Thanksgiving & Update

Happy late Thanksgiving to everyone! I meant to update prior to the holiday - but got extremely busy.

I have been swamped, and just don't have the energy to do any of it! Last week I had 3 exams and needed to finish some large research papers. I can't wait for these large projects to be finished. I turned one paper in already, and next week I have one due Tuesday, a presentation on Wednesday and another paper due Friday! It almost feels like finals will be the easy part! The good news is that I did apply for graduation for May 2011 so there is a goal and end in sight!

We haven't been up to much besides playing and homework. We're still working on Brode's bedroom but we did finish his little reading corner. We had these letters from his nursery:

We moved them to the opposite wall and built him a little area to read, and hang up his 20 hats! I don't know where the kid got so many, but each of these hooks at least 3 hats on them and there is always one on his head! The rack was a must.
Wednesday afternoon Brode and I made a trip to Oshkosh to meet a family going through the Craniosynostosis journey right now. They have a 4 month old daughter, Brynn, that is scheduled for surgery in February. We brought Brode's scrapbook and shared our story and answered questions while the kids played. It was great meeting another family in the same situation and being able to help with all questions!

Thanksgiving was wonderful for us! I went out with friends Wednesday night and it started to feel like a class reunion there were so many people. It was great to see so many people and catch up! Thursday morning we headed over to Matt's moms for breakfast and watched the parade. Everyone took a nap then we were off to Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncles with the whole family! Brode liked playing with the other kids, trying out UNO Attack and eating all the food!

We are very thankful for all we've got this year. We're very lucky to have so many friends and family, but it always seems to amplified with Brode and everything he has been through. I think one of the things high on my list this year is our health insurance. Brode is blessed with two insurances and although they give me extreme headaches and use up all my phone minutes calling every week - they have covered tremendous amounts of bills that have enough numbers strung together to make me hyperventilate. I don't know where Matt, Brode or I would be if we were left with all of them. I can't imagine other families with sick children with ten times more!

We didn't do much Black Friday shopping. We did run errands in the late morning but not really as Christmas shopping and not to the high demand stores. We did make a lunch stop at McDonalds and Brode tried out Playland and loved it, so he had a fun morning!

So there is a minor update for now, I'll try and get some pictures soon!