Abigail Strickland:  

2012 Time for an annual update! Hmmmmm....it appears I finished my last update before I found out I was pregnant! (Or at least before we were announcing it). That changed a lot about how the end of 2011 went, but it also meant that we got to meet our son, Avery Warren on February 7, 2012! His due date was originally Valentine's day, but I was plenty happy that he came a week early!! Flash forward: Avery is now almost 6 months old, which means he's rolling over, giggling (loudly, like his parents), and flirting like a pro when he flashes his smile! We've already learned that he's VERY social...we haven't figured out where he gets it though. If you have any ideas, you can email me at social.abby(at)juno.com! (Apparently, symbols are prohibited). LOL!! (Hey, I created that email address as a teenager...it's my thing, so why change it!) His daddy is just as social, so everyone gets a good laugh at us! Warren turned 33, finished his Master's in Physical Education (hallelujah!) and started a full-time teaching job at Raytown High School. His teaching position is half Wellness and half Foods classes...a bonus in his book! He tried his hand as the Assistant Varsity baseball coach this year and will do that again next Spring. He will also return as the Varsity softball coach in the Fall. His favorite job (and I've heard him say it many, many times), is being a Daddy! He loves his son and it really shows! I've now been the Senior Administrator for the Department of Ophthalmology for over a year now, and I'm still learning! We couldn't be more busy! We are implementing an electronic medical record in August, we just hired consultants to help us develop an Ambulatory Surgery Center in the next year and we are expanding our optical shop to the main campus! (I hope to survive it all and write an update for 2013, so please cross your fingers!) Now for the puppy update! Not only were we expecting in 2011, but so was Macie's doggy mama! She was bred with a different doggy daddy than Macie's daddy, but the end result was JoJo! She's much, much smaller than Macie and about to turn a year old on August 5th! Macie just turned 4 on July 13th! While people thought we were crazy to get a puppy in the midst of a pregnancy, it really wasn't that bad. I usually needed to come home on lunch for JoJo and then got to squeeze in a quick nap to recharge as a bonus! Macie loves her sister...and JoJo has enough energy to keep Macie going all the time! (Which was a good distraction when Avery came home!) And now they both have someone to cuddle with as well. Our niece and nephew are growing like weeds! Ella had her golden birthday on the 4th (4 on the 4th) and Eli turned 2! We love spending time with both of them. Ella is already mastering the mama role with Avery (he's better than dolls), and Eli loves showing Avery how to do "big" boy things! That's all for now, but I'm sure there will be more soon! Avery and our four-...Expand for more