Our Little Party Animal

Joshua sure likes to party. And that's good because he went to three birthday parties during the month of February. His best buddy Ayden turned 2 at the beginning of the month. His birthday was on a Thursday, which is when our small group meets, so we celebrated by eating brownies and ice cream. He got a train table for his birthday! The kids loved playing with it. Joshua didn't want to leave. Good thing he goes over there everyday and gets to play with the "choo choos" all the time!

I just had to add in this picture of Grace on Ayden's birthday. Isn't she a cutie? No wonder Joshua loves her!

His buddy Caleb and his girlfriend Grace also celebrated birthdays in February. Caleb had his 2nd birthday party at Bounce U. They have private rooms with all kinds of blow up bounce houses and slides! Joshua was in Heaven.

Bouncing with Zach and Ellie

The Birthday Boy, Caleb!

I think Joshua and Ayden thoroughly enjoyed the cake at Caleb's party.

We left Caleb's party and came home to nap...all three of us took naps......ahhh......bliss! When Joshua got up we went to Grace's 1st birthday party at her house. While there he helped himself to quite a few M&Ms and obsessed over the balloons tied to Grace's highchair. (He left from her house with one of those balloons, just so you know.)

Notice Joshua eyeing the balloon on the back of her highchair.

Leaving with his balloon!!

I believe the J man is now an official party animal. If any of you need someone to come to your birthday party to liven things up just let us know.

And I just have to add that he is the CUTEST party animal around!!

Tennis Pro in the Making

We've taken Joshua out to play tennis a few times in the last month or so. He absolutely loves getting out there and running around the courts with his "nennis wactet" and "nennis ball". Derek has played tennis for a long time and would totally love for Joshua to grow up playing tennis. Hopefully this crazy weather will go away soon and leave us with consistent warm weather and sunshine so that we can get out there and play some more.

Our Memorable Mountain Adventure

An adventure is right. One that we won't soon forget.

(You may want to make sure you've got some time b/c this is gonna be a long one.......)

I mentioned in my last post that we were going to the mountains for a fun and relaxing weekend with friends. We started out on our adventure by heading to Albemarle late Thursday night. We decided to break up our drive to Black Mountain so that Joshua would tolerate the ride a little better and so that we could try and get there before the snow started. We also wanted to go visit Derek's grandmother on Friday morning. She fell a few weeks ago and is in a rehabilitation center for a few weeks. We left our house after Joshua went to bed and he slept most of the way there. He woke up when we got there and decided he didn't want to go to bed. At 2:00 Friday morning I couldn't take anymore...I needed some sleep. Derek told me to go to bed and he would get Joshua to sleep. He ended up taking Joshua out for a drive and they ended up at Walmart. I'm sure people were wondering what in the world a man was doing there in the middle of the night with a toddler in his pajamas. Joshua finally fell asleep on the way back to the house at 3:00 in the morning. He woke up once again at 6:00 that morning. Let's just say that that was a long night. We were quite tired on Friday, but we did get ourselves up to go see Grandma. It was great to see her, and I think she really enjoyed having Joshua there. When went out to lunch with Derek's parents and grandfather before going on our way to Black Mountain.

Oh Black Mountain.....you are not my friend......

Joshua usually naps after lunch, so it worked out well. He slept for about 2 and a half hours of the almost three hour trip. We were glad that the trip seemed to be going so smooth for us. With about 20 minutes left in our trip the snow started falling. We were hoping to beat it there, but we were glad that it had held off that long. We got off the interstate and headed up the road on the mountain toward our cabin for the weekend. Christopher, Kara, baby Caleb and Brooke were just a few minutes behind us. (Jeremy was coming up later that night after work.) The road wasn't getting that slick yet, but the snow was definitely sticking to it. We encountered a truck trying to pull a trailer up the mountain that was slipping around quite a bit. Shortly after that we realized the road was getting slicker, so I called Brooke to tell them to hurry up at the grocery store and get on up the mountain for fear that they wouldn't be able to make it up. Right as I called her we went around a curve and the mountain sloped down. The back of our car swung out a little and caused us to start swirving/sliding. Luckily there wasn't a car on the other side of the road, or we would have hit it. We weren't driving very fast, but with the downward slope we picked up momentum and Derek wasn't able to regain control of the car. We crossed the center line and crashed into the side of the mountain that was solid rock. We weren't going fast, so it wasn't a huge dramatic crash, but it was a crash nonetheless.

