MIA 22 BAL 16 OTClick on picture to see Game Highlights!
What a beautiful day! The Miami Dolphins earned their first win of the season. What a great day. Jonathon and I went over to Pa-Paw and Nan-nan's house and was able to see the win together. It was great to finally hear Jonathon say, "Touchdown!".

Christmas is quickly approaching. We hope everyone has a safe, wonderful Christmas this year. I am looking forward to seeing both families this year with minimal travel. Happy Holidays and may God bless.

We finally settled into our new house in Kentucky this past week and have hooked up all electronic components (i.e. computers and stereo). We had a safe trip and only a few dishes and pictures were broken in the process.

We took off last Friday about 8:30 pm. Jay and I stopped about 3:30 am with the moving van at a hotel and they wanted $170 for a king bed. Well...I wasn't going to sleep in the same bed with Jay if you paid me ONE MILLION DOLLARS, let alone me pay you! Are you crazy? So we ended up staying at a rest area for a couple hours and went back on the road about 7 am that morning . I know it sounds a little like "Brokeback Mountain" but that is the only half way humorous story for the long 16 hour trip.

I hope you like these pictures from the summer. Jonathon was quite the traveler this summer. He went to Boston, Illinois and who knows where else in the coming months...Coming to a town near you!

It has been almost all summer since I have blogged. I hate how time just passes away, faster and faster. So much has happened this summer. Jonathon has started a new daycare (he starts full time tomorrow), He and I flew to Illinois to visit my mom and dad and his great-grandparents came and saw him (and us)...and many other things.

Click here to see some summer photos.

He is talking up a storm now repeating everything we say. He has transitioned to the "Wigglies" as he likes to call it and of course he still has his ginormous appetite!

With Heather's grandparents coming up this summer and with us being able to go visit my parents unexpectedly, we have learned and felt one huge thing this summer. Family and friends are what it is all about. Now that Jonathon is nearing two (3 more weeks), there isn't a day that goes by that we see someone in the family that he looks like or reminds us of. Our hearts break that the only way we can share this is by this forum. We try to put him on the web cam but we're about as good doing that as I am blogging consistently. One thing I do know is when we look back on our life we aren't going to say..."Man, I wish I lived in a prettier part of the country" or "Wow! I'm so glad we sacrificed the relationships we had with our friends and family for that job"! If I can be perfectly honest, there is a hole in our hearts the size of Texas for our family and friends back home. Granted, we have made some good friends here that we think of and love dearly, but with Jonathon here that hole only seems to get bigger the older he becomes. When we moved up here, it was Heather and me. We wanted to further our careers...live life to the fullest, not miss anything that might come our way. Now, Jonathon IS our life.



It's kind of funny in a way but it just drives the point home even more. When Pa-Paw and Nan-nan were here a couple months back, somehow Pa-Paw got Jonathon to walk backwards and he would say..."He's backing up, he's backing up...OH NO!!!" then Jonathon would run to him and Pa-Paw would go, "WOW". To this day, Jonathon still does that...starts to back up and then go "Oh NO!" Anytime he sees anything that really excites him (CAT trucks or water), he says "WOW" just like Pa-Paw! We really miss that. We miss the influence of our family. We miss the support of our friends. We miss the love from both.

I think I can say this pretty confidently by now. This blog has now been going on for over 2 years. If you are still reading this then you are one of the people that have either made a difference in our lives or Jonathon's or both...and we just want to say...

We miss you! We love you!



Click here to see some summer photos.

Jonathon has enjoyed the little sunshine we have had lately with some tumbling in the tunnel (this was a couple days ago).













After he got done rolling around he had to cool off with a ice cold popsicle.



Today I took him shopping for a new video game. We got "CARS" and "NCAA 2008 Football". You should have seen him at Game Stop! He had the same slow pace and stare as I did. He went around the store just pointing at things and looking at the backs of the covers. He might look like Heather but he acts just like Dad (ohhhhhhh great). After that we walked over to Kohl's and guess what we found? Three HUGE---Huge water puddles. We jumped and played in those puddles for a good 10 minutes. He was laughing and carrying on the whole time. Once we got into Kohl's we played hide and seek for probably 30 minutes. Man, I have never been so worn out form shopping. But I have to say, I don't know if I've had that much fun either. Coming out of Kohl's, it looked like I ran the Boston Marathon. Shirt all wet, sweat rolling down my face and TOTALLY out of breath. We both were looking so forward to the water puddles again.

