Ideas for the Birthday Boy

Since we've been getting asked what Josiah might like for his birthday.... here are a few things we think he'll love.  For the rest of you with kids, what are/were some of your one-year-old's favorite things?

1. 
   
   Double Bike Trailer
2. 
   
   Wagon (with seats/straps)
3. 
   
   Water Table 
4. 
   
   Busy Ball Popper
5. 
   
   Beach Tent (something easy to tote that provides shade from the sun)
6. 
   
   Walking Shoes!  (giftcard to StrideRite is probably best since his feet are growing fast)
7. 
   
   He likes toys that he can stack/knock down.
8. 
   
   He has a bunch, but he definitely loves Cars.

Happy Father's Day!

You're silly,  you're sweet, you're steady and you're always there for me.  You make me smile, you make me laugh, you make me breakfast.  You sing, you dance, you make crazy noises, you cheer me on, you swing me around.  When I was really little and didn't feel so good, you rocked me to sleep, you bounced me to sleep, you walked me to sleep, and split the night-shift with mommy.  You taught me early about how cool sports are, especially college football... and I'll always be your little football buddy. Fridays are our special days together.  I'm so lucky to have a dad like you, and I hope I grow up to be as great of a guy as you.  I'm sad when you go to work in the morning, but I get soooo excited when you get home.  I sure like to make you smile and I hope you have had a GREAT first Daddy's Day. "I love you da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da!"

~Josiah

Baby #2

Haha!  No, we're not pregnant!  And here's a big reason why:  We have 48 days left to find a renter for our condo.  Which means... assuming we find a renter, we will be moving in less than 2 months?!  Holy Crap!!!!  (If you're wondering what the heck we're doing... call me and I'll explain!)  And... if you know anyone looking for a place, let us know!!! 

In other news, Josiah is starting to stand up without holding on to anything... and my guess is he'll take those first steps before his 1st birthday!   First Birthday!???  Crazy... it's only 1 month away!! The party-planning is well underway, although packing & moving now has to fit into my time somehow too.  And we're back to considering finding a new home for the Shelby-girl.  :(  Josiah is definitely the instigator, but Shelby isn't too tolerant of him chasing her and pulling her hair or ears or face... and the more she growls, the more he laughs and tries harder... and the worse she growls/snaps.  So...we're obviously not getting rid of Josiah...and that leaves us little choice for Shelby. Ughhhh.... tough decision.  

And with all that going on... don't even ask when we're gonna have baby #2!  haha!  Eventually... but not right now!   Instead... enjoy some more pictures of the cutest little boy ever:  Click Here for Entire June Photo Album

Favorite things

I'm too sleepy to write much, but I just thought I'd at least post a couple recent pictures (especially for those of you who aren't on facebook).  I know I've really slacked on keeping this up... but I've been busy chasing my little explorer.  A few updates on our 10 1/2 month old:  he's recovered fully from Hand Foot & Mouth that he got last week... after the 103.5 fever broke, it didn't seem to bother him much (and what a creative medical name - ha!)  Cars & trucks are definitely some of his favorite things to play with.... well, that and "big kids" He loves to play with the older kids... although he also likes to play with little babies' feet!  He enjoys being read to and will even cuddle with me if we watch one of his PraiseBaby or Cedarmont Kids videos. {Love it!} He's still a great eater... peas, broccoli, bananas, pasta, cheerios & whatever is on someone else's plate are his favorites.  He's starting to transition to taking formula out of a sippy cup... now just 3 bottles a day.  He's sleeping like a champ:  7:30 pm-7:00am (or like today - 8am!!!), with a two hour nap in the morning and another hour or more in the afternoon.  He loves the water!  He loves to climb stairs and he does NOT love to be held down for diaper changes & getting dressed... what a little wiggle worm!  He's a very active, curious, fearless boy but he's truly so much fun and he makes me laugh all the time!  I can't believe he'll be one in just a few more weeks!

Silly Silly

Purge & Declutter: Week 4

We got another room on our list done! Yay! I'm loving this plan.... slowly but surely... my house just might get organized! It's all leading up to the grand finale of our Junk (ie: guest) room. When we clean one room, and don't know what to do with the extra junk, that's where it goes. That room is gonna take several weeks! But we'll get there eventually!

So last night we cleaned and reorganized our BACK PORCH. It was piled with boxes, trashbags and a thick layer of pollen. Now it's cleaned, decluttered, and it's a play-space for Josiah! It only took us one hour to totally transform the space! I had gotten these foam letters at the thrift store for $7 and yesterday I found this great activity table on craigslist for $20. It was going to be a birthday present, but we had nowhere to store/hide it, so he gets it early! We'd love to close in the porch so he could use it year round, but for now, I think I'll just hang some waterproof curtains (ie: shower curtains) to deflect any rain and it'll be good for the summer. :)

I forgot to take a before picture... but here's the "after" (I do still have curtains to get and I want to hang some lantern light-strings I have too):

Purge & Declutter: Week 3

We did our bedroom & laundry room two weeks ago, so this past weekend, we tackled the kitchen.  We started by cleaning out the fridge, freezer and pantry, and that took long enough, so that's as far as we got.  For the last couple weeks, we've been trying to eat out of what's already in our freezer & pantry.  It's a great way to save some money on the monthly grocery budget, and it's good to eat up things before they expire.  So by cleaning things out, we were able to make a little inventory list of what's left, so I can plan meals around what we already have.... and that's quite a bit since I like to stock up during triple coupons and when things are on sale! Josiah enjoyed this week's cleaning day... there was all kinds of fun stuff in that pantry for him to play with!

Here is the before picture (the picture doesn't do justice to the mess that it was... things were falling out every time we opened the door):

During:

And the final, clean, organized, AFTER picture: