Fall part 2

Busy busy continued right on into October.  Both Eddie and I have our birthdays in October.  Then there are all the traditional fall activities that we wouldn't want to miss out on.  We visited Cox farms for the first time and that was so much fun.  Eva had a blast trying out all their different slides.  There was even a little farmer area where kids could try their hand at milking 'cows', pumping water and gathering corn off of a conveyor.  It was a sweltering, hot day but that didn't spoil our fun.  Eva went trick or treating on Halloween for the first time with Eddie and some neighborhood kids.  It was a such a great time getting out with our neighbors and enjoying a crisp fall evening.  Eddie V and I handed out candy to those who visited our house.  I'm told that Eva was the most polite trick or treater out that night.  :-)

November crept up on us and brought about some sad news, the passing of Eddie's grandmother.  She was a wonderful woman who had a good, long life (96 years!!).  We headed up to NY for her funeral and stayed a little over a week.  We had already planned on visiting and then heading over to MA for Thanksgiving so we just extended our trip a little bit.  We were away from home for 2 weeks, the longest we've ever been away.  The kids were a little weary by the end of our visit, as were we all.  It was so good to be able to see all of our family though.  We enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad A's house and we were joined by almost all of our northern family, on my side.  No sooner did we arrive home to VA then Mom and Dad A came to visit us.  They had purchased an amazing deal on airfare several weeks before we knew we'd be away from home for an extended period of time.  We loved having them around and the extra hands were so welcomed.

Busy Season

It's blissfully quiet, this fine Friday afternoon, as I sit here working. I can't help but smile and take a slow, deep breath as I listen to the sound of... nothing. Eva has 'chosen' to sleep during her nap time today. Thank you Lord. The slow, peaceful silence is completely the opposite of the past several months.

We kicked off our busy season in August with a trip to visit our NY family. Everyone got to meet the newest member of our family, Eddie V, and, of course, they loved him! We had the opportunity to venture to Schenectady Central Park where Eva had her first ride in a paddle boat. Such fun!

September brought some good and some bad things.  Labor day weekend we had the privilege of joining our MA family to celebrate the upcoming marriage of my bro, JD, and his lovely fiancee, Amanda.  We couldn't have asked for better party weather.  A gentle breeze kept us cool and the apple trees shaded us from the sun on a bright, cheerful, summer day.  Extended family joined us in our celebration and it was such a treat to see everyone again.
 
On the way home from MA we took an unexpected NY city adventure.  Our van's transmission decided to give out in the long stretch of traffic preceding the GW bridge.  Long story short, our wonderful college buddy put us up for the night and our van was fixed so we could resume our travels the next day.  God orchestrated every detail and if it had to happen, it happened in the best possible way.  Eddie's employer was more than gracious and we are so thankful that he's a part of the company.
 
A few weeks later it was time to go back up to MA/RI to participate in JD and Amanda's wedding.  It was a beautiful ceremony and a fun-filled reception.  They were the perfect couple; joy was written across every inch of their faces.  We wish them a lifetime of happiness and God's grace.  Eva was a lovely flower girl (even though she chose to stare at the floor the whole way down the aisle and not throw a single petal).  Eddie V sported a very cute little tux.  Eddie IV looked dashing, as always.
 
More to come about our fall...

Oh I'm supposed to update this??

Several people have been mentioning that I quit blogging. SO here ya go! :)

Things have been pretty busy here since we added a new member to our family. Edward James LaBombard V was born on May 28, 201o. He weighed in at 7lbs 15oz and was 20 inches long. He is a huge joy! Extremely handsome, is he, with blond hair adorning his, almost always, smiley face! I thought Eva was an easy baby but he is 10 times easier. We are in love and so happy to have him in our family.

Eva has been flourishing. She is just beautiful and extremely spirited, to say the least. In April, when she turned 2, her vocabulary exploded. She is very talkative and really good at it too. She speaks very clearly in sentences that surpass her years. Her grammar is pretty good, for the most part, but what fun would 2 year old language be without a cute phrase or 6? Her favorite substitutions are "for" instead of "to" (I'm thinking it's a number thing in her mind), "can't" instead of "don't" (such as 'I can't like that') and "are" instead of "do" (such as "are you want some milk, cat?" She's mostly potty trained at this point and has been since just before Eddie was born. Sadly, she's going through an accident phase. Not sure where it's coming from though. I pretty sure she knows she is 2 and has somehow heard the 'terrible two' stereotype from someone because she's doing her very best to fill each day with challenges. It's very tough to be consistent and keep her on track but thankfully the Lord provides new grace every morning.

As I mentioned, Eva is very bright. She can say her alphabet and recognize a majority of the letters. She's known her shapes and colors since she was about 20 months. She can also count to about 15, usually forgetting 10 for some reason. She adores her brother. Hugs and kisses abound when they are together. I'm excited to see how their relationship develops as they get older.

Many have asked if we're 'done' having kids now that we have a boy and a girl. Lord willing, the answer is no. We love children. They are a gift from God and, as trying as they may be at times, we would be thrilled to have more. God has been so kind thus far to bless us with our two kiddos and hopefully he will see fit to add to our family, eventually.

It's been an eventful year. First, Eddie V was born and almost a month later we were thrilled to welcome Anna Grace Adler, my brother Ben and his wife Vicky's first child. It's so exciting that Eddie V and Anna are so close in age. It will be fun to see them grow together. Another exciting event was the marriage of my bro JD and his lovely wife Amanda. We were able to join them last weekend as they said their vows. How exciting it was. We are an extremely blessed family.

I'm hoping to try and be better about keeping up with blogging. Just bug me if I don't and maybe, just maybe I'll write something. ;)