Milestones

Today Jason is 15 months old. This got me reminiscing about the past. Jason is growing up so fast. It seems like it has only been a few months since he was born. I can honestly say I now understand what my parents have always told me about time flying by. We have just been so busy and been having so much fun that we didn’t really stop and smell the roses. So, I figured that I would mark today by posting a few images of Jason from the beginning to now. We have went from watching him sleep to watching him eat with a fork. Have a great day and I hope you like the pics.

Brand new Jason, still in the hospital.

Under the lights for jaundice.

Starting to hold his head up.

His first belly laugh.

Jason with his friend, William Coale.

All smiles.

Playing with his dogs.

Playing in the grass

Going to work with dad.

Swimming.

Fall play.

First Halloween.

First Christmas

Boots made for walking

Snow Update

Out back

Hello again. The snow is finally slowing down. In fact there are only small flakes falling now and I am just so relieved that I haven't had to clean off the walk in the last hour. That snow sure does get heavy. Our neighbor is amazing though and he used his 4 wheeler to help out with the walk along the street this afternoon. Jason has been wonderful too. He has been behaved while I go out and clean off the walk. What an angel................for now anyway. I am including pics of the current conditions outside and we are currently sitting at 13 inches today at our house. The snow didn't start to stick until this morning around 4am so this is what we have from that point. I just hope I don't have to water for a while. YIPPY!!!! Enjoy the snow, stay warm and take care.

Out front over the yard again.

The driveway (notice the amount of snow I piled there).

Snow: The Good the Bad and the Ugly!

Looking off our deck over Casper.

To start this tale of snow I have to first mention the good. As you all know we desperately need moisture. Well, I think we have found it. I just hope it is enough to make a dent in the drought. It sure appears to be a lot. We started with 12 hours of a good, steady rain and then it has been snowing since. For those of you in Wyoming, you know what I mean. For those of you out of state, it is a blizzard to say the least. Currently there is over 8 inches of accumulation on the ground. I know that because I just got back inside after a long shoveling effort.

Looking across the street over our driveway.

That brings me to the bad part. There of course is the shoveling, which is horrible. The snow is very heavy and living on a corner lot just adds to the job. The roads are also bad. Currently, most of the roads around here are closed or have no unnecessary travel. It isn’t a pretty sight.

Looking out the front door over the yard.

Now for the Ugly. Colin will back me up on this since he has just experienced an ugly moment this morning. There are many people stranded or stuck all over the place because they just don’t have 4 wheel drive. Colin’s story began this morning about 7:30. His work pickup had warmed up and was ready to go. But, recently he had been having problems getting it to kick into 4 wheel drive and the tires are not in great shape. Today was one of those days. We happen to live in the one part of Casper with a lot of hills. By adding the slick roads into the mix, Colin was in trouble. Going down the hills was fine, but there was a small hill that has a light at the top that ate his lunch. After stopping, he couldn’t recover. There was traffic backed up behind him. Some vehicles went around, but many were just stuck behind him. To allow traffic to go by he turned onto a side road with even deeper snow and more hills. Since he was only 4 blocks from our house he figured he would attempt to make it home and just take his own pickup to work. That was the only logical decision, but we live at the top of the hill. After some struggle he had to leave the pickup on a side street. There just wasn’t any way to get it to work or home. He was stuck. So, he walked the 4 blocks in blizzard conditions. After changing he made it to work in our blue pickup. The 4 wheel drive and good tires made all of the difference. So, I would like to wish you well Colin and hope your day starts to look up. For all of the rest of you on the roads today, good luck and drive careful. I am hoping you have 4 wheel drive as well. A little extra help from that can go a long way. Enjoy the snow and I look forward to seeing more pictures from around the state. Till next time……………..

Pics

Jason thought the presents were for him. WOW!!

Since I last wrote we have seen quite the change in weather. Yesterday at 6:30 in the morning it was 52 degrees out. Last night the rain came and we had an opportunity to test out our new roof. I must say we were on edge, but are very pleased to say that there are no leaks at this point in time. YIPPY!!!! With it raining all night we might have gotten what Cody saw yesterday in that short storm. It is a good thing we did have our roof because I think it held up better than Cody’s clothes did in his storm. Yes, our Wyoming climate just doesn’t put down that much water that fast. It is a good thing to, since we would all wash away if it did. This morning it has turned to snow and is quite impressive. Hopefully we will get the moisture we need.

