A Note From Daddy

So Amanda is back to working a crazy schedule at work. That means that Jase, Tyson and I are left to ourselves here at home. We really miss having Mommy around but shes great at her job and we know shes doing it for all for us! Who knew an accountant could not only be extremely smart but also so hot?! How I got her I still wonder sometimes. Anyway, with that being said, I thought I would update this thing for her since time isnt something she has piling up these days. So if this isnt up to par you'll know why.

Jase is changing like crazy. The number of words in his vocabulary is now more than I am going to bother counting. I will mention that his favorite word at the moment however is cow. Yup, cow. In the area we live in we see cattle on a daily basis, by his daycare, on the drive home, even at the end of our block. At the first sighting of one of these animals, Jase is always super excited and yells "cow!" which really sounds like "towel!", but you get the idea. Also, cow applies to just about any animal you see while in the car. Horses, donkeys, llamas, big dogs, whatever. They are all cows. Its a lot of fun though to listen to him talk to them. And he always remembers to wave at them while we are passing by as he glady yells "bye cow".

Speaking of Jase, we just bought a new camera (just like the one Amanda's parents and brother have) and you would think our house is now a studio. It is a great camera, certainly a step up from what we had, but its funny to watch Amanda with it. Poor Jase and Tyson can't do anything without a flash going off somewhere. They have both been good sports, but you can expect plenty of updated pictures now.

Onto a different topic, Amanda found out recently she passed the 3rd CPA test she took (and might I also mention, she not only passed it, but kicked its butt!). We were really proud of her and also pumped that she only has one more to go before she will be a CPA! So if you talk to her and you haven't already congratulated her, be sure to do so. She is getting so close to the end!! Did I mention how smart and hot she is?!

I guess this is what you are supposed to do on this thing. Hope I did alright as a "stand-in". Enjoy the pic's (if I can figure out how to post them...)

Spaghetti Anyone?

I wanted to give some updates on Jase. He seems to be really moving on his vocabulary. He now can point to his head, mouth, nose, and ears and say what they are. He has had about a five to ten word vocabulary mostly consisting of "No", "Mine" (it''s survival of the selfish at daycare), and "Momma", "Dadda" , and "ball" for the past few months, so we are glad to hear some new ones. Jase has also developed quite the attachment to his many blankies. I know my parents must find that amusing. I carried my blankie through the third grade and still feel like I have to have one on me at all times when I am home. I wanted the Snuggie blanket that has arms for Christmas, but Santa didn't listen. So, anyway, we don't eat breakfast in the morning without his blankie tucked in behind him in the highchair and I certainly don't walk out the door in the mornings without one if not two. Jase absolutely loves to dance. Music comes on and that boy is moving! Generally, the music gets turned up and our whole family is rocking it out in the living room (Daddy included). It is so funny! I have some video of it that I will have to post sometime if I can figure out how.

I thought these were some cute pics of Jase enjoying his dinner. As you can see, he eats pretty good for us.

I am fairly certain Daddy had to give him a bath that night.

We are starting 60 hour weeks (with more to come) next week at work through the middle of April, so I probably won't be posting much. I went back full time (which means overtime and not a straight 40) last October because I felt like it was a good opportunity to grow in my career. It was a very hard decision as I obviously don't want to be away from my family, but I am hoping it will be worth it in the long run. I spent many hours crying the night I decided to do it. Wish me good luck and pray that Jase and Josh don't forget who I am! I am also sitting for the third section of the CPA exam on February 8th (mom's bday), so I have a rough couple of weeks ahead. Pray that I stay calm enough to make it through the exam and don't walk out this time!

Christmas is officially fun again!

I am going to be a few weeks late on all of my postings, but I have to wonder, who really has the time to do this on a weekly basis? We got great video of Christmas just not very many good pictures. We may have to finally get a new camera as ours is just about burned out. I think Josh may throw it against the wall next time he uses it because it seems to frustrate him even more than it does me.


