The fact that a month has passed since my last post is only an indicator of how difficult it is to get a moment to myself these days. Nonetheless, all is going well. Joe is five years old today! I'm finding that really hard to believe. He's very excited about this milestone. We don't have a big party planned, but we got him a couple fun gifts, and I made some cupcakes and ordered some soy ice-cream sandwiches through our co-op. So, we'll spend a nice day with friends and make a big deal of the birthday boy.
November went by in a blur. We continued our tradition of going to the Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary for their annual "Thanksgiving with the Turkey's" event. It's a huge potluck of some of the best vegan food I've ever had. And, then we get to spend the afternoon visiting with the resculed animals on the farm. The weather warmed up just enough to be comfortable, and we all had a great time. Of course, the kids fought over who was going to sit next to the baby for the drive down there, and we almost didn't get out of the driveway. But, once we got there, all went well. Toting Zofia along this year made it a little more tiring for me, but I enjoyed it.
Zofia had her three month old check-up on November 19th. She was up to 13 pounds, 4 ounces from her birth weight of 6 pounds, 8 ounces. So it’s good to know she’s growing well.
Thanksgiving was spent quietly at home. We made a simple dinner including some of our favorites, like sweet potato, green bean casserole and various cranberry accents.
The rest of November went by in a blur. Towards the end, I hosted a baby shower for my friend, Jessica, who is due to have a baby boy in January. Our friend, Jen, came down from New Jersey (she moved there last year) to attend, and ended up staying with us for the weekend, since Jessica was short on space with her mom visiting. So, it was nice to socialize and connect with friends, but I'm sure finding that socializing is become more of a challenge these days. Sometimes it's a toss up between accepting an invitation and wanting to go to bed early!
So, here we are, already well into December and the holiday season. We hope to enjoy this time and are looking forward to the New Year, too. Darren's been told that he should be working at home soon (crossing our fingers), so that's something to be hopeful about. And in February, Darren's friend, Alex, is planning to come visit from Italy. The last time he visited us was when Joe was six weeks old. We also have an array of fun new activities coming up for the kids with their homeschooling groups. We're just enjoying the ride!