My favorite conversation

with Joseph this week went like this:
(The scene: we are trying to get him to wind down for bed, but he keeps sneaking to the back door to try to look at the new pool. Well, there happened to be a rain frog hanging out peeking in at us.)
Me: look, Joseph! A tiny frog, say "hi, mr. Frog!
Joseph to the frog: "hi frog, it's me Joseph! This is Mommy (pointing to me for the frog to see) and this is daddy (pointing to his Daddy)!"

We have been working with him on introducing himself and others. Primarily this happens by example, so we were astounded when he put this into practice on his own.
They really are paying attention to everything we say and do. For the most part, I haven't been too embarrassed by what he does in imitating us, but apparently we grunt alot ;)

Celebrating Granny

 

Joseph helped Granny celebrate Mother’s Day with a box of chocolates and a card with his handprint. 

He did not just enjoy giving her chocolates, he ENJOYED helping her eat the chocolates

This boy surely brings joy to his Granny.

My Mother’s Day

 

My Mother’s Day was pretty fantastic this year.  I had these two smiling boys wishing my a special day and that was all I needed

The reality of celebrating Mother’s Day for me is really something of a challenge.  I never really liked getting extra attention, plus living a decade as a woman wondering if you will ever get an opportunity to really enjoy a Mother’s Day makes it really interesting.  On the real day, I was really focused on our Moms and lifting up a special friend in prayer, as this was her first Mother’s Day without her Mom.  I enjoyed the breakfast they prepared for me What a treat!  The card was just the icing on the cake!  One of Mitchell’s teachers sent me a picture and message the Friday before Mother’s day from him and that really stirred my heart too.  What a gift to receive love from these boys, they don’t realize they are the gift!  My heart could not ask for more!

My world

Is really small.
I sometimes forget about where I used to be because I only can manage to think of the present moment and live one day at a time.
Never before in my life did I know all about Curious George and his friend Ally, much less anything about a big red dog or a train that carried dinosaurs but those are the "extra" guests we have around these days. I could not have imagined how crazy it is to have two year old little tyrant in my house, much less a 16 year old 6'2" young man trying to help me entertain the little monkey during the day. I nearly melt from pure exhaustion when I see the big red truck turn in the driveway. I think "finally, someone ON my team!!!"
Joseph is a precious, loving, adventurous boy and he is 100% two years old!!! I think my energy has been low because of that darn summer cold that had be hanging around for awhile.
Life is good. Really, really good. I can say that now, all the creatures in my house are blissfully asleep;). Now, it is my time to get some sleep!
---------
Josephisms:
(From today)
1). When watching the machines, tractors doing construction work in a new Sonic in a nearby community Joseph says "me ride man's machine. I ride, Mommy, he let me."
2) when walking near some of Joseph's toys around the door that he scattered and I asked him to pick up he said "mommy, be careful!"
3) we had a turkey we are defrosting and I told him this early in the morning and this evening he says " I want turkey - T U R K E Y!!"
4) riding down some country road trying to break up our day "oh, we go see papa". Is it usual for 2 year old to be so familiar with landmarks? He knows just about every destination we have to make before we get there from his own processing of his surroundings without me saying anything.
5) our wandering drive led us to an ice cream shop today. The two boys and I ordered an ice cream and before leaving Joseph tells the clerk "bye lady, see you later alligator ;)"

My view

I sometime get surprised at how fast this boy can strip down. Every once in a while when we go out on the porch he thinks its time to swim in his pool, which he thinks is like a tub. Last week, he quickly stripped and these two cute pictures are after I managed to cover his hiney!









Look at those long legs ;). I think he is going to be tall like his Momma!

Our fun day!

 

 

May was a little colder than usual for our neck of the woods, so when the temperatures reached their normal limits, we headed out to the new little park at our Civic Center.  I think I had more fun watching him than anything else.   Photo overload ahead!

I have to admit, that on a regular day at the park sometimes I get a little sad that Joseph doesn’t have a sibling to run off with.  However, he doesn’t know the difference and that is comforting to my longing heart.  I am not sure if is just his personality or a benefit of attachment parenting (at least that is what they say) that he just exudes confidence.  He always greets others in a cheerful way and really surprises them with his social skills.  He likes to make conversations with others, both young people and those young at heart.

The fun just brings him so much joy and wonder.

One of the funniest things I noticed is how he doesn’t know he is just a little 2 year old, he felt the need to keep up with the BIG kids!!

This picture right here, oh, how I love this boy!!!

