It's a ball.

So Joel just cracks me up. So Tuesday afternoon Joel just wasn't himself. He didn't take a very good nap and was just in pain. I did what I could for him but after an hour of him crying inconsolably I called the doctor and took him in. (I'll interject here that I LOVE our pediatrician. Even with an unscheduled appointment like this we were in and out of the office in about 20 minutes including the time waiting and seeing the doc. He's fantastic and his office staff is amazing!) Anyhow, it turned out Joel's tonsils and throat were red and inflamed and he had a lot of mucus building up. So the doc writes us a prescription for some antibiotics and off we go.

So I go over to Target to get the prescription filled and while we wait we begin walking through the store. We go by the toy aisles and Joel points and says "Ball!" This was the first time he saw an object and said the name! He'd repeat things and he says words but this was a first. I was so excited. So I take him closer and he says it again, "Ball!" So needless to say we came home with a small ball. Well that night I take the ball out to show Tj and I ask Joel "Joel, what is it?" and he says oh so casually, "It's a ball." Well then....., okay.

Vance has figured the fine art of pushing himself up on his elbows. His face may be saved from his attempts to be mobile after all. Yeah! And so far he's the only one who's been saved from this terrible cold or whatever it is. I'm hoping we keep it that way. Other than that not much else is going on.

Oh, Tj's pretty excited about a new toy they got at work. It's a King Air 200. I guess it looks something like this (good ole Google):

Anyhow, it's pretty nice and he's one of the first pilots at his company that will get to fly it. I guess that's one of the perks of selling your soul to Vintage. (lol) But really he's pretty excited about flying this plane. He starts on Friday. Yeah!

So that's what's going on here!

Brothers!

Okay, can I start by saying, isn't this one of the cutest pictures you've ever seen?! They are so cute together! Joel just loves Vance and wants to help and is just so sweet and loving with him. The whole time he was holding Vance for these pictures he was just putting his head close to him and being so sweet. He's such a good kid. And Vance wants to be doing whatever Joel is. I think that they're going to be pretty close as they grow up.

Vance is mobile! He's not very quick but now in addition to being able to turn himself in circles once he turns himself on his tummy, he can also inch forward. It's so funny because he just puts his little head down into the carpet and pushes with all his might with his little feet. It's not graceful or speedy but it's progress. I'm waiting for the day he gives himself a rug burn on his forehead. So funny. He's also starting to beginning signs of teething. Absolutely everything gets gnawed on. And talk about drool city! At least I got a little bit of a break between Joel and Vance teething right?!

Joel is getting more and more entertaining every day. His current favorite word is still "Uh, oh!" He says it for EVERYTHING! Sigh--- what can you do? His vocabulary is growing. I can't remember what was in his list last time so here's his current list (that I can remember): Mom, Dad, Vance, Pa (Grandpa Tom), Nan (Grandma Cindy), eye, arm, more, done, nana (banana), juice, down, kiss, ow, one and of course the ever popular uh, oh. He's also attempting more words. If you get eye to eye with him and say it for him he'll try and repeat it. He also can point to his eyes, ears, head, nose, mouth, arm, and leg when you say the word. He loves singing and dancing. His favorite songs include Popcorn Popping, Five Monkeys Swinging From a Tree, Itsy Bitsy Spider and Pat-a-Cake. He LOVES the Jungle Book and will watch the elephant marching scene about 40 billion times (43 billion if he's watching it with Pa). He is just a riot. I know every parent probably thinks so but really I just have the best kids. Some days they drive me crazy but I wouldn't rather go crazy with anyone else. lol

Other than that Tj and I keep busy with work and everything else in life. It looks like there may be some changes in our near future (no we're not pregnant!!!). Unfortunately, it's not job related for Tj yet either. Anyhow, we're busy but we're doing well.

Joel Update- January 2008

So Joel is now 19 months. This is such a fun age. He keeps us laughing at the things he comes up with. His latest thing is when you ask him a question he will stop and say, "ummmmmmmm, yes". It never gets old. He's just so funny. He also loves praying. Yes, praying. He makes sure we never forget a blessing on our food or before bed.
Joel is such a good big brother. He is SO sweet with Vance. He loves giving him kisses and plays with him. He loves giving him his pacifier and making Vance smile. He gives Vance hugs and Vance just loves watching Joel play. It will be so fun when they're finally able to play together.
Joel is also getting pretty good at putting together puzzles. He got a leapfrog animal match up toy from cousin Emma and Matthew. He loves it and is getting pretty good at finding the right animal matches. He likes his new blocks that he got for Christmas and is getting pretty good at building with them. He also is loving being home and visiting Grandpa and Molly. His new thing is that he loves to ride anything. His train, his friend's bike, Molly, whatever. He's so funny. Luckily Molly is patient with him. We may have a cowboy on our hands. lol

Hanging out with some friends. Thanks Denise!

Riding the rocking horse at Grandma Monies.

Talking on the phone with Grandpa.
Yes, he's obsessed with phones.
Where does he get that?! lol

His shock and amazement at Santa.
He didn't want anything to do with Santa.
Maybe next year.

Helping Dado hold up the wall at the science
museum.

Vance Update- Jan 2008

Vance is almost 5 months old. How did this happen?! I can't believe how old he is getting and he's growing so big too! He's such a happy baby. We really did win the happy baby lottery. I didn't think we could get a happier baby than Joel but Vance is. Now the opposite end of the spectrum is that when he's mad he gets MAD. But it happens so rarely that it's manageable.
So here's the latest with Vance. He is a rollin'. He loves being on his tummy and playing but often that's when he rolls over. Then he gets ticked because he doesn't really like being on his back. He's such an easy smiler. He charms everyone, especially his aunts and cousins. He also loves grabbing his toys. You can tell he's concentrating so hard to maneuver his hand to the toy. And once it's in his grasp he gets SO excited that he sometimes beans himself in the head. He loves watching what his big brother is doing. His favorite perches are his bumbo chair and his exersaucer.


Watching mommy. He'll tolerate being on his
back as long as he can see someone. He doesn't
like being alone.

Chilling in his swing at Grandma Monies.

Vance with Santa. Thanks Sandy!

Playing with his rattle that he got for Christmas!