Welcome to Reading

Hows this!

It was my first day at the Reading branch and I've never really been downtown before, especially in "rush" hour. I drove around for 10 minutes trying to find my way to the parking garage, there are so many one way streets. I finally found the street I had to turn onto but it was cluttered with police cars and a van that read Coroner. As I finally made my way through the pack of cars, they were carting a body out of the nearby building....Ahhh, what a great start to the morning!

Once the branch opened the customers came in droves. One customer kind of gave me a bad feeling. He seemed a little off. He was very uneasy and didnt know what he wanted. He asked if I had a piece of paper to write me a special note. Usually when someone says they have a note for you....its not good. The note he gave me had his name and the word ATM scribbled on it. Then he left.

The branch was very small and busy. The day wasnt too bad, at least time flew because it was steady. Tomorrow I go to Kutztown again!

Thanksgiving, In Pictures...

Jackson was daddy's little helper!

Christian and Mommy made napkin rings this morning.

Corn, Candy Yams, Stuffing, Potatoes, Rolls and TURKEY!

KC eating her turkey dinner (we also gave her pumpkin pie)

Forgot something

Christian has been doing really awesome with Potty Training! He doesnt wet the pull up during nap, he's been dry for a couple of weeks now. Recently, he wakes up from sleeping all night, his pull up is dry! He wakes up and goes right to the potty. He takes his dry pull up off and puts it on his dresser. We've been using the same one for over a week!

Also, I uploaded 3, thats right, 3 new videos to our youtube acct. Either go to www.youtube.com/proudfather19 or go to the link on the right side of the blog, towards the bottom. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Its been one of those days

Christian is such an awesome little boy. He’s going to be 3 in a month! Each day presents new joys and more challenges. Christian is at the “Why?” stage and while sometimes it entertaining, others it get frustrating because he’s not satisfied with the answer or answers you provide. It’s very trying and I have to remind myself that this is how he is learning about the world. This stage started about a week ago. We were sitting outside on the front porch and he saw a pumpkin and wanted to take it from the neighbors. We told him that it wasn’t his pumpkin and he asked us Where’s Christian’s pumpkin? Christian doesn’t have a pumpkin…WHY? Instantly, Alicia and I looked at each other. It’s starting….

Christians doing really well with counting, he can count all the way up 12! He knows all the major body parts and even most of his colors. His ABC’s are slowly coming along, Alicia is teaching him during the day his ABC’s. Christian is getting better with Jackson . Every now and again we’ll catch him playing nicely with him. Last night Jackson was sitting in front of his mirror playing and Christian came over and leaned in and put his arm around Jackson and played nicely with him. Sometimes Christian forgets that he can’t be rough with him just yet.

Christian is a very big help, but sometimes he can get in the way…If were making dinner he wants to be right there with you. He asks if he can sit on the counter and help you. Or if I’m vacuuming he’ll get his out and watch me and do everything I do. And when I’m done with it and put it in the closet he parks his right next to mine!

Jackson , where to start? The last 6 months has been a whirlwind of emotions. Jackson has changed so much in such a short amount of time. Last night after we put Christian down, we had Jackson in the playroom. He just sat in the middle of the floor with a bucket of wooden blocks and some other toys and just played. I can’t remember what it was like when we had just Christian. Jackson looked so happy just sitting there playing, you can tell in his eyes that he was trying to learn and figure everything out.

Jackson ’s already at the weight Christian was just shy of his first birthday. He’s doing things that Christian didn’t do at that age. I mean, granted Christian was a preemie but still. It really feels as though Jackson is growing up too fast. I know it sounds like a jaded cliché but it’s true.

When I come home after work the boys and KC get so excited to see me. Christians usually at the door with the biggest smile, he opens the door for me and screams Daddy’s home! Last night Jackson was sitting on the floor playing and he got excited when I walked in, his little arms start to flail and his legs start kicking. I said Hi to him and walked passed to say hi to Alicia, I turn around to look at Jackson and he’s on his stomach trying to crawl over to me! Its things like that that let you know your doing something right in raising them.

