Manimals

Because they're not babies anymore.

 

Hoppy Easter Everyone!

Deadline

Happy Tacks Day... uhh Tax Day!
(Although I think these are officially called push pins.)

I Carry The Q-Tip Because I Can

Do you ever feel like you are walking down the street in your simple white dress, with your sprig of hair a little on the flat side, while carrying a giant q-tip for no reason, when an enormous hand reaches up and grabs you by where your ear would be if you had ears?

That is how I feel today. 

Wee Willie Winkie

Wilson is home and resting comfortably when he is not searching for vast piles of food which he is not supposed to feast on yet.

His surgery went well, his eyelids are now in the proper place, but still a bit swollen. His corneas were debrided and will hopefully now heal.

We will be putting ointment in his eyes twice a day until his follow-up visit four weeks from now.

For the moment, Wilson isn't quite as handsome as he normally is, but I was expecting him to look a lot worse when we were able to pick him up this afternoon, no weird collar or pirate eye patches.

He is in really good spirits and seems like himself. Hungry.

Domo Konnichiwa

I realized this morning that it has been almost a week since I last created an entry on our blog. It has been a busy week, but frankly in regards to the adoption we have no new news. (Which is fine right now, I seem to be in a very Zen-like state so it is truly not bothering me.) I have tried to think of funny stories, but nothing super funny has happened this week. I guess you could say it has been downright uneventful.

Wilson’s surgery is Monday, CCAA is very quiet right now, we had a little snow this week, but it has since melted, the sun is not shining, and we have adjusted to day-light savings time pretty well. I think that just about sums it up.

Now for a subject change… this is a definition from: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Domo-kun (どーもくん) is the mascot of Japan's NHK television station, appearing in several short stop-motion sketches. Domo-kun, a strange monster-like creature born from an egg, is short, fuzzy and brown with beady black eyes and an open mouth revealing pointy teeth. He lives in an underground cave with Usajii, a wise old rabbit, who loves to watch TV and drink astringent tea (in Japanese, "Usagi" = rabbit and "Oyaji" = older man). The name "Domo" was acquired during the second episode of his show in which a TV announcer said, "Domo Konnichiwa" (roughly translatable as "Hello indeed!"). Domo's favorite food is seasoned beef with potatoes and he has a strong dislike for apples (an unexplained mystery in his DNA). Domo is known to pass gas repeatedly when nervous or in a bad mood.

I love Domo.

I've Got Some Work To Do!

Dan's mom sent me some really great "photoshopped" pictures that she found. They are really cool... Mine seem to need a little more work!
Here are just a few of them. Enjoy.

My Mom Likes Stale Peeps

Well Peeps (that means people, Mom; not the creepy marshmallow things), the rumors were true and CCAA only matched LID dates of May 26 through May 30. That sounds bad. It sounds even worse when you hear that there were only three business days (and LID dates) during that time. Ouch. No one predicted that happening. It also means it is even harder to predict what will happen next. So… I guess we will wait. One thing I have heard many people say is, “You’ll do anything for your child.” If that means wait, we will wait. I believe it will happen sometime, I just have to be patient. (Which is easier said than done when you are well into your fourth trimester.)

I just hope that we will be signing her up for kindergarten rather than her AARP card.

On a brighter note, it gives me more time and fodder to post to my blog! (You know you love it.)

Me and Ruby McGee

Jenny, Don and Ruby came up to visit this weekend. During their visit Jenny made the comment that Ruby hasn't appeared in our blog yet.

I thought to myself, that is weird. I spend a lot of time with Ruby. Sometimes we are with Jenny and Don sometimes we are not. I am not even sure if Jenny and Don know just how much time Ruby and I spend together...

Perhaps I have been lackadaisical in my Ruby postings. Perhaps Jenny and Don don't think that Ruby and I get along well.

Maybe because I don't have a dog, Jenny and Don think that I am a weird "cat person".

To be honest, Ruby and I have been keeping our friendship on the down low. We didn't want to leave anyone out or hurt anybody's feelings.

Well, to everyone who is reading this, I love dogs. I love dogs very much and Ruby is one of my very good friends.

And if this doesn't prove it I don't know what does.

Ruby and I are cool like that.

Karen and Kevin's Inner Child

Karen and Kevin's inner child is a girl! Yippee! They already have good pictures of her on their blog. Even if you are not pregnant, you can still find out about your inner child by taking this quiz. The following results are mine... Your Inner Child Is Surprised

You see many things through the eyes of a child. Meaning, you're rarely cynical or jaded. You cherish all of the details in life. Easily fascinated, you enjoy experiencing new things.

