Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you all have had a great holiday season and that everyone got what they were hoping for this Christmas - I know Matthew had more toys than he knew what to do with after our trip to Texas.
Update for Matthew
Our little man is having a blast with all the new toys that he got over Christmas - and the trip home to Texas only made him enjoy the holiday even more. He loved being in a house that you could open the door and see peacocks, horses, donkeys, cats, and dogs - pretty sure he's still searching for most of them now that we're back home with just our dog. And he's always willing to let anyone know what sounds any of those animals make while discussing in his own way the adventures he had while we were with my family.
Starting next week, we're also transitioning into a full-time schedule at daycare for him, to help free up Anna's days during the upcoming tax season - which has been a somewhat bittersweet realization on our part. We're glad that he's having a great time and to get a bit more free time to allow Anna focus on keeping up with the increasing demands of work, but at the same time...it's somewhat a punch in the stomach to realize just how much he has grown in such a short time. It's truly amazing to watch everyday as he assimilates more and more knowledge from the world around him - and even more awesome when he turns around after we're sure that he's forgotten something shown to him and utilizes it to overcome something that he's faced with (recent example from just tonight was the ability to get into a 'big person' chair that was higher than him - he just attacked the challenge, and then when he figured it out...he got back down, turned around and did it again, almost as a reinforcement to himself that it was still possible).
Update for Anna
We're done with the Master's degree! Just in time to celebrate with a new tax season!!
Anna has done a great job - between dealing with me, Matthew, work, and the pressures of school - I still am impressed that she is still sane. And now, she gets a bit of freedom from one of those pressures (at least for a while). As I mentioned above, we're also starting Matthew at daycare full-time, which means that her daily schedule should be more open to getting things sorted at the office than before (although I'm sure that Grandma and Grandpa are still going to find ways to sneak Matthew back in there from time to time, from what I'm hearing).
Update for Jay
Anyone who's been talking to me recently is aware of the recent flaring up of one of my addictions - video games. While during the day, I'm working and trying to keep up with Anna and Matthew, I'm pretty sure that I've lost more sleep than I should to the recent releases. And this past week, I managed to start playing in a Beta for the new Halo game (sorry people, I'm holding back as much as possible - but the geeking out is getting tough to not show here) and have been absolutely loving it. I also have secured a few placements in a couple of preview programs that have really been a cool experience to see just how the beta testing process for programs (both on consoles and mobile apps) works.
Work has been somewhat docile these past two weeks because of the holidays - but starting Monday, I'm expecting a gearing up again of full-speed ahead on the current project that we're rolling out (hopefully we'll be done about half-way through 2015) and an accumulation of side-projects that require our input/monitoring throughout the year and most likely into 2016.
As is usual - if you're in our area or plan on passing through, let us know so that we can try to get together and catch up on all that has happened!
Update for Matthew
Our little man is having a blast with all the new toys that he got over Christmas - and the trip home to Texas only made him enjoy the holiday even more. He loved being in a house that you could open the door and see peacocks, horses, donkeys, cats, and dogs - pretty sure he's still searching for most of them now that we're back home with just our dog. And he's always willing to let anyone know what sounds any of those animals make while discussing in his own way the adventures he had while we were with my family.
Starting next week, we're also transitioning into a full-time schedule at daycare for him, to help free up Anna's days during the upcoming tax season - which has been a somewhat bittersweet realization on our part. We're glad that he's having a great time and to get a bit more free time to allow Anna focus on keeping up with the increasing demands of work, but at the same time...it's somewhat a punch in the stomach to realize just how much he has grown in such a short time. It's truly amazing to watch everyday as he assimilates more and more knowledge from the world around him - and even more awesome when he turns around after we're sure that he's forgotten something shown to him and utilizes it to overcome something that he's faced with (recent example from just tonight was the ability to get into a 'big person' chair that was higher than him - he just attacked the challenge, and then when he figured it out...he got back down, turned around and did it again, almost as a reinforcement to himself that it was still possible).
Update for Anna
We're done with the Master's degree! Just in time to celebrate with a new tax season!!
Anna has done a great job - between dealing with me, Matthew, work, and the pressures of school - I still am impressed that she is still sane. And now, she gets a bit of freedom from one of those pressures (at least for a while). As I mentioned above, we're also starting Matthew at daycare full-time, which means that her daily schedule should be more open to getting things sorted at the office than before (although I'm sure that Grandma and Grandpa are still going to find ways to sneak Matthew back in there from time to time, from what I'm hearing).
Update for Jay
Anyone who's been talking to me recently is aware of the recent flaring up of one of my addictions - video games. While during the day, I'm working and trying to keep up with Anna and Matthew, I'm pretty sure that I've lost more sleep than I should to the recent releases. And this past week, I managed to start playing in a Beta for the new Halo game (sorry people, I'm holding back as much as possible - but the geeking out is getting tough to not show here) and have been absolutely loving it. I also have secured a few placements in a couple of preview programs that have really been a cool experience to see just how the beta testing process for programs (both on consoles and mobile apps) works.
Work has been somewhat docile these past two weeks because of the holidays - but starting Monday, I'm expecting a gearing up again of full-speed ahead on the current project that we're rolling out (hopefully we'll be done about half-way through 2015) and an accumulation of side-projects that require our input/monitoring throughout the year and most likely into 2016.
As is usual - if you're in our area or plan on passing through, let us know so that we can try to get together and catch up on all that has happened!
