Tigger

There couldn't be a cuter Tigger, right?

I am biased though and I don't mind to say that I adore every other child nearly as much as I adore our sweet (slightly cranky) boy!


He has gotten so big that this little outfit was snug, but he tolerated it to make his Momma happy.


Orange is his favorite color and so this time of year is making for one visually stimulated guy! He loves the colors of fall!

I love him so much!



Jessy was on the scene to help capture some of these great shots! It has been so much fun (and very helpful) having Daddy home this weekend! I know someone who is sad to be going back to work on Monday morning.


These days have been filled with happy memories!

Four

Joseph now has four beautiful teeth! I guess I think that they are beautiful because it was such a labor of love for them to arrive!

Teething is hard work!

Being a baby is hard work, whoever said it must be easy is wrong! Well, maybe it is just hard for Joseph because his Mom can be a tad clueless at 1am, 3 am, & 6am!!

Sleep was hard to come for the last week because Joseph has not only been cutting his two top teeth at one time, but there are two more on top swelling his poor gums, in addition to being sick. I had a long post I was writing five days ago, but then I noticed he was still battling some health issues. We made countless phone calls to the clinic and finally I decided to override the nurse's ideas and just schedule an appointment for that day with our pediatrician. He had previously seen a doctor on the Saturday (one week ago) but on Tuesday he was still feeling rotten and not wanting to drink and I could barely get enough solids in him for nutritional needs. Over the weekend his fever rose to 103 and it was scary! I was told on that Saturday that he just had a viral infection that would just have to run its course. Well it did not run fast and he got worse before he got better. The on-call doctor said Joseph had a red throat but did nothing in the way of telling me how to care for it except to give him Tylenol/Motrin alternately to keep the fever down. He got his fever pricked that day but nothing abnormal showed up but just a viral infection.

Fast forward to Tuesday, we see our very competent, compassionate doctor and she redoes the blood count and it shows that his white blood count is actually improving from three days before and I figured this because I felt like we were over the hump with the high fevers but he just wasn't well still. She could tell he was miserable and she did swabbed his throat to rule out strep and that was negative and since his throat was so sore, she told us to make him some medication to help relieve the soreness so that he could finally eat/drink with out pain.

She was right on the mark. She led us on the right path. Now, I have to admit when she gave me that handwritten list of meds to buy at the pharmacy and the instructions to go home, compound it myself and give it to him every 4-6 hours along with the normal double dose of Tylenol/Motrin I was NERVOUS to over medicate him! We only did have of the Tylenol/Motrin and did her recipe of meds and it worked like a charm! My faith in his pediatrician was cemented!! The "miracle mouthwash" with equal parts Children's Tylenol, Children's Benedryl, and Maalox worked quick and easy! My baby ate later and ate ALOT! He was so hungry and thirsty.

I am struggling with learning how to curve temper tantrums the past few days though, I feel like I coddled him so much earlier in the week and while he is still recovering he wants to behave like a little monster. I think it mainly is change in routine, less sleep, etc. But I really think I just spoiled him too much. The last two days have managed to make me feel like a total failure in directing my child's behavior AND he is only still 10 months old! I have got to get a handle on this NOW! For his sake and my own. We are trying so hard to keep him in his crib at night too and that is feeling impossible. Somehow, God will give me the wisdom I need to parent Joseph well.

Spiritual Connectedness

Joseph and I went to visit my Spiritual Director today! It was a fabulous visit even though it was spent chasing a busy baby around the room!
He went to her immediately from the van and played with her so freely! He husband, Pete, captured a few pictures!
Mrs. Gloria is someone who has always helped me to grow in my faith and in the years leading to Joseph helped me to grow in peace as I waited for him! She had a tall order ;) She helped me journey through grieving the loss of our two oldest children so it is absolutely glorious to share the miracle of Joseph with her for the day.

She gave him his first taste of coffee milk and some honey cheerios! He thought mom's plain old Cheerios were old news after that!!



So thankful for the wonderful women in my life and how God places them right there to help you always know how to grow in beauty with their holy example!

Daddy

The last few days have been stressful, to say the least. It is not one big issue that nearly wants to topple us over the edge, it is just that the new things that demand immediate attention are not letting up.

So when today my husband called me at 11:30 to tell me he was not feeling well and was planning to come home early, I felt ashamed to say that I was super excited to see my husband earlier in the day no matter how he felt ;)

It looks like I wasn't the only one excited to have him home early!!!


We each had a sandwich, visited and then they topped off their time with a bonding nap! Love these two, they definitely bring so much sunshine into my life!

Friday Quick Takes

1. Joseph had the most fitful sleep ever last night and I could barely get my eyes open! At one point I told Jessy "I am a pirate, you just can't see the patch over the one eye :)" It was ROUGH, he is cutting the teeth (for sure one of them) on top and it was bothering him big time.

2. The good news is that at at 415 am, I got him back to sleep until 745 and now he is napping. Of course he is napping on the one day we are planning a fun lunch with Granny.

3. Today is my Mom's 51st birthday and Joseph and I are taking her to Olive Garden! I am so excited to see her and for her to spend some time with Joseph!

4. I have maxed out my parenting skills with the two teens! They keep making really poor choices and one made a really awful use of judgment recently in his writing and I found it. Needless to say he is punished AGAIN and is writing 1 Cor. 13 ten times, once daily for 10 days!!! Also he had to write a letter of apology to me for having to find such filth. God has to make things better soon, it has been worrisome and uncomfortable alot!

