The Last Two Weeks

I don't have any pictures this time because I am waiting until I can buy a new one. Mine is too slow and is always blurring, or it says it is dead when I put brand new batteries in.

Anyway, the last two weeks have been pretty uneventful, but when I think about it, stuff still happens. Patrick has four teeth now, and he sure knows how to use them. He has weaned himself off of nursing this week. This was not my idea. I was willing to stick it out for the next three months, but he won't even latch on anymore--he just bites! So, as you can imagine, I'm okay with him stopping too.

I have had a lot of work last week and this week. I've been able to earn a decent amount of money, but since Ruth is in California, it has been a little more difficult to watch Patrick by myself and work. He is amazingly patient though, and we are pressing through together.

Reed enjoys his job. Things are starting to pick up a little more now that he is starting to get more clients and actually do stuff. In the middle of May he will start online classes for his Behavioral Analysis certification. I guess this will let us know how graduate school will be before we apply. We can test the waters.

We have had a couple of strange snow storms lately. We woke up yesterday morning to 5 inches of snow, and we weren't even expecting that. The sun came out around noon and melted it all quickly, and tomorrow will be 75, but the yo-yo weather still takes some getting used to.

We have looked at several apartments in the area, but my mom suggested that we look at first-time home buyer programs, and now we think we might wait and see if we can qualify for a loan. I have found listings for several small homes and condos in our price range, and if we can snag a good deal on a foreclosure or something, this would be the best time for us. So wish us luck on that front. Everything else is trucking along. We are all healthy and happy.

How Winnie the Pooh Saved My Life

Patrick is 9 months old today. His personality is loud and clear now. The last few weeks have been really whiny, but understandably so, as he is teething and I can imagine that would be quite painful. He has lots of games that he plays with us. His favorites are probably peek-a-boo and hide from daddy. Today he had spaghetti for dinner, and you can tell by the pictures that he has a lot of fun. I didn't let him feed himself all of it, or else the pictures would be better. I just put a little on his tray to try and grab while I fed him. Patrick likes to have something to do while I feed him. He can't just sit there.





Teeth!

I love blooper shots!

He still sleeps really well. A couple nights ago, we were on our way to bed when Patrick woke up and started to cry. (I am excited for him to have his own room soon so we won't wake him walking by) As I was trying to rock him back to sleep, his crying turned into screaming and soon I thought we may need to call an exorcist. It probably wasn't bad compared to some babies, but I had never heard anything like that come from my baby before. He had some really bad gas (we still haven't determined why) and after that passed he was so worked up that he couldn't calm himself down. We tried several different positions, toys, books, nursing, and we wouldn't call down. Finally, Reed found the Winnie the Pooh electronic book that Patrick LOVES. He will play with this book ALL DAY LONG. He stopped crying almost immediately. I let him play with it for a few minutes, but then it was 11:30 and I wanted to go to bed, so he had to be torn from his love. But he got over it and went to sleep.

That is how Winnie the Pooh saved my life this week.

This Weekend

This weekend was enjoyable. The weather was cold and yucky, so we stayed in and watched the snow and General Conference. Patrick's two bottom teeth are in now, and one on top is starting to show. This last week has been more cranky than usual because of this, but he is still sweet and gives us lots of smiles. He sleeps a lot right now, which is sometimes really nice. He has learned how to give kisses (which for Daddy mean biting his nose). Still no crawling though! Patrick also got his first haircut on Saturday. His "scare hair" was about 4 inches long and sticking straight up all the time, so I decided to give him a trim and see if his hair will start to grow a little more evenly. He did a really good job. We turned on the clippers and let him feel them and see that it wasn't scaring. These weren't very noisy either, which helped a lot. He didn't cry at all for his first haircut. Pictures will come soon if I can catch him happy and awake.

I think Reed is going to enjoy his job. He likes the people he works with, and the atmosphere is really laid back. Right now work is pretty boring because he is just reading all the training stuff, but he gets to go to appointments this week and shadow. He usually doesn't have to leave until 8:00 or 8:30, so we don't feel really rushed in the morning, which is really nice too.

After Five Months . . .

Reed is finally employed!!!!!

Reed was offered a job yesterday with Developmental Disabilities Consultants, PC. Of course, he accepted, and he started today. It was a little odd to get up really early and rush to make his lunch and get him out the door again since we have had such a relaxed routine for so long. Reed is nervous because several times he was told, "You're not remotely qualified for this position, but we really like you." I think once he settles down into this position and gets the training he needs, he will feel less nervous. He has to get certified in Behavioral Analysis, which is an online program, and that might postpone his Master's (we don't know yet), but it will help his career in the long run.

We prayed so hard for this job, and we feel really blessed that he was offered this position. It pays enough for us to move out in a few months and support ourselves, and it is in Reed's field of interest. Thank you everyone who also prayed for Reed.