Wow! Has it really been more than a month?

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. :-) And today Naomi is officially 2 months old.

I posted new pictures on Facebook in a public album, so you can all see them at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50486&l=2f173&id=692971443

This past month has been eventful! Naomi is learning how to nap - she's awake more during the day than we hear is typical for her age - she almost never sleeps more than an hour at a stretch. BUT more important, she sleeps well at night consistently! It's usually 6-7 hours, and the start time for that is getting more consistent as well, and then she goes right back down and sleeps another 3 hours or so.

Matthew started permanent status at Health Net last week, so we'll have benefits provided through his work in another month, and it was just in time to have paid holidays for Nov and Dec! Hooray. :-)

In the search for a ministry job, overall we are both encouraged - things are still happening, even as we look at December. He is preaching at a church in Willows this weekend and is turning in an app for an Assoc. position in Massachusetts by Sunday as well. Then next week there is another app due and the accreditation (towards ordination) interview for the Alliance.

Emily, meanwhile, is enjoying being able to stay caught up with chores, and to make a little progress towards moving ahead with paperwork and preparations for Christmas. This is possible in part because Matthew's Aunt Miriam returned home last week, and she has taken over care of her kitties. For now we are staying here with her and she is being very gracious in sharing her car, her kitchen, and her TV with us.

The last month we've really enjoyed watching Naomi learn. She's really started to smile at us, and will laugh when she's well-rested. Just in the past few days she's started cooing. As Grandpa Keith puts it, Naomi is very stiff - she holds up her head, and sometimes even her body, when we hold her up on one shoulder. She has a definite preference for being upright and able to use her legs. Forget rolling over or sitting up - she wishes she could stand! She's also learning about her hands, sucking on her knuckles and grasping Daddy's arm hair - but still nothing intentional. Last week she went in for her 2-month check, and she's at 10 lbs 10 oz (60th %ile) and 23 in long (75th %ile).

For Thanksgiving, we're heading down to Turlock in the morning to visit Emily's Great-grandma and let Naomi's Great-Great G'ma meet her, then we'll celebrate with the Brookses in Stockton for the first time as a couple.

God bless your travels and family time as you celebrate as well. We truly have an amazing God who has met our most pressing needs abundantly.