Joel finally noticed the frog hanging from his car seat the other day. He was so cute just staring at it!

Getting more and more curious....

Happy Memorial Day!!!

Too pooped to party!

Party time!

Joel went to his first party this weekend at Abel and Jenny Quintero's house. He was SOOOOOOO cute in his little Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts! Rob wore his Hawaiian shirt too, so they would match. Joel was fun at the party. He LOVED the loud music and the dancing and didn't make a peep all night. He was flirting with all the little girls too....especially Abel and Jen's daughter, Sarah. He would smile at her and making little happy noises while she tickled his toes. It was adorable! He is starting to really develop a personality, and it is fun to watch him react to things. I have started giving him a teaspoon of Karo syrup in his midnight bottle. Many people have suggested this, as it is supposed to help with gas and fussiness and promote sleeping. It is also good for constipation! He did sleep better last night, but that probably had more to do with the party than anything else. We re going to Wauseon for Memorial Day tomorrow....Mom has a little flag for Joel, so I'll definitely have to post pictures of that! Good night....

One of the moments I live for.....

Daddy and Joel in their tropical shirts for Jen and Abel's party.

All smiles in his swing!

This is the first real smile I have caught on film. I know the picture is blurry, but I don't care....it still makes me smile!

He looked so cute in this outfit....it's one of my favorites!

Joel in his baptism outfit.

Catching Up...

Whew! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind! Joel's baptism was on the 17th. The day went really well and he was well-behaved during church, so that was a good thing! We had 43 people join us at the church and at lunch afterwards, including Rob's brother from Mississippi and his aunt from New Jersey. We were so happy that everyone wanted to come and spend the day with us and our little boy. We lucked out and his original baptism outfit did fit after all. He was adorable, but I guess that is stating the obvious, right? :0) Today we took him to the doctor because he was scheduled to get his first round of baby shots. He weighs 10 pounds, 11 ounces (!) and is 21 1/4 inches long. He is in the 75th percentile for preemies and the 25th percentile for full term infants. (I'm not sure, but I think that means that he is bigger than 75% of preemies his age and bigger than 25% of full term infants his age? Someone help me if I am wrong on that....) We saw the nurse practitioner rather than the doctor, and she said that Joel looks really good and is doing very well. I was concerned that he was gaining weight too fast, but she said that preemies tend to gain weight a lot faster than full term infants until they catch up. His growth should start to slow down a little bit in the next month or so. We don't have to go back until July 31, when he will get his next round of shots and probably be switched off of the high-calorie infant formula. He was NOT happy about the shots, but he did settle down once it was all over. He has been pretty much passed out since then and is still sleeping. I'm sure his night time sleep will be thrown off, but hopefully he will feel better and not spike a fever or anything. All is well with the Fosters....hope everyone is fine and enjoying the warmer weather. More later... Oops...I forgot to mention that we have had our first trip to the ER! :0( We took Joel to the hospital on the 15th at around 12:30 in the morning because his stomach was hard, he was screaming and gasping for air, and I was worried about feeding him all night loong in case he had a blockage or something. He screamed his head off at home, but of course once we were at the hospital he had fallen asleep! I'm sure they thought we were nuts, but better safe than sorry I say. Of course, they said he was just a little constipated and there was nothing to worry about unless he continued not to go to the bathroom. The problem was solved the next day with a power poop, so I guess they were right! :0) I'm trying not to be the crazed first-time mother, but I can't stand it if he is in pain. Hopefully we don't see the inside of the ER again for a VERY long time...

So sweet!

Nice kicks!

On his way to church on Mother's Day.

Time flies. Sigh....

I just realized that Joel is ten weeks old today! He is soooo darn cute! AND...added bonus...he is starting to sleep a little better at night! He is really starting to develop his personality more and more. I don't care what anyone says, he DID smile at me this morning when I went in to wake him up and melted my heart.(Supposedly it is too early for him to do that. Whatever. My kid is a genius!) I took him to pick up Bailey from the groomer today, and she said he was "a chubby little thing". Excuse me? My son is NOT a chubby little thing. He barely weighs nine pounds and is almost three months old. Grrrr. Anyway, I have not yet tried on his christening outfit because I am afraid it won't fit. We have a back up plan, but I really hope it fits. This is going to be a big weekend for him! He continues to be the light of our lives. Even Bailey seems to run into the house straight to his cradle after she has been outside for a while. It was funny...we were walking the other day with Bailey and Joel both and one of the big neighbor dogs ran at us barking and growling. This has happened before, and usually Bailey hides behind Rob. Not this time! She got herself in between the stroller and the dog and gave it right back to him! See...she loves her little brother! :0) I hope to post some more pictures tonight and will definitely have baptism pictures next week. Time to feed the baby! Good night....

One of my favorite pictures!

Big Boy pants! :0)

Two months old-May 4. He looks SO BIG!!! He only weighs a little over eight pounds, but check out those thighs! I miss my little baby!

One month old--April 4.

8 Weeks Old and Counting...

I can't believe Joel is 8 weeks old already! He is such a beautiful baby and really does bring so much joy to our lives. I've been having some "mommy issues" lately, since he does cry a lot and seems to me to cry more when I have him than anyone else. Add to "mommy nerves" the fact that we aren't sleeping much and not getting much else done, and I have been pretty tense lately. Today was good. Rob, Joel, and I went to Toledo and went to Babies R Us, Once Upon a Child, and Dillards. Plus, Rob finally got to eat at IHOP again! He was so goofy about "introducing" Joel to the IHOP experience. He is such a good daddy! We took a bunch of stuff we didn't need anymore to Once Upon a Child and made $71, so that was nice. Best of all, we were able to find a really cute baptism outfit for him at Dillards for REALLY cheap! It was much nicer than anything I had looked at before, and this alleviates the stress of trying to have one made, even though Grandma was willing to try. I'm sure he will be totally adorable, if he doesn't scream through the whole service. Oh well, this too shall pass. We love him and that is not going to change, no matter how much screaming he does. Get used to it, buddy! Good night all, and enjoy the pictures.