No catchy title

No catchy title for this post...just some fun pictures from the past week and weekend.

Check out the hair-growing in nicely!

His torch of the day!

Climbing the stairs is one of his most favorite things to do-getting faster and sturdier each day

Helping mommy wrap a gift

Almost to the ceiling-weeee!!!

Again, again!

On Saturday we went to the hot air balloon festival at NASA space center-really neat with a lot to do but unfortunately the hot air balloon liftoff was cancelled due to the wind. Super bummed that it didn't happen but it was fun to check everything else out...our little astronaut!!

Joseph and I are off to San Diego on Tuesday to see the fam and to meet cousin Sydney, who arrived on Friday!!! Yay-we are so excited!

Outdoor weekend fun

When we found out that Rich was offered the job in Houston, mostly everyone said to us, "Houston is hot!" When we moved here everyone in Houston told us 2 things: 1. This is the hottest summer we have had in years and 2. If you can get through the months of July and August then the rest of the year is beautiful. Yes, the summer was hot, but we spent a lot of time at the pool and there are a ton of things to do inside (especially for kids once Joseph gets a little older) so we made it work. Now we are into the months that are great and we are really enjoying them. The mornings stay cool (60s-70s) so are great for getting outdoor workouts in and then by the afternoons we are in the 80s. Supposedly it stays like this through December and then will get a little colder and then warms up again. With all that being said, we spent the entire weekend outside! Here are a few pictures...

Playing in the front yard waiting for Dad to get home on Friday night

We walked to a park on Saturday where they were having a wildflower festival-it was free and they had so much to do-petting zoo, bounce houses, face painting and an obstacle course where they would give you an air gun and you would run around shooting at targets (only in Texas!!)

Roamed around Market Street on Sunday and checked out one of the many restaurants

Mmmm, black beans!

The Wedding

Drew and Alicia's wedding was Sunday evening so after a relaxing day the 4 of us got ready and headed downtown Houston.

The venue was beautiful and Alicia was gorgeous!

We had a great time hanging out with everyone and of course dancing the night away!

I love this picture below...Mike was telling his version of stories of when Rich and I met and how we ended up together! He had us all cracking up!

The guys in the picture below all served in Afghanistan together. Drew was injured very badly in Afghanistan but thankfully has made a full recovery-the wedding was exactly 7 years to the day of the accident so it was very touching to have all of the guys together again on this day. As the preacher said at the ceremony, what was once remembered as an awful and almost tragic day can now be celebrated as the best day of his life. Pretty amazing.
We were up way past our bedtime celebrating and were all dragging a little on Monday-Joseph, like most babies, doesn't quite grasp the concept that when we are up later he is supposed to sleep in-so we'll be in bed early tonight but it was an awesome night and weekend! Congratulations Drew and Alicia!

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend our good friends from Hawaii, Wil and Amy, came to Houston for Drew and Alicia's wedding. Drew, Wil and Rich are all West Point grads and although they all graduated in different years, they ended up in Hawaii working together and became great friends.

Wil and Amy flew in on Saturday morning and we had a great time showing them around The Woodlands. We had lunch at The Counter which is a great burger place which was one of our favorites in Hawaii as well. No loco moco on the menu here but the sweet potato fries were just as good! We were too busy catching up so didn't take any pictures there but here is a cute one of Wil and Joseph getting to know each other.

Saturday night we all went to the pre-wedding party at a fun Texan BBQ joint downtown Houston. It was so fun to see a bunch of our Army friends from Hawaii and Joseph was a hit with his cowboy hat. Joseph and I left around 9:00 when things started to get a little crazier-he was passed out by the time we got on the freeway-and I was thankful to get a good night's sleep since I knew the next night was going to be a late one!

Unfortunately he wouldn't keep the hat on long enough for me to get a picture.

Joseph's Jewish Uncle Mike! Recommended dress was country western, hence all the plaid!

We had such a great time catching up with Wil and Amy and are so happy that they came for the weekend! Can't believe that it had been over 3 years since we had seen them last-love that we picked up right where we left off and hoping to see them again soon now that we are all back on the mainland.

10 for 10

Joseph turns 10 months on October 7th-we have entered the double digits and are so close to the big 1! Ahh, not sure if I am ready for that! Thought I would write ten fun things about our little guy for his ten month birthday.

1. He makes the best faces right now (as I am sure all babies do.) Sometimes he'll take his bottom two teeth and bite his upper lip with them so just the 2 teeth are sticking out-hilarious!

Couldn't get the teeth but you get the point-see here for another favorite face.

2. Our nicknames for him: Bugaboo (or Bug for short), Slim, Slim Shady (that's Rich's), Bud, Buddy and Buddy Boy.

3. He is out for the night by 7:00 and sleeps until 5ish when he wakes up, eats and then goes back to sleep until around 7:00.

4. He loves to eat and hasn't found anything that he doesn't like so far. If we eat after he does he will pull himself next to us and basically beg for our meal as well.

5. Often he will hold on to a toy (or a random household object) and carry it over his head while he is crawling, cruising and playing for a long amount of time. We refer to this as his "torch".

Last week when we were painting his torch was a piece of blue tape.

6. He is afraid of the vacuum cleaner and the blender. Thankfully he doesn't wake up so I can vacuum while he is napping (I guess thankfully :) and we are trying to warm him up to the blender but so far he still wants nothing to do with it.

7. "Da da" is his favorite thing to say and I'm not gonna lie-by the end of the day a "ma ma" would be nice every once in awhile.

8. Pointing is his latest trick and he spends most of the day with one arm in the air pointing at whatever is close by. He normally makes a noise that sounds like "hmmph" when pointing or says "da da" (again no "ma ma".)

9. He is one busy boy. Yesterday I had a big box that I brought into the house thinking he would stand next to it and practice cruising around it-he decided to climb on top of the box instead. (I really wanted to get a picture but it was a little too dangerous for me to leave him on top to get the camera-tough decision to make to forego the picture :)

10. His little laugh is just contagious and his big smile just make my heart so happy. He has brought so much happiness to our lives these past 10 months and we find ourselves cracking up constantly with him and about him every day!

Busy, busy, busy

Our little guy is busy, busy, busy!

From the kitchen,

to the living room,

to the foyer,

to the bathroom

and even outside...signs of the "business" in the knees (and the picture really doesn't do them justice)! Figure there are many more pants like these in my future.