Already one month in to 2008. . .

Holy cow! We're already one month in to 2008 and it has been a whirlwind. Just after the New Year, Kim started back to school. It was fun for her to be off so long for Christmas but now the countdown for Spring Break and then summer has officially begun. The weekend after New Year's, and the weekend after that, Marc traveled to Chicago then Orlando on business. In Chicago, he got to see his friend Jeff from college and Jeff's wife Lauren. Then, one would think Orlando's weather would be great compared to Missouri in January, right? Wrong. It was rainy, cold, windy, cloudy, rainy (did we mention rainy?). Fortunately, the outdoor event he helped plan worked out well except for one thing. . . Shortly after the end of his event, Marc's messenger bag containing his personal camera (with photos of Jakob and the event) and company laptop was stolen. That's a nice taste of Florida hospitality!

We've been diligently giving new foods for Jakob to try and surprisingly enough the kid loves peas and squash and is just okay with green beans. Who would have thought!?!? He continues to amaze us as he grows and is quite the chatter now including squeaks, sighs, coos, yells, etc. He always makes sure we know he's there.

Right now we're anxious to get our taxes done to see how things are going to play out for us financially. We're hoping it works out for us to get a nice refund to help pay for Jakob's upcoming legal fees (finalizing his adoption in May), his current agency fees and perhaps a down payment on a newer car for Marc. We're also still praying about the two long shot subsidies through Shohannah's Hope and the state that we have filed for. Every little bit helps. Until then, Marc has taken a second job on Sunday evenings which will help as well.

This weekend started off well, but then had some ups and downs. Friday night we went out to eat and later that evening Kim started feeling more and more under the weather. We thought maybe it was something she ate, but she's been riding out a temperature this weekend and has called in sick for tomorrow in the hopes of getting better with some rest at home. In addition, our friend Leah from small group got news her mother passed away very unexpectedly and she and her husband Ben went home to be with her family. It's also Connect Weekend at Vineyard and our small group had a table up to help publicize the incredible things going on including the formation of a new small group. We are so excited about where God is taking us this year. Our group continues to grow so well that we're in a position of needing to split again! God continues to bring people to us and we're hoping that the new group we're a part of will be able to be at our house.

One week from today will be "Cheat Bowl I" and if there is any justice in the world, the New York Giants will take home the Lombardi Trophy. Sure, its most likely not going to happen, but one can hope for good things, right?

We're hoping to have a new video up of Jakob soon, until then thanks for continuing to visit our blog and his YouTube channel.

More soon.

Roley-Poley

The little bear is getting better and is on his way to a full recovery from the RSV. So much that he even surprised us today by giving way to another milestone.

Check it out at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7soRt3CxxA

Marc thinks it's because it's the NFL wild card weekend and Jakob is so excited to see get to watch of his favorite AFC teams with daddy as they battle it out. Kim has other ideas.

Jury's still out. More soon.

Christmas comes, leaves RSV in stocking

Well, we've got a lot to talk about so set your DVR, grab your favorite snack and saddle in for the end of the year Christmas update hosted by A Christmas Carol's ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

Ghost of Christmas Past:

Where to begin, where to begin. First off, if you haven't seen Jakob's latest movie, its been uploaded to his YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7M48Vn4MGY. We had a great time at our Christmas Eve service at Vineyard, and each service was packed with people. We passed the Christ candle at the end of the service and lit our individual candles with the house lights down. It was very moving to see all the lights as we sang "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night." After the service, we went to Marc's parents' house to spend the rest of the evening with Marc's parents' (duh) and his brother Nic and Nic's wife Lindsey. While Jakob is still too young to fully grasp the idea of opening presents, it was fun to get him interested in the concept. Later, we came home. put Jakob to bed (because Santa's watching!) and exchanged gifts by the fireplace. We reread the Christmas story from Luke and just enjoyed the evening.

The next morning, we woke Jakob up and filmed his first Christmas. We had breakfast together and opened his presents with him. Later, Marc's parents came over and spent the afternoon with Jakob while we went to see "Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem" and "Sweeney Todd."

The rest of the week was spent hanging out with Jakob and getting Kim's SUV ready to go into the shop. A few weeks ago, someone hit her vehicle in the parking lot of one of the local department stores and decided to spread some Christmas cheer by not sticking around to provide their insurance information. Merry Christmas guys, have fun paying your deductible, right? So, it went into the shop and we received a Dodge Avenger to tool around in until its ready this week.

Last weekend, we headed up to Iowa to spend time with Kim's family and the day we were leaving we noticed Jakob was slightly wheezing. We figured he was still just not completely over his cold and proceeded on to Kim's parents' house. The weekend was fun as we got to see a lot of Kim's relatives, including Jakob's great grandmas, and he progressively became more ill and was up most of both Friday and Saturday nights. We came home early Sunday and tried to soothe him as best as we could, but he had a tough night that night too.

We made an appointment with his doctor first thing Monday morning and after an examination, breathing treatment and chest x-ray, it was determined Jakob has RSV or Respiratory Syncytial Virus (www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/rsvfeat.htm). Obviously, this is especially hard on him because he has no idea why he feels the way he does or how to tell us what hurts and on us because soothing him is difficult. He takes a breathing treatment every six hours (sometimes every three) and we're hoping he begins to show improvement. We especially excited because treating this is not cheap at all so Kim's flex plan is about to get a workout. (See photo below of Jakob's first at home treatment.)

We were scheduled to have our small group over for the main course portion of a New Year's progressive dinner; however, we ended up making the meal and delivering it to another house so we could tend to Jakob. Marc went to the final house to make an appearance and give an update about Jakob and then came home to watch the ball drop and usher in the new year with Kim over a glass of champagne. We looked back on 2007 and reflected on what a whirlwind it was and how we can move forward in 2008 learning from mistakes and capitalizing on successes.

Ghost of Christmas Present:

Today marks the official end of Marc's vacation and he will be back to work tomorrow. Exciting! We spent the day taking care of Jakob, shoe shopping, getting the house in order (as best we could) and taking in the Sci Fi Channel's full day of Twilight Zone marathon.

Ghost of Christmas Future (a.k.a. "Yet to Come"):

Tomorrow, Kim will take Jakob in for a follow up examination and hope that he's gotten better and not worse. We're afraid that since he's not eating regularly that the doctor might choose to put him in the hospital. While that's not ideal, with Kim being off this week still from school, she's able to take care of him at home without having to spend vacation days.

We're hoping he gets well soon as Marc heads to Chicago next weekend and Orlando the following weekend for two work events. While he's looking forward to seeing his friend Jeff in Chicago and the warm weather in Orlando, he's not looking forward to being away so much in one month. Weather permitting, Kim's mother will be coming for a visit while Marc is in Orlando.

We hope this post finds you all with good memories of the recent Christmas season and on your way to an amazing new year. This year we celebrate 10 years of marriage and are looking forward to the great things God has planned for us, our family and our friends. As always, thanks for visiting. Knowing we have support not just for us, but for this amazing little boy in our lives means so much.

More soon.