Jackson ’s at the point know that he’ll let you know who he wants. If you’re holding him and he wants mommy, he reach out for her and wait for her to pick him up! He’s not a helpless baby anymore.

My new job is going really well. I’ve been in branch now for a week and I have no regrets. This week I’m in Kutztown helping out. I’ve never been to Kutztown, I’ve always driven by it….The pay for the job is really good. I get a base salary (which was less then I was making at my previous job) but also mileage reimbursement for traveling to other branches. The further branch I would go to is Kutztown and that’s only 30 minutes away from home! When you factor in the mileage reimbursement I’m getting paid the same I did at my previous job.

The holidays are fast approaching and we aren’t prepared at all! Were hosting Thanksgiving at our house, it’s our time in our new house. My mom and sisters are coming down and her mom (maybe her brother and his girlfriend) as well. Alicia and I are making the turkey, stuffing and yams. My mom is bringing mashed potatoes and a corn soufflé dish. Her mom is bringing dessert, I’m not sure what though!

Before we know it Christians party will be here. We still have some things to get figured out. I have no idea how I’m going to make the cake yet, well, I have an idea so let’s hope it all works out! Were ordering a finger sandwich tray from a place in Perkaise (thanks Cathleen!), I don’t want to stress out too much for this party. Alicia wants to make chex mix but we’re not going to have a lot of food! We have someone from the fire dept giving a tour to the kids of the station, a fire truck and show them how things work. Its going to be a neat experience because Christian is really into fire trucks! There will be crafts and some games as well.

I think that’s everything that’s on my mind! I just needed to get it out. Before I go I just wanted to wish Jared a Happy Birthday. He would be 20 years old today…

All about Jackson

Jackson's got his second tooth in the other day. His new tooth is next to the other one. There coming in quickly now. This tooth took 2 days to come. One day there was nothing, then a day of crying and fussing, the next day there it was!

Also, he is able to get up on all fours and start rocking back and fourth. Then he'll lunge forward and thats as far as he has gotten! I cant believe how well he's doing. Before we know it, he'll be crawling. Does walking by 9 months sound too far fetched? Its still 3 months away...

I left work at 4:10 and was home by 4:15.  That. Is. All.

Jackson and other things

Jackson hasnt really gained any weight since September. He weighs 16lbs and 10oz and is 26.5 linches long. He gain less then a pound and grew a little over 2 inches. The doctor isnt concerned about the lack of a weight gain, she told Alica that usually in breastfed babies around his age start to slow down for a while. Just to be sure Jackson goes back for a follow up in one month just to make sure.

Christian has an appt schedule to get the H1N1 vaccine and were in the process of scheduling Jacksons since he's old enough. I still want to do some more research to make sure that this is the best thing for the boys. I've heard a lot of arguments for and against the H1N1.

I finished my training today, FINALLY. We had our test today and I was the only one to get 100% on the written and the transactions. Tomorrow I can finally start working for real.

We won something!

While its not a million dollars...we won a gift basket from About Families (a magazine). Alicia entered for the drawing at the Redner Family Expo two weeks ago and she got a call today and we won the family basket! Here's a picture that they took and will be in next months magazine.

Sunday, so much for a lazy day

Wow, I was hoping for a lazy Sunday but NOOOOOO! Jackson's not feeling well so he's understandable but Christian...Jackson woke up at 2:30 (like he has been since being sick) and eat but decided he didnt want to go back to sleep. Shortly after Jackson woke up Christian did. Keep in mind its about 3am and Alicia and I are trying to get Jackson to sleep so we can go back to sleep. Christian comes out of his room and says "Hi Daddy" and I reply, "what do you want?" He thinks about it and excitedly response with "PANCAKES!".

So we all went down stairs and sat on the couch until 4:30.

We organized the basement today too. All the boys toys are downstairs and its a mess down there! Our neighbor Angie gave us a large coffe table so we used that to organize and store all their toys. We switched out some toys with some that Aunt Dee brought over and we put some away for "Christmas presents" too.

