November

Well, I've gone almost a whole month without blogging.  It's not that I don't have anything to say...  There's just so much to recap on!  The boys have had an explosion of "words" this past week or so.  They are just talking all the time and trying to say everything we do.  Aidan got over the pneumonia fast, but then he went back to coughing and crackling.  So the doc gave us a second medicine to use in the nebulizer and that went over like a lead balloon.  It was a 30 minute breathing treatment that got Aidan all hyped up and the he crashed the rest of the day.  He has the sweetest disposition - he's a "lover" and he takes a while to really get mad.   But those days were a fit or a fight every 10 minutes.  So we quit that medicine.  We've been praying over him and this situation and he's gotten much better with just the albuterol and a new round of antibiotics (and prayer).  We also gave him one of our pillows to sleep on so that his whole upper body is elevated and he started sleeping better right away.  So now Jordan is coughing.  Such is life, right?  I think his is mostly in his throat and not his chest, but we'll find out on Wednesday.

We got a new back door because the old one was rotting out and ruining our laminate floor - we also got carpet on that half of the room (the living room side).  It's fantastic!!  The biggest problem with the door was that there were no gutters on the back of the house (who builds houses without gutters, seriously?).  So we also got gutters to keep our new back door nice and dry.  The boys (and us) LOVE the carpet.  It's fabulous and soft and we can all play on the floor.  And now the play yard is just around the TV stand, so they have a lot more room and freedom.  They're finally over the novelty of the fireplace, I think.  Thankfully, we never use it and it's never been used, so it's clean.

the boys are learning to use spoons (we've gotten forks down pretty well).  They can get them to their mouths just fine, but dipping/scooping is a problem, of course.  So I just scoop for them and hand them the spoon.  I'm probably slowing them down, but they'll be fine.  We've downsized hugely on our toy selection.  It's amazing to me to watch them learn to play with the simplest things.  They were fussy for a few days, like they were bored.  but now they've learned how to do all the stacking rings and they play with trucks and trains all day long.  We also read a LOT of books, still.  They know a lot of animal sounds: lion, cow, dog, horse, chicken, rabbit, fish, elephant, etc.  The elephant is the funniest and it makes the same sound as a firetruck, which is hilarious!!  Jordan calls Aidan by his name (ah-duh) and Aidan calls Jordan bubba.  LOVE it.  They've started a new things this past week of wanting to throw away their diapers after they're changed.  I know it's a tiny step, but I think it's in the direction of potty-training.  We'll probably get them potty chairs soon, just so they can see them and get used to them (and have something to do while Mama is pottying).  They've also learned the word 'potty', but it sounds like bah-bah (a lot of things still sound like bah-bah).  I'm not totally sure I'm ready for that feat, but it's coming whether I'm ready or not.  And maybe nothing could ever truly prepare me for potty-training twins.  That's how a lot of our parenthood is, actually.  Multiples is just a whole different world.

We've started a new series of sermons at church on the book of James.  It. is. fabulous.  And by fabulous, I mean really convicting and challenging and amazing all at the same time.  I'm memorizing the book, along with many people in the church, and it has really changed me a lot in the short time I've been working on it.  I'll try to get a post up soon about all of that, too.  I really want to share what I'm learning.  Andrew is being discipled by one of the elders, too, and he and I discuss a lot of the things they talk about.  One of the biggest ones lately has been God's sovereignty.  I will definitely have to post about this later because it's too much to do right now.  But ponder this for a few days:  Most or all of the accounts in the new testament that talk about new believers say that they were chosen or that God turned their hearts or opened their eyes.  What if there is no "free will"?  What if God has everything already planned and all you have to do is let His Spirit in you react to that calling?  When I post about it later, I'll explain why that is an immensely freeing thought for me.