How Is Your Inner Child?

I Caught You A Delicious Bass

Last week I received this sweet pen in the mail thanks to Karen and Kevin.
I caught you a delicious bass is one of my favorite quotes from the movie; as it turns out, it is also a website!

I am off to draw a liger* now with my sweet pen.

Deb: "What are you drawing?"
Napoleon: "A liger."
Deb: "What's a liger?"
Napoleon: "It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed. Bred for it's skills in magic."

Wilson Update: Eye Do Declare!

Wilson had his appointment with his prestigious doctor yesterday. His doctor was great, diagnosed him right away and made us feel better that Wilson will be fixed. (Well, he has already been fixed… I guess I should say repaired.)
Wilson is scheduled for a face-lift April 10th. We think he will look ten years younger.


We were considering having his nose done at the same time, but we thought THAT might look weird.

When Will I Get My Ass To China?

There is also a joke about a “slow boat..,” but I thought that would be too obvious.

Our adoption timeline is slowing down. There are some rumors, although not official, that are probably true and disappointing. Some agencies have gotten information that at the end of March, CCAA is going to match LID dates of May 26- May 30. (Not even May 31st) That leaves us not in this upcoming referral group and perhaps not even the next referral group; maybe even longer. We can’t even predict a worst case scenario because everything so far has been very unpredictable. For the past few months CCAA has been referring fewer and fewer LID dates. All we can do is wait and see. Travel in July is seeming like a better bet and unfortunately a lot more humid. Grrrr!

Does a Gummi Bear Poo in the Woods?

Sloppy Joe

Here is a short movie of Cubbie aka... SloppyJoe

Feeling Better

I am feeling a lot better today. Yesterday was a difficult day because it was the one week mark since Moby died. It was the first day of Spring which normally would cheer me up, but it had snowed the night before and was really cold out and if felt depressing. We also received Moby's ashes back. (I am not sure how happy she was to travel via UPS, but at least she is home now.)

Anyway... just to keep me busy, Wilson (our youngest and biggest cat) has developed eye ulcers. In both eyes. His eyelids are rolling inward into his eye and his lovely lashes are scratching his corneas. Yesterday (another reason for the icky day) I had to call the vet again to come out and see Wilson. Wilson has had many doctor appointments lately and has been on a multitude of drops, ointments, and pastes. The day after Moby died I had to give him drops in each eye every two hours. It was a little exhausting. The vet came over and tried to put in a kind of contact lens to protect Wilson's eyes but they wouldn't stay put so our vet has referred us to a specialist. Dr. Seth Koch.

I didn't know it at the time, but apparently Dr. Koch is the end-all be-all of animal eye docs. He works in Vermont on Mondays, then flies his own plane to Maryland and other areas throughout the week and then back to Vermont to take appointments again on Monday. Here is a little snipet of his bio page.

His patients have varied from guinea pigs to pandas (Hsing Hsing at the National Zoo in Washington, DC had a corneal ulcer which Doctor Koch operated on). He has operated on giraffes, elephants, sea lions, and other unusual animals as the ophthalmology consultant to the National Zoo. He has been featured on TNT; The Animal Planet, and a variety of other TV and Radio Programs.
His hobbies include, reading, the theatre, flying a small plane (he is an instrument rated private pilot) fly fishing, travel and continually never acting his age. He currently has 3 cats and a dog.
His knowledge of ophthalmology is second to none. In 30 years of ophthalmic practice, he has seen a great deal and looks forward to giving you his opinion and in so doing, hopefully be of some help to your pet.

This makes me feel good that Wilson will be in good hands next Monday. Dan has been very good not mentioning how much this will all co$t.

A reminder to those who have not checked out our People's Republic of China map (previous post), click on "comments" and choose your province. Harper is there somewhere and waiting, just like us.

Where in China is Harper Werme?

We are hoping that Harper's referral information is right around the corner. So we thought it would be fun to try to pick Harper's home province. Listed below are all of the provinces from which our agency has received referrals. The percentages shown are there to give you an idea of how frequently a referral occurs from that province.

Some quick hints: Our agency has not received referrals from Tibet, Taiwan, or Hong Kong therefore they have been excluded from the list. Traditionally more referrals originate from the southern provinces. Referrals from provinces with a less than 1% rate are generally "waiting children" which is a different program than the one that we are enrolled in.

