Celebrations

Josh turned 3 the day after Easter, so we had a good time celebrating Easter and then his birthday!

I decided we should decorate eggs more often. Josh got to tell Gary and I what colors to turn the eggs in order to avoid a staining mess. Then when the eggs dried he got to decorate them with the stickers that came in the kit. He sat at the kitchen table until he had found a place for every single tiny sticker that came with the kit. It entertained him for quite a while.

He was really excited to see what the Easter Bunny left him, and go on his Easter egg hunts.

Josh was really excited about his rocket ship cake. I let him pick a cake I could make out of a book a few days before his birthday and then he wouldn't stop asking for his rocket ship cake. I wasn't entirely sure how I should decorate it, so I let him do it and he had a good time.

I took the day off work to spend with him. Gary had to work and go to school, so we decided to have a picnic outside Flowserve. We let Josh open presents and feed the ducks. I loved his face in this picture trying to open presents.

He was very excited about his new train tracks.

Playing with his new bubble toys with his cousin Kaitlyn. Grammy Debbie, Grampy Mark, and aunt Kimi spoiled him rotten and got him this John Deere truck for his birthday. He has been having a good time with it, but isn't so great at steering yet. Thanks Grammy, Grampy, and aunt Kimi!

Happy Birthday Grammy!

Saturday Grammy Debbie, Grampy Mark, and Aunt Kimi flew in for a quick visit for Grammy's birthday! It was a lot of fun to see them. Thanks for coming!Josh got to surprise Grammy with the news that he is going to be a big brother. I'm at 12 weeks right now, due the end of September. We went to Disney on Ice and Josh got a Flounder hat. I've had a hard time convincing him to remove it before going to bed.

Relaxing after a busy day. I haven't posted much lately, partially because it's been too cold to do much, and partially because I haven't felt like doing much! Josh has had a good time playing in the snow this winter but we are excited that it is starting to warm up!

He likes to help his dad shovel the snow. He has his very own shovel.

Time to Update

I've been told again it is time to update the blog! Josh and I have been sick so I haven't been very motivated. A couple weeks ago when I picked him up from the baby sitter's he ran up to me saying, "Mommy, mommy my neck hurts and I am sick." Then he cried and cried and cried. That's not like him, so I got him into the doctor that night. He had a sore throat and while we were waiting for the strep test results we realized that Josh couldn't turn his head side to side very well and couldn't go up and down hardly at all. We ended up having his neck x-rayed and everything looked ok, so then they did blood tests and those came back ok. We're not sure what happened but a couple days later his neck was back to normal. Then he ended up with a cough/cold which he was kind enough to share with me. Now we're both finally feeling better and hoping Gary doesn't get it!

Josh is getting smarter by the day. He knows where the treats are, and one day decided to get his stool out and help himself. So I put the treats on a higher shelf. He managed to get them while I was out of the room and I wasn't sure how at first. Then I caught him. He used the stool to get on top of the garbage can and then he could reach much higher. Another one of his latest accomplishments is that he has discovered that he can open the fridge/freezer all by himself. He is quite pleased with himself for this. I was in my bedroom getting dressed one morning when he came wandering in with some Dibbs saying, "Daddy got me a treat!" He took the lid off and started shoveling them in his mouth. 6:00 in the morning is a little early for treats but it was funny enough to earn him a few. I've had to rearrange things so he'll stop getting the ice cream and Popsicles out of the freezer.

Josh sporting his adorable new jacket Grammy Debbie gave him for Christmas. Josh and his new bed tent. I haven't convinced him to let me put it on his bed yet, but he really likes to hide. He has a balloon he puts inside his tent every night before he goes to sleep and also during naps. I guess that's where his balloon sleeps. Shooting some hoops with cousin Jordan. They are such cute pals. Early one morning Josh came into my bedroom and announced that he was going to Jordan's. I told him goodbye and he left my bedroom. A few minutes later he came back and told me he couldn't find Jordan's house. Jordan says stuff similar to this to Kristy. When I give Josh a snack he often sets some aside and says it is for Jordan. When he's playing by himself with his toys he also tells me which ones are for Jordan to play with.

