Obviously we finished up last school and we have started another one. Only a couple weeks from fall break now! We celebrated Annette's first birthday in April with a dinner of chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, and ice cream cake. Almost all family members from both sides were able to come celebrate. She got her very first baby doll from Mommy and Daddy and it has gone everywhere with her ever since. Sometimes she likes bringing other toys with her, but baby us always one of them. When she grows up she is going to be a mommy. I don't know if she'll be anything else, too, but she's ready to be a mommy now. Every time we tell her it's time to leave she goes looking for her baby. She needs to work on how she holds that baby sometimes, though.
Our summer went by too fast. I almost worked the afternoons at the theater in June and July but in late April I decided I wanted to stay home with Annette for the summer. So we had lots of fun while Abram worked full time. We did get to go on a little vacation to Utah in late July and that was fun. We headed up there for a family reunion for Abram's mom's family. I really enjoyed getting to know that part of the family. By the time we got home, Annette was so excited to sleep in her crib again and not the pack n play. She was pretty sick of riding in the car, too.
We did get to experience two things this summer; one that I didn't mind that much and wouldn't mind happening again, and one that I hoped never would and never will again. In late June we found out we had a surprise pregnancy. I was already several weeks along and although I had some big plans I was trying to put in place for the school year right at the time I was now due, I quickly adjusted them and we were very excited. Just 5 weeks later in early August, a few days after returning from our vacation, I miscarried that pregnancy. Even though the pregnancy was a surprise, we were still devastated. Within a couple days we did become very grateful for the experience and were thankful that circumstances had worked in our favor to make the experience less devastating than it could have been. We were thankful it wasn't our first pregnancy, we hadn't worked months for it, and we did not yet know the gender. We are excited for the opportunity to try for a little brother or sister for Annette when we are ready, though, in the near future.
My school year is shaping up really well. I love my new schedule with four orchestras in a row, and then two theatre classes in the afternoon. One of those classes is technical theatre so I finally have a dedicated group of people to do lighting, sound, costume, and set design. They are helping me to be so much more organized. My other theatre class is an acting class. Our new choir teacher is phenomenal and the kids really enjoy him.
Abram is back to school with a full schedule and working three days a week. He seems to be doing fine but has to work extra hard in his Physics class. He recently got his 1976 Suburban back to our house so he could work on it and has since gutted out the insides.
Annette is approaching 18 months in October and is the joy of our lives. Her language skills are incredible.For quite a few months she's been saying full sentences like "where's the puppy?" "where's the baby?" and "where'd it go?" She has started to be able to communicate just about everything she wants with words. She knows that "up" and "down" go together and what it means to be stuck. I took her to a volleyball game at school last week and she kept pointing to the court yelling "ball!" and in between plays she'd look around, shrug her shoulders and say "where'd it go?" She just loves her cousin Kingston, who is 7 months older than her. They play together at Grandma's at least twice a week while their mommies are at work. Every time she sees him she giggles in delight. She loves books and baths and playing with toys. We were quite impressed recently when she asked for our friend, Ciara, by name. She never ceases to amaze us with the new things she learns each day. Watching children grow is an incredible and rewarding experience.
That about sums up what's been going on in our lives. So to finish, here are some family pictures taken by our lovely sister-in-law, Lindsey, while we were in Utah in July.