My.poor.Honda.got.beat.up.by.a.mountain.

It was almost like the mountain took a bite out of the front of our car and spit us out. We weren't even going fast enough to make the airbags go off thank goodness. I was still on the phone with Brooke, so I let her know we needed to go. I was in shock to say the least. We were able to drive a little ways and park the car off the road out of the way of traffic. It was scary, I won't lie. The Lord was definitely watching over us and providing for us along the way. A good samaritan who was a short ways behind stopped to offer some help. He offered to drive us up to our cabin, so we unloaded all of our stuff into his car. He got part of the way up the next part of the mountain...the steepest part....but he couldn't get all the way up to where we were going. It was pouring snow at this point and the road was completely covered in a thick layer. Our new friend, Kerry, who stopped to help us offered to take us to his house so that we could figure out what we were going to do. I was freaking out. I was nauseous and felt like I was going to pass out, but Derek stayed calm and held it together for us. He was determined to figure out what to do. He called AAA and they said no they wouldn't come during the snow storm. Kerry was afraid to try to drive us back down the mountain for fear that he wouldn't be able to get back up. I thought we were going to end up being stuck at their house the entire weekend until the snow cleared up and someone could come rescue us. Kerry and his wife Michelle started cleaning up the house for us and preparing their guest bedroom because we figured there was no other choice. We were so very grateful for them being so generous and hospitable to us. It was an awkward and tense situation, but they were trying their best to make us more comfortable. A few hours after we got stranded on the mountain Brooke called and said her parents were driving from Asheville in their four wheel drive Expedition to try and rescue us. We were afraid they would end up getting stuck too, but a little while later they called and said they were there! They were only able to get up to where our car was, so we loaded up our stuff and carried it all back down to their car. An hour after that we were safe and warm inside their BEAUTIFUL home in Asheville!!! Christopher, Kara, baby Caleb and Brooke made it to Brooke's parents' house about an hour after we did. They got stuck on the interstate and were stopped for a few hours. What should have been a 20 or 30 minute drive ended up taking several hours. Jeremy, who was supposed to be getting to the mountains last beat us all there....ha! We were just all happy to be together and safe! Brooke's parents were so very generous to host us the entire weekend. We stayed in their beautiful home with lots of fun stuff to play with and lots of space to run around in!

On Saturday we went outside to sled in the FOOT of snow!!! We had sooo much fun! Joshua loved the snow once he warmed up to it. He was not the biggest fan of trying to walk in snow that covered all of his legs. Every time he tried to walk in that he would fall down. He was much happier walking in the tire tracks that had packed down the snow. He seemed to enjoy the sledding somewhat but was perfectly content to just sit and play in the snow. He loved the snow so much that when it was way past lunch and nap time and I tried to take him inside he screamed bloody murder and held onto the door frame for all it was worth. He was determined he was not going inside!

Derek and Jeremy put on garbage bags and slid down the mountain on their backs. They went pretty fast that way. Joshua even got to ride on Derek's belly down the mountain.

The rest of Saturday was spent soaking in the hot tub outside in the snow, grilling a yummy steak dinner, and playing pool and the Wii! It was a great day!

On Sunday we packed up and headed for home. Christopher and Kara drove Joshua and me home. Derek rode with Jeremy and Brooke to Charlotte and then drove Brooke's car to our house. She was going out of town on business and didn't need her car, so she graciously offered to let us borrow it rather than having to pay to rent a car. We have such wonderful and caring friends!

