Twins!

Everyone says Joseph looks just like Rich (but with more hair-we hear that ALL the time!) They even have similar birthmarks on the back of their heads! Here they are hanging out in the park with their similar outfits, and as Rich told me, "We're twins!"

No comment needed...

Camping with Alligators!?!

On Saturday we ventured about 30 minutes south of Houston to Brazos State Park. It was a beautiful day so we packed a picnic lunch and went on a short hike in the park. One of the reasons why we went down was to also check out the camping sites that the park offers for a future get away; however, once we arrived in the park we saw these signs all over the park.

We pretty much ruled out a future camping trip here once we saw these signs and found out that you can't swim in the lakes due to the alligators...that just doesn't sound like that much fun to me!

On the hike we did see an alligator in the water and thankfully it stayed there. Of course Rich had to stop and take a picture but I kept walking (quickly) with Joseph as it was only about 15 feet from us and I was having visions of it emerging from the water and chasing after us. Rich had just finished telling me that alligators can run about 20 mph-I know I'm a runner but didn't really want to spend my Saturday being chased by an alligator!

Can you see him there? I think he was looking at Rich!

We'll stick to just visiting the state park for picnic lunches and short hikes and bike rides!

Had to put the bottom picture of J in...I think he was telling me he had enough pictures!

Kickoff to summer

What says summer better than lemonade stands and a day at the park? The weather was beautiful in Atlanta-almost too beautiful, close to 90 most of the days, so we spent a good amount of time outside working off all of the energy that the boys had to bottle up for the graduation festivities.

Michael and Nona made lemonade one day and Michael set up shop at the end of the driveway. Brought back memories but prices have definitely gone up since we were kids!

I love how J is looking at Rich, maybe thinking "So, this is how you do it, Dad?"

"Lemonade, $1.00, please!"

Michael and all of his thirsty customers!

Cousins!!

When we were in Atlanta last weekend Joseph met his cousins, Michael and John, for the first time! It was so fun to see the boys together. Michael, who will be 4 this October, LOVED Joseph. It was so cute to see-he was always kissing "baby Joseph", or hugging "little Joseph" or asking about "cousin Joseph". It is going to be so much fun watching these boys grow up together.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any great pictures of the 3 boys together but I guess that is to be expected with 3 boys under the age of 4!

"Baby Joseph" doesn't look so much like a baby with Michael holding him!!

The End of an Era

This past weekend we flew to Atlanta for Katelyn's highschool graduation. Katelyn's graduation marks the end of an era-all 9 of the Ducotes have now graduated from Marist High School. At the graduation the president acknowledged Rich's parents and gave his mom flowers-they set the record of 9 children graduating from the school! Katelyn will attend the University of Georgia in the fall, following in Greg and Brent's footsteps. The weekend flew by but it was so fun to see most of the family and to celebrate Katelyn.

Chillin' in Nona's fruitbowl-sitting on his own now!

On our way to graduation-had to wake him from a nap so he was kind of out of it!

Congratulations Katelyn!

Joseph hanging out with Dad during graduation

Love this picture!

Yum!

Gotta love those sweet potatoes!

Mom, I've got this!

3, 4 and 5

Joseph has been lucky enough to have Nani celebate his 3 month, 4 month, and 5 month birth days with him. We were in San Diego for his 3 months and she came to Texas for his 4 and 5 month birth days. Hoping we see her for 6 months, too :)

March 7th, 2011-3 months
April 7th, 2011-4 months
May 7th-5 months

They're Not Boy Scouts!

