Where have I been?

Hi everyone. I have missed blogging and have a huge amount of blogs to catch up on. So much has happened and I feel like I just don't get the chance to sit and blog and read up on how everyone has been doing. There really isn't enough time in a day...

In mid January, my brother Patrick came to visit us all the way from England. He stayed with us for three months and it was a wonderful visit. After two years, it was a long overdue visit. Alyssa and Nathan really enjoyed having their Uncle Pat around and we miss him now that he has gone back home to England. We did lots while he was here, we went whale watching and saw a couple of Orca's, we did some hiking at Mystic beach, did regular tourist things but most importantly had a wonderful time and caught up on some much needed laughs. I miss you Peppermint (for those of you who don't know that was my nickname for Patrick when we were kids)

In March, we purchased our house. Four years ago, Sean and I bought this big 5 bedroom house with a friend ( A way to get into the real estate market). We talked about buying the house now because the interest rates are so low and it's a good time to refinance at a lower rate. Our friends ended up buying their own house and will be moving out on April 25th ( They are pretty excited about their new place) and we are excited about owning and using the entire house.... On that note, we have decided to have international students stay with us. We have two extra bedrooms downstairs and thought we should try it. Both Sean and I love the idea of meeting students from around the world and learning about their cultures and languages. We talked about it and thought we should try it out. Things happened quickly and we welcomed Namsoo to our home today. Namsoo has come to study English and is from South Korea and will be living with us for about four months.

Alyssa has been doing well. She continues to enjoy her preschool and is very excited about starting Kindergarden next year. She had lots of fun with her Uncle and has been asking about him and Louise. It's time for us to sign her up for some extra curricular activities. She's been asking about ballet and swimming.
Alyssa had a follow up appointment with an allergist today. they have confirmed that she is still allergic to peanuts and also has an allergy to grass. A few times now, we've noticed significant puffy, itchy eyes and we couldn't figure it out. Poor thing, summertime will prove to be challenging at times. We will have Benadryl on hand and will continue to monitor any reactions she has.

Nathan continues to have his OT and Speech therapies weekly. He's progressing well and seems to enjoy the sessions. He's a busy boy. I can't keep up with him and he's so fast. We were at the mall the other day and he runs.. It's a game to him, he laughs and just runs as fast as he can. He's been much more frequent at calling me by name too "mum' mum" Usually after i exit the room or if daddy gets up with him in the morning he'll call for me. I won't lie.. I think it's pretty awesome and I lOVE it.

there's so much that's happened over the past few months.. Things will settle a bit here in a few weeks and I'll get back into the swing of things. I've missed you all and I can't wait to read up on what you've all been up to.