Andrew is growing up!

Today was Andrew's first day of part-time preschool. When we would talk about going to school he would get a little sad (probably because I told him he couldn't be naughty to his teachers and friends) and say he didn't want to go to school. We got there at 8:30 to meet his teacher and check things out before class started and he did so well. Once he saw his own cubby and sitting mat with his name on each, he was sold! The teacher had just made a bear den because they are learning about bears this week, he was so excited! When I picked him up he got to put his papers in his backpack and wear it out to the car, how cool is that?!? After school he played on the playground with his good buddy Isaak. Madelyn even played with the big kids and went down a big twisting slide( taller than me) all by herself! She wanted so badly to stay at school with Andrew, she even pulled a chair up to the table to play with him when I dropped him off this morning, but she still has a few years to go. It was weird not having a load of kids for a couple hours, it was just Madelyn and me! I didn't even have work for the two hours I normally do on Monday-so we got to go grocery shopping, with just the two of us. You'd think with not having so many kids that I'd have my house all cleaned up from our huge long trip to Oregon, but no, it's a mess! I think it's going to take a couple weeks for me to recoup from this one. One highlight of the trip was that we got to stop in Portland on the way home and see Nick's sister, Lisa, and her fiance, Steve. It was nice to get to see my grandparents again, it's been 2 years since I saw them last and they are going through a lot. My grandpa is 94 (turns 95 nextMarch) and my grandma is 88 (89 next June). My grandpa just had his third stroke and my grandma suffers from dementia. They are still in their home, with my aunt and uncle taking turns caring for them. It was good to be in Oregon again, but sad to see my grandma and grandpa, whom I adore, suffering so much. I'm really thankful for my amazing family and that I was blessed to grow up with so many great memories with them!
We get to find out next Saturday (December 13th) what the gender of our baby is...Fetal Fotos here we come! Nick is liking the name Timothy (my dad's name) for a boy and we're still thinking Ella for a girl. Although we're not sure of middle names because there are so many good people in our families to name our children after...so we'll see.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that you're all recovering from turkey coma!