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The Carpenter family is going to do Bloomsday this year and so David and I have been taking the baby out for walks to try and train. We haven't really been that serious about our training as our walks may be only around 2.5 miles and Bloomsday is a whoping 7.65, but still at least we are doing somthing, right? We have a really nice place to walk around our house. The whole way is paved and we can take a variety of walks depending on how far we want to go.
So on the walk, David was saying, "Roar" to Josiah from behind and Josiah was responding to him by lifting his hands up like this and saying it back to David.
Just as a fun side note...this morning Josiah was once again attempting to play with the stereo system (I think I have said, "No" to that at least 100 times now) and I told him, "NO" and then sought to distract him and said, "Where is the ball?" We hadn't played with the ball (my old volleyball from years ago)
that morning and I asked him again and then he made a beeline for the ball. So it was fun to see he comprehends that word. I am sure he knows a lot more words of course, but it was neat to see proof that he knows!
We went to the park today after church with our friends Chris, Kim & Colton to have a BBQ. It was pretty cold due to the wind chill, so us gals were sticking it out even though we were freezing. The guys seemed to be fine, including the little guys! Chris was giving Josiah and Colton a pony ride here and they were enjoying it. I posted some pictures from the picnic on snapfish under "Josiah-9 months and beyond" if you want to see more. I haven't sent this album out to many people yet because it didn't have very many photos at first. Just write me an email if you want a link to it.
Lately, I have been going through all of our stuff to get it organized and also to get rid of things we don't need. Our church has this annual gigantic rummage sale and so I thought it would be the perfect time to get rid of things to donate for that cause. So today, I went through my closet and got rid of a lot of clothes I never wear and then organized my desk area as well. I was hoping Josiah would sleep longer for his nap and so I had all my desk stuff on the floor of the living room to sort it. However, Mr. Josiah woke up early and proceeded to "help" me sort. He found the boxes of matches (which he couldn't open thankfully) and used them as his own homemade rattles. Of course these rattles will normally be in a safer place than on the floor in future years. 
After I got tired of cleaning and organizing, Josiah and I went on a walk. We went to the library to get some books and then I thought it would be fun to take him to this little park area near our apartment complex. I discovered rather quickly that he is not old enough for this yet. The gravel pit you see pictured was used for taste testing rather than crawling over. I think I took away at least 5-6 rocks before I decided to take him back home.
Josiah has now taken to pulling all our books off the shelves (both big and small) and then of course doesn't put them back! So Mommy goes through the ritual each day of having to put them back on the shelves only to have them strewn about later on again. It is great fun and good exercise...for both of us!
Another funny thing he did recently was this morning he opened the cupboard with the cereal in it (we keep the cereal in big tupperware like tubs) and he knocked the Cheerios down off the shelf. He somehow managed to get the lid off too when I had my back turned and a bunch of Cheerios got on the ground, to which he promptly scooped some up and ate a handful. Apparently....he wanted some Cheerios and I wasn't getting the message!
He is really starting to communicate more in fun ways to us. David does this thing where he lifts his arm up in the air (hands in fists) and says, "ROAR" to Josiah. Josiah's usual response is to lift both arms up and give a soft little, "BAH" or something like that. Sometimes he will do the loud version to imitate Daddy though. When one of my piano students (an older boy) came over and sat next to Josiah, Josiah did the "ROAR" thing for him without being prompted. It was really cute.
He also knows the sign for "milk" which is to open and close your hand like you are milking a cow. Apparently, I am the cow of this family....ha ha ha! Needless to say though, when we ask him if he wants some milk and show him the sign, he gets the milk cry (the pitiful stuttering, "I am so hungry" cry). And when he is nearly done eating, as if he isn't getting enough milk toward the end, he will open and close his hands hoping (I assume) that it will make the milk come out faster. These are precious moments, things I will cherish always!
And today is Josiah's 10 month Birthday! Happy 10 months my Little Pumpkin!!!
This was baby's first Easter Sunday, or at least out in the world that is. He was in Mommy's tummy last year. It is kinda neat to be in the same place this year to see some of the same events happening in our community. (Can you tell I move around a lot?) Last year, we helped out at Bloomsday (see previous post in May 2005) and this year we are planning to walk Bloomsday with our friends Chris, Kim, & their son Colton. I am sure it is going to be quite a challenge for me at least because I am NOT in shape these days. I am trying to exercise here and there, but it hasn't been consistent.
