HI!

“We miss Jeremiah (Daddy)”….say Joelle and Benjamin A LOT. Jeremiah is working soooooooo much right now. He was going out of town at least once a week, but somehow managed to avoid it this week, for which we are all very grateful! He has no help management wise, which makes things harder on him as he does EVERYTHING right now. Most nights he doesn’t get home till 8, and then still has to do work at home as well. This of course, is when he is not out of town to begin with. He works so hard and is such a good employee, and an awesome manager. He is faithful, and we know that God will honor that when the time is right. Until then, we just have to keep pushing through this season.

Benjamin had his 6 month Babies Can’t Wait eval in the beginning of May. He more than exceeded his goal, which was to begin imitating sounds. He imitates soooo well now, in fact he is even initiating words on his own! He is asking for things using words, and occasionally says a two word phrase – which is huge! His next goal is to constantly use his words to ask for things. He already says DRINK and EAT-EAT, CHEERIOS, HOTDOG, and can identify people and objects. He knows his socks and shoes, says MAMA, DADDY, POPPOP (Joelle’s dad), YAYA (Josiah) and he calls them by name when he wants their or our attention. He also  needs to begin naming sounds, such as moo –moo cow, or puppy. He says TRAIN TRACKS, CARS, TRAINS, and TV as well for what he wants. We are soooo happy with his progress, and the fact that he is FINALLY beginning to be able to communicate beyond grunting and/or screaming.

His tantrums have also decreased, as his communication increases. Every now and then he will have a doozy, but for the most part they are short, but not sweet lol. He has figured out that his words work better than his screaming :).

Joelle has gone to the doctor to find out about her infertility. We have some tests and blood work lined up, but still praying that God works a miracle. We are more than ready, whenever He is. Our miscarriage in August is looming closer, it will be one year. The road of infertility is hard, and we don’t wish it on anybody. We never thought it would take us this long, both times, to have children. We assumed it would happen for us like it has happened for most couples – just BAM! However, that has clearly NOT happened. We aren’t sure right now what the cause of our infertility is, but we have kept on praying that God would still continue to bless us with children.

Sometimes it’s hard not to be bitter when you see families with 3-4 kids, or pregnant women in the store. Bitterness, however, has never helped any cause. Nor has envy or selfishness. All we can do is rejoice with those who have been blessed, mourn with those who have lost, and keep on trusting that God has a perfect plan.

The migraines are still there, and they are still TERRIBLE. She is seeing a different pain specialist, who has her back on Neurontin, which is not helping yet. She did get a full panel of her hormones done, and they all came back perfectly NORMAL..even her progesterone which people always swear must be low. Just because her migraines got better during pregnancy does not automatically mean there is a progesterone instability, lol. She goes back to the pain specialist June 6th, hoping for a better game plan.

In other news, Joelle turns 29 tomorrow. She plans to enjoy her last year of the 20’s, but is very much looking forward to her 30’s. Everyone talks about how the 30’s are the best decade of your life, and she is anticipating great things to come. Plus, next year she is dragging Jeremiah sky diving! Woohoo!!