Happy 1st Birthday Josiah

Ok, so I am going to be lazy... if you want to see pictures of Josiah first birthday party check out my sister-in-law's blog, thepankewichfamily.blogspot.com. All the good pictures were on her camera and she posted them already - so why repeat when its such a crazy busy time of year! We did a joint party with Josiah's cousin Zachary, who is 18 days younger than Josiah. We had a lot of fun with a Thing 1 and Thing 2 Dr. Seuss themed party.

Merry Christmas to everyone! Can't believe this will be Josiah's second Christmas and that he will actually be able top open his presents this year. We have had a lost of practice so far with birthday gifts, so that will just flow into Christmas presents. We are blessed to have so many people who care about Josiah!

2009 Halloween

Here are just a few snapshots of our little turtle. I think he turned out be a pretty cute little turtle.

Josiah and Zachary were "so excited" to go trick-or-treating. Can't you tell by the looks on their faces. I think at this point Calvin and Emerald were running around unable to contain their excitement like these two!


Post trick-or-treating! Josiah loved going through his candy, pulling each piece out one by one.

Garden Tractor Pull

Ok, so it's been forever since I have updated again. Actually a few weeks ago I tried to upload a funny video but it never worked, so I am going back to pictures.

Here are a few pictures from Josiah's first Graden Tractor Pull event. He got to watch Grandpa pull. He was so into it that he skipped his afternoon nap and watched the whole thing. Uncle Caleb also go to go with us. It was a fun afternoon.


Such a determined look on his face... I have no idea where that look comes from!

It's about time, catching up

Well its been a while since I have blogged... over a month actually. We have had a bit going on in our lives recently. In the month of July we were gone a total of 15 days. We took a quick trip to Omaha in early July for Jeff's Great Aunt Dolly's funeral. Then we headed west. We took a 9 day trip with Jeff's family to Telluride, Colorado to visit Jeff's sister Laura and her husband Shane and sweet little Simon. That's right we took a road trip with 6 adults, 4 children under 4, and 2 minivans. It is about a 16 hour drive from Kansas City; however it ended up being a great trip. Here are few pictures from that trip.

Josiah was a very good car traveler. We was pretty content to play with toys, whenever he wasn't sleeping. The elevation changes did cause him to wake up from naps, but all in all it could have been a lot worse!

We stopped for a picnic lunch on the way out. Here Zachary and Josiah get a little freedom from their car seats!


We spent the night in Colorado Springs at a hotel with a pool. This was Josiah's first time in a real pool. He seemed to be unaffected by it... neither excited or upset. That's our boy...

Besides spending a lot of time with Jeff's family and exploring Telluride and the surrounding area, one of my favorite moments was watching Josiah and his cousin Simon interact. Josiah and Simon shared Simon's room while we were their. They were pretty much on the same schedule so they got some great play time in the morning before the big kids got up.

One morning, Simon kept taking Josiah's pacifer out of his mouth. Finally Josiah fought back and they swapped pacifers and immediately stuck each other in their own mouths. Oh what will Christmas be like when these two and their third amigo Zachary are all mobile!!!

We had fun riding the gondola from Nana and Pop-Pops hotel room in Moutain Village down into the town of Telluride.


One evening Jeff and I took Josiah on his first hike. We took an easy path through some beautiful aspen trees... I was in awe! Josiah stayed awake the whole time and just took it all in.

I think Aspens are some of the most beautiful trees God created. They were incredible and I can't even imagine what they would be like in the fall.




All the cousins together again!

Finally we headed home... even though Josiah had a very chapped chin he was pretty content on the way home, as long as he had some puffs to munch on. Thanks goodness for puffs. Pop-pop thought Josiah might turn into a puff, fortunately he didn't.


This was my favorite aspen photo I took... ahhhh! Can't wait to go back! Thanks Shane, Laura, and Simon for sharing your home with us!

First July 4th

We had a great July 4th! We have made it our annual tradition to host a July 4th celebration as we are conveniently located 2 blocks from a parade and 2 blocks to a great fireworks show. This year we were excited that both sets of Josiah's grandparents were able to join us. Here are a few photos (I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures...)

Don't Turn Your Back

The past couple of weeks Josiah has really be starting to become more mobile. Here's what happens when I turn my back...
He started out in the middle of the blanket that is on the left side of the photo.


He was pretty content to swiffer up the dog hair under the couch for me!


Josiah and I also got to attend cousin Emerald's little dance performance at the end of her Disney Princess Dance Camp. Steph wasn't able to to make it so we got to go. She did a great job and is turning into quite the little sassy princess!



We also go to celebrate Jeff's first Father's day with my brother Luke. Luke is holding his precious little daughter Brece Anne (9 days old in this photo). She has some incredibly awesome hair - next generation of Call girls has begun! Now, Josiah has cousins on both side of the family... including 3 within 6 months of his age!

