Letter of the Week = C

We took the first week of February off because we were out of town and traveling quite a bit. This week, we learned all about the letter C.

Caterpillar "C" - made with cut-out circles (also starts with a "c") :-)

Weekly coloring project

"C" Meal - cajun chicken, carrots, corn, cabbage, cheesy ciabatta bread and some cheerios on the side :-)

"C" friend of the week - CARTER!!! :-)

Letter of the Week = B

For the week of Jan 30th we did all things pertaining to the letter B! Instead of doing a craft, Easton spent the weekend with his favorite "B" person..... his uncle Bryce! Here are some of the things we did throughout the week:

Bear coloring ... with brown, blue and black!

"B" meal - blackened tilapia, baby spinach, buttered roll with berries and bananas

Band-aid butterflies: made with gauze, bandaids and waterproof markers

Letter of the Week = A

I was inspired by my friend Kim, who did something similar with her daughter Maddy. (thanks for the ideas, Kim!)

The week after Easton's 2nd birthday, we began our "letter of the week" adventures. Of course we started with "A" and will work our way through the alphabet. Each week we do crafts, eat foods, play games and do activities that pertain to the highlighted letter. We also pick a friend or family member whose name starts with the letter, and make something special for them.

For the week of Jan 23 we covered the letter "A". Here are some of the highlights:

Astronaut coloring project

"A" meal - Apple juice, asparagus and alfredo on angel hair, angus beef and fried apples

Making an Alligator puppet with Daddy

The finished result!

"A" shaped pancakes

Making a craft for Easton's good friend and neighbor, Aubrey ... here is how it turned out:

Easton's 2nd birthday celebrations!

Easton is all smiles at his pre-school birthday celebration!

Surprised when he woke up from nap time with friends and family at his Fresh Beat Band birthday party!

At playgroup, getting a birthday call from his Pappy :-)

YUMMY cupcakes!

Cheesing when he sees his birthday gifts!

Easton's Second Birthday Video!

Keely and I have been slacking a bit on updating the blog so here is a video I created for his second birthday. It is a picture and video archive of his second year of life. The last song is up beat because the theme of his birthday party was fresh beats. I figured an up beat song was appropriate.

Blogging is hard :-)

Enough with the excuses.... but obviously I have fallen behind on blogging, again! We've had a BUSY month since Jason got home - wow, I can't believe it has been a month already! We had Easton's birthday celebration, have made a few trips to see family & friends in Virginia and in the Raleigh area, and then of course there is the usual preschool, playgroup and gym routine. On top of all of that, I taught 2 classes during the first winter session (I usually teach just one at a time) so that was quite time consuming as well.

Bare with me as I catch up on the past months worth of events - there will be a bunch of posts to follow! :-)

No words needed :-)

Sweetest sight ever!

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Today Daddy comes home!

Easton must know it's a big day - he was up much earlier than usual. In a normal day, I would be annoyed that he woke up so early, but today I was happy. Children are amazing, and I feel like Easton is as excited as I am to see his Daddy today!

Instead of trying to get him back to sleep in his crib, I let him come to my room to cuddle in my bed. Here he is watching some cartoons, sucking a paci and laying in the "big bed"......all things he's normally not able to do. But hey, today is a special day :-)

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Easton's preschool crafts

I love to see the crafts that Easton makes at preschool....this is his most recent project, he calls it "Drunken Bear" :-)

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The big day is ALMOST here!!!

We've had a busy few days as we prep for Jason's arrival - I am still in a bit of shock that he'll be here in a few DAYS! I am so used to doing a month countdown, that to say days, or even the hours, is a bit surreal. Very exciting, but surreal.

My brother Bryce and good friend April came down for the weekend to help me with some household chores. We deep cleaned three bathrooms, power washed the house, organized the garage, and took off TONS of clothes that no longer fit or need to be donated. Easton got to spend some time with two of his favorite people, which is always a bonus as well. We are truly blessed to have family and friends that will do anything, even scrub a toilet, for us. That is nothing short of love!

Life so far this week is a lot of the normal routine - playgroup, preschool, the gym, grocery shopping - with a bit of prep here and there. Luckily I am a planner (shocker, right?) and scheduled some of the bigger projects to be taken care of early. So now we're just anxiously awaiting the big day to get here.

We plan to have Christmas once Jason gets home, so we'll bake Christmas cookies, Santa will come with Easton's gifts (he hasn't received anything from us yet) and we'll do the traditional ham/green beans/etc for dinner. It's a few weeks late but hey, Easton doesn't know the difference at this age and I am actually enjoying having the decorations up a bit longer. After we have Christmas, we'll focus on Easton's 2nd birthday. We have a small party at preschool on Wed Jan 18th, a playgroup on Easton's actual birthday, Jan 19th, then a big celebration on Saturday Jan 21st with family and a lot of friends, both local and out of town. It's going to be a busy, crazy time - but we'll enjoy every minute of it since we'll FINALLY be together as a complete family once again! :-)

Spaghetti kissy face for Daddy

I told Easton, "We're going to send this pic to Daddy!" and this is what he did :)

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A day in the life....

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A typical day at the Jones household .... Easton playing in his "gated corner" and a FaceTime chat w/ Dad in Afghanistan. :-)

A year in review from the world's WORST blogger :-)

Hello everyone!!! I am in a bit of shock that it has been 4 months since my last blog post. Wow, someone has been slacking off :-) In my defense, it has been a very busy year. But, this deployment will soon be behind us, so I have made it a personal goal to blog more regularly.