Watching cartoons together.

Christmas Chaos

This is the gingerbread man Josh decorated at a family Christmas party. When I saw what he was doing I came to the conclusion that Josh most definitely did not get any of my DNA! He is all Gary. Josh insisted on using all the same types of candy. He would not use M&M's or gum drops or anything else and he wouldn't mix up colors either. That is sooo like his dad!

I really don't know what happened to the entire month of December. It was a blur and we kept really busy. It was a struggle to get Christmas shopping done with my two year old helper. My first weekend that I finally had time to go Christmas shopping the month was already almost half over. Best Buy happened to be the second store Josh and I went to, and he threw the biggest tantrum I've ever seen him perform. I quickly got what I was looking for but carried him out of the store crying and we ended up spending quite a bit of time in the parking lot before I could get him under control enough to drive him home and put him down for a nap. As soon as he woke up and was fed I tried again thinking a full tummy and a nap we'd be good to go. We walked into Walmart, and it was completely packed with people. I had to search for several minutes before I could even find a cart and of course as soon as I found one Josh said he needed to go potty. Reluctantly abandoning the cart I worked so hard to get, I marched him to the restroom. He wouldn't go because the toilet automatically flushes with every move he makes and it scares him. Of course he ended up having an accident (luckily he was still in his pull up from nap time) and he was so upset about it we immediately had to go home. Things like this seem to be happening with more frequency and I can say without a doubt that Josh is most definitely in the terrible two's!! I thought I'd do a quick post while I have a few extra minutes at work because I don't know when I'm going to have time to post Christmas pictures. I am in the process of painting our front room and it has turned into a much bigger process than I anticipated. After pulling off wallpaper on one of the walls I could see that the wallpaper was put up when the house was built, and nothing has been done to that wall since then. I could not believe that the house is almost 35 years old and I am the first one to change that wall!! I'm so excited I don't have to look at the 70's wallpaper anymore! We ended up having to texture and prime that wall before we could paint. After preparing that wall, patching holes, sanding, and pulling down molding I called the paint store so they'd have my paint ready when I got there and they were closed for New Year's. After all that work I couldn't do anything for two days because the store I needed to get the paint at was closed! We should be able to finish the painting by the end of the week but for two weeks I've had a love seat in my kitchen and a lazy boy at the end of the hall way. My house is torn apart and it is a mess. I can't wait to finish so I can start cleaning and putting things back together!! In the next few weeks we hope to get new molding and a ceiling fan up and then I think I've had enough home improvement projects to last me at least until Spring!

Hats

Have I mentioned how much Josh loves hats?

Doggie hat made at babysitter's Chef hat made at babysitter's

This is Josh's helmet he wears while running through the house pretending to ride motorcycles or four wheelers. It's also a great chair, stool, and bucket for toys. My shoes are a great way to complete the ensemble.

Marine Corps Ball

This weekend we went to the Marine Corps birthday ball. I can't say I really enjoy the ceremony or the speeches, and the food isn't usually the greatest, but it was really nice to have a night alone together and to spend some time with some of our friends! The ball was at the Snowbird Ski Resort. It was really pretty up there. He looks so good in his uniform!!

Did I mention he looks good in his uniform? I couldn't leave out the picture of the poker game after because I WON!!! We stayed up until 1 a.m. playing and too bad we weren't playing with real money! I can't tell you which poker hands are better than others, and I can't keep straight which chips are worth what, and they had to explain poker terminology. I had no idea what I was doing, but with a little help from Gary I still managed to win. I guess I should be spending more time in Vegas!

Halloween

Josh made a cute little pirate this year for Halloween!

He had a good time trick-or-treating with his cousins!

He really enjoyed carving a pumpkin too, although he would not touch the pumpkin guts with his fingers. He would only use the spoon since he does not like to get his fingers dirty, just like his dad!!