We have colds

Life is stuffy right now. Malachi, Gabe and I all have colds with stuffy, runny noses. The boys look like they have been punching each other because their eyes have such dark circles. Niether is sleeping well. Hopefully this will pass soon.

Matt turned in his dissertation yesterday -- finally! He still may have to make corrections after his defense, but basically he's done. He is now working on his talk for the defense, but by Dec. 2 we should all by calling him Dr. Vannette.

We had a good time at my sister's wedding. The boys did a good job and every one thought they were wonderful. Gabe had his first milkshake and thinks that drinkable ice cream is a great idea.

We are back in Des Moines for the week and then it's off to my parents for Thanksgiving. I hope they get over their colds before we leave, but oh well, I guess. After that we are back here again, Matt defends. Gabe's preschool session wraps up and we head off to Ft. Wayne. We are looking for apartments so that we have someplace by Jan. 1 in Ames. Matt will stay for the next 6 months while job hunting. Things are moving fast.

Stuff and lists

Well, I don't write as often as I like anymore -- I hope you haven't all given up on me completely! We are doing fine. Gabe is loving preschool and would go every single day if he could. Malachi is walking, sort of more tottering, but he can get about half way across the room before he falls. Still no teeth...grr. Matt is still high stress, but in one sense doing better because he now has an official date for his dissertation defense, Dec. 2 and he has the paperwork signed for his job as a postdoc at ISU starting in Jan. Me, well, I guess I am just trying to hold everything and everyone together.

So, I have already had several conversations with people about Christmas gifts so here are a few ideas:
Gabe
Geotrax (he has Grand Central and would love extension packs or the airplane)
Imanginext Batcave (by Fisher Price)
Shake and Go cars
Soccer ball
Aqua doodle
Play dough
Hullabaloo game
He wears 4T

Chi
Any toys that have things to manipulate, things to fit together
Parents brand Cell phone and Car keys (this brand is more realistic which is fun)
Little Tykes Handle Haulers
Really, just anything that looks cool...
He wears 12 month right now, but I would probably just buy 18 month clothes and he really needs 12-18 month size socks

Still here

So I actually have a few minutes to myself to write some updates. Malachi has taken some steps on his own. He's not very brave about it yet; it just sort of happens so I am not sure how long before he will be walking but we are not very far away. Each day he shows more and more control. He is getting most of his food from real "people" food. He hardly ever has a bottle anymore. And he is finally cutting a tooth, but it's still not visible.

Gabe started school this week. It's a preschool program through the parks and rec and he goes every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. He loves saying that he goes to school now. He's doing well and having fun. His teachers enjoy him. He's the one with a busy schedule. He has school, then library story time on Wednesday and Sunday school on Sunday.

I have a few minutes because for the first time in many years I opted not to go to church. Any time I have not gone in 3 and half years has been because I was visiting someplace where there was not a regular church people attended...and right after the Chi was born, now that I think about it. It's weirdly liberating to just stay home while the rest go. They all had that option before and exercised it a couple times, but I always had to go. It is still very important to me, but it feels that way since I have a choice now.

Right now my life has just been about trying to hold us together and our situation is starting to wear on everyone. Matt was on track for defending on Nov. 21, but now one advisor is trying to push it off...past the deadline for graduation. I am begging Matt to fight back, but I don't know what is going to happen. I guess either way he's going to take a semester postdoc position at ISU and they'll let him do that at full pay even if he doesn't defend until later, as long as it is before the end of the semester. I don't like this. I don't trust any of these people at this point though. I don't know; if you pray, now is a time we can use all the prayers we can get.

So, that's our life right now.

Gabe...

Chase wanted to play Rock, Paper, Scissors with Gabe and was trying to teach him the rules, but Gabe informed Chase that his mommy doesn't let him play with scissors. Chase didn't know what to say to that. After I was done cracking up when they told me the story, I explained that they were pretend scissors. Gabe is still not sure he likes the game because he wants more time to think about which to choose.

Gabe has also read five simple books designed for beginner readers. He is working on sounding out words. He is doing a good job.

Chi is growing and now standing independently. He does it multiple times a day.

It's been awhile...

It's been hard to find time to write. So here's the scoop. Matt hasn't been able to finish this month because the committee decided he needed to collect more data. Lots of frustration all around, but now that is done and he's close to finishing the writing. His date is set for Nov. 21st, which of course is much later than we had hoped.

So the boys and I are still at my aunt and uncle's house because it is so much closer to Matt and we can see him for about half the week each week. We are weary of not having our own place, but this is working out well. Our goal is to have someplace to call home by the beginning of December.

No luck on the job front. It's a possibility that Matt can stay put and just transition to a post doc position, which is not ideal for any of us, but we'll make it work. There are just two jobs we are still waiting on that start in January, so keep your fingers crossed.

Malachi can crawl and pull up. He spends much of his life vertical now and sometimes cruises along the furniture. He also gave up baby food. He still has no teeth so finding food for him to eat a well balanced diet has been challenging, but I think we are managing.

Gabe and I are doing "school time" each day and that is fun. We just practice pre-reading and math skills and do art projects. We walk on the trails around here most days and go to the library once a week. I gave up on the hand washing after using the bathroom and bought hand sanitizer so he wouldn't be stuck at the sink. He loves using it, but the best part is that he has his own name for it. It is called "hanitizer."

Mobile Malachi

Malachi is on the move! He can crawl, but he gets around with a combo of crawling, scooting, bouncing and rolling. What he is really getting good at is getting up into a sitting position. He can usually do that from any position (unless he's really tired). My favorite is that he sits up and then kind-of bounces on his butt in an effort to move himself.

The other thing he is already doing is trying to pull himself up. He gets about half way there, so that is not long off. He now has his first pair of shoes in anticipation of all the places out of the house he'll want to put his feet down.

Gabe said...

Before we left Ames, we were all in the car, I don't remember where we were going, and we passed by a utility box. It was a large rectangular box that was up on a concrete block. Gabe said, "Look! A statue of a box!"

Again in the car. I was driving us to my grandma's in St. Louis and I decided to approach the city so that Gabe could see the Arch. I tried to explain to him why the Arch was there, how it was where the pioneers set off from, the "Gateway to the West," and all. I knew he wouldn't get it all, but he always needs to know why. So, we could see the Arch and he was uspet that he couldn't see the bottom. I told him we were still very far away and when we got closer he would see the whole thing. We cross the Mississippi (very exciting) and I say, "Can you see the bottom now?" He said he could and then he said, "But Mommy, I can't see the gate."