Stuff, Crap, Happenings, whatever you want to call it

Holy crap on a cracker have we been busy. Life - it's what happens when you're trying to make plans. Bastard.

Jericho:
Little Moose turned 2 in January has been in his big-boy bed since November 1st. That was a Saturday. I remember it vividly. (You think I'm kidding - Google it.) And since the then, we have only recently made any progress. But, he is finally sleeping all night in his bed and it's finally not taking us an hour and a half to get him to sleep. (Again, I can see how you think this would be an exaggeration. And again, it's not.) Maybe it was because I put him in a big bed too early. Maybe it's because he's naughty. Who knows.
He also is talking A TON. I know, weird, my kid's a chatterbox - who knew, right? He especially likes to repeat things that I say. His favorite is that he'll spank my butt ("Mahyi, I 'pank yo butt" is what he tells me). I am some kinda role model, right? But luckily he's actually picking up on other, nicer, non-vulgar phrases too. His vocabulary grows I swear every day and he's finally starting to put sentences together.

Jocelyn:
Jocelyn is already rounding out her first year of school. Hard to believe it goes so fast. While we are fortunate to live in one of the best school districts in the state, we also happen to live in just one of the only two that still have half day Kindergarten. So this year has been a good transition for us all. I personally still think half day is a good idea. I think it's helped her to adjust to a full day next year. And she has learned a TON. She is reading and counting money and telling time and adding... it amazes me what they can cram into 3 hours. Now that spring is here, she'll start softball next week, girl scouts will end in May, summer school will start in June and she'll be a full-day first-grader starting in August. And the ole checkbook is loving that last part. Woo-hoo! Half-priced daycare!!

Joel & The Mrs:
Oh, where to start... I was laid off in October and Joel's company had put a freeze on his traveling around that same time. So we spent quite a bit of time together over the holidays through the 1st of the year. Well since then, Joel has started traveling again and I have (yeah!) a job. So we're currently adjusting to the busy schedule again of my working full days and Joel traveling 4 days a week. Joel has been working very hard and we are so proud of him, though we miss him while he's away. Luckily I have "little Joel" to help fill the void...
I am working for Bernstein-Rein Advertising again. This is where I worked for a couple of years when we first moved, but was laid off from there last January. They needed some extra help, so I'm helping out on a project for the time being, praying that it could be an extended position. I've been there about a month so far and really missed it, so I'm loving it! We literally can't talk to anyone in any walk of live around here that the economy hasn't effected. It seems like nearly everyone we know with a double income has lost one of them. It's terrible here and we feel blessed to be in the position we're in - we were able to make it through the loss of a job and still have a roof over our heads, which is more than a lot of victims of this economy can say.
We have also started attending a new church in the last couple of months. Well, not really a NEW church so much as just A church. We have started attending Grace Community here in Smithville and are enjoying it. It's quite contemporary - this is a huge change for Joel (he grew up Catholic, not even close to contemporary by any stretch of the imagination), but he has been a good sport and open minded, since I love it (happy wife, happy life, I say). They also have rooms for newborns up to 3rd grade, which actually allows us to HEAR the sermon. That's nice.

Well that's us, in a nutshell (No, this is me in a nutshell - "Help! I'm in a nutshell!" Sorry.). Hope all of you out in cyber-world are doing well. And thanks for the comments! (You haven't been leaving any. So I'm thanking you in advance for the ones you're about to leave. See this little ticker on the side? Look to your right - - yeah, that one. I can tell who's been here. Don't make me call you out by name. Yeah. Your comments are most appreciated. Here's a picture of Jericho - if nothing else tell me how cute he is. Now you have no out.)