First roses in my yard this year

They are two different buds that opened on the same bush.  It's a large old rose bush in my front yard, about 8 feet tall.  It must not be a hybrid, because the flowers smell like real roses and the plant thrives on neglect.  I don't think I've fertilized it in about 5 years, but it puts out great flowers every year anyway!

Gabriel went on a train ride yesterday

I think this will work--click on the arrow in the upper left corner to see a video!

A long update post

I just haven't had the desire to write much on the blog lately.  I think it's because we are still so uncertain about how everything will shake out this year.  My arm is still healing slowly, and I am looking around for different work.  I have one interview scheduled on April 22nd for a faculty position at an osteopathic medical school about an hour away.  I really don't want to commute, but I need to pursue the opportunity and see what happens.  I have also heard about an even better academic opportunity at a new osteopathic medical school in Washington state.  I'll write more about that when and if I get an interview.  Yes, it would be worth moving to another state for.

I think most of you who read my blog don't know that I was a professor before I went to medical school.  I have a Ph.D. in History, specializing in Latin America.  I taught for 5 years in Ohio before I went back to school.  I feel like I've gotten enough clinical experience and I can move on now.  It would be nice to combine my experiences in a new career path.

Meanwhile, we are hanging on to the idea of another adoption.  We have an appointment on April 28th to talk to a small local adoption facilitator.  The up-front costs are low, and they only work with a limited number of families each year, so average waits are not long.  I have been thinking we needed all our adoption funds set aside before we even started, but Kit thinks we should just get moving and see what happens.

Gabriel turned 4 on March 16th and he is doing great!  His speech is coming along.  I don't think he'll ever have a "language explosion", but he does have little spurts in which he moves forward a bit faster.  He can say and repeat a lot more words, and he's starting to use a few adjectives.  He counts "1, 2, 9, 9, 9" and he can identify and write the letter X.

Our dog Havi turned 13 on the 20th.  We are just astonished at how well she is doing.  She has severe hip dysplasia, so we can't do walks and all that, but she is otherwise healthy.  She has gotten a lot of her spunk back since she became our only dog.  I guess getting all the attention really helps.  Here's a picture of her from last year:

And here are some pictures from our Springtime yard and Mr. G himself in the past month:

And here is my little April Fool!