We expanded the family, from 1 baby girl to 2 baby girls - welcome to the world Ella Madison! She was born on solar eclipse day (8-21-17) and loves her 19-month-older sister Viviana. Ella is now 4 months old & purely breastfed, so needs to be everywhere mommy goes. Even sleeps in the best next to her! She's had a few medical concerns we need to keep an eye on, but fingers crossed they will be minor and not affect her in a big way. She is sooo cute, chill, smiles alot, and loves to be held! We can tell she is going to be a great young lady one day.
Viviana is approaching her 2nd birthday soon, and continues to be a fun/cute/smiling/adventurous gift in our lives. She started school recently, only going 2 days a week...but likes going and interacting with her new friends there (Chesterbrook Academy). She recently got some cool Xmas presents which included a battery operated Mercedes car so she can drive around the yard - she is still getting the hang of it. We also got her a basketball hoop which she likes (dunking!) and signed her up for soccer practice on Saturday mornings. Viviana loves running around, so we'll let her! She also likes to chase Maxwell around the house, eat her pizza upside down, and sometimes mistakes NO for YES :o|
We surprisingly had some bad news lately - our beloved Malti-poo Lilly developed brain cancer and had to be put to sleep. She was a great dog, and didn't get to see her 9th birthday...which kills us. We were hoping she would have made it at least 6 more years, or longer...but sometimes the worst things happen to the best dogs/people. We are sad, and so is Maxwell - her little buddy. Having to say goodbye to our little four-legged friends is never easy, and this certainly was not. Lilly will be remembered and talked about often. It's hard to even talk about her in the past-tense, that's how sudden it all happened, over the course of a couple weeks.
My lovely wife Christine continues to be a great mom and selflessly takes primary care of the kids. She is the one waking up with Ella at night when she gets hungry, and the disruptive sleep patterns are not fun. I keep an eye on Viviana and tend to her is she wakes - but she pretty much sleeps 10+ hours at night. We have the help still from Nanny Ruth, primarily in the mornings but she is a great asset. She helps clean up, watch the kids if needed, etc.
Another major development in 2017 was the birth of my Registered Investment Advisory Firm TrustTree Financial! I made the decision to party ways with Ameriprise in May and started my own company, still doing investment management and financial planning. It's ultimately best for me, and where I wanted to be in my career. So now I am 100% responsible for not only providing clients great ideas and advice, but I also have to file all the legal documents, create my own contracts, handle my own compliance, do my own marketing, etc. Christine came up with the name, I have a logo created, paid someone to do my website, and I was off and running! It's been a great year in the markets, which makes life easier...when clients are making money, everyone tends to be happier!
One last note - we have been recently talking about moving out of state, to an area where we can enjoy more "seasons". We've seriously been contemplating North Carolina, and have talked to a realtor there. Ideally we'd want to do it in the next 2 years, before Viviana heads to Kindergarten and before we attempt baby girl/boy #3. One step a a time there big fella! Ha. The Opre family has also been fans of the Tarheel state...so potentially we wouldn't be the only ones looking to relocate....out of the heat and further from hurricanes.
So that's about it for me. First hour of 2018, and I knocked out a blog post! I am sure I missed so many things that happened this year...all I know it's been filled with many good memories, and so sad too. With a little bit of stress along the way. That's life!
