July
Before I do this month’s entry, I
thought I’d give a shout out to our Quorumites (small group in Waukesha). I
realized after I had posted last month’s newsletter that I had forgotten to
mention them. In June, we said goodbye to our friends from the Quorumite group.
These amazing people have been a
part of our lives for nearly 3 years. We met them when we began going to NTBI
in the fall of 2012, right after getting married. It was a newly married’s
class at Elmbrook Church and once the class had ended, we decided to keep going
as a small group. Ever since then, our group has changed, grown, and developed
into what it is today. Olivia and I were blessed to have them as a part of our
lives in many ways!
One that I remember was in the
middle of January. After getting back from Christmas in Alabama our car wouldn’t
start because the fuel line had frozen (apparently they water down their gas
the further south you go, lol). One of the men in the group came over and
helped me get it fixed, and luckily the weather warmed up around the same time
and we were able to drive again.
Thank you Quorumites for all your
love, support, friendship, and living life together. We won’t forget you all
and hope we can see you all again!
Now, on to July. This month was
mostly just working for me and pregnancy for Olivia. For the 4th of
July, we bought some fireworks and lit them in the yard. It was pretty fun.
Tannin loved all the lights and noises, staring up at the sky as they went off.
Every time there was a pause so we could light the next one he would turn to
Olivia and sign for more.
Speaking of Tannin, he’s grown in
his vocabulary, occasionally trying to repeat words we say, usually only once,
much to our chagrin. He loves to be outside and see the dogs. Our neighbor has
a pool and has let us use it, so we brought Tannin there after work on several occasions.
He’s finally becoming okay with the water, not freaking out every time we bring
him close to it. He’s even starting kicking! So now we’ve just got to show him
how to use his arms at the same time, lol. Oh, and he’s getting less messy at
meal time. Cleanup isn’t nearly as bad now. Meals where we used to have to
bathe him afterwards, he only needs a mild cleaning. Definitely nice. Oh, and
we found out that he’s not really scared of much. During a thunderstorm,
instead of getting scared like most kids, he raises his arms and goes “boom,
boom”, trying to mimic the thunderclaps. It’s pretty funny to watch, lol.
I’ve been enjoying working in the
shop; they have a carpenter’s shop with various woodworking tools, so it’s been
nice to use my hands again. I’m working on a clock right now. I got all the
gear ratios figured out and the gears cut out. We’ll see how far I get on this
project in August.
