The Last Four Weeks.......

have flown by. I cannot believe that summer is almost over!

September 12th marked our 29th wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been married that long but in some ways it feels like forever. We’ve been together since we were 16 years old which means ¾ of our lives! I sometimes look at Danny and remember the first time that I ever saw him pulling up in front of my house for our first (blind) date and remembering what that was like for me. He was the first person that I dated that had a car and a job….lol. I remember how scared we both were when we found out that I was pregnant. We had no business being parents at 17 years old and then again at 19, that’s for sure! My kids lives were a whirlwind of both of us trying to grow up and raise two kids the best we could with what we had. We made a lot of mistakes and probably now, look back and wish sometimes that we could do it all over again but it all worked out pretty well somehow. Looking back, I can’t believe we actually pulled it off!
I could never have imagined (in a MILLION years!) that we would be where we are today. I think about the same thing sometimes when I look at my family and especially the grandkids……I never could have imagined that we’d be so lucky to have such a grounded and close family with good morals and values. They are all great parents and hold staying close as a family, very important. What more can anyone ask for really? In my opinion, nothing!

Okay…..now for other updates:

Nolan is growing and changing every day. He’s already smiling (not gas smiles) and looks EXACTLY like his daddy when he smiles. Same dimple, same smile. He seems to be settling in pretty well and unlike his sister, has gotten used to a lot of noise pretty quickly. He loves being held and really loves his mother right now since she’s always got what he’s looking for. It’s pretty funny to see that he and Avery really don’t look anything alike (at least not right now). I guess we’ll see if that changes in the future.


Petros recently spent a night with us before preschool started for him. We had plans to go out to iHop for breakfast so that Petros could get some of those great looking strawberry topped pancakes with the whipped cream on top! He was so excited to go…… He woke us up (by jumping on the bed) at 6:20 and loudly announcing that it was 6:00 and time to get up. We were going to iHop!! He loved his pancakes and sausage but noticed on the way out that iHop had pumpkin pancakes!! Petros LOVES anything pumpkin L - Looks like we’ll have to take another trip back to sample the pumpkin pancakes soon. He is doing well in preschool and has been a really big help to the teachers and other classmates by helping some of the younger or newer kids with tasks that Petros already knows how to do. I think that he’s starting to figure out that school is going to be a permanent thing for him. He likes it but I think he’d be much more content staying home. After a long weekend, he’s finding excuses not to have to return to school this week. I’m sure that’ll change as time goes on and he gets into more of a routine.


Avery is continuing to adjust to life sharing everyone’s attention with Nolan. She loves her brother though and gives him hugs and kisses (while gritting her teeth) all of the time. She also spent the night with Nana and Papa recently and did a lot better than last time (only up until 9:00 pm instead of 10:30). She’s so smart and is now putting long sentences together. It’s amazing how quickly she has gone from being what we considered to be a baby, into a little girl. She plays very well by herself, which is a huge help to Melissa and Gavin when they need to take care of Nolan. Avery will turn 2 on September 26th! I cannot believe how fast time has flown. It feels like Petros and Avery have been with us for a looooonnnnngggg time.


We welcomed yet another baby into the family only 4 days after Nolan came along. Maya Isabelle was born on 8/13/09 weighing in at a healthy 9 lbs. 11 oz. – Stephen and Maggie are thrilled. She looks just like her father. We are all very happy for them. It’ll be interesting to see Stephen experiencing life with a little girl.

We took on an enormous weekend project of turning our office into the kids play room a couple of weeks ago! It’s amazing that an entire room was painted, a hardwood floor put in (thanks with a LOT of help from our son, Dan) and cubbies and walls were decorated in less than one week! The kids all love the room and it helps with toys being scattered throughout the house.

Life is busy and not always perfect.......but really good!!

Here's #3!

Nolan Rand Stone arrived on Sunday at 1:59 pm, weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs. 1 oz. He's 21 1/4 inches long.

After a strange night of labor for Melissa, he finally made his appearance! I don't think that Melissa is cut out for epidurals. Once again, she had issues with it not working as it was supposed to and had to work through the pain. I'm very proud of her. She did an awesome job! It almost killed me to watch it but I survived too!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We all think Nolan looks like Gavin. He certainly doesn't resemble Avery at all when she was born and since she is a clone of Melissa, I think it's safe to say that Nolan will look like his daddy.
Avery and Petros are pretty excited. Avery keeps getting up really close and gritting her teeth, all the while saying "Baby, baby!" This is different from other babies that she's met. I think she gets that this one is her baby "Lonan"......Life as she knew it is gone and now she'll have to share Mommy and Daddy. I'm sure that she'll adjust to her brother, well....It'll just take her some time.
Petros was adorable when he got to hold Nolan. He started to rock him from side to side. I asked him how he knew to do that with the baby and he told me: "I just watched Daddy." Deep thinker, that kid is! He was thinking about what he was going to do before he held the baby.
It's hard to believe that we are now grandparents to 3! I'm starting to feel like mid-life has finally hit. I'm not sure why it didn't feel that way before but there is something about having 3 grandchildren that makes it more real. Ummm....wait till #4 arrives!

