cha-cha-cha-changes.

there are lots of changes headed our way in the near future.  first, joe's younger brother, jake, is getting married on friday.  jake has been one of my closest friends since sophomore year of college at bethel- hard to believe that was EIGHT years ago.  man, i'm getting old.  anyway, joe and i couldn't be happier for jake and we love allison and are excited to make her an official family member.  both of us are in the wedding, so we are gearing up for a busy but fun next couple of days!  i have allison's bachelorette party tonight, we have the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner tomorrow, and then the wedding friday.  last time i was in a wedding was my best friend katie's in june and i was a large and very uncomfortable 8.5 months pregnant.  so, i'm thinking i'll look and feel much better for this one!  i'm down a few more pounds now and feeling good!

my job change will be happening in the next 4-6 weeks.  it's looking like 4 days a week will be a reality, it is just a matter of working out the details.  i'm not sure that i'll be able to get PTO when i switch because i won't be working 40 hours any longer.  that's definitely a bummer, but at least i got a raise which will help somewhat compensate for the reduction of hours and loss of PTO.  hopefully i'll have fridays off, which would be the day i'd take off most often anyway.  i'm trying to be patient to hear back about all these details, but i hate waiting.  a lot.

joe's job is getting busier each week as he builds business and takes on more and more surgical cases.  this is certainly good for him, and for us financially, but it means a lot of long days, late nights and less time with bennett and me than he would like.  we're all trying to adjust to that and [i'm trying to] be flexible- many times the cases pop up last minute or get started late, so we aren't often able to plan for or anticipate when the late nights will be.  it can make things difficult to plan, but i guess it comes with the territory.

bennett is still working on trying solid foods.  he really hasn't liked many of them, though it depends on his mood mostly.  i think sweet potatoes have been his favorite so far. 

he's getting there with bananas, though he doesn't like it when i give him mashed up bananas.  he likes the gerber bananas better- i think the texture is smoother than i can make at home.  gerber puffs are a hit with him too!  we're discovering more and more each day how strong-willed and independent our little man is.  he is very clear what he wants and doesn't want, what he likes and doesn't like.  he likes to do things on his own, so we try to give him some freedom to explore that.  feeding himself is one of his favorite things, but he usually needs a bath afterwards! 

sleeping at night has been a challenge- he's been waking up multiple times a night wanting his nuk.  we go in, pop it in his mouth, and he goes right back to sleep.  it's nice that he's not up for long, but it does make for a restless and disjointed night's sleep for us.

loves to fall asleep after putting his lovie on his head :)

we're going to try what many have suggested and put like 8 nuks in his crib all around him and see if he'll be able to find one in the night on his own and get himself back to sleep.  we'll see what happens!

on a completely different topic: my brother, ryan, was in the hospital yesterday in the ICU.  he has type 1 diabetes (diagnosed at age 4) and addison's disease (diagnosed 3 years ago).  he got the flu on monday, which threw his whole system into a tailspin causing what they call an "addison's crisis."  when you have addison's disease, your body essentially can't keep up with the stress of illness.  his body doesn't make cortisol, which is a stress hormone your body [typically] makes naturally.  it regulates all of your electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, potassium, etc.).  since he had the flu and couldn't keep anything down, his body got dangerously low on electrolytes and didn't have cortisol in his system to help combat it.  he was acting lethargic and confused on monday night, so his wife, jeanie, brought him to the hospital.  he had dangerously low sodium levels and needed to be put on high doses of steroids, an insulin drip to control his blood sugars, and lots of electrolytes to replenish his body.  he's doing much better now and go to go home this morning.  scary stuff, and it unfortunately happens semi-regularly since he has both illnesses and therefore a weak immune system.  i'm grateful he's doing much better and VERY thankful that his wife is a doctor!  she takes good care of him and knows how to handle these health situations.

i'm counting my blessings today.  and looking forward to positive changes to come.