On Saturday, May 7th, we went to look at a few homes in the morning but came back in the early afternoon because Rich told me he had to be at work for a drilling of a well and had to leave around 1:00. He came back around 2:30 as I was putting Joseph down for a nap. Rich said that he would put him down and asked me to go to the front door because there were some Boy Scouts selling magazines and he gave them $20 bucks and wanted me to pick it out. I totally believed him when he said this-he has a soft spot for Boy Scouts and whenever they are selling anything he buys it from them. I opened the door to the apartment and didn't see anyone and my first thought was, "I can't believe those Boy Scouts-they took the 20 dollars and left!" I should have known better than that-a Boy Scout wouldn't do that! I then looked down the stairs to the 2nd floor and sure enough my mom, dad, and sister, Laura, were standing there. It didn't register at first-I saw my mom first and actually thought, "The mom is selling the Boy Scout magazines-where are the boys?" Ha! Then it registered and I think I screamed and then teared up. My sister, Laura, has a conference in New Orleans this week so she flew out a few days early and planned it with Rich and my dad to to surprise both my mom and I. My mom thought she was flying to Phoenix for the weekend to see my dad's mom and she found out in the airport in Phoenix that they were actually coming to Houston! They stayed through Tuesday and we had a great time. We celebrated my mom's birthday, Mother's Day, went downtown Houston, went to The Woodlands to check out the homes that we were deciding between and to check out the community there, spent some time at the pool and just had such a nice time together. Thanks to Laura, Rich and my dad for pulling off an awesome surprise and an even better long weekend!

RIP Linz and Bri :)

5 months

Joseph turned 5 months on Saturday, May 7th! We celebrated by buying a house and having a special surprise visit by my mom, dad and sister, Laura. Just a normal 5 month celebration :) Can't wait to see how we celebrate 6 months!

He is definitely an active little guy and just so much fun. His smile and laughter are contagious and his chubby cheeks and thighs make you just want to eat him up :) He started rice cereal on Sunday and LOVES it. Mouth wide open and just sucks it up...but, really, would you expect anything else? He is definitely his father's son! He will roll from one end of the room to another and can sit up on his own for a bit. Growing like crazy and just can't wait to see all of the changes in the upcoming months...here are a few pictures of our 5 month old!

5 months today!

I had to put the one of him sleeping in here since he is holding on tight to his buddy, Sophie!

Happy, little dude!

Gotta love Buffet

Nothing like celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a little Jimmy Buffet! The guys put on their aloha shirts and we headed to this beautiful outdoor pavilion right in the town where we have almost bought our home (more to come on this later!!!) We opted for Shock Tops instead of margaritas and sang along to all of the favorites and had a great time. Joseph hung out in the lawn on a blanket and then passed out in the carrier on Rich for most of the concert-I think he definitely will be a parrothead!

Aloha!

Joseph and I had a great time in Hawaii for the past ten days visiting with family and friends and enjoying all of our favorites one last time (for now at least). We had a slumber party at the Martins for a few nights, caught up with all of the girls, visited with my friends from work, hung by the pool with all of the kiddos and spent some quality time with family. I felt good leaving knowing that we made the best decision for us but it is also great to know that we have such wonderful people to visit when we go back. Plus with technology today it really doesn't make everyone feel so far away...however, after the plane ride I have to be honest and say that I don't really have any desire to do it again anytime soon (or at least without Rich.) Joseph was close to perfect but I didn't get any sleep and was so sick of singing "hush little baby" in his ear all night long to keep him close to perfect that it definitely made for a long flight.

Aunts and Uncles

Rich and I feel very fortunate to have awesome aunts and uncles and have great memories of all of the fun experiences with them growing up. Now that we are parents it has been so fun to see our brothers and sisters become aunts and uncles to Joseph-they are awesome aunts and uncles, too! When Joseph and I went back to Hawaii we spent most of our time with Laura and Dave and we had such a great time with them. We also spent the day with Uncle Mark and Joseph is one lucky little guy to have so many aunts and uncles that love him and that are so great with him.

First Easter

I am sure Easter next year will be more exciting for Joseph when he is able to eat all of the chocolate and jelly beans, but we still had a nice Easter this year celebrating his first. After spending 7 hours on Saturday looking at homes, we opted to just relax at home after church and make a nice Easter dinner together. We'll save the egg hunts for next year!

Being silly before church

Ready for church

Ready for bed