On the Mend......

Things are looking up here at our house. Joel has had a bad cold for three days and he is starting to respond to his medication, which cuts back on the number of times a day I have to listen to him scream when I wipe his runny nose! That is a GOOD thing! We have been nebulizing him at night before bed and that seems to help him sleep. He has been sleeping through the night for the last several nights again, so Mommy and Daddy are happy about that. He also looks like he feels better. This afternoon I put up the Christmas tree in his room. The tree has been there for a couple of days but I put the lights and ornaments on. He was so funny when I plugged in the lights to see if they worked! He stopped dead in his tracks with his mouth open and said "Wow!". From that moment on he was VERY interested in what Mommy was doing! Unfortunately he was taking the ornaments off as fast as I was putting them on, so we didn't make much progress. When Daddy got home he gave Joel a bath and I hurried up and got the tree done. Joel absolutely LOVES it! He just stands and stares at it in amazement. I'm sure he will drive me nuts trying to take all the ornaments off (he has one Elmo ornament in particular that he yanks off at every opportunity!) but I'm just happy that he likes it. Right now he is in there sleeping peacefully with the tree as his nightlight. I found a quote in a magazine the other day that fits perfectly, "I love to watch him as he sleeps. His angelic face rejuvenates my soul for when he will awaken.~Katrina Plum." Good night....more later....

Joel and Daddy reviewing the finished product (or plotting a strategy for ornament removal, I can't really tell!).

We have a picture very similar to this one from last year. What a difference a year makes!

Mommy's Little Helper?!?

Thanksgiving Holiday....

I can't believe Thanksgiving is over! We had Rob's family (all 15 of them!) here for a few days. Joel loved all the attention and was a very busy little guy the whole time. The day after Thanksgiving, Joel was in the Parade of Lights in Archbold for Grandma's Red Cross float. It was really cold and he was more than a little cranky, but he did seem to enjoy riding in the parade initially. Today we watched the OSU/Michigan game for a while (see below) and Joel's nap schedule was completely messed up. It will take a few days I think to get him back on track, but he mostly did fine with all the confusion. He's such a sweetheart! Now we are looking forward to Christmas....Ho!Ho!Ho! :0)

Cousin Alan teaching Joel the "O-H-I-O" routine.

The Ohio/Michigan game......"O-H-I-O!!" Joel was unhappy and cried when people were yelling about the game, so Joel, Mommy, Katie and Aunt Susan went out for a while. When we came back the Buckeyes were ahead and eventually won! Go Bucks!

Joel, Mommy and Aunt Lisa on the Red Cross float for the Archbold Parade of Lights. Grandma made Joel a really cute elf costume, but since it was FREEZING cold you couldn't see much of it! Joel rode the float for a while, but ended up in the truck with PawPaw and Uncle Jason towards the end. Aunt Susan, Sarah, Leigh Anne, and Katie came to see the parade and have pizza afterwards. What a way to ring in the holidays!

Our little elf!

Christmas jammies!...and Elmo slippers! :0)

Thanksgiving Day...."My family is thankful for me".

The Foster Cousins: Kyle (holding the phone with Brandon's picture, since he couldn't be here!), Sarah, Katie, Matt, Alan and his wife, Sarah, and Rachel and her husband, Jonathan, Leigh Anne and Joel.

Such a face! :0( Leigh Anne and Randy were trying to get Joel to make a hand-turkey on an apron (okay, Uncle Randy was technically just the muscle...!). I think it is pretty evident that Joel was NOT amused! Poor baby....the things he has to put up with from us! :0)

One of my "artsy" ideas....I saw a picture similar to this in a magazine and I wanted to duplicate it with Joel. He was not exactly cooperative, but thanks to my niece Leigh Anne we did get a few cute shots. These two are my favorites! Shortly after these were taken, Joel started gnawing on a glittery blue ornament and had blue glitter everywhere!

It's TURKEY TIME!!!! Joel loved the frozen turkey.....I actually caught him KISSING it a few minutes later! Yuck!