Time Keeps On Ticking………………

Well, here we are, waiting for Nolan to join us. I guess he’s going to come when he gets good and ready and not when it’s convenient for anyone. I’m guessing that he’s going to be a pretty independent little guy anyway. My guess is that he’ll be much more active and demand a lot more attention than Avery did. I’m ready to give him all the attention that he’ll need as I’m sure both Melissa and Gavin are. We just want him to hurry up and come out so we can finally meet him! I’m really excited to see Avery with him since she’s been “hugging and kissing” baby Lonan (aka Nolan) for a long time now. She doesn’t have a clue as to what is about to happen but I know that she’ll be a very good big sister. Melissa’s pregnancy hasn’t been quite as easy this time around. Nolan likes to move around a LOT more than Avery did so Melissa hasn’t been sleeping very good but manages to sneak a few naps in with Avery now and then these days. I’m hoping that by the time I write my next blog, it’ll be full of pictures of our newest family member!

Next week will also mark the one year mark for one of the greatest loves of our lives to join our family, Petros Bekele Engelhardt! I still think about all of the people who loved and supported our family during the time when Dan and Tiffany were waiting to bring Petros home. It was a time in our lives that I will never forget. It seems like he’s been with us forever and I guess in some ways, he really has. Petros is so handsome, smart, sensitive and loving. I cannot think of another child his age that is as caring as Petros. I love him so much! Dan and Tiffany celebrated their Family Day yesterday, which was the 1 year anniversary of the day they met Petros, by taking him out for dinner. They went to a Mexican restaurant since they know that Petros loves spicy food. We’ll all be taking a trip to Funtown to celebrate. I’m sure he’ll love that! I also look forward to seeing Petros with Nolan. He says that he doesn’t want to hold him but I’m sure that will change as soon as he comes to the hospital to see him.

This past week/weekend........

was a pretty good one! On Thursday night, I went to see a play, "Always, Patsy Cline" with the Tuesday Night Supper Club girls (TNSC). While it wasn't as good as the same play that I'd seen in Austin, we still had a good time.

Petros visited his new preschool that he'll be going to in Portland on Thursday and loved it! He even participated in "Show and Tell" and showed everyone his watch. All of the kids loved it and said that they also wanted a watch. That made him feel pretty important! He'll start preschool on September 8th. He'll go 3 days one week and 2 the next. That should work out great for Tiffany's work schedule. Daddy will be dropping him off on his way to work in the morning and will be picking him up at night (that's IF Tiffany can stand to get out of work and not go pick him up herself!!)

On Saturday, Melissa, Avery and I went to the Carter's outlet to "make sure we hadn't missed anything for Nolan"......... That's always fun! When we ask Avery "Who goes shopping?" She says: "Nana, Mommy and Avery!". She's got that one down pat! The shirt she's wearing below was one of our purchases. CUTE! We enjoyed just hanging out at the house for the rest of the day and were surprised to see the sun pop out around 4:00. We took advantage and jumped in the pool.

I'm pretty impressed with Avery's knowledge of Beatles songs. Melissa sings verses to "In My Life" and Avery can finish the song all the way through! A girl after my own heart! She's a lot like her mother.....loves to sing. I remember when Melissa was growing up and on our endless rides from Naples to Portland and back home again, she'd sing the whole way......loudly! It's interesting to see how things come back around...LOL - I have a feeling that this one will too!

Danny and I went to dinner and then to a movie on Saturday night. That's pretty rare these days for us. We're hoping to plan a long weekend after Nolan comes to get away. Our 29th anniversary will be coming up in September so that's probably a perfect excuse.

We had a really good day on Sunday. I watched Petros for the afternoon while Tiff worked and Dan did his Big Brother duties. It was a gorgeous day! After lunch, Petros and I played in the pool for almost 4 hours!! (Nana got burned to a crisp!!)

Petros learned to swim under water without plugging his nose which was a pretty big deal for him. He also likes it when Daddy or Papa throw him up high in the pool and he goes under water........AH! my nerves!! He's come a LONG way since last year......check him out!

We ended the the weekend with an impromptu barbecue of hamburgers, hot dogs as well as salads and desserts. Dan, Tiffany, Petros, Gavin, Melissa, Avery, Felipe, Marcella, Sofia and Danny's parents joined us.

I had a really great weekend! I want more like these!

The countdown begins...........I'm getting soooo excited!

Our Summer (so far)

So far, it’s been a pretty wet and soggy summer. I’m really hoping that things start drying up. We’ve had a few good days to swim in the pool but haven’t been able to enjoy it as much as we have in the past. Petros has become a little fish this year. He enjoys being thrown and going under water. He knows that this makes Nana a little nervous and he yells to me to watch his new trick while his Daddy throws him and I have a small heart attack! Avery has graduated from the kiddy pool up on the side of the pool to jumping in (holding our hands) while being very careful not to get her face wet. This is pretty good progress for her since she didn’t want anything to do with the pool at the beginning of the summer. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that it was under 70 degrees!

