McCoy Family: So we are still blogging...

So obviously it's been a little while since our last post (sorry about that!). Here's a quick rundown of life in the McCoy house since February. Norah started preschool back in early February, and after some initial hesitation about Mommy leaving her, she really loved going. She enjoyed playing with some new friends (who were her own age, instead of the adults she's around most of the time), and had fun doing all kinds of art projects. Her vocabulary also grew by leaps and bounds almost immediately after starting school. She went from occasionally saying "bear" or "ball" to forming 2-3 word sentances and using words like "artichoke" and "hummus"- all within a month. It's been really fun for Dan and I to get this new window into her world. We knew she was thinking about all kinds of good stuff, but now it's really nice for her to be able to verbalize her preferences and tell us what she's thinking or what she wants to do.

In February, I also started a new job. Actually, I'm still working for the MESA program at Fresno State, but since my boss left, I'm now the Interim Director of the program. This has been a really great opportunity professionally, but it also meant that I had to go back to working full time. I miss my time with Norah, but between preschool and some extra days at Grandma's, Norah seems to be fine with the arrangement.

Between work, classes, and projects around the house for Dan and I, the spring flew by. We have been re-doing some of the landscaping in our backyard, and Dan was busy with some fence repairs, faucet and light installations, and lots of sprinkler work. (He's so handy!) Even as we finish one project, there are always many more we want to do. With the summer heat coming, we won't be doing much more outside until the fall.

We were lucky to be able to spend Easter in Festus with Dan's family. Norah loved playing with her cousins Ember and Autumn, and we got to catch up with Dan's parents, brother/sister-in-law, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Ember taught Norah how to hunt for Easter eggs, so next year she'll be a pro! While we were in Festus, Norah got to experience her first tornado warning, but luckily for all of us Festus escaped with no damage.

Bubbles with Grammy... Easter Bunny fun with the cousins...

Easter in Festus... Being silly

Norah and Dan treated me to a very special Mother's Day, complete with blueberry pancakes, a bike ride, and lots of good play time. We got to celebrate Mother's Day for my mom a few weeks later when both Maggie and Laura were in town, and Dan got to celebrate with Judie in person when she was here at the end of May.

Norah's ABC's

Dan's Graduation

After a particularly busy semester, Dan received his MBA at the end of May. He graduated with distinction - and a perfect 4.0! Norah and I are so proud of him, and very excited that he'll be home more in the evenings now. Of course, he's excited that he won't have all the late nights filled with homework! Judie, Mike, Maggie, and Laura were able to come out to share the celebration.

Dan's Graduation

We combined Dan's graduation party with Norah's 2nd birthday party, so in addition to a nice lunch for Dan, we all got to have chocolate birthday cake with blue frosting (Norah's very specific request.) For her actual birthday, Norah decided she wanted pizza and green cupcakes with green frosting. (Can you tell we're working on colors?) All in all, Norah is very excited to be two. (She's also working on her numbers, and has quickly grasped the idea that two cookies/books/toys/etc. are better than one- so she couldn't wait to be two years old, too.