We've been in St. Louis for 3 weeks now. We only have 2 visible boxes on the main floor, and they are there to keep Zach from falling down the basement stairs.
And the big news, Zach is walking! has been since we got here. He took his first steps at the hotel, Grandma Pruss and I (jo) both saw it happen. It was very exciting and he's just getting better and better at it. He can also now stand up without holding on to anything. Leaps and bounds that kid is growing.
Elle is also doing very well. She went pee pee on the potty Twice today! and she pooped once today! that is very exciting news as well. She loves her new house and her new room she has adjusted very well to the new house.
We still have a lot of decorating to do, and painting lots and lots of painting. Hopefully by spring everything will be the way we want it!
Hope to see everyone again soon!

Something new

Trying some new stuff. Look for video coming to YouTube soon. We bought a new video camera and we plan to put some video up now and then. Stay tuned.

House is coming along in St. Louis. Pictures can be seen at shutterfly. See the link to the right.(or just click here. Note the new layout)

Zach is developing quickly. He is crawling, pulling himself up, sitting up. He should be walking soon. Tremendous. He will certainly keep Johanna and I on our toes.

Elle is doing great as well. She is much more interested in her brother now. She plays with one or both of our neighbors kids (Jake, Austin, Maiya) everyday. I'd say she has having a great summer. She had a fun couple of days helping us out during our garage sale. (purging prior to the move)

Plans for the move are on track. We sold our house. We hope the young woman that bought it enjoys living here as much as we do.

Hope to post more later. That is all for now.

I know... way too long...

Since the last post.

First things first. New pictures are available at the shutterfly site. See the link on the right.

Let's see, Zach is now 6.5 months old. He is doing very well. Has one tooth, is almost crawling, eating semi-solids, gaining weight, getting taller, sitting up, less spitting up, swimming, bathing and so much more. He is also getting slightly better about sleeping for longer periods of time at night. Still have not broken the 5 hour barrier and he is certainly not consistent about sleeping that long. We, and I mean Johanna, are trying to be patient while he figures this out.

Elle is a water fanatic. Pools, sprinklers and the water table have been a huge hit this summer so far. I think she has been in one of them everyday so far. She is also still a huge fan of the parks. Any park. I'm not sure I can list all the things she is up to so I won't even try. She is doing wonderfully. She's become a lot more interested in Zach now as well.

Johanna continues to be a most remarkable woman. She has persevered through the last six months of sleepless nights with almost no complaint. She has become much more occupied over the last couple of months dealing with our relocation plans. That's right. We are moving. I've accepted a position with Pfizer in Saint Louis. We should be there late October or early November. We decided to build a house instead of buying an existing home. There are plenty of wonderful homes there. We just felt that we needed something that was essentially in move-in condition. We don't have a lot of spare time for home improvements at this time. We will be in the community of Wyngate in O'fallon, MO. I have to admit we are both very excited about the move. We like our house now but have outgrown it. This move affords us the opportunity to upgrade and get the room we need.

That's all for now.

JAP, JEP, EMP, ZAP

Sunny side up..

Zach decided that he was done on one side and flipped himself over. Yep, Put him on his tummy and watch him roll over. He's not at 100% but he is improving.

Zach and Elle are doing well. They both had a little run in with a cold bug. Elle had a runny nose and Zach sounded a bit congested for a while. Both seem to be doing much better.

The warmer weather has got us all excited about being outdoors. Elle spent the majority of Saturday and Sunday playing in the backyard, going for walks and playing with Jake. Johanna and I worked on the yard. Raking and pulling weeds. I am really excited to see the trees we planted a couple years ago thriving. They seem 2-3 feet taller already.

The local park is drying up. We should be able to walk there and use the playscapes very soon.

More later. Happy Spring!!!

Quick updates

Hi. Just a couple of quick updates.

Zach-
His two month check-up went great! Putting on weight and getting bigger. He is smiling all the time now when we talk to him. Guess he's a pretty happy baby. He is just now beginning to sleep longer stretches of time. This is good news as it will allow Johanna to catch up on sorely needed sleep. There are new pictures at the Shutterfly site.

Elle-
She is just a joy!! She is always playing, singing, talking and learning. She has quite the vocabulary and is learning shapes and colors. She is working on her numbers and letters too. She still loves to color and paint and read. It's also amazing to watch her play on her own and see her 'create' her own fun and games.

Johanna-
I'm sure she is tired, but she is just amazing!!! Keeping up with Zach and Elle all day isn't easy but she makes it look that way. I'm awed all the time and thankful she is there. I am certain I would handle the same situation with less patience.

Jason-
Finishing up with school. Last two classes. Done April 23, 2008!!! I'm out there looking for new employment as I am scheduled to be done with Pfizer the first week of June.

Take a look at the new pictures and look for more updates here.

JAP, JEP, EMP, ZAP

New Arrival

Carrie and Bryan welcomed Delaney Louise to the world at 9:20pm 14-Feb-2008. She weighed 7lbs 5.7oz and was 20.5" long.

Everyone is home and healthy.

Congratulations to the entire family as soon as I get pictures I'll make sure to post them.

In the meantime... there are some new pictures up at the shutterfly link. Take a peek.

-Jason

Brief update

Johanna, Elle and Zach are all on the upswing of colds. Elle was the first to come down with it followed by Johanna and then Zach. Remarkably, I managed to escape unscathed.

We had a couple visits over the last few weeks. First, Johanna's mother and brother (Tony) came to see Zach. Her sister Laura and her three children (Tristen, Ethan, Hannah) came up as well. About a week later Johanna's dad and brother (Michael) came in to visit. It was good to see everyone.

