More reinforcements. And Thanksgiving.

Everyone wanted to help Mimi in the kitchen <3 We played a lot of Ticket to Ride. Thanksgiving dinner preparations Silly boys My dad, the kids (minus Joel), and I went for a nice walk down to the tunnel on one of our nearby trails before Thanksgiving dinner. We all worked up an appetite :^) We played so many games! Enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving dinner <3 He approved of Mimi's sweet potato casserole. Since we won't see them at Christmas, we opened a few gifts together. More games...

How blessed we were to have Mimi and PopPop here for Thanksgiving! It wasn't what we'd planned, but it was even better, as we rejoiced in Mike's improving health here (I was able to accompany him to a doctor's appointment last week while my parents watched the kids), and we still got to spend time with my family. We will cherish these memories forever. Thank you, Mom and Dad!

reinforcements

I think everyone who reads our blog knows about Mike's scary diabetic ketoacidosis episode a couple of weeks ago. He was VERY sick, admitted to the hospital on Monday with a blood glucose of 1100. He was pretty out of it for a couple of days but recovered enough to come home last Friday, thanks to the prayers of many. Mike's parents came to help us out while he was in the hospital, and since Mike still wasn't well enough to travel, my parents came all of last week to help us during his recovery and spend Thanksgiving with our family (instead of us traveling to West Virginia and Maryland, as we had planned). I don't know what we would do without our amazing families, but we are so blessed to have their unfailing support!

Here are some pictures from Grandma and Grandpa's visit/Grandpa's birthday last Saturday: The family that puts Ikea together stays together. We had our first little accumulation on Saturday morning. Fenrir was beside himself. My parents got here on Saturday in time to spend a little time with Mike's parents and celebrate Tom's birthday before they left.

We are blessed!

Jack earns his first degree black belt!

We are so proud of Jack and all of the work he has put in these past four years. Unfortunately, Mike was very sick and unable to attend the black belt test ceremony on Sunday, but Grandma and Grandpa surprised him by being there. And I took a lot of videos, which you can check out on our YouTube channel, if you are interested.

Here is the personal form he put together on his own for the black belt ceremony. There were ten people testing for their black belt, and only the first and last slots for personal form were specifically chosen because they stood out to their instructor- Jack was chosen to go first- his was the "most athletic."


Way to go, Jack! We couldn't be more proud of you!

a half a year

This blows my mind. How can this boy already be a half a year?! Usually, by this point, we are past the worst of the sleeping and onto more fun things. He's still in our room, still sleeping very much like a 6-week-old, though. This switching our clocks back has been hard on me, as he now wakes at 5- a time I don't function well at all. Mike and I have been taking turns with him at that hour. And he will only nurse or take a bottle when he has reached his uttermost hunger or tiredness. He is starting to eat more solid foods, which has helped some with his sleep (so he only wakes 2-4 times in the night, as opposed to 5 or 6). And unlike the last few kids, he actually opens his mouth when I come at him with a spoon of food. Two days ago, he polished off a jar of sweet potatoes, and last night, he ate quite a few little spoonfuls of the lasagna we were having.

He has started interacting and babbling more, which is fun. He laughs and waves, though I think that's more a coincidence right now. He'd love to sit up by himself, but he's still a little top-heavy for that. He rolls quite easily now, though, and it won't be long before he starts reaching all of these fun milestones, and is able to entertain himself a little better. I'm just thankful that his daytime naps are predictable now, and I can plan better for school- when we do our combined activities, and when the kids do independent work.

I love how this boy can be enticed to smile and coo and even laugh nowadays. You just have to make eye contact with him and smile really big. And he gets the same comments on his big eyes as Opal did as a baby. They are huge and bright. I love watching him grow and develop. He seems so much like Jack in many ways- from his looks to his interactions with me. But I'm sure he will develop his own little personality and quirks. We are so blessed to have him as a part of our family.