Sarah's 3rd Birthday (2 months later...)

Wow! Really??? I really haven't posted any updates since August? That's just inexcusable! So here goes the first of (hopefully) a series of posts to update you on the highlights.

This post is dedicated to Sarah's 3rd birthday back in September! We had a party at home again, this year with a Princess theme. The highlights were the Disney Princess birthday cake and the Disney Princess bounce house.

Unfortunately, rain was in the forecast for the day. It held off for most of the party, but it did start to rain eventually and we had to move the party inside for opening gifts. Sarah was thrilled to have her friends and family at her house to celebrate with her, and they all enjoyed playing together!

So far, age 3 has been soooo much better than age 2 was for us! While many of Sarah's friends and classmates are challenging their parents at this age, we seem to be coming out on the other side of that phase. We dealt with a lot of drama and tantrums at age 2, but things are a lot calmer in our family at age 3. That's not to say that we don't deal with our share of disrespect, general sassiness, constant questioning, and negotiating. But at least we are able to reason with her on a very basic level now. And she is beginning to understand the concept of consequences. And TIME OUT IS EFFECTIVE NOW (in case you weren't aware, time out was very ineffective this time a year ago)!!! It's amazing to watch her develop a more complex personality!

Since she has moved into the 3-year old classroom, Sarah has really blossomed developmentally. She is making good progress with recognizing her letters, learning what sound each letter makes, and writing her capital letters. She can count to 20. She can draw several shapes, and most recently she has mastered the art of drawing stick figures (although there is no torso, only a head with arms and legs attached). She continues to enjoy her weekly tumbling class and has recently begun having weekly Spanish classes at preschool.

Physically, she's been extremely healthy and is growing like a weed! In the last year, she grew 5 1/2 inches but only gained 3 pounds...she weighed a little over 28 pounds at her check-up. So we are still 20th percentile in weight, but the height growth put her above 75th percentile in height. She doesn't look tall and lanky to us, but the doctors seem to think she is. Oh well...better to be at that end of the spectrum than the other!

Yeah, age 3 is off to a good start. Here's hoping the next 10 months are as enjoyable as the last 2 months have been!

Sorry it's been a while...

WOW! I think this is a personal record for the longest lapse in posting. I don't even know where to begin with the updates.

1- The house. We closed on July 10th, and the rest is history (and rather uneventful). We did most of the moving ourselves over the following week, and the movers came after that to take care of moving the last few pieces of big furniture that we couldn't handle ourselves. All of the boxes are unpacked, and for the most part everything is in its place. We are all loving our new home, and Sarah has particularly enjoyed the community pool and the playground.

2- Sarah updates. Since my last post, a lot has happened. First and foremost, I would like to proudly announce that SARAH IS POTTY TRAINED!!! This amazing feat happened virtually overnight, and she has not really had any accidents since then. It was truly amazing to see her figure this out in a single day with no real learning curve. In other news, she has learned how to ride her tricycle really well. She can pedal like a pro, and she enjoys riding around the neighborhood on the flat sidewalks. Upon successful completion of the potty training, she got to pick out a cool bike helmet so that she can ride uninhibited on the sidewalks. She chose a Dora helmet that came complete with matching knee pads. Swimming lessons continue to go really well! Sarah is in her 3rd set of lessons, and can now float on her back (almost) unassisted and can swim underwater for short distances. She has enjoyed spending time at our neighborhood pool, and has recently become fearless and goes down the water slide all by herself. As we approach her 3rd birthday (YIKES!), we continue to be amazed at her developing personality and independence. She LOVES to talk, and sometimes when we are all in conversation together it is hard to remember that she is only 3. Some of her sayings are so adult, such as:

"I just wasn't thinking, mom!" or

"Turn the radio up, mom. I LOVE this song!" or

"Don't be ridiculous." or

"I'm NOT two, mommy. I'm two and a half!" or

"My hairbow doesn't match my shirt."

Of course, the antithesis of this is some of her very "two and a half" attitude, such as:

"I just don't wanna!!!" or

"Because why, mommy?" or

"Yes!!! I WANT to!" or

"Mommy, Winston's looking at me. Make him stop!"

3- Allison and Duane. On the job front, things are going well. Last week, Duane's company, Athenix, was purchased by Bayer CropScience. If you're interested in reading the press release, click here. Not a lot is expected to change immediately, so it doesn't really affect his day-to-day work at this time. The immediate advantage to this acquisition is the fact that Duane gets to cash in his Athenix stock options, which will be some nice extra cash for us. There is not much new to report from my work...I am scheduled for my final fellow's evaluation the day after Labor Day, which means that if all goes well I should get an official scientist offer and a coinciding pay increase.

Duane and I celebrated our 5th anniversary at the beginning of August. We celebrated by taking a trip to New York City while Sarah spent some time with Mimi. We had a fabulous time doing some sightseeing that we had not done before, the weather was perfect, we saw "Wicked" on Broadway (FANTASTIC show!!!), and tried to weasel our way as extras onto the set of a movie being filmed in Central Park. We were unsuccessful, of course, but we did stick around long enough to find out that the movie being filmed was "Going the Distance" starring Drew Barrymore. We watched several scenes being filmed, and we got lots of close-up shots of Drew as she made her way back to the Paramount trailers. All in all, a very fun and eventful trip!

