Updates on each of us

Aaron is first.....it's his birthday! He has been such a kid about it. He is so excited to get the mail and see who's sending him wishes. He had the day off so we went out to eat for lunch and timed it where Bryson took his nap through lunch. Aaron also bought himself a gift. He bought a vacuum! We have two vacuums, one for upstairs and one for down but one is acting up. As soon as we got home today he couldn't wait to use it. He usually does the vacuuming anyway. It actually works really well! It is hard to find a really good one that will work for a family with two huskies. Now a couple of years ago I bought him some cordless hedge trimmers which he and Cori still tease me was the worst gift. How is that different than a vacuum? They say it was like buying a woman an iron for her birthday. Aaron is also chugging away at school He retires in 2 years, 8 months, not that he's counting. He jokingly says he will be the stay-at-home dad when he retires. He also wants three more kids! I can only imagine how much work (and joy) being a stay-at-home parent with that full of a household!

News about me. Not much. Life is so much different not having a career. I would never trade this for anything though. It is interesting how your goal changes from managing a budget of millions to teaching a little one peek-a-boo. I really need to go back to school but I seem to have so little free time. Don't get me wrong, I love school. I am kind of nerdy like that. I wish I could make a career out of going to school. However, now that I have to pay for it, I have to figure out what I really need beyond a master's. So school's on the back burner for now. Other things on my list to do: learn Photoshop so that I can actually use what we own, take a photography class, brush up on my Spanish, actually develop some of the pictures that I take, take a nap, take a bath, or just do NOTHING.

Cori is doing great as usual. The school year is just flying by! I cannot wait to spend the summer with her. Last summer was such a treat for it to be just her and I during the days. We have already decided that we are going to spend our free days this summer visiting small towns nearby. We used to do this often as a family in St. Louis but haven't explored as much here. Texas is a huge state to cover, we gotta get moving! We also decided we want to practice some cake decorating too and we are planting some herbs and veggies. We are going to be busy girls and will have to try to fit all this in around our vacations. Cori was recently nominated by her Math teacher for the National Mathematics Award which applies her for a $10,000 scholarship.....go Cori! Track season is over already, it was short and she is playing volleyball. I guess the girls are out of practice and her friends are waiting for the pool to warm up more to come play volleyball here, of course. Tuesday night we went and saw her school put on a play, it was very good! Cori has decided to take Theatre Arts next year and we cannot wait to see her acting skills, she's already such a comedian. We just received her formal invitation to Duke University for the grand recognition ceremony for TIP. How exciting is that? She is so cute...she was asking how much it would be for Aaron and I to go out to eat sometime somewhere because she wanted to buy us dinner with her allowance so him and I could have a date night (taking the baby of course). I don't think she understands that date night means no kids. We have only left Bryson once, with my parents, while the two of us went out to dinner and a movie for our anniversary. I cried two minutes after we left him. I guess sometime we need to break down and find a sitter around here in case of emergencies.

Mr. Bryceeboo is up to his usual stuff. He can sit up now and stay steady if you sit him up. He almost can sit up on his own. He is scooting around everywhere still. Him and I play a tickle game and he anticipates my tickles based on what I say and he gears up to get ready, it is so much fun to play this with him. He just went in for shots on Monday and he weighs 18 lbs and is 27.5 inches long. Of course we all know he is going to be a tall boy. He is hilarious in that he wants to make sure his opinion is heard. Like when we go to put him in the car seat, he fusses and squirms for about 20 seconds just to let you know he doesn't like it and he does the same thing as soon as we put him down in the crib. Then he's good to go. He "fake coughs" too. Aaron says Cori did this as a baby to get attention and that is exactly what Bryson is doing. It is funny how they learn these things so young. He is loving the "I drop it and you pick it up" game and he also learned that if he gets his lunch on his hands that he can lean his hands over side of the highchair and the dogs will lick them. This sends him into giggles, it's ok, we keep lots of wipes on hand.