Jordan Adventures: January 2015

Hola!

Today has been a good day; it is sunny! The weather has been terrible lately. Typical winter blah-ness. Us summer people, we need the sun! Thank goodness it decides to come out every now and again during winter....otherwise I think Brandon and I would go crazy!

Anyways, this week has been tough. Yesterday we said goodbye to the best babysitter ever, Ms. Shannon. Her husband is in the Navy and they are being moved to San Diego (poor them!) but really, poor us. She was such a great babysitter, always flexible and willing to work with my ever-changing work schedule, not to mention just being a natural kid-person. We will miss her so incredibly much, and wish the best for her husband and two kids, Jeremy, Hailey, and Ethan (who Tate had grown to really like)

Typical morning conversation:

Me: Do you want to go see Ms. Shannon

Tate: Grunting "uh-uh" while shaking head

Me: Do you want to go see Ethan?

Tate: Nodding nodding nodding!!!

So yes, we are very sad because she and her family were so wonderful, but times changes and I'm beginning to learn life is constantly changing, so we will too.....we hope to visit them one day out in San Diego....we hear there's a good zoo there ;)

In a few minutes, we are actually going to visit Tate's new babysitter, Ms. Angie. We are very excited to have met someone we really like very quickly! She has a nice home and seems to love kids....she has some big shoes to fill though!

In other news, Brandon starts class next Wednesday! He got his book today. He is taking a 2000 level English, the only English he has to take for his major! It's a 3 hour credit and shouldn't be too terribly difficult.

Tate is actually 22 months old today! Just realized that as I was pondering what to write next. I can't believe that in two months, he'll be two! I deeefinitely am not used to 2015 yet. Time, you crazy phenomenon! Anyway, his newest fun activity is play-doh....lord he loves the stuff. It's the first thing he wants to do as soon as he wakes up in the morning. I'm all like "coooooffffffeeeeee" and he's all like "plllaaaayyydooooh" well except he hands me the playdoh cup to open and pulls himself up onto his stool. He is getting a whoooole lotta use out of the table Brandon built for him! We love it.

Also, Brandon re-did our laundry room and half bath next to it. It's completely different! As in new tile, new paint, new washer/dryer, new utility sink, etc! It totally needed it. It had terrible laminate black and white "tile" and was straight up white. Now it looks amazing! I will post pictures next time.

Until then, here's one of my faves

We love you Ms. Shannon. Safe travels to California!

Hello!

Long time no blog. I've been wanting to start blogging again on a regular basis, and I think I'm ready to make that happen now. I've been posting less on Facebook, and lately it is a form of social media that I do not enjoy. So I decided I will keep my family and friends updated on this instead. My goal is to post twice a month. We shall see. So here goes!

We are loving life with our crazy child! I say "crazy" in the sweetest way possible ;) He is officially a toddler now, so anyone who has had toddler children knows what I mean! He is so sweet and funny one minute, and then turns into godzilla the next! Even the pediatrician said something about babies at this age and how they are a bit bi-polar. I know not all children are this way, but Tate does have his moments! I think part of it has to do with the fact that he can't express exactly what he wants to say. He's not really talking yet. He is really vocal though, just not verbal. The only words he says are Mama, Dada, and Uh-Oh! But I'm not really worried. I know some children don't start talking to 2 or even after. We communicate sometimes through sign-language. He frequently signs More, Hungry, Milk (which just means thirsty), and Dog. So I know he can communicate. He also understands us fairly well. Like the other day, I bought a huge bag of popcorn (the healthy, non-GMO kind ;) ) and we had some as a snack as soon as I brought it home. The next day I asked him if he wanted a snack,

Me: Do you want applesauce?

Tate: (shaking head) grunts no

Me: Do you want stringcheese?

Tate: (shaking head) grunts no

Me: Do you want turkey?

Tate: (shaking head) grunts no

Me: Do you want popcorn?

Tate: (nodding head) squeals with delight

He also leads me around by the hand and points at something that he wants to play with/do. He got playdoh for Christmas and now brings me the little containers if he wants to play with it. He also takes my hand and leads me towards a door and puts my hand on the doorknob like he wants me to open it. This happens most often at our bedroom door in the afternoon when Brandon is sleeping (he is still on third shift) Tate wants to play with Da all the time so I normally just say "Da is sleeping" and sign sleep. Normally he understands, but he can be quite persistent. So I think he is developing normally. He loves to play outside, even in cold weather. He likes to play with Kenzie the dog and has just recently started playing fetch with her with a tennis ball. Sometimes he lets go of the ball too quickly and bounces off his head! It's very funny.

So all in all he's a pretty happy kid. I could probably write a book about him, but I'll limit these to a few paragraphs ;)

As for the rest of my little fam, the most exciting news I have is that Brandon is going back to school! He starts classes at MTSU on January 20th. He actually just took his writing placement test this morning, and is meeting with his adviser this week to register for classes. Of course he will only be part time since he still works full time at Nissan, but he already has about 40 hours from Nashville Tech. so that will help. He will be studying Mechatronics Engineering which is a brand new program at MTSU and luckily it's a lot of what he already does at Nissan, programmable logic controls and mechanical/robotic things/stuff. I am so excited and happy for him!

As for me, nothing new to report. I am still happily employed with the city Parks and Rec dept and love it (for the most part!) No job is perfect, right?!?

Okay, I think that about does it! I'll end with some photos of some of the major events for us in 2014. Love to all!