Busy Month

This month has been very busy for us as a family. Michael turned 4 months on the 8th, Shannon is still taking care of a former co-worker's baby and maintaining the house, and Mike (me) is juggling being a nurse, student, father, and husband. It's been a time of growth for us all (metaphorically for the adults, physically for the baby).

Key points for Michael this month:
October 3: Michael found his feet (he hasn't figured out how to eat them yet...
October 6: Michael went on his 2nd hike, it was in Idyllwild, CA with his friends from church
October 7: Michael was dedicated to God by us at Coast Vineyard, we went to Joe's Crab Shack afterward to celebrate
October 8: 4 month birthday, he began eating Rice cereal this day also
October 13: Michael helped his daddy pick out pumpkins at a pumpkin patch in Lakeside, CA.

Key points for Shannon this month:
September: Attended women's event with Coast Vineyard to discuss CS Lewis' book, Till We Have Faces-consequent prayer time with some ladies at Coast in which I saw a very clear vision from God calling me to lay down my complaints against Him, receive His love, acknowledge His sovereignty, and fight for freedom for others.
September/October: Been keeping my sanity as I watch two babies (both 4 months!)
October 4-6th: Leadership retreat with Coast Vineyard in Idyllwild
October 8: Sad, sad-my baby ate food other than from me : (
October 14: Meeting for a task force at our church in support of Love146 (www.love146.org)
October 20: Looking forward to one of Mike and I's first evenings out together in San Diego without baby

Key points for Mike this month:
Work
School
October 4-6th: leadership retreat with Coast Vineyard in Idyllwild
October 8: I got to feed Michael rice cereal!
October 16: I made (completed) Michael's Halloween costume with my own two hands. It only took 1 1/2 months, $30, lots of patience and a half-way deconstruction/overhaul/resizing to get it done :(

We apologize for a lack of pictures. Blogger isn't posting pictures right now. We'll try to post them soon. ~Mike & Shannon

Hiking, Sadness, and Now

Much has happened since the last post.
- Last week, Shannon, Michael and I went hiking near Julian, Ca. Michael really loved it. It was his first taste of the great outdoors and he slept through most of it! I guess he feels at home in the wild?

- After 1 1/2 years, our first pet, Red Baron, our beta fish, has passed away. About a month ago, he began to have difficulty eating his food. He just couldn't seem to get it in his mouth. Gradually, he began to swim vertically and spent most of his time near the top. His bowl also became dirty a lot quicker. So... on Monday, we found him dead. He is now buried in our garden next to the alley. Rest in Peace RB.

- I began school last week. Tonight was my second "week" of class; I say "week" because we only meet once a week. It's pretty nice. It works well with my 3-day work week... hehe. My current classes are Advanced Pathophysiology and Advanced Health Assessment; both of these classes on a completely higher plane of learning from my previous classes. They're actually teaching us to diagnose patients and to begin to think of how to "work-up" the patient; this means employing diagnostic tests to see what's wrong with the patient so you can treat them. It's a bit overwhelming to say the least. So far I've actually read my assignments... we'll see how long that lasts.

- On Monday, Shannon began taking care of a girl 3 days older than Michael. She's super cute and has a completely different personality than Michael. Michael is loud, cries for everything and likes to fight us when going to sleep. This young girl is only loud when she's really sad, whines most of the time instead of crying and actually fell asleep when she was upset! Her cry is so pathetic that it's cute. Since the child isn't ours there will be no posted photos of her, sorry. But don't worry, here's a picture of Michael; he was ready for her.

- Currently, Shannon is sleeping; she's tired obviously. 2 infants will wear down anybody, especially when they're healthy. I'm about to go to bed; I have work for the next 2 days. Yah! Something to take my mind off school, sort of... I need to interview a sick person for my assessment class. Sigh... ~Mike

Reading and Working

For the past week, Shannon and I have been taking every spare minute to read the #5 and #6 books of Harry Potter. It was my bright idea to re-read them before reading #7. We both forgot a lot of what happened; the latest movie actually changed some of the facts and we hardly noticed (what they changed made the movie run smoother I think). So, hopefully, we'll be done with #6 by the end of this week so we can start #7 next week.

In the meantime, I've been working in the ICU and Shannon's been a wonderful mother, taking care of Michael, groceries, the house, etc. We make a pretty good team; we extremely tired though. I think the challenge right now is to carve out quality time for the both of us. It's too easy to watch movies and read books without really connecting, something every marriage must overcome to be truly successful in my opinion.

Shamus has a rough past week. He was kind of fussy! We went to El Centro to beat the heat (my parents have AC) and he just cried and cried when we left him with my parents while we went on a date. But on Sunday, before we left to come back, he seemed to have gotten over the hump because he was a lot more happy, full of more smiles and not crying except for things he needed.

His new trick is to click his tongue and talk all the time. Shannon weighed him yesterday also: 13 lbs 13 oz. What a lucky weight, huh? So he's basically putting on an ounce each day more or less. He's so strong too! If you stand him up against our futon, he can stand by himself as long as you make sure he doesn't fall over like a tree... hehe. ~Mike

Pictures: (above) Michael in his fishy outfit surround by his fishy friends. (below) Michael with Mike's favorite stuffed animal when he was child, Dogdog.

Happy Two Months!

Two months means that we have reached a very rewarding milestone with Michael Shamus. He has discovered how to flash his pink gums in a very fetching grin whenever mommy or daddy's face appear in his line of vision. His body tightens, his eyebrows raise, his eyes get big, and his lips quiver in preparation of what is coming...playtime! The look of sheer delight is difficult to catch with a camera, but I have spent the last week making a valiant attempt. Needless to say, the sleep deprivation and general overwhelming feeling has greatly improved since playtime has been added to the schedule.

In addition to the grin, he has also gained greater control over his vocal cords...enthusiastic cooing ensues at the height of playtime as we converse over everything from the state of his diaper to brainstorming how to set modern day slaves free. And now that his gaze has become more intent, I have introduced some of his more complicated toys...the bouncer seat and the floor gym.
During these times, he sets aside the smile for a more serious look as he observes the behavior of the strange creatures before him. In addition to the smile, the coos and the intent gaze, Michael's neck has grown amazingly strong. From the beginning he has been anxious to be able to look around on his own and now he can finally do that. These are some of the more successful photos of these fun milestones. ~Shannon

More pictures

Just thought I'd give you a few updated pictures of Shamus. Enjoy!

Shannon, Shamus and I before going to the Joiner-Marchena shin-dig.

Got milk?

I'm teaching Shamus how to do raspberries early.

Me posing as a super-villain while making a contortionist out of my son. :D

Shannon and Shamus waiting for fireworks, which never came... :(

Mayday! I've gone down. Send a rescue team and 6 bottles of milk ASAP!