Happy Thanks Giving!

Hi All,


Rachael is open in oregeon for a family wedding so it's Mercedes, my mom, and myself holding things down for the weekend. It's been pretty chaotic for the last few weeks. LOT's of stuff going on and it never seems like we have any time to slow down.

My new job is going very well, and I'm really happy to finally be out of Sacramento finally! My new co-workers and I are getting along great, everyone does their job and helps each other out as needed. It is unknown how long I will be able to work at San Jose State as an ROTC instructor. I think for sure, I should have two full years but there has been discussion about how to make that longer if necessary. The big issues with staying to long in one spot is it will affect my long term career with the military.

In addition to everything going on, I have started my masters in science degree in Space Studies through online correspondence.  I have dragged my feet for some time in getting my masters but in order for me to promote to my next rank it's almost a requirement. So far my studies have been a lot of reading, thankfully it is actually interesting reading for me as it's basically a review of my undergrad degree in Aerospace Engineering. At times I'm a little overwhelmed that I have two years of this to go, but it will be worth it in the end I suppose. At the very least... it will be a big boost to my hirability should I need to get out of the Air Force.

Mercedes is no longer a little toddler but now a full fledged little girl! She keeps Rachael and I very busy with all of her little doings and activities. For the most part she has been very good at dealing with our crazy life. Rachael has been going through pre-school stuff with her and she really loves to do all of the activities. She even likes to do them on Saturday if we let her! Our big goal is to get her reading on her own so that she can be reading books on her own. She has a great imagination and it will be fun to open up all sorts of different worlds to her through books.

Moving on to Mia, she has been doing well lately. She seemed to be having a small cold a few days ago but it looks like she might be over it. The vent weaning has been really slow so far. Each time she starts to make some good progress she ends up with a cold and they have to start all over again. At the current rate, it does not look like she will be getting off of the vent any time soon. There is still question if she will ever be able to get off the vent but that's something only time will be able to tell us. Aside from the vent stuff, her therapy seems to be progressing really well. She has lots of movement in all of her extremities, and she is able to hold her head up fairly well now. Now that she is able to control her head, I have now been working with her to try to get her to be able to hold herself up in a sitting position. So far she is doing pretty well, her core muscles are still pretty weak but there are times that you can feel her trying to prop herself up. She is also pretty much able to roll over now! The tubes from the vent get in the way so she still isn't able to fully transition but I think if she did not have the tubes she would probably be rolling all by herself now.

For anyone that is interested in visiting Mia please let us know! Knowing that Mia has other people visiting with her throughout the day helps us not be so stressed out about not being there as much as we would like. For those that are interested in visiting on a regular basis you could consider being a volunteer at the CRC. They are looking for people that would like to come in and hold baby's on a regular routine because many of the kids at the CRC have parents that are either uninvolved or they live to far away to visit every day. If you or someone you know has extra time on their hands and loves to interact with children then this could be a ministry opportunity. Just talk to Rachael and let her know you are interested and she can explain who you need to talk to at the CRC.


Finally, Rachael has been very busy between Mia, Mercedes and myself. We are enjoying being just a few minutes away from Mia but it is also taking it's toll on us physically, mentally, and emotionally. I think the biggest issue we deal with now is that we can't take time in the evening and relax at home because we feel like we should be with Mia for as much time as possible. By the time we do actually get home from visiting Mia it's usually past eight and we have to get Mercedes in bed. By the time we have time to relax and rest, it's usually past 9 and we have to go to bed to restart everything the next day. Considering this chaos, Rachael and I are looking at taking some time off together in order to recharge ourselves. Over the past two years, we have not taken a vacation and any time that I have taken off was because we were in the process of moving, un-packing, re-packing etc... After two years of this, I have so much vacation time built up that I need to start using it before I start losing it (Air Force only allows you to have 60 days of vacation stored up, beyond that you start losing the days). We are excited to be able to spend some much needed time on a relaxed schedule.

That's all of the updates I have for now. Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Robert