We are really busy with the big changes coming up in our life.  We find out where Dan is going for residency on March 19th.  Both of us want to stay in Indianapolis, and that was our number one pick, but two, three and four are in Viriginia Beach, VA, Muncie, IN and Kansas City, MO.  Even if we stay in Indianapolis, we are gonna move out of our condo (sad) to a more child friendly home.  So, the last month we've been working on getting our condo ready to show.  Monday was our first ready to show day and since then we have had 5 showings.  I think this place will sell quickly.  It's so spacious and unique.  I'm gonna miss it though because I love how we have made it our own.  I keep reminding myself that ahead of us is the opportunity to do that all over again.  I just wonder how creative I will be while taking care of Zeke, too.

Can you tell that taking care of Zeke consumes almost every waking minute of my life?  He is having a rare long nap, right now, so since the condo is clean I thought I would write a post here.

Zeke is truly a beautiful baby.  He is full of joy, smiles, songs and laughs.  I am amazed by his little personality.  He stops people in their tracks everywhere we go and they all are making over his red hair, blue eyes and super smile.  Everyone remarks about how content or happy he is.

He is growing well and is now totally weaned off formula!  This makes my life so much easier.  We nurse and are done!  In the morning, he has cereal mixed with fruit puree.  In the evening he is eating a larger meal of cereal and then some veggies or fruit.  I make all his baby food.  He had a jar of apples once when we were at a restaurant and he had first started solids.  Two weeks ago, I tried him on self feeding chunks of avocado (his favorite) and banana.  Since then, he has been working on self feeding and has had small pieces of bread, blackberries, plum, cheese...He is doing very well with chewing and we've had no gagging or choking incidents.  I give him small enough pieces that he can swallow them whole figuring that will prevent choking and its working!

We spend our days playing and hanging out.  He is taking a morning nap and afternoon some days if we are home the whole time.  Sleep has been interesting.  A couple weeks ago, he started not wanting to be laid down in his crib.  Must be a new developmental milestone.  Whenever he wakes up, he is crying for me and he's waking up for more than hunger, now.  It's amazing.  As soon as I pick him up, he melts back to sleep.  I have to hold him for awhile before putting him back in his crib or he'll wake up clinging to my arm.  He gets a bath before pretty much every night that we are home by 8pm.  This helps him go to sleep a lil easier at night.  He still wakes up 3 or 4 times throughout the night, though.

I started taking a nap with him if he wakes up and won't go back in his crib.  I'll bring him to the bed and he'll sleep another hour or so with me.  Amazing how refreshed I feel after this nap.  I think it's keeping us both going.

Well, he is waking up, now.  There is so much to say and so little time.  Is anyone even reading this anymore??  I'll try to do better.  Just know that I am enjoying motherhood immensley and we've really adjusted and hit our stride to life with baby!

I got some great holiday photos of him, yesterday, before he had vaccines.  I'll post them, soon.  Also, his vaccines went much better this time around thankfully!

Dan and I got a new video camera for Christmas because our old one broke, so I'll be posting some fun videos!  Here are some from today...

Oh, yeah...in the first one, I was being too loud and disturbing Dan while he was studying for round 2 of the boards.  Bad Mandy!

I tried to run a few errands last night, and remembered immediately how difficult that can be!  When I'm at home I always think I can just head out and get back quickly.  As soon as I got stuck in holiday traffic, I started thinking about when Zeke would be hungry again and my to do list quickly pared down going to the bank and then Target, so I could nurse Zeke in the Target Starbucks and get as many things as possible in one place.  No more running to Sams for this, Walmart for that, Lowes for the other.

Zeke didn't nurse well last night, which was stressful.  Maybe he is teething.  I'm not sure.  He would only nurse for 5 minutes or so on each side and then he was done.  Finally, right before he went to bed, he nursed for a good while and I felt better.

