Michael Goes to Preschool

Michael is now officially a preschooler! Thankfully, he just outgrew the phase of prolonged crying at Nicole's departure, and was therefore deemed developmentally prepared for the rigors of preschool curriculum. As such, we'd like to say he came home happy and unscathed, but instead we'll just say that he came home happy (as he got quite a scratch during a brief altercation over a coveted toy...).

While there, Michael must have been part of the preschool crowd's discussion of "in" items, and has since decided that he must, absolutely must, have some spiderman underwear. Hmmm. Some real excitement is in our future.

In addition to honing his social skills, Michael has also been perfecting his talents in physical comedy. He plays to an easy crowd at home - Nicole and Jax think he is hilarious.

Our Long Vacation Out West

In August Nicole and the kids flew out to Utah for an extended vacation with family. It was great! We spent long, lazy days playing in the backyard - "watering" the sandbox, sliding down grandpa's death slide (!), climbing up ladders, riding cousin Gavin's hand-me-down "motorbike" and playing in the tree house.

The highlight of the trip was spending so much uninterrupted time with our family. On many evenings we'd all talk together in the kitchen for hours, just like old times (though, with a slightly reduced number of people, the decibal level was lower...). Chris and Gavin joined us often, and Michael had such fun with his cousin! Nicole also introduced everybody to her favorite Canadian tween show, "Strange Days at Blake Holsey High," and watched it each night to see how Josie and the gang were faring.

Jax met her namesake for the first time, and they really took to each other. Nicole's grandmother spent many hours answering all sorts of questions about her life so that we can develop a name book for Jax. We learned so many great things! We made some progress on the book, and we're looking forward to continuing the "work" when Nicole heads back to the area in December.

Beach Vacation

During the last week of July we all headed down to North Carolina for our traditional week-long beach getaway. We all climbed aboard Mel and Cherry's SUV and headed for summer fun! Many waves, splashes, beach walks, all-you-can-eat dinners, and even visits from Mel and Cherry's friends the Latins (along with a few things we don't like to mention - such as Michael's eye abrasion and subsequent visit to the Urgent Care facility) we packed up and went home.

A Visit from Family

We enjoyed almost three weeks of vacation with Nicole's sister, Cari, and her two little boys. Cari's husband Jess was also able to sneak away from his training program and join us on the weekends. During their time here we had a great time, and developed a new theory for family vacations: they must be longer than one week.

Our first week was fun, but very stressful as the kids got used to each other, got sick, got each other sick, woke up several times a night, woke the others up several times a night, and through it all made enough noise to throw the lower-level neighbor into fits of barely-controled rage.

But, thankfully, Cari and her family stayed and we all enjoyed a fabulous vacation together. We developed a great system for site-seeing that worked well for the kids. We'd go visit a museum or park in the morning, get home in time for lunch and naps in the afternoon, and then hang out or do some low-stress activity in the afternoon. We all had a great time and were sorry to see them leave. We definitely need to keep this tradition alive!

Jax Comes to Join Us

Seven years of marriage! Where did the time go? Somehow we've managed to fly through seven years, celebrate Michael's second birthday, and...

Welcome Jacqueline into our lives! Jax was born on April 13 and weighed in at 7 pounds, 9 ounces. Our lovely little girl is named after Nicole's grandmother, and she has been an absolute joy. Michael adores her and, when he notices that mom isn't carrying his sister, asks with concern, "Jax?!"

Our family has been very blessed with such wonderful spirits and lots of love.

Our First Year with Michael

Our sixth year together went by so quickly! Jonathan finished his two-year call-up duty with the Reserves and was able to (at last!) begin preparations for his Masters program. Michael celebrated his first birthday and was introduced to all sorts of yummy milk-based foods. And Nicole played with Michael while continuing her work as a consultant for a few hours each week.

Life Changes

2005 brought many changes. First, Nicole started consulting. Jonathan joined her at one work location in New Orleans for a mini-trip. Our vacation in Louisiana was well timed as Hurricane Katrina devastated the area soon after. In this picture Nicole tries to smile although every feminist tendency she has ever harbored was offended by the no-apologies testosterone of Bourbon Street (Jonathan doesn't appear too bothered...)

Other big news of 2005: Nicole graduated with honors as a Master of Human Performance Systems, with a certificate in Organizational Development. She received her diploma on May 8, 2005, and avoided the stifling heat of the day, which the other graduates had to endure for an hour as they waited outside for the graduation ceremony to begin, through her use of a wheelchair and disability seating. Although otherwise healthy, this was a requirement for Nicole because (drumroll please)...

Michael was on his way! Michael was due on Nicole's graduation day but, very consciensciously, waited until the next week to arrive at a healthy 8 pounds, 6 ounces. We stayed at the hospital for the full three days a c-section allows, and then brough home the cutest little baby we'd ever seen. We had several health scares with him. Heart problems - which weren't really a problem; strange masses in his chest scans - which weren't really a problem (or even real, for that matter); and Galactosemia - which was real, but Michael (thankfully) has the Duarte variant, a much more manageable metabolic issue.

Throughout the rest of this year we just enjoyed our new little family, spending time together and with relatives.