welcome to our family

Beginning in August 2008, we (finally) begin the final phase of Tyler's education, this time at Idaho State University (Pocatello), home of the Bengals. He'll be pursuing a Doctor of Arts degree in English as Jess works toward completion of her PHT-Putting Husband Through-and the girls toward their PDTs-Putting Daddy Through. When we're done, it will be a day of rapture, quite literally, as Jess keeps reminding him, because the end of the world will probably have come. Then our lives can be defined less in terms of degrees and more in terms potatoes.

By that time, this is how we imagine our family will be:

Tyler and Jess, beyond their academic lives, will be old and decrepit, curled up in front of a fireplace all day watching reruns of Scrubs, Bones, Lost, House, Heroes, and Celebrity Circus (not really on that last one), waiting for their daughters to get home from some social function or another, and wondering whether or not they took their last dose of medication.

Sidney, now five and ecstatic to begin Kindergarten this fall, will have probably joined her dad as a college student. She will probably still be into playing princess; love purses, babies, cell phones, and writing; and excel at putting her parents in their place with her remarkably apt insights into being grown up.

Alex (Allie), now two, will finally be toilet trained and beyond the point (we hope) of slipping into our bed at night and taking up the middle half with her sideways sleeping. She'll also still enjoy playing princess; love purses, babies, cell phones, and writing; will more than likely be close to joining her sister and dad in college; and will also excel at telling her parents how it is.

Hadley, now four and a half months, will also be toilet trained (we really hope-that could make for an odd social experience!) and will continue to run her family's lives as she does now, though with fewer bottle feedings and less crying. She'll have an excellent vocabulary, far beyond the spitting and mumbling she does now, and will be nipping at her sisters' heels as our third purse-baby-cell phone-word-loving-know-it-all princess.