Bummer

Taxes are never fun.  Ask anyone who has to pay taxes and they almost always make a face when discussing the subject.  The only people that are happy about taxes are the people that get some back at the end of the year and this usually happens because they paid too much to begin with. 

Since both Jay and I work in the tax arena we are constantly informing clients that they owe state and local taxes.  They are always shocked when they find out the amount due and try to argue as to why the amount due can't possibly be correct.  When we assist them in audits we work to reduce the amount due and it's really all about wheeling and dealing with the taxing jurisdiction to get the number as low as possible.  Sometimes the final amount due is a couple hundred dollars, sometimes it's millions of dollars.  Either way, they're never really happy if they have to pay anything, regardless of the amount.

Being someone that deals with taxes day in and day out, you would assume that I would understand the law and not be surprised when receiving a notice from our income tax preparer (yes, we don't prepare our own taxes) that we owe money for the 2010 tax year.  You would assume wrong.  I am SHOCKED that we owe money and I honestly believed we would get some money back based on the ridiculous amount we already paid, AND the fact that we had a baby last year.  But no, we don't get anything back and as an added slap in the face, we owe the government more money.  I should have a more level headed reaction but I don't.  I'm like every other person in the country that feels they pay too much in taxes.  We're getting penalized for making money.  In short, we got screwed!

Spring is here

Ahhhh, spring.  My favorite season.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some fall too.  Problem is, right after fall comes winter...my least favorite season.  Right after spring comes summer which means long warm days in the sun.  I love being outside.  I even enjoy some yard work, because it gets me outside.  I like to think John Henry will help me out in the yard when he gets older - he doesn't really have a choice in the matter.  I learned a lot from my old man and for good or bad it's allowed me to fix some things around the house.  Right now my project is to finish building the fence in the backyard - a project that was supposed to start about four months ago...that was BK (as my sis calls "BK", before kids).  I find that my time is more limited now.  What happened to "Jay Time"?  Jay Time is what my family used to call time that I set aside to do whatever Jay needed to do.  It may mean watching a movie or playing golf or grilling out.  Whatever Jay needed as long as no commitments were made.  That was the only rule - no commitments.  Now I have family time.  Strange to say those words sometimes.  Never really thought that I would have a family of my own.  Crazy.  All of our friends have families too and it's amazing to see so many dang kids running around.  I have to admit, I never imagined that most of the guys I grew up with would become good fathers, but they are.  Speaking of those guys and their families, here are some picks from our monthly Wheeler outing:

3 Months

John Henry is 3 months!  He didn't have a 3 month check up so we don't know exactly how much he weighs but we can tell that he's gaining some lb's. 

He really is the sweetest boy.

But still so tiny in the grand scheme of things...

Over the past month John Henry has worked on his talking (he really is quite a talker), bigger smiles, giggling (which is beyond precious), eating his hands or anything else that he can get into his mouth, and sitting up.

John Henry always enjoys talking to Daddy

Laughing with Mommy

These fingers are delicious!

Everything makes its way into his mouth - this was taken after a car ride when we discovered he fell asleep sucking on the paci holder instead of the paci...

John Henry gets lots of practice sitting up in his chair.  I love this shot because it looks like he is doing what my dad like to call "resting his eyes" which really means a catnap!

 John Henry has started to really enjoy bath time. He loves the water, even when we accidentally spray him in the face. However, he's still not a fan of getting out of the bath.

This has also been the month where he refuses to roll over.  He doesn't mind tummy time but for some reason has decided that rolling over is no longer his thing.  Looks like we need to teach him some new tricks! 

(I'll have to find a picture of him doing tummy time but he really enjoys playing on his back.  He loves to try to grab and hold onto things - like the things that hang down from his play gym).

He is in such a great mood (even when he is sick) and always has a great appetite.  He's up to 6 ounces 6 times a day!  I'm sure he will eat us out of house and home in high school.  Too scary to think about. 

He enjoys the outdoors and we try to spend a few minutes each day being outside.  We were even lucky enough to have him sleep in his stroller this past weekend so we could tackle some much needed yard work.  Please don't worry, we keep him in the shade with the car seat cover pulled over him. 

John Henry catching some rays.  Look at that fair skin!  We will definitely be using sunscreen every day this summer.

He continues to nap best in our bed or on the couch and it is a daily struggle to get him to nap in his crib.  He won't even sleep in his crib at daycare and prefers to take catnaps in the swing.  It's something that we are working on...

This was taken with my iphone when he was napping on the couch.

