Thankful List ~ October 2016

October Thankful List

Addilyn and Josiah are growing up too fast.  They are doing really well in school.  Addilyn is great with math, her phonics rules, and spelling.  She has started reading really well and I’m delighted that she is gaining confidence.  Josiah is also doing great with reading.  He is starting to sound out all sorts of stuff!  They have really gotten into a routine with schoolwork and many times can work independently.  Both of them did amazing in soccer this season too.  We were blessed to have two really great coaches.

Eli is growing and changing so much.  He has started saying all sorts of new words and phrases.  He’s become quite the parrot and will repeat just about anything.  My favorite things he’s said this month is, “yee haw” when he was rocking on his horse.  I also see him using his imagination much more; making sounds when he is playing with cars and trucks as well as making action figures interact with one another.  More than anything, he has made it apparent how rough and tough he is.  He loves wrestling, jumping or doing flips on the trampoline, swinging on the big boy swing, and jumping off of stuff (namely the couch).  He climbs on everything especially the shoe shelf, kitchen counters, and I even found him on top of the stove at one point.

I was very excited to start a new medicine to increase my iron.  It helped my energy level so much.  This allowed me to get a few big projects finished that I had hoped to get done before baby girl arrived.  These included switching the kid’s bedrooms around, finish making the t-shirt quilt for a family friend, and making our family Halloween costumes (Mario Kart).  In addition, my mom came up for a little over a week and helped out around the house and with the kids.  She was such a blessing.

Hurricane Matthew hit the east coast this month and flooded much of Rocky Mount.  We were so thankful that our home/property did not receive any damage.  In fact, we never even lost power.  In a weird sort of way it was a blessing to have several of our normal commitments get cancelled so that we had more time to rest and prepare for the arrival of baby girl.

We saw a lot of grace this month in establishing deeper friendships with people in Rocky Mount.  I was able to have lunch/dinner/coffee with a couple different women.  We had a family from our small group come cheer on the kids at a soccer game.  My Sunday school class through us a baby shower.  And we were able to celebrate several different friend’s birthdays by going to different parties.  It has been a blessing to feel more connected!

Calvary hosted its annual fall festival but this year they decided to do a trunk or treat.  It went really well and the gospel was shared with several hundred parents and children! Our kids had a great time!

And, the most exciting news and greatest blessing of the month is the birth of our sweet Aubrielle Elyse Kelly!  Born on October 31^st at 6:46 a.m.  It was a quick labor.  She was perfectly healthy and we were overjoyed to finally hold her in our arms!