2011.....WHAT!

Well, it has been a long while since I have had time to update our blog...things have been a little crazy, sad, challenging, and exciting all at the same time.

For those of you who haven’t seen Alex in a while, he continues to grow and change at mach speed. He is exactly two and half years old and it is definitely my favorite age so far! Most people say he is starting to look more like me than Jonathan - I think it is just because of the eyes and blond hair - I still see a lot of Daddy in him....

BUT...one thing is certain. Alexander Reece definitely has a great deal of Christina Elise spunk in him! He has turned into quite the performer - he loves to sing and dance around the house - Cherie Baby and Walk like a Man are a couple of his favorites. Guess you can guess that Jonathan and I got to go see Jersey Boys at the Majestic this year. It was a awesome show!

Alex loves to tell stories about his animals and about saving his princess HAIRiel...(think the red headed Disney princess). He enjoys the swings most of all at the park in our neighborhood; He loves to read book after book and is quite good at self entertainment on early Saturday mornings! Finally!

We have had many changes in our lives, both personal and professional. Here is a simplified timeline....On Halloween, we moved into the house we built in the hill country area of San Antonio. In November, I left IBM and joined Oracle. We lost Jonathan’s amazing mother in a tragic accident at the end of November. She is so missed and remembered in our nightly prayers and throughout our daily activities. As Alex develops and does funny little things, I think every day of picking up the phone and hearing her laugh. Alex’s first cousin on the Humphries’ side of our family was born in January to my brother Matt and his wife Jackie Mae. Little Halie Mae is precious and wonderful! Jonathan left the UT Health Science Center and joined GE Healthcare in February.

Wow! Just writing all that out made me tired! And the crowing event is that as of tomorrow, Alex has been wearing underwear successfully for a full two weeks! Last night, he and I went to Petco to get his pet beta fish as the prize for making it this far. He picked out a dark red MALE beta fish and named HIM Hariel....as in the red headed princess from Little Mermaid! I love it!

Love to all of you - e-mail, write or call and let us know how you are.

Our new address is 7123 Cresta Bulivar

San Antonio, TX 78256

Is it September 21st already?

My goodness, how time flies! Now I sound like a 30 year old cliche!
Well, life has obviously been busy since I haven't posted in more than a month.
Things are very busy (but in a great way) for all of us. Jonathan continues to build momentum with his career and is enjoying the challenges of running the radiation department here at the UT Health Science Center. I am quite busy with many endeavours, personal and professional.

And naturally, Alex is the busiest of us all - he started swimming lessons last week, he has two molars coming in, he is learning to communicate more and more with pointing, signals and trying at some new sounds - nana, momo, bbbbbbbbbb are the most regular. Wow, does he love the water, so swimming lessons are a lot of fun. He weighs about 22 pounds and is 32 inches long. We think it is time for his second haircut and he has is first dentist appointment next week.

I have uploaded a few new pictures and hope to give another update sooner than later - I will try not to let it be almost two months before the next time you hear from us....

What a summer it has been....

We have been all over the place in these last few months.....A trip to Houston for a baby shower, a trip to Oklahoma City and Pawhuska to visit Aunt Denise & Uncle John and to attend the Osage Indian dances....our friends from home came to visit and have a fun July 4th weekend, our Humphries family came to town for a Schlitterbahn weekend; we have been to Giddings to see Alex's other great grandparents and cousins.... and finally this Sunday we are just trying to rest and recuperate.

Alex is really excelling physically these days - he is running all over the place and has begun taking careful steps down ledges or curbs. He loves anything with a lever or button to push and uses everything from the remote to our mobiles as his own phone - he actually walks around with it at his hear saying DADADADA.

We had a doctor's visit two weeks ago for Alex's first ear infection - 103 fever was scary! He was better within 36 hours of taking antibiotics. We learned there that he is now 32 inches long and weighs 22 lbs., 8 oz. He is really beginning to look like my little boy instead of my baby boy.

Enjoy several new pictures to see what we've been up to lately.

Love you - JACTinker