Carving a Pumpkin

This weekend was filled with fun! Friday, we had a Halloween party, went to a Fall Festival, and on Saturday, we carved our pumpkin. Joseph really enjoyed the carnival and attempted almost every game. He would only play if I was at his level and the person handing him the ball or item that you were to toss, shoot or kick. He learned real quick that after each attempt, you went to a bucket full of candy and were able to get something. There was a petting zoo that he really liked and as of today (2 days later) was still telling us, "goat....grass." (There were goats eating grass). Jeff's face was priceless at the petting zoo and carving the pumpkin. He was very grossed out for both. I was enjoying taking the pictures and laughing. He asked me not to post the picture of him carving the pumpkin...I really wanted too though.

Me attempting to get a quick shot of Joseph and our finished product. I was so afraid that Joseph was going to knock the top heavy pumpkin over and that would be the end of our Jack-o-lantern.

Waiting for his date.

Halloween Party

Friday morning, Juanita hosted a Halloween party for the kiddos. They had a great time, wearing their costumes, eating special desserts and making crafts.

Juanita made these shirts for the three boys. They say, "Boo Crew" on them and have their name on the front and she made designs on the back using their hands and feet. Very very cute.

Pumpkin Patch

This past week, Joseph and I went to a local church and took some pictures. Andrew was very generous and let us borrow his super duper camera and I had a blast with it. I think ;-) I got some great pictures. I took around 190 and not one of Joseph is smiling...very serious and always trying to figure out everything. One picture you can just see him studying the pumpkin...I really think he is going to be an engineer or something of that nature. Very curious little guy. (Grammy and Marnie, if you would like, I can copy all the pictures to a cd...for the other's, the entire 'photo session' is on facebook.)

Day 1 with Grammy

Today was 'ZOO BOO' at the Houston Zoo. It was a beautiful day for it, so needless to say, we had a great time. Kids were encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes and the Zoo was going to pass out candy. I enjoyed seeing all the different costumes and Joseph enjoyed the candy.

Joseph and Grammy checking out the Tropical Birds

Taking a trip on the train. Yes, my child does smile...it's just very rare for me to catch it on camera.

"Mess."

Joseph's usual sitting spot while I put groceries away.

"Mess," isn't something you want to hear your 1 year old say. Every other Friday I go grocery shopping. Going isn't necessarily the hardest part, it is the coming home and unloading. Joseph usually wants to play outside while I unload, but I am constantly worried about him running off. So, this past Friday, he wanted to play in the car. I thought, "great!! I don't have to worry about him running off." As I was unloading like a mad woman, I came out and he said, "diaper." Uhhh, "Okay, hold on, let me finish." I finished unloading and then we made our way in the house to change a poopy.
We then made our way to the kitchen so I could put away all my groceries. Any typical shopping day, I will put on a baby Einstein while I unload because this way he is busy and I can get done a whole lot faster. But this particular day, he had already watched Sesame Street, so I really didn't want him to watch anymore t.v.. Well, this is where I went wrong...I should have just sucked it up and let him watch 30 more minutes of t.v. this day.
I made my way into the pantry (which is a common hiding area when we play hide and seek) and every time I would go in there, he would close the door on me (I guess this was his way of telling me to hide). Ugh....gets kind of tiring after a while. Finally, after like the 5 th time, I just decided to re-organize my pantry since I was in there. You know, get the old cereal boxes and old chips out of there. When I opened the door, Joseph greeted me with his hand in the air, head tilted side ways and said, "Mess." I thought oh great. I walked entirely out of the pantry and I am pretty sure the entire time I was in the pantry, he had been holding down the water button on our frig. I just laughed and said, "yes, that is a big mess." He and the floor were covered in water.

What we've been up to

Well, I am 22 weeks going on 23 and feeling great! I need to be doing more things like: getting Joe's room painted and cleaned out, making appointments, Christmas shopping, birthday planning, and birthday shopping when I am feeling so good and semi small. I don't want to happen what happened when I was pregnant with Joe and have to get more Christmas gifts at the last minute and have contractions while shopping. Yuck!! I am really trying to spend a lot of time with Joseph before the next baby comes. I am really looking forward to the next one, but I am really enjoying Joseph so much right now. We are trying to get to a lot of parks since it has been some nice weather, but we would love for a cool front to come in. I want to take him to a pumpkin patch to get pictures, but what I want to dress him in he would sweat bullets.
We have started ladies bible class so Joseph gets to see Mark and June during that time. Before we leave, I say "lets go to class and you get to see Mark and June", and boom, he is at the door saying "Mark, Mark, Mark." He loves that little guy.
We are getting ready and thinking a lot about Halloween. I can't decide what he should be. It is either going to be a Farmer or a Yell leader (thanks Meghan for the great idea).
Joseph is starting to say two word phrases which has been really cute. He is really into "reading" to himself. When we go to read books at nap and bed time, he will grab a book, place it in his lap and start mumbling and doing motions that Jeff and I do for those certain pages. Very entertaining. He is almost 2, and I have to say the 'terrible 2's' hasn't really kicked in. He says 'no' a lot!! I've told people, he doesn't usually do it out of defiance, but it is more like a question or response. For instance, when we give him something, he will say,"thank you, " we reply, "your welcome," which is concluded with him saying, "no." We can't really figure it out. I think he is going to be really shy like Jeff and I both were. He doesn't really care for people to talk to him or anything. I was just like that. Just let me be...I am fine sitting here not having a conversation. Joseph is a lot like that. When it's his cousins, he is pretty much right there in the middle, but anyone or anywhere else he is right by me. This is where 'no' comes into play a lot. People say "hi" he replies, "no."
Just wanted to give everyone a little update (Thanks Stacey and dad for the motivation.) Sorry it has been so long.
Oh, my doctor does want to do a follow-up ultrasound at 28 weeks to keep an eye on the fluid cyst. She said my triple screen came back good, so we should be in good shape, but I am more than happy to get another ultrasound...more pictures of my William, or Ethan or Christian ;-) (Just some names that we are interested in).

Insanely warm October day at the park.

(Sorry for the insane close up, but he grabbed the camera as soon as I snapped it.)

Notice the non-matching pj's? I need to do what Courtney did on her blog. I need to take a picture of when Jeff gets him dressed, compared to when I get him dressed. Jeff says this matched because they were both green with dinosaurs. ;-) Love you babe!