Thanksgiving 2008

Hello all,

After receiving some hate e-mail from a close friend about the lack of activity on the blog, I am shamed into doing this email. I once again admit that I am not a great blogger, but I have actually been meaning to write a short Christmas card/letter for the blog.

The pictures below are from Thanksgiving. I accidentally forgot my camera at my parents house and just got it back. Thankfully, my parents and Lisa's parents took turns spending the night with Lisa while I was gone for continuing education for four days. The course was excellent and my partner, Tommy and I feel blessed that Robin McKenzie created the Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy approach. This theory has been proven by seven different studies to be the only inter-tester reliable way of assessing patients suffering from low back and neck pain. The theory has helped to save my career in physical therapy and helped me to enjoy my work starting 8 years ago; one year out of school I was considering changing careers because the stuff they taught us in school doesn't work (ultrasound, massage, spinal stabilization etc.), and I really wanted to help people. Tommy and I will be taking a very difficult exam, hopefully in February, to become certified in the McKenzie approach. Enough about career.

More importantly, the last few years have been quite a whirlwind. After a long struggle with infertility, surgeries/procedures, and a very long adoption process, we were blessed by the grace and mercy of our God with Peter. He was born July 29, 2008, and we picked him up in Dallas three days later. After two weeks of waiting on paperwork made easier by the hospitality of our good friends Minh and Jenny Le, we returned home for the first time with our son. Life has drastically changed for us (definitely for the better, even when sleep deprived :) ). I know that sounds cliche, but I don't think anyone can prepare you for the lifestyle change that occurs with a child. The deep emotion of love I feel inside when Peter looks at me and smiles continues to amaze and surprise me. Thankfully, Lisa continues to love me and tolerate me even when my worst side emerges intermittently. I would like to blame it all on sleep deprivation, but I know that doesn't account for anything that is not already inside of me. Thanks be to God for giving us his grace and mercy and allowing us to pass that onto others. I think back on some of the events/trials we have been through including building this house and am so thankful to our God that He heard us when we cried out to Him, gave us what we needed when and how He wanted, and brought us out the other side so much better than we started. A wise person recently asked me if I knew how to make God laugh. I didn't know the answer so the person told me, "Tell him your plans for your life." I think that is wonderful. Thankfully His plan is perfect in every way. Part of his plan was to send his one and only Son, Jesus, our Messiah to save us from ourselves and our sin. He has been my strong refuge when life has spun out of my control the past few years. He has humbled me through my circumstances and strengthened my faith at the same time. This Christmas I can truly say that Jesus is the reason for this season and for everything important in my life. May we all know Him deeper and deeper as we celebrate His birth this Christmas.

Nathan

P.S. Don't worry more pictures of Peter will be on the next posting; I know you don't log on primarily to read my editorials on life.

Hello bloggers! Sorry about the three weeks or so since the last posting. I'm not much of a blogger by some of your standards but here goes: Peter is doing so well; he is definitely sleeping much better now. "White noise" has helped us out tremendously. He is even taking some naps now during the day. Last night he only woke up once! This week Peter has discovered how to make spit bubbles and frequently makes them while simultaneously making a semi-farting sound with his lips. We are so proud! He is now 15 1/2 weeks old.

I'm continually impressed by how aggressive people are when they want to see more pictures of Peter. Seriously, I got it, I got it. I know you didn't come to read my clever penmanship, so here are the latest pictures of Peter.

Wow! It has been a month since I posted anything to our blog. Time is really flying. Thanks to all of you who have kept reminding me to post more pictures. We have experienced what seems to be a lifetime of lifecycle events for Peter here in the last month. He went through acne already and he is losing his hair. As you can see by the later pictures his acne is clearing up well but he has about half of the hair from his earlier pictures. People tell me this is normal but it seems really strange to me. You will also see him smiling; he is doing this more and more all the time and it makes my heart sing! You will also see Peter with his great grandmother Tumlison. We spent Saturday with her having a great visit. I'll try to be more consistent with the blog. I send out a sincere apology to you hard core bloggers.