What a semester!

So here we are just 5 days away from leaving for Uganda and boy are we behind on this blog. Sometimes I feel like blogs are inevitably doomed to go long periods without entries. It seems that the times when you have the most to say you have the least time to sit down and tell everyone. Well the shortest version that picks up from January:
In March we finally figured out all the details for our trip to Uganda. Katie and Nigel were able to go to Stewart & Summer's wedding in Florida for Spring break. Nigel had a blast at the beach eating sand. Grant stayed home to work and rewarded himself with an epic 12 hour LAN Party!! woot woot!! In April we announced that we are pregnant!! Yay!! 10 kids here we come!! Baby (unknown gender) is due December 1st. On April 15th Nigel turned 1!! wow! He is continuing to get bigger and sometimes we think he eats as much as we do. You can see in this picture he is enjoying his very first cake by digging a hole right down the middle. A few weeks after his first birthday he graduated into the forward-facing car seat which everyone has enjoyed and on April 19th Grant turned 23!...whew he is getting old. Not long after we began raising support for Uganda and God provided abundantly more than the $2000 we needed. Boom! *proverbial fist-bump to God* He is so awesome! Our dear friend and brother Ian Sebbanja came to visit us from Uganda for the first week of May. And this week Grant had 2 of the hardest finals of his OU career....on the same day! ish... Today we begin packing because we never like to leave things to the last minute ;-) but the power randomly went out for most of the morning so that was an uninvited surprise. We ask for continued prayer this summer as we pour ourselves out for Jesus in Uganda. We expect to have semi-regular access to internet throughout our stay so we are making it our top priority to keep everyone posted. Everyone is welcome to come see us off on Tuesday (May 18th) at 11:30am at Calvary Chapel in Norman.

sick puppies

Thus far January has been a trying month to our home. At least one person has been sick all month so far. And earlier this week all three members were plagued by presumably the same cold. As usual Grant got over the sickness in his usual 24-48 hours, while Nigel and i have drudged on still sick. We would be more jealous of him for his speady recoveries, but instead are thankful that God would heal him so that he can get to work and win some bread for us. Today however there has been a turn in health for nigel and i. For example, for the past 35 minutes nigel has been happily playing on the family room floor with his toys, something he has not done yet this week with out crying to be held and comforted. Secondly, it only took one suck of the nasal aspirator on each side of nigels nose this morning, a relieving sign for us all, as using the nasal aspirator is one of the worst parts of everyones day here.
We had a wonderful Christmas and got to see ALL the family. Nigel was less interested in the holidays than we had imagined he would be. I think we unwrapped all the presents we had wrapped for him. (glad we got him diapers, wipes and jars of baby food, and not expensive toys)
Nigel is really moving now, everyday it becomes more difficult to keep up with him. Currently Grant and i are working on devising a way to move the furnature around in our family room in such a way to blockade the computer and the TV with the couches, so that the endless task of keeping nigel away from all of the cords and the DVDs may finally come to an end.
His latest task is his ability to pull himself up on things. Sadly informing us that all the objects previously thought out of reach now must be kept even higher up. This new talent has also caused more falls than any 9 month old should probably sustain in any certain amount of time, which subsequently has resulted in the appearance of several bumps and bruises. Slowly though he is learning to sit down when he wants to get back on the floor or putting his hands down first so he can crawl, much better than just falling to one side.
Plans for Uganda are coming along well, we will hopefully have a letter going out soon. The dates of the trip will be May 18th-July 20th.
We are really looking forward to 2010. Grant and i took some time over the Christmas break to just talk about our life together and all that has happened in the past 2 years. And as we recounted all that the Lord has given to us, and those things He has taken away, we were overwhelmed with thanksgiving to Him for all He's done. Every day it seems we are understanding more and more that to be parents and have a child is such a blessing, and our prayer is always that we would never forget that and begin to see them as some kind of liability, but rather as a blessing and a heritage from the Lord. We are so thankful for our marriage and how God has brought us together just for the betterment of each other. We agreed it seems hard at times to believe that this life we have together is even really happening. We are so blessed!!Here are some Dec/Jan pictures
1) nigel helping decorate (he crawled in here on his own)
2)family Christmas in Altus
3)the first time nigel pulled himself up ( one of the few firsts we actually had the camera ready for)

It's fall now

I've been made well aware of our need to update the blog. And tonight seemed like a good opportunity, considering, that Im alone and trying to avoid the millions of other things i really should be doing. Grant has been in Dallas today at the Windows 7 launch party that he was invited to, and Nigel is in bed already. The poor baby made it nearly 7 whole months with out any sicknesses worthy of mentioning, but Tuesday (nov.3) he woke up with a cough that only got worse into Tuesday night during which neither of us got any sleep as we battled his fever, and stuffy nose together. Well the fever has come and gone all day, thanks to the help of baby motrin! But it still breaks my heart to see our little Nigel be so sick and so unlike his usual playful self.

We have all been enjoying the change in temperature these passed few weeks. The weather here has been just perfect.
Nigel as always continues to grow and grow. At his 6 month check up he weighed in at 19.5 lbs. which in case you don't know or recall, is roughly the weight of your average 1 year old. And our little 6 1/2 month old baby mostly wears 12 month clothes, but we are enjoying every pound of him. Except when it comes to lugging around the carseat with him in it. :) Nigel has about a tooth and a half, both on the bottom. And even though we were warned about teething nightmares by fellow parents, so far the whole teething experience has been a breeze. If unwatched Nigel can be found nearly all the way across a room now. He doesnt crawl yet, but he has really learned to get around by rolling and scooting. Despite the money that we his parents and i am sure many of you have spent on infant toys for him to play with, it seems Nigel would over any toy choose to satisfy his latest insatiable desire for plastic bags. His fixation with plastic bags is so sensitive that if he even hears the crinkling/rustling sound of a bag near him being handled he will become irate in an effort to get possession of the bag and play with it. Awwwh, our silly baby. This is him in his Halloween costume after he won first prize at th Lifestream costume contest.

Grant and I are doing so well. We are healthy, and happy and blessed beyond our wildest imaginations. We our so in love with our precious little boy, and our roles as parents. It has been amazing to watch and listen as God teaches us through our son. We already have our eyes set on Nigels first Christmas, it is going to be so much fun! We love Christmas!! Beyond that we are planning a mission trip to Uganda this summer. Grant and I have both been to several countries throughout the years, but it has always been our dream to go and serve together as a family, and we are really really excited for what God has planned for us this summer.

⁷ "Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:

⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

(Proverbs 30)