Gregory, South Dakota

Call Day at the Seminary has come and gone...we have been waiting for so long for it to come that it is hard to believe that it was yesterday already. It is truly an awesome experience when the Seminary chapel is packed and the organ is playing full blast. I know many people watch it online, but it is not the same.

Jared has been placed at St. John Lutheran Church in Gregory, South Dakota. We are so excited! From everything we have read, Gregory is a great place to make a home and the church family we are joining is a happening place. I think it will sink in even more when we have official dates set for moving and ordination and we see some pictures of the parsonage. :) I am thrilled at the thought of moving to a house and STAYING there for more than just a year or two. Details will be shared as we find out.

I can't believe Jared is almost done at the sem...call day is over and the senior banquet is done. Next the list...class outing, to a Cardinals' game of course. We are looking forward to taking Timothy down to the stadium on Saturday for his first game...hopefully the weather will be nice!

On another happy note, Timothy is starting cereal!!!! :) He doesn't take a whole lot and I am not sure how much he actually swallows because he always gets his fingers in there too, but it is certainly a positive experience thus far and we can't be happier. He is also lets us play with a bottle again, but he isn't really interested in sucking it, just chewing.

Not sure if he is in the middle of talking to his easter basket toys or starting to gag on the cereal, but we will go with the first option. :)

The Project

This is what I have been working on for the past month...Jared's ordination stole. There is a website where you can order a kit with the patterns already drawn on, backing material, and the instructions to complete it. I am hoping to finish up the stitching during our trip to Michigan for Easter so I can get it put together as soon as we get back. I will post some progress pictures as I go.

Where did the month go?

Well, so much for keeping you up on what is going on. :) I added a ton of pictures to our Picasa account, so make sure you check it out (look over to the left and click on the link). I reorganized all of our pictures since December into month albums to make it a little easier and will continue to do so as we take more.

Since I have last updated, we have gone to see the GI specialist, celebrated Valentine's Day, Jared finished winter quarter, we went on a Grace Place retreat for outgoing sem couples, Jared officially finished winter quarter by writing and turning in all of his papers, we drove to South Dakota and back to visit the Nies side of the family...and then we came home and crashed. :) Now the details...

The GI specialist didn't give us a whole lot when we saw her a month ago, but considering we were meeting for the first time, I didn't expect much. She doesn't think Timothy has acid reflux and suggested we take him off of his medicine. So far, we haven't noticed a difference. We see her again tomorrow to see what we can do now. We also have a physical therapy exam (part of his NICU follow-up) and we meet with the feeding team. Hopefully we will get some suggestions on what to do to help Timothy overcome his issue with the bottle. I personally think he has a mental block and will be fine once we get to the solid foods and sippy cups, but we will see.

Jared worked really hard and by the end of the quarter was behind only by 2 papers and a take home test. Not bad for missing 2.5 weeks of graduate classes because your son is born and then hospitalized. We went on a nice retreat about wellness and took Timothy for his first hotel stay. He actually did a really great job. We took his swing with us for him to sleep in (we can't elevate the pack 'n' play mattress on an angle) and he just chilled out in my arms or someone else's arms at our table during the day. When we got back from the retreat, Jared spent 3 days really working and was able to finish his work and we were free to travel, so we decided to take off to Spearfish to see the family.

We had a great time (Timothy, again, traveled like a trooper) catching up with all of the family and had lots of cousin time with Eli and lots of grandma and grandpa time too. It was nice for Jared and I to catch up on some sleep too with extra hands to help feed Timothy. The week ended too soon and we were back on the road. With a quick stop in KC to see friends at my old school, we made it back for Jared to preach today at his fieldwork church.

Tomorrow, Jared starts his last quarter of classes (!) and we will be finding out on May 4th where Jared's call will be and where we will be moving to. Please keep us in your prayers and I will attempt to keep up the blog. Timothy is starting to keep down his feedings better and I am able to put him down in his bed sooner after a feeding without him spitting up. Hopefully, this means I will have more time to sit and catch you up with our comings and goings.

more pictures

I have been getting demands for more pictures, so here you are mom. :) I would have posted some earlier, but I couldn't find where the cord was to connect the camera to the computer. As of Monday, Timothy weights 8 lbs, 10 oz! The feeding team appointment went well - it seems that Timothy eats well, but just does not want to swallow. After talking with his doctor, we increased the dosage of his acid reflux medicine because it wasn't enough for his size now that he is gaining weight. Maybe that will make his throat feel better and he will want to eat. Other than that, not much is going on here...Jared is trying to get all of his schoolwork done before the quarter ends in a couple of weeks and we are all just trying to stay warm (thankfully the epic ice/snowstorm only ended up as a couple inches of sleet and snow).

A day with Timothy:

getting ready to eat with the feeding tube

hanging out with Tigger

talking with Eeyore

helping dad with his homework

sleeping

smiling :)

Visiting Daddy...

Timothy made his first trip to the Seminary today to visit dad and go to chapel...so he sported his favorite shirt. Five minutes after this picture, I took it off of him because he spit up all over it...oh well. :)

An update on feeding...Timothy is now not eating. For whatever reason, he now wants nothing to go in his mouth...bottle, nipple full of medicine, or pacifier. It is a shame that he doesn't talk and let us know what is going on! So, we get to see the feeding team from the hospital's child development center on Monday, and our favorite occupational therapist, Mary! (she is really awesome) On the bright side, he is really developing some great coordination with his hands as he bats anything out of the way that is coming towards his mouth and has no problems pushing the bottle away. :) Thank goodness we have the feeding tube so he is still getting what he needs to grow. We will keep you posted...