Chance in his rendition of touchdown.

Unlike the blustery weather there hasn’t been a lot of change here. There is only one new thing in our house; Colin taught Jason a new trick. He now rolls over on command. It is quite entertaining and the best part is that Jason loves it. He was more than willing to try and learned quite quickly. I am adding a few pics that were taken last weekend. Our uneventful lives are well documented.

The Piano Man showing off his skills.

Lane in the spotlight.

Jason and Chance playing with Bob and me on the lookout.

A Good Start

Hello again!!! I realize that we may not have the most exciting lives. There really isn’t much that is news worthy that happens in our house. But, we do like it that way. One new thing is that Jason and I finished the shower. His motivated attitude yesterday morning pushed us to finish early in the day. I got out with only one stab wound. Honestly, I have no idea where he found the screw driver this time. But, the work is now done and the screw driver is back in the garage. I can report that I am very happy about that. So, I will be stab wound free until next weekend when we start another project. I am not sure what that project will be, but I am sure it will be a good one.

Jason enjoying his new hat

Last weekend Colin and I forgot his Spongebob hat in Cody too. I guess with the excitement of the big fall it slipped our minds. No kid can make it two weeks without a cap so we had to get him another one. Jason can’t wear just any cap though. It would be a sin to put something like a Yankees cap on the poor kid. After searching long and hard we found the perfect hat. What better thing for a child to wear than a Red Sox cap. So now Jason and Colin match and we are teaching our son to love the Red Sox early so that there is no confusion later. GO BOSTON!!!

Catch Up

Jason thinks his dads boots fit like a charm

What a weekend. Since I last posted there have been a few crazy developments. Jason figured out how to use the chair to plot against me, I have nearly finished the tile job in the bathroom, we went to a super sized birthday party, and Jason ended up with road rash on his face.

Back to the chair

First…….. the chair development….. Jason decided to use his chair to make my life much more difficult. It all started when I was trying to install the shower tile. I was concentrating very hard when Jason came up behind me with a screw driver I had been using earlier and proceeded to stab me. It didn’t feel great as you can very well imagine, so I knew never to leave it where he could reach it. The next day when I was grouting I put the screw driver up on my dresser. Jason was very upset and cried so loud all I could hear was ringing in my ears. Boy can that kid throw a temper tantrum. Suddenly it got silent but I just figured he had given up. He couldn’t hurt himself with anything that was out so I wasn’t worried. Next thing I knew Jason was stabbing me with that crazy screw driver again. After inspection, I found his chair next to the dresser. He had carried the chair from the living room, down the hall and into our bedroom just to get his weapon of choice. That was only the tip of the iceberg though. Later, after I had changed his stinky diaper I had to take it outside. I closed the storm door behind me. For those of you that haven’t been to our house our storm door is just a big glass door. There is no way to open it if it is locked. YES!!! LOCKED!!!!! I walked to the dumpster in our driveway and when I attempted to get into the door the chair was next to it and Jason’s face was pressed up against the window. When I tried to push the button to enter, IT WAS LOCKED!!! Jason just looked at me through the glass with those big blue eyes and laughed. The little brat actually locked me out of the house. Lucky for me the back door was unlocked. Next time I know not to trust that little bugger when I go outside.

Jason and I just so happy we finished grouting.

The tile job is coming along as well. I sealed the grout last tonight and I will caulk today. It has turned out to be much more difficult than I anticipated. Our shower may not be the prettiest one on the street, but it will be functional and that is all that matters to us. Thank goodness, because honestly I don’t think I could have made that look any better. Sorry that there aren’t any pictures, I didn’t take any of the big project.

Saturday we also drove up to Powell to attend quite to bash. It was a day to celebrate 3 big milestones. Chance turned 1, grandpa Scott turned 80, and Vivian (Daves mom) turned 50. Jen and Dave threw a heck of a party and Jason had a blast. He even had an opportunity to chow down on his favorite delicacy, dirt. At that party he only got a fat lip though.