So in order to place your guess please leave a comment on this post. If you choose the button labeled "other" it will alow you to type in your name which will post above your comment, instead of reading anonymous. Choose carefully, as only your first comment will count, no changes.

Each province can only be chosen once so get your votes in early!

Good Luck!

Anhui 7.18%
Beijing 0.68%
Chongqing 5.75%
Fujian 3.66%
Gansu 1.05%
Guangdong 16.40%
Guangxi 10.78%
Guizhou 0.90%
Hainan 0.17%
Hebei 0.11%
Heilongjiang 0.05%
Henan 0.30%
Hubei 8.86%
Hunan 17.58%
Inner Mongolia 0.06%
Jiangsu 3.43%
Jiangxi 14.07%
Jilin 0.17%
Liaoning 0.38%
Ningxia 0.06%
Qinghai 0.20%
Shaanxi 1.58%
Shandong 0.03%
Shanghai 0.14%
Shanxi 0.32%
Sichuan 0.53%
Tianjin 0.02%
Xinjiang 0.20%
Yunnan 1.88%
Zhejiang 3.51%

Baby Steps

Ok, first let me say this is not going to be one of the posts with witty comments and a funny picture. I am feeling very unwitty and unfunny right now, but I have something to say. The timing of Moby dying has been a challenge for me. Having her die before we meet Harper feels weird and bothers me; it feels like I had to trade Moby in for Harper. I know that is not how it actually works, but it still feels weird and I hate it. I know that our lives are going to change when we finally meet Harper, but having to adjust to this change right before really sucks. It feels like because the “Moby” door closed before the “Harper” door was opened that those two parts of my life will never be linked together. Moving on seems synonymous with leaving behind and it makes me hesitate to do so. I think a lot of people would like me to move forward and focus on Harper and I completely understand that, but it is not as easy to do. I will move on. I know that is how it works, but I can only do it with baby steps right now. I am looking forward to meeting Harper, but for the moment I am still a little sad.

Comments are not necessary, I know that you care. The next post regarding Harper’s whereabouts was created by Dan and he worked pretty hard on it and so it is important to me. I hope you will all enjoy it because it is pretty cool. And I am moving forward with little baby steps.

.......................................................

We are currently grieving over the lost of our long time companion, Moby. She left us Monday morning after almost 14 years. She had been with us for almost as long as Dan and I have been together. Moby was a beautiful cat, had a charming personality, and was fiercely loyal. She was one of a kind and we miss her dearly. We are really having a difficult time with this loss so we very kindly ask you to bear with us as we try to figure out this change in our family.

This picture was taken this past Christmas. It is a great picture of her and I feel lucky that she picked us for her family.

Parenting is a Juggling Act

I have to say this is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It could potentially give me nightmares, yet... I .. can't... seem... to turn... away...

Jenny and I used to play "Statue" when we were little; we were never this good.

Where In The World Is Harper Werme?

Here is a map of China that is on the wall of our adoption agency. On the map there are pins indicating which orphanages our adoption agency has previously received referrals from.

The large red markers show the orphanages from where the latest round of referrals were received.

We have no idea where we will be traveling until we get our referral. But it will be interesting!

Crap Shoot

We do not know if we will be included in the next group. This may be a long wait for us to find out. If we seem a little punchy at times that is probably way. It will happen when it will happen and we are a long for the ride. It is, as they say, a crap shoot.


The referral information for the last round was posted on our agency's website. Here are the stats.

Congratulations to the families who received their child match on Tuesday, February 28th! We received matches for families with 5/23/2005 LIDs. The CCAA posted that they matched through 5/25/2005. Included in this group were matches for Chinese descent families whose dossiers arrived at the CCAA in August and September 2005. There were 112 families matched with 114 children. We received all girls and two sets of twins! We have no information on the next group of matches. We will update this site when more information becomes available.

Babies Gone Wild: Babypalooza 2006!

Well, even more cool baby news! Jodi and Don are expecting, too!
Congratulations to them and their new development. From what I hear this newest addition should be arriving in September. We are really excited for them and can’t wait to hear more baby news.

I hope the stork gets time and half for his hard work...

Harper's Room

Interested in viewing Harper's room? Try using our video link here.
Just to let you know our other children with fur are not usually allowed in this room. It was a special occasion.

And While We Are Talking TV...

