Living in Georgia

We celebrated Jack's 3rd Birthday yesterday with a big bug themed party! It was a big hit and all the kids had a great time. We had a big bouncy castle for the kids to jump around in and all made good use out of the new playset.

OK, I'm back to trying to post all our England stories and pictures. But before I do, I forgot to mention in my last blog that Ethan has started talking within the past week. And by talking, I mean making all the consonant sounds - ba ba, da da, ma ma, goo goo, etc. It's very exciting. Anyway, back to England. Our first Thursday in En gland w e spent at the Tower of London. That's the castle that all the Kings stayed at, kep t al l the prisoners in, and when a new King was crowned, they would stay there and then mar c h down to Westminster to be crowned. It currently houses the Crown Jewels and has a great exhibit of the armory and weapons. We were supposed to meet Jason and Adele (my brother and soon to be sist er -in-law) on Friday, but t hey were coming in from Paris and there was a fire in the tunnel on T h urs day and they weren't able to get in until Saturday. But by Friday, we were all getting a bit tired from all the walking and sightseeing, so we were a

I can't believe it's been 8 months already - where does the time go? We started speech therapy today and it was a good session. We'll see the therapist twice a month for 30 minutes at a time. She could see a big difference in Ethan from when she was out a month or so ago for an evaluation. Now we've got more exercises to work with him on. That kid is a real trooper for all the stuff we put him through! Jack had his 3 year old check-up yesterday and is doing great. They did an eye exam, hearing exam and checked everything out in between. He is 3 feet, 3 inches and 40 pounds. His weight is in the 95th percentile and his height is between the 90th and 95th percentile, which they said was good. He should be tall!! Other than that, we're just gearing up for Jack's birthday party with his friends this weekend. Between planning for that and getting the house back in order after being gone for so long, I really feel like this week has slipped away from me. I st

We arrived back safely in Atlanta late last night and have been spending the day getting back into our daily swing of things. After a morning shopping trip and an all day clothes washing event, I feel somewhat there, although I still have lots of things to organize and clean before Jack's birthday party on Sunday. Both boys were in bed by 8p (Jack even falling asleep first) but then we were up by 6:30a. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I don't have time to blog too long tonight. I ready for bed myself, after trying to clean out over 600 email messages (about half way there). Over the next few days I'll post more pictures and share our stories, but for the most party, we had a fantastic time and loved (almost) every minute over there. But we're very happy to be home.

We're mid-week in our London stay and still having a blast. Jack is getting a bit worn out during our daily excursions but still seems to be having fun. Yesterday we walked across the street from our hotel to a little play park and played for an hour or so. Then came back to the room for lunch and then spent the afternoon in the city. Today we got up and went to the London Zoo and spent most of the day there. After that we headed down to Trafalgar Square and then made our way to Leicester Square for lunch/dinner. We walked around a bit and then made our way back to our room where we've been relaxing and even had a video call with Nanna and Grandad. Now we're off for a little walk around the neighborhood to get some fresh air before bedtime. Tomorrow we're off to the Tower of London and I probably won't be back blogging for awhile (maybe not until we get home). Enjoy the next set of photos!

Internet is REALLY expensive at the hotel so we decided to only get it for 24 hours. I'll post tonight and then maybe again tomorrow if I have time. We've been having such a good time here it's hard to break away to tell you all about it. The trip started off a bit bumpy. Ethan fell off our bed as we were packing up on Saturday. We were all sitting there when it happened, too. Luckily he wasn't hurt too badly but we weren't sure for awhile, as he was unusually fussy. But we made it to the airport without too much trouble. Once we got on the plane we were delayed about an hour and a half due to a problem with one of the fuel pumps. They got it sorted out and we were on our way. The boys did just fine on the plane and slept the whole way (just about). Jason and I not so much, but we survived. We even got a compliment on how well behaved the boys were, which meant a lot to us as parents. We then ventured into London and to our hotel. We made it from our plan