First Christmas

Hello Everyone -

Well - we just celebrated our first Christmas with the boys. Their faces expressed it all as we went into the family room together yesterday. They were in absolute awe of the gifts that were left under the Christmas tree. They knew Santa was coming but in all reality they had no idea what to expect.

Yes, the Christmas season has been fun for all! From frantically looking for Scooter (their Elf on the Shelf) every morning, to cutting Christmas trees, to advent calendars, to candlelight Church services. to baking cookies with Mommy - it has been quite a ride for the boys as well as Mom and Dad. So many 'firsts' crammed into such a short timeframe!

Anyway, it has been a while since the last post. I doubt that many people are still looking at this blog but we know of some. Several expectant adoptive families have read the blog and left comments and questions which is nice. Andrea tries to respond as quickly as possible so she can provide these families with the guidance and experience that only those that have been through it can offer. We know how invaluable this advice was for us leading up to our trip to Ukraine.

More on the boys now...

Brady and Lucas are now on their two week Christmas vacation from Montessori school. To say that they are beloved at school would probably be an understatement. According to Kristen (Lucas' teacher) Lucas' name came up in 12 of her 16 parent/teacher conferences. In each of those instances the parents wanted to know who this "Lucas" boy was that their kids talked about all the time.

Brady loves school and his teachers. He is picking up English at an amazing pace. There is defintely truth to the addage that kids are sponges during their toddler years. He has some really cute habits right now - every morning without fail he says to me - "Hi Daddy, good morning Daddy". Another cute one is when someone asks him a question that he is not sure how to answer he will say "ummm, hmmm" before responding. Obviously blogging this does not do it justice as his facial expressions are what really makes this adorable.

Besides Christmas some other notable firsts for the boys have been - riding a pony, going to the fair, holding Daddy's "little" buck, dressing up for Halloween, Thanksgiving dinner with the extended family (all 22 of us), snowmobiling, playing in the snow and so many others!! Each new event brings a sense of wonder to them and smiles to us.

Well that is it for now...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The Donahues.