We held a baby shower on June 14th for Melissa. We had a great turn out and the kids all had a great time watching and “helping” Melissa open the gifts. Melissa and Gavin received a lot of very nice gifts for Nolan. Avery was more interested in stealing strawberries from the food table that day!
Dan and Petros surprised Danny with tickets to a Red Sox game on Father’s Day! Despite a little rain, they had a really great time. They went to Addis Red Sea (an Ethiopian restaurant) for dinner. Petros can never get enough!!

We went to Storyland a few weeks ago and had a great time. I really wanted us to all go as a family because I had never taken my own kids. I’m not sure why since it was less than an hour away from the house that they grew up in. I’m sure it had to do with finances back then. The kids had so much fun! Petros was his usual dare devil self and Avery even went on a few of the rides even though Mommy thought she might be too little.

Dan, Tiffany and Petros went to Franklin Pierce College in Massachusetts this past weekend for an Ethiopian Culture Camp. They all had a fantastic time and said that it was a life changing experience for them. This is second of course to their trip to Ethiopia last year. I plan on going with them next year and am looking forward to it. I will also be tagging along when they go back to Ethiopia to bring a new sister home for Petros. Maybe next year??!!

We are eagerly waiting for the arrival of Mr. Nolan Rand Stone! It will be fun to have a new baby join our family. I look forward to seeing how Avery and Petros will react when they meet him. I’m sure Avery will be a great big sister and a big help to Mommy and Daddy. Melissa and Gavin are all ready for his arrival.

Wow!! We've really had a busy summer so far..............

I've decided to start blogging again so that my family and I will be able to look back at the memories from the past. What a great thing to be able to leave behind for future generations of my family to look back on one day, so they know who I am and what kind of person I was. The views on my blog are simply, my own. Whether people agree or disagree is not important to me. This blog belongs to me and it's a place that I will continue to share times in my life that mean something to me and will hopefully one day, mean something to my family.
Since joining the Facebook world, I've let my blog fall to the wayside. I much prefer this these days but of course I'll still maintain Facebook contact with everyone.
I've also decided to make it my own blog instead of both Danny & I. He likes to read it but quite honestly, I'm the only one writing it anyway!
My goal will be to write something once a week. Even if it's short. Let's see if I can keep this up!!

Here's what I've been doing instead of blogging............

Hanging out on Facebook more these days. I seem to be able to keep up more with everyone there. If you're reading this blog and don't have a Facebook account.....join! It's a lot of fun. Kind of addicting actually!

Working......a lot. For those of you who know where I work, you also know why I've been working sooooooooooooo much over the past several weeks.

I can't say I won't blog again but for now, I can only fit short amounts of time in on the computer.

Tuesday Nights........

I have never done a blog about my Tuesday night activity. For the past year, the five women pictured above (Peggy is missing in this photo) take turns meeting at each other's houses and playing cards. The person who hosts is usually in charge of dinner for the night. Everyone usually brings something to share, even though we always end up having WAY too much food. It's not about the cards or money though. It's been about getting together and laughing (a LOT) and just hanging out together. If someone had a video camera installed somewhere, we could honestly make a 30 minute comedy show every week. We are quite a cast of characters if I do say so myself and laugh from the time we all arrive until we leave for the night. Tiffany likes to call it "The Tuesday Night Supper Club." There have been a few weeks when I just did not feel like going but I always make myself do it since I don't do much else on my own. Those are always the weeks that end up being the most fun for some reason. We've done a couple of field trips also. An overnight trip to Boston which proved to be pretty interesting and fun and a very relaxing trip to Pauline's beautiful soon to be retirement home in Fryeburg. That was my favorite. The mountain views are unbelievable!
These ladies are all hysterical in their own way. We all get along great although Carolyn and Pauline (sisters) can keep us all quite entertained with their arguing. They could have their own comedy show!
Tuesday nights are the night that I look forward to the most every week. I love these ladies!

I wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year. I think that most of us are looking forward to the possibilities of things getting better in 2009 with the job, housing markets and overall economy.
I am also looking forward to SPRING already! Winter can be pretty at times but overall it stinks!
I wanted to post (after my birthday) about the great (surprise?)birthday party that my family pulled off for me on December 20th. It takes a lot to get something past me and to be honest, I cannot say that I didn't know something was up but I did not expect all of the people that came to be there. They went above and beyond and I am very thankful to them all. I honestly hate having a birthday so close to Christmas because I feel like it puts my family in a position to buy something at an already tough time of year. I got a lot of great gifts..... some that people drove for miles to get. LOL (Thanks Deidre and Dave) Here is a gift that I would not have expected in a million years:

I saw this on etsy.com and fell in love with it! It is rare these days for me to like something this much and I made it clear to Melissa and Danny that I LOVED this. I never, ever would have expected my family to all chip in and buy it for me. So....to my family and friends who went out of their way to make my birthday special this year:

I love you. Thank you all very much!