Dan's parents are big fans of HBO series The Sorpranos. The new season starts in March. In honor of that I have come up with our new "family" names. I will be known as Cookie Gorgonzola and now that Dan is a made man, his name will be Jimmy Sticks. (Oddly enough after I googled "Jimmy Sticks" I got a few hits so I think he is... or was a real guy. I am still making Dan use the name though. I already made a Jimmy Sticks playlist on my iPod.)

I know what you are all thinking. "Bored much, Cookie?" The answer is, yes.

The Office

I am really loving TheOffice this season. Lisa sent me this link to an Ellen DeGeneres interview with John Krasinski & Rainn Wilson. Check it out if you are interested. (It is a nice distraction while waiting for news.)

Rumor has it...

Referrals have been mailed and the unofficial word is that they will include log-in-dates through May 25th. We may or may not be in the next batch. We will wait to find out. (My sarcastic side said "wait" with a bit of attitude so as you read this please add a hint of mockery to your voice.) (...an eyebrow raise would also be appropriate.)

Update: Still Nothing New

Perhaps soon we will be making more headlines than a corduroy pillow, but until then... squat is the word of the day.

A Clean Sweep... well, vacuum anyway.

This is Wilson. He will stalk dogs, growls at the UPS man, but is really good friends with the vacuum cleaner.
If only I could teach him to use it...

Share Video at DropShots.com

Fling Poo

I found a blog out there from a couple who are in China now to adopt their daughter. They are really funny and we are following their journey. If anyone is curious, I have added their blog to my "Links" section.

(Just a note that I have no idea who these people are and I am getting a little voyeuristic pleasure from 'observing' them. Is this wrong? I like to think of it as scientific rather than stalking.)

Ahh, That New Baby Smell.

Well, the mystery is solved. On Wednesday, February 1st "The Bump" was born and she is a beautiful girl named Elliana Cora Del Negro.

Personally I have pretty much thought that newborns were odd, wrinkly, E.T.-ish, creatures and when people said how cute they were I kind of thought to myself, well I guess if that is what you like... However, I do have to admit that Ellie is not one of these strange, peculiar babies, she is quite lovely and hardly wrinkly at all!

Andy and Kristin don't look too bad themselves! Considering what they just endured I think they look pretty damn good. (They are not wrinkly either.)

Congratulations!

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Happy Lunar (Chinese) New Year!

Today marks the first day of the Year of the Dog.

As expected the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) released the latest round of adoption referrals last week. They were recieved on Friday. Those with Log in Dates (LID) of May 12, 2005 and earlier have been matched with their children. Our LID is only 33 days away, June 15, 2005. We are hoping that we will recieve our match at the end of March. There should be one more match before then at the end of February. Though we can always hope that CCAA comes back from their week long Lunar New Year holiday and matches a big group that includes us, but that appears very unlikely. So don't get to excited (especially you Sue).

This lastest round included many younger referrals. Many children were 7, 8, & 9 months old. Some think that due to larger than usual international adoptions occurring recently that the children being matched are going to be younger. Remember that it can take upto 9 weeks after referral to travel, so these children could be 9, 10 & 11 months old by the time they come home.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Korea vs. Chuck Norris

Attention: Senior Minister of Information Don
(For the innocent who may be confused by this, please refer to the comment to our post titled "Infamous Guest".)

We have found out your true identity. You are not part of the Korean Ministry at all. You are the Senior Minister of Information on Chuck Norris. Naturally, we bow down in your honor.
http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/index.html

In a fight between Batman and Darth Vader, the winner would be Chuck Norris.

Some people wear Superman pajamas. Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas.

Pandas are Sweet!

Although giant pandas will eat a large variety of plants, the overwhelming bulk of their diet, over 99%, consists of bamboo leaves, stems and shoots. Over fifteen different varieties of bamboo grow within the region.
Because of the giant panda's still quite inefficient intestinal system, it must eat great amounts of bamboo each day in order to get sufficient nutrition to survive. Feeding for 12 to 16 hours each day, giant pandas will consume 10 to 18 kilograms (22 to 40 pounds) of bamboo leaves and stems. When consuming fresh bamboo shoots, the necessary intake rises to approximately 38 kilograms (84 pounds) each day.

This is pretty impressive eating skills for a Giant Panda, although we have been witness to Don's Thanksgiving Day meal which makes 84 pounds of bamboo look like a side salad. It really is a sight to behold.

