Welcome Derme

Last Friday our family welcomed Derme, an au pair here on a cultural exchange program. She came all the way from South Africa and will be living with us for a year. She will be taking classes, helping with the kids and learning about American culture. We have had so much fun already in such a short time. We know God hand picked Derme for our family. Here are a few pictures of Derme with the kids.

Recovery

Grant is out of surgery and is experiencing a "normal" recovery (alternating between crying and sleeping). Below is a verse God spoke to me yesterday when I was praying for Grant:

"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. Oh Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!" Psalm 30:11-12

We are so thankful for God's provision.

Surgery

Tomorrow morning at 9am Grant has surgery for his hernia. We have been preparing him for several days now by pretending to do surgery on his doll, Lucy. He loves hearing the little skit that I do with Lucy and the doctor and often says, "more surgery!" when I finish. Please pray for his surgery tomorow, and for peace for me too. It's funny because my child has had open heart surgery and this surgery is no big deal compared to that. But still, the word surgery still brings back painful memories at this point. Thanks for your prayers and support.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Grant:
food: sausage patties. Precooked and frozen.
activity: hiding in bathrooms and closets when I'm not looking.
toy: blocks. He loves to build tunnels and towers and put his little people in them
book: The Little Engine that Could.
person: daddy. He can't get enough. Today dad put him on a raft and let him slide down the stairs. I played a counting game with him. I don't have a chance. :)
Phrase: "Grant do it. All by self!"
Least favorite thing to do: Drink milk at meals.
Favorite dessert: cookies and M & M's. Yesterday when he woke up I asked him what he was dreaming about and he said, "cookies and M & M's."

Kate:
food: sweet potatoes. The only solid she'll eat.
toy: anything of Grant's
person: Grant. She laughs when he jumps, she laughs when he laughs, she even laughs when he takes her toys away. She is totally captivated by him.
activity: eating books. Bedtime stories have been taken to a whole new level.
dislikes: loud noises and loud people. She cries when people talk loudly.
bedtime: 7:30pm
waketime: 5:30am. It was 7:15 until this week. Not sure what is happening but I'm not a fan.

The Inchworm

Kate is a little inch worm. She has not mastered crawling yet, but she is determined to get across the room. So, she moves by thrusting her butt up in the air and then flinging herself forward. It is really quite a sight. I don't think it will be long before she is crawling because she already wants everything that Grant has. Grant's favorite line is, "no Baby Kate! Grant's!" :) Welcome to life with a two year old.

Actually, I think Grant is pretty sweet for a two year old. He always reminds us not to slip when we leave the house and says "God Bless you," whenever we sneeze. The other day we pulled into our driveway and I realized that Grant couldn't walk into the house because he didn't have shoes on. (Long story) So, I told him he had to stay in his carseat while I quickly ran baby Kate into the house. I said, "By the time you count to 10 I'll be back." I sprinted Kate in to the house and when I came back out to get Grant I asked him, "Did you count to 10?" He looked at me with a totally straight face and said, "No, forty." How does he even know the number 40? Was he trying to be funny? I get a kick out of everything that comes out of his mouth. Okay, almost everything.

Florida Pictures

Good Times

Grant's 2nd Birthday

Surgery Postponed

Grant's hernia surgery was supposed to be this week, but because of a cold we had to reschedule for January. I'll keep you posted when it gets closer.

Other big news- Grant stopped taking the bottle this weekend. Hooray!

ABC's

How we spent our Saturday

We had quite a bit of snow today. All day Grant was talking about sledding, so after his nap daddy took him sledding at the park right by our house. Kate loves her bath. I think she could lounge in it all day. Mommy and Kate stayed warm in the house.

Coffee Please

Today Grant and I went to the mall to look at Christmas decorations. Grant's favorite things (next to vacuums) are Christmas trees. After we looked at all the trees we went to the food court for lunch. After ordering I turned to Grant and asked him what he wanted to drink, fully expecting him to say water. Instead he looked at me with a totally straight face and said, "coffee." I turned to the man to pay and get a couple of waters and then looked over to see why Mr.Chatterbox was so quiet. He had taken the handiwipes and was meticulously wiping down the counter of the restaurant stand.When we were done eating Grant turned to me and said, "thank you for paying for my food, mommy." He is just too precious. Everyday I am so thankful for how healthy he is and how much joy he brings to our lives.

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