Merry Christmas and A Happy (though flu-filled) New Year!

Merry Christmas! It was indeed a merry time around the Caldwell house! On Christmas Eve we spent time with my mom's side of the family, and then went to Bobby and Pap's house to open presents. After reading the TRUE Christmas story, the boys took baby Jesus from the Nativity scene and placed him in a drawer, so they could put him back on Christmas morning, went to bed with great anticipation of Santa's early morning visit, and even thought they heard Santa's reindeer "jingling all the way". Caleb thought this was sooo cool, but we think it actually terrified Noah :(. We awoke to a beautiful white Christmas, had a great Christmas and a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. The boys played and played and played until they could play no more. Nanna and Papaw Caldwell, along with the rest of the family in Ashland got a taste of just how wild and crazy these two boys can be :)



The only bummer was that the day after Christmas, Zack began feeling bad, and ended up getting the flu- today is the first day in almost a week that he woke up without a fever! I followed his example, unfortunately, and so did Caleb. Hopefully Noah's flu vaccine will protect him- so far, so good. Caleb is feeling better today, but we rang in the New Year with lots of coughing, sneezing and medicine!



Noah continues to feel more at home and is making strides every day. And we continue to feel more love for him as well. When we were at Nanna and Pappaw Caldwell's house, the two boys shared a bed- a first for them. I felt so blessed as I peaked in and watched them sleeping, side by side.



Next week is going to be a big week for Noah, as he will begin preschool, four days a week at the elementary school just behind our home. This was a decision we spent much time considering and prayed very seriously about. We were concerned that it could be too early, as he will have only been about 6 weeks when he begins preschool. However, he has adjusted extrememly well, and when we spoke to him about school, and when he witnessed his brother attending "school" (really Mother's Morning Out at our church), he seemed very interested in going. Several other professionals, such as the doctor at UK's adoption clinic, our pediatrician, teachers, and fellow adoptive parents also encouraged us to "try" preschool, as in the end, we could always remove Noah from preschool if it does not go well. We are praying that preschool will help Noah with acquiring English, as each school district is required to provide non-English speaking students with assistance. We also feel preschool will be helpful for Noah in terms of socializing with children his age, and with providng him a structured and stimulating environment.



Below are a few pictures of our exciting holiday time (minus the flu :)