Memorial Day

Last weekend we had fun visiting Grammy down in TN. Josiah did really well in the car both ways and sleeping at a new place. On Sunday Grammy, JoJo, and I went to the park and had lots of fun. The slides still make him nervous, but he thought he was big stuff climbing on the playground. He needs to learn to walk though because crawling through the wood chips isn't that good on the knees. We were glad to make down to Tennesse for the few days we were there.

Last week we also had his pictures taken by our friend Amanda. She did a really good job considering what she had to work with. He didn't want to be still and he decided to scrunch up his face the whole time. Of course, I still think he's adorable. She posted a sneak peak on her blog. When she gets his gallery up I'll let you know.

http://www.amandaelpersphotography.com/

Today we went to Josiah's 1 year check up. He weighed 19lb15oz and was 30" tall. Poor little guy also had to get his shots. He had a silent scream of about 10 seconds until he let the world know what he had just felt. Doctor said that he looked good.

Grant and I also started working on his big boy room this weekend. I'm really excited to see it done. Josiah loves to be in there. He thought he was helping and he loves to roll around on his twin bed. We are in the process of looking for a crib so that he'll have both in his room. I'll post some pictures soon once it's closer to completion.

Birthday Party

I just want to thank everyone that was able to come last minute and say that I missed everyone else who couldn't make it. It definately has been one crazy week. Josiah was on his best behavior today for his party. He looked adorable in his Birthday suit (I found it at a sale and just had to get it), and he wasted no time chowing down, literally, in his cake. He ate his cake just like the picture looks. Also, thank you to everyone who helped pull things together for us, we really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the pictures. They tell the story.

Josiah's Birthday

Well, I can't believe it. I can't believe my little baby boy is now 1 year old. People say how fast time goes once you have a child. It's hard to imagine that a year ago we just welcomed him into our world and how fast our world became his. He is so much more than we could have ever imagined and we still mention everyday how cute, funny, or amazing he is to us. God sure does know what he is doing. I've posted some pictures of Josiah from his birth day.

Sadly we don't have any pictures from the day he turned 1. I wanted to at least write this on May 2, but it didn't work out that way. As many of you may now know, he became very sick on Thursday. I just figured it was the 24 hour bug. On Saturday morning he still wasn't well and Grant and my mom had caught the same thing. I decided to call his Birthday Bash off. I was so bummed about it especially since we had family fly in from out of town. The weeks of excitement and stress of planning a party all went down the drain. I know it was the right thing to do though. He was miserable and obviously contagious. So when I got home from work he was sicker, paler, lifeless, and looking very gaunt. He still hadn't kept anything down and we had to get him some help. We decided to take him to the ER. I have a weird thing about ERs and they are definately the last resort. He had to get an IV of fluids and after being there for 4 hours he was physically looking better although he wasn't feeling much better yet. During the whole needle poking incident it made me so grateful that we had a healthy boy. I think I was crying more that he is healthy than for his momentarily physical pain. I can't imagine having a chronically ill child. So today he rested alot, drank water, and finally started to eat some. I know it'll be a few days before he is the crazy little Jojo that we love.

Looking back it has been a wonderful year. Josiah has taught us so much about love and ourselves, given us so many laughs, and filled us with more joy than we thought was ever possible. We love you Josiah and want to wish you a very Happy Belated Birthday.

It's a....

Sorry, I'm a week late sharing our good news. We went to the doctor last Tuesday for our ultrasound. I was really anticipating this appointment because it's when Grant was going to let me know on whether we were finding out the sex. This time it was his decision on whether to find out or not because I was adamant on not finding out with Josiah. So we went in and the baby looked wonderfully healthy, but Grant still wouldn't make up his mind. He told the tech that he wanted to see if he could tell on his own. Finally our appointment was over and Grant asked the ultrasound tech to put what the baby was in an envelope. So we get out in the car (I'm driving) Grant is putting the envelope up to the window trying to read what it says. Finally about 20 minutes of being in the car he opens it up. I'm so mad because I don't want to find out the gender of my baby while driving on 465. I wouldn't let him tell me because I knew I would be emotional when I found out. So we had to continue driving for another 20 minutes. He said the reason he wanted it in an envelope was so that he could be that one to tell me what the baby was. I thought that was sweet. So when we get to our destination he had me get out of the car and that's when he told me, "It's a girl!". I couldn't believe it so I had to see the paper myself. It's been a week now and it's finally starting to sink in. We both thought that it was a boy. We're excited for Josiah to have a little sister. Of course we just can't picture a girl at this point. She's already much calmer. She doesn't kick and move all the time. We are now halfway through the pregnancy and we just can't wait to meet her.

Dedication

In the past few months Grant and I have felt the push to become more planted in our church. We have been going there for the past 3 years and were ready to be able to call Park Chapel our church home. It's a good feeling after 10 years and 3 churches to have a place to call home. Last Sunday we had a baby-parent dedication service. Our church does it once a year and we had 19 little ones there. It was a very special day for us. Grant and I said our "I Do's" to the way that God has called us to be as Christian parents. It was a little more emotional for me than I expected. We look forward to guiding Josiah in the way of Christ and to be held accountable by our family, friends, and church. They had a photographer there so I will try to post a link or at least the info if you want to view the pictures. The slideshow is definately worth watching. It is so cute. Josiah was the loudest one during the service and she caught a few pictures of him shoving the program in Weewaw's face.

To view the slideshow go to the following URL address:
http://web.mac.com/adeoarts/april20/
To view the images go to the following URL address:
http://www.pictage.com/458911
OR
http://www.pictage.com/
enter the event name: Park Chapel
The images are separated into two categories: service and portraits. If you would like to share the image with friends or family feel free to create a folder in the program and insert the pictures you want your family to check out.

Tick Tock

So it's been a week now, but I feel it's official enough to share. Josiah has said his first word. Last Sunday he was in the nursery at church and when we picked him up they said that he said, "Clock". Now if they told me he had said shoe, shirt, or toy I wouldn't have thought it could be true for a second. But, since he was about five or six months old his favorite picture in his picture word book has been the red and yellow clock, so much that he usually felt the need to give it a kiss. This past month or so he has pointed at every clock that we pass. So anyway, as they were handing him to us he pointed to the one on the wall and said it again, "clock". Now, I usually tend to be a skeptic and want to know that my child is really doing something before I go and tell the world. So later on that day he pointed at my dad's wristwatch and at a round thermometer on my mom's porch and repeated it. So I thought good I have some confirmation. Well, he was proud of himself and he kept saying it, but while pointing at everything else in sight. As the week went on he kept saying something like "clock" but not quite as clear. So today when we picked him up from the church nursery a different worker said, "Boy, he sure does like clocks, he's been pointing and saying it all morning long." So it was then I decided that after a week of trying to figure out if he really new what he was saying, "clock" became his first official word.