All Sorts of News

It has only been a few weeks since I've written, yet I hardly know where to begin to catch up on all that's happened...

I'll start with our biggest news: We are expecting!! This isn't "new news" to us, but, after a very sick and exhausting first trimester, we are sharing the joyful announcement with others. What a delight it was to hear this Little One's heartbeat and to enjoy the kids' reactions when we told them. Buddy was ecstatic. Sis was reserved initially; it always takes her a while to process big stuff like this. Now she is as pleased as could be and shows her care by bringing me breakfast in bed each morning. She did say, "Mom, it would really stink if you had another boy!"

Baby Boy turned two today. We celebrated this occasion by bringing him to a petting zoo/farm yesterday. He was breathless with delight over all of the animals he could touch, feed, and hug and the tractor/train ride through the corn mazes. He repeated the animals names (including llama and camel). This adventure was second only to his last birthday which we spent in Disney World. :)

Stephen was in San Diego last week on business. It was the first time we have been separated as a family in over 7 years. Buddy wept and clung to Stephen for about an hour the night before he left. Sis made heartbreaking comments like, "Daddy, we can hardly bear to wait until 6:00 for you to come home from work. How are we going to wait 4 days?!" Baby Boy was quite forlorn as well. Once he discovered the wonders of speaker phones, he kept running up and pressing the button, hoping that his Daddy would be on the other end. Our reunion on Thursday was as joyful as our parting was pitiful. We calculated that we had about 160 hugs to catch up on and got right to work. Baby Boy said again and again, "Plane all gone! Daddy home." Stephen can have no question about how much his family loves and appreciates him.

This week marks the end of soccer season. We have enjoyed seeing the kids' progress but are more than ready for a calmer schedule around here. I'm going to do my best to include some pictures; however, my computer has rebelled at previous efforts.