Autumn, Finally!

Dear Friends and Family,

Hello! We hope you’re doing well and enjoying the change of season. We have only recently left behind 90+ degree temps here in North Carolina and we are loving the cooler days and autumn colors. We last updated back in June, which seems like forever ago! Since then, the most important and exciting update from us is that Phoebe Marie Ross was born on August 13th. She is now 2 months old and is a pure delight! Her sweet smiles have melted all of our hearts and it’s been especially fun to see the boys with a baby sister — they are all smitten and I can’t help but think that Phoebe has no idea how blessed she is to have these three as her big brothers!

There’s been a lot of anticipation, change, and adjustment for us this summer. As you might imagine, not all of it has been smooth sailing. But we are thankful for the Lord’s provision as our family has grown yet again and in the midst of life that never really slows down. For example . . . Phoebe was born one week before Will’s first fall semester as a professor at RTS began, so no paternity leave over here! We are thankful for family, friends, and church community that has supported us well through this season of change.

We officially began our second year of homeschooling this fall. Amos is in 1st grade and Luke has begun K5. Both boys are doing so well and enjoying our studies at home as well as their one day a week at Greyfriars, a classical tutorials program where they can enjoy friends and learning in a larger community (and Mama can get some time with Sam and Phoebe!). Amos is doing really well with school. His reading skills took off over the summer and it’s fun to see him reading all the things. Amos has also been blessed with some excellent therapists who are helping a lot. It always takes a while to find therapists that mesh well with Amos, his needs, our expectations, and our schedule. So after nearly a year here in Charlotte, it feels like we are finally finding a good team to support Amos in these ways. We still need a good physical therapist so prayers for that would be greatly appreciated!

We are truly thankful for the ways that we see Amos growing and making progress. We still continues to work hard on speech therapy and compensatory skills that will help him navigate the partial tongue paralysis that remains. There’s a lot that goes into speech for Amos and we are proud of the hard work he’s doing in this area. He’s still working on riding his bike, and gaining strength and endurance. As we see Amos settle into new routines, new activities (like bike riding and reading!), and a new community, we are grateful for the Lord’s protection and mercy. To see Amos with the abilities that he does have today in light of where he was four years ago at this time is always overwhelming. Please pray that we will continue to persevere with grateful hearts as we help Amos navigate his deficits. We are often holding in our hearts the tension of gratitude and sorrow as we consider and observe where Amos is today.

Coming up

Amos has his first MRI at Duke Children’s Hospital at the end of this year. We won’t be flying to CA for a scan for the first time ever in this whole journey! This decision was multi-faceted and we are so thankful for the excellent team at Duke who have taken excellent care of us and listened carefully to all of our concerns.

And I just have to write this out because it’s exciting and worth noting: There are NO surgeries on the horizon!! What a blessing!

And now, a few pictures:

 

 

 


11 thoughts on “Autumn, Finally!

  1. Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful daughter. I am glad you are settled and wish you and yours all the best that the good Lord has to offer.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Wow Kellie and Will,
    Love seeing all these photos!! Such a cute babe Phoebe!! So thankful for Amos progress.
    Our lesson today in church – Jacob wrestling with God. He was left weak and handicapped from that battle. God went on to bless him. His handi-cap, and his need, got him humility, thus MORE of God!
    “Don’t let me go unless you bless me!”
    Maybe you are walking with a limp at times – but 4 dear children.
    You have come through a huge wrestle.
    Me too.
    Missing David – but Hannah had a baby girl today, Olivia in Croatia!
    Blessings as we limp along!

    May God also bless your teaching Will – as you sometimes limp and sometimes fly along.
    Nan

    Liked by 1 person

  3. It was good to get an update. Your baby girl is a little doll and I’m sure her brothers adore her. I do remember you in prayer, especially Amos and how God has watched over him every step of the way. What do you do in your spare time? ha ha I know your in-laws from Chelten church and now I feel like I know your family because of the e-mails. Keep them coming…………..

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  4. Dear Kelli, Will, Amos, Luke, Samuel … and Phoebe,

    Thank you for your news, and congratulations on the birth of Phoebe! Sorry about no paternity leave!!

    Cambridge 2019/2020 is under way and different again, but God’s mercies are new every morning, and we are so thankful!

    With love from Tyndale Lodge,

    Kathryn, Pete, Lena and Leo

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Great to hear all your news. Here in Cambridge the quince tree in your old garden is laden with fruit. I made a kilo of dulce de membrillo a week ago and started to put out crates of ripe fruit. The first one went slowly. Word got around and the second lot vanished in a flash. I filled the crate again only to find, a couple of hours later, that not just the fruit but the crate itself had gone. On a more serious note, the fecund ground of 35 Emery street saw another birth this year: Lola, to Charles and Anne. Summer here say the rail bridge on Mill Road closed for two months, plus replacement of a gas main. Lots of deep holes and sturdy equipment that the boys would have enjoyed.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. It was so nice to hear all your good news.
    Congratulations on the birth of Phoebe, what a beautiful girl!!
    How lucky she is to have three adoring brothers, what a lovely family you have.
    Hope we see you soon.
    Lots of love to you all.
    Eva xox

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Congratulations on the addition to your family! What a blessing! Such a beautiful family! Continued prayers for what every Amos needs to help him grow.

    Like

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