Joel was so excited when I put up the tree! I put up this one for Foster Thanksgiving/Christmas and it was sitting in the living room before we moved it to the three-seasons room. Joel came out of his room, stopped in his tracks, and said "Wow!" with a great big grin on his face! He is so amazing and precious to us...it is fun to see things through his eyes. We have a picture similar to this from last year. We will put a small tree in his room again with his ornaments on it. He should love it! :0)

He's so adorable! (Even with the glowing red eyes!)

Time Flies...

I can't believe that it is less than two weeks until Thanksgiving already! We are busy getting ready to host the Foster side of the family. Rob always says we need people to visit more often so we are forced to clean our house! Unfortunately, I think he might be right on that one! :0) We have been busy with Joel these last several days and have been enjoying the really warm November temperatures. Joel LOVES to be outside, so he has been especially happy! The winter could be a problem... Today Mom and I took Joel to Bass Pro Shop in Perrysburg to see Santa. They have a great Santa, they take a picture for free, and you can take your own picture for free, too. Joel was not too fond of Santa, but I did manage to get two pictures in addition to the one they took, which was actually cute, too. After that we wandered around and Joel got to see all the animals and the giant aquarium. He was jabbering constantly! I think he is getting closer to talking. He says something that sounds just like "What's that?" ("Whazat?") and something else that sounds like "Got it!" when he picks up something. He's growing up too fast for me! Well, it is WAY past my bedtime, so I'm signing off.....More later....

One of two pictures I took of Joel with Santa at the Bass Pro Shop. We started out a litle rocky, but the second picture I took was absolutely adorable! I'm not posting it, though, because we may use it on our Christmas cards.

Riding on the tractor with PawPaw...always a highlight of Joel's day!

Kickin' back with a little Elmo DVD!

Joely giggle-butt! While we were playing outside one day he just took the watering can into the front yard, laid down in the grass, and started giggling like crazy! His giggle is contagious!

Loving the sunshine....and his watering can and screwdriver!

Our little outdoorsman!

One of my favorites....I like his facial expression in this one.

This one is a little out of focus, but I still thought it was adorable! But then I think they are ALL adorable!

Joel and Bailey practicing tolerance of one another! Joel constantly wants Bailey to get up so he can hold her leash, and she constantly wants him to leave her alone! Bailey usually comes out on top, but Joel is becoming more persistent.... :0)

Just chillin' with Dad, watchin' a little TV...... :0)

Big blue eyes! (One of the rare days when it hasn't been 60+ degrees lately!)

Busy Social Calendar.....

Joel was a popular guy this past weekend! :0) Thursday night was Defiance trick-or-treat, Friday was the bonfire in the woods in Wauseon, and Saturday was trick-or-treat in Wauseon! Joel loved being in the woods for the bonfire. He was on the move constantly, checking out the Gator and the 4-wheelers and wandering around in the leaves. He really likes to be outside. He was so busy getting Gator rides from PawPaw and Aunt Lisa that he didn't have time to eat or sit around the bonfire! He would have ridden all night if we had let him. He was sooooo sleepy on the way home and slept hard all night. On Saturday afternoon, I took him to Wauseon to show Great-Grandma his costume and to sit on Jason's parents' porch to pass out Halloween candy. I have never seen that many kids in my life! Joel sat with Uncle Jason on the porch and watched all the people come and go for almost an hour. Once he started to get fidgety, Grandma and I took him back to her house to play with PawPaw and order pizza. PawPaw and Grandma had a John Deere tractor/wagon set for him. He loves it! He likes to hit the button and make noise. He also likes dumping things out of the trailer...but HE'S the only one allowed to do that! He gets really mad if you dump anything without him! Sunday morning he slept until 10:30! We barely had time to get him ready for church. He stayed in the nursery during the service and played with a little girl named Victoria. We got good reports that he did not hit or push her and that they played together well even though she is a couple years older than he is. She also kept trying to feed him his bottle, which he tolerated pretty well. He's a keeper!

Joel with his present from PawPaw and Grandma......a tractor and wagon set!

My little kangaroo, checking out Uncle Jason's Halloween decorations.

Helping Uncle Jason and Erik pass out the Halloween candy. He had so much fun!

On the way home from the bonfire. All that fresh air wears a fella out!

"Now, where's that key...."

Getting ready to ride the Gator....this highlight of his life! :0)