We need to give a big blog thank you to the Kelley's for rescuing us and inviting us into their home! It was a crazy but wonderful weekend! The next time we plan for a trip to the mountains, though, I think we'll go when it's warmer!

*Thanks for making it all the way to the end! I started this post a week ago, but it was so long that it took me a week to finish it....ha!

The Cement Won

Joshua fought the cement and the cement won.

A New Year with Friends

We celebrated New Year's Eve by having our friends from our little dinner group over to our house. We use to get together every couple of months for dinner by rotating houses before Brooke and Jeremy moved to Charlotte. The three of us couples that remain in the Raleigh area still try and get together every now and then, but we really don't do a very good job of it. We were so excited that Brooke and Jeremy were going to be in town for New Year's. It was really nice to have all four couples back together again! Since the last time we have all been together our group size has grown by quite a few.....by three children to be exact! We celebrated by not having dinner....ha.....so much for it being a dinner group! We decided to make it a little easier on ourselves and to meet up after dinner and just do appetizer type foods. We had some yummy food, and no one had to do a lot of work for it!! I think Joshua enjoyed having so many kids over to play with. He was pretty sad when we made him go to bed at 9:00. It was a great night and a great way to ring in the new year! Brooke and Jeremy spent the night, so we were able to spend a little extra time with them the next morning before they left. It was nice to be able to catch up with them.

Joshua enjoyed meeting Emerson

He also gave everyone goodnight hugs before he realized we were actually making him go to bed.

The girls and kiddos (minus Joshua who was already in bed b/c we forgot to take pictures of all of us beforehand)

The whole group with Joshua ;) added in

We are looking forward to this weekend when we will be heading to the mountains with Brooke & Jeremy and Kara, Christopher & baby Caleb! We can't wait for some time to get away and relax with some great friends! (We wish Alisa, Jason, Evan and Emerson could join us, though. We'll definitely try to do this again guys!) Hopefully the weather won't be too bad since they are calling for snow. We would LOVE to see some pretty white snow in the mountains, but we would not love to see bad driving conditions ;).

Jo Came to Visit and I'm Just Now Blogging About It

We sure do love our *Johanna around here! Since she lives forever away we don't get to see her very often. She came and spent the night with us a few days before Christmas on her way to Virginia to spend Christmas with her family. She and I met up with our best girlfriends from college at El Rodeo for dinner the night she arrived. That seems to have become the norm with us girls when we get together. The next day we had Bojangles for breakfast...yummm, did some shopping and ate lunch, and then met up with K-lu (Jo's mom and Joshua's third grandmother) to drop Jo off and go our separate ways. It was sad to say goodbye after we had only been together for all of 23 hours. BUT the good news is that I'm going to visit her at the beginning of March!!! I can't wait to go to Texas and see her life! I haven't been to visit her there since 2006.

*For those of you who don't know......Johanna was my college roommate. We went pot luck our freshman year and got put together. The only reason we were assigned a room together was because she lied on her rooming forms and said she was a neat person. I quickly found out otherwise (as my side of the room was usual clean and neat and her side was less than clean and neat ;)), but I already loved her too much to live with anyone else. We became fast friends and are still the very best of friends to this day. Love you, Jo!!

18 Months Old

Joshua,

You are 18 months old now. You seem so grown up to your daddy and me. Everyday you impress us with something new you've learned. One of our favorite things you do is chant our names. We also love it when you yell out "BBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSS" every day in the car when you see a bus! We love your zeal for life! You are so pure and innocent about the things of this world. You share your emotions with us about exactly how you're feeling about something. Sometimes that's not so fun for us. You have definitely started throwing temper tantrums. You fling yourself onto the ground and roll around all the while screaming at the top of your lungs. Many times these tantrums are for no reason in particular....at least that we can figure out. I'm learning to just laugh about them and learning to enjoy this stage that you're in. It's normal behavior for a toddler your age, and we are so very thankful you are developing how you should be and are healthy. Joshua, you are still the joy of our lives! You put a spring in our step every single day. I wake up every morning thanking God for another day to be your mommy. I love you baby boy!

