pre-pictures on picture day

Last week as picture day at the daycare.  Joshua came home the night before and said, "Mama, I need to wear my best clothes tomorrow for picture day.  And Anna Ruth needs to look nice too."  I couldn't tell if this was a commentary on how I usually dress them to go to daycare or if Joshua was excited to be in front of the camera.

 

Joshua settled for wearing a new pair of blue jeans and a new shirt.  He was super proud of the way he looked and said, "I think this looks like something dad would wear!"

Anna Ruth wore her ruffle shirt and black leggings.  She also wore some sparkly pink shoes that Joshua insisted be apart of the ensemble.  By the time we made it to the school she had spit up all over herself but from all account her teacher was able to clean her up and she did great for the camera.

5-months old

Anna Ruth is 5 months old.

She is still one of the happiest babies I have ever been around.

She loves to sleep, laugh, pull hair, and coo.

 

Cereal did not agree with her tummy so eating food has been suspended for a while.

She is rolling over both directions but mostly just like to be on her back and play with her hands.

Anna Ruth is being baptized this weekend.  We are looking forward to spending some time with family.

~be sure to check out the other new post below...

Backyard Campgroud

Joshua has been talking about camping a lot lately.  So he and Dave decided that Friday night was a good night to visit the Backyard Campground. 

  

The fun started off with shorts and rain boot but the mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds sent the campers in for more anti-West Nile clothing.



Joshua kept saying, "I have never been camping before.  I'm so excited!"

The tent is up and the #1 camper is pumped up!

Joshua to Amelia: "Mama, you know you have to roast marshmallows and make smores when you camp.  That is what you do."

The "campfire" worked well for roasting marshmallow on shish kabob skewers.


The campers slept in their tent all night.  Joshua loved every minute of it and is already asking "when can we do it again?" and "next time we have to roast hot dogs."

Sports Center Update

 Tonight on your Sports Center Update: Joshua, the Boy Wonder, plays soccer.  In his first outing number 4 on the 94.1FM WLZA team scored 2 goals for the other team and one goal for his own.  He has shown improvement as he had 4 shots on goal (the correct goal) and made 2 of them, in last night's game.  If only he would watch the ball as much as he is dancing and waving to his adoring fans...he might just get MVP.

Coach Sean makes sure everyone is on the same page as far as game plan is concerned.

Number 4 in your program-Number 1 in your heart.

Team 94.1 FM WLZA vs. Team Starkville Park and Recreation

Thanks Coach for teaching good sportsmanship.

 

In other news, Anna Ruth, the Happy Baby, continues to train in martial arts.

Disney Photo Favorites

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Joshua's trip to Disney World with Coach, Nana and Abigail.

 

 

 

 

I love the excitement in Joshua and Abigail's faces in these pictures.

Each day we hear about something else that Joshua remembers about his trip.

For him the highlight was participating in Jedi Training and fighting Darth Vader.

He also loved riding the roller coasters and watching the "light show and fireworks."

Dave and I wondered in amazement and the kid's ability to do as much as was reported back each night.  We then learned that Joshua and Abigail rode in a stroller the entire time.  In fact, Nana reported, "One day they wanted to get in the stroller before we had even left our hotel room."  So, Coach and Nana walked all over the parks (sometimes in the rain) while Joshua and Abigail enjoyed the comforts of a stroller with a canopy (so they stayed dry).

What a special time to make memories with his cousin and grandparents.

Thanks Coach and Nana, hope you can get some rest!

Milestone Moment-Anna Ruth

September 25: Anna Ruth rolled over from her tummy to her back.
September 26: Anna Ruth rolled over from her back to her tummy.
September 28: Anna Ruth tried rice cereal

Team 94.1 FM WLZA

So many exciting things have been happening in the life of Joshua, the Boy Wonder.

He absolutely loves being a big brother.  I cannot begin to describe how well he has done in adjusting to sharing his house and parents with happy baby.

He start PreK and loves "doing work" at school.  He loves to write letters and numbers and his ability has improved drastically already this year.

He and Dave got to go to an MSU football game last weekend.  From all reports, he had a fantastic time and cheered so hard Dave thought he may fall off the upper deck. 

Today, Joshua has taken the Magic Kingdom by storm with his cousin and grandparents.

And to top off the excitement...soccer started!

 

We have been looking forward to soccer starting for a long time.  Joshua's team is sponsored by the local radio station.  (We're still trying to figure out how to work 94.1 FM WLZA into a cheer).

 

As we were driving up to the field for the first practice the following conversation took place:

Joshua: "Mom, are we the home team or the away team?  I need to know because then I will know if I need to wear my home color jersey or my away white jersey."

Amelia: "Well, this is practice so there isn't a home or away team.  Only your team.  And in this kind of soccer you only have one jersery."

