2018 update

Hello friends! It's hard to believe another year is almost over, but here we are with everything slowing down as we approach the New Year. It seems that no matter how early we order our Christmas cards, I always end up sending them at the last minute. 😂 Everything is beginning to wind down into the natural pause to reflect over the previous year.

Here's what we've been up to in 2018.

Bea celebrated her first birthday in May and every day is a new milestone for her. I taught her to growl, which she now does all the time. This could be why Animal is her favorite Mupppet too. She loves to grab our hands and lead us around the house to show off her latest handiwork. Play-doh is a big hit, as well as coloring with her excellent pincer grip technique.

Graham wakes up every day at 5:30 (or earlier) and goes non-stop until bedtime. I introduced him to Dude Perfect videos on YouTube over the summer, and he is now a massive fan. He played soccer, tennis, and flag football this year, and has mentioned taking an improv class with the Pensacola Little Theater next year. Wordplay comes naturally to him, and he's always cracking us up with some new bit.

Evie revived the newspaper at her school. This started with a class vote in the spring, summer planning, and preparing to release their first issue in the next few weeks. She also played basketball in the Milton city league and continues to love to read all types of books. Over the summer, she attended a day camp at Hayes Ranch where she got to ride and care for a horse every day for a week.

Jen stayed home with Bea last school year and returned to the classroom part-time this fall. In addition to her morning's teaching she's working on her Montessori certification. She'll wrap up the year of classes in the spring, and she's very excited to finish up this portion of her Montessori training. Jen sends notes in the kid's school lunches with cute drawings, and this year she made Christmas-pun themed Kawai watercolors for the bazaar at school.

Shane — I started a new job at GitLab in June. The first part of 2018 was pretty turbulent on the career front after leaving Wildbit in November of last year. Early in 2018, there were several times I made it through rounds of interviewing without getting an offer. And looking back, I'm glad they didn't work out. GitLab is an exciting phase, and the marketing team is set to accomplish big things in 2019. While I looked for work, I was able to spend lots of time with the kids and with Jen. Not having a job was pretty scary, but we weathered the ups and downs together.

How about you? What's new? What's exciting? What's keeping you up at night? We would love to hear from you. Hit me up on Twitter @shanerice if you need our contact info.