Playing Hooky

Joshua's stomach bug peaked on Wednesday (read....lots of clothing and diaper changes), so on Thursday we played hooky from work and child care.  Okay, okay, so we didn't really play hooky.  He actually wasn't allowed to go to Nichole's to stay because he had LOTS of dirtydiapers on Wednesday, and she likes them to be symptom free for 24 hours before they come back.  He seemed to be feeling a bit better by Thursday, so we had a great day just hanging out and playing!  We even went to Target to get a few things and get out of the house and went on a walk around our neighborhood.

He laughs so much now, and it is the sweetest little giggle I've ever heard.  I've got to figure out how to get our videos off the video camera, onto the computer, and uploaded to blogger so that I can let everyone see and hear just how adorable he is!  (We can get them onto the computer without a problem, but I always get an error message when I try to upload them on here.  I think it is b/c our video camera is an HD one.  Who knows?)  I'll leave you with some pictures of my sweet little boy from our day of hooky.

9 Months Old

Where has the time gone? My tiny baby is not so tiny anymore.

Joshua turned 9 months old on Sunday! We had his 9 month doctor visit yesterday. He didn't get any shots, but he did have to get his finger pricked and squeezed for another hemoglobin check. His number came back at a 10.5, which is the lowest it can be on the normal range, so he doesn't have to take his iron supplement anymore! He was NOT a fan of the finger prick/squeezing, but all in all he did really well and was a sweetie as usual for the doctor and nurse. Here are his 9 month stats:

Weight: 19 pounds 14.5 ounces (48th percentile)

Length: 28 3/4 inches (75th percentile)

Head: 17 3/4 inches (48th percentile)

He has actually lost some weight and feels lighter when we pick him up. This is because he's had a little stomach virus and let's just say we've changed a lot of dirty diapers in the last week.

Joshua is just as sweet and cute as ever! He started saying "ba" for ball on Sunday, and he knows exactly what he is talking about! It's so cute! Balls are definitely his toy of choice! He still isn't saying any mommas, but he is (we think) saying yaya for dada. He actually put the "d" sound on it a few times when we were at the beach. He is still only pulling up to his knees, but with just a little help from us he can go from his bottom to his feet without a pause! He can stand and hold onto anything for a good while before his legs get tired. We've gotten out one of his walking toys and are letting him get a feel for it. He isn't taking any steps behind it yet, but I'm sure it won't be long. We are also in the process of transitioning him to more solids/table food, too. The boy loves to eat! One of my favorite things he has been doing for about a month now is giving us hugs. It is so so sweet! He also gives us open mouth kisses! They're awesome but messy...ha! We love him so very much, and it's nice to get something in return from him when we hug and kiss on him!

Small Group Beach Trip

We had a fabulous trip to North Myrtle Beach this past weekend with our small group!  The weather was absolutely beautiful, which made it even better!  We headed down there Friday afternoon with our friends Brian and Becky.  Joshua slept a good bit of the way and was in a good mood the rest of the time, so that made for a good car ride!  Friday night we played games and enjoyed each other's company.  Saturday morning we got up and headed out to the beach.  Joshua and Ayden had a blast playing in the sand.  Joshua liked feeling the sand and of course eating it.  You'll have to check out our picture page to see all of the adorable pictures on the beach.  Joshua was way off his normal schedule/routine, but he was a little trooper.  After a nap we were at it again.  We headed down to the indoor pool where we introduced Joshua to swimming!  I think we may have a little fish on our hands!  He LOVED swimming!  Even though he wore himself out and was clearly tired, he did not want to get out for an afternoon nap.  Saturday night we went out to dinner and celebrated my birthday.  We packed a lot in to one day, but it was oh so fun!  Sunday morning we took the boys back out to the beach for a few minutes before heading home.  We had such a great time and can't wait to do it again!!

Wedding Weekend

Dave and Tricia Eshleman

Dave and Tricia got married March 28th!!  Their wedding was a lot of fun, and we got to see lots of friends we haven't seen in a while!  Friday night they had their rehearsal dinner at Casa Carbone in Raleigh.  It was a really good little Italian restaurant that we've never been to.  We had a great time sitting with Brooke and Jeremy and catching up.  The wedding on Saturday was beautiful, and the dessert reception was awesome!  There were so many yummy sweet treats that I was in heaven (you know I'm the girl who loves her sweets).  They even had an ice cream bar....so cool!  We had a great time and enjoyed celebrating such a sweet couple.

Jeremy, Jeff Knapp, Jared, Dave, Derek, and Jeff Sweemer

While we were participating in the wedding festivities my mom (Ya Ya), grandmother (Granny), and sister Angel came up to visit/babysit/spend the night.  It was so nice to see them!  We all had a great time, and Joshua enjoyed all of the attention!  Thanks for coming family!

March in Review

It seems like March came and went before we even really got a chance to flip the calendar page.  We started the month with a sick baby who got his father and mother both sick.  Joshua had his first antibiotic due to the pink eye and ear infection he got from his sickness while his mother took her own antibiotic for the sinus infection caused by her sickness.  He quickly started to feel better as soon as the antibiotic was started so that we could have our playdate with Addison and her mom Jen.  Then on we went to Ashley's bridal shower in Concord.  Joshua was so very loved on that day.  It is days like that that spoil him and make our lives harder b/c he expects that same amount of attention from momma and daddy when we get home.  Needless to say, I seem to put off household chores to spend extra time with my baby and then wonder at the end of the day or week what the heck happened to my house.  However, we will never have this stage back with sweet Joshua, so I am trying to take in every second of it!  He is just way too much fun for this momma to handle, and I thank God every day for such a blessing!

Ashley and Joshua at her bridal shower

Ashley and Erin

After Ashley's shower we stopped by to see Grandma and Ga Ga in Albemarle.  Joshua enjoyed driving a car and dressing up like his Ga Ga.

Joshua turned 8 months old on the 12th, and on that very same day started sitting up from lying down on his own.  He's such a smart little boy!

Some of Derek's family came to town for his cousin Jack's basketball game.  His high school was in the state championship and Jack is one of the stars of the team.  We really enjoyed seeing that family b/c we don't see them very often.  Joshua even did really well at the game considering it started at 7:30...Joshua's normal bedtime.  The next day we went to hang out with Shane and Anna and their new baby, Grace.  She slept most of the time we were there, but Joshua enjoyed drooling on his mother's face and playing with his friend Greg (Nichole's husband and Ayden's daddy).  Then my darling son started CRAWLING!  He has since become a pro and it is oh so cute!  It's so fun to go away from him and then get him to come to me since he's never been able to do this before!  I just love him crawling after me!!  He has also started pulling on our legs if he crawls to us and wants to be picked up!  I can't say it enough.....I love that kid!!!  Thank you Lord for such an awesome baby boy!!

This past weekend, the final one in March (although I feel like there have been 50 weekends in March), our friends Tricia and Dave got married!  It was a great wedding, but I'll write more in a separate post about that.  We also went to a double baby shower on Sunday for our friends Mallory & JP and Sarah & Mike.  Sadly we forgot our camera, so we don't have any pictures to share.  It was great fun to catch up with some old friends!

March was a fast and fantastic month with many milestones!  We can't wait to see what all April holds for our family.  I just have to say, though, that I need my baby boy to quit growing up so fast.  We love to see him reach milestones, but I just can't take the fact that tomorrow he will be graduating from high school!

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!