Family Update

In no particular order.....

Scott: Has not lost his job. This week Principal laid off 300 employees.... luckily, Scott was not one of them. Not too sure about the future, but we are confident God will provide something! (even if it is at the new Bass Pro Shop in Altoona......which i don't think he'd mind tooooo much!) Here he is at Costco with a present he wanted to get for Joel....too bad it would take up 75% of the nursery!

Barkley: "tweeked" his leg again. for those of you who don't know, Barkley tore his doggy ACL about one year ago. The vet told us right away we needed to do surgery... well after we discovered the $2,000 price tag, we got a second opinion. The surgeon told us he would be just fine if we didn't do surgery and let him take it easy for awhile. So for the last year, we have struggled with slowly giving him more "responsibility" on his leg... short walks, running around the backyard, etc. Because he was in his kennel all day while we were at work, he healed up very nicely and seemed to be doing well.... but just this week he must have been working too hard and is limping around again. So, that means it's up with the baby gates on the stairs, limited playtime, and back to just letting him outside to do his business and then straight back in. It's so hard to restrict him, because he doesn't even act like he's hurt, but i know it's for his own good. Hopefully he'll be back to his crazy old self soon. When we bring Joel's Boppy out and leave the room, we come back to find this.....

Joel: I took him to the doctor on Monday to get weighed... 9 pounds 3 ounces! He's right on track and getting bigger by the day. He is sleeping an average of 4 1/2 hours between feedings at night and eating more and more each week. Here is a picture of Joel enjoying his Boppy, when we can hide it from Barkley.

Liz: nothing new with me, just feeling sluggish these days with this weather. I wish I could get outside and walk with Joel.... (maybe I'll become a mall-walker?) Aunt Emily is going to babysit tonight while Scott and I go on our first date night since Joel was born. We are going to Hickory Park in Ames, then to church to usher for the Christmas performance. We'll stay to watch it, and then head back home. I'm really looking forward to this weekend... it's our annual "girls Christmas shopping" weekend in Des Moines. My mom & sister, and best friend Jen, her mom and sister are all coming to shop all weekend and stay up late playing games and laughing. We always have an awesome time, and I look forward to it every year! Here's a picture from last year.... as you can see.... we get goofy.