Also taken with my iphone when he was napping in our bed.  He loves to burrow into the sheets when he sleeps.  Don't worry, I was watching to make sure he wouldn't get lost in the blankets and sheets. 

Every day he looks different and we can't tell what color hair or eyes he will have.  Some days the hair looks red, some days blond and some days brown.  Same with his eyes.  They go between green and blue.  If I had to guess he will have red hair and green eyes.  So funny since neither Jay or I have red hair or green eyes!

We love this little boy with all our hearts and can't wait to see what he will do next.

An Adjustment

This past week has brought about some serious changes in our lives.  The first is that John Henry started daycare and the second is that I went back to work.

First up, John Henry started daycare last Tuesday.  It was a glorious day.  Yes, I said it.  It was glorious!!!  I realize that this is not how a mom should feel about a child's first day at daycare but it's the truth.  First of all, that Monday night was the first night John Henry slept through the night.  He went to sleep at 8 and woke up at 6:30.  Fantastic!  So the fact that he slept through the night started the day out great.  Second, because he woke up at 6:30 I was able to feed and play with a well rested baby before dropping him off.  (I was also able to have a nice cup of coffee and some cereal which doesn't always happen).  Jay and I went together to drop him off and I could tell Jay was having a harder time than I was.  Since it was my last day of maternity leave I was off.  Can I tell you how much I got done that day?  I returned stuff, bought some new fantastic summer shoes, cleaned up the house, went to the pharmacy, went to the grocery store, dropped off gifts and borrowed maternity clothes, paid the bills, and took Lady to get groomed.  I haven't gotten that much done in one day in months. 

(These two pictures were taken as we were leaving to take him to daycare.  The picture above is JH after he got home from daycare.  See, he doesn't look like he had a bad time!)

Next up, work.  I had an ambitious first day back that overall was a success.  My first day back consisted of a day trip to Miami.  I was out of the house by 5:30 that morning, flew to Miami to meet with my colleagues, then was back on the plane and home by 8:30.  It was a long day but it was good to see everyone and I got home earlier than my originally planned arrival of 11 PM so I consider it a success. 

After writing about the first day of daycare and work it sounds that we have adapted to our new schedules without any problems.  Unfortunately we've struggled every day since. 

John Henry is no longer sleeping through the night.  Although he is close, it's taken some time for him to adjust to his new daytime atmosphere which in turn has affected his night sleep.  The first couple of days he was back to waking up between 1 and 3 AM and then again at 5.  Now he's sleeping until 4:50 or 5 so I have a feeling that he'll continue to sleep longer as he adjusts.  John Henry is also sick.  No surprise there when you look around at the other babies in his class with runny noses.  Our sweet boy has a bad cold that thankfully has not affected his appetite or mood.  He's still a happy baby, just a happy baby with a very stuffy nose and sad little cough.  We also worry about his napping during the day.  He is struggling with his naps at daycare and so he's exhausted when he gets home.  I know he will sleep more as time goes on and I just have to remind myself of that.  The great news is that they LOVE him at daycare.  I know he gets lots of attention and I'm sure he will learn so much from the other children in his class.  As for me, work has been difficult.  Getting back into the groove of things is taking some time and the amount of work I have is a little stressful.  On Monday I dropped off John Henry and made it to work by 9:15, only to discover that I didn't have my laptop or laptop bag when I pulled into the parking garage.  So, it was back home and then back to work.  Since I didn't really get started until 10 that day, I didn't get home until 7:45 and by that time John Henry was asleep.  I have to accept that I will not be able to put John Henry to bed every night of the week but I am very fortunentate to have a wonderful husband that can take care of John Henry when I'm not around.  The rest of the week hasn't been awful but I can't seem to get to work early enough which only means I get home later than I want or that I'm working after John Henry goes to bed which cuts into my time with Jay and Lady. 

I miss my son during the day.  I think about him often and wish I could spend more time with him.  But the truth of the matter is that I have a job that will not always allow me to be around for bedtimes or sometimes even dinner at 8 with my husband.  It's a good job that challenges me and helps support our family.  So until we adjust to our new schedules (or win the lotto) it will be rough.  But I have every faith that after a while, we will be just fine.

Happy Birthday Lola

John Henry attended his first birthday party for our dear friend Lola.  Lola is 9 months older than John Henry and it scares me to think that we will be hosting a birthday party later this year!  Lola was a beautiful birthday girl and spent most of her time doing laps around the house.  She wasn't the biggest fan of the birthday cake and again, I'm curious if John Henry will react the same when it's time for him to dig into his smash cake.  Thanks for inviting us to your party Lola!

