Weekend Getaway

In early November, we headed south... well south in Kansas anyway, to visit my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Keith. We had a great few days. Josiah got to go out in Uncle Keith's truck and see "moos" (cows) up close and personal. We played at the schools playground, and did some relaxing... it was a great little getaway!

Relaxing with Uncle Keith.

Getting some fresh air!

Choo-choo Look Who Turned Two!

Yes, like every blog post starts, I am behind.  So I am trying to get a little caught up so I can start the new year off up-to-date... whatever that means!

Our little boy, Josiah, turned TWO earlier this month. His birthday celebration started over Thanksgiving... so we spread it out over several weeks.  Josiah is very into "choo-choo" this year so that what most of his birthday celebrations centered around.

Josiah wasn't too sure when all the attention was on him while my family sang "Happy Birthday."

But he had no trouble blowing out the candles.

Mmmmmm, cake! He also had not trouble downing a piece of cake and anytime from here on out when you asked him about his birthday he would say "cak!"

Cousin Brece liked the cake too... even though this picture doesn't look like it!

On Josiah's actual birthday, we celebrated lunch with friends down at Fritz's in Crown Center. What better way to celebrate than at a restaurant where a "choo-choo" delivers your food.

Josiah and his friend Georgia waiting to be seated at Fritz's.

Watching the train go round and round at the gingerbread house display in Crown Center.

Doing a little coloring at the Crayola store.

Listening to some kids singing Christmas songs. (Georgia decided to direct the choir!)

Playing outside at Crown Center on the big wooden tractor.

...and the fire truck too.

That evening we celebrated at home with friends from our community group. We had another "cake" too!  This time a Rice Krispie train cake.

I ate the whole thing!

We finished off the evening by letting Josiah eat some of his cake... he ended up eating the whole train car!

What a wonderful birthday weeks Josiah had. We also celebrated with Jeff's family that weekend after Josiah's birthday, but Aunt Steph took those pictures because I forgot the camera.

Not sure what Josiah is going to do without a present to open come January. The kid has been so loved and has had a present to open almost everyday since Thanksgiving!

We love you Josiah! Can't wait to see what year 3 has in store for you!

Nice weather = A Happy Little Boy!

Deanna Rose Farmstead

Our little boy loves to be outside just like his daddy!  The past few weeks we have had some incredible fall weather. So we have taken advantage of it. One of Josiah's favorite places is Deanna Rose Farmstead. Now, being raised on a farm this isn't quite what I remember it being like as a child, but for Johnson County, Kansas its pretty great.  We spend a lot of mornings there as it is free Monday-Thursday!

Josiah sitting on one of the old tractors.
Grandpa has instilled a love for tractors in this kid.

Another pictures on the tractor... he didn't want to get off!

Feeding the fish is another favorite activity at Deanna Rose.

He isn't afraid of the different animals and will walk right up and pet most of them, including this friendly goat.

Another great (and free) place we frequent is the Overland Park Arboretum. This is only a couple of minutes from our house. It has great walking trails, a small pond, and a lot plants and flowers. Not the best picture but the only one of have of him there.

Powell's Pumpkin Patch

Last week Steph and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch.  We had a lot of fun picking out pumpkins with 4 little munchkins.

Josiah and his cousin Zach. These two have become quite the pair lately. They have learned to say each other's name and rarely let the other out of sight if they are together.

The best picture I got of all 4... I hope Steph got a better one. There was just too many pumpkins in all directions to look at.

Josiah just kept walking and walking.

Ahhh... finally the perfect one! Or at least one that looks good for a picture.

We had a wonderful afternoon with some of his cousins. Hope everyone else has been enjoying the wonderful weather.

About time..

...for a new post. There are plenty of new pictures of our little man! So here a brief over veiw of summer.

Marching for Babies... supporting cousin Zachary and all the other preemies out there.

Enjoying a little mulch one of the first days of Summer.

Hanging out with "Aunt" Mandy. We had a horrible time... as you can see!

Having Zachary over to play and spend the night. Bath time is a lot more fun with someone else to splash!

It couldn't be summer without an iccceee ceeeaam cone!

Grandma, Josiah, cousin Brece, and Grandpa all looking good at mom's cousin Lori's wedding over the July 4 weekend!

Moving into a big boy bed. Mom's back started hurting from lifting me over the edge of the crib. I did really well in the transition. I fell out a few times but am doing much better now.

Hanging out on the boat with cousin Brece on Call family vacation. (Didn't know 2 toddlers could "look" this happy all squished into life jackets!)

Taking in a Naturals baseball game while on Call family vacation in Arkansas.

Mom wanted me to try on jackets for the Fall. I wanted to try on my hat. This is the outfit we ended up with!

Well hope you enjoyed all the pictures and highlights of summer. I am sure there is something I left but this should get close. Here's to hoping Fall weather sticks around!

The story of the Golf Club

The story of the golf ball...

On Saturday we got my golf club out because I kept trying to hit the golf ball around the yard with a stick.

I loved trying hitting the golf ball and others were pretty impressed with my coordination.

I would throw the ball down then hit it.

 It was a lot of fun until we had to go inside and mommy took my club away. I wanted to keep playing in the house, but mommy wouldn’t let me. Don’t know why?

The Story of the Stick

The Story of the Stick

by Josiah

I played with this stick for a long time.

I poked the ground.

 I hit myself in the face, and swung it around. 

Then, I threw it down. 

 

It was so much fun until Zane ran off with it and ate half of it.  

Oh well, it’s just a stick and the most important part was I had fun!

14 month and counting

Well Josiah is over 14 months old now and he is really starting to develop into quite the little boy. He is definitely a toddler, walking all over the place. He fell at daycare and we had our first trip to Urgent Care last week. Thankfully, it ended up being just a good scrape and no stitches were necessary.

We have had quite the winter with lots of snow and cold temps. However, a few weeks ago we had snow without the bitterly cold temps so one Saturday morning we headed outside to play in the snow. Josiah was not interested at the beginning but gradually warmed up to the idea. Here are a few pictures of the life sized snowman mommy and daddy built and Josiah with his little "snowmound." His didn't last very long as he is very much into knocking down whatever is built up!

Josiah is still a great little boy, but the "exploration" and "discovery" stage is coming out...
The discovery of the paper towel roll....

Josiah is also starting to really comprehend words. He started saying "uh-oh" last week and hasn't stopped since. A few other favorites are "daaah" (translation is "dog") and "daalll" (translation is "ball").

He is growing like a weed and I am pretty sure he won't have a chubby little boy on our hands for much longer!