I finally got around to Alicia's flat tire. That really pissed me off. I got that hub cap off. The bolts were rusted and made taking them off really hard. I tried everything to loosen them but nothing worked. Alicia asked the neighbor at the end to help us and he had a really hard time too. He got 3 bolts off and the other two were stripped. After 20 minutes he was able to get them off. Alicia's spare tire has never been used either....

Tomorrow is Jackson's 6 month Check up. Any guesses on his height and weight? I'm hoping for a 20lbs baby. We'll just have to wait until tomorrow. To end the day today 422 in Wernersville was shut down as well has a few block radius around the Penn Werner Hotel. It was shut down for about 2 hours and there was no official word on what was going on. It must have been serious, there were news reporters there, and a ton of police cars. The word is there was a gunman inside the Penn Werner holding a woman hostage...nice...just a block away too.

Off to Tinas house to play the Wii, the boys are all in bed and now its time for Mommy and Daddy to have some fun!

Its Saturday...evening

Today was a good day despite the weather. My aunt, Dee, and cousin, Ryan came down today to drop off a few early Christmas presents and see the boys. She said she was going through Ryan's toys that he out grew and brought them down for us to look at. All the toys were in great shape, we decided to keep a few hidden to use as gifts from Santa! They stayed for a couple of hours and it was nice to catch up. Ryan was playing with Christian and kept him entertained. Ryan kept asking if Christian could sleep over..it was cute. Maybe one day but on such short notice and its Christian. He can be a handful but what 3 year old isnt! Thank you Aunt Dee and Ryan for coming down. And thank you for all the awesome toys it really means a lot to us.

A few hours after they left we had game night at our house, well it was only our neighbor Tina but...Earlier in the day I made a Chocolate Cheesecake for her. I promised her that I would make her one a LONG time ago and I finally did today. Tina stayed over for a couple of hours and we played uno spin, A to Z, and talked. Christian played with her, he really loves her and she's really good with him.

Its 9:30 as I type this and were winding down after an eventful day. Oh and how coould I forget...

JACKSON IS 6 MONTHS OLD!!!!!

I cant believe it! 6 months old already. Tomorrow we'll be spending the day at home. I have two more days of training and then I start in branch and I cant wait. I went to my branch on Friday afternoon and got my schedule for the rest of the month and December. I only work one Saturday in those two months and I'll be going to Kutztown the week after next and then between my branch and Bernville until the end of December. What a nice schedule. I know I wont be regreting the job change.

It wasnt what I thought

Talk about a headache! I forgot how boring New Hire Orientation was. When you strip it down its the same speech no matter what bank your working for, every bank has laws and regulation thats must be followed. Today wasnt anything great, its was a bunch of basic info. Tomorrow should be better, its more about teller transactions and how the systems work.

My first day at the new job is next Wednesday. I went to the branch and met the staff and talked to the asst. manager about my schedule. Here, I work next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at my branch then the following week I already float to Kutztown! Its not that bad. Its only a 30 minutes drive with little traffic and I'm suppose to be there all week so thats an extra $100 in my pocket!

Derik BUrns, not quiet mayor but getting there

Tonight was the town meeting. It was the night that they made their decision on whether or not I would be on the recreation board or not. They montioned that I be allowed! After the motion the mayor turned to me to congratulate me...The meetings are Tuesday @7.

last day

it was a slow last day. sucked actually. my shift got changed to the closing shift so there went any hopes of getting out somewhat early. cathleen wasnt in today because she spent the night/day in the hospital (all is well now). my boss is a douche bag. didnt come in today. i understand you medical testing today but where the fucks the "good luck at your new job"? he didnt talk to me in person, on the phone, no email or hand written note. nothing. asshole.

the day just dragged on. tuesday's usually do. i said my goodbyes to the few customers that i care about. it was hard to leave. over two years of my life was spent in there. so much has happened in there. i'll miss everyone but my boss. they are all such good people.

After locking up the doors and doing a final walk through of the branch, i sat at my desk. in the dark. looking around. taking in every sound. this would be the last time i'll be here. i felt a cold empty feeling. why did i feel like i could cry?

with a couple awkward hugs good bye, i close this chapter in my life and begin the next one.

Making cookies @ 7:30am!