A long time...

Oh, it isn't February anymore?!?  It has been a busy many months. )

Here's the highlights:

After the crash we moved in with my parents while our house was being repaired and enjoyed great fun in the country for 2 months.

Benjamin turned 1 in March (yeah!)

Brian graduated in March (yeah!) and was blessed with an internship that went through September.

Summer was a busy blur, but we did go camping to celebrate Brian's 30th birthday and Grandpa's 60th birthday.  We also planted and harvested a garden (even though summer did not arrive until early July.)

In July Benjamin started wearing glasses.  His nickname for a time was professor Grove.

Benjamin's aunt Lisa got married in September and we all got to dress up to celebrate.  Her husband's name is Ben too but Benjamin prefers to call him Uncle Bobo and looks forward to someday getting to play with a new cousin or two.  A week later we cut off Benjamin's beautiful curls (he was referred to as a "she" one too many times.)

In September we also were able to get away for a couple nights on our first little family vacation and took Benjamin to the beach.  It was the first time he got to play in the sand and he loved it!

Last week Benjamin had his 6th (and hopefully last) surgery.  It was just a clean-up surgery to take out some scar tissue and dead tissue from one of his previous surgeries.  It was the easiest surgery by far, but still made this mommy nervous.  He did wonderful and we were out of the hospital within 3 hours of the start of the surgery!  He has recovered quickly and is back to tearing up our house. :)  We praise God for yet again blessing and protecting our boy.

Our family has been blessed again as it looks like Brian has a job!  It is a very difficult job market as most people know and God yet provided again.  He didn't even have to interview.  Amazing!

Developmentally, Benjamin is doing very well, all things considering.  He started crawling last summer and started cruising around our furniture about a month ago.  He can stand on his own momentarily and he is starting to show signs of wanting to walk.  We just need to work on balance.  He eats very well and loves food with lots of flavor.  One of his favorite sauces is Bullseye BBQ and he also loved Famous Dave's Sweet & Sassy BBQ.  He has not really started saying many recognizable words, but we were told this is to be expected and we will start working with a speech therapist probably sometime after the first of the year.

All in all, life is very good.  Maybe I will post a blog before 9 months pass!

Yet Another Miracle...

Last night we were enjoying a fun time with Brian's sister Lisa and our friend Ben.  We were just about to finish a nice fondue dinner when probably one of the strangest (and scariest) things I have experienced happened.  We heard a loud noise and the whole house lurched.  Much to our dismay and horror we found that a drunk driver had smashed into our house...into Benjamin's room!  Here is the "miracle" part.  Benjamin usually sleeps until 6:30-7pm.  This accident occurred at 6:45.  Though the car didn't go through the wall, it punched it in and knocked the changing table across the room, pushed the freezer (yes, Benjamin is roomates with an upright freezer) out a couple feet  and sent some plants, pictures and other items flying.  We could have easily been standing at the changing table or Benjamin could have been sleeping in his crib and received the scare of a lifetime.  We are praising Jesus because this particular evening Benjamin would not stay asleep. I ended up getting him up from his nap early and I was holding my sweet boy in my arms in a safe place at the time of the crash.  
The driver hit her head pretty hard, but she was able to get out of the car and was taken to the hospital.  Please pray for her healing - both physically and spiritually. As for our house...it will need some work.  Ok, it will need quite a bit of work.  We are waiting to get a full assessment of the damage, but it sounds like they will need to do some pretty exensive work and we might be without use of our house for a time.  Now we are buried with insurance, contractors, and all the sorts of things that come with this sort of thing.  Yikes.

Hello 2010!

A new year...7 months old...and 10 1/2 months too!  Benjamin is changing so much.  Since the last time I wrote he has learned a few tricks.  He has learned to blow bubbles, sticking his tounge out, and scoot himself forward on his back by using his strong extension muscles (he made it several feet at my mom's house and ended up under a chair.)  I think the one we are most excited about is that a few weeks ago he finally touched his toes on his own.  That is not typically a big milestone for most babies, but when one spends the last 15 weeks of development flat on their back or tummy instead of curled up in a ball, it is hard to reach down arms and pull up legs!  Ever since then he has been playing with these newly found "toys."  More than once I have walked into his room to get him up and the first thing I see are two feet sticking straight up in the air.  He has also discovered that he can pull his socks off with his hands.  Benjamin has started sitting up with help and is getting better at holding himself up while being held.  He is very vocal and social according to his Physical Therapist.  He is eating well and now enjoying the fine cusine of carrots, peas, squash, and sweet potato.  Here is a picture of him after he stole the spoon from me.

 Did you know Benjamin is studying to be a sound engineer?  Here he is helping daddy edit Sunday's sermon.

He still has a lot of the same challenges - mainly digestive stuff and muscle tone, but we are continually amazed and reminded of the incredible blessing we have been given.

Every new year I like to reflect on the past year and dream about the new year to come.  Last year I was 3 months pregnant with my first child, thinking I was going to have a girl and making bets I would be a least 7-10 days late.  Oh, how we plan :).  I'm glad that I didn't know then what I know now, but I do not regret what happened.  Brian and I are different now.  When I hear about someone with a sick child, even if I do not know them, my heart breaks for them, and my prayers for them are more specific and intense.  That little pound-and-a-half baby has taught me more about life and living than anything I can think of.  As for this year...I dream of less appointments, playing in the sunshine, and celebrating lots of little milestones together.