Another year gone by, and another Smith boy is born. Fortunately Smiths are pretty good at making little boys. Thomas Bradley was born on February 15th. He's a happy and recently very talkative baby. His long and slender frame allows him to crawl quickly as he tries to keep up with the toddlers. He's so anxious to run with the older kids, until Mom or Dad lets go of his hand, and then he's content to crawl after them. Tom is a good eater, though noisy. His mom has had to relax the rules about no grunting at the dinner table. In fact Thomas seems so healthy that we often forget about his heart murmur. Unfortunately that has not made it go away, and the doctor maintains that he will likely need surgery sometime this next year, so we keep him in our prayers.
Sam is getting used to being the older brother though he shouldn't get too comfortable with being the big brother. Bad heart and all, Thomas eats about twice what Sam does and should catch up to him some time next fall. Fortunately Sam is rapidly developing the mental edge. He counts to ten, can sing the whole alphabet and can even identify a few letters. He knows the words to more songs and nursery rhymes than his daddy. Sam's vocabulary continues to grow every day. Already he can pray, and hold a better phone conversation than most of his uncles.
Mary's days are filled taking care of her boys (all three). They couldn't ask for a better teacher or friend. She's finding it hard to teach the boys to share and play nice with others. Both are resisting (Tom's not old enough for these lessons yet), but Mary is
persistent and usually accomplishes what she sets out to do. Although she balances the checkbook, teaches the Webelos and prepares for her Sunday school class each week, somehow she still finds time to read a good book, even if the time is 3am.
Philip just took the GMAT and hopes to have his applications to grad school in this month. He wants to earn a Masters degree in Health Administration next. ICHEIC has provided Philip with invaluable work experience in international finance and business, not to mention letting him work close enough to eat lunch at home. Mary & Sam are sure glad to see him at lunch time, especially since he's gone so much in the evening. Doing scouts, teaching the priests, and looking for every opportunity to play basketball keeps him awful busy, but his wonderful family is what keeps him happy.