Josh and Daddy time

About twice a week Kevin gets home the same time the Ice Cream Man is circling the neighborhood.  Josh has learned to recognize the sound and shouts "ish cream" and then he and daddy set out to find the truck.  He has gotten really good at bringing his ice cream in the house and taking it straight to the freezer to eat after dinner (without fits).  Because he knows ice cream is waiting for him he tends to eat his dinner very fast and maybe smaller quantities than normal and then pushes his plate forward and says "don".  

Rodeo Time

One of my favorite times of year has to be the State Fair/Rodeo! It may stem from my childhood when mom and I would spend an entire day at the State Fair (mainly because we liked the food), or because Kevin and I had our first real date at the Rodeo 8 years ago, but it's probably because until we started riding mules this past Fall, it was the only time of the year I could break out my cowboy boots without feeling like an impostor.  This was the first year we got to take the boys-Josh and his cousin Owen- and it was great!  The Houston Rodeo does such a great job involving kids, even as young as Josh, in all sorts of activities.  We watched the pig races, pet real cows, milked fake cows, planted tomatoes, pet bunnies, rode tractors, watched the bull riders, and even danced on stage to some country music.  We finished off the day with the ZZ Top concert which the boys loved as they danced along.  By the end of the concert Josh was sound asleep in my arms and worn out.  He spent all day today talking about the bawk, bawk (chickens), orses (horses), and his cousin Ohwoah (Owen).  I think its the beginning of a great new tradition!

milking the cow

petting the bunny

in front of the chickens

driving the tractor

holding hands as they walked through cow alley

resting on some hay at the market

at the market where he planted a tomato, gathered eggs, and fed the chickens

in front of the rides that he so desperately wanted to ride but was too little

Life

We've been keeping ourselves pretty busy around here enjoying all the little things life brings. Josh is continuing to grow everyday which is evident by the new things we find him climbing on and into.  His vocabulary is also increasing which is so much fun.  For the most part they are words that can still only be detected by mom and dad, but nonetheless they are words!  He says hi and bye bye to every living creature we come in contact with and LOVES to chase Maggie around the house making kissing noises, trying to plant a big wet one on her snout.  Oh Maggie is thrilled with this new game, but she is the ever patient dog and is so good with him.  He repeats alot of the words we say but won't say them again and wants to spend everyday outside with his best friend Ohwhoa (Owen).  Here are some random pictures from the past week.

loves all of dada's hats

not sure what they see but the three of them sat like that for five minutes

here is a butterfinger he helped himself to from on top of the kitchen counter

Dada and Josh at the softball tournament

looks like we have a 2nd baseman on our hands

As if Josh doesn't keep us busy enough we had our first Dr. appointment on Wednesday to hear the heartbeat of our newest addition.  That's right, in case you haven't heard God has blessed us with another little one due late September.  Everything is going well and we'll be sure to keep you posted as the belly grows!

Eating Breakfast

Josh has learned a few new tricks at the breakfast table...check it out.

Big Helpers

A few weeks ago Granny's faucet broke and she asked Kenneth to replace it on Sunday.  It wasn't long after Kenneth climbed underneath the sink that he found himself with a couple of helpers.  Needless to say the faucet was fixed but it may have taken a little longer, even/especially with the extra "help".

Inevitable

Anyone who knows Josh at all knows this day was inevitable, it just didn't happen the way I thought it would.  Josh is a runner.  He runs all the time, everywhere, and never watches where he is running.  For this reason he is constantly falling down.  Down on stairs, on cement, on tile,  basically any surface will serfice for him to fall.  He has actually gotten REALLY good at keeping his head up when he falls, a survival skill he learned quickly.  I always knew we'd end up at the hospital one day, I was just hoping it was later rather than sooner.  Well on Wednesday morning Josh was playing in a plastic kids tent full of plastic balls in our living room when he came out crying holding his arm.  My first reaction was to quickly reassure him and send him on his way, I mean how bad can you get hurt in a bunch of plastic balls?  But he wouldn't stop crying and then he wouldn't get out of my lap (another BIG indicator considering he NEVER sits still).  As he continued to hold his arm I began to look for bug bites because I couldn't think of anything else that would have hurt him.  No bites.  Finally he was ready to get down and play again but as I watched him he completely ignored his left arm and only played with his right.  In fact, his left arm just lay limp at his side.  Oh no.  I even tried bribing him with his favorite food if only he'd use his left hand to grab it, no takers.  Thats when I knew I had to call the doctor.  For four hours that morning Josh let his left arm lay limp.  We were in the doctors office five minutes, he manhandled Josh's arm and wha-la it was all better.  He said Josh dislocated his elbow and it is actually a lot more common than you think.  Just for extra caution we took x-rays.  (The picture above isn't actually Josh, they wouldn't let me take his, bummer).  So we went home all arms well and useful again.  Praise God for good and simple blessings because I really thought we'd be going home in a sling or cast.  Don't worry I'm not naive, I know that day will eventually come, I'm just glad it wasn't this week.

Every Day Life

I had a conversation with my mom this morning in which she kindly reminded me that it has been a while since our last post and more importantly picture of Josh.  To which I replied that our everyday life hasn't been picture worthy lately.  This of course was not a good enough excuse for her.  So here you go mom, pictures of our everyday life.  Please notice the chaos that 

is my living room and Josh's new "smile" which he'll give when bribed with food!