a video...

... in which Jonah doesn't do a whole lot at the beginning but sings Dora at the end and also says "Mommy."

****
Also, please go HERE to vote for EBMRF to receive funding for more research. A Facebook/EB friend of mine is participating in her office's Holiday Gives program where people vote on one of five charities to receive funding. They do this instead of sending out client gifts. I think that is so cool. Jonah is the featured EB Cutie, but sweet Aubrey Joy, who recently passed away at the age of six weeks from JEB, is the baby we're honoring. :)

our thanksgiving

We had an awesome week! We had Thanksgiving here, at our house, with my mom, siblings, and some friends on Wednesday night. I really don't have any photos of that, because between hosting and eating, I didn't get my camera out. I do have a few photos of Wednesday during the day when my sister, Sarah, played bubbles with the kiddos. Despite some spillage and Jonah being unwilling to share nicely, it was a fun time.

On Thursday, we went to my Maw-Maw's house and spent Thanksgiving with her, my Paw-Paw and my dad. We always have a great time there, choosing to venture outdoors. It's so neat to get to share our happy memories and experiences there with Asher, Ainsley, and Jonah.

 My brother, Peyton, and his wife, Amy.

Peyton was awesome with Jonah this week. He and Sarah both gave me so many breaks and entertained him. Jonah is sometimes not great with guys, but he LOVES my brother. Maybe he senses that he's kind of like his Mommy. I don't know, but it was awesome. They spent a lot of time looking at cars from the porch, walking, and taking golf cart rides.

Pop (my dad) and Ainsley, sharing a dessert.



My oldest and youngest siblings. Nineteen year age difference. :)

There was lots of football throwing...

And golf cart riding...

Jonah was scared out of his mind at first (notice the look of terror on his sweet little face)....

But as long as we were moving, he was a happy (or at least, not crying, clinging on for dear life) little boy.

Pop, letting Asher take a turn at the wheel.

My beautiful Maw-Maw.

My two sisters with Maw-Maw. I love them. :)

I'm thankful for so many things. I never thought I'd get to celebrate any Thanksgivings with my Jonah, and now I've had the pleasure of TWO! I'm thankful for my amazing husband who is more than I could ever have hoped for, my miracle son who continues to beat the odds and inspire the best in others, my family and friends who are such a huge support, my wonderful church family, my cozy little house, and a million other things. Most of all, I'm thankful for my God, who never gives up on me, shows me unconditional love that I could never replicate or understand, and gives me a clean slate every day. My cup runs over.

(We went to the zoo today and it was AWESOME. I'll post photos of that later. We couldn't have asked for a better day. Also, Jonah turns 21 months today. Can you believe he'll be two years old in three months? Me neither.)

happy thanksgiving

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

Love,
Jonah 


(More photos to come another day... Daddy and Mommy get a date night tonight, thanks to Aunt Sarah, and tomorrow is my first trip to the zoo! Pray that I'm not a Cranky Pants. So far, we've had an awesome week!)

jonah walking (assisted)

The bad boo boos are from a fall he took last Saturday - (this photo is from Wednesday), but they're completely healed now.

With his physical therapist, Ms. Ashley.

She is so amazing. Incredibly blessed to have her in our lives.

 "Look Ma, no hands." (No steps handless yet.)

See? All healed. Praise God!

captain destructo

Captain Destructo...

Creating a path of disaster wherever he goes...

Leaving no cabinet unopened...

No door knob unwiggled...

("What? I'm cute...")

No string-hanging-down-from-the-stool uneaten...

("What? I'm cute...")

Uh-oh. Captain Destructo has sleepy eyes...

Yep, he's been staring at that dishwasher for five minutes...

Captain Destructo, leaving no nap untaken...

And one mommy with no energy.

holiday shopping for multiple good causes

I've been meaning to post this forever, but I'm a slacker and am just now getting around to it. I know at the holidays I love buying gifts where a portion of the money goes to help someone. So... a couple things I've found you may want to check out:


1. My friend, Angela, is in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. Last I heard, they were number 84 on the wait list to bring their beautiful daughter home. Ordinary Hero is donating $10.00 of every shirt purchase ($24.95... that includes shipping and handling) to adopting families this month. The t-shirts are super cool. Please help bring a little girl home to her forever family. Click HERE to check out the shirts (they're on the right sidebar). When you check out, just make sure you put "Brian and Angela Hunt" in the Special Instructions section. WOOHOO!


2. Thanks to so many of you who let me know about the Tiny Prints cards. If you haven't heard yet, Tiny Prints has a line of celebrity-designed ornament-style holiday cards on sale this year. Sales from these cards benefit EBMRF (the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation) and can be purchased HERE.


3. And lastly (for now anyway... I know I'm forgetting some stuff), I found this blog post the other day and was ecstatic. I don't read this blog regularly. It was one of those click from here to there to there things, but I knew I was supposed to find that post. This awesome mommy blogger has compiled a list of families/shops/ministries that are selling all sorts of great stuff (clothing, jewelry, kids' stuff, art, homemade goods etc.) and proceeds go to adopting families. I have barely started my Christmas shopping, but I can't wait to look through these great sites. I love shopping and making a difference.  Makes my heart (but maybe not my wallet) so very, very happy. Click HERE to check out the goodies. 


HAPPY SHOPPING!

Wheeeeere's Jonah?

-PEEK -

- A -

- BOO - 

he's a maniac

I took this video of Jonah this morning before dressing change. He's learning to use those legs!

this and that

I am so glad the weekend is here. It's not that the week has been bad, but we've had a lot of puke around here, and I'm glad to have some help cleaning it up. Matt will be so excited. Every time Jonah gets a cold or gets congested, he coughs, can't recover, and vomits almost every meal until he's over it. Frustrating. I'm hoping he's on the upswing, although I'm thinking we probably shouldn't do church (or at least not the nursery) on Sunday. 

In other news:

- My sister is finishing her Associates Degree this semester and just found out she got accepted to UNC-Wilmington in the Spring. I couldn't be more proud of her. She has worked so hard to get here.

- There is a mouse on the loose in Matt's office, so he spent the whole day walking around like this: 

Eat your hearts out, ladies.

- Matt went to the Wake game tonight. We were playing Stetson. Who? Exxxxactly. We lost by 10 points. Shameful.

- Jonah and I went to my mom's for homemade pizza. Oh. My. Word. It is so good. She could open up a restaurant with just that one recipe and be successful. So delicious. Jonah is missing out. 

- The last couple days Jonah has been letting go and standing completely on his own. It only lasts a few seconds but he's so proud of himself and is trying so hard. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever. But most everything is with that guy. :)