J: "Oh (disappointed).  Well, where are the locker rooms?"

A: "There aren't locker rooms here."

J: "Well, where will my coach talk to us before the game, at halftime and after the game?"

A: "You probably won't have locker rooms for the sports you play until you go to middle school or high school."

J: "Oh (even more disappointed).  Well, where are the cheerleaders?"

A: "There aren't cheerleaders to U6 soccer, Joshua.  I know when you watch games on tv there are different jerseys, locker rooms and cheerleaders but first you have to play without all those things so you can learn the game and grow up to play on teams that have them."

J: "fine."

 

He was a little nervous as practice started and even declared, "I don't ever want to play soccer in my whole life."  But when Dave arrived and walked out on the field with him, everything changed and the fun began.

He particularly enjoyed the "Hit the Deck" drill.

"Huddle up men." -Coach Sean

The celebration after scoring a goal.

The celebration was a little too long and included a few too many "yeah baby" statements.  Dave and I decided we need to work on the concept of "act like you've been there before" with the boy wonder.

Happy Baby is the resident 94.1 FM WLZA cheerleader.

Games start next week.  We'll see what other expectations and behaviors have been formulated by watching football on tv.  Hopefully there won't be any unsportsman-like celebrating on the part of the soccer playing Boy Wonder...but sometimes that penalty is worth it...YEAH BABY!

Check-up Check-in: AR @ 4 months

 Anna Ruth is growing like a weed.  She loves to sit in the Bumbo seat and watch all the happenings around the house. 

She is still a very happy little girl.

She weighs 15lb 12oz and is 26 inches tall.

(Joshua was this exact height and weight when he was 6 months old.)

She was given a shout out in the daycare newsletter this month.

Ms. Tamika's report on Room 3 said, "We are having a blast getting to know one another in here, if I can just get Anna Ruth to stay awake a little longer.  But she is a sweet and lovable baby."

My response..."don't mess with a good thing, Ms. Tamika!"

Anna Ruth still spits up ALL THE TIME. In fact, I have stopped four times in the course of writing this blog to clean up spit up.  She just smiles and laughs and spits up some more while we clean up.  We are considering asking Tide and Clorox Wipes if they would be willing to sponsor her education after the investment we have made in cleaning up her messes.

As is evident by Ms. Tamika's report, Anna Ruth is a sleeper!  She takes good naps (several of them) during the day and sleeps well at night.  A couple weeks ago she slept through the night 4 out of 7 nights.  Otherwise she is waking only once and goes right back to sleep after being fed.

Anna Ruth loves her brother.  Joshua loves his sister.

They make a good combo!

 

I think Anna Ruth's thought bubble might read, "Maybe if I act like I don't see him he will stop acting like a monkey."


On a separate note, Joshua leaves for Disney World in 5 days and has his first soccer practice tomorrow night = definition of supreme excitement!

Treasure hunt to a big surprise.

Used with permission from Aunt Glo and www.hunsbergerherald.blogspot.com  (small changes were made to the text to fit our blog.)

 

Nana and Coach had a BIG SURPRISE in store for Joshua and his cousin Abigail last weekend! They were told they had to go on a treasure hunt around the house to look for clues and pointed to a treasure map waiting for them at the back door.

The super cool treasure map

They just spotted the map

Aunt B served as their guide and helped them navigate their way through the course.

At each designated stop, they found a clue wrapped for them.

The first clue was a princess tiara and some pirate gear.

The second clue was a Mickey and Minnie t-shirt for them.

Thirdly, they unwrapped small airplane toys.

The next clue was a pair of sunglasses for each of them.

The map led them upstairs where they unwrapped their final clues, a Mickey and Minnie action figure.

They made it through the map and found the treasure box where Coach and Nana were waiting for them.

Nana read them a story about a princess named Abigail and a pirate named Joshua who packed their bags with clothes and took an airplane ride to a sunny place where many exciting characters lived (all of their clues were incorporated into the story).

They listened closely and it didn't take long for Joshua to yell out, "Disney World!"

Once they realized what was actually happening, they couldn't contain their excitement!

Nana opened the treasure box to reveal maps of the parks, bracelets they wear in the parks, luggage tags, countdown calendars, and other Disney related stuff.

Their faces were priceless and it was difficult to really capture their excitement on camera because of all the bouncing and squealing going on.

Joshua doing a happy dance!

Overcome with excitement!

To top it all off, dessert at lunch celebrated their big news and just fueled their excitement with sugar!

Needless to say, it was a big day! Disney World is the topic of conversation at least 10 times a day and Joshua CANNOT WAIT! Coach and Nana are excited too and will need every minute of rest possible between now and their trip in a few weeks to keep up with the two four year olds they are treating. Full report to come after their big adventure.