To say that 2015 has been a year of change would be an understatement!  We’ve grown in number with the addition of Tristan, and then we started fresh in so many aspects of our lives. It feels like we’ve just been pegs in a crazy game, but it’s been a fun ride!

I’m sorry that it’s been so long since I’ve written. Things have been so busy since I went back to work full time in March, and I feel like I’m running some sort of marathon that has no end! But enough excuses…

The good news, is that most everything that has kept me running has been good stuff! We made the big move from Longmeadow, MA to Charlotte, NC. It was such a quick decision, and I can’t believe that we’re down here already! We began thinking about it back in May, and we talked to friends who were down here already, and decided it would be a good 5 year plan to target Charlotte. In June, the announcement was made that all of Matt’s organization was being transferred. Since we had already decided that it was in the cards for us, we jumped on it! With Camden beginning kindergarten this fall, it was the perfect time for us to move. I was fortunate that I was able to work from home for MassMutual until November, when I found a new position also at MetLife.

We put our Longmeadow house on the market the beginning of July and got an offer within 6 days. We then scheduled a trip down to Charlotte to find something new (queue the panic attacks about being homeless and living in a hotel with 3 kids!!!). Fortunately, we found a beautiful home and put in an offer that was accepted. We are down in Matthews, NC, just outside of Charlotte. There are kids everywhere, and everyone’s been super nice. But that could just be Southern hospitality.

The kids are settling in fairly well. Camden is in kindergarten. She goes to the public school right around the corner (we could walk there if we wanted to!), and is in a Spanish Immersion class. Her whole academic day is in Spanish, and she comes home each day with new words, phrases and songs that she has learned. She has made a new friend who lives down the street, and loves to ride the bus in the mornings.

Logan is having a harder time with the adjustments. He doesn’t like being a preschool where his big sister isn’t there. He doesn’t understand why he can’t go to the same school as Camden (he always has in the past… poor guy), but he’s adjusting. Finally by the end of October,  we didn’t have any tears at drop off. He  successfully potty trained so that he could graduate to the class with the 3 year olds. We’re so proud of how well he’s doing with the older kids.

Tristan is an awesome baby – just so mild mannered and always smiling. He’s such a happy guy. We can’t imagine our lives without him. This past week he turned eleven months, he has learned how to walk (in that cute, wobbly way). Watch out world – he’s into EVERYTHING!! He has 10 teeth already, weighs 22 lbs  at his last check up and is already wearing size 19 mos clothes. He’s a big boy, and is already so much larger than his siblings were at this same age! The biggest challenge has been that he had a series of ear infections. In October, he got tubes put into his ears, and that has alleviated the chronic ear infections, thankfully.

This past month, we relented and adopted two new cats, Emma & Fabula, because the kids missed Puma who passed away this summer.  We now have even more chaos and excitement as we settle in for a Charlotte Christmas.

That’s the biggest news for now.  We hope that 2016 will be slightly less eventful for us!  We’re tapped out.

Merry Christmas!!