All Sorts of News

1) Most have heard by now... but in case I haven't spread the news well enough... We went ahead and found out the gender of our baby this time and another BOY is on his way! He doesn't have an official name yet and I have put Michael in charge of choosing (while maintaining a healthy dose of veto power), so if you have any suggestions, send them our way. A couple of our favorites have been Hector (Hector Hartshorn--nice ring!) and Plaxico.

2) Most have heard this information by now too, I assume, but we found out a few weeks ago that Michael passed his eighth exam! This is eight passes in a row with NO do-overs (very uncommon--I am so proud of my husby!)... and equally as exciting: just ONE exam left!! He'll sit for the ninth in May. If he passes, he will be a fellow (FCAS, if that means anything to anybody out there) and will not have to take any more tests--very hard to imagine. I am very grateful for his dedication, efficient studying, and I suppose his intelligence too :)

3) William is learning to read and this past Saturday read his first four sentences ALL on his own (by sounding out the words): Zac had a pan. Zac had a fan. The ants ran and ran. Zac had a nap.

We are very proud of him! He is such an eager (somewhat obsessive??) learner which has had me concerned at various points in his short life, but he is "normal"--or so say the professionals! He's very excited about learning to read and pleased with his successes. It's very cute. We're teaching him phonetically, which I am really enjoying... I never imagined I'd have an opinion on the various methods of teaching a child to read (or even knew there was more than one way), but I have definitely developed one. It's great! I'm not sick of Zac yet, but I'm getting there.....

4) Today we bought a new car! It will hold all three carseats and is not a minivan. Success!

5) Including myself, I know 24 pregnant girls expecting babies between now and July. Our friends Sarah and Ed are expecting twins, which makes for 25 babies!

That's all the news I can think of for now. I hope to post again before another 3+ weeks pass!


Here are some pictures of William showering Findlay with affection. They're developing quite a little team -- I hope they're willing to make room for their little brother, Plaxico (just trying it out).

William with Serenity (my good friend Erin's four year old daughter). They play well together, especially once William warms up. Here are a couple links to pictures of the two of them when they were a bit younger: July 08 and August 07

Findlay -- ready for bed (look at that gut!)

Skinny Finney (but he continues to gain! Like William, his appetite is amazing... his rate of gain is very unimpressive compared to his appetite, but at least he is moving upward... and finally is mostly out of 3-6 month clothing!)