Josiah took his first dip in the pool this last week. We found a little plastic frog pool on craigslist that is just big enough for Josiah and mommy to sit in. He had a great time... mostly playing with the red plastic cup - his favorite bathtime toy as well.


One last photo to show you what happens when you turn your back on this little guy... I have a feeling crawling may be in our near future! Once again, he started in the middle of the blanket in the upper left of the photo.


Happy July 4th! Hope everyone has a safe and relaxing holiday!

oh what a daddy can do...

With Father's Day just around the corner, I thought I would share a little snipet of the interaction between Josiah and his daddy. Josiah has a wonderful daddy who loves to play with him. Daddy makes all kinds of funny noises that mommy can't. Josiah always seem to be in a better mood when daddy walks in the door after work.

Here is proof... Today, Josiah woke up with a cold (the one I have been fighting for 2 days) and has been more fussy than normal most of the day. I have had to use the "snot-sucker" several times on his poor little nose, but looks what happens when daddy walks in the door...

What a week!

It's been a busy week for us... Josiah works pretty hard these days watching baby Einstein that is!
On Tuesday, Josiah had his 6 month check-up... guess what? We still have a little peanut on our hands. Here are his 6 month stats: 13 lbs (that is not a typo), 25.5" long, and 17" head circumference. Once again, the doctor is not worried about his weight as he does not look or act abnormal. For example, when she asked if he was smilling, Josiah just flashed his usually heart-melting smile. When she asked if he rolled over, he promptly rolled over on the exam table. She also gave us the go ahead to begin on solid foods!

On Wednesday, Josiah got to meet his Great Aunt Carlotta and Great Uncle Jay who flew in from California! It was a quick meeting but fun meeting!


Then the festivities began. My dear friend Emily (Wilson) now Beydler, got married on Friday. Thursday Josiah tagged along to the nail salon, the church for program assembly, and then to the rehearsal dinner.

On Friday, Josiah and I headed to the church for rehearsal and getting ready for the wedding. Jeff was able to take a half day off at work and came and got Josiah at noon. Good thing, because he didn't sleep a wink the whole morning. Here are few pictures from the day! Josiah looked pretty cute in his little pink shirt and brown tie. He didn't last long at the reception but it was fun for a short while!

This is the bride, Emily (center), and friend Amy (right) as we are all getting ready.

Family photo opprotunity... too bad Josiah was pretty tired - no smiles from him.

We loved showing Josiah off, he got a lot of attention with this styling tie!

Had to include this picture of the maid of honor and my friend Katie Jarmer! She is such a great gal, too bad she is in Mexico for the summer! Miss you Jarmer!

On Saturday, "Aunt" Mandy got to hang out with us for a while. Jeff had to work, but the rest of us got to sleep in and take it easy for the day. Josiah ended up sleeping until 9:30am and then taking 3 2-hour naps throughout the day. We have started supplementing with a little extra formula to make sure Josaih is getting all he needs. He gets so excited when the sees the bottle and can't wait to hold it all by himself! He is such a big boy!

On Sunday, we started with green veggies! Josiah got his first bite of green beans. Our camera was out of battery from the busy weekend so we didn't get a photo, but he really didn't react any differently than he does when he eats his cereal. We will keep you updated on the progress through the green veggies and on to the orange veggies!

Another busy week ahead... I am helping with VBS at church this week and cousin Emerald is coming along too. Should be another exciting week!

The past month... beware a long post!

So its been a while since I have updated our blog. Life has been crazy around our house. Jeff has been working long hours between the golf course and Blue Valley Irrigation. I keep busy between being a mommy, working and helping a dear friend prepare for her wedding day. And here is what Josiah has been busy doing...

Just a little exersaucering... this great invention will entertain him for a long time!


...hanging out with Mr. Giraffe before eating cereal.
...catching some zzzzz's. He has been sleeping so well at night!

....having lunch with his friend Meryl who will be moving away in a few weeks!

...swinging. Daddy built this incredible swing set for Josiah and he absolutely loves it. Josiah takes after his daddy as loves being outside.

...waking up in the morning all smiles! Such a happy boy when you let him wake himself up. More like mommy when you have to wake him up before he's ready - not all smiles!

...wrestling with Uncle Caleb and winning!

...consoling Uncle Caleb when he loses. Who could be upset with this sweet little snuggler (Josiah - not Caleb!)

...learning from the best. Grandpa just had his tractor repainted and couldn't wait to show it to Josiah.

(couldn't help but include a couple pictures of this). We all determined the tractor was "parade-worthy" now.


...sitting up almost all by himself. Josiah is really starting to get better balance and needs less and less support each day!

...getting his first haircut, well, just a trimming. We decided it was time to trim the few really long hairs (see them sticking out from his forehead) as they were creating a weird comb-over.
... and here is the after haircut picture. Daddy did a great job for using a scissors around the squirmy little guy.

Well thats all for now! I assure you more pictures to come after this coming weekend!