Joah is Coming To Town...

Well, we did wake up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning but it was just another morning for Aden and Wiley. We did our morning rituals and still didn't notice the presents that were under the tree. After about an hour, Aden finally noticed some wooden blocks that were under the tree and not wrapped. What's this? And so it began, the discovery of what all of these wrapped boxes had inside of them. We started with the stockings, which took quite a bit of time as Aden wanted to examine and play with each item for awhile before moving onto the next item. This carried over into the wrapped presents and after a few hours we had finally made it through everything and it was nap time. I think Wiley ate twice and slept through most of the morning's events. It was still a special time as we watch our boys grow up and experience Christmas. Aden is very aware of "Baby Jesus" easily identifying him in all manger scenes and books. Now you may be wondering about the title of this story. Well, Aden has a lot of books with Noah in it and pronounces his name as Joah. As you know, Noah is usually depicted with having a big white beard. On first seeing pictures of Santa Claus, Aden immediately began referring to him as Joah. He still does, so it seems that maybe Joah brought presents to our house. Of course he was probably in an Ark instead of a sleigh, and pulled by two of every kind of animal instead of reindeer. We trust you all had a Merry Christmas!

The Christmas parties have begun. We had our annual Missionary Christmas Dinner last night, complete with food, fellowship, singing, games and a visit from Santa Claus himself. Mommy was part of the group that was in charge of the program and she did great getting everyone situated and keeping them entertained, while still managing to feed Wiley even while being up front. She is either becoming a very 'seasoned' nuring mommy or very comfortable in the culture that we live in. Maybe it's both. Santa came with presents for all of the Missionary kids. He put on quite a show as always, and it was enough to scare Aden pretty good. Santa had to tone it down when he gave Aden his gift and try to convince him from behind that beard and red suit that it was really A-Bu (Uncle Bill). Aden loved the gift he received. It was a little dumpt truck, loader, and backhoe. He also loved the toy airplane that he flies around the house. Last night, he played with his dump truck on daddy's lap until he fell asleep. Wiley slept through most of the dinner and as always was passed around through it all (here with one of his namesakes), but also got some fun gifts. Board books, clothes, and a toy car. Both boys also got $10 each. What a special time the Christmas dinner always is. That was just the beginning, as there are events planned for every day through Christmas. We will try and keep you updated.

So There We Were...

Daddy finally got his turn to feed Wiley this week. It was at 2:30am, but you take what you can get. Mommy graciously gave us the opportunity to do this by providing some of her milk in a bottle. Even though part of the reason for doing this was so that Mommy could get more sleep, she couldn't help but get up anyway and document the event with pictures. We don't have it down to where it goes smoothly quite yet. When we first got up, Wiley was of course crying and Daddy was unsuccessfully keeping him quiet. Mommy was holding the bottle under warm water to try and get it to the right temperature. The noise of the crying and the electric water pump that pumps the water from our water tank outside into our taps was too much and within a few minutes, Aden woke up crying and there was all four of us up in the middle of the night! We eventually got Aden back to bed and Wiley fed. He seemed to really like the bottle, downing it in no time. We were all back in bed by 3:30am. So, it wasn't quite like clockwork, but it is great to know that the option is there from time to time.

Wiley's Big Adventure

Wiley and Mommy embarked on a big adventure this past Thursday afternoon, leaving the quiet village of Kudjip and heading to the big metropolis of Port Moresby (PNG's capital city). Wiley slept through his first plane ride and stayed in a big hotel with Mommy. On Friday morning they met Daddy and went to the US Embassy to apply for Wiley's US birth certificate, passport, and Social Security number. First, Wiley had to get his picture taken. He refused to look at the camera, but also didn't complain about being woken up for the event (other than spitting up right as the picture was about to be taken). With pictures in hand, it was on to the Embassy. Everything was going smoothly, until Mommy noticed some rumbling in Wiley's diaper. Fishing for some paperwork, she passed Wiley on to Daddy . . . and then everyone noticed that Wiley's diaper had sprung a leak! After going back through security and waiting 15 minutes for an escort (into the secure halls of the US Embassy), Mommy was able to get to a restroom and get everything and everyone cleaned up. When they returned, Wiley was sighted (a requirement of the US now for children to get a passport) with Mommy and Daddy, and his passport should be ready at the end of next week! He spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sights of the big city, and at the last minute made it on the plane back to the highlands with Mommy and Daddy (we were almost bumped). First plane ride for Wiley James - 2 months and 4 days old. Not quite a record though as Aden flew at 5 weeks old and I am sure will remind him of that as they get older.

It's that time of year...Children's Church Christmas Pageants!

You are never too young to participate in the Church Christmas Pageant. Aden now has his first one under his belt. Today at our English service, the kids presented a Christmas program that included several songs and monologues by Gabriel, Elizabeth, Shepherds, Angels, Wise Men, Herod, Mary and Joseph. OK, so Aden didn't have a monologue (although he gives them quite frequently around the house). He didn't even have a solo in any of the songs. He did sing with all of the other kids on one of the songs, though. OK, so he didn't actually sing or even do the motions like we had been trying to get him to do all week (and he did them once or twice at home). One of the older kids ended up holding him through the song while he stared at the audience. At least he didn't pick his nose! Shortly after that, he was so taken by the 'props' that were left close to us on our pew that he and daddy ended up outside so that everyone else could enjoy the program. This is fairly common these days. Wiley was scheduled to play the part of Baby Jesus but decided it was time to eat instead.

The Stocking Dilemma is Over!

Wiley James arrived just two months ago, but he already has his own hand-made, quilted stocking like the rest of us in time for Christmas. Mommy is pretty amazing! What is even harder to believe is that it would have been done even sooner if it weren't for the 'dilemma'. It wasn't the color of of the stocking that was so hard to figure out. That was the easy part. It was the name that would go on the stocking. Do we go with the more formal, but actual given name of William? Or do we go with the name that we call him--Wiley? You can see in the picture below what was finally decided. And the stockings were hung from the TV cabinet with care...

Rain

Jill was home with both boys as usual and changing Wiley's diaper in the nursery. It was a bad one (we will spare you the details) and took quite a bit of work to get him cleaned up. In the meantime, Aden was out in the living room playing.  Suddenly, Jill hears "Uh-Oh" from the living room. This usually means Aden is doing something he knows that he is not supposed to be doing or something has fallen that shouldn't. Wiley was still on the changing table though, half dressed and so it would have to wait. When Jill finally made it to the living room, she found water all over the coffee table and an empty glass on its side. She asked Aden what happened, and in his limited but ever growing vocabulary, he said "RAIN!"  

A Blog for the Boys

  

Welcome to Aden and Wiley's blog! 

We hope to use this space to keep you updated on the latest adventures of our growing little boys. We plan to post stories, anecdotes and pictures of them on here frequently (although with these two boys you can't hold us to that!). Check back from time to time to see the "Adventures of A&W".