March 2015

So not sure if I should play this off as being extremely late or early...because completely missed getting a post up for last month. Apologies about that!

Update for Matthew

This little guy. We're definitely starting to get into the age of "my way or else" - although he usually is pretty...reasonable about what he throws a fit over. Like when we take his shoes off before he was ready. Or make him food that he asked for, but it took to long (or wasn't what he really wanted).

In light of that, he's still a great little guy. He grows by leaps and bounds every time I turn around - learning new words and phrases every day it seems. He's loving the full-time daycare situation and can't wait most mornings to go over to see his friends and spend time with them. We have also started to really get into trains (as we call them here, "choo-choos") and are having a blast on the weekend visiting the local malls that have shops and restaurants which are exclusively train themed. And having the train station downtown is just a bundle of fun when we get a chance to go down there - he's in constant awe at the huge machines that he gets to look at and (in some cases) play with.

Update for Anna

Tax season. It's back and it's just as busy as I remember it for us. Anna is, when she's not sleeping or dealing with Matthew and I, working almost non-stop.

I know that she's stressed, but she still does a wonderful job of keeping everything together both at the house and in our lives. I am constantly impressed by her ability to keep Matthew at the top priority, even when everything around us seems like a whirlwind of chaos. I think the new schedule of full-time daycare has made it a bit easier for her to have a set schedule at the office though, which I'm sure is appreciated (I know that I like having a set plan of the week).

Update for Jay

While Anna has tax season, I get to experience implementation projects. Plural. Both of our schedules are crazy busy - something that sometimes makes it tough to get together enough calmness of mind to put together these posts (hence the missing of last month's update). These days are pretty much the same exact schedule for me - wake up and get Matthew over to daycare, get to the office, get as much work as done as possible before the end of the day, come home and try to get something to eat and catch a few hours of relaxation before heading to bed to start the cycle back up again. I'm enjoying the challenge that the projects are giving us - although the time crunch that we have been assigned is rigorous, especially when considering the number of different systems that we're looking to reconfigure and reintegrate with one another. But it'll get done.


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!

January 2015

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!

December 2014

Annnd missed last month's update. Not sure where the time's going, but it's going there fast. As I'm sure that all of you are experiencing, our family is staring down a pretty well loaded schedule for the upcoming weeks - so going to try to touch on all that's happened!

Update for Matthew

This little guy is growing up fast. He's starting to really develop a sense of identity and beginning to show preferences - which is fascinating to watch. He did amazing with Anna in their trip down to Texas for Thanksgiving (I had to stay home due to some schedule conflicts with work) and had a blast with her family. He also learned how to say "cheeseburger" - which has become somewhat of an adorable past time (he doesn't say it much...but when he does, everyone celebrates).

He's also starting to really enjoy all those toys people have been trying to get him to play with for the past 19 months - I think it's starting to click that these things are awesome. His latest fascination has been trains and over the past couple of weekends, we've visited downtown where there's a burger place that is FILLED with trains (and yes, he's in absolute heaven the entire time). I'm looking forward to getting him down there again soon now that we're able to say "cheeseburger" and "choo choo".

Update for Anna

Three more classes! Getting pretty excited for the upcoming completion of the Master's!! Anna's going through everything and doing a great job - she handles the combined pressure of taking care of Matthew and I in addition to her schoolwork and day job with a patience that I'm pretty sure I'll never come close to accomplishing. It's truly amazing and I'm thankful more and more that I get to share this amazing experience with her.

Update for Jay

Work has officially hit the "hold on" phase - which for the past week or so has translated into an average of 10 hours at the office and trying to fit everything else in when I get home. Thankfully, we had a good vacation for Thanksgiving to prepare for the insanity that we're going to be experiencing these next few weeks until the start of January - hopefully it'll be enough!


As is usual, if you're going to be around, give us a shout so that we can get together and catch up!

October 2014

Well it definitely feels like I just sat down to write one of these things yesterday - of course, with everything that is going on, I'm pretty impressed that I'm getting this out this close to the start of the month!

Update for Matthew

As was stated previously, our little guy has come a long way.  He's becoming more and more talkative (although we're still working on the whole language barrier thing) with everyone and wants to make sure that you know exactly what he's thinking about whatever it is going on at any particular point.  And we're starting to get a bit of temper too - definitely figuring out what it is that he wants...and if he doesn't get that, bar the door, because he'll let you know about it.

Update for Anna

We're getting closer and closer to the end of classes (for the Master's degree, at least).  Which makes for a pretty crazy schedule - but Anna's handling it like a champ.  Still not sure how she manages to take care of all of us, work, and go to class (and keep up with those classes).  But she does.  And we love her for it.

Update for Jay

Work is still in the gear-up stages for the next project, after hitting a few minor snags with some details.  However, we're still going strong and hope to be getting into the thick of design of the next phase of our program upgrade shortly.  Needless to say, that means that the smaller projects that we have floating around currently need to have determinations on if they're going to be able to be completed or put on hold made.  Which is always fun.  And super stressful.



With all that being said, if you're going to be in our area - please let Anna or I know so that we can try to get together for a cup of coffee and catch up!

September 2014

Well September has been a busy month!  Going to try to get everything down that has been going on since the last update here for everyone.

Update for Matthew

We're definitely seeing more and more communication from our little guy - though he still hasn't quite broken the English barrier, he's making sure that he's being heard by everyone that is around him.  And he has a ton to say about everything that is going on.  Especially food.  And his dog.  And playing outside.