Jonathon has done a lot in the last couple weeks!

He played and watched a performance at the park...












He took several laps around the local pool...(actually he was checking out the eye candy)...









He got to take a ride (or at least a seat) in a BIG shiny Firetruck...









...AND he got to do a little farming with Keo's tractor!










After all that, he needed to take a bath. In his own little way, he found a way to enjoy that too.


Also, since the last time the blog was updated, he endured Dad starting his new job, saw some of Mom and Dad's friends from Louisville and went with Mom to the outlet malls to go shopping. The only way they got Dad to go shopping was to promise him that they could go see Ratatouille. Well, we went and it was so much fun. Jonathon and I ran around and played with his cars while Mommie shopped and then we went to a movie theater where they had recliners and served full course meals and we watched an animated movie about food! How much better does it get than that?

Jonathon was looking all cute and wanted to talk to Mommy. He noticed I had the phone up taking his picture and he wanted to say "Hi". Hope everyone has a great week.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers reading this blog.

For our Father's day we played with Jonathon's cars while Heather got his swimming pool inflated so he could swim in the hot New England sun (I think it got up to 74 degrees). By the time Heather got the swimming pool up, the showers came down. So all afternoon, Jonathon played in the pool which was stationed in the living room. He had a blast jumping into it then driving his cars everywhere, then getting out and repeating the process all over.

Jonathon is looking all grown up. One month goes by and it looks like he has aged 6 months. Heather and I have been very busy this past month. I have been transitioning into a new job and Heather has been really busy with travel. I have been busy tooting my own horn in the Lyme Town Band. We had several places to play over the Memorial Day weekend. Jonathon has been busy playing outside and watching "Finding Nemo" when it is raining. Lucky for him it has been raining quite a bit lately.

We are headed to Boston this afternoon for a little enjoyment before I start my new job. We are going to go to the aquarium, Plymouth Plantation, the zoo and maybe a few other places of enjoyment. Of course we will be stopping at some shopping places for Heather!

We'll try to post some pictures of Jonathon while he is on his trip to Boston.

We have a treat for you today! If you happened to miss the Kentucky Derby this year you missed a great one. We didn't watch the derby till last night. What a finish! Heather and I have watched it about a dozen times now. It was truly amazing.

Jonathon was getting all excited and started dancing when I put Toy Story 2 in tonight. He hasn't seen it in about two week so he was stoked when he saw Woody come up on the screen. With Mom traveling today and tomorrow, we are sort of having a guys night out tonight!

Jonathon and Keo are best buds! Almost every day when I pick up Jonathon, Keo says something like, "I don't want Jonathon to gooooooo". If Jonathon could talk (really talk) he would probably say the same thing. I haven't seen anyone laugh and play as much as these two little funny dudes!

Jonathon is having loads of fun on his "Sit & Spin". I think in this picture he looks a lot like his Grandpa Skow with his tounge hanging out while he is concentrating. He has been such a ball to play with!

Jonathon is starting to be quite the little helper. As you can see he is starting to work on firetrucks. He has also been helping Mom & Dad around the house with sweeping and vacuuming. After I put the vacuum away, he'll get it out and start pushing it around and think it is so much fun.

From Jonathon playing

Seven years ago today, I married the most wonderful woman in the world. I remember right before Heather and I got married her dad told us,

"Your first year will be the best and your second year will be your worst. If you make it seven, you will be all right."

A lot has happened in the last seven years. Our first year we were definitely riding on a cloud! Our second...don't even go there. All I can say is that Heather's dad told us so. We packed up and moved half way across the country and now have a wonderful little boy. Through it all the journey has been so wonderful and I have learned so many things from my life partner. Now I do feel sorry for her because she has to deal with two of us! I think it should be easier putting up with Jonathon (for now anyway).

I took this picture of Jonathon a couple days ago. Guess what movie was in? Yep... his favorite, Toy Story 2. I told you, he's mesmerized when he is watching Buzz and Woody. Click on the picture or go here to check out some of Jonathon's latest pics.

