Tressa in town!

My dear friend, Tressa, from Geneseo, came to visit us for 4 days in early April.  It was so FUN to see her and we had a wonderful time catching up, hanging out and checking out some of the sights in The Woodlands and in Houston.  The first day we spent roaming around Market Street and Waterway Square in The Woodlands.  

Then on Friday we went up to Lake Conroe (20 minutes away) to get some sun and hang out at the lake. 

Joseph crashed out after playing in the water for most of the day!

  On Saturday Tressa and I got away for a few hours during the day and went downtown to Rice Village to have lunch and to walk around Memorial Hermann Park.

  Rich also stayed home with Joseph on both Friday and Saturday nights so Tress and I could go out to dinner and drinks which was awesome to get out two nights in a row!!

Rich sent me the following pictures while Tressa and I were out over the weekend

 She was great with Joseph and just kept me laughing the entire time she was here-she is definitely one of my funniest friends!  Hopefully our next visit isn't too far away and we just loved having her here!  

16 months!

Joseph turned 16 months on April 7, 2012!  Such a fun and busy age this is.  We celebrated the milestone with his first trip to the ER.  Joseph has gotten very good at climbing the couches but on this occasion he was climbing down and became twisted and fell and bumped the back of his head.  He seemed to be fine after a little bit of crying but about 30 minutes later he ended up throwing up and this worried me so we decided to get him checked out to be sure.  The entire car ride there he sang, pointed to his body parts (since I was quizzing him to test his cognition :)  and talked up a storm.  Rich really wanted to turn around to go back home but I convinced him to go just to be safe.  Thankfully the wait wasn't very long and after an exam by the doctor we were told he looked totally fine and nothing to be worried about-no bump or anything.  I probably overreacted but better safe than sorry and at least I was able to sleep that night.  This probably won't be our last trip to the ER with him and just hoping that all visits are as easy and as positive.
The days with our busy little boy are energy packed and just so much fun.  He loves running across the room to give hugs and his new favorite thing is to pretend sneeze, "Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, ahhh-chew!"  He keeps us laughing with all of his silly antics (such as only whispering "poppa", scrunching his nose, and his singing on demand "la la la").  "No" and "mine" are pretty common these days and we're still waiting patiently for that first temper tantrum but so far he is just a mild-mannered, happy little guy!

Happy 16 months Joseph!  We love you!

Easter 2012

We had a wonderful Easter this year and it was even more special since my mom and dad were in town. Joseph was totally into the Easter Bunny and every time we saw a bunny or eggs he would make his bunny noise of "Phhh, phhh, phhh."

Easter morning he went straight for his basket-next year the bunny will have to step it up with the hiding spots! Don't mind the Christmas pajamas on Easter...I almost changed him before we started taking pictures but he was too fast with the basket-oh well!

We made a big breakfast and then went to the 10:30 mass (which we couldn't hear or see anything-I think they should reserve seats in the front for people who go to church on a weekly basis!) but we did get some cute pictures after.

We then went to the nature preserve a mile from our house and did a little hiking.

And then finished off the day with a nice dinner and the infamous bunny/Laura's birthday cake (we thought of you Aunt Laura!

Happy Easter!

Poppa and Nani's Visit

We were fortunate enough to have my parents come to visit over Easter-my mom was here for an entire week and my dad for a long weekend. We had such a great time and are so glad that they came! Joseph took to them immediately and woke up every morning calling for "Na-na" (Nani) and then whispering "Poppa." Yes, you read that right-whispering. He ONLY whispered Poppa and still only whispers it. It is the cutest and funniest thing. He'll be jibbering in his normal voice and then every time he says Poppa he goes into a whisper. Hilarious. Check it out:

It was just so nice to show them our normal routines and to have the extra sets of hands around, too!!

We showed them around The Woodlands...

We spent an afternoon at the splash pad...

Spent lots of time outside at the parks...

And just hung out together...

It was such a great week and I can not wait until this summer to see them again!! Thanks for coming Nani and Poppa. We love you both.

Backyard Fun

One of Joseph's favorite words is, "out", so we have been spending a lot of time outside. Here are a few fun pictures from the weekend:

Taking the kitchen outside

More water Dad

Loving the water table from his friends in our Tuesday playground for his birthday

Favorite thing to do at the water table!

And, he took a quick break to help Daddy with the yardwork!