He's getting more comfortable around the kids that he sees at daycare as well, which makes it so much easier for us to drop him off in the morning!  Whereas before he seemed to not be able to wait for us to show up and get him home to see his dog and have dinner, now he has a tendency to want to play just a little bit longer once mom shows up in the afternoon.  And we're alright with that.

Update for Anna

The 'final class' has begun (sort of)!  This semester is actually kind of an odd one - half being on one day for one class and the second half on another day for another class.  But this is the final semester for Anna to get her Master's degree!  I know that she's really looking forward to being done with the degree (though she'll still have to take a few more classes before she can completely cross off the prerequisites for both CPA exams).  And while she's doing an amazing job balancing everything going on with us currently, I'm pretty sure she's pretty pumped about getting to a point where she has one less thing to have to worry about.

Update for Jay

As stated in the previous update, work has just been getting busier and busier.  With the upcoming kickoff for our "Phase 2" project, our team has had to kick some other projects into high gear in order to free up enough time to start to get our hands around the prerequisite work that is needed in order to get ready for everyone else to get ready to start.  Putting that down, I realize that it sounds a lot more confusing than it did when I think about it.

Suffice to say, it's super hectic around our area of the office and doesn't look like it's going to be slowing down for us anytime in the near future.


As is usual, if you're going to be in our neck of the woods, give us a shout so that we can get together and catch up!

August 2014

So July got away from us before we realized what was happening - hence the skip in blog posts.  I will try to capture everything that has happened as much as possible (it feels like a ton has happened and that it's only been a few days since I posted last).

Update for Matthew

The little guy is moving more and more confidently around places - especially when it comes to places that he's familiar with and/or really wants to get to.  Things are becoming more and more interesting for him to manipulate (i.e., cabinets are really, really cool because that's where we're not supposed to be and have things that look like toys and make the adults kinda freak out when we play with them).  Independent play is still...tenuous in regards to the true definition of "independent", but we're definitely getting to the point where we can hand him something and have a reasonable chance that he'll entertain himself for a few moments before requiring either another item or our attention.

Teething is starting to really pick up (at least it seems that way - might not be as back-to-back as it was for the first few, but the ones that are coming in now make up for the slower pace by the size of the tooth and the pain that they cause).  Dancing is definitely still one of our favorite activities - in fact just about anything with a rhythm becomes "dance-dance music" for him.  We're also really starting to notice a more concentrated effort on his part to communicate - we're not always sure what exactly is being relayed to us...but it's definitely something that takes a few minutes and is very, very, very important that we know.

Update for Anna

As many of you know, Anna has completed just about all of her classes for her Master's program (she's only got 3 hours left!) and is really starting to get excited about closing this particular chapter.  She's doing great with the handling of everything (Matthew, class, me, work, etc.) and we're all starting to get excited about what the future holds for us when we don't have to worry about the next paper/exam/homework assignment.

Update for Jay

Work has been insanely busy lately - so there really isn't a ton of 'updates' for myself other than just trying to keep everything in line and stay afloat.  We're getting closer to kicking off the next 'phase' of the CapitalStream program, which is going to mean a huge amount of behind-the-scenes balancing acts to keep the system alive and moving while also upgrading and updating the setups that are all flowing in and out.  Which I'm sure is about all you really want to hear about it - sometimes Anna just tells me to stop trying to explain what it is that I'm doing and tell people that I perform 'technical magic' and make the things work better.

I know that it's not a ton of verbiage - but, again, it feels like we just got done posting about our last update...and honestly, most of the updates that we all care about are in regards to Matthew anyways.  ^_^

June 2014

This month has already started out going nearly the speed of light - and it looks like there's no slowing us down anytime soon.  Which is both terrifying and awesome.

Update for Matthew

Now that he's over a year - our little guy is pretty dedicated to walking and letting us know his mind (even though he hasn't fully mastered any particular words yet...he's a talker).  He is definitely developing favorites with his toys (currently one of his most sought after item is a small ball that we found and got on a whim...can you say success?) and is starting to really understand basic patterns when it comes to certain times of the day (most notably his bed time routine).

He's also really started to play independently - although this usually tends to require more monitoring than when he was playing with us.  Our current favorite game is to rummage through the trash and find the random 'cup-like' objects and take them with us around the house.  He's also started really enjoying music - the more bass and rhythm, the happier the 'dancing' that we get to watch.

Update for Anna

Anna is doing amazing - she just finished a concentrated semester (full semester in 3 weeks) of a graduate class and is diving into a summer semester of two more.  I believe the plan is to be complete by the end of the year (although I could be mistaken - you'd have to ask her, because it feels like every time I turn around she's finishing another course).  I know she's stressed, but watching her maneuver through these classes, the workload that she shoulders, and taking care of Matthew and I, you really wouldn't know it (although she'd probably love to tell you all about the craziness that is going on).

Update for Jay

These past few weeks have been a rather concentrated whirlwind of action for me professionally - I was recently promoted at the bank to a position that, so far, seems to be much more in line with what I want to be moving towards.  Instead of being solely dedicated to the CapitalStream program as an System Administrator, I'm now a System Analyst for our Credit area (which, while I'm still heavily involved with the design and implementation of the CapitalStream solution, is a more behind-the-scenes position focusing on the actual breaking down of systems to identify how they operate with one another and help identify ways in which to create a more efficient process overall).  A lot of my time is spent discussing ways in which the world that we exist in currently can be moved into a more streamlined environment at the moment, but with some of the big projects that are on the horizon at the moment, it's definitely going to be getting interesting here soon.


As is usual - if you're going to be in our corner of the world (or if you'd like to get together and put something down on our calendars to plan on a trip here), let us know!  We'd love to get to see you and introduce you to Matthew!!