Our evening in pictures

Joseph woke up early Monday in a cranky, fussy mood which is very out of character.  I did my best to make the day easy for him because I could tell he was just not himself.  However, the emotional breakdown still occurred simply because I was trying to get him to nap.  Finally after trying to get him to relax for 2 hrs and then finally returning to the living room after he was more relaxed, he fell asleep in my arms after about 10 minutes in the recliner.  So this is how Daddy found him when he returned home, sweet boy.

A short nap really helped boost his spirits, so we had tons of fun playing and being silly in the living room after supper. 

Here he is rolling the ball to Daddy-O!

LOVE that I had my camera during his silly play time.

We are so old school.  My mom found my old Nintendo and Tetris game.  I only ever played Tetris and Super Mario as a kid.  He loves playing the game,  I love that he loves it!  In trying to capture the moment, I took too many pictures!

"I can pix it!!!"

He loves the drill he received from a shopping trip to the toy store with Daddy-O!!! He can "pix" everything ;)

It doesn't get much cuter than this folks!!! I fall more in love with this sweet child every day. His mind is sharp, his vocabulary is huge, and his self confidence is through the roof! I wonder daily how God will use him in the future, he is already changing the world, one person at a time. He never meets a stranger, as long as he is by my side. I meet so many new people because of his engaging personality.

Joseph, you are truly one in a million and I am so glad God shares you with us!!!

Our day in pictures

 

I keep wanting to write a post on all the craziness you will endure to avoid more screen time.  Joseph was not interested in tv for the longest time and then came Curious George and he was hooked.  Later he discovered Clifford and Daniel Tiger.  Fortunately these three are clearly good moral choices these days.  Yet, in the effort to avoid the screen, my house will become an experiment lab of sorts because I will try nearly everything to keep this child engaged.  Here is just a few of the pictures he and I took today while filling those hours!  He is getting to be so imaginative and his sense of humor cracks me up. 

Silly goose, he loves looking at this picture and telling me “I closed my eyes.”

Gotta love this sweet boy.  The other day he wanted to watch his Potty Train video with Baby Signs.  He watches it and then sits in the bathroom for an hour.  Anyway, I would not allow him to watch it because I needed him to take a nap.  I just kept staying stubborn saying “When you wake up from your nap, it will be time for the Potty Train show.”  After about 40 minutes of this, he laid down, closed his eyes and then told me “I took a nap, now I am up!!!  I watch potty train.”  Good try.

A few minutes later he snuggled close, listened to me read “Corduroy” and then fell asleep for 3 hours.  First thing when he woke up he whispered “I watch potty train.”  hahaha!!  I smiled and said yes.  He then looked at me and said “I did it!  I take a nap!!”

Not the best picture in the world, but this are the moments I want to remember, barefoot camo pj boy with sweet blue eyes whose best part of the day is just staying home with Momma!

This picture above just might be why he is so rotten

“TA –D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

He wanted this picture so much and totally posed for it!  He sure loves his Daisy Mae.

This picture shows how old I feel.  I really am thankful for the smiles we share during our days together!

It was one of those new experiences, giving Joseph the chance to help cook the red beans and sausage.  He was super excited and so proud of himself.  He even told Daddy tonight that he liked helping Momma cook supper.

For the record, he is having a very difficult following certain instructions so this experiment was short-lived but it gave him so much joy!!!

Five favorites

I am naturally always trying to look at the glass half full and see the blessings rise from the tougher moments of my day, so these are the thoughts on my mind tonight.

1. It was a particularly insane day with keeping Joseph entertained. After reading tons of books, water play, talking, playing at park, going to library, etc, he was never really interested in anything I offered him to eat. After Daddy met us at library and Joseph road home with him in the big red truck, I ran to the store to get a load of bread. I get home a few minutes later to find Joseph at the table devouring chicken and biscuits. He never eats chicken and lately he shows off an impressive appetite only with dad around. So since all was under control, I started folding laundry and told Jessy across the kitchen "hey, you can start staying home, I will go work for a living." Meaning he seems to do better with getting Joseph to eat than I do. Joseph leaps from his chair at the table saying "no, no, no Momma!" He runs to me in the other room where I am folding laundry and says "no Momma, you stay home." He was seriously aware of what I was saying but fix not know it was all in fun. He was rather alarmed and for the next half hour kept reminding me that he wanted me home and for me not to go to work everyday like Daddy-o. He said "Daddy-o can go to work! You stay home Momma"
2. We read "Corduroy" a few times today and he has the sweetest, unrepeatable way of saying the sweet bears name. He was reading it to himself, while waiting for me to put him to sleep tonight.
3. Joseph was very excited to see a 12-14 year old boy at park riding his bike. He was fascinated by the boys skill and kept telling "good job, you did real good!" I love that he speaks praise to others!!!
4. We spent a large part of our morning in the bathroom as his main thing today was to sit on the potty and "try". He has been very successful before but he decided a few weeks ago he was done with the toilet. I have just been riding out the transition, but I do love that he just wants me close during this time. He has his moments of wanting to be private, but then he wants his Momma at times too ;))
5. The ups guy showed up right on time for a package delivery today. I not sure who was more happy to see the other. In the few minutes he was here, Joseph gave him big entertainment which brought joy to the gentleman. Afterwards Joseph was thrilled to find our what was in the package for him (overnight diapers) and we played for an hour with the box, air fillings (making them pop), and stacking towers of diapers!

I love this boy!!!

Night cap

After a rather challenging day with a very strong willed (cute, too), button pushing boy he offered me some consolation tonight.

As we cuddled before putting him to sleep, he whispers "say prayers, Momma..... say prayers".

adoption day . . . new name, same heart