Babies, babies, babies!!

OK, I've been waiting to post these forever, but I'll excuse people since they were without power etc. b/c of Ike.

As most of you know, AJ and I have recently become an Aunt and Uncle...twice! Sophia was born August 13, one day before her due date by C-section, and is beautiful. Josh and I were able to fly down for a weekend right after she was born since we were still living relatively close, in OK. Here's a few pics of that weekend that I haven't posted yet (I don't think).

Me and adorable Sophia...I miss my niece!
Sophia Grace, all dressed up!
Josh isn't really sure what to do with her, but he really wanted to hold her...but not touch her.

Now for Josiah.

Josiah Luke was born naturally at 4:44 am on September 12, 2008. He barely beat Hurricane Ike! Josiah was 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 21 inches long. He was healthy, but had some problems being born, because his head was at an angle, but turned and was born safely before anything bad happened.

Josiah Luke Boynton

Josiah and his Mommy
I believe these two were taken the day they left the hospital, and that this is his going home outfit. I actually stole these pix off of Missy's facebook, so I don't know for sure.
My Dad (Grandad) with Josiah in their house...notice the new tile, which looks like wood boards. My first glimpse of it...looks great, Mom and Dad!


Josiah and Sophia...can you tell which is which??
Josiah on his afghan at his homeI looked at the pix of Josiah and they reminded me so much of some of Josh's first pix.

Josiah and his Daddy
Cowboy Josiah in his boots with his horse


Once again, had to put Josh's cowboy pix up too...

Sweet little face

WELCOME, JOSIAH LUKE BOYNTON!

CONGRATULATIONS, MISSY AND NATE!

Follow up...

...to the last post.
Yesterday we got out the (color wonder) crayon things and practised together drawing a straight line and circle...he did both without blinking an eye, which tells me that he could have done this at the Dr.'s office if he'd really been inclined...obviously he was not, and he told me and the Dr. "NO" very clearly when we asked him to do these. Therefore I have come to the conclusion that my son is probably just a budding artistic genius and didn't want to compromise his artistic theories/philosophies by drawing something he didn't feel like drawing at the time...apparently his muse was not moving him to draw lines on the paper in the office.

Either that, or he's just incredibly stubborn...

I think I know which it is, but I'll let y'all make up your own minds!

Josh is a BIG BOY!

Josh had his 2 year check up today, and he's been officially proclaimed "TALL"! He also seems to be fairly healthy.

OK, here's the whole story. We're actually going to the Naval Weapons Station to see the one pediatrician there, since the ONE at the Air Force Base is not taking appointments for some reason...some personal issues, I believe. Anyway, so they sent us (after a goose chase, which I won't describe because honestly, most of you probably wouldn't care, unless you're a military dependent having to deal with Tricare, too...) to Dr. Mundo, and thank goodness they had a cancellation for today, so we didn't have to wait till October (I got yelled at a little for not calling a month before his birthday in order to have his appointment on or just after his birthday...apparently the fact that we were still in OK a month ago, and wouldn't have been able to get his appt. made then has no bearing...I still should have found a way, somehow...).
And thank goodness AJ had this morning off, so he could go with us, since it was an 0830 appt, had to be there 15 min. early, and we had NO idea where the NWS was, much less this building was on it. So we figured it out (sort of) online last night, got up EARLY (for us), dragged Josh out of bed, gave him breakfast in the car, and actually got there just about on time!

The nurse called us back, and did all his vitals/measurements, and here they are: temperature, which she took with a thermometer UNDER HIS TONGUE (sort of worked): 99.1; weight, taken by him standing on the big person scale, 14.2 Kg or 31 lbs.; height: 35 1/4 inches; head circumference: 19 in.

The doctor was very nice, and so good at listening, carrying on a conversation, and typing/asking questions all at the same time...very surprising, and very nice! Unfortunately, somehow DEERS decided at some point in our move that Josh was our second dependent with no prior records, so the dr. couldn't access his Ramstein records AT ALL, stupid government groups...anyway, that's where this talking/typing situation came in...she had to ask questions about his medical history, and ours, all over again, and basically make "new" records for him. Hopefully we can get that straightened out, so when the real number two dependent comes along this spring, they don't go, wait, don't you already have two??

