Apologies for the lag in posts.

Travelness, busyness, kidfulness, and illness have conspired to take me out of blogging commission.

Meanwhile, here are placeholder pictures to help you through your day.

Remember, kids, photos are forever. (Ruby and Maxine, your future dates will never see these.)

Last year today, we lived in this house.

This year today, we live in this house.

Yes, this house.

That has a living room.

That is large. Really large.

That has a section for toys.

That has a closet on the same floor you enter so that you can — gasp — put coats inside! Instead of, say, on the floor.

That has a SEPARATE dining area. I repeat. The table is for dining. The table does not hold anything resembling a computer.

That has a kitchen. With just a touch of counter space.

That has a garage in the back. Also a groovy green color.

That has a relatively new (mobile) resident under three feet tall.

Recap: We moved. We built a house (Jay spent months single-handedly putting in floors, cabinets, toilets, everything.) We had a baby (Dot spent too many nights single-handedly feeding, bathing, and putting two little girls to bed). We moved again. We are still married. We are still drinking heavily.

Confession: Does this house look suspiciously clean? Yes, Jay and Dot bust their asses cleaning the house for a Very Important Visitor and forbade Ruby from touching any of her toys for 12 hours.

Random Expression Of Feeling: Are we happy we took that leap of faith? Yes. Are we tired beyond belief? Yes. Are we hoping to (1) win the lottery, (2) meet a leprechaun at the end of a rainbow, or (3) trip over a 20-pound gold nugget? Yes, why not, and of course.

Key Takeaway: I do not recommend you try this at home.

And yes, I noticed Ruby’s little pose as well. She did that with no prompting.

See more on Jay’s Flickr stream.

It is as epic as it looks.

Maxine likes to be in control of her spoon.

Here she is about to jam that spoon into her nostril.

Methinks she likes pulverized green beans a tad too much.

The inevitable food coma.

First, there was this house.

Then, there was a big hole.

Later, there was a big hole with snow.

Meanwhile, there was this house.

And boy, were we glad to find this house!

After the big hole, we got busy. Very busy. Then we got this house.

And also this little munchkin came out of nowhere and joined the fray.

Now we are crazy. Crazydelirioushappytired. I have three toilets. Did I mention I have three toilets?

Were you sitting down? Because I know you just fell off your chair.

Long lines to check out the fabled soup dumplings, but we were very lucky to arrive on the right side of 10:30 am. So we got seated.

Dim sum lunch to catch up with old friend Nona. Chris does the ordering.

Dim sum with an attitude.

Max is not sure what she’s doing here. Besides being a baby accessory.

If you can get apple juice at a dim sum house, it’s not your momma’s dim sum house.

SOUP. IN A DUMPLING! Brain implosion!

I got passionfruit bubble tea. Yeah, this ain’t no Chinatown dim sum hole in the wall.

Even the har gao looks upscale.

Ruby digs into noodles. With her fingers. I don’t believe she has ever used a fork. Please don’t hold that against me.

This. Is. How.

And. This. Is. Why.