San Francisco Part 2

Sadly, I'm back home, and I miss San Francisco SO MUCH! Gah - if it had less people, we would move to California stat. 

These two boys were so in love. They had fun chasing chipmunks at Muir Woods. 

This picture says so much. We tried to get a nice cousins picture, and they fought over who got to "drive" the bear. Priceless. 

Sushi was amazing. Enough said. 

Beautiful fog at the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Billy's cousin Christine has a membership at The Dry Bar, and was kind enough to treat me to a blow out. It.  Was. Amazing. 

Just thought I'd leave you with this picture we found in Oakland. Do women actually hire this firm???

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Francisco Part 1

If I could, I'd come to San Francisco every weekend. This should be possible. Someone needs to make this happen.

Ethan riding the muni. He loved it!

Our first stop was The Ice Cream Bar. This dessert restaurant was probably what I've been most excited about. 

Batman keeping watch over the city at my cousin's apartment in the city. 

Exploratorium with Edawg. 

Beautiful cathedral. 

Coit Tower. We hiked there from Pier 15!

View from the tower. 

Story time at the Farmers Market with his fave cuz.

Memorial Day Dinner at Chris and Ken's house in Tiburon with a beautiful view if San Francisco. 

Posing at the end of a long, wonderful day!

Smile

Ethan is getting to that age where his smiles are getting weird. This is the most hilarious stage he's hit so far. And so, folks, here are the many smiles of Ethan. 

 

 

 

 

 

It's rainy and cold. Hard to believe that just a few weeks ago we were soaking up the sun!

Check out his super huge muscles

Ethan finally learned how to scoot along the side!

This is my favorite picture by far. If there's one thing this kid is good at, it's relaxing. O

 

 

 

F-O-U-R

Can you believe this little guy is four?? Where has the time gone. He even mastered the wink on his birthday.

Our Next Chapter

The past 4 years have been such wonderful years, raising our little boy. It's unreal to think he's been with us for 4 years. Add to that the fact that on June 21st, we will have been married for FIVE years. In some ways, it seems to have gone by so quickly, but on the other hand, it seems like we've been together forever. We just fit so well.

This past year, we've undergone several fertility treatments, each more heartbreaking than the last. I feel like we've learned so much through this process. We've learned how to deal with disappointment gracefully (although I had a hard time with this part at first). We've learned how to grow and grieve together, rather than drift apart. We've become so much more thankful for our little boy, and just thankful in general to have a family that's ours.

After much prayer, research, and talking, talking, talking, we have found some clarity with the path we plan to take. We have decided to ADOPT.

This is so close to my heart, as my brother was placed for an open adoption as a baby. Because this adoption was open, and his adoptive mother being such a sweet, giving woman, I grew up knowing him. We are very close, and my husband and I were even in his wedding this last October. Adoption is something I always said I was interested in. It seems life has led us to this decision.

We really cannot wait to become parents again. Most of all, we want so badly for Ethan to have a brother or sister. It's a question he has started asking: When will he be a brother? It breaks my heart to hear these questions, but we have hope that he will soon be a big brother.

Thanks for your support, and if you feel comfortable, please share our information with anyone who may be contemplating adoption.