayers for strength. This semester will prove to be the most difficult yet (more classes than last semester, 30 pg appellate paper, preparation for cumulative exams, Baby due during exams, etc.) and could be quite stressful. However, Joe has joined a soccer team at the law school and he's enjoying the weekly exercise and camaraderie, which gives him a much needed break from the schoolwork. With Joe's overflowing plate, we will have to work harder at cutting out quality time together before Baby comes (eeee!).

I have been hired as a part-time nanny for a wealthy family here in Naples and they have seven children. We are so grateful to have this little bit of income to add to the unemployment funds and I really enjoy working with kids again (although they can be quite the handful). It is so nice to have this new schedule where I can run errands, clean, or organize in the mornings, meet Joe at the law school for daily mass, and then head off to nanny in the afternoons/evenings.

Now, here are the pictures:

18 weeks

21 weeks

26 weeks

Joe and I had just gone out on a date and I forgot to take pictures, so I made sure to snap a photo of my handsome husband when we stopped at Target afterwards. Oh the exciting things married couples do on a Saturday night! ;)

The newest addition to our little apartment: full size couches! In the past, we were making do with a love seat and armchair. We found these beauties for a steal on craigslist (the deal included the couch, love seat, coffee table, two end tables, and delivery) and it is so nice to streeeetch out on these couches. We've listed our old furniture on craigslist and hope to get an offer soon.

Well that's all that's going on here! We love you all and have really enjoyed all the blog activity! Keep it coming! :)

FUNNY PICTURES!

just wanted to share some of the funny pictures on webcam. i know it's pretty silly!!

teresa

Flashback video :)

And I had to post this video of Isabella at 9 months old.

I believe I posted it back then, but it still cracks us up!