The end is near!

My thesis was approved by my committee and the graduate coordinator this week!  It went through a TON of revisions since I submitted it a week ago but I'm really proud of the way it's turned out.  I was finally able to schedule my defense, which is my last hoop to jump through before graduation.  I ordered my cap and gown this week and did a happy dance because I was so excited.

Proof!  135 pages of awesomeness.

I had to print out a hard copy for my committee members and it looked like a novel!  Mind you, this was with two-sided printing. And over 80 pages of this were single-spaced.  BOOM.

Anyway... if you're looking for some academic pursuits to break up the monotony of your summer vacation, you should come to my defense meeting!  It'll be Thursday, June 28th at 11:00 in room 125 of the Taylor Building.  All friends/family/acquaintances/strangers who are interested in children with language impairment are welcome.  It's sure to be a (scholarly) party.  And heaven knows I need the prayers and support.  This has been an extremely time consuming but rewarding project, second only to baking the little man in my oven for 9 months.

Speaking of the little man, I feel as though every single day with him recently has been an absolute riot.  He's obsessed with giggling, eating food off my plate (still no sign of teeth at 10 months old... he just gums everything in sight), standing (on his own!), playing with pens and markers, playing catch (well... he and Spencer gently throw the ball back and forth at... not to... each other), dancing whenever he hears music, clapping and waving, and banging on the piano (which is sweet, sweet music to his piano-playing mother's ears).  He's constantly happy; tears are rare except when food is taken away from him or we're pinning him to the ground to change his diaper.  

He's standing ALL. THE. TIME.  He fights every position except standing (and has since he was 7 months old).  We've avoided cuts, bumps, and bruises pretty well up until now but he's just starting to get adventurous with letting go when he's standing or taking steps with us.  I'm pretty excited that I'm finishing up with school right when he's trying to start walking.  Any earlier and I still would have been slaving away on the thesis.  What can I say?  The kid's a keeper :)

Basically, we're doing pretty well!  Our Lake Chelan trip and Spencer's birthday are coming up in the next two weeks but we'll think about those once my defense is over.  As for now, I'm loving all this new-found time I have!  It's mostly spent on sleep and quality time with my boys :)  And maybe a LITTLE bit on preparing for next Thursday's meeting... but just a little bit.

We love you all!