Christmas 2012

Fall 2011

(September, October, November, and December)

The biggest, most earth-shattering event of our fall was the commencement of kindergarten for Ian. And while some of us have only recently wrapped our heads around that fact (ahem, Jen), Ian is loving everything about it. He loves to read and write, and he's always excited to deluge us with the fun facts he's learned at school. He lost his first tooth over Labor Day weekend and certainly feels like a much more grown-up boy for it.

Blake has continued his physical therapy with excellent results. His walking has improved by leaps and bounds (pun intended), and it's actually his first choice of transportation these days. His vocabulary continues to amaze us (approaching about 175 words)...whether it's "eyebrows" or "noodles" or "Jacob-Catherine" (our next-door neighbor kids), it's all adorable.

Jen got to indulge in not one, but two girls' getaways. The first for an overnight to New York City to see a taping of "The Chew," (and get some fashion advice from Clinton Kelly...squeeee!)  and the second to Cape Cod with a favorite college roommate for some quiet R&R. Additionally, many many hours were spent at the sewing machine:  my zen place. 

Joe has continued to do great things with his job as a research engineer. He's continued to hold the title of The Boy's Favorite Parent, and gets the bonus of having them rush the door at the end of the workday when they hear the key in the lock. It's nice for boys to have an in-home idol, don't you think? Joe also broke out the soldering iron several times this fall to fix things in a very Superman-like fashion. To those of us in the family who aren't so engineering-ly inclined, it was downright magical. Joe is also our resident canner/preserver/dehydrator and processed bushel after bushel (after bushel!) of apples. Mmmmmm.

We continued our work with Families Supporting Adoption and were thrilled to hold our yearly regional conference in Boston. It's always a highlight of our year to join with other friends of adoption and renew our efforts in advocacy for such a special work.