ThanksMas in the 'Burg

Enjoying the cool crisp weather (and some parsley).

ThanksMas at Grandmom and Granddaddy Rhodes's. We enjoyed an excellant feast around the table with family - ham, turkey, shrimp, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry salad, pumpkin pie, fondue, sparkling grape juice, and lots of other good foods. And as always, games of settlers and rook to satisfy game cravings and competetive spirits! We did miss the whole family being together...Merry ThanksMas to the Masts in Thailand, the Rhodes-Showalters in Morroco, Dietrich in Spain, and Anita in Israel!


Elliot had fun with the extra space that came with a bath in Grandma and Grandpa Witmer's whirlpool bathtub - more like a pool for him! He got down on his belly and did his "snake crawl" around the tub. He loves his bathtime that is always accompanied by lots of splashing around.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Witmers as well, and this year we mixed things up a bit by having a "Progressive Thanksgiving". Since everyone lives within 2-3 miles of each other (with the exception of the Beachy family), we decided to try to fit in a meal at everyone's house. We started off with muffins and tea/coffee at Rachel and Anthony's and a birthday party for Jefferson (2 years old), then off to Mom and Dad's for the big feast, which included traditional foods with the exception of pork tenderloin in place of turkey, and succulant melt-in-your-mouth garden fresh pole limas (my favorite). Then we headed down to Brent and Luci's for a soup supper and birthday party for 1 year old Graham. (We missed Karen and Alvin and family, who were down south in Texas for a Beachy wedding.) On Saturday I went shopping with my sisters - a fun tradition - and a productive shopping excursion in which I bought almost all my Christmas presents!! Got to love that, plus it's always more fun to shop when shopping with sisters!

All in all a wonderful weekend with family and friends. We headed back home to North Carolina Sunday evening, and are all recuperating from colds this week, thanks to Elliot for being the first one to catch and spread it. We're looking forward to another trip up to VA in another month!

pictures

Bits and pieces about Ellliot:
-Is 8 and 1/2 months old, weighs around 18 pounds
-Eats every food given to him except avacado and artichoke
-Is babbling consonant sounds
-Loves taking a bath and loves splashing the bath water all around him
-Laughs easily over any silly noise, action, or expression someone makes
-Is almost crawling, but scoots around on the floor on his tummy, ocassionally pulling his knees under himself
-Goes to bed around 7 in the evening and sleeps until between 6 and 7 in the morning, wakes around 5:30 for a bottle and then goes to sleep for a little while longer
-Takes 2 approximately 1 hour naps per day (1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon)
-Loves playing with anything resembling hoses, and loves playing with balls - has a good arm already!
-Is starting to pull himself up and can balance himself while holding on to something
-Has 5 teeth
-Is a pleasant happy little boy who doesn't fuss very much except when he's hungry or tired
-Here's hoping for another baby with such an easygoing personality (after the first couple months of life)!!

Elliot's Baby Dedication

This past Sunday Elliot was dedicated by our pastor, Dr. William C. Turner Jr. at our church, Mt. Level Missionary Baptist. At Mt. Level, a parental re-dedication always preceeds the dedication of the baby. We were asked to re-commit ourselves to the vows we made at our baptisms, and to promise to pass on the faith to Elliot. This parental element of the baby dedication is to me indispensable to the dedication of the child, and safeguards the rite from sentimentalism in that the event is fully familial.

After we renewed our vows to Christ, we were annointed with oil.

Our pastor then prayed for and annointed Elliot, invoking God's protective power over his life. I like the annointing in that it pre-figures baptism.

After Dr. Turner prayed for and annointed Elliot, he asked us to name the child in front of the congregation, and then proceeded to pronounce the dedicatory blessing on Elliot Hans Witmer Rhodes as he held him above the congregation and walked up and then back down the aisle to much applause. This is always the entertining part, as the child gets a pulpit eye's view of the congregation and invariably looks alternately amused and perplexed.

We were blessed to have both sets of parents as well as Philip and Rebekah present for the event. It was wonderful having them up front with us praying and laying hands on us parents and Elliot. Thanks too, for those of you who have prayed for and with us over the last 17 months, and we covet continued prayer for our rapidly expanding family.

(Pictures courtesy of Larry Bumgardner - a deacon in the congregation.)

Update

Elliot's past the fussy teething stage, with 3 new upper teeth and one purplish red spot where another upper tooth is waiting to make it's appearance. It's so good to have him back to his usual self - smiley and content for the most part. Thanks to all for your prayers and words of support/encouragement!

Another random bit of information from my work...one of our interns was physically assaulted yesterday by one of our clients. And this client is one that I work with on a regular basis. He is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and cocaine dependence and was in the hospital at the time, but he apparently thought this intern was trying to "get inside my head" and punched him down to the floor and kicked him in the back and neck several times. The intern was alright - didn't go to the doctor but was understandably pretty shaken up by this incident and is taking a couple of days off. Not to worry anyone, as this is a very rare occasion that any of our clients become aggressive toward us. And we plan to discharge this client due to his aggressive behavior. A reminder to me to take precautions and to thank God for his daily protection as I work with people with illnesses and addictions that sometimes cause their behaviors to be unpredictable.

Teething

This picture says a lot. Elliot's been teething this past week and has not been feeling himself - cranky and cranky and cranky. 3 upper teeth have come through, accompanied by 3 to 4 days of fever (thank God for Motrin!). We thought all had passed, but yesterday and today he's been fussy again, wanting to be held all the time, and biting/chewing on everything - but no fever. And on top of it all, he seems to have had a food allergy to what we think are the spices curry and tumeric (at least he had that 2 meals in a row and broke out in a rash all over his head and torso after both meals). But the rash is clearing up, and it didn't seem to bother him that badly, or at least we couldn't differentiate that from the teething fussiness. We're ready for the old Elliot to be back - the generally happy and cheery Elliot!

Martin's Scrumptuous Cooking

Not only is he Mr. Dad, he's also Mr. Chef! Martin cooks up some fabulous meals, even Thai meals (in honor of the Masts) with the surprising ingredient of broccoli! I'm getting spoiled...and I must guiltily admit I kind of like it.

The "Boys"

These are the amazing "boys" I get to come home to every weekday afternoon (and most days for lunch too). This change in roles has gone smoothly, and it seems we are all happy with this arrangement thus far. I love hearing stories of how the day at home went, such as Martin pulling Elliot around our apartment on our boogie board. :)

My work is going well, and it's nice to be more fully involved with my team members and clients. I can't say enough good things about my supervisor, who met with his supervisor and fought for 45 minutes to bring me on to the team as a "modified full time" employee (35 hrs/wk plus all the benefits of a 40 hr/wk employee). I really enjoy my work, and so it's not so bad to go to work full-time again. My role on the team continues to be that of a social worker and therapist, and I'm helping out here and there with intakes. And to brag a little bit on my team, I shall pass on the news that our team (which goes by the mouthful of: Integrated Dual Disorder Assertive Community Treatment Team, a fancy way of saying we work with people who have both a mental illness and substance abuse diagnosis) won the Best Evidence Based Practice award in the state of NC for the year 2007. Hip, Hip, Hooray!!