This is a promise to my family and friends to do better moving forward, and an apology to Easton for not doing a more consistent job of documenting his life and progress. Hopefully he'll one day understand that Mama was doing all she could just to keep things afloat! :-)

So, now that's outta the way....... onto an update & some highlights of 2011:

2011 was the longest year ever - we are coming to the end of Jason's deployment to Afghanistan (less than 2 weeks to go!!!) Easton and I are anxiously awaiting his arrival home, and Jason cannot wait to be here. Jason had a busy time, until recently when the new unit took over. So now, he's basically twiddling his thumbs waiting to head home - torture, right? We are so very proud of Jason, the sacrifices he has made and for his service to our country.

Easton is growing like a weed and learning something new each day. This age is truly amazing, I am so fortunate to be able to watch his development and growth. There seems to be a new word, phrase, expression, etc every minute! Easton attends preschool on Mondays and Wednesdays and LOVES it! We also still get together with our weekly playgroup, and he spends time at the gym daycare while I am working out. Easton is such a social little guy and makes friends wherever he goes. We of course have the typical "terrible" two tantrums from time to time, but all in all Easton is a smart, funny and HAPPY little boy. He'll be two in just a few weeks & we are looking forward to celebrating this milestone as a complete family!

I mentioned the gym .... that has been a huge focus for me in 2011 and moving into the new year. I never thought I would say this, but I now enjoy working out, crazy huh? I lost 42 lbs in 2011 and have 10 more pounds to reach my goal and healthy weight. I initially started this journey due to some health problems, and also because I wanted to be able to keep up with my fast and mobile son. I felt like both Easton and Jason deserved a mom/wife that they could be proud of, and I am very happy about my accomplishment. I am as proud of the weight loss as I am that I chose to make some positive out of this year. It would have been much easier to be depressed, but an inner drive and constant encouragement kept me from doing so. Now, let's muster up more motivation to get these last 10 lbs to leave me..... :-)

I am still teaching college math online and really enjoy it. I am very fortunate to have a job I like that allows me to be home with Easton. It can be difficult to find the time to work, and I still struggle each day to find the balance in being a stay at home/work at home mom. But with Jason's quickly approaching homecoming, I am hoping we'll settle into a routine and do just fine.

In spite of Jason being gone, Easton and I kept very busy and had some fun times. We've had countless visitors, especially during the summer months. I guess it doesn't hurt that we live at the beach, right? :-) We kept the social calendar packed and did some traveling, including several trips to VA, an Oak Island beach trip with Martha and the entire Freeze clan, and even a trip to Germany to see Amy, Sophie and her mom Val! We regularly have friends at our house for playtime, cookouts and coupon night. No one can accuse us of not being social people, LOL!

The most exciting social event was in September when we had a Labor Day/Homecoming celebration for Jason! He had a 2 week break from Afghanistan, so we surprised him with several friends and family members & a cookout with 60+ people! His mom, grandma and good friend Randall were here, along with my parents, Bryce, Jacob, Ashley, April and Megan. And of course many of our local friends & neighbors were here as well. Thanks for making that a special day.

While talking about fun events, I would be amiss to not mention some special people that have helped us tremendously throughout 2011. Without them, we may not have come through this deployment with our sanity!

#1 My parents went above and beyond, with constant visits, support, completing household projects and spending time with Easton. I can't say I am surprised, but I am thankful and SO appreciative to have a mom and dad that love us so much.

#2 Easton has two uncles that adore him and love him like he's their own - Uncle Jake & Uncle Bryce, thanks for everything you did this year and for being wonderful influences on Easton.... more importantly, thanks for being an important, consistent part of his life.

#3 I have the best friends on the planet - some have been around for a while, some are new, but you are all important and mean the world to me. Some have traveled countless miles, some only had to walk a few doors down, but you were all there when we needed you most. You've cleaned and decorated my house, listened when I needed to cry or watched Easton so I could have a moment of freedom. You know who you are, and I hope you know how much I love you. Thank you for being there!

#4 Our playgroup friends are fabulous, and Easton and I look forward to the time we spend with them each week. Casey, Vaughn & Landon, Kate & Carter, Trinie & Em, Grace, Ruthie & Lainie, Jess & Aub, and Emily & Ryder (and little one on the way)..... We value your friendship and are so appreciative of your support and understanding.

So that is our year in summary - Jason will be coming home to two changed people, which is to be expected in a year's time. Easton can now walk, talk, run, help out around the house, and constantly entertain us with his laughs, dancing and funny expressions. I am much smaller, much wiser and an odd mix of mentally exhausted, but physically recharged. I am way more confident in my abilities to manage a home (I've put together more toys on my own than I ever thought possible) and can squash bugs, repair a broken garbage disposal, pick up 50lb bags of sand and take out trash while corralling a toddler with the best of 'em. ;-)

While a lot has changed, one thing has remained constant ---- Easton and I love Jason more than ever, and are anxiously awaiting our family being complete again. We will cherish each moment, spend time together and are all very excited for what's in store for us in 2012. That makes my heart feel full. And it makes me smile :-)

We love you all, thanks for everything and HAPPY 2012!!!!