Free time. What's free time?

This is going to be another short blog. I have no idea how Kristy has time to blog two or three times a day. If I do it once a week I'm thrilled! I have worked between fifty and sixty hours this week. Phewww! I miss my boys terribly and hope every night that they are still awake when I make it home. Kristy is taking lots of pics and movies for the sad mama. So here are some of them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!



Jodi, James, and Titus

James' trampoline trick.

So sleepy. Shhhhh!

My first grilled cheese sandwich on homemade wheat bread. Yum!

Six years and six months.

Downward Dog

Hello to all,

This is going to be a very short post. The only thing I've done in the last two weeks is work a ton of hours. When my boss isn't there I really enjoy my new postition and work eight hours. When she is there I don't get a whole lot done and still end up working upwards of ten hours or more. However, the promotion is helping me pay down my debt and get my credit back in order. Thank you God! Titus is doing all sorts of new tricks like getting from his tummy to sitting up, dancing, trying to crawl, doing the downward dog yoga pose, and trying to escape from the crib! James is so bored at school that Kristy and I were just discussing how to interest him. He is too smart for his own good, just like his Daddy! It is warming up here already, which I am very happy about because the heat broke in my car again. Kelly is coming to visit in the next month or two, Alec is visiting at the end of February, and EK and Linda are going to be in the "area" so the Meyer's are taking a road trip in about two weeks. Life if BUSY but good! Aaaa! Finally a sigh that is a happy one.

Jodi, James, and Titus

Happy Belated New Year!

My first BBQ ribs. Yummo!

The cleanest alien in town.

Six months and six years.

I love pizza!

Grandma and me.

Daddy and me. New Years Day 2009.

Christmas Eve 2008. James, Jodi, and Titus.

Christmas Eve 2008. Titus Starnes

Papa and me.

Learning to sit up.

So it's been forever since my last post. Sorry! Life happens. After Aaron left, the next weeks were spent preparing for my parents to arrive and finishing up Christmas shopping. I went a little crazy this year with the gifts but I didn't hear any complaints. :) Mom and Dad spent ten wonderful days here. I missed most of it because I was at work but Mom spent plenty of time spoiling Titus! Christmas is a blur of wrapping paper and thank you cards. I only had two days off. I had several handbell concerts: two Christmas contadas, the Christmas Eve service, and three nights of ringing out in the "cold" for the live nativity. I, again, had only two days off for New Years. We had a final game night with my parents and all of our freinds. Mom ans Dad left early on New Years day. When I returned to work I was offered a promotion and I tentatively accepted. The second week of January I "started" as the assistant director at my current center. My co-teacher was sick all week so I was in the classroom, not at the front desk. The third week of January the director was at a conference so I was it. I had a very scarey crash course in how to run a center. I survived the first day, learned a lot the second day, and started to thrive by the end of the week. The owner saw my efforts and promoted me again. After two weeks of ten to eleven hour days, learning as much as possible, I will be the director of Valley, a five star, NAYCE accredited center, as of Monday! Needless to say, I've been a little busy. Titus is learning all sorts of new tricks. He has decided baby food is not for him and will eat anything we are eating even though he has no teeth. He started therapy yesterday and they have decided he is high tone. This means his muscles are rigid and tight. I will be learning massage and taking him to a hot tub for more therapy. I went to an autism conference last Saturday and learned more in two hours than I have in six years. I had several "aha" moments that shined some light on James. He, of cousre, is getting smarter and smarter. Last night he recited a library book from memory. He has had it for a week and could say several pages by heart. Now that's a good memory! I hope this catches you all up because I'm guessing it will be a while before I write again. Thanks for being patient! Feel free to leave me a message on Facebook or Myspace. I'll try to write again soon!

Jodi, James, and Titus

Aaron's Visit

Aaron came to visit the boys for Thanksgiving. We all had a really great time. I had to work but he spent lots of time with the boys. Aaron, James, Titus, Kristy, Dan, David, Patrick, Derek, Karen, Tyler, Dolli, and Ryan all came around the Thanksgiving table to eat the turkey I made. Charlie, Devan, Kelly, and Jan joined us for desert. Everything was wonderful. I love hosting the holidays! It was great to have Aaron here for two whole weeks. He left this morning but we have lots of awesome pics to remember the trip.

Jodi, James, and Titus

Is it REALLY November?!

Do I look like Daddy or what?

That bite tasted weird!

Open wide!

WHAT?

Daddy and me.

Brotherly love.

Hi, my name is Groucho Marx.

Yummo!

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. It is finally starting to get chilly here, which would not be bad except we don't have any heat. I am wearing my coat and Titus is taking a nap in a hat. :) My surgery went well but I had some left over stitches and a bone fragment so I have had some residual pain. I drove the seven hour trip to the surgeon on Thursday and hope to feel better soon.

Aaron came on Wednesday to visit the boys and will be here for about ten more days. He made lobster and crab legs for dinner last night. I think he is Dan's new favorite person. Karen is moving as I write and Dolli moved in with her husband's grandmother until he arrives back in the states. She started working at Kohl's on Wednesday and seems to be enjoying it.

Titus ate rice cereal for the first time last night and did beautifully. He ate two bowls full! He was the neatest first time eater I'd ever seen. He is getting so big. He is over the ninety-fifth percentile for height and weight. He is seventeen pounds and twenty-six inches tall. I started using cloth wipes to go with Titus' cloth diapers. I am officially crunchy! James is getting close to finishing first grade. I think he is pretty close to being smarter than me. He is also growing like a weed.

I am hosting Thanksgiving and am very excited. I enjoy the hubbub! Aaron will be helping me cook. I won't get any time off for Thanksgiving or Christmas except the actual holiday. I wish I had some more time to spend with Aaron and my parents when they come for Christmas! The jury is still out on my job. I am being considered for the director position but am not sure if I will take it. I am not enjoying the position I am in and our benefits package has been put on a freeze so the boys and I don't have insurance as of December first. The director would be more money, but it would still have no insurance or time off. I would have trouble visiting Illinois. My boss from Midwest Stunting Association says Albuquerque is hopping and I should go back to stunting. I will have to think about it some more. Well, that's enough for me right now. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Jodi, James and Titus