Anyway, all that to say, she was very personable, friendly, knowledgable, and had worked in Europe for 17 years, so she actually knew all about Ramstein and Landstuhl, and all of that...kind of nice!

OK, on to the developmental part of the exam...apparently Josh walks on the outsides of his feet...big surprise considering AJ and I both do as well. Anyway, she also had him try to draw a straight line, which he didn't want to even try, and she said to work with him on the line, then a circle, then triangle, square, etc. Apparently he's supposed to be able to do that by now or something. Other than that, and commenting on the fact that apparently he's a fruitarian, she seemed to think he's ok. We have to check his shot records to be sure he's up to date with immunizations, but other than that, we should be good. They want to do complete physicals once a year after this, so no more monthly visits. She was also kind enough to let me know that his two-year molars are coming in...how could I not know that??? The kid is like a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde personality when he's teething, and lately we've been seeing a LOT of Mr. Hyde...in fact, he's here right now...

So on a completely unrelated topic, we bought a bedroom set today! The wholesale store we looked at the other day, was having a sale on top of another sale, plus intrest free financing, so we decided to take advantage. We're ordering it, instead of taking the slightly beat up floor model, so it will be a couple of weeks probably, but we're very excited. It's solid hardwood, dark brown stain, sleigh style, and we're also getting the dresser/mirror, chest of drawers, and two bedside tables. It was a pretty awesome deal, and it's an Ashley set, so we know it's a good brand and solid construction. I'll take pix and post them when we get it here and all set up.

OK, better go, since Josh has gotten himself all worked up in the past 10 minutes or so.
Sorry no pix this time.

Hurricane Ike

OK, for those of you wondering how our families are doing, since they were in Houston when Ike came through, this post is for you.

AJ's family is OK...his dad has a generator and they're running some stuff off that, so they're in decent shape with that. Sounds like there was a fair amount of damage done in their area with trees falling on garages, etc, but they're OK, and only had some branches down and such.

My parents had a couple of trees fall on one corner of their house, but didn't seem to damage the house structurally or let in rain or anything, but it did knock down the phone lines...didn't sever them or anything, but they're on the ground. My dad also bought a generator, so they're running necessary things like AC (part of the time), TV, refridgerator, deep freeze, etc. lol...
They also have some guests...

Which brings me to my sisters and their families. Missy went into labor on the 11th and had Josiah early on the morning of the 12th. Mom, Dad, Jenny, Aaron, and Sophia spent the night in the hospital with Missy and Nate, but got kicked out around noon when the hospital went into lockdown for the hurricane. So Jenny and Aaron went to their house and got things set up to weather the storm, and then went to Mom and Dad's for the night, since they had the generator. I talked to Jen today and she said they had a tree and a huge branch from another tree fall on their house, but sounds like it didn't cause any leaks or anything, so just have to fix the roof or whatever (didn't get very detailed news, as she was watching both Josiah and Sophia by herself at the time, and the phone line didn't want to stay working), and they're still at Mom and Dad's.

Missy and Josiah got discharged from the hospital on Saturday afternoon, and decided to go to their house for that night, and I assume there was little to no damage, but haven't heard anything from them, so don't know for sure. On Sunday, they went to Mom and Dad's as well, so there's just a huge party at their house apparently! Everyone is still out of electricity, but hopefully soon they'll be able to go back to their homes, as I know they miss their privacy, especially Missy and Nate with the new baby. I'll do a welcome post for Josiah when I get some pictures I can post.

OK, so that's pretty much all I know for now. Please pray for everyone who lived/worked on the west side of Galveston Island, as it is pretty much destroyed. And really for everyone who got hit by it. There's a lot of destruction, even if you don't hear too much about it...like you do about the hurricanes that hit Louisiana. Interesting, isn't it...

