Rough Start

As you all know, my little brother, Jake, left for basic training in the Army about a month ago. I had posted a while ago that he was pretty sick. Well, his rough start in the military has continued. I just briefly talked with him this morning and it has gotten even worse. Jake's respiratory infection has progressed into bilateral (or double) pneumonia. After blacking out in front of drill sgts in the barracks, he was sent to the infirmary (after they screamed at him for not getting up before realizing it was serious-it's their job, of course!). There, they discovered he was extremely dehydrated and had a fever over 104. They wanted to transport him to the hospital right away for the fever, but they were able to get it under control and ended up keeping him for 72 hours (not sure of the details, but I imagine they gave him some IV fluids and possibly antibiotics). He was just released back to his platoon last night. He's alert, but still sounds very foggy. Obviously, we are very concerned about him. They (the soldiers) have their gas chamber test tomorrow, so we are very worried about how his lungs will handle that. Thankfully, his flight gets in to Indy on Friday morning for his two week visit for Christmas-we can't wait! I know it's a busy time of year, but if you could keep Jake in your thoughts for a safe return home and that he can get better soon! He's truly such a fighter and trying so hard not to let

being sick get in the way of what he's supposed to be doing there. We are so proud of you:)

Not sure why these are so small, but they are the first pics Jake sent from basic (thank goodness for modern technology!)

He kind of looks like a little puppy here! This is one of his new 'do.

Obviously, he took this himself...Jake in his full combat uniform.

Jake and I at a wedding in October, a month before he left.

And, of course, a few of the kiddies from the last few days.
Avery was so proud of herself, though she doesn't look like it in this pic, of putting the hats and feet on her potato heads!! She is getting to be such a big girl and wanting to do more and more by herself everyday!

Whenever I get the camera out, Avery now asks to have her picture taken, starts to say cheese and makes this face! I am absolutely loving this phase-much better than constantly turning away from the camera! Notice how much static is in her hair-darn the dry air during the winter!

My little Spencie Cole. This guy is 100% determined to crawl! Since this picture (which was just 2 days ago), he can now actually get all the way up on his hands, not just his elbows!!

Another "cheese" face:) This one isn't as wide-eyed as the other since she had just gotten up, but still a smile!!

A few videos of Spencer working on crawling. The first one, I just thought was cute because Avery was really loving on her brother and then Domer comes to check him out. But mostly, he works on his Superman. In the second, he is up and rocking, like he likes to do. Now though, he rocks and kind of lunges himself forward. He's also very good at just turning himself all around and just this morning, actually moved an arm and a leg in coordination! He will be 7 months one week from today and that's almost exactly when Avery first crawled!! I really wish he wasn't moving so fast, but am really enjoying watching him try:)!