Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Ya Ya and Grandma!!

Big News!!!

Guess who's crawling???

That's right folks, Joshua is on the move!  He has been so close for several weeks that we just knew it had to happen sometime soon.  He's been rolling over, crawling backwards (sort of), and finding his way to just about anything, but he could never quite get the hang of moving forward on his hands and knees and would always fall on his belly.  Well, Sunday night at church he finally figured it out!  He has been crawling all over the place since then, and we are well aware of what else needs to be put away and moved out of his reach.  He looks so stinkin' cute crawling around!  I love it!  Derek was so excited when he walked in from work Monday night and Joshua excitedly crawled over to him and reached up for his daddy to pick him up!  It was awesome to see!  I wish I would have gotten it on video.  Don't worry, though, we've gotten plenty of video now of him doing his thing!

Over the weekend we got to have lunch with my good friend Ashley and her mom.  I wrote about her dad a while back.  Her dad is up here in Durham having a defibrillator put in.  Hopefully that will take care of the heart issues he's been having.  It was so nice to see them!

On Sunday we gave Joshua a whole banana to eat, and he devoured it!  He's eaten mashed banana before but hasn't gotten to feed it to himself whole.  He loved it and made a huge mess for his momma to clean up!  It was fun to watch, though!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Aunt Britney!!

We love you lots!!!

We're in Trouble

So I laid Joshua down for a nap this afternoon and went in to check on him about 15 minutes later since he had finally quit playing and gotten quiet, and this is what I found.....

As I sat there and watched him for a moment he even started pulling up on the side of his crib.  Luckily he can only get to his knees, but it probably won't be long before he gets to his feet.

I'm thinking this is going to be a common occurrence.  Guess I know what we're going to be lowering when daddy gets home from work.

8 Months Old

Wow, it's hard to believe my little Joshua is already 8 months old!!  He is changing daily.  It's all I can do to keep up with him.  He is so close to crawling right now.  He goes from sitting to being on his hands and knees, but then falls on his belly when he tries to move.  He is scooting backwards some, though, and he can roll to get to anything he wants.  Today for his birthday he decided to show us a new trick!  Joshua went from being on his tummy to a sitting position.  He first did it during nap time so no one saw him sit up, but then I got it on video tonight!  That one simple trick has opened up a whole new world to him.  He will roll to anything he wants and then sit up at it to either play or reach what he wants.  He has also started to pull up on some things.  Right now he only gets up to his knees, but I have a feeling it won't be too long before he gets up to his feet.  With all of his mobility Derek and I will be going out and purchasing baby-proofing paraphernalia on the double this weekend.  Our house is no where near ready for his curious little fingers!

Side note.....Joshua had his first antibiotic last week.  He got pink eye from the nasty cold he had a few weeks ago and when we took him to the doctor about it we discovered he also had an ear infection....bummer.  We had no idea because he hadn't acted like his ear was bothering him at all.  The only problem we had was him not wanting to go down to sleep as easily, but he had been through a spell a few weeks ago where he didn't like being left alone in his crib.  Anyway, he's all better now and back to his busy little self!

Date Night...or Afternoon

Joshua and Addison had a fabulous play date on Friday afternoon!  My friend Jen and I took the kiddos to the park to swing for a bit to hang out and get out of the house.  The weather was terrific, and we had a great time!  I also have to say that Joshua seemed to really enjoy the swinging this time!

This last picture was taken at the end of our time at the park.  Joshua was about to fall asleep while swinging....ha!

Shower Time

Our good friends Tricia and Dave are getting married March 28th!  I went to her bridal shower the weekend before last and got to see LOTS of girls I hadn't seen in a while!  It was so fun catching up with them!  I really do need to make more of an effort of keeping up with my college girl friends.  Then this past Saturday we got to go to their couples shower.  Joshua was lovin' all of the attention he was getting!  Our friend Jay had an especially good time hanging out with him!  Joshua did fabulous, even though we kept him out until 9:00, which is way past his normal 7:30 bedtime.  Derek is in the wedding, and we are so looking forward to it!  Congratulations Dave and Tricia!!

Joshua and his buddy Jay

The Happy Couple (sorry we didn't get a better picture of them)

Joshua, Erin, Dianna, Karoline, and Abby

Baby Season

We are definitely in the baby season amongst our friends.  The first few years we were married we had TONS of weddings to go to.  In this past year so many of our friends have had babies and many more are expecting.  The latest to be born is Ansley Grace Zimmerman.  She was born to our friends Shane and Anna on Tuesday, February 17, 2009, and she is BEAUTIFUL!  She felt so tiny when we were holding her.  It seems like it was forever ago that Joshua was that tiny.  He is simply growing up too fast!  Enjoy the cuteness of Grace below...

Attack of the Cold Monster

Not much new to report around here.  Our family has been a little out of commission lately.  Joshua brought home a bad cold from childcare (aka Nichole's house).  I thought that was one of the reasons we put him in a home daycare rather than in a childcare center.  But alas, when the other little boy she keeps has a sister in daycare, and he goes in with his mom to pick her up every day, he brings all of those germs and  illnesses to Joshua and Ayden.  Oh how I long to just stay at home with my baby every day.....

I am thankful in this economy for Derek and me to both have stable jobs, though.  We are so thankful for all that God provides for us.  We have jobs, a house, reliable cars, wonderful family and friends, and a healthy baby!  Joshua has had to be put on an iron supplement b/c his hemoglobin level was not where it should be.  We go back to have more blood drawn to check the numbers again March 20th, so we're hopeful the level will be where it should be.  Please pray with us that low iron is all it is, and that we will find a way to control it with the proper diet so that he won't have to be on the supplement forever.  Although, if that's the only thing we have to worry about and the supplement will keep him healthy we're all for that!

Also, please keep my friend Ashley and her family in your prayers.  Her dad has been in the hospital with heart failure.  He actually got to go home a few days ago, so that's good, but I don't think he's totally out of the woods yet.  I'm waiting for an update from her.

And my mom and sister, Angel, came up to visit us last week.  Nichole took a day off to take Ayden to the doctor, so they kept Joshua for me to be able to work.  That was a day I was working from home, so it made it super hard to concentrate and get any work done since my sweet baby was right downstairs!  Joshua seemed to enjoy all of the extra attention.  I wish we lived a little closer to our families so that they could have more days (or just time in general) with Joshua.  It would also be nice to have last minute babysitters if Derek and I decided to go on a date or something!  Before they left to go back to Concord YaYa decided to give Joshua a bath.  He got to play in the water way longer than I ever give him at night which he thoroughly enjoyed!  He LOVES a bath!!

And we LOVE him!  I just can't get enough of this little stinker....

Get Outside

Last weekend was so nice outside that we just had to get out of the house.  On Saturday we took Joshua to our neighborhood park for the first time.  He didn't seem real thrilled with it, but we've got time to make him love it!  Nonetheless, it was great to get outside!

On Sunday we went with our friends, the Hackmanns, to Lake Johnson to take a walk.  We did this same walk a year ago (one year and five days to be exact) with them to make Nichole go in to labor with Ayden.  That walk last year worked because she went in to labor and had him the next morning!  It was so nice outside, and we had a great time.  My legs were feeling the 3 mile walk on Monday, though!

Derek, Joshua, Greg, and Ayden

Erin and Nichole (this year)

Erin and Nichole (last year)

We can't wait for Spring to get here.  It is going to be so fun getting outside and playing with Joshua!