Joseph just discovered he loves bubbles!
Although we cannot keep him in a bubble, we will enjoy blowing bubbles together for many years to come!
Eagerly awaiting more bubbles,, sweet boy!
This simply melts my heart and makes me know to never take these moments for granted or to rush a single day.
Years ago I found a great box of blocks for sale and I purchased them with the dream in mind that we would open them one day to play with our own child.
So they sat for many years in the closet and then the toy box and just this past week did the wrapper get pulled off and those neatly packaged blocks get scattered all over my living room floor.
Oh, how I love that journey that led us to this precious child. Each day that I feel unworthy to lead him to Christ and snuggle his pure sweetness, I remind myself that it took many building blocks to get to this point and for each step of the way, God’s grace enveloped us.
And most of all, I am thankful that this special man encouraged me to not ever lose hope!
Joseph turned 15 months today & I wanted to make a big deal about it, something to celebrate the number 15, but the closest we got to celebrating was going to the park and making a new friend!
Poor Joseph, he has two molars that are nearly cut, but his teeth take so long coming in and it makes him feel rotten. We always have happy mornings, but scarcely survive the afternoons.
Some big things that are going on in his development is that he is basically running nonstop these days, he loves to copy whatever you do. Tonight I was gurgling with warm salt water and he just thought that was fabulous, especially when I spit it out. He giggled in that perfect way that just heals the soul.
He loves little kids, loves them so much. Today when we got to the park there was a 3 year old little boy and he just runs up to him and hugs him. I am concerned about his strong ways of just reaching out and grabbing others. He just thinks that he can love on all of them. Even today he was looking at fac.ebook with me and saw his friend, Lily, and called her name after I told him her name.
Speaking of his language development, it seems that talks all the time and every once in awhile he just comes out with a good, clear word or phrase. Two nights ago he said “What’s up"?” and we are working on learning body parts, but randomly he lets me know it is sinking in, but he DOES NOT do it on command. Oh, my strong willed child. He is also just letting me know that all along he knew what all that sign language was I was using with him because he is now using the sign for ‘more’, “eat”, and “all done.’
He is also very, very attached to the big boys & gets excited when he hears or sees their bus coming home. Even yesterday while we were at the park, he saw the bus turn onto our road and started calling out for them. Somehow, God wanted us to have these three boys growing together in our home and only He knows how the story will go from here on out.
My aunt sent Joseph a very fun Mardi Gras outfit and he loved it!
You can now tell him “Say Cheese” & you get a good smile from him! He had a really happy day that day even though there were huge rainstorms raging!
Since I have just figured out a new way to post with updated pictures, I am enjoying my blog more these days.
When you are living in the moment of running after a busy toddler, you often forget those sweet newborn moments so I looked back at how small he was for Valentine’s Day 2011!
Here he is in 2011!
Here he is in 2012! Oh my, it really took my breath away to see how fast time is passing for our little one.
Joseph ate about as much bread as he fed to the ducks! Love that little stinker!
I just couldn’t resist sharing this one!
He loves to call his daddy in the morning when he wakes up!
His first sentence was “I call dada” while grabbing my phone.
He only said it once but it came out so clear. Other real words besides mama, dada, duck, hi, & quack are still non-existent, but we love to have c0nversations with him!
The rain has made our home an island and even though I thought I would love island living, I would prefer the type that involves more sun & surf!
Joseph just thinks that he needs some rubber boots to make good use of all of those puddles
My husband and I have a strong devotion to St. Joseph and we have been so blessed to have three boys in our home that will also learn about his great love for our beloved Jesus & our Blessed Mother. They will also learn about what a powerful intercessor he is for us and that we learn a great deal from his example of trusting God with big responsibility even when we feel very small in the face of those big responsibilities. The thing that makes me so trusting of him is knowing how much our Blessed Mother Mary loved him and felt protected in his care. I find that his character must have been on display always and he was given the grace to meet the will of God in raising Jesus. Nearly 12 years ago, Jessy and I sat by one another - completely heartbroken after experiencing our first pregnancy loss: Sam - and could barely see our way past the mud that seemed to be splattered in our face. We were emotionally spent with brokenness, it completely rocked us just months after we wed. That was September 2000, barely two months after we married. We were always open to life, so our 'honeymoon' phase was stripped out from under our feet. At that point, we did the only thing we knew how to do, we held each other and we prayed. Prayer was important, and some of that healing had to be done alone. I remember feeling helpless in searching for something to offer my husband in helping him to heal, find hope, and gain renewed strength. I stumbled onto a 30 day Novena to St. Joseph. He prayed this, I did not. I don't know why I did not, but I was going a different route and my healing took a very long time. Well, after he completed this Novena, he was supernaturally assured that somehow our joy would be restored and we would someday be blessed with children. Like I said earlier, I was in the muck of despair and still struggled with this. I continued to have a very difficult journey with my health/fertility and so that added to the struggle. After many years, five years to exact, we met a little Joseph (fresh from the womb) whose family needed help and I was assigned to work with their family. I had previously worked with this family in helping them with another child and so I immediately knew they were the family I had dreamed of being like. They were faithful, holy, and giving. They were open to life and grew in they way I wished my family to grow. I met with them and somehow Joseph's mother mentioned PPVI. She mentioned their ability to help me find physical healing. I searched for more information but was unable to find any teachers in LA and this lead went nowhere. I had completed my work with this family and I did not bother them requesting more information about PPVI because of many reasons. Two years later, in 2007, I was called to work even more closely with this family and their Joseph. It was during that time, I learned that his Mom was a trained CrMS practitioner and only taught a few ladies the whole time she lived in LA because of the great responsibility she had in caring for her family and because the local area was not open to any NFP options but the Sympto-Thermal Method. None of the physicians were open about it either, even the pro-life doctors. Well, toward the end of the time I was working with this family, she told me she had a dream and that God was asking her to somehow find the time to teach us the CrMS so that we could be referred to Dr. Hilgers. Needless to say, we jumped at that opportunity and laughed that God sent us our teacher who only lived 15 miles away from our house! Talk about God moving mountains!!! We had a slow start, but we eventually got all of my records sent to Dr. Hilgers in 2007! I completed bloodwork in January 2008, scheduled my first Lap for July 2, 2008, and had my follow-up laparotomy on September 13, 2008. Gosh, that was almost four years ago! I could always see the hand of St. Joseph as we made each step in our healing and the growing of our family - imagine our surprise to see the beautiful image of St. Joseph welcoming us as we arrived at the hospital, St. Joseph's Creighton University Medical Center, for my surgeries. St. Joseph was always present and continues to be a blessing to us. So when we found out we were having a son, of course, we already knew he would be named after St. Joseph - who lead us on our journey to healing and family! St.. Joseph, thank you for your continued prayers. We are beginning our Novena today and will end on the 1st Anniversary of Joseph's Baptism, March 19 (St. Joseph's Feast Day). Prayer Buddy, you are being added to our intentions! "I set before you life & death, blessings and curses; CHOOSE LIFE, so that you and your children will live!" Deuteronomy 30:19 |
