Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful thanksgiving at Aunt Jane and Uncle Dave's house. Kate snuggled up and watched the action. Grant loved tagging along with his older cousins. He enjoyed 3 cupcakes and purposely (I think)dropped some crumbs on the floor so he could vacuum. He is obsessed! He vacuumed three rooms, including one that no one went in.

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's House

Tonight all four siblings and two spouses met up at my parents house for dinner. It is so much fun to all be together and unfortunately, happens less frequently these days with the boys living in California. Kate and Grant had fun being the center of attention.

Grant's cooking experiment

Hernia update

We went to see the urologist today and he confirmed that Grant does indeed have a hernia that needs operating on. It will only require one day in the hospital and is (hopefully) not going to be a big deal. Details to follow.

In order to bribe Grant to leave the cool toys in the doctor's office waiting room I told him he could have his own Christmas tree when we got home. So, I dug out a little Christmas tree that Jim and I got the first year we were married and told Grant it was his. I also ended up giving him some of his birthday presents early.(It was a long morning at the doctor's office and I was feeling bad for him.) He loved Mr.Potato Head. After 30 minutes of putting Mr.Potato back together and then taking him apart Grant looked at me and said, "Mama's working hard."

What is funny about this statement is that Jim read somewhere that it builds good self esteem in children if you praise them for their efforts, not their accomplishments. Clearly we have been giving Grant praise for his hard work lately. Grant's other funny statements as of late include, "Whatcha doing mama?" and "How are you today, mommy?" He never really wants an answer, but I guess he figures it is polite to ask.

Not-so-well Visit

We took the kids in for their well visits today at the pediatrician and we got some not so great news. They think Grant has a hernia. We have an appointment with a specialist on Monday. Please pray that his hernia goes away and that he does not have to have surgery.

Other than that the kids were pronounced well. And tall. Grant is just shy of 3 feet and Kate is 27 inches. The highlight was when the doctor asked Grant what she should look at first- nose or mouth- and he replied, "ears." His ear fetish is still going strong. He falls asleep with a pacifier in each ear. Weird.

Kate rolls over

Kate has turned into a little rolly polly. She loves to lay on the floor and suck on a burp cloth and then roll over. She has to be the longest 3 month old ever. She is wearing 6-9 month clothes now and just got her first 12 month old sleeper. We still aren't sure where our kids got these tall genes that put them in the 100th percentile in height. Here's a picture of Kate just as she rolls over for the second time.

Big Brother

I continue to be amazed by how much Grant loves Kate. This morning when we went in his room to get him he was struggling to pull a picture out of his photo album. When Jim asked him what he was doing he told us he was trying to take baby Kate's picture out of the album so he could hug her. He always wants to know where she is and he constantly wants to include her in what he's doing. Lately he's been trying to feed her Halloween candy. He loves tickling her feet and she seems to enjoy the attention even though he's a bit rough.

Trick-or-Treat

Our two pumpkins

Good Times

Cider Mill

Grant loves the cider mill. Lindsay literally takes him three times a week. The pictures here are from when he went last week with his babysitter, Peggy. Thank you, Peggy, for loving Grant as if he were your own!

Chubby cheeks

Kate is growing like a weed and has the cutest chubby cheeks! She has such a sweet personality. The other day she laid on my lap and let me read books to her for 45 minutes! She loves to be snuggled and has started to coo. She puts anything she can get her hands on into her mouth. She is a super flexible baby and will fall asleep anywhere. It is hard to believe such different children can come from the same set of parents. God is so creative.

It is hard to get pictures of Grant these days. Every time I take out the camera Grant runs over to it and says, "Grant see, Grant see," even before I have a chance to snap a shot of him. He is loving the fall, making piles of leaves and jumping into them. He's also really into spiders and bugs. Every afternoon he takes a stick and goes "spider web hunting," looking to destroy anything that remotely resembles a spiderweb. He has also learned to gallop. It is the perfect mode of transportation for him because it embodies the joy that he exudes with each step.

Heaven Has Blue Carpet

I have a famous mother-in-law! What began several years ago as a simple record for her grandchildren accounting her life on a hobby farm eventually turned into a published book by Thomas Nelson (big time publisher in the Christian book world).

It was released on October 12 and I just finished reading it cover to cover. It is amazing. Not only was it fun to read countless stories of Jim as a toddler (he was just shy of two when his parents bought the farm),I learned how the Niedzinskis experienced firsthand the amazing truths buried in the many Scriptures referencing God as our Shepherd.

This book, titled "Heaven Has Blue Carpet," can be bought on Amazon, found at Borders & Barnes and Noble or ordered directly from Jim's mom's website (www.sharonniedzinski.com). Reading it gave me even more respect (if that is possible) for my amazing mother-in-law who ran a farm while raising six children. Did I mention she vacuumed the barn? When is the last time I vacuumed my house?!

Sleepover

Have I mentioned that I have the most amazing sister-in-laws ever? Jim has four sisters and they lovingly fought over who was going to take Kate for a sleepover so mommy could get some much needed rest. Jane won the coin toss and Kate packed her bags for Canton. Here's a picture of Jane's four kids with Kate.

Meanwhile Grant has been showered with love and attention from his aunt Lindsay. They have had adventures at the cider mill, hardware store, bookstore, park and several construction sites. She is one of the few people who has as much energy as Grant and he loves every minute of it!

Double Stroller

Best Lung Report Yet!

Yesterday Grant saw Dr.Doshi, his pulmonologist. I hesitantly asked right off the bat, "How do his chest x-rays look?" He got a big grin on his face and said, "Great!" He gave me a copy of the report to look at and I saw the words for the first time ever, "lungs are clear." Wow! This is medically unheard of. Only God could heal Grant's lungs like this. It was supposed to take years before they were clear.

Our next question was, "does this mean we can take him out all winter and do things like put him in the church nursery etc.?" Unfortunately, the answer was no. Apparently Grant had two things wrong with his lungs and only the one is fixed. (I know this sounds vague, but I don't really know how to explain it.) Grant will still need to have shots every 28 days throughout the winter to protect his lungs in case he gets a cold. But, Dr.Doshi said that we could take Grant out on "controlled" play dates with friends who promise me that their child is healthy. :) It is just group settings where people might not know Grant's situation and might bring a kid with a runny nose that could be dangerous for Grant that we have to avoid.

So, overall, we still have to be careful this winter. But, we don't need to be as extreme as last winter. The best news of all is that Dr.Doshi predicts that by next spring/summer we can TOTALLY treat Grant like a normal kid in terms of where we take him. He said that Grant should be old enough and strong enough by then to be able to fight off colds with no problem.

Mama's little helper

Two Sick Kids

What is harder than having a newborn and a toddler? Having a newborn and sick toddler... Please pray for everyone to get well soon, for us to get some rest and Grant's lungs to stay clear.

A trip to the zoo

Grant visited the zoo today. You might be wondering why there are no pictures of Grant and any of the animals. Well, that is because our $27 entrance fee was spent on a tour of the manholes. Grant had absolutely no interest in the animals. He just wanted to check out the zoo's sewer system. He ran from one manhole to the next, bending over and yelling, "hi water!" before he running off to the next one.

Smiling Kate

Kate is a very intense baby. She studies the world and is constantly observing her surroundings with a very serious look on her face. The other day Jim asked my mom if she'd ever seen such a serious baby. Her reply? "Yes, your wife." :) I guess I was pretty type A from the start. I'm hoping that Kate turns out a little more laid back than me, so I was excited the other day when she finally cracked a smile.