a lot can change in a month.

as the title of this post suggests, so many things have changed in our lives. when i last wrote, we had spent the weekend with haley, and then ended up bringing her to live with us on february 3rd.  this weekend it will be one month since she moved in.  so many has happened it's hard to believe it has only been four weeks.

i didn't really know how our lives would change by bringing a 17 year-old, high school sophomore girl into our home. (my last post said she's 16, but she's 17).   travis and i tried to anticipate -- doctors' appointments, parent-teacher conferences ... BOYS!!  -- but until you really dive into the daily grind, you don't really know what's it's going to be like.

for travis and me, our routine hasn't changed terribly.  we wake up around the same time we always did.  now instead of getting to work at 7:30, though, we get in closer to 8:00.  we drop haley off at school on our way to work.  kind of like with the pups, though, before we make a plan to do anything with our friends, we consider how that will impact haley, where she'll be, etc.

i do hate that haley has to get to school so early.  it has actually worked out well for the time-being, though.  having lost her grandma in november (who lived with her) and then her dad in january (i still can't comprehend this kind of loss), she has quite a bit of make-up work.  her english teacher meets with her each morning to help her get caught up.  the first week she and travis got all caught up on her french homework.  geometry has been the biggest struggle (as i'm typing this, i'm so grateful i don't have to worry about geometry homework!), but she has a teacher helping her over lunch to get caught up.  now she has an upcoming science fair project and two more papers in english before she's good to go.

her friend brittany and her friend millie have both been to the house, but we haven't gotten to meet a lot of her other friends.  as time goes on i'm sure we'll get to meet more of the people who have been so important to her over the years.

i'm so grateful that we have a strong support system in place as well -- family members who have helped pick haley up from school when friends weren't able to bring her home, friends and family who check in on us to see how the transition is going, and everyone who loves us (and has come to love haley even without meeting her). 

i'll post more about our activities in february including our date night with the loves, mom's birthday, valentine's day with the smiths, and houston travel.  cheers for now!