Infamous Guest

Our wait has seemed lengthy at times, but we are grateful that we were not in Guangzhou this weekend. There is a very good chance that we will stay at the White Swan Hotel during our trip to China. After reading this news article, I wonder how other adoptive parents handled things this weekend... Creepy!


Kim Jong Il Turns Up in Southern China
LAST UPDATE: 1/13/2006 8:00:40 AM

United Press International
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is visiting China's southern province of Guangdong for a look at the region's booming development, local reports said Friday.
Kim spent Thursday in the provincial capital of Guangzhou, the South China Morning Post reported, describing a convoy of limousines, minibuses and police cars that arrived at the city's luxury White Swan Hotel after all guests were ordered to leave.
A hotel spokesman said the hotel's 843 rooms and all its dining establishments had been reserved until Monday.
Foreign media have given conflicting reports as to Kim's whereabouts since his private armored train entered China early Tuesday. The most likely scenario had him traveling to Shanghai, then on to the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
China has long tried to encourage North Korea to copy its economic reforms, as the country has become increasingly reliant on China for food and energy.
Kim is likely to stop in Beijing for talks with President Hu Jintao before returning home. His agenda is thought to include asking China to pressure the United States to lift sanctions on North Korean companies.
Chinese media have not mentioned the trip. The last time Kim visited China, in April 2004, the visit was not reported until after he returned to Pyongyang.

Ultrasound Picture

There has been a lot of new baby news so far this year and we thought we would share with you our ultrasound picture. Enjoy!

The "Bonus" Round of Referral News

This is the latest information our adoption agency has given us for the most recent round of referrals.

Congratulations to the families who received their child match on Thursday, January 5th! We received matches for families with 4/15/2005-4/24/2005 LIDs. There were 31 families matched with 33 children as we had two set of twins! We received 2 boys for families who requested a boy or no preference. We received 5 matches for expedited/Chinese descent families with LIDs in July 2005

There is speculation on when the next round will occur. Some people have thought that CCAA would like to get another bunch of referrals sent out before Chinese New Year which is January 29th. We are hoping that they will match 4 weeks of LID dates which will bring us closer to our referral.

...And Now For The Surprises!

We wish to congratulate Karen and Kevin (Dan's sister) on their engagement!! We are very excited for both of you, it was a wonderful Christmas surprise. (Secretly we had been doing some reconnaissance missions to try and find out when the actual deployment of "the ring" would take place and Christmas seemed like a possibility.) We had been patiently waiting for that news and now it has finally arrived! A big congratulations!!!

And while we are on the subject of things arriving... We would also like to thank Karen and Kevin for providing Harper with a cousin! Yes, Karen and Kevin are expecting and we are thrilled for them. (Our reconnaissance was non-existent in this area, and thankfully so, it would have been highly inappropriate to be there for that deployment...) Congratulations again!

What a busy year this will be! Andy and Kristin will be changing their "bump" to baby status, Karen and Kevin will be growing their own "bump" and perhaps late winter or early spring we will finally be "bumping" into Harper!

Now, about this rumor mill... You people are crazy! We will have news, sometime. I promise I will let you all know anything that we find out. Perhaps it will be one, perhaps it will be two, perhaps it will be the greatest ping pong player in the world, but you will all just need to be patient and relax. Mom, this means you.

Happy 2006 to everyone!

Love,
Dan and Janet

A New Year

I hope the first few days of 2006 have been good to all of you. We had a great Christmas. We spent time with a lot of family, ate a lot of food and had a wonderful time. We were also let in on a couple of very cool surprises. (More to follow on that later.)

Things have seemed busy around here lately, not really sure why, but it has taken us a little while to get back to a normal post-holiday routine. I am not sure if it has anything to do with how much food we ate, the bleak cold weather, or how very dark it is in the morning and early afternoon. Anyway, we are chugging along just a little slower lately.

A "bonus" round of referrals left China at the end of December and new families got word of it this week. People are calling this a bonus round because December did have a batch of referral sent previously at the beginning of the month and these were a few extra to close out the year. I think now the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) has now matched everyone with a DTC of April 25th. Everyone is feeling hopeful that perhaps CCAA will begin matching full months again now that it is a new year. If January had another round of referrals that matched the last few days of April with most of May, there would be a good chance that we could have a referral in February. Of course it may not happen like this, but I would like to be a bit optimistic. (I also don't want to wait too long to travel. It has been said that Guangzhou in July is a nightmare. It is hotter and more humid than anyone can possibly imagine and if we are able to travel in March or April we miss a lot of Vermont's infamous mud season. To me that seems like a win-win situation.)

