windowpane visual:

kitchen counter visual:

that leftovers shot is actually from last week, when we made this cheesy bread plus loaded nachos, except i replaced their schmancy bean concoction with plain ol' black beans and went crazy with the romaine and lighter on the chips. the kids declared it a winner, although we still had negative feedback in the onion category. (the fresh onions were a little intense, but had we scaled back to a scant fourth cup i think it would've been just the right amount of bite.)

pull-up status: as you've hopefully forgotten about, one of my intentions for this grand year is to
the added bonus to this arrangement is that i am discovering all sorts of muscles that i hadn't met before. like those guys lurking under my ribs--who knew they were even a thing? i thought it was mainly skeletal territory there, but apparently we have muscles all over the place, and most of my upper body ones are now quietly whimpering.
also, one of my favorite things about winter is speed skating around the house in socks, namely the part where you get to slide to a dramatic stop. it occurs to me that one of these days i am liable to grossly miscalculate and wind up on the floor, so if i ever tell you i have twisted my ankle 'on the treadmill,' we shall all know what truly went down.

there are many other things we should probably discuss, like my eyebrow situation and also why i'm hoping for more snow, but talking fluff is mostly my way of skirting the real issues. so for my fellow adoptive parents who pop in for an update on the little dude: it's the same stuff upcycled into new and improved shenanigans. should things begin to progress, i promise you i will post here. until then: you're not alone.
you've got us, and we've got you, and best of all we all have Him, and at the end of the day that's all we're really asking for, right? some decent, unflinching company in the middle of the crazy.