I Have A Confession to Make....

Okay, this is pathetic, but when I was looking at my camera card tonight I discovered that I have taken 505 pictures since December 15. Holy cow! Now, in my defense, that does cover lots of holiday get-togethers, and we do have the cutest baby ever. How can I help myself? :0) I was able to delete about 75 of the worst ones, so that's a little better! I can't help it.....I'm obsessed with taking pictures of our beautiful boy! Oh well......

Checkin' out the new toy box.

A determined little boy with his favorite noisy toy! :0)

My little blonde angel!

So stylin'! :0)

This is how our goofy son fell asleep yesterday while taking his bottle. I thought it was a fluke, but he assumed the same position this morning with his bottle while he was watching Elmo. Doesn't look comfy to me, but he must like it! (Notice also the "one slipper off, one slipper on" thing....also a standard!)

"Is my camo working? Can you see me? I'm not very good at hiding quietly!"

My little man on his way to church. He's always a hit with the other people trying to listen to the sermon!

Curly top!

So adorable! I love this picture a lot!

Sleepy time....

Well, PawPaw is here visiting while Grandma is at a Red Cross meeting. Everyone is asleep but me! :0) Joel was entertaining PawPaw for a while, but then they both crashed. Joel was awake from 2:45 until 4:30 last night. Grrr........Mommy lost her cool briefly but he eventually fell asleep. I'm starting to think he won't sleep through the night until he is a teenager! :0)

I love this picture! His little bare baby toes are sooooo cute! :0)

My little punkin!

A rare moment of cooperation in the pack and play.... :0)

"You've got the cutest little baby face!"

Joel in his shirt from Hawaii. I thought it would be too big.....guess not! It says, "I may be small, but I am still the Big Kahuna"!

Demonstrating his obvious musical genius! :0)

New Elmo zippies!

"What the heck is on my feet?" These slippers are a riot! He keeps them on his feet, but it's like he sees them once in a while and it freaks him out. He grabs at them and kicks, but then moves on. His feet are size 3-4 already!

Progress!

Yeah! This morning Joel woke up and his nose was neither snotty nor crusted shut! This is a MAJOR accomplishment for us, since he has had a runny nose since before Christmas. His last Nebulizer treatment was Sunday night, and he seems to be doing okay without it. He did wake up in the night last night, but I rocked him back to sleep with a bottle and he slept another 4 hours. I will have to post pictures later of him in his new Elmo slippers. What a hoot! :0) More later...

FYI.......

Yes, I DO still have my Christmas tree up! That is my goal for the day, but so far Mr. Joel has had other plans!

'....I'm a rough and rugged John Deere ATV!" (This is part of the song that one of the buttons plays on the ATV. Once it gets in your head you can't get rid of it!)

Love this one! He's ALL BOY!!!!

Helping Daddy with laundry!

Updates.....

I haven't been on the blog for a while....life has been busy! Joel continues to grow by leaps and bounds almost every day. He is certainly no longer the helpless little creature he was in the beginning. He is a Big Boy! Rob and I just got back from a week in Hawaii for a Starkey Leadership Conference, and Joel spent the week with Aunt Lisa, Uncle Jason, Grandma, and PawPaw. I'm pretty sure he has them all wrapped around his chubby little finger at this point! :0) He did really well while we were gone. He actually started pulling himself up to a standing position and got two top teeth while we were gone. His hair is getting thicker and curlier, especially when it is wet. He is babbling all the time and is rarely quiet. He is an accomplished crawler and I spend most of my days trying to keep him out from under the coffee table and out of Bailey's food and water. He's constantly on the move.....and may be my new weight loss program if I have any hope of keeping up with him! Before we left on our trip, I called the doctor to renew his prescription for his wheezing. They told me that they would not refill it until they saw him, so I hurried up and ran him out to the clinic for that. To make a long story short, he ended up needing a Nebulizer for a week while we were gone. I felt REALLY guilty about leaving him then (not that I didn't feel bad enough already!) but he did well with it. He is still fighting a runny nose and sometime cough, but hopefully he is feeling better. He actually slept through the night the last two nights for us....it's a miracle! :0) Before we knew he had to go to the doctor, Rob and I put him in his Christmas sled and took him out in the snow. He was unsure about it at first, but was smiling and giggling by the end. I think we had as much fun as he did! My favorite thing lately is when I cuddle him with his bottle before he goes to sleep. It's about the only time he is still anymore, and it fulfills my need for a "baby fix"! He's so adorable! Today we played for about an hour with his John Deere ATV that he got for Christmas. He can straddle the seat now and holds on to the handle bars while I say "Zoom! Zoom!" and push him around the room. He is definitely heading quickly toward toddlerhood.....too fast for me! More later.....

