More in the Tub

Joseph and I returned from New York last night and Rich called for me to come upstairs with the camera while he was giving him a bath. This is what I found...

Storytime turned wild

Every Wednesday we go to the library for story and song time-it is a great little 30 minute program, Joseph enjoys it and it is free! He always has the biggest smile during it and they change things around enough to keep his active little self engaged.

Today we walked in a few minutes late with our friends so we sat outside of the main circle of moms and babes (granted the people in front of us could have backed up and let us in but they didn't so we were outside a bit of the main group.) We could still see and hear so all was good.

The mom who was sitting in front of us (who didn't back up to let us in) had on jeans and a shirt that were a little too tight so her backside was showing, giving us a nice view of what some call a "plumber's crack" during the entire first half of storytime. Joseph right now is infatuated with belly buttons and I think he saw this nice piece of flesh as a big belly button so decided to go right for it-I didn't see him until he was lifting her shirt up with one hand and sticking his other hand down her backside. EWWWWW!

Must have looked like a big belly button to him!!! I grabbed him as fast as I could and apologized profusely and then gave him a tetanus shot :) Yuk!

My friend and I giggled behind her (awful I know!) but it was pretty funny! I think my little guy was sticking up for us-if she had moved back and let us in the circle it wouldn't have happened! Gotta love the honesty of kids-even 13 month olds!

Ride 'Em Cowboy

Thanks to Joseph's Great Grandma D, he is a little cowboy in training. He loves this pony! Be sure to check out his awesome dance/head moves at the beginning-looks like a headbanger in training, too!

13 months

Now that Joseph is 1, I am still undecided if I'll keep up with the monthly update/picture but at 13 months I am not quite ready to stop so here it is.

He is such a ham!

On January 7th, 2012 Joseph turned 13 months! We spent the week getting back into our routine at home and although we loved our travels it is nice to have him back in his own room and sleeping from 7 to 7 instead of 7 to 4:30 a.m. which is what he was doing for the majority of the vacation!

He is definitely on the go now...I was unpacking after our trip and had the suitcases stacked up and turned my back to put some things away and I turned around to see this:

His little walk is just the cutest and every day he gets sturdier and sturdier.

It is amazing how in such a few short weeks so much can change...from the walking to his comprehension and verbal abilities. He is now a huge fan of pointing out his belly button (and others!), his head, nose, eyes and mouth. A version of "da", "dog/duck" or "dat" is pretty much what he says all day with an occasional "ma" thrown in there. We're in the transition phase of 2 naps to 1 nap-some days he takes 2, some days it is 1 but when he does just take 1 it never seems long enough so we're still working on it! He surprised us in late December with doing "more" from baby sign language and this week has perfected the sign for "eat." (really though, this one didn't surprise us :) We're hoping "all done" is next but thinking that one may be awhile since he has perfected his own personal sign for all done which consists of throwing his food on the floor, with a big smile on his face...makes it hard to discipline him when he is so gosh darn cute!

Happy 13 months little guy. We love you!

Celebrating 2011

We rang in 2012 and celebrated the end of 2011 in San Diego by kicking off the night at Christmas card Lane checking out the lights since we didn't get to go before Christmas. A lot of the homes had their displays down already but fun nonetheless.

The crew roaming the streets

Then headed home, put the little ones to bed and enjoyed Chinese food and some of this:

The "kids" talked about going out for the night but we changed our minds at the last minute and decided to stay in and play games-it was a great decision and we had so much fun.

Our 2011 was filled with many amazing events-enjoying our last few months in Hawaii with great family and friends, our big move to Texas and a new job for Rich, buying a new home, vacations with both families, meeting new friends, and witnessing all of Joseph's firsts throughout the year. Unfortunately the year ended on a bit of a sad note as our little family had a loss, but we are staying positive, thankful for such wonderful friends, family and most importantly, our little boy, and looking forward to a wonderful 2012. Happy New Year!

Christmas in San Diego

We celebrated Christmas a week after the actual day with our family in San Diego. The siblings held out on our gifts for one another so we could all open them together which was super thoughtful of them.

The whole crew-we did get matching pjs again this year but didn't get a picture this year with us in them-next year!

