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+.

Pickin' Pumkins

Today we went to a Pumkin Patch. It was a beautiful day. Joe was so interested in the hay and not the pumpkins. It was so hard to get him to look and smile for the camera. Does anyone know of a place that does hay rides and the cost of them? Please email me if you do (kirklin_ag03@yahoo.com). Thanks

PRAISE!

Joseph was just released from all his hydronephrosis. We don't have to do anymore ultrasounds, unless he has unexplained abdominal pain or urinary tract infection. Thank you for all your prayers and encouraging words.

Here is video of Joseph crawling. He started to "really" crawl on Saturday. The other video I am trying to get him to clap(which he can do), but he would rather go after a block by my feet...lets just say he gets flustered.

Results

I talked to Joseph's pediatrician and Joseph's hydronephrosis looks much better. For those of you who don't know about this condition, it is fluid around the kidney's. It was found during one of my routine ultrasounds. From here we will see his urologist next Wednesday and probably have another ultrasound in 6 months. Joe's doctor said his right kidney looks great and his left kidney has been downgraded from a "hurricane to a tropical storm." Please keep Joe in your prayers.

9 Months

I can't believe I have a 9 month old! Joseph and I went to Dallas for a week and what a week it was. We tried so many new things. He has really started getting around. I think his "crawling" is going to be an inch worm/leap frog type of crawl. He really crawled on my parent's pool table but hasn't really crawled on the ground. We started some real table food: pancakes, french toast, crackers, cheerios, fries, and mashed potatoes. (real healthy, huh?) It was just a great week. He is really turning into a boy and not acting so babyish anymore. He likes knocking things down, looking at trucks/tractors, and playing with balls. He is already becoming independent. He likes to be put down more than held, which is kind of sad...miss that baby stage already. However, he is really starting to know when I am not in the room and if other people are holding him, he really wants me. Makes me feel good. This age right now is by far my favorite!!