5. The phone just rang and Joseph stirred but is still sleeping, poor child . . . he is wiped out!

6. Yesterday, Joseph and I went to the eye doctor. I knew as an early interventionist that vision and hearing health are huge issues to monitor and with my vision history I wanted to get in the routine of having him see someone for his vision health. He did so well! Phenomenal :) InfantSee is a great program that pays for these services, too!

7. I have been eating candy like crazy and every time I eat one (or drink a coke) I think "What is this doing to my insides, specifically my PCOS?" I cannot wait, as God wills, to have another baby! I just hope to be better seasoned the next time around! Joseph is such a delight and blessing, we want more :))

1O MONTHS - Pup Edition

10 short months ago we were meeting Joseph for the first time.


Each day we fall more in love and learn something new about our sweet guy. Now that is the way to spend time, right? Definitely no complaints here!



How can 10 months pass so quickly and still be filled with more wonderful moments than you could've imagined?



He was not a huge fan of this costume but I am glad I pulled it out for him now, it is already snug on him. This was a bargain find I snatched up when I was still pregnant with him.

He loves meeting new people, but still prefers Mom 98% of the time, even with Daddy. I loe my baby boy!!

He stands on his own for a few seconds at a time until he realizes it, then he hurries to grab something!

He is learning to eat new foods and loves to chew and he has the pincher grasp down and do well finger feeding himself. He is adoring Cheerios these days and loved some chicken bites from last night's chicken and gravy I made for dinner.

He doesn't say "mama" too much these days but he still loves to call for his "dada"


In the last two days he has ben trying to show his independence, even playing longer with his toys and exploring more!

Finally, I am guessing he is about 23 lbs and 30 inches, will find out how fast he is growing at his next well baby visit!

Pumpkin Patch

For as long as I can remember I dreamed of bringing my child to the pumpkin patch. This desire was fueled by passing by a churches's pumpkin patch every October for three years when you are desperately still begging God for a baby. Oftentimes, I passed by seeing the happy families and dared to keep dreaming, keep believing, keep hoping.

So very grateful God brought such a beautiful little boy into our lives who made the dream of bringing our child to the pumpkin patch a reality!



He had the best time and loved being able to crawl, climb, and explore under the bright blue sky while his beaming Mom and great aunt experienced immeasurable joy.






My aunt's church hosts a pumpkin patch and joined us for our day of fun!


He adores his Ancy Barbara.

He even made a friend, they were so fascinated with one another!

A 'Southern' Fall afternoon

On one of our more difficult days, I headed out side with my favorite guy and it brought so fun to our day!

He had so much fun crawling all over!


I love the bright blue sky, it lifted our spirits!



A little boy & a BIG tree!





Daddy, you make me & Mommy's Day when you get home :)

Quick takes: Update on our little life

1. This week has been busy and at the same time it seems that I cannot get a handle on the things I need to accomplish. We had very simple dinners this week and there were no big homework battles with Mitchell and Matthew, and Joseph has been sleeping better. I just cannot get my energy up or have Joseph distracted for more than 10 minutes to allow me to accomplish much housework. He finds his comfort in me and leaving him in the living room to play with his toys is not ideal to him while I throw a load of laundry in the machine or prepare dinner :) He is growing so fast and in the end, I will be thankful for the great bond we share right now.

2. We had planned all week to have a little surprise party for Mitchell this evening, where we invite his mom over to celebrate. It was supposed to be a great day, but with just 20 minutes left in the school day he managed to do something incredible unacceptable and is now in deep trouble. We laid out the punishment and a few hours later, we still resumed with the party and the sad thing is he nearly cried seeing the balloons I got and the little cookie cake his mom brought. It took him so long to blow out the candles. I cannot remember when she was able to celebrate their birthday like that. She acknowledged that she never got them balloons because she was afraid of them popping and the noise they would make. The gift we got him was a hit and he immediately put it on after he opened it. It is so sad, the whole situation. The fact that they steal away their fun times by making poor choices is dreadful. In the end, we still celebrated his life, the fact that he is a gift. He has so much to offer the world through the talents God has bestowed on him and somehow, God will remove those layers of hurt and restore the purity that he planned for his soul before it was snatched and thrown to the wolves by the people who were supposed to protect him the most.

3. Joseph is getting so big and today we played for a long time on the porch and in the yard. I let him crawl around on the grass and he was so happy! This was the highlight of my day, God help me to protect his purity, his holiness, his gift to mankind.

4. Academically, both big boys are leaps and bounds ahead of where they would have been if they were still in the care of their mother. It makes me weary, but I keep thinking that somehow it will all sink in. Somehow, some way, some day!


5. I have been a hormonal mess these days. Ok, that is all I am going to say about that.

6. I am really missing my female friends, I am outnumbered at home.

7. No matter what stage of life you are in, growth is still painful but necessary.

A day in the park

I have always loved going to the park.

Over the years I have brought many kids to parks, but there was so many special feelings bringing our child to the park today!

It took his Daddy getting there to make Joseph's sweet smile appear.

Can he gat any cuter?

This sweet park is just a few steps from our home, so I imagine we will be there often.

This is love in the flesh ~ my heart is longing for a sister or brother for him :)


Thank you God for the joy this child brings into our lives. He is a blessing to our hearts and our lives.

Mama's boy!

This boy adores his Daddy, the feeling is mutual.

My flower gardeners

were up to something good this morning after church!

We had fun picking out these flowers yesterday on the Feast of St. Therese!

Fall is here!!

Feast Day

From one little soul, Happy Feast Day St. Therese!