We had a great week in Michigan last week, and are back in Happy Valley, where a strange, unseasonly storm hit last weekend (homecoming week). To the dismay of tens of thousands of tailgating and football fans, 9 inches of snow was dumped on the town overnight, and it still looks like the town is recovering from this. Today the weather is beautiful, but in front of most houses are piles of broken branches with nice green leaves on them that broke off the trees from the storm. Apparently a lot of the town lost electricity for a while as well. We are somewhat sorry to have missed all the excitement, but will get over it, especially when we remind ourselves that we were able to watch the PSU vs Minnesota game from a warm living room (with power) in Michigan.

We got to hit all the soccer games and one football game while we were in Michigan, which was a lot of fun (albeit cold). Karen graciously babysat Isaiah for us while we traipsed from field to field, and that made it a lot easier to watch the games and not Isaiah. Maybe next year he will have a better appreciation of his older niece and nephews in their physical prowess, but this year, all he wanted was the 'ball? ball? ball? ball? ball?' on the field, and was quite disappointed when he was denied it. That disappointment didn't last long, as there were many balls back at Dan's parents' house--a yoga ball (which was unfortunately deflated by a rose bush--oops), several tennis balls, and of course, the many soccer balls that made it in as well. Isaiah was in his element, and all day long the house was filled with squeals of glee as he and Gwaabwaa and Gwaamwaa hung out. It was a luxurious vacation for me, and I did absolutely no housework, which is terrible as a guest, but I will try to make up for it over Christmas. So will Dan.

Speaking of which, Dan has begun the arduous process of writing his thesis, and got a lot done this week on that. He has finished his first chapter (mostly--it probably needs a few more revisions) in record time, and is working on the second now. We're hoping and praying for continued diligence, motivation, and perseverance. His defense date is set for December 4, which is coming up soon. The 'carrot' in front of his nose right now is the fact that on December 7, we will be flying to Japan to spend Christmas with my folks for three weeks. We are very excited to see them, and to introduce Isaiah to Japan and all the good food and wonderful people there. After a week in Michigan with Shardas, his vocabulary list was lengthened significantly, especially in English, and I am curious to see how he fares in Japan.

I know I've mentioned this before, but while he understands both languages (although "come here" doesn't register in either language yet, as he runs away with glee--not sure that's a language issue, actually...), he is selective about which words he will say in each. A lot of times English wins out because the English word often has fewer syllables. He is doing well with up to 2 syllables, but hasn't quite gotten down the 3-syllable words. In English, he'll parrot back the last two syllables of a sentence, one of which was recently "Ree-ich." A lot of the words are still unintelligible to people other than Dan and me and sometimes we don't even know what he's getting at.

Still working on the potty-training, and it is a slow process. I am still hoping that by the time Furoshiki arrives he will be mostly out of diapers, but am not married to the idea, so I won't be too disappointed if he isn't.

Speaking of Furoshiki, he/she is growing well, and made some rapidfire kicks at the Doppler at a recent prenatal visit. Isaiah was never a real vigorous kicker, so I thought maybe the Doppler was having feedback issues, but apparently not. We don't know the sex yet, and I am strongly opting to wait until D-day for that, but Dan is not convinced. We have fairly well split Dan's family down the middle in terms of whose side they are taking on this issue, but I am proud to have Dan's Dad and Beth and Bob as strong supporters of my point of view. I will not mention names of opposers, as they will likely feel bad when they realize they are wrong. :) Suffice to say, it is not necessary to have another 5 months to shop in the 'pink section'--there will be plenty of time for that after March. Any comments about this issue are welcome, unless, of course, they go against the master plan (MINE). If Dan wants support, he should get his own blog. I have a few more weeks to drag him unwillingly over to my side, but if I can't by 11/3, I might just have to schedule another appointment and go alone. :)

Aside from those intense debates about ultrasounds amidst thesis writing adventures, we are doing well, and are thankfully remaining healthy even though many around us are struggling with the flu virus (swine or not), so we have a lot to be thankful for. Thanks for all your prayers for Dan's writing, all of our health, and for everything else going on in our lives. God IS good, and despite the hectic schedules and craziness of finishing up our lives as grad students, we are SO BLESSED.