That's better!:0)

Joel started out not too sure about the whole sledding thing. He did seem to like the ride Daddy gave him down the hill, and was smiley by the end!

This is our new "I do what I want" face! I'm seeing it more and more these days as he gets more independent!

Sweet silly smiles!

I love this baby.....

Well, it's official, I am completely in love with our baby boy! (As if I wasn't already! :0) ) This afternoon when I went to get him from his nap he was on his knees smiling and talking. I picked him up and out of nowhere he threw both arms around my neck and buried his face in my neck and gave me a HUGE hug! He was so giggly and happy! Of course, now I feel even more guilty about leaving him next week. :0( I think he really changed a lot over the last two weeks and is looking more and more like a little boy rather than a baby. I'm hoping my hug wasn't his attempt at warming me up for a long, sleepless night! It's my night to get up with him and he did not go down easily for his Daddy. Fingers crossed that I get at least a little sleep tonight.......Good night!

Off to the doctor....

We took Joel to the clinic today for his "Well-Baby" check up. He weighs 21 pounds, 9.5 ounces and is 28 inches tall! Dr. Foldvary said that he is in the 75th percentile for non-preemies in both weight and height. He also said that his growth and development are "perfect" and that he is exactly where he should be in both categories. We're so proud! The doctor also checked his hips, knees, and ankles and predicted that he will be walking within four weeks. That's too fast for me! He also gave us some tips about feeding and sleeping patterns. Hopefully something works soon....these late nights are getting ridiculous! More later...

Ten months old already....

Today is Joel's 10-month birthday. It doesn't seem possible that his first birthday is just around the corner. He continues to be the joy of our lives. Today was a rough one for him (and me too!) because he had me up all night. I'm not sure what was going on, but he refused to be comforted and cried a lot. I finally put him in his swing for the first time in a long time and slept on the floor of his room. It was minimally successful, but he did sleep a little bit. I wish I could say the same for me! He is crawling all over now and pulling himself up on his knees. He has tried standing a couple of times, but can't quite do it yet. He also seems to bang his head into stuff a lot. It seems to bother me more than it does him! He likes to sit on his knees in front of the three-seasons room doors with his hands on the glass and look out. I think he can see his reflection. He also is saying "DaDa" a lot, usually only when Rob is around. We think he might know what he is saying. Now if I can only get him to say it in the middle of the night! Tonight is Daddy's night to get up with him, so we'll see how that goes. Happy Birthday, baby boy! We love you SOOOOOOOOO much!

Loving all that curly hair!

Ten months....and a fairly cooperative photo shoot! (This is one of my favorite bear shots yet!)

All boy! (Except for maybe the blue fuzzy polar bear jammies!)

One of Joel's new favorite past times, and the reason why my windows will never be clean again!

Christmas with my side of the family....

We had Christmas with Grandma, PawPaw, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jason on January 2 in Wauseon. Joel was sort of catching on about tearing paper by then, but he was still mostly interested in the bows and the boxes! He got lots of great gifts, including a little sit-on ATV, a sled with his name on it, and a music machine. The John Deere hat was a hit, too! He was very cooperative most of the day and even took a couple brief naps. It was a really good day, one that I have looked forward to for years and years. Joel fell asleep in the van on the way home. He was one tired little Christmas elf!

More stylish headwear!

So cute!

Joel and his Grandma.

Pretty blurry, but I really liked this picture! The John Deere hat was a hit!

He loves this sled! He laughs really hard when we pull him around the living room. So far it has been too cold to go outside, plus there hasn't been enough snow. Hopefully soon.....

Getting ready to unwrap his John Deere ATV. Guess who's idea THAT was? :0)He actually likes it a lot!

Christmas at Grandma and PawPaw's house.