Back to School

Today Joey finally went back to preschool after being out sick for 2 weeks. The preschool was actually closed most of last week due to flooding and bridges being out, so he only actually missed 2 days of preschool.
Today was make-up picture day, and he was already in the mood to pose before we left for school.

He did fine at school, except when he was playing hard outside and had a coughing fit, which caused him to throw up. They had to change his clothes. Luckily, that happened after picture time. He had pictures made a few weeks ago too, but we didn't like any of those. The photographer didn't seem to wait for him to smile and didn't put all of him in the picture. It just didn't look very professional (but she was charging profession prices!), so hopefully this time, the pictures will look better. We should see the proofs next week. Tomorrow we're going to the Grand Illumination parade. Lots of lights!

Green Daddy part 2?

A fun package arrived today from Aunt Angie in Iraq! Joey got an orange monkey like Green Daddy! (She also sent the new baby a purple one in case it's a girl).

Joey said, "Now Green Daddy has a friend! I love this orange one!"

I asked if I could take a picture of him with his monkeys and he wouldn't let me stop. He kept saying, "I want you to take more pictures." That is very unlike him, so I didn't argue. I couldn't get him to give the pictures some variety. He didn't want to move or change positions much.

I asked him what he was going to name the orange monkey. He asked me what the shirt said and I told him it said Ramadi, Iraq, where Angie is. He said, "I will name it Ramadi." He's so brilliant! What a cutie.

Then he proceeded to make me keep taking pictures.

The green box is where he keeps all his "pets" that he loves to play with.

He did finally move to the bed for some pictures.

He apparently was already conversing with Ramadi because he told me that Ramadi loves astronauts (and Green Daddy loves bubbles.) And that Ramadi LOVES when I take his pictures.

Ramadi wanted to play soccer and shared the soccer ball with Green Daddy.

This is the look he gave me when I thought we were done taking pictures, and he thought I should just sit down and keep taking them.

Then he moved to my bed for one more photo shoot.

Daddy came home in the middle of it so he had to show off Ramadi to his daddy.

He always pretends that my bed is a submarine and when you get covered up on my bed, you're inside the submarine. The monkeys were very happy to be in the submarine.

And this was last night, when Joey still wasn't asleep (but was in bed) at 9pm, and he got up begging for a sandwich. So he and his daddy made a sandwich and shared.

He'll go back to preschool tomorrow for the first time since he got sick. Hopefully, it will be easier to get him back on a good sleeping schedule after that. He's all of a sudden scared of any noises in his room and comes to our bed to sleep around midnight every night. It's not fun.

Making a Tent

One night a week or two ago, before we all got so sick, Joey had the idea that he wanted to make a tent. He usually makes me or Earl get under our quilt on our bed with him, and pretend that's a tent. But this time, Earl helped him use his toy bus to make a tent by layering sheets on top of it. He had so much fun in there with his daddy and even the dogs and his toys. He wasn't ready to leave it when it was bed time and begged to sleep in there. I never thought he'd stay, so I let him make a bed in there and watch a little TV, thinking he'd be ready to get out of there in a few minutes.

I took these pictures before he fell asleep. He loved it.

He fell asleep and stayed there until the middle of the night when he woke up and needed a drink. After that, he laid back in his bed, instead of the tent.

I haven't taken many pictures lately. There really hasn't been anything to take pictures of. We've all been sick lately and are just now getting over it. Joey isn't sleeping through the night yet without massive coughing fits, so none of us is getting enough rest or else we'd probably have recovered a little faster.

Joey's favorite thing to say lately is "actually." He'll use it in any sentence: "I actually picked you some flowers, Mommy." (He loves picking flowers from the backyard for me and making piles around the house.)

Today, I'm 15 weeks along in the pregnancy. We're really looking forward to next month when we find out if we're having a boy or girl. Joey still thinks its a girl, but he gave me a name for in case it's a boy: Jokely. He came up with that all by himself. He's hilarious. He really makes up all kinds of words now. He'll build something out of his blocks and call it the Tower of Hisel (that was tonight), or draw a animal with his markers and say it's a pixel hile (well, maybe not that exact word, but his are so bizarre. I can never remember them.)

And we're so thrilled that Earl's nephew Brian and his wife Hollie have had their precious baby Nicolas. Congrats guys! Can't wait to hold him!

Halloween 2009

Joey was a lion this year.

We went to our church's Trunk & Treat instead of house to house in our neighborhood.

We gave out candy at our trunk too!

Joey's teacher, Ms Kelly, brought her goat tonight and Joey got to pet it.

I had taken the nausea drug the doctor's gave me and it was my first time. So I had no idea how drowsy it would make me. I stayed in bed all day! I barely got myself up and dressed to go to Trunk & Treat tonight. I'd rather stay sick all day than to take that medicine again. I'm still drowsy and will be going to bed as soon as I can get Joey down. Hope everyone had a fun halloween!

PA Trip

We are so happy that we were able to make a trip to PA this week while Earl was in the field. We really miss our friends, the Yoders. Michelle's husband was gone for the week, too, so it was just the girls and the kids.
Allie and Joey jumped right into playing as if they've never spent a day apart.

Big popcorn messes.

Allie kept Joey cracking up. He couldn't stop laughing.

Adam (2), Joey (3), and Allie (4), after Allie's soccer practice.

Adam and Joey did some wrestling.

Joey working a puzzle while Adam pins him down. ha ha.

Michelle and Adam relaxing.

Playing cowboy and cowgirl. Joey liked having the broom head in front, as the horse's head.

Boys' bathtime!

Adam is a hoot. Here he is dancing!

Joey and Allie's favorite place to play was in the nook under the dining room table.

The kids were pirates, hiding from Pumas. And eating on the cheetos that turn their mouths blue.

They had matching PJs! So cute!

We had so much fun during our first trip to PA. I was tired most of the time and so we just spent a lot of time relaxing and catching up while the kids played non-stop. It was heartbreaking separating them on Thursday when we left! They've missed each other so much.

Thanks Michelle, Allie and Adam for having us! We can't wait to do it again someday!

Outtakes of a Simple Picture Request

We were trying to get the kids to sit still and all look at the camera for one second for one simple picture of them together...but they were crazy and not cooperative. But, we got some funny "blooper" shots of them. These kids are so funny and adorable, it was hard not to laugh the whole time:

Spiders and picture day

My yard is covered in this huge hideous spiders! I find them everywhere! They mulitply faster than rabbits! Ewww, I hate them. Today I found this one IN MY KITCHEN!

I don't know what kind it is, but if anyone knows...tell me!

Yesterday was Joey's picture day at preschool. I tried to get some shots of how handsome he looked before he left (because I was sure he'd look like a crazy mess by the time pictures were taken), but he wasn't into it. And the lightening from the windows was messing up the pics and we were already running late.

This is Joey and Red Bear. This is his new "Green Daddy." Kinda. He sleeps with Bear and takes him everywhere, sits him at the breakfast table every morning while he eats. He took him to get his flu mist. He takes him in stores. Everywhere. He still has Green Daddy and plays with him, but Red Bear is the one he's attached to at the moment.

My handsome honey. :)

We have a field trip on monday to a pumpkin patch, so I can't wait to take those pictures. And then me and Joey are taking a trip to PA while Earl's in the field, to visit some friends from Lejeune that moved before we did.

Joey gets his photo proofs back next week sometime, so I can't wait to see how they turned out!