Updates on the family

We have not been very good at keeping this blog up-to-date, but this is the beginning of an attempt to do better.

On Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 11:56 PM, Nathaniel Jacob Dean was born. He was 6 pounds 13 ounces, 19 3/4 inches long. He has been a great addition to our family over the last 4 months. It has increased Jonathan's interest in reading aloud (to him), Christopher is a very eager helper, and he adds a new dimension of strategic planning to anything we want to accomplish as a family.

Over the summer and until about 3 weeks ago, the boys had a wonderful babysitter who they all adored. Criston was absolutely fabulous with them. The older boys started back to school in August (Christopher in 3rd grade with Miss Cooper and Jonathan in 1st grade with Mrs. Bradbury), so we decided to have Nathaniel attend daycare. He has adjusted well and everyone there seems to like him.

About 1 week ago, Nathaniel started eating rice cereal. He is doing well, although he gets impatient with it. He is a pretty easy-going baby, which makes life easier. Christopher continues to shine at any and every video game he attempts to play, mastering them in a short time. He is a skilled reader and seems to have a special knack for math. Jonathan is improving daily with his reading skills and he picks everything at school up quickly. He is very art-minded and has a gift for drawing and creating things with paper, from origami to paper clothes for his stuffed animals. Both Christopher and Jonathan are in Cub Scouts this year, they are currently doing popcorn sales. Christopher is playing soccer this fall. He is learning and growing into quite a team player.

Ben still works at Marshall University developing software, he loves his job and is very persistent to achieve success with each project entrusted to him. Naomi still works at Shawnee Animal Clinic, continuing to learn and grow in the field of veterinary medicine.

Hopefully, this will be updated frequently so we can let others in on what is going on in our lives.