The pretty birthday girl doing her laps

The birthday girl and her wonderful parents

The balloon was a bigger hit than the cake!

John Henry isn't sure what's going on and Lola is worried he's coming after her balloon...

Mommy and her chunky monkey

It was so great getting to see Diana and Lauren.  I hope that one day they move back to Atlanta.  Yes girls, that is a not so subtle hint!

Colorado or Bust!

The Starr Family, Colorado 2011

The short version:

We did it.  And "It" covers several items such as

1.  John Henry's first plane ride and trip to Colorado

2.  The immediate Starr family had a vacation together without it being a holiday

3.  James, Sumner, Max, and Henry learned how to ski

4.  Bunny, Carol, Sherridan, Wendy, and Jay got to ski together for the first time in several years.  Big props to Carol who got back on skis after 22 years!

4.  John Henry went to daycare

The long version:

We finally had our Starr family ski trip.  Bunny has been trying to get everyone together for years and this year all the pieces fell into place.  I'm not going to lie, I was terrified.  Flying with a 2 month old in the middle of cold and flu season to a different time zone...  I didn't care that everyone said flying with a 2 month old would be easy.  At least easier than flying with a 16 month old.  I understood that it's easier to fly when babies are not mobile but I was still scared.  I had no idea if John Henry would be okay with the pressure or what type of mood he would be in during the flight.  Now that it's all said and done, he was perfect.  Really, a great traveller and we couldn't have asked for a better baby on the trip. 

 Daddy and JH waiting to board our flight to Denver.  Don't they look nervous?

Once we got to Colorado I was prepared for John Henry to be out of sorts in a different time zone and new climate.  He proved me wrong and the altitude didn't seem to bother him at all.  He slept great and took better naps in Colorado than back at home in Georgia.  Every day after his morning nap we bundled up and met everyone at the lodge for lunch. 

Mommy and John Henry on the way to the lodge.

  Carol, John Henry and Bunny at lunch.

Wendy, Sherridan, and Sumner enjoying a break from skiing.

Sweet Max!

Henry is ready to get back on the slopes.

On Thursday John Ramsey met up with Jay to go skiing.  I should have known John would challenge Jay.  Their first run of the day was a double black and I'm pretty sure they didn't ski anything that one would consider easy.  I know it was Jay's favorite day of skiing and I'm thankful that he came back in one piece!

Jay on some crazy run with John...

John, John Henry and Jay enjoying lunch. 

Each day everyone would come back and relax at the condo.  It was so nice to have everyone together and I know the kids had a ton of fun playing together.  So much fun that I didn't get a picture of the Santivanez and Ladner kids hanging out!  I know we have pictures of the kids, just not on my camera.

Daddy and John Henry, chillin on the couch after a long day.

Jay, John Henry, Carol, Wendy, Sherridan, and Bunny

Sumner is going to make a great babysitter! 

Jay, Wendy, Bunny, Carol, and JH. 

On the last day Jay and I decided to put John Henry in daycare so we could ski together.  I thought I would be really nervous when I dropped him off that morning.  The reality is that I was more scared getting off the lift for our first run than I was dropping him off with total strangers...  What does that say about me? 

I love to ski with Jay and I always have a great time once I get my first run over with.  We were also able to ski with the rest of the family and I was totally impressed.  James, Sumner, Max, Henry and Zach did great!  All of the kids were skiing the blue runs by the end of our trip and they had so much fun on the slopes.

On Saturday we packed up and headed back to Denver.  Jay and I got to visit with John, Jordan, Reese, and Jack.  All of the pictures are on Jordan's camera so at the moment I don't have any pictures to post.  After Denver we headed to Broomfield to visit my family.  John Henry got to meet some of his cousins and hang with his Grandparents and Uncles.  My parents cooked us a delicious dinner and took great care of us.  It was a short visit but we enjoyed our time with them! 

Tristan, Jerry, and John Henry

Grandpa Schuler feeding John Henry

Uncle Josh, JH, and Uncle Joshua...so many J's

The Colorado fam

On Sunday we headed back to Atlanta.  Thankfully we were able to get seats together and our little boy was an angel.  He slept for part of the way and played on Jay's lap for the rest of the way. 

Daddy and John Henry on the plane

John Henry enjoyed the overhead lights.  It's so nice that he was so easily entertained!

We had a wonderful trip and although I caught a cold (which I think I've now given to our sweet boy), we can't wait to do it again next year!