Snapshot of our year

Hey everyone,
It has been a while.... too long. I have been meaning to post for a long time as so much has happened in our lives the last year that we can hardly even put into words (and 1 post) how thankful we are for you, friends and family. Your support through everything has been amazing and we couldn't have gotten through this (almost) year without you!

Here is a snapshot of our last year...

> March 2016 our little girl turned 1. Though we did not know at the time she was ours. Josh also applied to architecture school in Halifax at Dalhousie University.

>April 2016 we received our referral about our little girl who had just turned 1. We travelled shortly after to bring her home.

>May 2016 was spent in the beautiful country of South Africa getting to know our daughter and completing so much paperwork to bring her home! (The two weeks at the beach were an amazing bonus!) We were told that Josh had been put on the wait list for Dalhousie University.

>June 2016 we came home with our little girl.

>July 2016 we were enjoying our summer. Josh got ACCEPTED into Dalhousie University for the Masters in Architecture program.

>August 2016 we took advantage of our time together as family. We put our house up for sale. We started sorting, packing, selling, getting rid of things that we knew we wouldn't need in an apartment in HALIFAX. We took an amazing family camping trip to introduce our daughter who had been home for 3 months to what camping in the mountains feels and looks like. She LOVED it. Especially all the puddles as it rained the entire time we were there :)

>September 2016 Josh left on a one way airplane ticket to begin his lifelong dream of becoming an architect. I stayed back with our two kiddos to finish getting everything into order on my end. Packing, selling, sorting, getting rid of stuff, storing. Phew--- it was a job.

>October 2016 we left with my parents for a 6 day road trip across the country (We went through the United States) to be reunited with Josh. The kiddos missed him (especially Solomon) and we were all very excited to be done driving. My parents stayed for an extra week to help us unpack and get settled. Couldn't have done it without them!

>November 2016 we begin to settle into the east coast life. Meeting people. Figuring a new city out. Finding places to take the kids. Josh's parents came for a visit which was so nice to see familiar faces again!

>December 2016 we flew home for Christmas. SO thankful this could happen this year as it had only been 3 months but we missed everyone terribly.

>January 2017 Josh begins a new semester. Solomon started preschool. Ezri started a music class. Settling back into life here. I rebranded my business and am officially launching my photography here in Halifax.

>February 2017 we begin to find a rhythm in life again. Josh is busy with school but works so hard to find a balance at home too. We explored a bit of Nova Scotia and look forward to doing it in the summer!

>March 2017 and here we are. A year later and we get to celebrate our little girl's birthday for the FIRST time with her and we are so excited. We are missing the fact that we won't have family and our close friends surrounding her and us in person but we know they are here in spirit. We are having a little celebration with some new friends here on Sunday and we are so thankful for the beginning of our community here.

Ezri... she is so amazing. With all the changes that have gone on in her little life the last year she is doing well. We have our days and we have our moments but overall she is attaching well and starting to settle in to life. She ADORES her brother. She LOVES to be outside, play with her dolly, building with her blocks, reading stories ("story momma, story momma, story momma"), having bath time, SWIMMING and she LOVES to dance. Her speaking has exploded the last couple months and we love to watch her just soak up every word, action, information that she possibly can.
She is adventurous, curious, spunky and so so loveable. Her smile is contagious and her hearty giggle (that just started coming through this month) is so unbelievable! We are thankful for her quick snuggles, kisses and grabbing of our legs (even when i'm trying to make supper).

Below are some snapshots of our life from the last year. We hope this gives you a small glimpse into what life has looked like for us the last little while. My goal is to get better at posting here as well as on my business page. We are thankful for you. For our village. Our last year could not have been possible without you. So one last THANK YOU!

Birthday boy-- He turned 4!!!

Exploring Niagra Falls with my parents on our way to Halifax. Our 6 day epic road trip!

We have arrived. Point Pleasant Park-- dreary day but beautiful by the ocean nonetheless.

Beautiful Lunenburg

Our FIRST Christmas with our daughter, as a family of four and in a new home. What memories! 

Lawrence town Beach-- I love being able to hop in the car to go find a beach any time we want. 

They love each other so fiercely its amazing. They are best friends!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE LADY!

my little princess...

coming home...

Today is our last full day in South Africa and we are sitting by a beautiful pool, sun beating down on us and listening to the cheering and music of the Comrade Ultra Marathon. They run 89km either uphill or downhill (each year it switches) and this year its downhill. We watched this morning for a bit as a family and got to watch the woman in the lead run by us in Westville. She came in second later on but it was still pretty great. It is so festive and so supportive which is pretty great to see! I don't think I could ever do the 89km race but it sure is inspiring! 

Mixed emotions come on a day like today. We have loved every single minute of our time here. We have loved our quiet moments as a family, getting to know another family during one of our B&B stays, having the ocean for 2 full weeks, seeing old friends and people we met last time, enjoying some of our favourite foods, places etc. The list could go on. YET, we are also so excited to come home. To start our life as a family of 4. To get into a new routine and figure life out together. Things will be similar to how we lived life when we brought Solomon home for the first little while but because we are coming home in the summer it will also look a little different. I just wanted to share with you a few things that we will be intentionally choosing to do in our parenting and even though it may not make sense its what we feel is best for our family. 

Once we are home we plan on taking some time for just our family. We may invite immediate family and some close friends when we feel our little girl is ready to come and play or meet us at a park. For quite some time we ask that you reframe from picking up our little girl. She is walking and quite independent but we do ask that you give her space as she is still continuing to figure out that we are her parents. We welcome high fives (if she wants) and waves but anything more we will let you know when she and we are ready. We will be meeting all her basic needs for the first while of feeding her, changing her, comforting her when needed, putting her to bed etc. Please understand that this is not because we don't want her to know and love all of you but because she needs to know who is who in her life and we need to set those boundaries for her. 
We may not go out a lot to places that are busy and will be reading her cues as to what she needs. We are still learning her and she is still learning us and thats what she needs right now. Once we know and feel that she is ready we can't wait for her to know and love all of you too! 

However, if you would like a chance to meet her we would welcome anyone who would like to meet and greet us at the airport on Wednesday, June 1 at 8:02 coming in on West Jet from Toronto. This will be a time for you to come and meet our little girl and to welcome home our Solomon (who is so ready to be home!)

Here are a few last pictures of our final few days in South Africa. See you back in Canada in just a few short sleeps!!!

 Hanging out on the promenade, running around, listening to the ocean and just enjoying each other. Beautiful evenings!

Gorgeous sunsets.

Our little fish. Solomon LOVES the water and little lady is a splashing queen!

Our last few days, hours, minutes on the beach. 

On our last full day at the beach Josh and Solomon took a boat tour out on the ocean. They saw dolphins and were drove right up to the big ships that hang out in the ocean waiting for their turn in the harbour. At any given time there are about 10-15 of these on the water for days, weeks and sometimes even months. At night they all light up and it is such a beautiful sight! (Without a tripod it was tricky to capture the beauty)

I can't believe our time to come home as arrived but we are very excited to get back onto Canadian soil and into our home! Here goes 48 hours of travelling! See you on the other side.

be blessed

shaeline