Teaser

We apologize for the amount of time that has passed between posts but we had to take an Olympic Break and then there's been sicknesses and general busyness. Here is a taste of what we've been up to. Thanks to Grandma Lynette and Aunt Jacquelyn for some of our pictures.

Uncle Josh scaring Joel at Christmas

Getting ready for the day

Hanging out in Joshua Tree

Joel enjoying his first swim lesson.

Out to Dinner at Mommy's Birthday celebration

Turning 5 Months

Our little guys is turning 5 months old. Boy, how time flies! Joel wanted us to post these pictures so he could tell you what he's been up to!

I met my mommy's cousin and Rock Star drummer Ryan who was down from Washington.

I learned that I can grab my feet and put my toes in my mouth.

I like to chill out in my robe after a nice bath.

I have a rough time going to sleep sometimes, but it helps when I put my blankie over my eyes and rub my head. My mommy and daddy think it is a little silly.

I have totally mastered the art of rolling over and now I roll off my activity mat. I plan to make it all the way to the kitchen soon ;)

I REALLY like playing with my daddy.

I like to stick my tongue out when I giggle :P

I like to cuddle a lot when I am sleepy.

I like to take the books from my parents....

and read them by myself.

Most of all in my 5 months, I have learned that my Mommy and Daddy love me very much!

Merry Christmas and Joyful New Year (updated)

Joel is also doing a lot of kicking and talking and here is a video to share it with all of you. We knew he was going to be pretty active, but Wow!

We had a great Christmas celebration and here is a video of some pictures since our last post. They include some bath photos, Christmas photos, and playtime photos. [fixed]

He rolled over? But How?

Hey everyone,

Sorry it's been a little while but with Jessica back to work, there's a lot less time to write. We recently had a great time taking pictures with Kristy Sola, one of Angelica's friends from Colorado and the results were fantastic. I hope you enjoy some of the family photos.

Also, just this morning I was yelled at from the other room by Jessica so naturally I came running. She proceeded to tell me that she had placed Joel on his stomach and turned her head to sort some laundry. Next thing she saw was him lying on his back staring up at her. We promptly put him back on his stomach to see him do it again, but he only got more frustrated so we let him off the hook. Just so you know, we were not completely surprised because we had seen the signs coming. He has some tremendous abdominal and lower back strength, so we thought it was only a matter of time before he actually flipped himself. We eagerly look forward to the next time so we can actually watch how he does it.

These are a few of our favorite things

• When after fighting sleep by crying for a while, he gives a sigh of defeat and we know that he's on his way to sleeping.
• The way he grips your finger as if to say "don't ever let go".
• When it's 2 or 3 in the morning and you're completely exhausted and he looks at you and smiles.
• He just discovered that he enjoys his fingers in his mouth. He'll be fussy for you, but you can put him down and he'll calm himself down just by sucking his thumb. (and other fingers)

• When he's happy, he smiles and throws his arms down almost saying "hands down you're the best."
• He will look left and right, back and forth almost compulsively for minutes on end. It's almost as if he sees 2 things, one on each side, that he wants to look at and doesn't want to miss the other thing while he's looking at the one.
• While sleeping in a beanie the above mentioned behavior results in the beanie coming down over his eyes all the way down to his nose, and sometimes he sleeps that way.
• He will mainly sleep in the following position: flat on his back, legs bent, arms back behind him flat. Almost like the police have said "freeze" and that's the way he decided to sleep.
• He has recently developed some dance steps, while standing he has trouble balancing and keeping his legs straight all the time, so goes up and down and all around in his own way.
• He may have the cutest little pouty face in all the land. If he uses that when he's 3 and asks to have something, it's going to be very tough to say no.
• He loves the outdoors, whenever we take him out for a walk he just calms down and takes it all in.
• His eyes get so big when he's excited and it usually followed by THE cutest smile ever. If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing this smile, you are missing out!! Sorry there isn't a picture, we haven't been able to capture a full smile just yet because we are too busy enjoying every second of them.
• He has taken to sticking out his tongue so much so that he is now known as "Mommy's Little Lizard"

2 Months Already!

Joel had his 2 month Doctor's appointment where they measured and weighed him and the doctor is quite pleased with his progress.

Since his first cry we have heard many different unhappy noises from him and are getting quite good at determining what each of them mean. But after he got 3 more immunization shots at his Doctor's appointment we got to hear a new one. This one is similar to the "not happy where I'm at" cry but mixed with "just hold me" and what we're calling "I hurt and I don't know why." As if all of his cries aren't heartbreaking enough this one cuts right to our core. It is sad to watch our precious child so unhappy when we can't explain to him that why he is upset is to try and ensure his health in the future. The good thing is that the pain is temporary.

He has been smiling for a couple of weeks now and can hold his head up on his own for a few minutes at a time. He is starting to "talk" using "Ooooh's" and "Ugglah's" it is very cute. He just rolled onto his side last night, so we've got to keep an extra special watch on him now. His eyes focus on things all over the place so it's fun to have staring contests.

Two months into this side of the journey of parenthood and it is tremendously rewarding. We both have felt a sense of the profound meaning of our lives. Our monetary jobs cannot compete with the joy found in the job of raising our child.

Here are some pictures:

Halloween Harvest Time

Happy Halloween everyone! This is Joel's first "Holiday" and we had a lot of fun dressing him in his Jack-O-Lantern (thanks Jen!) and skulls outfits. We got our pumpkin at the Strawberry Farms Pumpkin Patch this year and Jessica impressed us all with her Pumpkin carving skills. Pretty good for the first time, eh? Of course we took pics to share, so here they are.