In other news:
Josiah is 15 months old now. He is such a toddler now! He can say somewhere around 10 words. I have them written on my computer, but my battery is dead and I'm on Jesse's right now. He says: ball, uh-oh, mama, dada, nana, no-no, bye, hi, night night- that I can think of off the top of my head. He also understands: up, let's change your diaper/clothes, give mama (dada, david, nana, etc) kisses, say bye, do you want food?, and doggie. And he claps, waves, kisses, shakes his head, and points. Vocabulary has never been his strong suit, but it is quickly developing. He is into everything. Our house is pretty safe for him to explore, but he loves to pull out the drawers as far as they will go with the baby locks and pull out anything he can reach. He climbs into the tupperware cabinet and pulls everything out. He loves anything electronic and has learned to open the DVD player and pull the power cords out of our computers. He steals phones and walks around pretending to talk on them. And he darts for the PlayStation controllers any chance he can. He is really well-behaved, but he does test his limits and doesn't respond to the word "no". He just smiles really big and keeps doing what he's doing. He does cry when he gets spanked, but then gets over it quickly and moves on. He has 12 teeth and eats anything he can get his hands on. He knows where the cabinet with his food is and he walks into the kitchen and points at it when he's hungry. We've been done with bottles for months and he only uses sippy cups and mostly feeds himself (depending on what we're eating). He doesn't use a straw yet, though. He's still taking 2 naps most days, but seems to sleep less during the middle of the night. So, he'll sleep about 9 hours a night and then another 4 during his naps. Some days he'll sleep up to 10-12 hours at night, though, and only take one nap. It's not very regular, but I think he's getting enough sleep in general, and it works for my schedule. I still have him rear-facing in his carseat. I think that it's a parent's personal choice after 1 year old, but I decided that it was safer for Josiah, and since he could care less, then why not? He's wearing 2T clothes and size 4wide or 5 shoes. He still wheezes when he gets a cold and we have to use his nebulizer, but he hasn't had any ear infections since...July? It's possible that we can get through cold and flu season without needing tubes! I don't have any measurements on him since we went to our 12 month wellness check and won't have another until 18 months, but my guess is that he's about 29-30 lbs based on our scale.
Jesse has decided to officially quit school after realizing how much stress it was causing on him, and consequently me, and that he still doesn't know what he'd want to get a degree in. It was just an expense we didn't need. He decided to do his job well rather than doing both work and school half-heartedly. Things have been a lot better between us. We went to 2 counseling sessions as well as a marriage seminar through our new church, and I think it helped a lot. I think going to a new church has helped as well, not to mention quitting school in the midst of all of this too. It all helped alleviate a lot of the stressors that were affecting him.
My brother, David, has been living with us since the end of September, but will be moving out this Friday. He was just staying with us until his apartment with our cousin Ben was ready for move-in. I honestly will miss having him here. It's nice to have an adult to spend the day with. We watch TV together and talk about stuff. He watches Josiah while I shower or nap, and he lets me leave Josiah here if he's sleeping and I have to go get the other kids. When David moves out, it's going to take away all of my convenience and companionship! I'm sure, however, that he'll enjoy sleeping in his own bed and room without kids coming in at 6:30am. I know I'll miss him more than he misses me.
I've been really busy working on everything Christmas! I am doing a lot of hand-made gifts this year and spend most of my days working on my projects while Josiah plays and Jaydon and Zoe are at school. I haven't been watching Madison most of the time. I hesitate to share this, but it is my blog and I don't think her parents read this. Due to the nature of Madison's dad's job, this time of year, in the region especially, there is not a lot of work. He quit his job for personal reasons back in May with the hopes of being rehired by another company within a month. However, he didn't get a job until around October. During this time, they were really struggling with their expenses, understandably, which meant that they were having trouble paying me as well. I was only receiving around $150-200 a month, which is less than half of what I should've been paid. And their debt to me kept piling up. I haven't been paid since early October, didn't watch Madison the entire month of November (without any conversation about it) and their debt to me is now nearly $800. I completely understand where they are coming from, but feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. I am trying to extend the same grace I would want someone to extend to me if the roles were reversed, and yet our house is in foreclosure and we are living on a VERY LOW income, and their struggle is making my struggle worse. I can't just quit because I fear that they'll have to pay someone else instead and I'm less likely to be paid, but I'm not being paid now anyways. I did have a conversation with the mom last week, but kinda feel like I'm twisting their arm to commit to paying me. I know they are worried just getting through the month, but how much do I let their debt accrue. On one hand, I recognize that it's a job and there are professional roles, but I also wonder what my role as a Christian should be, or where the fine line lies between being full of grace and being unwise regarding financial and professional decisions. At this point, I am willing to keep watching her as long as they can commit to regular payments of any amount. But at some point, I'd like to quit watching her and get a part time job, instead, while Jaydon and Zoe are at school. I just need to wait until the holiday season is over and businesses are ready to hire again. I think my list of 26 things tells you everything else that is going on with me...
I'll share our Christmas cards when they are complete, but here are a few of our family portraits to share with everyone.
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