First Professional Haircut

Joshua got his first professional haircut today. This actually made his sixth haircut so far. We have always done his cuts at home, but now it was time for some real cutting. He did very good too, although I think the lollipop had something to do with it.

Happy Anniversary

HAPPY 6th ANNIVERSARY, RAUL!!!

WOW!!! Can you believe it? The years have flown by. I've loved every minute with you and I am so happy. I have been blessed with having an amazing husband, who just happened to give me the most gorgeous son.

I know that this year's anniversary celebration isn't the greatest with you still recovering from surgery, but I promise we will do something special next year (a trip to Reno perhaps).

I love you with my whole mind, body, and soul.

Our Week

Eating the turkey....he gobbled it up like a little turkey.

Joshua thought he could carve the turkey by himself.

The whole family right before Turkey Dinner

Mommy and Joshua.

Joshua and Daddy snuggling.

Farm Animals

Grandma Patti started this collection with the brown/white bull and the black/white bull. He loves these animals and carries them around or he'll hand them to Daddy one at a time.

Here is the black/white bull, cow, and calf.

The stallion, mare, and foal.

Then all the animals together.

All the animals are Schleich (this is the link to see all of them).

Slideshow

This is a slideshow that I made from the minute we found out we were pregnant up to Joshua turning One. It's actually kind of bittersweet that my baby is so grown up now. Before I know it he will be starting Kindergarten.

Enjoy!!!

Joshua Is A Year Old!!!

It's hard to believe that twelve months has already gone by. Time flies when you don't want it to, but when you beg it to go faster it drags it's feet. I have enjoyed this past year so much (not that I am ready to repeat it any time soon by any means). There have been many ups and downs with raising Joshua and they have all been major learning experiences for Mommy, Daddy, and baby (who is not a baby anymore, but a toddler, even though he will be Mommy's baby boy even when he is forty).

It has been so amazing being able to watch him do everything for the first time. I have enjoyed being able to savor knowing that I don't have to hear about his accomplishments and milestone's second hand. I get to tell Daddy about it and then Nana, Papa, Abuelita....and if I am lucky I will have it on video by the end of the day as proof to my words.

I turned Joshua's car seat around so that he is facing forward. He is legally able to ride that way being one year AND twenty pounds in weight. His rides in the car are going to be so much nicer now. He'll be able to better interact with Daddy and I when we drive him around. I am not a fan of extended rear-facing, in which you keep your child rear-facing into their toddler years. Great if that works for you, but I get car sick just thinking about it and don't want to put my son through that, besides it's a personal choice not the law.

I am also proud that I am able to say that I breastfed Joshua for a whole year. I can remember crying when we were still in the hospital because it seemed as though he didn't want to latch on, when it reality it was just the environment. We were interrupted every couple of hours by nurses ALL day long and no one was comfortable. When we came home he took to it really well and has grown wonderfully both physically and emotionally. My advice to future moms out there...give it a try you may feel differently about it than you originally thought. After all you can't really put something so wonderful down until you have personally tried it and made it through the hardest part....the first week.

So, as this year goes by we start a new one of watching Joshua go through the challenges of growing up and watching all of his accomplishments and firsts at seeing new things that will excite him. Before we know it he will be a grown man off on his own adventures that we won't be able to watch as closely.

Duck, Duck,.....Goose

Joshua did this for nearly a half hour. I would stand up to go and do dishes or make dinner and he would push on my legs until I sat back down so he could walk around me in circles over and over and over again. He laughed and laughed the whole time and would just giggle like crazy when he would make eye contact with me.

Daddy Had Surgery Today

Today was Raul's shoulder surgery. We got up early, got ready, and made it to the surgery center at 6am. At 6:30am he was called back to be prepped for surgery. I fed Joshua some breakfast and we played with his toys. He is the ultimate trooper. He always comes through when we need him to the most. So many people came forward to watch him, but I needed him there with me. He was my stability while Daddy was in surgery. I held him, kissed him, and just all around played with him. His greatest accomplishment was scaling two flights of stairs with me right behind him as he thought this was the greatest thing in the world. He also loved the automatic doors....there was so much joy on his face when he thought he was opening the doors all by himself, when in actuality they didn't even register him until I came up behind him.

Today has by far been the hardest day for me. I've been keeping a very brave face on, when I am actual just being torn in two. My pillar, my strong link, my soul mate is in pain, both physically and emotionally. It's hard to watch Joshua cling to his legs or try to wrap his arms around Daddy's neck and repeatedly say "Dada" and watch as Daddy isn't able to pick him up. We will get through this. It will be a few weeks before any major progress is made. For now we will try to make the best of where we are at and I will do my best to make the way as easy as possible for both Daddy and Baby as they have to adjust to this new life.

400th Post

What a way to celebrate that I have posted a mix of 400 stories, pictures, and videos of Joshua from the minute we got our positive pregnancy test to now (four days before he turns ONE!!!). Talk about momentous. I realized I stopped posting as much on here and I knew this was were I wanted to post my main pictures, videos, and stories of Joshua....not another networking site.

So, with much anticipated wanting from family and friends here is a video of Joshua's latest milestone....standing, squating to pick up a ball, and returning to standing.