OK, I'll post more another time...

Josh praying at bedtime

OK, so hopefully this syncs up right on here...if not, it's still cute, and I'm sorry!
This is Josh praying at bedtime. SO CUTE!!

Happy Birthday, my little son!

I just want to talk a little about my kiddo. He's just amazing! He has his moments of demonic behavior, of couse, as does every child, but he's just so sweet and loving and sunshiney! He's always been a good kid, and fairly laid back, considering who his parents are!

I wanted to share with you all about one of the really awesome rewards we've recently reaped of being parents, and in particular for me, a real reward for being a stay at home mom/wife. I know a lot of people look down on those of us who do this job, and quite honestly, I have days when I think what was the point in even going to college, I never even got to teach or anything. I sometimes feel like I'm doing nothing with my life, and while I'm very dedicated to the idea that kids shouldn't be raised in daycare day in/day out unless it's necessary, there are days I want to go get a real job and have a paycheck, and a concrete reminder every month in the form of a paycheck as to why I do what I do. OK, all that rant to say, there aren't always a lot of really noticable rewards all the time. However, we have recently started having Josh repeat prayers after us, at meals and bedtimes. This is our reward. To hear that sweet little voice talking to God, and trying so hard to please us in this, we feel that every temper tantrum is totally worth it. Every sleepless night, illness, grumpy morning, bad behavior, whatever. That is why I want to stay home with my kids. I love to think that we've had that influence on him already, that he loves to pray. It's also a scary responsibility, but we're so excited to see what kind of amazing child of God our little boy grows into. I love that responsiblilty, and respect all of you who have had that kind of influence on a child or children, even if they weren't your own.

OK, that was a kind of long sappy rant, but lately Josh has seemed so much more grown up, and it's a little scary to think how fast he's growing up.

Anyway, now for the pix. On Josh's birthday, we woke up, and unfortunately, since AJ had to go to work early, Josh and I went alone to pick up donuts for his birthday breakfast. This is a tradition we had in my family when we were growing up that I loved, and I wanted to try to continue it with our kids. Josh also loves donuts (he calls them nonyuts), so he was pretty happy about it. He ate around 10 donut holes that morning...wow!



We had to light the candle again...


He loves to blow out the candle!
Notice the proud look on his face...it took him about 10 tries to get it out, but he thought it was hilarious when it would sputter, but not go out.
Happy sugared up child...what was I thinking???

That afternoon when AJ got home from work, and Josh got up from his nap, we pulled out the presents from Great-Mamaw, GG (my Grandmom), Grandmom/Grandad, and Aunt Missy/Uncle Nate/Cousin Josiah. I was so glad to get these gifts in the mail so he had something to open on his birthday! Thanks all of you!!

He loves his "Melmo" slippers from Aunt Missy and Uncle Nate!

He also loved the free cars that came with one of his shirts from Grandmom and Grandad.His lace up shoe and froggy book from Mamaw

Baby "Melmo" upup...that's what he says. "Elmo up up" and you pick him up and he says thank you or something. Josh likes him...this is him giving Melmo a kiss.Josh's Elmo's play day book and stuffed Elmo...loves this one too!

The day after his birthday brought his present from Nana and Grandpa. He loves his lawnmower, thank you! He took it outside to the porch to "mow" while AJ was outside mowing the backyard, and Gus went with him. I went to check on them, and here's what I saw. So cute!
Josh watching Daddy mow. He really loves his mower, and he knows where it goes, too. In the garage...unfortunately, he decided to "put it away" in the garage while AJ had the garage door open, and Gus got out and ran away. AJ found him a couple of doors down with some kids who had found him and grabbed him. Very nice of them to keep him for us! Nice to have neighbors who aren't scared of our giant obnoxious dog.
Anyway, Josh loves all his presents, and has enjoyed playing with them so much. So much that my floor is NEVER clean!! Oh well...