My six weeks of Parental Leave end this week. Pfizer is a fantastic company to work for. (even though they are closing my site) They are on the cutting edge of benefits for their employees. I'll be back in the office on February 15th. It's a Friday so Johanna will only have one day to manage with the two kids on her own. Hopefully she will get a feel of what it might be like for an entire week. I know she and Elle are not looking forward to my return to work.

I hope to have some new pictures posted soon. Keep an eye out.

Future Wolverine???

Elle is a big fan of her new University of Michigan shirt. Looks like we might have a future Wolverine on our hands.

Go Blue!!!

Zach's 2 Week Check-up

Zach had his two week checkup this past week. The doctor said he is doing great and they don't need to see him until his 2 month visit.

We are very blessed to be so healthy. Looking forward to spring and getting Zach out into the yard and going for walks.

A few new pictures have been uploaded to Shutterfly. Go on...take a look!!

Shower

Elle took her first shower today. Not sure if we can call it a success or not. She did get clean but she also cried the whole time.

We'll keep working on taking showers and hopefully she will begin to enjoy them.

Belly Buttons

Zach decided to be rid of the remainder of his umbilical cord in just 6 days. Elle's stayed for almost 2 weeks.

Different already...

2 Year check-up

Elle had her two year check up yesterday. She passed with flying colors. She is just about 50% on height, weight and head circumference. The doctor says Elle is doing all the physical and mental things she should be doing.

Elle did get the first of a two part series of Hepatitis A vaccinations. The good news is that the 2nd shot won't happen for another year. Whoo-hoo!!!

Happy Birthday Elle - Turning Two!!!

Elle turned two on 04-Jan-2008!!! We hope she understands later in life that we had no choice but to postpone her birthday celebration because of Zachary's arrival. She was a great sport the entire day. She was rushed out of the house to go pick up Grandma Pruss so we could all go see Johanna and Zach at the hospital. We played/visited at the hospital for a couple of hours and then went home for a nap. After napping we grabbed a quick bite and went back to the hospital for another visit. We then drove Grandma home and then went home ourselves.

She is not terribly interested in Zach at the moment. Understandable, as he really isn't capable of doing much right now. I am confident she will come to love him as much as we do.

Elle certainly enjoyed her christmas and birthday presents though. Some new Wegdits arrived (you should buy them from here), along with some new blocks, books, clothes, and assorted toys.

Johanna and I are just amazed at how big she is and how much she understands. She performs some new extraordinary feat almost daily. What a wonder. We both marvel at how old she looks when she lies down on the floor to color.

Our love to all.

JAP, JEP, EMP, ZAP

New addition!!

We're very excited to welcome Zachary Allen to the world. He arrived 03-Jan-2008 at 12:15pm. He came in at 20" long and weighed 8lbs. 10oz.

Mother and son are home and are doing very well. (Resting quietly as I write this)

We hope to have additional pictures uploaded soon. But for now, this one will have to suffice.

Halloween

Elle made a great Lion, crawling around and roaring and she even left the hood on the entire time! She had a really fun night.

August - October updates

Thing going on...

1. If you did not know, we are having another baby. He (according to the ultrasound technician) is due January 12 or 14 , 2008. We are all very excited. Jo is doing well but is having trouble getting comfortable.

2. Noah Aaron Pruss, son of Aaron and Jen Pruss was delivered via c-section on Friday, October 5th, 2007. He came home Sunday morning and all are reportedly doing well.

3. Elle continues to shock and awe us. Climbing on everything including chairs, couches, beds, playscapes, etc. She is quick to go both up and down the stairs. Loves kicking and throwing various toys around. She has also taken a liking to the bike trailer. I am so pleased she enjoys riding in it now.

4. We took Elle to an Apple Orchard for fresh apples and cider. We also took a wagon ride around. Elle was not terribly excited about this at first but warmed up to it after a few minutes.

5. I am still in school. I have two classes this fall and two more in the winter and that is it. Very exciting. Just in time to start looking for another job because my employment with Pfizer is scheduled to end in June 2008.

There are many pictures to update. I hope to get them up soon.

Until later...

It's Daddy's Birthday!

We'll celebrate when he gets home from work, we got Balloons for him! Ok, so really they are for Elle but it is because it's Jason's birthday.

Weekend away

Elle went on her first visit to Caseville this past weekend. We (jo and elle) went up with Grandma and Aunt Karen and Jake, Uncle Dick came up for a few hours with Lucky too. We all only went down to the water once, but when her shoes and socks came off she went running right towards it. It was a little cool outside so she didn't get to do any swimming or actual play time in the water this time. We did do some shopping and Elle now has her own Caseville t-shirt that she can wear when daddy wears his sweatshirt!

Diver down

Elle has been taking swim lesson at the Livonia Rec Center. This last Monday (July 9, 2007) she did her first dive. She was not exactly what I would call thrilled...but she at least kept playing in the water. We have a couple of lessons left. Let's see what else she can do.

Toddler

So on July 4th Elle turned 18 months old. Officially a toddler in our minds. From what I hear from Johanna... Elle took it to heart! She was wild crazy on July 5th. Into everything should could find and was just a whirlwind of activity.

I hope to have Johanna up and running on the blog and pictures very soon. So this will hopefully lead to more regular updates.

Until then...

Welcome!

Welcome to the new blog location!

Although I like the style and layout of the old blog it is too slow. I hope the performance of the new blog space is better.

The pictures are being re-located as well. This will give everyone the option of purchasing prints of their favorites.

More to follow....