Tongue boy

Joshua has CRACKED us up lately. We had a great visit with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Tom this past weekend and Aunt Nan mentioned how he seems to be sticking out his tongue in pictures that she sees. Well, he does almost anytime he is intent on something, which at almost 11 months and being a boy (which is very different than our 11 month old Autumn was) he is focused and going after something almost every second of the day. He was playing with a mylar balloon today and just loving it and I got some really funny pictures. Hence his nickname, "Tongue boy." Am including a couple of other recent tongue boy pictures for your viewing pleasure. (Wish I took more of Aunt Nan and Uncle Tom with the babies, I hope you got some Aunt Nan!)

Happy Belated Valentine's Day From Autumn

I wanted to post this picture of Autumn before her Valentine's Day party at school last week, but time got away from me. We made cute cards that looked like flower pots and attached flower seeds and lollipops along with sayings like "Our friendship has bloomed." Autumn had a great time and came home with tons of cute cards from her little school friends. It's so much fun celebrating all the different holidays with a pre-schooler. She gets so excited about everything.

Visit at Aunt Carolyn's

We try to visit with my family every Sunday night for dinner and this past weekend we were at Carolyn and Mike's. It's so funny to get Joshua (10 1/2 months) and Brooke (7 months) together. Each week they are kind of like, "Hey, there's that other baby again!" We are just waiting for them to become kissing cousins. :-)

(And Yes, those are Brooke's toes that she is staring at so intently. Ahhh, to be seven months old with such flexibility!)

So, how are the kids?

Autumn Joy is now 4 1/2 years old and most of the time a true sweetheart. She loves her brother immensely and is proud to be a big sister. She is tenderhearted with him and actually quite a help. She loves to help me bake in the kitchen and to make anything involving construction paper, glue and markers. She is a girly-girl and loves Disney princesses, her baby dolls, and anything involving Ariel. While she wants to be independent in many ways, we are still glad to have our little girl, who loves to jump into our bed in the morning or have us snuggle with her after prayers at night. She is so delighted in simple pleasures that it helps us to appreciate them too.

Joshua is our heart's joy. He is such a happy little guy that my heart literally feels like it's going to pop sometimes. He smiles and laughs from the moment we get him out of his crib in the morning, until he rubs his eyes at night for bed. At 10 1/2 months, he is a man on a mission and can crawl across the room like nobody's business. He knows what he wants and goes after it which can be frustrating for all of us since he can't communicate yet but we have been trying sign language and he signed "eat" for the first time today (at least that's how Mommy interpreted it)! He's a tiny baby, just barely over 16lb, but considering his early start in this world, the doctors are not concerned. He eats well and sleeps wonderfully, so we definitely have nothing to complain about.

Well, It's about time....

Hi Everyone!
I have been meaning to create a blog for months now as a means to update family and friends about how we (read:the kids) are doing. We've friends literally around the world and I am not always the greatest at emailing pictures to people. I have enjoyed a number of other blogs from family members and it is a great way to feel like I know what's going on in their lives. So...bookmark this page and visit often as I plan to create posts frequently. We would love to hear from you and look forward to adding to our site!
Love, Lauren