We went to see your doctor the other day for your 18 month check up. She said that you look great! Here are your stats at 18 months old:

Weight: 25 lbs 7 oz (45th percentile)

Height: 33.5 in (80th percentile)

Head Circumference: 19 in (60th percentile)

Here are a few things you've been up to lately:

-still a great eater....you eat just about everything we give you....bananas are still your favorite!

-still love balls....you can throw a ball really far (been doing this for quite a while), you can kick a ball, you can shoot baskets in your new basketball goal

-talking like crazy....every day we discover a new word you know.....you are starting to put words together (for example....bye bye mommy, night night daddy)

-LOVE busses and trucks.....and you have a ton of these around our house to play with......one of your favorite trucks is a monster truck Ashley gave you for Christmas that zooms across the floor with cool sound effects and beeps when it backs up....you have started saying beep beep when you drive any of your trucks backwards now

-love George......he is your Curious George stuffed animal that Ashley (apparently she gives good gifts) gave you when you were just a little baby last year.....he sleeps with you every night and goes many places with us.....you can call him by name which is super cute!

-love sitting at your little table we gave you for Christmas....there is usually a stuffed friend sitting in your other chair (George or Bailey bear), and you can very often be found sharing a snack with that friend

-Dancing!!......you LOVE LOVE LOVE to dance!!

-can jump off the ground.....you have been trying to jump for a long time but have just in the last few weeks started getting off the ground when you jump....I love your determination!

-are a good listener.....you have your moments, but for the most part you listen to us and others very well

-give bear hugs!!!.....these are some of mine and daddy's favorite things EVER!!......you wrap your little arms around us and squeeze us tight and give us a little pat on the back......oh my how I want to bottle that up and keep it forever!

-can recognize many people by their picture.......YaYa, Grandma, GaGa, Mommy, Daddy, Grace and Ayden are some of the most frequent ones

-can say quite a few animal sounds.....a few animals include dog (ruff ruff), duck (tuack tuack), cat (yow), cow (moo or boo)

-love to read books and have them read to you......you usually must turn the page when mommy is reading you a story

-this age is so much fun....we are absolutely loving everything we get to do with you right now!!!

(Like always, I'll probably have to update this list b/c there are always things I think of later.)

Joshua, we just want you to know how much we love you and are so very thankful for each day that we have you! We praise the Lord for picking us to be your mommy and daddy. I don't know what we did to deserve such a sweet little boy!

Christmas Post....Better Late Than Never

I'm trying to catch up....promise. I just wish I wasn't so OCD about keeping our posts in the order that we lived them. I know I'm leaving out some stuff we did in December before Christmas, and well, we'll all just have to live with that. One thing I could mention quickly (b/c we have absolutely no pictures....thank you sweetheart) is Jeff Knapp's wedding. He is a very good friend of ours, and he married the sweetest girl before Christmas. Jeff and April are such a cute couple, and we couldn't be happier for them! Their wedding weekend was a blast! Joshua broke it down on the dance floor for hours at their wedding....he was quite a sight!

Now on to Christmas 2009!

Since we weren't going to be home on Christmas morning we decided we would do our little family Christmas Eve morning. We got Joshua a rocking airplane (think rocking horse that you ride on but it's an airplane), a cute little lego table and chair set (it has a smooth top that covers the lego top so he can use it as a regular table too), and a broom and dust pan just his size. He has been obsessed with our broom for the last few months. Any time the pantry door was open where we keep the broom he would run in there to get it and try to sweep the kitchen floor. The only problem was that he always smacked himself in the head b/c the broom is so much taller than him. Now he has his own broom that stays in the pantry with our broom. He has used it quite a bit since Christmas. It is so sweet to see him actually spot dirt on the floor and try to sweep it up for me. Did I just admit that we actually sometimes have dirt on our floor? Just pretend you didn't read that.

