Our weekends were so jampacked during the fall that I fear our trip to see Thomas never made it on the blog. Trains + fun characters are clearly preschooler heaven, although the NC Transportation Museum was a bit of a haul from the triangle for a short train ride. Kids had a good time though – and I am missing the short sleeve weather now!

Back in October, we were a little bit sad to hear that Kaya’s elementary school doesn’t do a Halloween parade. And then we had to dig out her costume several weeks later for their “costume day.” I’m still somewhat confused by their desire to reschedule Halloween and change its name, but today I discovered a picture posted on the wall of her classroom with the oh-so-adorable class in their costumes. Thought I’d share.

We stayed home for Christmas this year, but soon traveled to Philadelphia, Maryland, and Virginia to visit with all sides of our family. The girls had a blast and got many wonderful memories and gifts from family and friends. Merry Christmas to All!

Daddy has the pleasure of celebrating his birthday in the middle of Christmas mayhem and got the added benefit of single parenting the kids this year while I worked. He even got to make himself a (delicious) cake! We love you Tommy! Happy Birthday.

After 12 years regular school (13 if you count kindergarten), 4 year of college, 4 years of medical school, 1 year of public health school, 3 years of residency, and 3 years of fellowship, I am proud to say that I am FINALLY a board certified medical oncologist (and still a board certified internist)! Woot!

It’s rare that I get to spend much time with the girls one-on-one (and that will probably only get worse), so if there is any silver lining about Kaya breaking her arm, it is that she’s gotten a bit of time off school to attend her weekly ortho appointments. And occasionally we can add an Ihop breakfast on top of it. Ihop’s current crayon substitute is WikiStix, which are these little flexible wax straws that can be used to make lots of things, including glasses, as modeled by Kaya.

The girls went to visit Santa on Saturday evening – Kaya was quite excited to ask for her present of choice, but Laney was having none of it. In fact, since she is now speaking in complete sentences, she squarely said to me, “I don’t like Santa.” So, pretty similar to last year’s pictures.

Kaya (and Laney) had a special treat this Thanksgiving when their friend Emerson came down to visit for the long weekend. There was lots of playing and excitement, and maybe some bickering. But we are so thankful that Emerson and his family could come visit!

I am thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving and for all the friends and family that traveled near and far to celebrate with us. I also had the pleasure of working with a great oncology team (including the patients) and rounding in the hospital Thanksgiving morning, but made it out in time for a delicious dinner cooked by everyone else!

I can’t believe my itty bitty baby turned 2 last week! Laney had a few friends over for her birthday party and she celebrated by not taking a nap the whole day. Happy birthday Laney – we love you!

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