Land of the “Blogst”

I haven’t updated in so long it is embarrassing.

But the important thing is…What are the Morgans doing in San Antonio and how did we get here?

I won’t go thru the hairy details here, because then this update would be about 70 pages long. But if you are okay with the Readers Digest condensed version, please continue…

It started off with putting the business up for sale, which I couldn’t tell anyone. Then, in April, the business sold. This was after I had more than 25 inquiries and four offers, one of whom we chose. Couldn’t have imagined a) the business would actually sell and b) we would find such great buyers.

Concurrently we found we needed to move. The most compelling reason for the move was that Mike’s primary physician found that he had a dangerously low level of Vitamin D. Lack of vitamin D can lead to all manner of problems, including multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, heart disease, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, certain cancers, depression, chronic fatigue or chronic pain.

His doctor gave him prescription-strength Vitamin D for a month, which did not move the level up to the normal range. They tried again and failed and said he likely couldn’t absorb vitamin D thru his digestive system. It was suggested that we move.

Mike has not felt particularly well since about two years after he moved to Washington. He’s had procedures on his back, knee surgery, anti-depressant medication, test after test, etc….we decided to take the advice to move.

The good news is, Mike is doing better physically since our move to San Antonio. He is not up to the same level physically as when we met, but it is improving. He has had his blood drawn twice, and is now at normal levels of Vitamin D.

People ask, “Why San Antonio?” We could have moved to Phoenix, or Denver or any number of other places that have lots of sun. We picked San Antonio because of what we knew of Deaf services in Texas (Deaf people go to college free here, imagine!) a more reasonable cost of living and because of sweet tea!

I know the reasons don’t seem to add up to much, but we needed to move. We felt that the Lord wanted us here, although sometimes we are still not sure exactly why it was here as opposed to somewhere else in Texas. We prayed about it and rented our house to some friends from church for a year. In May, we took a 5-day house hunting trip down here, and put offers on three houses, one of which was accepted and went thru.

We bought a house because I didn’t want to live in an apartment with the kids even for six months or a year. We researched things on the internet, and thought that we might do well in the northeast part of town. We bought a foreclosure at the bottom of the market, and knew that we could make anything work for a year. Because of the price, if we completely hated it, we could sell it after a year and not lose anything (even with the market the way it is!) Truly, the house that ended up as ours is a gift from God, something that we could not have found or gotten in our own strength…we are truly thankful for it.

We planned to have me work about three days a week and then have Mike work the other time but found upon moving that it would be better if I were available most of the time for awhile at least. We decided that since he was feeling better, he would take on being “Mr. Mom” again, although it really isn’t that, it’s just that he is the dad, smile.

So far, the brightest news by far of the move is our new church. We visited churches for the first three weeks we were here, and I felt pretty uncomfortable because of not having a church family. We now attend New Life Deaf Fellowship, and if you want to know about it, we have a website at www.deafchurchSA.com

Mike is enjoying the Southern hospitality again, and I can truly say that I haven’t had a single bad experience with team interpreters. People here are warm, friendly and it is exciting to see the number of Christian interpreters.

Gavin and Jude go to a “Mothers Day Out” program here on Mondays and Fridays from 9am-2pm. It is like a combination of VBS and pre-school. They had an “Alphabet, Shapes and Colors” parade on Halloween, and you can see Gavin and Jude’s costumes below.Below are some random pictures, to give you an idea of our new life. I’ll try to keep up again with the blog. We miss our friends much.

Gavin is "tough."

We adopted a dog from the Animal Defense League on October 31st. I asked Gavin what he wanted to name her, and he immediately replied, "Sasha." She was four months old when we got her and we are glad to have her in the family.
Toby is also tough! In almost every picture lately, he has bruises from where he has fallen. He falls, laughs and gets up again.
Gavin loves climbing the small tree in the backyard; mommy doesn't love it as much as he does, to be sure.
Mike took this in the car...he looks how we feel most of the time chasing after him!
Jude is tough as well. He is wearing Ben Schniedewind's hat that Ben let him wear while he and Robert were here visiting. Robert came down to see Ben at the air force base. It was nice to see them both.

"Chicks Dig Scars" (We Hope)

On Friday, with me running around getting ready for work and Mike taking care of the kids, Jude slipped out of eyesight for a split second. Next thing I heard was Gavin running towards me, shouting, "It's an emergency!!!" He was right. Jude had fallen and cut himself on a cabinet drawer at 7:30 in the morning. Poor guy...I gotta say, though, he took it very calmly. Mike ran him to the emergency room and I waited at the house until my mom came to watch the kids (bless her!) It still smarts, but he'll be okay.

Under the file heading of "all boys, all the time", we came upon this scene the other day:

Lest you wonder why my oldest is standing in a pile of garbage, here is his explanation--"I was making a garbage shooter. I shot and shot and then, it exploded! I need to practice more." We assured him that there is no market for this device and further practice was not necessary.

I hate to post more on the "sickness" of our family, but it has become an integral part of this season. The baby and I have had a cough again for about three weeks. When I went to the doctor, I was diagnosed with pneumonia--later only slightly amended to pneumosis, which just means the spot on my lung from the x-ray wasn't that significant. I've been pretty much wiped by this. Again, we're on our second round of missing church for five weeks straight. Would have made it today, except Gavin and Jude both had fevers. I miss everyone.