He was so excited when he came out into the living room and saw his gifts around the tree. He immediately ran over to the rocking airplane and got on for a ride. So far we've only had a few instances when he falls over the front of it b/c he's trying to turn the propeller. Santa got Derek and me a new GPS system! We were so surprised to find that wrapped under our tree. He knew just what we wanted! ;)

We left our house shortly after we opened our gifts to head to Albemarle to start our family Christmas celebrations. We were able to get to 6 family Christmas celebrations, and we did it all on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! I think we should win a prize or something. When went from Albemarle to Concord to Albemarle to Concord to Gastonia. It was so special getting to see so much of our family for Christmas, though, and we were glad we made the rounds! By the time we went to bed on Christmas Day we were completely exhausted. Joshua had been having some trouble sleeping the few weeks before Christmas for some reason, but that night he had no problem. He was one tired little boy. The fact that he ran laps up and down the hall at Derek's aunt's house chasing his older cousins may have had something to do with that.

We had a wonderful Christmas, but none of it would have been possible if it weren't for Jesus! Happy Belated Birthday Jesus! Thank you for being our wonderful, loving, gracious, forgiving Savior!

First Hair Cut

Joshua got his first haircut the week before Christmas! I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about it although his mullet was getting a bit out of control. I wanted to just take him to one of those kid places that will stick him in a plane or car chair and let him watch some tv while someone cut his hair. They send you away with a certificate and a lock of hair. That sounded kind of neat to me for his first haircut. Derek, however, had his own idea. He wanted to take Joshua to the barber in Albemarle where he had his first haircut and had continued having it cut there his whole life. I bet you didn't know we have to make special trips to Albemarle sometimes just for Derek to get a haircut. Well now you can add Joshua to that list. I guess you could say I lost that battle. So the Saturday before Christmas we drove to Albemarle just for a haircut. GaGa and Poppy joined us at the barbershop to be a part of the momentous event. Jeff the barber was thrilled to have us all there and to have the privilege of cutting Joshua's hair for the first time. Joshua did great!

He was a little unsure when the strange man he didn't know sat him up in a chair and then turned on the clippers! If you now Joshua, you know that he is not a fan of strange or loud noises.

GaGa stepped in and held his hand, and he just sat there like the sweet big boy he is!

Jeff gave him a sucker for being so good!

We are so proud of him! He looks so old with his big boy haircut.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving.....that was in November 2009, and we are now in January 2010. Let's see if I can remember what exactly we did for Thanksgiving.

Like usual we ran around like crazy people. Our morning started off with a clothing change for little man. I had gotten him all ready to go. He was wearing a nice outfit and looked quite handsome. Derek graciously offered to take Joshua outside to play while I finished getting myself ready and packing our things for our night away. Just a minute after they went out the door there was a knock at the door. I figured they were just playing with me so I kind of ignored them. Just a few minutes later I heard Derek requesting I come help him get a VERY dirty Joshua in the house. You see, Derek had a cyst removed from his wrist just a week before Thanksgiving, and he wasn't able to lift Joshua like he needed to to get him in the house because J-man was fighting him every bit of the way. Apparently he was having the time of his life playing in the mud and wasn't at all interested in coming inside. Anywho, let's talk Thanksgiving.

We headed to Albemarle to have lunch with Derek's mom's side of the family. There were so many of us all squeezed into his grandparents house, but we had such a good time! It was nice to have all of the children together. Joshua got to play with all 4 of his cousins! We aren't able to get all of them together very often, so those times that we do are precious.

For dinner we headed to Concord to have Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family. My mom hosted dinner since she is finally in her house! It was great to see it coming together, and we had a great time with my family!

The day after Thanksgiving we spent some time with at Mema's (Derek's dad's mom) new house in Gastonia.

And we went back to my mom's house for dinner with my cousins on my dad's side of the family. We haven't gotten to see them since Uncle Linn went to heaven in July. It was a bittersweet time of missing my dad and uncle but also enjoying our time with the ones we have left. We left Concord that night and drove back home. We got home late and were exhausted, but we were able to pack a lot into two days.

We had a great 2009 and had much to be thankful for!