We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were able to celebrate over at Tara's parent's with all three babies in tow. Kevin's mom was going to host our family, but she came down sick the day before. Our nurse for the day was able to get Andrew ready by 10:30. It was a great day with family and time for us to be thankful for our many blessings. We're thankful every day, but it was good to think back over the past year.

Our babies are now 11 months old, and boy are they changing every day. There's so much going on with them that Kevin's been compiling a list to share.

Adelaide now has two teeth on her bottom and working on one or two on the top. We have several toys that play music, and Adelaide loves to bounce and bob her head when the music comes on. She seems to be the most musically inclined. She also crawls all over the place. Adelaide loves to crawl into Andrew's room, so we've put a gate up because of all the equipment in his room. She also enjoys crawling on us as we sit with them on the floor, which she's doing right now as we're typing. A few weeks ago, she weighed in at 17lbs. 9oz.

Mattie is doing very well with her helmet. Her head is shaping up nicely, and we anticipate it coming off at the end of December. Mattie is very thoughtful and observing. She's a watcher for sure. Mattie just got her first tooth. She was the last to cut one. She hasn't crawled on her own yet. We give her assistance by placing our hands behind her feet to give her something to push off. She can roll to toys on the floor, but we're working with her on the crawling. Mattie says mama very well. She likes to say it while crying when Tara leaves the room. Adelaide is also saying mama. Mattie weighed 16lbs. 8oz. a few weeks ago.

Andrew is doing very well. He's off the ventilator for 12 hours a day now. He has required oxygen while sleeping at night, so we're monitoring him and may need to go back to 10 hours off the ventilator. The big news is that Andrew has four teeth. He's got two bucky beavers up top that are so cute. He doesn't crawl as much as Adelaide, but his crawling is better. He can move around on hands and knees, goes from stomach to sitting up, and pulls himself up to standing position. We're guessing that he'll be the first to walk. Andrew still smiles the biggest smiles you've ever seen, and has a great disposition. He's been working with a Speech Therapist, and we've heard his voice several times through a speaking valve. He's even speaking through his trach as well. Andrew weighed 13lbs. 4oz. last week.

We recently took family photos to celebrate the babies first birthday and to use as a Christmas card. We're having a hard time deciding which one to use. We shot them at the Botanic Gardens, and they turned out wonderful. Keep an eye on the blog for future postings.

For a little fun, we gave the babies American Indian names in the spirit of Dances with Wolves. Adelaide (Voice like Thunder) Mattie (Stares at Face) and Andrew (Crawls like Worm).

Praise
The babies growth and development.
Andrew weaning off the ventilator.
The babies saying "mama".
God's provision for our family.
Crawling babies.

Prayer
Andrew's lungs would continue to strengthen.
Andrew would gain weight and strength.
Mattie would crawl.
Our nursing staff has been a little depleted. Please pray for qualified nurses.
For peace and joy in our house.
Kevin's still searching for a staff position. Please pray that the right job would come.