Thankful?

Recently I have been feeling very thankful for my washing machine. I just love that I can dump in dirty clothes and they come out clean with minimal effort. I think that has to make laundry one of my favorite chores because it really doesn't take a lot of time or effort. I do not enjoy folding or ironing, but that's another story. Anyway, so just about every week I pray a quick prayer of thanksgiving for my washing machine. Evidently the dishwasher has been feeling under appreciated because this week it decided to quit. Cold turkey. So I have been washing dishes this week by hand, and expressing overdue thanks to my dishwasher. I have about 2 more weeks to go before the part comes in for it to be fixed. I am hoping by then we will be even.

Another Visit to the Audiologist

Justin had another hearing test this morning, and he passed with flying colors! I wasn't sure what to expect since the last test he had was an ABR, for babies who cannot give a physical response to sound. I was hoping he was old enough for a real test, but I wasn't sure how they would be able to judge his hearing. Well, I am thoroughly impressed! I held him on my lap in a room with speakers in the corners through which the audiologist spoke and made sounds in different pitches and volumes, and then when Justin looked one way or another, a little stuffed bear would play the drums and light up in a box above the speaker. At his age she said that she usually just focuses on one side, so as not to confuse him. So she mostly used the speaker on his right side and he was great! I nearly teared up watching him turn to the sounds, when it was hard to hear, like a low pitch or volume. I wasn't sure he would be able to hear it, and he noticed it right away! She even switched some to the other side and he was able to turn his attention to that side immediately. She gave such a good report, and now we are released from the ENT unless something else comes up. We should plan for yearly hearing tests, but she really said that between Randy, me and the speech therapist we should pick up anything related to his hearing. And Travis did so well being patient and playing quietly during the test. I love visits like this!

Oh, What a Difference a Year Makes

This morning during speech therapy as the clock ticked to 9:00 am I got a little lump in my throat as I recalled what we were doing last year on this day at this time. I handed my little boy over to an anesthesiologist and watched the doors swing shut behind them as they prepared to fix Justin's heart. So different from today! We have made so much progress and I have to give God all the glory because I know that he is the Great Physician and the Mighty Healer who has held Justin is his strong arms the entire time. We weren't able to see Justin until about 8 pm that night and when we did, this is what we saw:

Tonight at not quite 7 pm, this is what we saw:

Our little man with quite some personality! The scar is fairly faint and we barely even notice it anymore. No ill effects from the surgery and such a great prognosis every time we visit the cardiologist. And now, he is close to crawling. I would say that I want that to be my Christmas present this year, but I think it will be before then, so I don't want to waste my present too early! Thank you all, for a fabulous year post-surgery. We are picking up steam as a family, and we are not looking back. Only to recall the faithfulness and steadfastness of the Lord Almighty. He is so good!

Napping with Daddy

I had to nap on Sunday afternoon after getting in from a red eye flight early in the morning before church. And when I nap in the afternoon, I let Travis nap with me in our bed. Usually he wakes before I do and I have to kick him out of bed so I can keep napping. And that's what happened this day. So when I finally woke up I wandered into the living room, and this is what I found:


Too cute! I love pictures of my boys all together. And it's just like I often find them: Travis asleep, or just waking, and Justin rearing to go.

A Few Things

I went to work this weekend, and it was a good trip. Randy met me at the door Sunday morning when I returned with the update from my absence:

• Justin got another tooth! That makes 14, and about 6 in the past month. He is not too far behind Travis at this age. Randy does a nightly "tooth check" because Justin has had so many so close to coming through. It's not Justin favorite part of the bedtime routine, and I don't dare stick my fingers in Justin's mouth since he bites HARD. So that is saved for Daddy.
• The cat puked on the bed spread. Excellent.
• This one I didn't even have to wait until I got home to find out. Travis tattled on Daddy, when I called on the way home. When we mow the lawn, we put Justin in a laundry basket with some toys. He threw them out and he had to reach out to get them, and he tipped himself over and skinned his little nose. Randy said he barely cried, but it looks like he has a bloody nose. Now I guess I have to make the effort to get out the whole pack and play.
• And the biggest thing was another first for Justin. I am so happy that Randy was able to see this because dads tend to miss so many firsts. I am glad this was something special he could have and he will be able to remember. Ok, so here it is: Justin sat up in bed all by himself! He has never sat up without help ever! Randy walked in and Justin started clapping for himself, like he was saying, "Look at me! Look what I did!" All of us have been working diligently on this, and if we get him started, he can sit up most of the way, but he never actively chooses to sit up on his own. So this was amazing! Of course, he hasn't repeated his feat, but we know he can do it now, so now there is no slack!

Water Play Day and a School Visit

This week has been a little crazy. We had a lot of different directions to go, and timing and planning were of utmost importance. The kids' car seats have been in 5 different cars, and today I realized that each of the four members of our family were in different places for about 2 hours. That just seems odd when the kids are so young, and they don't go to day care.

Yesterday the kids went to playgroup at the fountains close to our house, and Randy and I went to visit a potential school for Justin. The kids had way more fun than we did. Both boys had a great time, and I was sad that I couldn't be there to see their faces. Fortunately I have some fabulous friends who took some pictures for me. It was one of those water pads where the water shoots up at random times. Justin had so much fun that he had to be taken out and warmed up a little before he could go back in. The water would shoot up and he would get wet and then he would look down in the hole to see where the water went. Too cute! And Travis figured out he could put his bucket on the holes and when the water came up it would send the bucket about 2 feet into the air before it fell off. He would clap and jump up and down. I can see him doing that. Here's some pictures my friend sent within hours of the playgroup. I am beyond impressed. It would have taken me...a week? Maybe longer.

And the school visit? It was a private school for kids with special needs. It is a good school, definitely, but not for us right now. We are still in the information-gathering stage, and this was something we wanted to check out. Worth the visit, but not the right place for Justin now. I am glad we went for the knowledge, but I think we'll keep doing what we're doing for now. It helps ease doubt a little. There's always the concern that maybe there is something better, or maybe we should be doing more. But both Randy and I are convinced that this is not a "something better" that we should pursue now.

September Prayer Requests

I thought I would pass along some specific things you can be praying about for our family this month:

1. We are working with Justin to pick up and eat foods that require more chewing. This includes even things like peas and bits of cooked carrot. He likes things when they are pureed, but not when he has to chew them himself.
2. Justin is making great strides in physical therapy, and we want him to continue working on his leg strength to start crawling. Please pray for his persistence (and ours!) to meet this goal.
3. We are having a tough time controlling Travis' volume when he talks. We talk about the inside voice, outside voice, and church voice, but he's having a difficult time using them appropriately. Not completely unreasonable to expect a toddler to be loud, but he scares Justin when he talks too loudly. Please pray for him to catch on to this quickly.
4. I am doing overnight trips at work for the first time in 3 years. This means that I will be away from Justin for a whole calendar day each trip, the first time in his life. It will be tough on me, but I think the time to myself will be very valuable. Please pray that I use it wisely to be reinvigorated when I return.
5. We am trying to establish a schedule that we can live with for our family. I keep thinking that the busyness will not last and if we can just make it a little longer, we will have a break. Hasn't happened yet. We want to make certain that we use our time as a family intentionally.