He is rolling over front to back and back to front and so proud of himself.  Even though he's been doing it for a few weeks, now, I still come in to check on him at night and find him rolled over in different positions as he has been practicing in his sleep.  He also found his left ear and pulls on it while he's nursing.  He likes to put his fingers in my mouth while he is nursing, too.  So cute.  He's busy, busy, busy, even when he is nursing.  Dan remembers pulling on his mom's ear when he was little, so I think I'll probably have that to look forward to!

Sorry to ramble.  I promised myself I would keep better updates here, so get to hear everything exciting and mundane and the mundane is exciting because I'm just so thrilled to be taking care of this little guy and have him in our lives.

I was looking at the difference in size between Malakai and Zeke and thinking how in a year or so they will essentially be the same age.  That will be fun for them and us. 

Zeke was so smily and such a big boy sitting up in the sleigh.  Tyler did good holding Zeke.  Lilly was the biggest big girl who didn't need to be bribed with candy to smile good, but we gave her some anyway.  Malakai was great and pretty calm except for once when we needed to stop for a nursing break and Makena was a typical two year old tornado!  She is so adorable, but hard to get sitting still for a smiling pic.  You could animate the frames I took and see her moving around.  It would be funny.  Some frames she wasn't even in cause she got out of her seat!  Funny.

As hectic as it was, I love these days and moments that we get to share together and the picture that sort of burns the memory into our mind.  Family is so important and God is really bringing our together.

This morning, Zeke and I went to see Dr. Cline, the reproductive endocrinologist who took care of us for the first 13 weeks of the pregnancy.  I'm ashamed that it took me so long to go for a visit.  I loved seeing Dr. Cline and Zeke was all smiles for him and even grabbing at his beard while he sat on Dr. Cline's lap!  We also went to Border's.  I love their clearance books.  I found a great cloth book which is exactly what I was looking for.  Zeke try's to put the board books in his mouth, which is fine, but a bit hard when they bonk his face.  Another book I found was a small board book--perfect size for Zeke's lil hands.

I also took some holiday photos last night and today.  A handful of them turned out okay.  It is fun to dress Zeke up in his new "First Christmas" outfits that I bought yesterday at Babies R Us.  I was happy to find something that wasn't all red.  I think he looks quite dashing in the white and tan outfit.  Of course, I dressed him in nothing but a diaper and those were the pictures that turned out the best!  We will be doing more photos tomorrow at my mom's house in front of her tree.  I'll be sure to share.  Here are my favorites from today!

In October, my brother and sister in law had their baby boy, Malakai. A few weeks after his birth, we learned he has biliary atresia. After lots of testing and such, he had to have surgery to correct the condition. So much of our time and emotional energy was invested in prayer for Malakai as well as family gatherings, hospital visits and even helping take care of Makenna, my brother's two year old. I'm happy to report that Malakai came through surgery brilliantly and seems to be doing well. There are still some milestones ahead, but things look very positive and hopeful.

On Dan's birthday, November 9, we were visiting Malakai after his surgery. I went with my parents to the hospital while Dan watched Zeke at home. After a short visit, I came to our condo in my parent's vehicle so I could nurse Zeke. We live only 7 or 8 blocks from the hospital. Dan drove back to the hospital so that he could visit Malakai, too. On the way there, he was hit by a person who ran a red light and slammed their vehicle into my parent's Yukon. It rolled and Dan was left hanging upside down after the crash. Miraculously, he escaped with only a bump on the head and an abarasion on his leg. If you remember, it was a year ago on Dan's birthday that we found out we were pregnant with Zeke. I was so angry at the enemy for trying to steal that glorious occasion from us. We decided to celebrate as it was another miracle on Dan's birthday. I'm so glad he is alive, today.

