Our Cyber Christmas Card

I never got around to ordering Christmas cards this year. Oops.

But if I did, it would probably look something like this:

It is important to note that I am not pregnant. It was poor posture and too much gelato :).

This picture represents very well what having three kids looks like most of the time minus the incredible backdrop (and that is when there are two parents around, imagine when there is only one). Despite the craziness at times, these kids make us SO HAPPY we can't even keep from smiling when we talk about them. They are amazing people. 

In way of a brief year review...

ESME (15 months)

Esme is a very adored child. She loves to snuggle with stuffed animals and is somewhat drawn to pink, but other than that she loves all the things that her older brother's love. She plays with cars, destroys their block towers, and is fascinated by legos. We are so smitten with her that our greatest fear is spoiling her rotten. She has an easy laugh and is very fun to be around. She absolutely never gives up when she sets her mind to something. She is the perfect addition to our family.

CAMERON (4 in January)

Cam (here pictured as a peregrine falcon) started preschool this year and is loving it. He is forming a reputation for being very easy-going and happy which makes him very popular for playdate invitations. I have to admit, he really is SO EASY. He is obedient, usually happy to do whatever we are doing, has a great sense of humor, and picks up on things really easily. I don't know where he came from but I am so grateful for his spirit in our home everyday. He does, however, know how to hold his own with his older brother and sometimes I forget that they are over two years apart. He knows how to get under Luke's skin without breaking any family rules which is another testament to his intelligence. This winter he will start playing indoor soccer and is very excited.

LUKE  (6)

Luke (holding Esme) is absolutely the sweetest older brother a Mom could ask for. He dotes on his little sister and is so excited when she does the slightest new thing. He has told me before that he wants to have 10 kids when he grows up (I can't wait to remind him about that when he is older). Of course, he also wants me to have 10 kids which is not going to happen :). Luke told me once that he wants to be a grandpa when he grows up and I am pretty sure he will be the world's greatest grandpa. Luke is a very diligent student in kindergarten and loves to learn. He often comes home and becomes Cam's "teacher" which doesn't usually go over very well but I think Cam will be well prepared for kindergarten whether he wants to or not. Luke played soccer this year and improved so much from start to finish...we were so proud. He is starting to pound out songs on the piano, can climb like a monkey, and is becoming quite skilled at legos. It is such a fun age to see all his emerging talents. 

ANDREW AND LAUREN

We have had the opportunity to do some fun things in 2014. For the month of April, we were able to go to Italy as a family while Andrew conducted research at a retinablastoma referral center in Siena, Italy. We also went to Utah (family reunions), Chicago, and explored northern Michigan. Andrew began his final year as an Ophthalmology resident in July which means it is our last year in Ann Arbor. Andrew recently accepted a fellowship position in Ocular Oncology at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London starting July 2015. We will be living in London for one year. We are really excited about the opportunity and feel like it will be a great experience for our family, but it has definitely added a bit of stress to our lives as we figure how to get our family settled in London. We are also preparing to sell our house and downsizing our possessions significantly. The next few months (or years) will definitely be busy.

We are so grateful for all that we have. We often find ourselves thinking of ways we can teach our children to be grateful and understand what a great blessing it is just to have a family, a home, and to live in relative peace and comfort. They think it is so normal to have such a happy and carefree life and we are happy to provide that. But in small, manageable amounts, we hope they will begin to see that the great blessings they have are not so common. They are blessings that are in need by many. We hope we can teach them to share their gifts willingly as Christ does for all of us. This next year, I hope our family can do more to see the people around us and recognize the ways we can help each other.

Merry Christmas! We are so grateful for you friends!

Love,

The Staceys

Chicago

We went to Chicago for an ophthalmology conference in October. It was my first time in Chicago which is a little embarrassing since it is only 4 hours away. Since moving to Ann Arbor, I've been to Italy twice and never Chicago?! Something is wrong here. Anyway, it was a fun trip even though Andrew could only be with us intermittently. Sometimes I look forward to these things and don't even think for a minute about how difficult it will be to manage with three kids on my own in a big city. This lack of foresight must be a blessing in some way. But there were moments when I definitely felt the stares from masses of single people around me wondering why in the world I would bring three small children to Chicago by myself. Ha! I tried to make it look like I had complete control.

i spy...

