Well, Hi Atus - How ya doing?

Ok, ok, I know. It's been forever since I posted a blog. Don't know what has gotten into me!! Shame on me. How can I keep my millions of fans up-to-date on my every move if I don't blog. Please forgive me.

Ok, lot's has happened in the last month since my last blog on April 3rd. Let's start with the boys:

Tyler: He has now lost BOTH of his front teeth as you can see from the photo. He's getting so big. He's learned to climb up on the fence which makes everyone nervous except Dad. I love to see his adventuresome spirit. Especially cute when I'm mowing the front lawn and I look up to see him peeking over the fence laughing. Very cute. My little guy is growing up so fast. In fact, he has GRADUATION on Tuesday night from his pre-school. WOW!! Also, we have been approved to move Tyler to Kindergarten next fall. Praise God! For those who don't know, Tyler has had some learning disabilities in the past but God has blessed him with some amazing "angels" that have helped him get better. One of the blessings about the fall is there's a "blended K" class set up that's new this year which he qualifies for. It means he and a few other special needs kids will be in there with a full class of regular ed kids. There will be a regular teacher, a special ed teacher and aid in there so he will get the help he needs to complete his course work just like the rest of the kids. We are very excited about this. There were times we felt the best thing to do was to hold Tyler back. Certainly if this "blended K" class was not available, that's probably what we would have done because he's not at the same level as other kids. But he's almost there and has made tremendous strides in both his language and his OT issues. His OT therapist continues to be amazed at his recent progress. God bless you Tyler!


Colby - well, what can I say- he's a hoot. Here's a quick excerpt from one of Kendra's recent emails that details a story about Colby that shoot paint the picture (just not sure what it is rated though - don't worry, you'll see!)

Colby continues to make us giggle and just grin at his cuteness. We
are having to do a little articulation speech therapy here – he has difficulty
saying his “s” blends (sl - , sm – etc.). He substitutes the blend for another
consonant – usually “d” or “f”. Well, this is really ok at his age, except he
really LOVES sticks lately, and he substitutes the “st – “ blend with a “d – “ .
. .yikes! Today, he announced to our neighbor, who was driving by the front yard
where we were playing, that, “I have a big . . . .” . Anyway – you fill in
the blank!! I won’t go any further.

Ok, enough of the X-rated Colby Joe!! Colby is also 100% potty trained which we love. And I think he thinks it is cool too! He truly is so much fun. We love you Colby!

Now to big ol' Brady. He really is getting big. I believe Kendra said the latest Doctor's report had him listed closer to where Tyler was at this stage! Yikes - another big guy on our hands. :) He really is cute. But the best thing about Brady... he's sleeping through the night!! Yipppeeee!! Mainly for Mommy but Daddy also had bottle duty on Friday and Saturday night to give Mommy a rest. So no more nighttime feedings. He's usually been going down about 10:00 or 10:30 and sleeps til 6:30 or 7:00 which is awesome!! We have truly been blessed with good sleeping kids - even still true today with Tyler and Colby. Brady is so cute and he's starting to grin and laugh alot more which is great. Brady, sure love you little boo!!

In terms of Kendra and Donny, we are doing great too!! Kendra is starting back to work on her normal 2-day schedule here soon. For the last couple of weeks, she's been going back and doing a one-day, half-day thing which I think she has enjoyed. We are so blessed to have our friend Traci Church involved in our lives. Traci will be our babysitter for the kids this summer and for the fall. In the fall, Tyler will go to Kindergarten, Colby back to Circle of Friends (mother's day out), and Traci will watch Brady. God is soooo good!! That's what we had been praying for. Traci loves our kids and even better, we love and trust her completely with them. Traci grew up down the street from our house and spent alot of time in our house before we lived in it. She practically hung out here with the previous owner's family. We are blessed that she decided to take us in as well!! :)

My "new" job with Sprint over in Ft. Worth has had me extremely busy. Busier probably than I've ever been. It makes the days go by fast but unfortunately I've had to do some work at home during the evenings which is nothing but Yuck! Sorry honey!! But I have an understanding and patient wife who supports me and gives me encouragement. I am blessed to have a job and have been at this company for almost 14 years which still amazes me. That has it's perks which we take advantage of.

Well, better go. Got some chores to do around this house before Mom and Dad arrive here in a few hours. They are visiting for Mother's Day weekend and Tyler's graduation. We've enjoyed having Nonny (Kendra's Mom) here since Thursday night so our family has been and will be truly blessed because of our great families.

God bless you all,
(and good to see you all again)
SJ