It's been a while... Let's get you all caught up.

To be honest, the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019 has been a bit of a roller coaster for our little family. We've seen some pretty low times recently, but as a family unit, we have only grown stronger. We really started to understand Murphy's Law during this time. So, due to all of the challenges that we have been confronted with these past 5 or so months, we've had to take some time to breathe and focus on our family.

In order to best update you all and keep my emotions properly checked I'm going to bullet this list. I'm going to keep the rambling to a minimum.

1. In September, Seth, Fermi, and myself had to say goodbye to our little Queen Beans. Tesla was our little Russian Blue cat boss. She ran our household with an iron paw. 😜 Tesla started refusing food and water and was later found to have inoperable cancer of her abdomen. To say we were devastated barely describes the situation. Tesla was often our "glue". She always reminded us that the best things in life included snuggling on the couch and napping. We miss her every day. 
   
2. Despite grieving our loss, October arrived and we all enjoyed a wonderful Fall. October is our favorite month and Halloween is probably our favorite holiday. Seth showed his epic creativity and put on a great Halloween show for the neighborhood! 👻💀 We even wrote a post about it! Catch up here:  Halloween Blog Post!
3. November was quiet and that was much needed to prepare for our December. My parents and brother were able to make the trip down to Philly to come spend a few days with us at Thanksgiving. It was a really relaxing and happy time for us all! 👪💖 We played a bunch of games and watched a lot of Lifetime/Hallmark movies. Rather, my mom watched the movies and we all napped. 😂
4. As most know, I was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma as a child. Up until December 2018, I had experienced three surgeries on my left eye (2 months old, 3 years old, and 5 years old). Following my last surgery when I was 5, my left eye has been a rock star! No medication and the pressure is low. However, the pressure in my right eye could no longer be controlled with eye drops. (At the time I was on 4 different eye drops 3 times per day). On December 4th, I underwent a trabeculectomy of my right eye. (Fair warning: Do NOT google that if you are squeamish - videos of this surgery are, for a lack of a better word, graphic). Essentially, glaucoma prevents your eyes from draining/releasing pressure within the eye. So, the doctor created a new passageway to regulate the pressure. I was on couch rest for an entire month! For those of you who know me, not being able to go to the gym was killing me! It was a verrrrryyyy long month! But, I got through. I think. 😂 My right eye is doing great and I'm currently back to going to the gym 6-7 days a week, but I'm not back to lifting as heavy of weights yet - though I'll get there! For the Christmas holidays, we were able to travel up to Massachusetts to spend time with my family. It was really great to see everyone during this trip, as we hadn't been up to MA for Christmas in a few years! 💖Roz even got to meet Santa this past Christmas! She was in her glory getting all the pets, treats, and attention! 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. It's weird that things happened this way, but January was the month of Rosalind. During this time, our puppers was displaying a drastic decline in mobility, appetite, and health. We were stressed, scared, and sad. Roz is our adventure pup but, suddenly she couldn't walk very far or long without falling or getting really out of breath. After numerous doctors, specialists, emergency visits, MRIs, and x-rays it was determined that Roz has a degenerative disease affecting her nerves leading to her muscles. Our adventure pup's days of ten mile hikes are essentially no more. There were some scares with our pup, we weren't sure that she was going to make it through January. However, with our amazing veterinarians, Roz has some really great days (and bad ones too) but she is thriving. These days she's acting more like a cat since she likes to take daily sun naps. But, she is happy as a clam and we are so glad that she is still here with us to give us slobbery kisses and snuggles. 💗 
   
6. February and March have been productive and quiet. Seth and I have been working hard to update all of our materials for our upcoming home study update. This is always a bit of a process to make sure that we meet all deadlines and update our important paperwork. We also went through the new, comprehensive therapeutic foster care training with our home study provider, Haven Adoptions. Completing this training allows us to assist other foster families in our area who need respite care and will help us to be more knowledgeable in the event we are presented with an opportunity to adopt a sibling group.
   
   

   

   The inaugural graduating class of Haven's therapeutic foster care training

   In other somber March news, after a long battle with cancer and strokes, my grandfather passed away. He was a good man and we are glad to have been able to travel up to Massachusetts to celebrate his life with family.
   
   In addition to all of these other things, we have been making some plans to do some updates around the house. (Look forward to more posts documenting our upcoming renovation adventures!) Also, at the end of March, Seth and I took a trip to Cleveland. Seth had to go for work, but it was also his birthday weekend so I tagged along so that we could spend time and explore the city! While there, we were able to meet up with my roommate from graduate school and her fiance. They took us to get a really tasty brunch and then toured us around the city! We even got to see the house from a Christmas Story!
   
   

   

   West Side Market balcony view - a great place to have a snack

   

   Sight-seeing despite the surprise late March snow storm!

   
   
7. April. We are only a few days in, but it's still been eventful! I have accepted a position as a chemistry teacher at a local Catholic High School. I'll start preparing this summer and will officially start at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year! I am incredibly excited to start this new chapter and be able to devote more time to being a mentor to young girls in the sciences! I can't wait to start as I have a ton of really fun ideas to bring! 

In other news, we are still actively hoping and praying that we will be matched with Baby Hogg soon! Please keep us in your thoughts! If you would like to help, please share the the following link with your friends and family through your social media: Seth and Shana Adopt!  You never know who it may reach!! We can’t wait to #bringhomebabyhogg!! 👩🏻👶🏻👨🏻❤️

All our love! ❤️

Shana and Seth