So, Christmas was great! We had so much fun with Jase. In case you didn't hear, Jase had been sick for a few weeks (basically since we had been to Lubbock for Granddaddy's funeral) with a cough and runny nose. We kind of let it go because we are so used to him having these symptoms with his allergies. Well, Tuesday before Christmas our daycare called and said he was running a fever and a high one at that. I took him to the doctor and as it turned out he had come down with Pneumonia. I felt like such a bad mommy for letting it get that bad. Needless to say, we ended up cancelling our plans with Aunt Cindy and her family who had invited us over for Christmas and scrambled to come up with our own Christmas dinner. By Christmas morning Jase was healthy and happy again. I don't think he stopped smiling the entire day and we didn't either.

Jase playing on the slide (his favorite gift)

from Granddad and Tammi...

The ballpit was a gift from Tyson.

I don't know what he was thinking.

Josh was quite pleased with this gift from his dad and Tammi.

I have to say I wish I would have thought of it.


Jase did very well for himself this Christmas. He must have been a very good boy. We are now turning our office into a playroom if that gives you some perspective.

Decorating the Tree

I didn't have time earlier this month to post pics of decorating the tree, so here we are...







It is tradition to pull all the decorations down from the attic the Friday after Thanksgiving and decorate. I have to praise Josh here because he always does this without complaint though I know it is not his favorite tradition. It is something I've look forward to every year since I was little and now we get to share that tradition with Jase. Of course, I realize that in a few years he is not going to be interested, but this year he definitely was and we had a lot of fun. We put the tree in the front bedroom, so that we wouldn't have to battle with him over the the ornaments. Wouldn't you know that one of the first things he did was pitch an ornament down the hallway!

My mom bought us an ornament every year (and to her credit, still does) while I was growing up, so our tree is a hodge podge of ornaments collected over the years.

The beads are just great fun! We've had many battles with him over these beads since letting him play with them that night.

Scary Santa

We took Jase to the mall a couple of weeks ago for his first picture with Santa. Of course, he was fine as we stood in line for an hour, but when it was finally his turn he completely panicked!

"How could you leave me with this scary old man?"

Last weekend my mom and dad came into town to celebrate Christmas. Daddy started a new tradition last year of dressing up as Santa for his grandkids. It is hilarious! I think my dad will always be a kid at heart and we are so grateful for that! Having lost my granddad a couple of weeks ago, I am so glad that Jase will have memories like this to cherish of his own grandparents. I am not sure how many more years dad is going to be able to pull it off as both of my nieces are very bright little girls and they are getting old enough to figure it out. He managed to repeat "Ho, Ho, Ho", but he gets little else out because he is afraid they are going to recognize his voice. Of course, noone ever questions where Poppa is when Santa "happens" to drop by either. So, we thought in the comfort of Uncle Lonny's house Jase might do a little better, but no such luck!

GRRRR!!!

I know Halloween was over a month ago, but I have to share pictures of Jase in his costume. Yes, I do believe he is the scariest dragon ever! He hates wearing hats, so as you can imagine getting him to leave the dragon's mouth alone was a bit of a challenge. Once we got him outside he was distracted enough to leave it alone though.

Josh took the day off to spend with Jase and I think he was more excited to go trick or treating than Jase was, but we had a really good time anyway. Our friends Justin and Melissa brought baby Kate by and we managed to get some pics of them together. Kate and Jase are in daycare together and I work with Justin. Baby Kate was a very cute monkey.

After Justin and Melissa left, we walked up and down our block in search of people who were actually at home that night. We managed to find a few homes who weren't off doing there own trick or treating. When we got home Jase dumped his candy out and admired it at least ten times. It reminded me a bit of myself. My parents can attest to the fact that I counted my candy every year and kept record of each piece that was eaten. I guess I was always destined to be an accountant.

I think Jase had an "a ha" moment that night, like "all I have to do is get dressed up to get candy?" Totally worth it!

Dots?! Blek!


What else is in here?

Mmm, tootsie roll. Much Better!