Other Random Fall Pictures

He loves to try and put his whole fist in his mouth.
I thought this was sweet

Those lips trip me out!

Meme, Joe and Cade will get into trouble if I don't watch them closely!

Chris is working so hard with him on crawling....but he still does more drooling than anything!

Halloween 2009

We didn't do much for Halloween due to Joe only just now turning five months old. However, I drug Joe, Chris, Mom and Pop to the Botanical Gardens during the day for pictures and an afternoon stroll through the gardens and to look at the Scarecrow Trail. Mom and I had a great time but I think the boys would have rather have gone fishing! But I just had to do something festive and Joe had the absolutely the cutest costume ever!! He was a lion and Alisa, Joe's nanna, made it for him! She did a beautiful job and helped us have such a memorable Halloween. He was soooo cute. He will definitely hate me one for taking so many pictures, but I'm sure I will never care! He is just too cute for words in these pictures!!

Rachel Visits!

The weekend after Homecoming, my friend, Rachel, came to visit from Thursday until Sunday! She and I were roommates while we lived in Dallas and San Antonio together but we haven't seen eachother in almost two years. She moved to Florida and I moved back here a few months later We actually got back in touch through my blog. So she kept her promise and went out of her way to come visit us for the weekend and our reunion was absolutely wonderful. It was like we hadn't been away from eachother at all. She got to meet Joe and the rest of the family and we got to have a "Ladies' Night Out," which I've been needing for about a year now. The crazy thing is we ran into my sister-in-law, who never goes out, out at Humphrey's that night! We really had a good time. Chris, Joe, and I can't wait to visit her some time in the spring hopefully! I miss her so much already!

Rachel and Joe

Rachel, Joe and me

Us at Humphrey's

About to take an Irish Car Bomb! (Don't worry we took a cab)

Lindsay and me

Homecoming

It's been a while since I last posted but the name of the game around here has been "BUSY!" Chris has been busy with work, I've been busy with school, and we've all been busy trying to keep up with Joe and his growing! He is getting so big and it seems that every time we turn around he's doing something new and different. We're really getting an opportunity to see his personality and it's just wonderful. I couldn't be happier with life than I am right now!

So, to catch you up we all went to Tuscaloosa for a very cold Homecoming celebration for the Tide. It was Joe's first visit and very memorable. To say the least, the cold kept us from even attempting at going to the game but we got pictures on the field and by the goal post (which were great!). We ended up making a lot of memories and having a lot of fun though poor Joe baby looks so pathetic all bundled up. Again, at least we got pictures of him at his first Alabama Homecoming on the field! One day he'll appreciate it...I hope...or he'll tell just how crazy we really are!

Joe all cozy underneath piles of clothes and blankets!
Four Generation picture in the end zone! Our little family is down below!

Uncle Andy let us in through the tunnel where he's posted during the games....how fun!

Football Season Fall Pics

Last weekend Lindsay, Adalin, Mom, Chris, Joe and I all went to the park to get pictures taken by Katie Cochran for fall and football season. Adalin and Joe had on matching houndstooth outfits. They were absolutely adorable and Katie did a fantastic job. We were lucky Joe had taken his afternoon nap because he ended up in a really good mood thankfully.

Milestones

Well not much has been happening with us but we have reached a couple of milestones. He has now rolled over and moved from just breast milk to some rice cereal! Yay! I have begun graduate school so we're trying to keep a low profile during the week so I can study. Though Mr. Joe can be quite difficult for other people so it's making it more challenging to find time away from him. We did go on the ghost stroll downtown, which was a lot of fun. Mom actually took a picture of a ghost. Chris was skeptical...he'd rather believe in aliens :). One picture I caught of Chris playing the guitar for Joe. It was so very sweet and Joe really enjoyed it. Below are a couple of videos. The one where he is in the bath you must turn your computer volumns all the way to here his special ending. We totally cracked up!

This video is of Joe rolling over. He had already done it for me twice before so this third time he wasn't really happy with me, but he's still so cute!

This is of Joe in his "Kick-n-Play." He absolutely loves it! He figured out early on how to kick the feet pads on it and make the music and lights go so every day he gets his exercise doing this. Sometimes it scares me though because he can get so focused it reminds me of little (or big) boys play video games!

