We have enjoyed reading everyone’s updates, and I know Taylor would like to contribute to the conversation. At the same time, as we all to varying degrees know, the first trimester is an uncomfortable and taxing time and it’s hard to get up the energy to follow such great acts as yours. Therefore, I’m penning the outline of ours, to which Taylor has contributed. Your updates conveyed individual style, so mine is bullet points (though not drafted in Excel):
- We’re expecting baby #2 mid-September. To us relative newbies, having one toddler feels so all-consuming at times it’s hard to imagine doubling up, but we trust we’ll manage it with the love and care of our families and a lot of hard work.
- We were especially thankful for the wonderful first birthday Charles experienced at 1127, which included all four of his grandparents and his beloved cousins. Thank you for making it a special memory for him (hopefully) and us.
- After the party, my parents completed a one-week Disney cruise from Port Canaveral and returned to Oregon the following weekend. My 84 year old grandmother, Mary (who the kids call “nanny”), contracted the flu while they were away, so they were immediately immersed in her care upon returning. She seems to be recovering now, although it also seems to have been a serious situation. While we’ve been having a mini heatwave here, Oregon has had late-winter snow and temperatures below zero.
- For those of you regaled by the story of my dad’s hunt for the elusive rogue porcupine, I can report that it was trapped and dispatched early this morning.
- We’ve hired a regular babysitter on Mondays and enrolled Charles in preschool on Wednesday mornings, which has freed up some day time for us. Taylor has been diligently working each week toward the required 40 hours of community service at the Nearly New clothing store for her Junior League provisional year; she has 12 to go.
- Last night we visited our new friends, Will and Sarah Lucas, who live a couple blocks away in our neighborhood, for dinner (including self-butchered pork loin). We were excited to learn they’re expecting their first baby also mid-September. I think Taylor and Sarah have the beginnings of a good friendship, and I see much in common in their personalities. Will has been the most prolific “connector” for us in Greenville, having introduced us to probably a dozen good people in the business network. We’re excited about the possibilities of future friendship and having babies at the same time.
- Our friends Deyllen and Masha (wedding in Bali) had their second child, Olivia, last Friday under similar circumstances to Charles’ delivery. We were able to stay in touch with them as they were going through it. Her parents are visiting this weekend, and we were inspired by our good memories of Jack Stack BBQ to send them a super sampler that they’ll hopefully enjoy as much as we all did. Deyllen and Masha now live in Connecticut and took our lead in buying a business, Tumble Jungle, with locations in Norwalk and Fairfield. [I’m tempted to order Jack Stack right this minute if only for the chocolate cake and the cheesy corn.]
- Our business search continues, with many possibilities and no clear winners yet. We’re currently in various stages of talking to (meetings, exchanging business/financial information, asking questions) 7-8 businesses, and our goal remains closing an acquisition sometime in calendar 2018. I’ve also been discussing an outside-the-box potential opportunity in online aviation training with a local company called Pathwright. [In the meantime, I’m developing a few new leads for doTerra and am enjoying the opportunity to connect with people that way. A friend of mine from Junior League is opening a dental spa in early summer of this year and will have a retail section for doTerra products as well as space for education classes. I am cautiously optimistic about the opportunities that will bring.]
- On the networking side of our business search, we continue to find Greenville welcoming and open. Several new referrals coming from each meeting has allowed us to connect with nearly 200 individuals in the business community here.
- We’re still worshiping at Village Church, which is an Anglican in North America church – something new to both of us. We’re considering the ACNA equivalent of membership and will likely have Charles baptized there this summer. It seems like half the congregation is small children, and a few of the families there have become our friends. [I have been back in touch with Chip and Beth Edgar from St. Luke’s as they are tangentially involved in Village Church.]
- I continue to enjoy the new (to me, since moving here) rhythm of 4:15-4:30am wake-up, bicycle downtown, 5:15am F3 workout, 6:05am “coffeeteria” socializing session with a half-dozen or so men, bicycle home, make breakfast for our family, play with Charles and be ready to start work by ~8:00-9:00, depending on what’s scheduled for the day. On Thursdays, I instead get a shower at the YMCA and make a tight turnaround to attend the 6:30am meeting of a men’s Christian community group called Search Ministries. [I make efforts to wake up before Charles does so I can at least wash my face and brush my teeth but sometimes he hears the birds chirping and decides it’s time for him to arise as well. He and I head downstairs for breakfast, which he eats voraciously and then finishes what’s on my plate as well.]
- Although I keep seeing headlines about poor TV ratings for the Olympics, that hasn’t been the case for us: we’ve watched a bit of the Olympics almost every evening and especially enjoy the curling, speed skating and snowboarding. We like Sean White but aren’t as into Lindsay Vonn. We saw the same commercial (on streaming) over and over but realized around the 100th viewing that we didn’t even know the advertiser (we guessed Toyota, but it was actually Samsung).
- We look forward to a few travels this spring before staying put for the summer. We plan to drive to New Orleans, to visit John and Tricia Gonzalez, and Pensacola, to be with the family, in mid-March. We plan to see everyone for Mary Michael’s wedding in early May. And we look forward to being with all the grandparents for a couple days during a visit to Oregon in mid-June. [After that, we will likely hunker down in Greenville since I will want to nest for the new baby and hang out in air conditioning to survive August heat at 9 months pregnant. Looking forward to hosting as many of you that may want to visit in those months – especially for Charles’ baptism. Pensacola for the annual August week is still on the radar.]
- Charles is learning to walk! Every time I get out my phone to take a video he gets back down on all fours but he’s getting pretty consistent at taking 3-4 steps at a time. Grins like a fool every time and throws his arms up in the air as I say “Ta-Da”!
Spencer & Taylor
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