Finding His Thumb

Joshua really wants to suck his thumb.  Too bad for him that he really isn't good at finding his mouth or keeping his thumb in it.  This is one of his first successful attempts.

The big boys wanted to be included in the pictures.  It is a rare treat to have three willing subjects.

Checking Out Daddy

Daddy's Home!

For a little boy who loves his Daddy a week is way too long to be away.  Andrew woke up from his nap just as Joe got home from an overseas trip.  By the way, those are raindrops not tears.

Can't you see the love and excitement in his eyes?!

Pledge

I didn't even realize that they say the pledge every day in preschool. We passed a flag the other day and he just started reciting it. It is sad that they have taken the pledge out of most schools. I want my boys to love our country and be proud of their Daddy's role in protecting it.

Listen at the end. He finishes it every time by saying "you may be seated". It took me a couple of times to figure out what he was saying.

Funny Faces

Our sweet boy is learning to smile and laugh. It is so cute! Here are a few of his faces I got tonight.

Whoa!!! I buzzed my lips at him and he just didn't know what to think.

Alright, back to smiles.

A bit more serious, but still cute.

Now it's time for full on laughter.

Andrew wanted no part in posing for pictures, but Joey jumped all over it. "Cheese!"

Sad but Cute

I know he looks so sad, but I couldn't resist taking his picture.

Tourists

We only have a couple more months here in Charleston, so we are trying to sneak in tourist activities in our free time. We decided to take the boys on a private carriage tour downtown. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and this was the perfect way to spend it.

We had our guide take two pictures of all of us sitting in the carriage, but they are not on my camera. I am guessing he isn't too good with technology if he didn't actually take a picture. You will have to just imagine it....we were sitting in a beautiful white carriage, we all leaned together, put on our best smiles and said "cheese". That is, all of us besides Joshua who was screaming his head off. I am sure our guide was excited to see us. Thankfully Joshua fell asleep quickly and we had a nice peaceful ride. Wait! What am I thinking?! We had Joey and Andrew with us, so peaceful is not how I would describe it. Fun, yes. Peaceful, no.

We went out to lunch and they let you write on the wall. That is right up our alley!

GER, Oh My!

This is the face of Gastroesophageal Reflux and it isn't pretty. It hurts my sweet baby and makes me hurt for him. He spent nearly four weeks either crying, nursing, or fitfully sleeping. His cry had such an intense pain-filled sound to it. Poor kid!

We started him on medication, the clouds are beginning to part and Joshua is finally seeing some relief. We are even beginning to see his smile and get to know his sweet personality.

Occasionally he even has restful sleep.

It looks like it is only getting better from here.

Testing Out the Baby Toys

Storytime

Here is Joey reading Joshua a book. He is so sweet to that baby.

Flowers

My sweet boy loves to pick me flowers. He sure knows how to melt my heart.

Easter Eggs

We must color...

We must sticker...

We must write our names...

We must pose with our colored eggs and baskets...

All just to get to the good stuff, CANDY!

Can you tell that nearly every egg he colored was pink?

Jellybeans from a chicken's bottom...Yum!

Now on to the hunt

It's funny how quickly our hunts go now that they are older. They are just too good for that Easter Bunny.

Big Boys Biking

Our boys are getting so big. Andrew has moved from a tricycle, which he never liked, to a regular bicycle, which he LOVES.

Joey has left his training wheels in the dust. Once he got good at two wheels Joe took him on a ride to McDonald's. It was just the two of them and Joey even got to drink a Coke, a real Coke. He was so excited to tell on Daddy for letting him have it. I love it when they make a sweet memory like that.

Did you notice his dismount? He had a little trouble braking at first and that was how he stopped himself. Thankfully he figured it out because he had a couple of "spills" doing it this way.

This is my birthday, so I figure this is their present to me. It is a big day in your life when you learn how to ride a bike and it was a big day for me as a Mom to watch it happen.

Georgia

Yep, that's our dog standing on the trampoline and looking over the fence.

Here she is keeping watch over Joshua.

Andrew May Kill Me One Day

...but I had to post this picture.

Picture for Joshua

Joey drew a picture for Joshua and here he is showing it to him.