The whole crew with Grandma D and Cali

Sydney and Nani waiting to open presents

Joseph waiting patiently, too

Checking out what her new book!

Joseph checking out his new book, too!

My mom is definitely one of the most creative and thoughtful people I know. This year she started a new tradition (we hope its a tradition at least!) of doing a white elephant game with gift cards. It was a lot of fun and we all ended up scoring big with the gift cards!

All cozied up and just hanging out!
Merry Christmas again!

80 degrees in December

Having grown up in San Diego for half of my life and then having lived in Hawaii for the past almost 9 years I am used to 80 degree weather in December; however, after leaving Atlanta in the 40s and rain, the gorgeous weather in San Diego felt like a special treat! We took advantage of it and spent a lot of time outside while we were there.

Joseph loving the playground!

The rest of the crew at the parkI LOVE this picture of Rich and Joseph-J is laughing, not crying-I promise. I just think it totally sums up their relationship-Rich is just so much fun with Joseph and they are always laughing together. You should hear Joseph's "squeal" when Rich comes home from work every night-its the cutest! I often get jealous listening to the two of them while Rich gives Joseph a bath and I do the dishes :)

We headed to Mission Beach one day to walk around and to catch up with Joseph's Jewish uncle, Uncle Mike. Joseph was giving him kisses as we like to call them (although they look like head butts!)-too cute. It was great to see Mike and to enjoy some greasy Mexican food, too.

We were thankful to come back to Texas to sunny weather in the 70s all week-we are definitely warm weather people.

Baby Sydney's Baptism

Laura and Dave couldn't have planned Sydney's baptism any better-it was perfect! Dave's family came to San Diego to spend Christmas as well so they planned for the baptism to take place while everyone was in town at the Naval base in Coronado on a beautiful San Diego winter day! They asked me to be Sydney's godmother which I am so excited about and Mark, Dave's brother, is the godfather.

We make a pretty good team :)

The delaMontaigne Family minus Bri who had to work. Syd was pictured out by this time!

Joseph saying "I'm glad you're a Catholic now, too, Sydney!"

Pretty blue eyed girl!

This is how Rich and Joseph spent Sydney's baptism ceremony:

and like this:

After the baptism we celebrated at the Village Pizzeria in Coronado.

Joseph with his awesome godparents!

Joseph getting some of his energy out after lunch...can't beat this view-especially in December!!

The whole crew-congratulations Sydney-we love you!

San Diego Cousin Fun

Our second half of our Christmas vacation was spent flying across the country to San Diego to visit with the delaMontaigne family. Everyone was home so it was great to spend time with each other.

Joseph and Sydney met in October and it was amazing to see the difference in growth in the two of them in just a few short months. Love the first picture as we affectionately labeled it the "mouth swipe"-growing up in the dela fam "eye swipes" were a common occurrence, especially on road trips if Brian was sitting behind you, so we were glad to see that Joseph is continuing the tradition!

Both are fans of the dogs!

And we loved getting our hands on our sweet little niece!

And Joseph loved all of the attention from all of his aunts, uncles and of course Nani and Poppa!

Three Boys in a Tub

A visit with cousins just isn't complete without at least one bath one together!

How cute are these three? Again, really hard to get a picture of the 3 of them smiling together-or even looking at the camera since they were way more interested in splashing-but you get the idea!

Mall Rats

The weather was cold and mostly rainy while we were in Atlanta so one day Gina, Amber and I ventured to a mall with the 3 boys to check out the play area and the train. I didn't know malls have trains now but I guess that is the new thing-this train goes through the mall "dodging" mallgoers. Pretty hilarious!

The boys were able to get some of their energy out at the play area and thankfully Joseph only got trampled on once. Well, according to the girl that fell on him, he tripped her :) but everyone was ok so not a problem.

"Not sure what I think about this!"

"I'm gonna get you Aunt Amber"

Michael is such a good big cousin-hardly ever left Joseph's side.

"Whatcha doin' Michael?"

Such a good helper!

This picture just makes me smile of Michael :)

And, after a good amount of time in the play area we went on the train which was a hit and then grabbed some lunch and cookies and called it a day!

Michael and Aunt Amber

As long as the boys don't turn in to mall rats as teenagers we'll have to come back here next time.