After we left Jen’s house we made our way to the Moody house in Cody for a quick visit. We had a chance to get in some quality visiting with that half of the Moody family. For a nice update there. Aaron and Chris are doing well and we will have a new niece in the middle of May. Ashley and Jonathon are growing up as well. Brian is enjoying his semester in Oaxaca Mexico and is especially excited for his spring break which is this week. Jason had an especially fun time catching up. He was playing in Connie and Jays back yard with Jonathon when the big wreck occurred. He was going down the steps off of their deck when he stepped of the edge into one of the dogs’ holes and crashed. This was a pretty big crash too. It left his head looking like hamburger and one of his eyes is a little black. But, like I said earlier, he inherited the ability to injure himself from his parents. His head looks much better today and hopefully will be completely healed by the middle of this week.

The infamous battle wound....The bleeding stopped so we are good.

Jason ready to go to work this morning with nothing but a diaper and socks..... BRAVE!!!

I hope the rest of you had a very fun and excitement filled weekend too. Also I hope you all enjoyed the iRack video. I can’t take credit for that one though; it was a video that my dad passed on.

To Save a Leg!!!

The not so sweet beagle.. Moe

We may not have a lot of really exciting things happen here in the windy city of Casper, but there are some really funny stories. As I have mentioned earlier, Colin and I have spent many hours cleaning our back yard. If you look at the pictures you will see some concrete cylinders that are used for landscaping. For some reason unknown to us, the previouse owner had many of these. To clean up, we decided to stack them against the fence (Colin did most of that while I raked, but I did help decide where they were going to go, so this tale can be blamed on both of us). Another one of our bright ideas. We stacked them fairly high, but thought that there was no way the dogs could get up on top of those. If they did, they surely wouldn't be stupid enough to jump the high fence. Famouse last words...........................................

The cylinders are at the left of the pic

The next day Colin went to work, Jason was crying, Mae was barking at the back door.........................but where was Moe? I had no clue. I brought our screaming son outside searching and screaming. After looking if there was a way for her to get out I was just getting ready to run around the neighborhood looking, despite the fact I hadn't found a plausible exit. Then I thought I would try one more trick, offer a treat. What dog can turn down a yummy cracker. I yelled out the door and low and behold I heared a loud howl. You know that piercing hound dog sound. It was Moe and she was in the yard behind us. She had climbed the stack of concrete cylinders and jumped the fence. I am sure the landing wasn't gracefull either. So, thinking my adventure was over I went and knocked on the neighbor's door to get her back.............................no one was home. The back yard didn't have a gate so the only way to retrieve the trader of a beagle was to go over the same way Moe went. To make this even more of an adventure, there were 4 other dogs in the yard. None of them seemed to pleased to have me looking over their fence either. They weren't small either.................Big Dogs!!!!!!! Suprisingly enough, Moe had taken her position as boss in that yard though. I had to get that dog back over though. So..... I took a deep breath, put Jason inside and proceeded to jump the fence. This wasn't an easy task on it's own. It led to many splinters and a cut on my palm. But when I got over the race was on I threw Moe over the fence, she did not land gracefully, then I climbed it as fast as I could with four dogs biting at my feet and growling. When I landed back in our yard I was so happy and angry at Moe. You would think that this would be the end of it. I even moved some of the cylinders so that she couldn't jump it again. So much for that because an hour later Moe was back over there and the process had to be repeated. But that night Colin fixed everything and I hope I won't have to jump that fence any time soon. The moral of this story is to never trust a beagle and to work fast otherwise you might lose a leg.

The Chair

The star of this story

We all know that some people have the ability to injure themselves with any object given to them. Some even have the talent of injuring themselves without any object. Colin and I are what some may call blessed with that very talent. So, of course, it was inevitable that Jason would possess the same ability. To get to my point…… Jason loves to sit in any chair. But, the problem is that all of the chairs in our house are large and when he falls off of those it isn’t pretty. So, yesterday I was in Big Lots getting a few groceries when I saw a little lawn chair for toddlers. It was only $2.50 and it was just his size. I was thinking…How could I go wrong with this purchase? It wasn’t until I got home that I started to wonder how Jason would actually use the chair. The possibilities are endless. But knowing his bloodline I should have thought he would hurt himself in one way or another.

