Dr. Drew!

As you can tell from the blog title, there's another Ph.D. in the family!

Drew passed his defense today, wowing his committee members and speaking with confidence about his work. During the defense I couldn't help but proudly think, "Yeah, I'm married to him." :)



The magnet (in cake form) and the binary code for "Ph.D."

The newly appointed Dr. Drew!

Getting ready for the toast.




The lab: Brennan, Drew, Mumtaz, Brian, Tom, Dimitri, Greg, Logan, Omar, Maggie, and Alex

The happy family.
We did it.

Clara Has A First Cousin!

Ian Patrick Donahoe was born this morning to proud parents Sean and Jessica!
(Look at how cute he is...am I a proud Auntie or what!?)




Clara is so excited about "Baby Ian".
She can't WAIT to teach him loads of things.
...

Like the joys of swinging...

...and the seriousness of Elmo's awesomeness...

...and the importance of wearing a frog hat while you type...




...and why dressing like a cowgirl (or cowBOY in Ian's case) is the most fun...

...and how even though you live in the city, you gotta rock the John Deere boots.

(Don't worry Ian, we can get you green ones.)

I'm excited you are here Baby Ian!
xo, your cousin Clara

Hips...

Big news! We had an appointment with the pediatric orthopedist today and x-rays revealed that Clara's hips are nearly perfect! For the next three months she will still wear her brace while sleeping but she gets to run around during the day brace-free, without anything to slow her down.

We are in awe of God during this time and are so thankful for good doctors, modern medicine, and the support of you--our friends and family.

A Favorite...

 

This was taken at Drew's birthday celebration... I love this photo.

Summer

Summer is winding down. Drew has a defense date, we have a moving date, and we're in our last month of living here in San Diego. We're enjoying our last weeks here, as evidenced by the photos below...



We took Clara to the Balboa Carousel. She wasn't too sure about it at first but quickly warmed up to the ride!

Um, Dad, are you sure this is okay?

Yay, horsies!

Heather Robb and her band, The Spring Standards, came to San Diego. We saw them in concert (amazing show) and the next day Heather stopped by to meet the peanut.

One of Clara's favorite places is "outside"... it's also one of her favorite words.

Clara and Daddy on their inaugural bike ride! Thanks, Grammy; Clara loves her bike seat.

Clara at the beach, a new favorite. Thank goodness Santa Cruz has one!

Clara and I had a ladies lunch with friends of ours: Summer and her daughter Hannah, and Aimee and her daughter Stella. We tried to get a photo of the girls together but this is what we wound up with. Poor Stella, she was ready and waiting for her photo shoot, but Hannah (not pictured) and Clara (trying to escape the stroller) didn't want anything to do with it.

The heat warranted a kiddie pool. We can't get Clara out of it!

Yeah, it's shaped like a whale... tail included.

Tonight we had a BBQ with our Mesa neighbors. We had such fun celebrating with these wonderful friends.

Heather, Clara, and Geoff

Arpita, Drew, Clara, Consuelo, and Sebastian

Consuelo, Sebastian, Kanu, Arav, and James

Kanu and Arav

Consuelo and Sebastian