I'm a bad uncle

My two younger sisters each had their first child at the end of last year. Both girls and both ridiculously adorable. Austin is in Boston. Here she is with my sister Erica....



And Naia is in Maui. Here she is with my sister, Whitney...




Here I sit in Iowa.

I haven't met my nieces yet and it sucks. I haven't got on a plane (Boston would be one thing) but Maui a little more challenging. I would use the excuse that my wife is pregnant, which she is, so probably best to stay put at this point. I am sure that's something my sisters understand. Here's the issue though.

I blog everyday for work. I blog on here about once a week. My sisters read my blog almost daily, if not 3-5 times a week. (Google Analytics is cool for that kind of knowledge). I don't even go to my sisters blogs but once a month. I don't even comment on their sites. I get looking at about 3-4 of the pictures and these moments I am missing and well, I can't handle it. These sisters of mine who I watched go from nothing to great moms, with great men in their lives and beautiful children in their arms. And I'm missing it.

Now I'm NOT going to move from Iowa. My family loves it here, as do I. But I sure wish teleporting or cheaper airline tickets were available. Even if it was just for a day so I could see these little people, and see my sisters as moms. I mean seriously, look at these kids....

Bella getting better at reading....

Bella has had some struggles with reading. The school has a "Reading Lab" program that Bella participates in. Each night, Bella brings home a book and reads it to us. I too have seen the improvement.

We got this great note from her reading lab teacher.

Hi Daina and Josh,

My name is XXXX and I teach in one of the Reading Lab rooms at Maple Grove. It's been such a pleasure for me to meet Bella and to begin working with her. She's making wonderful progress! Thank you so much for your continued practice at home... it truly makes all the difference in helping young learners become successful in their reading and writing!

Sincerely,

XXXXX
Reading Teacher

Nice to know that other people think Bella is as wonderful as Daina and I do.