Trying to find the next venue

He was really curious at first, but then he made a decision on how to use the chair. Jason thought the best use of this new “toy” would be to carry it around and put it next to things that were too high for him to reach. He would then climb up onto the chair and retrieve the object of interest. I saw this and began to chase him around telling him no and I even took the chair away. Jason of course saw me touch the chair and proceeded to come over to me, tell me no and pull my hand off of the chair. If he couldn’t touch it neither could I. Reasonable for a 14 month old, but frustrating for a parent.

Later in the day he walked over to the chair and decided to lean against it. If you look at the pictures it isn’t the most stable chair. So, the result of this lean was a huge crash into the book case. This left a large bruise on his forehead and led to a new found hatred toward the chair. After a short cry, Jason made the decision to dispose of his new enemy. What better place than somewhere he can’t access it again…….. The other side of the baby gate. So, that was the end of the chair for Jason, at least for one day.

Saying goodbye to the chair

Today I pulled out the chair again. It turns out Jason would prefer not to think about what happened yesterday, but he did learn something. He uses it for sitting today. He grabs his juice and sits in the chair to relax and drink. What a transformation from throwing it over the gate. So, he has decided the chair is his friend and I look forward to seeing what other crazy thing he decides to do because every day with Jason is full of suprises.

How do people live like that?

OK, so as you all know we live in Casper. I have to say it has been a total culture shock. First of all you would not believe the number of morbidly obese people you can see in this town. We have never been to the store without seeing at least two people with those automatic scooters that have to either use walkers when they aren't on them or a cane. It is rediculouse. Who knows if it is the wind that makes people not want to lead an unhealthy life or what. I just don't know why people choose to live like that because it is a choice.

Another crazy thing about Casper is the amount of garbage in peoples lawns. I actually think it is one of the dirtiest places I have ever seen. We noticed all of the garbage in lawns around town before we bought our house and always wondered about it, but left it at that. Then we bought our house. The guy had never cleaned up dog poop. The neighbors said he didn't mow once in 2 years and he used the back yard as a dump. Colin and I picked up 15 construction bags full of dog doody and a huge pile of garbage. There was old carpet back there along with other mystery bags of garbage. We weren't brave enough to explore and find out the contents of those bags. The man's dogs were living in an environment not fit for any living creature. Even the grass died. It was disgusting. Now both Colin and I just want to know how people can live like that. If you look from our deck into other yards it is a similar thing. Why don't people have a problem with it? By no means are we the cleanest people on the face of the earth, but we do have pride in our things. Days like today are especially frustrating because it is raining, therefore we don't have a yard, we have a mud hole. That means that every time the dogs go outside they are covered in mud. It gets old cleaning the pounds of mud off of their paws every time they come in.

These are pictures of our yard before we cleaned.

Here are pictures after cleaning and only one load taken to the dump. Notice the two large piles of garbage.

I will let all of you know when we finally get the yard finished. It is going to be a huge project, but hopefully we have it finished by the end of the summer. That way Jason will have a nice place to play and we will no longer have a mud problem.

So, that is the end of my how do people live like that session. Thanks for reading my vent. Till next time........ bye.

Welcome

Our Christmas pic for 06'

Hello everyone!!!! First I must say blogs are a great idea. Thanks Maggie and Cody. I am not going to go into all of the background stuff for the last year since it has been a crazy one, but here is a short overview. We started by moving to Casper where Colin started working for a uranium company. After moving 2 times the third time was the charm because we bought a house. It needs work so that is what we have been doing since Dec. 30th.

The front of our house (The color leaves a lot of room for improvement).

Lori and Jason

As for Jason he has really grown up over the past year. He went from being a lump that cried, messed his pants and slept to a kid that runs and talks back. He is very wild and is all over the place. On Dec. 30th Jason turned 1. It was quite a milestone and a wonderfull day. We moved into our new house and were so happy to have so many friends and family here to celebrate.

birthday fun

Play time with dad.

UH..... OH....

Going for a ride.

Since December Colin's company has been bought out by Energy Metals Corporation. He is currently working in the field and loving every second of it. Jason and I are slowly, but surely working on the house. Right now we are re-tiling part of our shower. It is an adventure since I have never done it before. Last week I cut my hair too. It is chin length and I love it. Jason misses the long hair that was so easy to pull.

I will continue to update this as often as possible. Enjoy and I look forward to sharing more pictures and excitement with you in the future.