Guess that's a very condensed version of our life updates. Now that things have settled down for us, I'll make an effort to update more regularly. Hope you are all doing well and are enjoying your summer!

A few recent pics of Sarah (and updates)...

Swimming lessons have been going really well. Sarah has completed her first series of lessons and can hold onto the wall without assistance, can float on her back with minimal support, can glide forward, and can jump in and go under water while holding her breath (and without freaking out). We will begin the second set of lessons this weekend, and she is really excited. Duane gets in the pool with her for all the lessons, and she loves this special time with her daddy.

All ready for the first day of swimming lessons.

Gliding to the wall.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we decided to stay home all weekend in an effort to make significant progress with potty training. As a quick summary, it didn't go well. We were all frustrated by the end of the weekend, so we're back to diapers for a while longer. We learned that we have a strong-willed child (and we're currently reading books on how to effectively raise a child with this personality) and that she has the bladder of a camel. On one of the days, she "held it" for almost 20 hours. This resulted in a trip to the pediatrician, but luckily no bladder infection and no need for a catheter at that point. The doctor advised that we go back to diapers and re-visit the potty training in a couple of months, so that's what we're doing.

Potty training weekend. Sarah ran around the house in nothing but "big girl panties" and her sneakers for a portion of the weekend.

A couple of weeks ago, we traveled to Charlotte to visit Grammy and Paka and to visit our friends Jennie and Julia for Julia's 3rd birthday party. The girls had so much fun at the Princess Ariel-themed party, playing in the inflatable bounce house, and riding around in the new Barbie mustang that Julia got for her birthday.

And here's one last picture of Sarah being silly, wearing her daddy's socks like legwarmers.

Hope this post finds everyone doing well! Look for upcoming posts with details of the move and life in the new house.

More House Updates

Here are the latest pics of the progress on the house, weeks 9 through 11. We are scheduled for our walk-through on July 3rd, with closing on July 10th. I'll try to post one more installment of pics from week 12 until closing.

Week 9. Kitchen counters going in.

Week 9. Trees in the process of being cleared from back yard in preparation for landscaping.

Week 9. View of the family room downstairs.

Week 10. Finished family room. All painted (just waiting for floors).

Week 10. Tile work completed in master bathroom and granite countertops go in.

Week 10. Tile backsplash, sink, and granite countertops go in kitchen.

Week 11. Kitchen is completed and appliances go in (just waiting on floors).

Week 11. Dining room is completed and painted. Light fixtures go in.

Week 11. Exterior is completed. Just needs a few finishing touches (paint on the columns and accents on the roof peaks, gas lamps to be installed on either side of garage).

Progress on the House

Since I haven't posted pics of the house since week 1 of construction in March, I decided it's time to update you on the past 7 weeks' progress. So here's the progression, week-by-week. We are looking at a late June/early July closing. I'll try to update again with pics before the big move. Enjoy!

Week 2. First floor is framed.

Week 3. Framing is completed.


Week 4. Roofing shingles go up and windows are installed.

Week 6. Siding and cedar shakes go up.

Week 6. View of the back of the house.

Week 8. Stonework on the front completed and drywall installed.

Week 8. Back deck installed.

Life is but a vapor...

James 4:14 reads:

"Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."

I was not familiar with this verse until this week.

My Grandma passed away last Friday, April 17th, quickly and somewhat unexpectedly. For those of you who may not know the whole story, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease for almost 10 years. This devastating disease took my "real" Grandma from us several years ago, leaving behind only a physical shell and the memories of how she used to be before the disease robbed her of her mind, her own memories, and ultimately her dignity.

She was 87 years old, and lived all her life in the house where she was born. It was her wish to die in that house, and she all but got her wish. My dad is an only child, and he patiently and devotedly cared for my Grandma every day of those long years that she was sick. She had recently become so ill that he and my mom could no longer care for her in the ways that she needed, so they had made arrangements to admit her into a nice nursing home facility. She was only there for a couple of hours on Friday before she was diagnosed with pneumonia and sent to the hospital. She was only away from her home for a few short hours before she left this earth. My dad (and my mom) are to be commended for the dedicated care they provided her, and the efforts they made to help her fulfill her wish to die in her home.

At her funeral on Monday, one of the pastors referred to this verse from James and charged us all to remember that our own lives here on Earth are fleeting, but that our spiritual lives with God are everlasting. It was a good reminder for all of us, and provided me with comfort and hope.

Just wanted to pay this tribute to my Grandma and pass along this verse as a reminder to all of us that life is short in the grand scheme of the world. In the words of Swiss philosopher Henri Frederic Amiel:

"Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind."

Baby Angelina!

Sarah took a tumble in the house this evening and landed on her face on the stairs. We had a bloody mess to clean up, and she now has a nice fat lip to show for it! It actually looks much worse in person than in the pictures...guess it didn't photograph well. We think she looks a little like Angelina, especially since she's all dressed up in her "evening gowns" (aka Disnesy princess constumes). She milked it for all it was worth though...had a Chick-fil-a milkshake for dinner!