Go, go, go!!!!  Go, Joseph, GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

My love!!!

The new park is amazing, he was overjoyed.  This was a great day for us to both relax.  Well, as much as relaxing you can get chasing a ‘much faster than his old momma’ two year old.  How many times can one woman say “Come back . .. .. ”

 

This picture is really one that will be a treasure for years to come! 

At one point in time (we were there for over 2 hours) the area got extremely crowded so he found that he enjoyed the little area where you are supposed to rinse off before playing in the water.  I hope that water was clean water, because he loved to try to catch the droplets in his mouth.  This is what he does in the shower these days!

 

Keeping it real, these are some pictures my aunt captured.  I am so disappointed with my size, you should have seen me exercising at the park the other day.  You would think that chasing him, the calories would burn quickly. 

 

When playing together, he got a little too excited and ran too fast, slipping in the water which broke his little heart.  To my surprise, my aunt was snapping pictures, but I love that she captured the real moments of the day.

I might not like what I look like, but I love that I have the opportunity to have this precious boy holding my hand.

We are officially worn out!  Time to head home!!!

FYI for myself

Joseph often gets labeled a picky eater, so today I actually wrote down his food preferences (don't judge us here--we've tried many new foods and so much is wated), and here they are:
Things Joseph actually eats:
White milk
Grape juice (strongly diluted)
Apple juice (strongly diluted)
Cherries
Bananas
Grapes
Blueberries (sometimes)
Cantaloupe
Watermelons
Chobani berry yogurt
Rice/gravy (rarely meat)
Blueberry pancakes
Butter/syrup sandwiches-we use sun butter
Onion rings
Veggie chips (straws)
Pringles pizza sticks (Ancy)
Motts brand fruit chews
Nutrigrain apple cereal bars
French fries
Chicken nuggets
Ice cream (!!!)
Goldfish and pb crackers
Pizza
Cookies
Chips (ESP BBQ lays)
Cereal/milk (a little bit)
A little of baked or fried fish
Bread (white, wheat makes his face red)
Favorite drinks are water, white milk,and diluted apple juice.
The apple juice is the only way he takes his oral rxmeds.
He strongly dislikes
Pickles
Olives
Soft drinks/tea
Strawberries
Cold veggies
Cold cuts/ lunch meat/hot dogs

Does anyone else's child flat out refuse to even try veggies (cooked or raw). What do you do or do you supplement with a veggie juice (?)?

Update on Mitchell

Mitchell is doing well. He us showing much progress in his studies, his faith, and his priorities in regard to mature behavior. I am both stunned and happy. In hindsight, we were surprised that even though they label themselves "non-denominational" they are clearly Pentecostal. I was fine with that, worried about him adjusting to the limits, but never prepared for him to tell me he is enjoying their faith and wanting to be baptized in their upcoming church service. Blow me away, and call me done. I could not sleep for two nights. After much prayer, discernment, and seeking wise counsel we decided to "Let go, let God" so that the Holy Spirit could do the work that God desired. I did ask about what exactly he desires for the outcome, what it means to him, and this will change his life in his own words. I was satisfied when he told me he "feels closer to God worshipping God in the way he us exposed to it now" and "that he realized he needs God in his life, because he can't do it all by himself; he tried doing it by himself for years and he was not making it on his own". All of that being said, he was interviewed by the Louisiana Dept of Ag and Forestry and there was an article about him in a state paper. He was very proud if this. I hope God led us to make the right decision to help him by getting him to this Ranch/ private school.

Our play-dough fun date ;)

Joseph gets so excited to play with his "balls" play-dough. By the way, he calls alot of his favorite fruit "balls" too. It drives his Daddy crazy because he is afraid he is gonna scream it out in a store or church ;). Anyway, he loves the playtime but offer just plays with it while he directs me to mold something for him.
He is a picture I snapped with our creations today. He has a snake, a turtle, Frosty the Snowman, and a car on a road.

Tractor time

Joseph loves his tractors!!!

Happy boy

This week we got to hang out with one our closest friends and she loaned Joseph one of the bikes her kids outgrew. He was and and still completely thrilled about being a big boy and riding the big bike. Why do these cute kids insist on growing up so fast?? I have got to talk to him about slowing things down a bit ;)







Matthew was there playing with us and he taught Joseph how to get on and off by flinging his leg over the seat and it just took one time and he kept doing it and got better at it in now time. He is so good at big motor skills! Now to get him to draw a circle is a whole different story!