Balcony of our apartment. We rented an apartment on vrbo instead of getting a hotel room. Such a better option for our family.

I loved the location of our place. It was so close to everything and I could pretty much walk anywhere I wanted to go except church.

Cam gave some great faces this trip. He is always the happiest when Dad is around.

Next time I hope we can go on an architecture tour. It is a beautiful city.

Wow...we were not expecting to like Chicago-style pizza...it being the complete opposite of a real Italian pizza. But this won us over. It was fantastic.

My boys might have a slight pigeon addiction after their many pigeon-chasing experiences in Italy. We spent a lot of time at Seneca Playlot Park during the day when Andrew was away.

The Aquarium! So much fun. The boys loved it.

Give a kid a penguin costume and they will have more fun than actually watching the live penguins 10 feet away. No joke, a solid 25 minutes was spent pretending to be a penguin.

We watched them train the dolphins. Amazing.

There are a lot of things I don't have pictures of, especially the times when I was alone with the kids. I took them to the Children's Museum which was also amazing. It was a little bit further of a walk than I anticipated. On the way home, we walked along the lake a little and I tried to take pictures of the kids with my phone. But they were really bothering me by that point. I can't even remember why. Esme was not cooperating at all. I had her in the baby carrier and she kept pinching my face, poking me in the eye, or arching her back because she hates the baby carrier. The kids were really tired and not listening. Everyone wanted to sit or stand on the stroller and I felt a little like a pack mule. Someone saw me taking a few pictures of the kids with my phone and asked me if they could take a picture for me so I could be in it. Without really thinking I said, "no thanks" because I thought I would never want to remember that moment and what I looked/felt like in that moment. Five minutes later I totally regretted it. I should always just take the picture, even if my kids are driving me crazy and I feel like my annoyance is written all over my face. I'm sure it would have been a funny memory. After that I tried to change my attitude a little and lighten up. I'm still mad at myself for being so lame.

Anyway, I'm so glad we had a chance to go and it was a nice wake up call to what I might be in for next year. Yikes!

Beach Day - Grosetto

The Monday after Easter Sunday is also a holiday in Italy (I love that). We were feeling a little guilty for dragging the kids to all our favorite places. Easter Sunday felt like a marathon with church in the morning, a formal dinner in the afternoon, and a trip to Assisi in the evening. The kids are great travelers and can have fun anywhere, but we felt like they needed to go somewhere that was made for them. We told the boys that the day was theirs and they could choose where to go. They unequivocally decided on the beach so it was off to the beach we went.



The closest beach to Siena was in a place called Grosetto. I will be honest. It wasn't the most amazing beach I have ever been to. There was a ton of wood everywhere and a fair amount of trash. I actually feel a little silly complaining about it. I think the rest of Italy spoiled me so I was surprised to see something that just looked normal. It was a sufficient beach and the kids had a ridiculously good time. In fact, if you ask them they might say it was their favorite place in Italy :).

See the wood! It was everywhere! But still, the water was sparkling and the mountains in the background are gorgeous....I'm definitely being too picky.

Esme took a short nap in the stroller. We weren't worried about anyone bothering her seeing as how she was guarded by the wood fortress.

I'm glad the boys could make due with the variation of sand toys that we threw together. The eggs were from the giant kinder eggs they got for Easter. They used those like buckets and shovels. I found the large plastic container in our washroom. Then we had a large collection of McDonalds happy meal toys (as anyone who knows Luke can well imagine). That was enough for them.

It felt so relaxing to know the boys were having fun. Afterward, we had to drive for quite a while to find something to eat and then we were stuck in severe traffic most of the way home. But there is really no better place to be stuck in traffic than in Tuscany.