That same week, Dan and I embarked on the journey of medical residency interviews. We traveled to Muncie, IN. Just last week we were in Norfolk, VA, and next week we will be in Kansas City, MO. In between there have been and will be a number of interviews in Indianapolis. It is a grueling travel schedule and we are all feeling the effects. I was sick coming home from Norfolk with strep throat and double ear infections. Zeke had his first cough/cold while we were in Muncie, but is finally doing better. This is a big decision ahead of us with residency. It's hard because the programs are not created equal and neither are their locations, so we have a lot of priorities to weigh out and of course, we are asking for God's provision in making things clear to us.

Zeke is doing fabulous! Breast feeding has gotten very close to 100% and maybe as close as it ever will be. The stress surrounding it is completley gone, now, which is such a relief. He is about to be 15 pounds, which is double his birth weight! He is rolling over and looking like he's on a surf board when he's on his tummy trying to scoot or crawl. Laughing is a new thing that has been happening in the past two or three weeks. It's so cute he sounds like he's grunting a little bit. He is so smiley and very happy. We are enjoying him more than I could have imagined. He loves to swim and we take him into the pool at hotels and into the bath. I've also started showering with him which makes getting me and him clean much easier! It is amazing how much he loves the water.

Someone said to me that I looked like a happy mommy, and that really made my day after all we had been through. I'm still struggling with keeping the house clean and stuff like that, but it will come, too, I know. One of these days I'll get back to writing songs, painting and all the creative stuff I love, but for now, I feel good just pouring all of me into learning how to be the best mom to my little boy that I can be.

I'm gonna try to post more often. Shorter, more frequent posts is my new goal!

Here are a few of my favorite, recent pics. Love you all-Mandy

These are from November.  Zeke loves his rainforest bouncer and has just gotten the hang of bouncing!  It is so cute.

These are from last week just before a swim at our hotel.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby!

I could use your prayers.  I am still significantly sick.  Coughing, sore throat and losing my voice are the most concerning symptoms.  I sure hope I can sing by tonight.  Write me if you know of any home remedies to rescue a voice gone south from coughing.  I've heard of hot tea and lemon, but then I also heard that hot tea can stir up phlegm.  I'll google it.  LOL.

The conference should be great.  Originally K.im Cl.ement was scheduled as the main speaker, but he asked to be released  because the chance to meet with a presidential candidate came up for this same weekend.  In his place, Corey Rus.sell is speaking.  He is from IHOP and has an incredible, miracle testimony and I'm looking forward to hearing him as well.  Every year, there is always something significant from the Lord for me.  At the first conference I received emotional healing from some family stuff that had effected me for most of my life.  At another, soon after our first miscarriage, the pain began to lift after receiving prayer and encouragement from one of the speakers.

Anyway, I anticipate another encounter with God and revelation that will change some things for me in the future which is probably exactly what I need this weekend!

We've got a conference in Cincinnati this weekend and I'm singing and leading a 2pm worship set on Friday, so I really need to rest.  Anyhoo--we got some good pics out there and had a wonderful time despite the fact that I should have stayed home ;)

Poor Zeke, though, I wore him out, too.  I had a new mommy moment.  My parents dropped me back to my car and he was fine.  I had to pee really badly, but decided to wait the 15 minutes until I got home.  I got 3 minutes on the road and Zeke started to cry his hunger cry and it got really desperate.  He must have been starving.  I pulled into the nearest Starbucks and called my parents to meet me.  HELP!  I nursed him in the parking lot until mom and dad came and then I had mom mix a bottle of formula for him and feed him while I ran in to pee.  I admit I peed my pants a little--darn stress incontinence.  Then, we all sat inside while Zeke ate and had some coffee and tea.  Tyler and Lilly played chess.  Turned out to be a fun time despite my mommy incompetence.  Zeke was hungry again when we got home and overtired.  Poor guy.

Here are some cute pics, though!

The first 3 are from a October morning walk downtown.  It was a bit chilly out.  The rest are the punkin patch.  Oh, there are some of me and Mom, too, but they are on her camera.