The Evolution of Dance
I wanted to post this video so you can have a great laugh this weekend. It is a comedy routine that goes through the evolution of dance starting from the 50's to present day.

We hope everyone has a great Easter.

This is post 101. I started the blog on July 7th 2005 and it is amazing to go back and see where we were almost 2 years ago with the anticipation of Jonathon's arrival. Click here to go back to see the first posts.


We have great news to share. Our friends Darren and Amy Coberley welcomed their newest addition to the family on April 3rd at 12:16 am. Carson Grant weighed in at 7lb 4 oz and is 19" long. He is doing great along with Mom, Dad and brother Jackson.







Jackson is looking so grown up! Both he and Jonathon were born right around the same time and they are both looking like they are ready to start high school already.



It is so nice to see pictures of newborns especially when you know that they have such great parents. We are so happy for Darren and Amy!

Jonathon turned 18 months last night at 10:27 pm. We had a guys night out that started at Wendy's. We had supper, shared a frosty and went home to watch...no, not Toy Story 2, but his other favorite movie...Beauty and the Beast.

He's still growing and getting BIG. He is already developing his hilarious sense of humor.

...oh, AND we went to Staples to browse and he just took off and started running up and down the aisles. Then he saw the desk chair section and ran over, got in in the chair and wanted me to twirl him around (which I did). I had a little scare when the chair tipped over but Jonathon wiggled out of the now tipped over chair and started running down the aisle again just laughing and carrying on like a funny man!

Family

Here are some photos from this summer with family. Click on the picture or go here to see the album.

Spring is finally starting to show and we are starting to come out of our hibernation. Looking over these photos from last summer is helping me to thaw out and dream again of grilling, biking and traveling to see friends and family.

BRING IT ON!!!

Lori came up from Louisville this past weekend and made some delicious pumpkin-chocolate muffins (they were calling them "muffcakes"). We all loved them but looking at the picture, I think Jonathon put more away than the rest of us combined!

Look how big the little dude is getting! Jonathon's molars have been coming in this week so this is the one picture Jennifer was able to take where he was actually having a good time.

In response to Rachel's comment about Jonathon watching Mister Rogers...well, we have modified our approach a bit. Yes, he watched Toy Story 2 again last night ( I forget how high that makes the count) but he is listening to Mister Rogers audio cd's;-)

We hope you are enjoying your second day of spring.

jonathon 17m

Click on the picture above to see the newest pictures of Jonathon. I was feeling guilty for posting pictures from last fall so please enjoy these and look for more to come.

Jonathon being silly

Jennifer has captured some of Jonathon's sillier moments. Take a look in the album and see what you think.

Jonathon and Makayla had a blast playing in the igloo tent. Some of Russ' family came up in January to visit (and ski). Unfortunately what happened was EVERYONE got sick. Even though everyone felt awful, we all had a great time and it was a wonderful visit.

Thanks to Rach for sending these great pics...finally!

It is now the middle of March and the signs of Spring are starting to show.
Jonathon has been very busy lately...watching Toy Story 2. We haven't been able to post lately because it is so hard to get a nice picture while he is watching his show!
We'll try to wean him away so we can post some more pictures.

It has been since November since we have posted anything but we now have of stories to tell and pictures to share.

Jonathon is now 16 months old and is starting to walk around. He has traveled to Kentucky and Illinois for Christmas and New Year's, endured his dad's 30th birthday and enjoyed the visit he had with his grammy and grampy Skow (and Aunt Rach, Uncle Josh and cousin Makayla) this past week.

Even though we have been extremely busy over the holiday season, it has been nice to spend the extra time with him and see all the little changes he is going through.

He is going through a phase now where he gets frustrated easily. He knows what he wants but doesn't always know how to let us know. The other night he wanted something ( I still don't know what it was:) and he arched his back and head-butted me right in the eye socket. He gave me a nice shiner without me knowing at all. I went to work the next day and my boss thought I had used some of Heather's eyeshadow.

Heather will try to put some Christmas pictures up in the next day or two. We hope everyone had a great Christmas and we are glad to be able to finally get back into a routine.