I don't have any new stats yet on how many families from our agency were matched, but I will post that information when I find out. I will also elaborate on the surprises once we get permission to post.

Happy New Year! May 2006 be happy and healthy for all.

Matching Room

These are pictures from a website that showed what the "Matching Room" in China looks like. This is a caption of one of the pictures:

Many parents also envision a small room with limited staff in the "Matching Room". Actually, the room is quite vast with a staff of almost twenty workers. It is a very warm and inviting room and all the staff were quite gracious and extremely proud of their work. The task is, however, quite daunting when you see the volume of dossiers that they work with. Interestingly, they take their time being quite meticulous with every single file of the parents and the children to ensure a perfect match. And as is easily attested by virtually every parent who has adopted from China: they have done just that.

Latest Referral News

Our timeline has started to slow down a bit. However our adoption agency just received a new batch of referrals last Friday. This is what their updated web site said, remembering that we have a 6/15/2005 LID (log in date).

Congratulations to the families who received their child match on Friday, December 9th! We received matches for families with 4/1/2005-4/14/2005 LIDs. There were 48 families matched with 49 children as we had one set of twins! We received 2 boys for families who requested boys.
The April families who received their matches on Friday were on an 8 month timeline. The remaining April families who will be matched in January will be 9 months from LID.
For the foreseeable future, it appears that the referral timeline might be in the range of 9 – 10 months from LID (log in date) to child match. We will keep our CCAI families posted as soon as we are able to confirm any timelines changes or receive official notice from the CCAA (www.china-ccaa.org).

According to CCAA's website (China Center of Adoption Affairs), The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with their office in May 2005. That means our June documents are now in the review room. Once finished in the review room our documents (dossier) are moved to the match room where they decide on which child will become part of each family.

That is the exciting room.

Finished!

Happy Festivus!

Mother in the Making?

Nice loaf!

I never thought I would see the day, but wonders never cease...Janet baked! As you can see it looks good. It's not burnt, it's not raw, and most impressively no fire alarms were sounded during the cooking of this loaf (which is a very rare feat for Janet when using the stove/oven).

This wasn't even on a whim or at my request. Yesterday she went to the store bought all of the ingredients, including the pan and went to work this morning. I'm so impressed!

The bread is still cooling so I haven't tasted it yet. I thought that I should post while I had only positive things to write. In a few minutes I will try the first slice. If this is the last you hear from me you'll l know what to tell the authorities. Wish me luck!

Christmas Tree

For those of you who have not put up your Christmas tree yet, to you I say... Slackers! We have our tree up and if it was up to Dan it would have been up since August. He is the tallest damn Christmas elf I have ever seen!
Stay tuned for future pictures of our Christmas in Vermont.

Family

A week from yesterday we spent the afternoon at Edna and Vic's catching up with family. Instead of frenzied shopping nightmares on Black Friday, we spent a sunny afternoon with some family we don't get to see very often.

Jodi and Don were back from their intense insurance work in Florida and they look great. Working hard in a warm climate seems to agree with them.

Andy and Kristin were home from Washington with their "bun in the oven." Kristin makes pregnancy look easy and it is clear that Andy will be a great dad.

The Welchs were also there, Jim and Diane with their adorable Victoria. Diane has lots of advice for us and Victoria is obviously thriving. We missed Kaela, but Jim was home for a break from his worldly travels.

Joan, Brenda, Zach and Alex arrived and Brenda is letting me borrow a crib. Thanks, Brenda! I can't believe how grown-up Zach and Alex are. Pretty soon Bob, Zach and Alex will all be the same height and they will look like the Three Muskateers.

We spent time with Anne and Grandma, and Grandma has let us know that she will be with Sue (my mom) for Christmas and she is ready to head out at any time. Look out Vermont!

My parents were there and Jenny, Don and Ruby arrived from Rhode Island. The following day we all played miniature golf and went to a movie for Jenny's birthday. Well, except for Ruby since she is a dog. Lovable, yes... but still a dog.

We were still missing a few key faces, and you know who you are! But hopefully we will catch up with you at Christmas! Kaela... Lori... Roger... Bob.... Rob... Nancy... Taylor... Madison...

I know this time of year can get really crazy, but Friday was really enjoyable to us and after seeing Dan's family for Thanksgiving and all of you the next day, we were feeling very thankful. Thank you for being our family. We are very lucky.
Peace and love to all.