News in the New Year

The first month of 2012 is nearly complete (wow, that flew by!) and our family has a few new and exciting things to share.

Starting with the biggest news - the arrival of our nephew, Jake Ryan, on Jan. 23! This baby makes 5 grandchildren for my in-laws, and we are all very excited. As an only child, I had always wanted a sibling and to be part of a big family. While that didn't happen as I was growing up, it seems to be happening as an adult, with Jason's sister and BIL adding their third child to the mix. Lucky for my kids, who will grow up with cousins around their age (and different genders - I only had two older boy cousins, which proved to be rather boring when they didn't want to entertain their younger girl cousin). We can't wait until Jake is old enough to play with my kids because we know they will have so much fun together.

Also new this month is Zach's first "pre-preschool" class - the Wondrous Ones. It's his first "classroom" experience and as the eldest in the class, we know he'll have fun teaching the younger kids everything he knows. Which, by the way, is quite a bit these days! He is putting 2-4 word sentences together ("I want mama" seems to be his favorite so far) and he is really changing from a baby to a big boy before our eyes. We hope he'll enjoy this new class, especially since it's where he'll be going to preschool this fall! Oh my.

As for Abby, she had a great accomplishment at school when she rode 47 laps in the annual trike-a-thon to raise money for pediatric cancer. In previous years, she had little interest in riding, but this year we are really proud of her for doing her part - and she raised $100 for the cause! Also, Abby's friend Clara just lost her first tooth, so we know that milestone isn't too far from us. I don't think I am quite ready for that yet, though!

No major news to report (yet) for dad, but we are hopeful for some news on the job front soon! In the meantime, we'll be enjoying our new nephew and our kids' accomplishments one day at a time.