I’ve never done a formal newsletter.  However, after reading the one my parents mailed to us, I like the idea.I won’t be mailing this out to everybody.  Posting it discreetly on this blog seems more than sufficient for those who want to find it. So here it goes:

After three years of marriage, Sofia and I became parents just four days before 2019 began.  On December 27th, 2018, Sofia and I walked into our scheduled ultrasound at Children’s Hospital of Colorado.  The ultrasound showed that Henry was in distress. Less than two hours later, Henry Thomas Reilly joined us. Within the first hour of his life, his intestines were placed back in his body.  The three of us spent the next three weeks at Children’s Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House.

Henry was discharged on Sofia’s birthday, January 17th, 2019.  We’ve spent the months since watching him grow. From five and a half pounds to twenty.  He has taken to solid foods–sweet potatoes being his favorite by far. We are convinced that he can walk, but prefers to have us hold his hand as he takes his steps.  Seeing him now, you would never know how chaotic his entry into this world was.

Richard had to return to work, unwillingly, at the Greeley Social Security Administration after two weeks of parental leave.  In August, the opportunity to take a hardship position in Williston, North Dakota arose. All three of us lived out of a one bedroom hotel room for six weeks as Richard reported to work in the one-person office.  But it paid off. Before even returning to work in Greeley, he was offered and accepted a promotion to supervisor at the Colorado Springs Social Security Administration.  

Sofia has grown into her role as a stay at home mother quite well.  She spent considerable time making our Greeley home feel like our own after buying it from my parents in 2018.  She worked hard to help Henry grow in the toddler he is about to become–including the stay in the NICU, a bout of RSV, an ongoing milk allergy, and the complexities of taking care of a baby in one room hotel room for six weeks.  She has been resilient throughout and is the best mother Henry could ask for. She even started working at a coffee shop some evenings and weekends.

The three of us are currently settling into our new home in Colorado Springs.  We hosted Thanksgiving for our friends and family, though most of them are now two hours north.  We drove down to Imperial, California for Christmas so that Henry can meet his abuelo and tio for the first time.  We will also be celebrating Henry’s first birthday before heading back.