Blake, Tiffanie, Emery, Everett, and Delaney: Christmas 2017

Oh wow, what a year!

Our year began with our tenth wedding anniversary in January. Emery spent the day with Gramma and Grandpa, and Blake and I went to a long lunch and a walk together.

At the end of January, we decided not to renew the lease (ending Mar 31) at our townhome where we'd lived for over 4 years. We wanted more space and more specifically, a school for Emery that was closer to my office.

What we didn't know when we declined the lease renewal was that about five days later, we'd find out we were expecting! We were completely shocked to find out that after years of hoping and praying and failing to conceive, we were expecting a little miracle in October. At the end of May, we found out we were having a boy!

In March, we found a larger townhome close to my office in the neighborhood we preferred, and we moved. Also in March, our beloved daycare provider, Mrs. Diana, and her husband sold their home and made plans to move to Kentucky to live near their grandchildren. We found a school not far from our new home where Emery joined a junior kindergarten class. The downside was that they were doing the pre-K curriculum she'd already done a year previously - they were still learning letters and letter sounds, while Emery was already blending sounds and reading books. But she met new friends, several of whom also go to her elementary school now.

In May, Blake oversaw a graduation reception for 1,000 people (students and parents). He and Emery also convinced me to go canoeing on Pohick Bay one afternoon.

Ocean City, MD

Emery loves flags!

We headed to the beach over the fourth of July weekend and despite the crowds, we enjoyed our time in the sun and sand. We also visited beautiful Assateague Island, known for its native horses.

Assateague Island

In August, Emery started kindergarten at the public school in our neighborhood. She is well ahead of her classmates in reading level. The teacher told us they want kindergarteners to be at a minimum of a level 4 at the end of the year and in the fall, she's already at a level 14. For example, while reading with Blake, she easily reads words like, "scrumptious" and "enthusiastic" at our nightly story time, yet her class' sight words are as simple as "I, a, is, on, can." Thankfully, she and one other girl from class are pulled out for extra reading time.

On October 10th, our sweet Everett Matthew arrived! We're over the moon for this adorable little guy. He looks a lot like Emery and we're totally surprised that his hair is even a little red too - perhaps not as red as Emery's - but definitely strawberry blond/brown. How in the world!? His eyes are much darker and though they're still that newborn dark blue/gray, we think they may end up brown. Emery's were always light blue and stayed that way.

Everett is a fiery, demanding little guy. We've had our challenges with feeding and reflux and lots and lots of crying. We're hoping to continue to figure him out and help him as best we can. When he isn't crying, he's a sweet little guy who likes to stare into your eyes, smile and coo, and keep track of his sister. He loves her, and her presence - which is often very very close and smothering - makes him happy (most of the time!). She checks on him constantly, and even if he's drifting off to sleep with his eyes partially open, when she sees open eyes, she declares "he's awake!" which she thinks means she can play with him. It's hard to convince a five year old that partially open eyes aren't an invitation to play. But (most of the time) I have to figure that waking him up is not the end of the world (though some days it feels like it!), and her heart is in the right place. We look forward to watching them together as they both get bigger.

We are adjusting to our new family of four. We're amazed at how much has changed since last year - so much that we couldn't have imagined.

We're looking forward to 2018, hoping for some open doors for our family. We hope with anticipation and hopefully a little patience as we wait.

Thank you for your friendship, love, and prayers. We're grateful for our friends and family.

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him... he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." Romans 4:18-21

May we have such faith!

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Here are some more snapshots from this year: