An Overdue Update

If you have ever wondered how the addition of a second child into a family impacts things, just consider the length of time since we have shared an update from the Panda family. I would apologize for our long-overdue post; but instead I’ll just say thank you to the person who gives us the knowing smile at the store, or to the person who — out of the blue — compliments our parenting when we are out to lunch, or to the countless friends and family and church members who have wrapped our family in love and care this past year. Each of those moments, from the half-second “you got this” look to the “of course I’ll watch one of the kids so you can take the other to the doctor” means so much more than we can say — please know that we appreciate it so very much.

To try and recount all that has happened since our last full update would turn this post into the Christmas letter from hell, so instead I’ll just highlight a few things and mostly stick to sharing photos. If you want to know more about something just drop us a note in the comments!

The first set of photos I want to share are from well over a year ago; most were taken in March 2018 as part of a family photo shoot, with a couple others from later in the year sprinkled in for good measure. We had been in Springfield not even a full year yet, and life was about to get a lot more exciting!

Within a few months of the main photoshoot above we would learn that we were expecting again; this meant some big changes. Our little guy was about to become a big brother, we were going to experience the birth process through the American health system (since he was born in Northern Ireland), and we would be doing it all in a community where we were just getting settled — again. At least we had family close this time around!

Our daughter was born just a few days before our son’s third birthday; healthy and happy. Or at least as happy as a newborn ever is. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year! It’s amazing looking at the photos of the two of them how much they both look alike; almost like they are brother and sister. Below is a huge set of photos from this past year.

I do want to share another side of this past year and a half or so. It’s a side you may not know if you have only been keeping up with us on social media or similar. To be blunt, this has been a hard season of life. There are lots of reasons, but here are a few. For both Mary Erin and I we’ve had parents experience some fairly dramatic health challenges. While we don’t need to go into great detail here, it should suffice to say that there have been points for both of us where we didn’t know if we were going to see one of our parents again. Some of that has resolved and some hasn’t. We know we are lucky to still have all our parents around and able to be involved in our kids lives — and it is something we don’t take lightly given our experiences of the last 18 months or so.

There have also been some health issues closer to home; I have been working through some major changes over the past year (which I may write about more soon) based on some concerning tests at my last physical. It has been hard, and sometimes discouraging, but when I look at where I am now almost a year later I can hardly believe how far I’ve come.

It is easy to focus on the cute kids — and they are super cute — and the wonderful Instagram-worthy moments. To be clear, there are many of those. We are blessed beyond our expectation or deserving. However, we also want to be honest about the challenges we face as individuals and as a family. We hope our honesty will not only help our friends and family know how to support us, but that we might encourage others to be open about their needs so we may be a support in return.

I would love to promise more frequent posts and updates. And maybe it will happen. But then again, we do have a track record on these things…

From the Pandas to you,
All the very best!