Toby has six teeth now! Gavin got his first teeth early, too, but he didn't just keep getting them like Toby. Toby had the teeth next to his upper front teeth come in first, then his bottom front teeth, then his upper front teeth and is now working on his front teeth next to his bottom front teeth. I'm just going to throw a steak his way soon :)

I've been laughing from one of Gavin's recent additions to our vocabulary. We were driving, and he saw the Seventh-Day Adventist church where he attended Bible school for the past three years (yes, those sainted people accepted Gavin when he was a mere 20 months!) He told me he would be going to Bible school again soon, and I explained that it wouldn't be until the summer. He held his head and said, "Oh Cramp!! That just makes my head hurt." I admit to laughing, and so now it has become his favorite expletive--it's fast becoming mine, too.

Much better he says that then what he told me the other day upon being told to change his pants, "Let it go, Mom...all that talking is giving me a headache." He had an ache somewhere else after that one :) I love every minute of raising my boys.

Who knew?

So I'm on a kick....I am making yogurt at home. I have figured out that it only costs about .60/quart which equals about 5-6 Yoplait containers at .60-.99 each. There was a great article on it in the "Tightwad Gazette III" that said the the most reliable way was to use a heating pad with a towel over it and then a dutch oven turned over on top of the quart jar of yogurt. I am using our picnic cooler, and it is working fine. If you want to know how, go to: http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/yogurt.htm (Actually, I highly recommend that site--great information on how to economize in almost every way imaginable.)

Yay! Jude went to the bathroom on his own in the little toilet today!!!! The light and the end of the tunnel becomes brighter as I contemplate only having one in diapers.

Valentine's and other events

Okay, I admit I have a problem. I try to fit everything into the blog before posting. I need to learn the principle that shorter is better. So, even though this entry isn't perfect, it's going in!

Valentine's day....what fun! Mike and I didn't go out this year, but we certainly do appreciate each other. Our friend Jill issued a challenge that we have been participating in...as of January first, don't buy anything until Easter that isn't a "need." WOW! We consider ourselves frugal, but I can tell you that we spend more money that we realized.


Because of that, my gift to Mike was $20 to spend at the Goodwill/Salvation Army any way he wanted. He enjoys the shopping, but since it doesn't count as a need, has been missing his "break activity." Well, I needed to give him a gift, and he isn't spending his money this way. It was a loophole, but I am so proud of him for taking this challenge that it is worth it.

The next picture makes me proud. Gavin went to preschool the day before Valentine's day and they had a party. After school, the teacher shared with me that they were playing musical chairs. It came down to Gavin and his friend, Megan. When the music stopped, he said to Megan that she could have the chair. He got the sticker as a consolation prize...but he may have given up the chair for that reason too. All of the kids got a sticker when they were "out." Either way, he is still polite and loving.

I've been contemplating the nature of blogging. I envisioned this as a way to keep a family record, being able to eventually print this out and save it for review in the future. It becomes a little harder when some events in life are not as happy, especially when I think about the nature of sharing information openly on the Internet. In the end, I guess I have decided that life is life, and should be documented....

In the second week of January, my sister and brother-in-law ended their marriage of almost 21 years. It took a mere 5 minutes or less in court, mostly because Deborah and Jeff made a point of agreeing on everything beforehand. Here is a picture I took of Jeff with Toby at the courthouse:

Jude is such a powerhouse these days. I had to sing the "Superman" song about 40 times today while he ran around with his cape. His favorite word is still "mine."

Toby has four teeth now, and his eye teeth are coming in. He is exceptionally good natured, considering how terrible the teething is right now. His laugh is nothing short of infectious! Gavin talks to him to make him cry less. Sad to say, he is a little afraid of Jude. I am sure they will work it out, but Toby will start to cry if Jude gets too close, so we're being careful. We took Toby with us to dinner last week, and found that he can sit up in a high chair:

While I don't want the blog to morph into a list of things the kids have said, this one is going to be that way because of how long I waited. I want to get these things recorded, because I know I won't remember them later, smile.

On January 11th, there was a tornado that touched down in Hazel Dell (the northern part of Vancouver). Later, Gavin asked me why tomatoes were so scary. I told him they weren't, but he commented that the "tor-matoes" were frightening because they are "squishing" through the sky all over.

Sometimes, I don't even know where to begin or end a story, but..Gavin looks for an adventure in the "sewer." We were on our way home from church last week and Gavin had to go to the restroom. Looking for a place to go to the bathroom, we happened upon a Porta-potty. Mike took him in while we waited in the car. Next thing I know, Mike is pulling Gavin out while Gavin is screaming about staying in. He gets in the car and tells me, "Mom, I've got to go into the toliet." I asked him why and he said, "because it is an adventure." I told him that what is in the toliet isn't pleasant (only I explained it graphically enough for him to appreciate the yucky nature of it) but, unconvinced, he continued, "I will close my eyes and my mouth and it will be fine." Take two (Let's just pretend we didn't all think #2) of me explaining the "depths" of how bad this is. Gavin's response: "Mom, I need to do this. I am a big boy. Okay, I will take off my clothes too and it will be ok." There really isn't much more to add--what can you say?

And lastly, from the "I know they'll love each other later" file. Gavin's recent prayer: "God, thank you for making me part of this family. But Jude bites. Can you please take him back?