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!

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! :-)

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! :-)

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!!!!

Holiday Open House 2010

We hosted our 4th annual Holiday party on Saturday December 4th, which was Easton's FIRST time being a host! :-) Many of our new friends in the area attended, along with several of our out-of-town friends and family. It was a great night & everyone enjoyed the food and had a good time hanging out. Here are some photos from the night:

The yummy food table

The beverage station

Easton & his uncle Jake - don't teach him any bad habits, Jacob :-)

Martha & Anne Rylee

Canaan aka Santa :-)

My couponing partner in crime, Sarah :-)

Easton chasing Sophie while in their matching pjs

Trying for that family pic ... but Easton's not cooperating :-)

October was a whirlwind!

Oh my goodness - I think this is the first time in years I went a complete month and did not update my blog. Shame on me! But in my defense, Jason has been gone for a 3 week training in Arizona so I've been flying solo here. Plus Easton & I went on a 10 day road trip, then we had a week's worth of guests, so things have been quite busy to say the least. All that, plus I still have to find time to coupon - we all know how much time that takes. And oh yeah, I have a job too! Whew, I am just exhausted thinking about it all! But it was a great month for us, we had tons of fun and spent a lot of time with our friends and family. Here are the highlights:

Gammy & Pappy Visit - my parents visited October 1st through 3rd. The highlight of the weekend was the construction of our pirate ship! Easton and his friend Sophie dressed as pirates so we decided to turn a wagon into a pirate ship :-) Here's a pic of my Dad and Easton hanging out:


Martha & Anne Rylee Visit - Martha & AR were in for a visit the weekend of October 8th through 10th. We spent time at the park, did a lot of "playing" (well, the kids did anyway) and just relaxed and caught up on things. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures .... oops!

Bathtime w/ Daddy (before he left for training) - Jason was in Arizona for training October 15th through November 2nd .... before Jason left I got some photos of Easton and him together at bathtime.

October Roadtrip (10/15 through 10/25) - Easton & I packed up the car and headed to Danville on Oct 15th. While in town Martha treated me to a pedicure (thanks!), we had a Bday lunch for my friend Steph, celebrated my Dad's birthday and spent a lot of time with friends and family. We also took Easton's 9 month photos with my friend Chrystal. You can check them out by visiting http://www.chrystalsimpson.smugmug.com/and clicking on the "Easton 9 month" album.

On Friday 10/22 we loaded up the car, headed to Burlington and spent the night w/ Mayhan. The next morning we packed up again and drove to Asheboro where my college friend Kat was getting married. On Sunday we dropped off Mayhan at home and drove to Durham where we saw Bryce, Jake, Ashley and Prul. Monday it was time to load up (yet again - are you getting tired yet?) and we headed home to get ready for a week's worth of guests! Here are some pics of our Roadtrip adventures.

Celebrating Pappy's Birthday!

At the wedding .... what a face!

My handsome little man in the suit Gammy got him!

Dancing w/ the bride

Getting smooches from "Aunt" Mayhan

Hanging out w/ Uncle Jake & Auntie AshPlaying "Spin, Spin a Letter!" w/ Uncle Bryce

Easton loves his "Aunt" Prul!

Taking a nap w/ Uncle Bryce before we head home ...

Steph & Brayden visit - My friend Stephenie and her son Brayden visited us 10/26 through 10/28. We had a few playdates and the kids even had a chance to get in the kiddie pool because it was so warm! On Thursday, we had a Halloween playdate @ my friend Amy's house & the kids all wore their Halloween costumes. Here is a pic of Steph & Brayden in his adorable Mickey Mouse costume:

Gammy & Pappy visit again, this time w/ Vickie & Keith - On Halloween weekend my parents headed back to our house ... they brought their friends Vickie & Keith as well. The guys tried to have a fishing trip on Saturday; however, the boat was not cooperating so they ended up hanging out and watching TV instead. The girls headed out for lunch and shopping. On Saturday night we had a yummy crab leg dinner. Sunday was Halloween and I thought everyone had to head home to work the next day .... but my parents surprised us and stayed an extra night. This was really special, especially since Jason could not be here for Easton's 1st Halloween. I'll do a separate post with Halloween pics - there are just so many cute ones to share of Easton's 1st Halloween!!!!

What's been happening with Easton in September....

