Cool Dudes!

Not only is Joseph "cool" in sunglasses.....

Charlie is too!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Joseph!

It's hard to believe my baby boy is two today. We celebrated with friends . It's a bittersweet celebration for me for as much as I long to see my children grow to be normal, healthy adults, it is hard to say goodbye to the baby years too. However, I suppose he will always be my "baby" though, no matter what age he is, just as I am still my Mom's "baby". I aim to tressure these years even more than I already have because I know how fast they go by. We love you, dear son, and are so thankful that God untrusted us to your care.

A New Era

So starts the era of potting training....

He's a little young yet and not too excited about going in the potty but I figure it's never to early to start. I once heard, correctly, that kids mostly train themselves, that parents are merely there to guide them. I have a feeling we'll be doing a lot of guiding with this one!

On the War Path?

Does Joseph look like he's on the war path? Olivia and Joseph painted tonight while I was on the phone. While they started out painting on paper, I wasn't too surprised that the paint ended up on Joseph. It's just what I've come to expect with this boy!

Wordless Wednesday....

Our Boy

Our Boy is definitely ALL BOY ........... Except, of course, when he's wearing Olivia's pink sundress.....
And Olivia's pink fleece jacket....

and when he's playing dress-up with Olivia and he's wearing her fairy princess tutu. Yes, he is definitely ALL BOY! (He's is totally going to resent me for this post some day!)

Our New Girl Baby

While going through some of Olivia's things this morning I came across this old sundress that is a bit too small for her. Joseph insisted on trying it on though and looked so cute (and funny) that I had to snap his picture. As soon as he got it on he started dancing and twirling around - too cute! I told Rich that Joseph was crying so hard to put the dress on that I gave in. Rich's comment to that was, "And I am about to cry hard just seeing him in that dress!".

Growing So Fast!

Joseph - February 2008
Joseph - February 2009

Breakfast of Champions

Joseph had this yummy breakfst of chocolate pudding yesterday morning. (Actually, Olivia had pudding on the way home from the New Year's Eve party and left it out where Joseph could get at it. He had most of it downed before I realized that he had gotten into it!) What a mess he was - but a very cute mess!

Joseph Turns One Year Old!

Happy Birthday to our precious son, Joseph! I can hardly believe that a year has past since he was born! We celebrated the big event this afternoon with friends. These toys were on the cake....

Joseph only had one boy at his party. The rest were girls. Here the girls are opening his presents for him.

After having Olivia I vowed that if I ever had another baby, I would truly cherish every moment of babyhood as I knew how fast it went with her. Even knowing this, this year flew by, BUT, I feel I did cherish every moment. (Okay, maybe not every moment. Like the third feeding in the night and him crying and not being able to soothe him. Or the endless amounts of messes he creates and things he breaks. Did I mention that he loves to unplug everything?) But I love him anyway. I guess that is what being a Mom is all about and I wouldn't trade of any of it. (Okay, maybe I would trade those nighttime feedings......)

My Two Pumpkins

I had a couple of extra days off for MEA so took the kids to a pumpkin patch on Thursday afternoon. We enjoyed a tractor ride through the woods and playing on their playground. A special treat was holding a baby bunny. It was so soft! Joseph thought so too and tried to pully the bunnies leg off. Thankfully I was right there and able to get his iron clad grip off the poor thing.

The Kids

Olivia is 4 1/2

Joseph is 11 months old

Enjoying Fall

The kids spend a lot of time on our swing set.

Demolition Expert

"Demolition Expert" is what my Dad appropriately calls Joseph. Rich often says we should have named him Dennis and call him, "Dennis the Menace". Why? He is one busy boy! I don't think Olivia was ever quite this busy - or maybe a person just forgets. Anyway, he is into everything - opening drawers and cupboards, pulling things apart, trying to climb up the stairs, putting everything and anything in his mouth....and the list goes on and on. He is just so cute though and we love him anyway!

Oh how we love summer!

Some friends invited the kids and I over to their lake home yesterday for some swimming and tubing. It was a beautiful day to be out on the lake.
Olivia, Joseph, and Savannah enjoyed the tubes even when they weren't being pulled behind the boat.

What fun it is to jump off the dock!

Joseph is finally pretty brave in the water! He loved swimming yesterday. He would have dove right in and underwater if I would have let him!

Flexible Joe

Wouldn't you love to be this flexible?

Before and After Four Wheeling Pictures

Joseph loves to ride on the four wheeler like Olivia does but seems to fall asleep on each and every ride!

Our Happy Boy

Joseph is almost always this smiley. The only time he is not is when he is cutting some new teeth. Speaking of teeth, he has seven now. I don't remember Olivia having a whole mouthful at this age...I'm a little worried about the big gap in his two front teeth. I'm hoping it closes up as more teeth come in. Is that possible?

Joey is 8 months old!

Our son turned 8 months old today. As you can see, he is still a very smiley little guy. However, he is cutting two new teeth, his two top front teeth, so he is a little more fussy than usual. I can't really blame the guy as I know how even a slight tooth ache can really hurt! Joey thinks Rich and Olivia are just hilarious and it seems they can get the most giggles out of him, especially Olivia. But he has smiles for most anyone. He's pretty laid back too, except for in the middle of the night....he is still intent on getting me up at least once per night, usually around 2:30, to eat. He is not crawling yet and not even up on all fours but I don't think it will be long. He seems pretty determined to be up and about to check out the world around him.

Center of Attention

Talk about being the center of attention......Joseph didn't seem to mind though.