I have many valid excuses for not blogging all this time. I won't bore you with them. I will backtrack with pictures later.

Joel will be eight months old in a few days. I cannot believe it! We only recently got him on a schedule where he sleeps through the night. He would sleep for eight hours at a time, but it would be 8pm to 4am. With Jackson, I would wake him around 10 or 11pm and dreamfeed him. That worked like a charm. Not so with Joel. It was like his body thought he should keep waking. It has been tough figuring out what works with him sleepwise.

Joel is keeping us hopping. Just like Jackson, he started crawling around the tail end of six months. He also started pulling up a few weeks ago as well. I heard giggling in the den and found him thrilled with himself, standing next to one of our chairs, holding on for dear life. Now, it is not unusual to find silver streaks all over my pant legs from his saliva as he climbs me hourly.

Jonathan continues to be kind. He can be sneaky. Joel currently has a bruise on one cheek from where Jonathan shoved a toy away from Joel that he was leaning on. Joel toppled over and slammed his face into the toy. Thanks, Jonathan. Sweetest people, right? Don't think so.

My sister gave me this book on prayer for Christmas. I have been reading it diligently - it is fascinating. It is one of the few books that makes it sound natural. After reading many chapters, it occurred to me that I have not trusted God with Jonathan's behavior... Before Joel was born, we saw specialists. After Joel was born, I continued to make appointments. We would incorporate the suggestions. Jonathan would quite one behavior and pick up another. (Quite frankly, I didn't want to blog because I didn't want to discourage anyone reading this who had a kid with DS. Jonathan's issues are not specific to DS and I didn't want new parents getting the wrong idea). So, I began praying over Jonathan at night and during the day. I have been praying that the Lord allow him to speak clearly and that He strengthen the necessary muscles. I also started to pray for his behavior. The child can still wear me out like no other, but he obeys so much more readily (I have been praying for an obedient heart)! I am actually enjoying spending time with him because I am not having to correct him nearly as much. Thank you, Lord!

Jonathan has been mouthing things constantly. He brought home the stomach bug a few times in the fall and I think it is probably because he licks everything in sight. We are seeing specialists for that but I am covering it in prayer as well. If he would quit that, I am convinced he would be so much healthier.

Jackson read five books to me tonight. It is so neat to see him learning. In comparison to his brothers, he seems enormous! He is very helpful and loves to play with Joel. He would play with Jonathan but often Jonathan plays dirty.:) Jonathan shoots himself in the foot where Jackson is concerned. We have had difficulty with Jackson telling the truth these days and are working on that. This is a tough one for me because I despise dishonesty with a passion.

Jackson plays with Legos all the time. One thing that drives him nuts is Jonathan will grab a Lego man. He will proceed to pop the man's head off and swallow it. Several Lego men's heads are missing now. It is irritating because you can't simply replace the man - you have to buy a whole set of Legos so you can get the man with it!

Despite our wild life, I love it. At night, when it is quiet, I think about our life and I would not change it. I hope for the energy to keep up but I would not change our kiddos.