We've had a busy month, which might explain why it's been a while since my last post. :-) Here's a recap of some of the highlights:

Labor Day 2010 - Jason, Easton & I spent Labor Day in Danville. Unfortunately, I was pretty sick the majority of the time that we were in town. However, by Monday I was feeling much better, so my Mom, Dad, Popey & Aunt Lois & I all took Easton to the park. Easton experienced the swing for the first time and LOVED it!

1st time in a swing & all smiles!

Pappy does the release!

So sweet!

Uh-oh... looks like someone is losing steam....

Whew - swinging must make you tired! :-)

He also spent a lot of time with family - here are a few pics of him with his Great Grandma Francis, Gammy & Uncle Jake:

Hanging out with Great-Grandma

"Talking" up a storm! :-)

Easton & his Gammy

Driving with Uncle Jake - he had quite a grip on the steering wheel!

Playtime - Easton has made tons of friends .... we meet with the babies and Moms from our Yoga class every Thursday for a playgroup. We have some new neighbors that we often walk around the neighborhood & play with. We also make frequent trips to nearby parks - here are some pics of Easton and his "girlfriend" Sophie at the park on 9/18:

Easton & Sophie playing

Fighting over a toy :-)

Finally, both of them looking toward the camera!

Cute boy!!!

We couldn't keep them from playing with the grass! :-)

Library Story Time - The library hosts a story time for ages 6 months to 2 years on Wednesdays at 10:15am. Easton & I went last week, and he really enjoyed it! His favorite part was the "Welcome Song" where we passed a ball around the room and when each child held it, we sung "Welcome" to them using their name. Easton really seemed to like to hear the whole room sing his name :-) We'll definitely go back soon, it was a fun time!

Swim Class - Easton started swim classes at Camp Lejeune last week. His classes run for three weeks and are held on Wednesdays and Fridays from 5pm to 6pm. Easton really impressed us at his first class ... he hasn't been in water much at all (other than taking a bath and a few attempts at the ocean) but he really seemed to love the pool. He splashed, kicked and drank his fair share of pool water :-) We're hoping this class will make him comfortable in water - so far, so good! I'll get some pics soon to post!

Easton turned 8 months old yesterday (Sunday 9/19). Time truly is flying by - it is amazing to watch his developments. Easton is still doing his army crawl and has gotten quite fast. He "talks" all of the time and has begun to pull up to standing while holding my hands. He's still very laid back and mild-mannered, but can get quite a temper if we take too long to feed him - the boy LOVES to eat! Speaking of eating, he has mastered finger foods and can feed himself puffs, yogurt melts and pieces of banana. He eats 2nd and 3rd foods, yogurt and some table food pureed (such as carrots, lima beans, peas, fruit, etc).

We're still working on mastering the sippy cup - we've tried several different brands but we think the ones with harder spouts are irritating his 4 TEETH! (two on top, two on the bottom). We're so proud of Easton's progress and he makes us laugh each day with his babbling, bouncing in the jumperoo and giving us his big, toothy grin. We fall more in love with him each day!

Tons of guests and family pics!

We've had a lot of activity at our house over the past few weeks. The weekend of August 13-15, my friend Chrystal and her family headed down for a visit. Chrystal takes wonderful pictures and she came to do Easton's 6 month photos as well as some family portraits on the beach! In addition to Chrystal's family, my parents, brother Bryce, brother Jacob and sister-in-law Ashley also headed down .We had a house full, but it was tons of fun! To see the pictures that Chrystal took, visit http://www.chrystalsimpson.smugmug.com/ and choose the "Daniel/Jones Families" album.

In addition to the photo session, we also had tons of fun! On Friday night we had a delicious seafood dinner at Crabby Mikes. Saturday included some of us visiting the beach, while others relaxed around the house. Before pictures on Saturday night we had a tasty chicken fajita meal. After the photo session we had ice cream sundaes and the adults had some "adult beverages" :-) Sunday included a quick trip to CVS and my Mom and I taught Chrystal all of our couponing tricks. She is definitely my new couponing prodigy!!!


Chrystal has two beautiful daughters, Kinsley and Ava Graye. Easton loved having the girls around and they were so good with him. They played with him, showed him books and entertained him the entire weekend. We were sad to see Chrystal's family leave, but all good things must come to an end, right? We managed to snap some pics before they headed out on Sunday afternoon .... and we're definitely looking forward to their next visit!

