Happy 2016

Nora and Joe under the Christmas tree

We finally got through 2015, which was a pretty long and painful year for us personally.  We've been dealing with housing issues, which are looking to finally come to an end when we move for the 3rd time in a year at the end of this month.  We also dealt with some deaths in the family and me working a significant amount of overtime, which ended with the turnover to 2016, and we're looking forward to some stability here now that I'll be home soon.  We're moving into a new townhouse in a few weeks that is just a mile or so down the road from my work.  The hope is that I'll be home a lot more being so close to work and that I'll finally get some good exercise in every day since I'll be able to walk.

This weekend we're going on a much-needed vacation-a Caribbean cruise that I can't wait to take the kids on.  Joe's old enough to enjoy the on-board kids activities and understand some of the outdoor excursions we hope to take and Nora is old enough to put her in the nursery so we can have a little time to ourselves.

As far as development for the kids goes, both of them have been off the charts since my last entry.  Joe is reading quite a bit now and can read some simpler books on his own with very little help from us.  He also loves reading signs, especially what he calls 'no' signs, and is always asking us to read and explain what things say for him.  He also has been doing very well with Nora and is very affectionate with her, and loves giving her hugs and making her laugh and smile.

Nora is sitting up on her own now and is getting ready to pop her top teeth any day.  She eats a lot of different foods: guacamole, sweet potato fries, banana, and hummus are just some she's had in the last day or so.  She has started to learn to sign for 'up', 'more', and 'yummy' and loves smiling and laughing with us.  The teething has been a bit much for her lately and we've had some late nights with it, but overall she's been wonderful and I'm glad to see her getting to the point where she's about ready to crawl.