Yes, we are alive.

Let me begin by apologizing for not keeping up with the blog. We got home from Scotland in June and just haven't slowed down ever since. We're starting to feel settled and are slowly getting back a social life. We've got Julian going to a parents day out program and Beth is taking him to Kindermusik at the Y once a week. He's really enjoying it and he also likes being able to play with his cousins on a weekly basis. He loves going to see his PaPa (pronounced pawpaw) - my Dad - and all of his grandparents very much. It's really great being so close to our family members.

Beth is starting to be able to really carve out some time for herself and is reconnecting with some of her good friends that are in the area. I have started playing bass in a band with my brother Davey - The Warm Fuzzies - and we have a couple of shows booked in the next few weeks. It's a very laid back fun band to be in that plays music in the vein of Weezer and The Cars. Davey and his friend Jason wrote all the songs and lyrics and we are looking forward to playing some live shows. You can check out a few of the songs on our MySpace page and we also have a page on Facebook and Virb.

I recently began doing freelance web and graphic design full time. I have a site set up to showcase my work and capabilities at jstatondesigns.com - if you know of anyone that needs a site designed, send them my way. It came about sooner than we had planned, but I think it is going to work out for the best. We are going to really have a go at it over the next year and try to make it work. It's really nice to be able to just put in a few hours a day at home and not be stuck at a desk in a cube for 8 hours. It gives me the freedom to spend so much more time with Julian and Beth and we can just take a trip whenever we want - no vacation requests needed! It'll be great if we can really make it work.

Julian is quite the handful now - he's running around, repeating words we say, counts to 10 and he even has his own recliner. We got him his first pair of tennis shoes and he looks like such a little boy when he wears them. We've got tons of pictures and videos since we've been home that we will be uploading to our flickr page and on this site soon. Until then, enjoy these....

Probably one of the funniest pictures ever!

Now hand me the remote!

Will post again soon....

Back in the U.S.A.

The last eight weeks have been a BLUR!
The trip home went really well. The only "issue" came when Julian caught a glimpse out the airplane window and absolutely freaked out. Everyone kept saying it was his ears, but we really think he was scared. It was the most pitiful thing to see, but we managed to keep him calm as long as he didn't see any of the windows-- a stretch on an airplane! Julian's jet lag wasn't a problem at all. Within a week he was on a good schedule... if only his parents had it so easy.
Everyone keeps asking if we're experiencing culture shock. Understanding, of course, that the UK isn't that different from the US, I think it's safe to say we are experiencing "shock" in some areas. Mostly we notice how much consumerism defines American culture, especially leisure time. Over the last year we spent a lot of our time "out and about" in Edinburgh, but it wasn't always about spending money. Now that we are back home we are struggling to find activities that don't involve buying/shopping/spending.

Speaking of spending... we rented a house that's exactly between my mom's house and Jonathan's parents' house. It's cute and small and we have the dogs back. So my whole family is under one roof. Julian's world grows every day and it is fantastic to watch. He thinks his cousins are hilarious. Oh, and he is finally walking!

A couple of cruddy things happened too... not much of a welcome back to the U.S. of A., as you'll see! ;) I'll spare the gory details and give you the shortest version. Thing 1: all of our bank accounts were compromised and our money stolen. Seems that some person hacked into a bunch of banks and sold the numbers. As a sweet coincidence both of our accounts at two separate banks were on the list. Doh! After police reports, sworn affidavits, and lots of junk, our money has been returned. Thing 2: found out we no longer had health insurance when I got really sick. I've been on bed rest with pneumonia for the last few weeks. Yuck. We have a great doctor though. She wanted to hospitalize me but since we had no insurance she worked with me to let me stay home. My sister in law Mary said I faked the chest x-ray just to get a few weeks off! I know, it's the dream of every parent of a young child. ;)

Perhaps our biggest news is that Jonathan is now a full time freelance designer. We've talked about this for a long time, and the opportunity just presented itself. I'll let him post on that soon, but for now here's a link to his site: www.jstatondesigns.com. It's fab!

Comin' Home

In a little over 12 hours we will be boarding a plane to head back to the States. In a little over 24 hours we will be in Georgia seeing our family in person for the first time in over 9 months. Here's a look at the little baby that left the US, and a look at the little boy that will be returning home. Be prepared - he can convey his wants and emotions VERY loudly.

Then

Now

We are so excited and can't wait to see you all!
Love,
The Statons