So that's Josh's birthday...I can't believe he's already two...seems like a few weeks ago he looked like this...

Can't wait to have another little tiny one, but I'm so excited to see what Josh learns every day! God has really blessed us so richly.

Josh's Birthday Party!

OK, these have been WAY too long in coming, but here they are at last. These pictures are only from Sunday at his party. There are too many to post all the birthday pix on one post, so hopefully you've read the other one, already.

OK, so we invited a couple of our friends, as well as the neighbors across the street, who have an almost-two-year-old little girl named Sidney. Unfortunately they weren't able to come to the actual party, but they stopped by that afternoon on their way to church to visit and bring Josh's present over. They were a little wary of each other at first, but by the time they left, here's what was going on.

These trucks were in the present they brought for Josh. He loves them! Incidentally, the picnic table was a gift from us. He seems to like it pretty well!
Opening presents at the party...this fire truck was from Jeff and his girlfriend. We've really missed hanging out with Jeff, who is a friend from pilot training.
Josh's "woo-hoo" from us...he loves his train!
His Ernie Knex from Kevin and Trish (a friend and his fiance...Uncle Kevin, if some of you remember that story!)

One of two adorable puzzles Josh got from his "Aunt" Courtney and "Uncle" Galen. Thanks, guys!
Blocks from Mommy and Daddy.
He so loves this fire engine...these are the couple who bought it for him...as you can see from this pic and the one above, he really likes pretty blond girls!!
Josh's cake. I baked two funfetti cakes and AJ cut it in the shape of a 2. I frosted it and put lines and cars on it...Josh really liked it!
Josh being sung to...not quite sure what's going on.He blew out his candle with no help!! He's such a big boy!!
Attempting to eat cake with his fork...it didn't go too well. That's Uncle Kevin next to him.
As you can see, the fork didn't last too long. He decided it was much more expediant to use his hands and just cram it in his mouth.


He really enjoyed it, though!! Look at that big cheesy grin!Then he had a bath after our guests left and we got to use his new penguin towel. He loves to put his hands in the mitten pouch things and flap his arms (fapfapfap!) like a penguin. So cute!
Happy sleepy boy before bed chilling on the couch next to Daddy.

Overall, I think it was a successful party, but hopefully next year he'll have friends we can invite. I felt a little bad that there weren't any other kids for him to play with, but it did make it easier, since there was no competition over toys and stuff.

The house

OK, I know everyone's been bugging me about pix of the house, now that we're moved in and all. We actually have the majority of the boxes unpacked and broken down, even...not in our bedroom, of course, but the downstairs is pretty much all out of boxes and waiting to be further organized when I have time/energy to do so. Now, I don't want anyone to have any illusions that I'm Super-Unpacking-Woman or anything...at least not this time. We would still be wading thru boxes and stuff if it weren't for my AMAZING husband! The squadron gave him 8 days to "settle in", and he has spent every day, from waking to sleeping unpacking, organizing, setting things up, installing electronics, etc. Well, actually, I guess once we got the new flat screen TV on the wall and satellite hooked up, he spent a little time enjoying that, especially in the evenings, but he's still been working CRAZY hard to get this place livable! THANK YOU, AJ!!! I LOVE YOU!!
OK, so here's the pix I've downloaded so far...they're from a few days ago, so it looks much better than this right now, but I haven't downloaded the new pix yet, so you'll have to make do with these!
Helping Daddy inspect the fireplace.

What's up there, Dad?
Our bedroom
Josh eating his pizza like a big boy in his new house.
Re-discovering old toys...how he loves his zebra!
The living room after we had it set up, more or less...still looks pretty much like this
Josh playing with something...don't ask me what. Looking very cute!
Josh and AJ on the stairs our first day...right after closing.
Josh playing on the stairs.
Our living room a few days ago.
Kitchen on the first day, after the movers left.
The Library a couple of days ago.

OK, keep checking, I'll be posting probably pretty much every day since I'm so behind on things, so I'll be catching up as well as posting new things the next few days.