Date Night

Raul and I went out for "Date Night" on Saturday. We've gone out before and left Joshua with Nana when she comes to visit, but this time we left him with Debbie and it was at her house so completely out of his element. He did great though. Ate some snacks, played, took a nap even.

We will be planning "Date Night" every other month now. Briana and I worked up a deal where we would watch Summer and Gibson while she and Case go out and the next month they will watch Joshua. It will also give Joshua a chance to be around other children of different ages and learn to interact with them in and out of his comfort zone.

Laying Around

Joshua will just be playing around and then just lay his head down on the floor and take a couple minutes to rest and then he is off again playing with all his toys. It is the sweetest thing to see.

Cheerios

Joshua loves to eat Cheerios. He will eat them as a snack between meals and will usually snack on them while I put his breakfast, lunch, or dinner together for him. So today at snack time I took some pictures of his cute little fingers grabbing at them.

He's Got Some Moves

I'm still wondering if Raul could have found any better music. It was the Kidz Only music channel on the television and what do we get first "Macarena".

Trying To Feed Himself

Joshua attempting to feed himself. He does pretty good.

Watching The CMA's

Joshua was dancing around to Darius Rucker's song "Alright"

Here he is dancing to Brad Paisley's song "Welcome to the future"

We Are Going To Be Land Owners

We found some land that we fell in love with. It is 5.61 acres in Elgin, TX. We put in our offer on Tuesday and they came back with a counter offer, which was where we were wanting it to be so everything was accepted.

Now comes the time of decided the exact home we want to put on it. Water, Electric, and Sewer is on the land. We are very excited as this has been our dream for the past five years or more.

Joshua is going to enjoy having some animals as he gets older. In fact it is just down the road from the farm we went to a couple weeks ago....here are those pictures.

Hiding Toys

Joshua likes to hide his toys lately. On any given day at any given time you can find toys galore under the coffee table. Just before taking this video I pulled seven blocks out from under the table. He likes to hide them under the lip of the entertainment center, between the couches, and in his swing too.

Outdoors

Joshua loves to be outside and I have been trying to work on my photography skills. I'm going to take some classes next year to get better and eventually I would like to do some photography sessions on the side so that I can still stay home with Joshua, but would have something to keep me occupied.

Getting Ready For Bed

Last night I got Joshua into his bath, dressed, and then we came out to Daddy. Joshua wanted to just walk around and play some more so we let him....I mean it's not like he's going to sleep at night anyway so might as well let him have some fun. I think his outfit cracked me up the most.

The socks over the sleeper (and check out that throwing arm....he threw his bulb just as I snapped the picture)

Not waiting till he gets to his room.

After nursing him he wouldn't go to sleep so we came back out and he gave Daddy a big smile.

A cute smile to Daddy...."HaHa...she's holding me and not you!!!"

Daddy And Joshua Playing

This is what happens when you leave Daddy and baby alone in the room. I was out in the living room ironing some shirts and heard the screaming and laughing so had to go check it out. It's not as much fun when they catch you with the camera, but it's still cute.

I Am So Funny

Joshua just knows that he is funny.

A Sleeping Baby

Just some lazy day pictures of Daddy and Joshua napping. Joshua loves napping on his daddy. This is usually how they are found on Saturday and Sunday afternoons....just napping away in Daddy's chair.

Congregation Picnic

We haven't had a congregation picnic/gathering in over two years. This should definitely be done more often, especially with the amount of kids in the hall. Today's picnic was actually the best. There were relay races, tug-of-war games, egg tosses, pie eating contest, Theocratic Family Feud, and a candy hunt for the kids in a huge pile of hay.

The Pie Eating Contest (not an actual one and it was fixed)

There were tug-of-war games

And the egg toss

Then there was the candy in the hay hunt

Park Day

Silina and Javen invited us to join them at the park for a picnic and some playtime. It was fun to get the boys together for some playtime. They are really close in size now and they get along very well. We had a lot of fun and hope to do it again soon.

Here is Joshua on one of the truck bouncers....he even tried to get it to bounce.

Joshua liked playing with the giant, wood xylophone.

Joshua liked the swing and this picture just cracked me up with his grip on the chains.

Javen and Joshua at the picnic table.

Two little astronauts.

Javen liked the swing and Joshua looked like he was about ready to pass out.

I moved Joshua to a big boy swing and he just sat there.

Silina and I put the backpacks on the boys. Figured they could carry something back to the car.

Where Is The Light?

Joshua will point to the light when you ask him where it is. He also likes his new bedtime story and will point to the baby and the mama when you ask where they are respectively.

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K

Today I ran the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure and it was my first 5K. Talk about an amazing experience. There were 20,000 participants. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful run. I think the hardest part was trying to get the water cups while you run by. I managed to run the 3 miles in 40 minutes which is really good at 13.33 minutes a mile. The last leg I picked up Joshua and ran across the finish line with my son on my hip. It actually brought tears to my eyes.

Jenifer and I early before the race

Here we come to pick up the kids

Here we are...me with Joshua and Jenifer with Tristen making the last push to the finish line (yes, I ran there with Joshua on my hip)

All done!!!

Amber, Tristen, Jenifer, Me, and Jill after the race.

We went to have breakfast/lunch at Cafe Java after the race and a biker (motorcycle rider) came up and asked if he could have our camera and that he would take a picture of us. He was a really nice old guy.