Joe gets a bath every night and absolutely loves it! He's a kicker so being in the water and kicking is a lot of fun for him. You'll see when he stops kicking and laughing that he's concentrating on something. If you listen closely you know what it is :)!

This last video is of Joe working his motor skills pretty hard. He's really just now begun to play with his rattles and grab for things. Unfortunately, this new found coordination of the hand has led him to sucking his thumb! Hope he doesn't hang on to it until he's 10 (Adam)!

Lazy Weekends

For the past few weekends we've tried to take it easy. One night I took a girl's night and went with Lindsay and Mama to a Spirited Art class. We had some dinner then took our bottles of wine and went to paint a Van Gogh landscape. When we arrived the instructor informed us that we picked the most difficult painting to do but we had fun anyway.

Last weekend Chris and I decided to have our very first date night since Joe was born. I was worried he was going to change his mind because he was so tired. He and Joe passed out on the couch about an hour before we left. Luckily, the power nap was enough to take me out. We ended up going to dinner at Dolce and then he took me to see "The Time Traveler's Wife." I have learned now that I need not go see movies that are in the least bit sad. My hormones tend to make me very emotional and it ends up being quite embarassing for the both of us :)!

Concerts in the Park

This summer we have thoroughly enjoyed the "Concerts in the Park" series at Big Spring Park. We will go with our family with a picnic dinner and possibly a bottle of wine and just enjoy the music and the evening together. We were really excited a couple of weeks ago when Adam, Lindsay, and Adalin joined us. I got a couple of good videos. My favorite is the one titled "Lindsay vs. the Goose." Adam and Adalin were feeding the geese when Adam dropped a very large piece of bread. He tried to get it back but the goose was just too quick. So Lindsay decided she was going to get the bread from the goose and ended up chasing the goose all around the park. In the end, we are proud to say, Lindsay won and retrieved the prized bread!

Joe's Baptism

The Saturday camp ended, we decided to have Joe baptized. Camp has always meant a lot to me both the place and the event so we thought that having it there would be very special. The location was at an open air stone chapel on top of the mountain at Sumatanga. It wasn't easy getting everybody up there (especially my 100 year old great grandmother) but we all made it and just before the rain came too. My dad performed the ceremony with Jay assisting. Adam presented Joe, Jonathon and Mollianne performed the music and Margaret A. did the congregational response. All in all it was different, a bit complicated, but memorable and very special!

More 4th Photos

Me and Morgan
Adam, Adalin, and Pop

Joe and his Meme

Lindsay, Adalin, and Adam...They are so cute!

Alisa and Art

More pictures from Joe's first weeks!

Joe baby in his boppy bouncer
Nanna and Joe

Pawpaw and Joe

Uncle Adam and Aunt Lindsay

Camp 2009

Chris, me, Joe, Poppa, and Beaux (the dog)

Mama and the other nurses were such a big help with Joe. Here is Trish with Joe in front of the door with all the stickers. He loved all the colors.

This is me and Blair, one of my friends from high school, who came to camp after being gone for several years. It was so good to see her again and have her meet Joe.

We were exhausted most of the week. Below, we (Joe is in his frontal carrier) are serving communion to the counselors with Pop and Barbara.

Twice a year my family and me participate with camps for developmentally disabled adults. One camp in the summer and one camp in the fall. The camp in the summer is the last week of July and lasts an entire week. We all went...my dad is one of the directors, my mom was the nurse, and Chris was a counselor. This year I was the Director's Intern and Joe came with me! I had a feeling it would be difficult for us to spend the whole week in the middle of nowhere with no A/C and without the comforts of home. I had no idea it would be as hard as it actually was though. But we made it through as well as could be expected. And I am really glad that we were all able to go since it's such a major part of our lives. However, Joe and I were excited to be heading home on Saturday!

Other Family Photos

Joe and Chino

Mimi finally got a picture with both her babies

Aunt Morgan and Joe

Uncle Bryan and Joe

The Famous 5 Generations Picture!
Joe Baby
Dede and Joe
Dede, Adalin, and Joe

Adalin and Joe....She is so sweet with him!