Travel Time Again

Gosh time is just flying by....I can't believe that I have gone so long without a post. Busy Busy is all I can say!!

Alex is 5 months old today. He is just such a joy, he has had 2 ear infections since Jan and you would never know it....he just smiles all the time and rarely cries. I guess the Lord knew we needed some calm since Ella is just wide open all the time. Alex is really doing great and growing up. He is up to 16lbs already, he has found his toes and can push up on his arms when he is on his belly. It won't be long until he starts rolling over. He babbles and we think we have heard "da da" a couple of times but nothing consistant yet. He certainly wants to talk and loves to watch my mouth when I talk, actually he likes to grab my lips or hair, whichever is easiest to get at. We just got him a jump-a-roo and it's the funniest thing to watch him bounce around. He loves it. We have started rice cereal and will start other foods soon. We took him to his appointment at Children's Hospital yesterday and the Dr. thinks he is doing really well and doesn't think he needs to be seen until July. At that point he will do an ultra sound and then schedule his treatment. He will be put to sleep for the treatment and kept 1 night...that's the plan. So I feel good that the Dr. doens't think he needs to be seen again until then. I am at peace with it, really totally at peace. I just think that he is going to be fine and have a good feeling about the treatment, a far cry from when I was the mother of a two week old baby just discovering there was something wrong but not knowing what and the Dr.'s didn't know either. It seems like a lifetime ago, it was only 5 months!

Ella is doing wonderful. She is still enjoying 4K and doing really well. She is loving Alex and helps me take care of him and is just a little momma. She went to Stephen's sister and Brother-in-law's house last Friday and spent the night for the first time. She loved it. They have some cows and other animals close by and Ella just thought that was wonderful.

Stephen is doing fine and is such an amazing help with the kids! He had to get a tooth pulled yesterday so he's not feeling so good but better than he was last week when his tooth was hurting! Nothing worse than a toothache!

I am doing pretty good. Just very busy at work. I moved from upstairs to downstairs a few weeks ago and now sit by the window that overlooks the lake. It's really beautiful and a constant reminder of how Blessed I am to work here! Not that I have much time to gaze but it's still beautiful. Speaking of work, traveling season is upon me once again. This time it will be different....last year I had Alex in tow as I was pregnant with him. This time I am on my own and Stephen will be taking care of the kids while I am away....say some prayers for him. He is amazing and will do fine, but anyone with kids knows how hard it can be and I will be missing Stephen's Birthday on March 7! I leave next Thursday (march 5) for Toronto and return on Sunday. Then I leave that Wednesday (March 11) for Brazil and will not return until March 20th. So I will be gone quite a bit beginnig next week. I think I will be home fow awhile after that. I know that I am doing what I am called to do and feel very certain of that but it sure is hard to leave my family. So say a prayer for all of us!!!

I will be posting some updated photos soon. Sorry for the lack of posts especially with updates on Alex. I know there are people out there checking in and I hate that I have not updated sooner!!

Holly