Kemah

Hmmmm. Even thinking when asleep (Notice his finger). He was so tired after Kemah...literally pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road and he was gone.
All aboard! Ready to ride the train with ticket in hand.
Mark jumped in at the last second with a great smile...Joe had a big smile too but I missed it.

Our little bundles of joy and Courtney. (L-R) June 1 1/2, John 1, Joseph 1, Jack 3, Mark 4, Luis 1, Lauren 9 mo, Allyson 2. I was thinking after taking this picture how fun it is going to be to get to show them this years down the road...hopefully we will all still be around here. This is such a great group of mom's and babies and I feel so blessed to be able to stay home and get to enjoy our little get togethers. Today we went to Kemah and played, had a picnic lunch and rode the train (it was a great ride for $3).

Taking Steps

Sorry for the short video. I don't have a hook up to my regular camera so I have to use my digital which doesn't shoot long videos.

Just A Mom

A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk Office was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation.
She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
"What I mean is" explained the recorder, "do you have a job or are you just a......?"
"Of course, I have a job," snapped the woman. "I'm a Mom."
"We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation, 'housewife' covers it," said the recorder emphatically.
I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall.
The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like, "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar."
"What is your occupation?" she probed.
What made me say it? I do not know. The words simply popped out. "I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations." The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words. Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
"Might I ask, "just what you do in your field?" asked the clerk.
Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research, [what mother doesn't) in the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family) and already have four credits (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money."
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up and personally ushered me to the door. As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another Mom." Motherhood! What a glorious career! Especially when there's a title on the door. Does this make Grandmothers "Senior Research Associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations" and Great Grandmothers "Executive Senior Research Associates?" I think so!!! I also think it makes Aunts "Associate Research Assistants".

Bouncy Bouncy

For some reason this pictures haunts me...the fact that I am letting my child enter a dark tunnel. Good thing this isn't a real tunnel and just a fun obstacle inflatable at Bounce on It.


Joe making his way through the obstacle course.
I don't know what it is, but my son always gets hurt on slides, even inflatables. Here he is perservering after taking a spill down the slide...I believe he was trying to crawl down it and his arms got stuck and his legs came over him causing his to tumble to the landing pad.

Joe in ball heaven. I think this one and the train obstacle were by far his favorite.

Aeros

Joseph taking in his first Aeros hockey game. We had front row seats and he did really well with all the banging and yelling. What was also special about this night was during the intermission we took him to the food area and let him move around. While we were up there he took 2 1/2 steps!!

Hoop It Up

Here is Joe playing hoops and Grammy getting it on film. I never taught him to do this, he just figured it out one day.

13 Months

13 months today! Can't believe it. He isn't walking yet, but is pulling up more and more everyday and standing all alone more and more. He has nine teeth. He can say 6 words everyday and says many other sounds for words. For instance, his 'more' is 'ma', bath is 'ba', Elmo is 'nono' or 'uhuh', cause he wants me to push the buttons. His new food discovery is Yogurt...oh my goodness! Grammy lets him dip his hands in it and eat it that way...his favorite thing. He can make baskets in his basketball goal. I thought this was pretty amazing. His goal is in our livingroom by our window. The other day I saw him get his ball, place it on the window seal, pull up, get the ball, and then make a basket. My mom got him doing it this weekend on film...I need her to send it to me. Anywho, enough braggin.



His face when he drops something.

Christmas at the Ellis'

We made our way up to Dallas Christmas Eve after we had Christmas at the Kirklin's. Dallas was also a great trip. It was very cold, but a nice little break from the warm weather we had been having down here. Joseph received some other great toys from Grammy and Pappaw and his Aunt Stacey and Uncle Josh.



Joseph in his Santa PJ's. Does anyone else find it hard to get smiling pictures anymore? He is always talking when I am trying to take pictures.

Christmas lunch with Grammy, Pappaw, Aunt Stacey and Uncle Josh. The food was guuuuuuddd.
Our little family Christmas Day.

Christmas at the Kirklin's

Christmas with the Kirklin's was a blast. It was our first with Joseph, since last year he was just four days old and we didn't make it over there. He received more stuff than you can imagine and Jeff and I were equally blessed. Here are a few snap shots of our Christmas Eve.



For the big cousin's gift, Marnie and Poppy got them a train. Here is Joe as the conductor and looking surprised at what's ahead.

Joe sitting in the middle of alllllll his gifts. He was really blessed this Christmas.
I thought our niece June looked so adorable in her pig tails and candy cane overalls.

1st Birthday Party

This past weekend, we celebrated Joe turning 1 and Jack turning 3. It was great food, fun and fellowship. My sister-in-law Lindsay got this really fun moonwalk and all the boys loved it, the girls weren't that into it. Lindsay also made this wonderful baseball cake for the boys. It was just a great day for both our little guys. We are so blessed to have all the friends and family that we do in our lives.

Joe fixing to go down the slide, but first he has something to say.

This cake was so awesome!!! I am stilling eating it!

Joe really wanting his cake. He has never had any until Saturday, so I was surprised he was getting so impatient. Yes, that is an entire half of his cake in his mouth. I never thought he would eat the entire thing. I thought he would just play with it and crumple it all up....nope! And no, there was hardly any in his chair afterwards.
Yes, the cake is all gone....now to wash it down.

One Year

I can't believe it has been a year. It has been such a blessing to have a little one around the house. Some things I have learned over this past year:
I can eat in about 10 minutes.
I can get house work done in 2 hours.
I never thought I would be happy getting up at 7:00 in the morning. One of my favorite things to do is to get him from his room first thing in the morning.
Never thought someone's smile could melt my heart.
I can do a lot of things with one hand.
I feel so blessed to have Joseph in my life and I hope that each new mom out there has had a great first year.

Merry Christmas

I don't know what it is about this video, but I laughed so hard when I saw it. It could have been the lack of food I had consumed in 48 hrs (had the flu this weekend) so I wasn't all there in mind, but I just pictured Joseph making his appearance at the dinner table in this fashion. You may have seen this video already and not have liked it, but I really enjoyed it, hence me wanting to share it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwkZHSbvBIY

First Halloween

John wanting Joe's twizzler (scroll to the bottom to see how it turns out.)

Our little zoo keeper.
A monkey (Grant) on the loose.
Our own little zoo.
Joe and Tigger (and the famous twizzler).

Luis, John, and Joe "Hey John, what's that in your mouth?"
John going after Joe's twizzler.
John getting Joe's twizzler. Joe didn't know what to think when John finally got it. Joe got very serious.

Manna Field Farms

My parents came in for the weekend and I wanted to do something Fallish. I had been asking around about hay rides and someone had told me of this place called Manna Field Farms. So, I went to their web site and it had some really fun stuff on there. So, Saturday we jumped in the car for a 45 minute drive to Angleton and came upon this huge field with hardly anything there. There was this big pillow thing kids could jump on, what appeared to be a homemade slide made from wood and plastic pipes, a hay bale, farm animals that were supposed to be so friendly you could pet them, but when we approached them, there were signs that said don't touch animals, they think your fingers are food. Well, as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, I said to Jeff, lets go...it looked that bad. But we got out of the car and thought since we had just driven 45 minutes lets at least do the hay ride. So when it was all said and done, we paid $10/person for a 10 minute hay ride. Not the best $20 I have ever spent. I guess for older kids it might be fun, but I just didn't not enjoy MFF. I would not recommend taking your youngin' or relatives from out of town to this farm. Also, if you just want to get a hay ride, you could probably sneak on the trailer...they never checked our wrist bands. My grade for MFF is an F+.