Eight is Great!

Ahhhhh!!!  Here we are at 8!  It is so hard to believe that 8 years ago we were in Hawaii welcoming our baby boy (once we realized that he was going to be ok!) and now here we are, 8 years later, in San Diego, in a new home, watching our kind, funny, focused, friend to all, athletic son turn 8!!  We are so happy to celebrate Joseph and have loved watching him grow this past year and can't wait to see what the upcoming year holds for him.  

Joseph just has the sweetest heart and most always makes others feel so good about themselves.  On his birthday morning all three girls (crazy, I know!) were in bed with me when he woke up and he came in and gave each of the girls a big hug, myself included.  He was so pumped that it was his birthday!  Thankfully he isn't too old from hugs from his momma, whether it be at school before he walks to his line, or going to bed or in the morning or at random times during the day (most of the time at least!) He is so great with each of the girls and it is neat to see his relationship with each of them develop and how they are different.  Of course, he has his moments where he gets frustrated with them and with being the only boy, but overall he is patient, understanding, funny, helpful and just so loving to all three of them.  We are so grateful that he is the leader of the kids!  

A few other tidbits of Joseph at age 8:

-He is a very strong reader and loves to read. When he has a book into he does not put it down until it is over.  

-This year he has also developed a strong liking to math.  He has realized that he is pretty good at it and it comes easy to him so is enjoying it this year.

-He is a solid athlete.  We wouldn't say that he is "the best" at a particular sport but he can hold his own and hang in any sport that he has tried.  I truly think that is because he has grit and dedication.  He is focused and when he wants something he'll keep trying and trying for it and always wants to improve.  

-He is a good friend.  People have always just have seemed attracted to Joseph, they like being around him.  I have noticed this about him since a young, young age. He is welcoming and just has a friendly, open demeanor about him.  

-He loves his electronic time!!  The kids get 30 minutes during the school week (M-F) and normally an hour total (give or take a bit) on the weekends with 30 minutes in the morning and 30 in the afternoon.  This time encompasses all screen time, unless we are watching a family movie.  He lives for this time though...to the point where it can be annoying because he can get really focused on it.  Currently he is into playing Fortnite on my phone (which should change now that he has the xbox) but it has been funny to watch his preferences change over the past year.  For any discipline issue I just have to say that you're going to lose electronics and that normally takes care of whatever the issue was.  

-He is definitely growing!  He is a great eater (boy can put down some spinach salad!) and a great sleeper.  He is still asleep most nights by 8:00 (8:30 at the latest if he and the girls are playing quietly together or if he is reading in bed) and sleeps until 6:15 or later.  

-His sense of humor is developing this year.  He likes to be funny and silly and is kind of coming into his own on figuring out how to make this happen...it is fun to watch!  

And finally, he is responsible, hard working, and loving.  We just love him so much!  

He has been asking for an Xbox for his birthday since probably over the summer and we decided to give it to him for his birthday; however, we also decided to play a little trick on him ;). We have begun the tradition of them getting to choose one gift to open in the morning so I had his presents wrapped on the breakfast table waiting for him and he saw the big box and got so excited thinking it was the Xbox. To say he was disappointed when he opened it is an understatement for sure!  He tried to hide it well and even squeaked out a "thank you" once I reminded him but was sad...sad to the point where I hinted that "do you really think that we would have you open up a gift like an Xbox without daddy being here??"  So, that gave him hope for the day and he was able to have a great day at school celebrating his special day all before opening presents that night!  

 He was all smiles going to school!  He recently lost his basketball so once getting over the initial shock of not opening an Xbox, he was excited to bring his new ball to school to play.  He brought in mini muffins to school to celebrate!

 After school we had Julia over and she was sweet to write a birthday message on a balloon for him.  He had received a lego set that afternoon from a friend so he spent an hour putting that together before we headed to Jen's cul de sac.  It's funny because he didn't really ask for any legos this year and definitely is not as into them as years past but when he gets a new lego set he will drop everything and do it immediately...so the love for them is still there!

 Nothing makes Joseph happier than playing with this crew in the cul de sac so it was so fitting that his birthday fell on a Friday and this was just our normal routine!  We made it extra special by ordering pizza and hanging out at Jen's for dinner and celebrating cake.  It was perfect-nothing super fancy but he was surrounded by all of his favorite people doing his favorite things so it couldn't get any better than that!

 

Ice cream pies!  

 After all of the exciemtnet at the cul de sac we came home and finally were able to open his presents!!  I had wrapped up one of the controllers for the xbox so when he opened that he went totally crazy and then Rich went into the office and got the wrapped xbox which of course he tore open and was screaming and yelling the whole time!!!  His birthday wishes came true!!

 

In addition to the xbox, the only other thing that he really asked for was a sleepover with the cul de sac crew so after the holidays we made it happen!  We had 4 boys (it was supposed to be 5 but Jake got sick) come over around 5:00 on Friday night, they had pizza, jumped on the trampoline, played silly string tag, had cake, played laser tag in the dark for over an hour, played some fort nite on the new xbox and his new Fortnite Monopoly game and just had an awesome time!  They are such a great group of kids that it was easy and fun for the whole family!  And, thankfully, they all slept well, too.  Everyone was asleep by 10:30 and we didn't hear from anyone until 6:00 a.m. so I considered that a huge success!! 

Happy 8th Birthday Joseph!!  May all your birthday wishes come true this year and that you continue to be healthy, happy and spread love and kindness to all you meet.  We love you so much!!!