The first new thing is obvious: a new website, finally! Yes, okay, we've really slacked off in this area. It was just so much easier to come up with things to write about when we lived in China. Anytime we ventured outside it seemed we'd come across something strange, exciting, or frustrating. And really, just staying inside could yield some interesting stories as well. So life here is just so much more sane, predictable and boring that it usually doesn't feel like there's much to say about it.

But the kids are growing and changing and I know there are some grandmas out there who would appreciate seeing a few more pictures. And I suppose we probably could come up with some mildly interesting things to write about from time to time. Like today, actually, because we have another new thing to share.

We have another baby on the way! We're due the second week in September. I'm feeling pretty good now. I had a few weeks of feeling nauseated a lot of the day, then a couple of weeks of feeling exhausted, but the worst of that has passed. They say every pregnancy is different and the thing that is already different about this one has been the really intense food cravings. I really didn't crave anything specific with either of my other two pregnancies (and it seemed like that's always what people asked me about the first time I was pregnant). But this time around I've had all sorts of really intense cravings. Mostly comfort foods. And I realized that this is the first first trimester I've had since we've mostly eliminated meat from our diet. So of course, for a while there I was having all sorts of carnivorous longings. And Tom, being the good husband that he is, was more than happy to go out and get an Italian beef sandwich for me when asked.

But I can't complain. We've already found a midwife. Also a pregnancy-related first since with both other pregnancies we didn't settle on a care provider until the end of the second trimester. Millie is absolutely thrilled to be getting another sibling. She's brainstorming names, and is always interested to know the various developmental things going on: what size the baby is, can the baby move, can the baby blink. It's really fun being able to talk about those things with her and know that she understands it.

So that's what's new with us. We will try to be better about keeping things updated here, but I'm not making any promises! It won't take much for us to do "better".