Chrystal & Easton

Easton with Kinsley & Ave Graye

Easton gets a kiss from Ava! :-)

My parents took some vacation time and stayed with us through Sunday Aug 22nd. Our week consisted of a lot of good food, relaxing, playing with Easton and of course some coupon shopping! I also had a few doctor appointments throughout the week, so it was nice to have my parents there to take care of Easton. After spending 9 days together it was evident that both my parents and Easton were sad for the visit to come to an end. But thankfully we all live closer now, so the visits are more frequent!

Here's a cute video of Easton entertaining himself (and my Dad & me) - who needs toys when you can have this much fun???? :-) Enjoy!

Our Danville Visit 7/12 through 7/17

Jason had some time off, so we decided to spend last week in Danville. We made the drive on Monday and arrived in time for a tasty dinner that my Mom prepared for us.


Tuesday was a super busy day ... we met Stacy for lunch at Tokyo Grill, made a quick stop by Martha's work to deliver her some lunch, visited Mr. Archer (Easton's middle namesake), then visited my Grandma and aunts Bettie & Lois. We then headed home, and my friend Jonathan's mom, Carol, came by to visit and meet Easton for the first time. It was a long & busy day, but it was great to see so many people that we care about.


On Wednesday I had some "me" time ... I went to see my friend Chrystal to get my hair cut, highlighted and my eyebrows waxed. After my hair appointment, I met my Mom out for some shopping. On Wednesday night, we met up with Martha, Roger & Anne Rylee for some Mexican food.

Thursday, Easton and I spent the day with my aunt Bettie while Jason took care of some projects. We started by visiting Kathy, a friend of Bettie's, at the bank so she could meet Easton. We then had lunch at the Coffee Emporium. After lunch we visited the DAV & the Nestle Company Store. Finally, we met up with my mom to check out a new consignment shop out in Brosville. It was a really cute shop called Victoria Catherine's, if you live in the Danville area you should definitely check it out. On Thursday night we had dinner at the new Kickback Jack's with Jason's grandma, Agnes & his mom Kathy.

My mom was off of work on Friday, so we headed out with my aunt Lois for some more coupon shopping. We grabbed some deals at Food Lion, CVS and Target. We tried to have dinner at the new Fender's restaurant but the wait was too long (we had Easton with us - no way he'd make it through an hour wait) :-) We decided to go to Tokyo grill again ... Jason's friend Randall also met us there.

On Saturday it was time to pack up the car and head home. On our way back home we stopped in at Longhorn to visit Bryce. We also swung by Jacob & Ashley's house for a quick visit as well. It was a great trip .... we stayed so busy that I forgot to take many pictures. Here are a few that I did manage to get:

My Dad feeding Easton:

Check out Gammy & GAL (Great Aunt Lois) in the background :-)

My Dad grabbed a last minute nap with Easton on Saturday morning before we left ....

Awe ..... so sweet!!!

Father's Day Weekend 2010

We had a wonderful Father's Day weekend ... my Mom, Dad and Popey Daniel arrived on Friday night to spend the weekend with us. On Saturday, we planned a surprise party for Jason to welcome him home & to celebrate his 1st Father's Day. The biggest part of the surprise was when Jason's Mom & Grandma arrived - he had no idea they would also be visiting for the weekend! We were joined by our friends Mary, Emily, Matt & Ryder & everyone enjoyed hotdogs that were prepared on Jason's new grill (that was his father's day gift) :-)

The next day Jacob & Ashley drove down to celebrate Father's Day with us. We used the opportunity to take tons of pictures of many of our family members together. Here are some of the best shots from the weekend!

Jason & Easton - posing in their silly Hawaiian shirts :-)

Easton with his Dad, Pappy Jim & Great-Grandpa Daniel on Father's Day

4 generations - Popey Daniel, Pappy Jim, Easton & me

4 generations - Easton, Jason, Memaw & Great-Grandma Agnes

Watching TV with Uncle Jake - they both look like they're in a trance! :-)

Easton with his Pappy - looks like Easton may have gotten into the beer! (just kidding ....) :-)

Playing with Uncle Jake - how sweet!

Auntie Ash is covering Easton's ears so he won't be corrupted by what Jake is saying :-)