Anyway, for Easter we went over to our friend's house (Cathy & Clark) for Easter dinner. Cathy had also invited her mom and her mom's friend, as well as another gal from her church. It was a wonderful dinner with the traditional Easter ham, hashbrown casserole (yum), green beans, salad, jello salad, rolls, and strawberry pie and sugar cookies for dessert. We were stuffed full of food and it was fun to have such a wide variety of folks to chat with. And of course baby Josiah was a big hit with all the grandparent types in the room! He interjected a few well placed baby noises in our conversations that had everyone laughing. He of course enjoyed when he was the center of attention and gave them some big smiles and laughs.
My friend Joyanne, who is pictured behind me, is soon to be having a baby (end of April) and so Jennifer (far right) and Liz (across from me) decided to take her out for dessert at this fancy restaurant called Luna.
It is located in kind of a weird spot and from the directions I got from mapquest you would have thought it was out in the boondocks somewhere, but eventually I made it into a populated area again and found the restaurant.
We decided to have a baby-free evening, but of course even without our little ones our topic of conversation many times revolved around the various antics of the little tikes. Joyanne already has a 2 year-old (Sean), Jennifer has a 2 year-old (Walker) and a 5 month-old (Ruger) and Liz has a boy that is 1 1/2 years old (Evan). It was fun to get to know these gals a little better and to hear funny baby stories. I was thrilled to get out and spend some time having adult conversations.
After our trip to South Carolina, my parents came over to visit for a few days as well. It was my mom's spring break and so they wanted to come and spend some time with their grandson. They flew in on Sunday night and left on Wednesday. Grandma bought Mommy some new clothes (Thanks Mom!) and took her out to eat for her favorite kind of food...Mexican!! David doesn't like Mexican and so I try to go and get some with my friends and/or Mom whenever possible!
We also went to the nursing home one day to visit Great Grandma and also visited with Great Grandpa as well. Great Grandma is getting better (she had a stroke a while back) and is learning to talk, walk, read, etc. again, but it may take a while to gain full function again in those areas. She is trying though, so that is good. It is frustrating for her, but we are thankful she hasn't just given up. She loves to see the baby and was SO surprised to see not only me and the baby, but my parents as well when we came. Great Grandpa hadn't told her we were coming and so we got to see her clasp her hands in delight when we came. It was her birthday on the 14th, but we celebrated it two days early with some cupcakes there at the nursing home.
It was nice to have my parents here to visit and take care of baby. We had a nice time of fellowship with some games and good conversation. My Dad always jokes about taking the baby back with him when he goes home, but I remind him that Mr. Josiah is VERY unhappy when he doesn't get his Mommy's milk and that he might not enjoy having a screaming baby on his hands.
We were a little concerned that the 5 hour flight back to Seattle would be miserable, since on the flight over we had quite a challenge. However, through the miracle of prayer, we made it through with little incident. Josiah had a little bit of a cold towards the end of the trip, so we brought along some Dimatapp decongestant drops to help dry his nose for the plane ride, which also has the glorious side effect of sleepiness. On the first flight to Atlanta he slept the whole way (just 50 minutes) and then on the flight to Seattle he slept for approximately 2 1/2 hours in the little front carrier that you see pictured here. It was amazing!! And the other great thing was that we ended up with an empty seat near us and so when he was awake he had a place to play. Our flight actually came to Seattle about 20 minutes earlier than scheduled and we got back to Lana's in time to take a nap before meeting my brother (Brent) for dinner. Lana and Jerry were wonderful hosts for us and we are so thankful for their willingness to open their home both before and after our trip. It is much more fun to stay with friends than to be in 
a hotel anyway! I made sure this time to get a picture of Lana with the baby! Thanks again Lana & Jerry!!
It was also nice that we got a quick visit in with Brent before we went back to Spokane. He came and met us at a Subway for dinner and then we went back to Lana's to chat. Lana and Jerry are big Karaoke buffs and have their own machine and lots of CD's for them. Little did they know they were in for a treat in having my brother over, as he has a wonderful singing voice. He tried to fool them at first saying, "My throat is hurting a bit..." but they figured out quite quickly that he has a knack for imitation and great charisma when singing. 
Brent and I did our traditional Karaoke rendition of "Somewhere Out There" and took a shot at "Don't Know Much" as well where Brent did his hilarious Aaron Neville vibrato and I attempted the Linda Ronstadt harmonies. David adds that he sang "so-lo" that noone could hear him. Ba dum ching!!! Good times, good times! Anyway, it was a nice ending to a fun and eventful trip. Love to all, thanks for the fun!
We managed to get one of the neighbors to take a picture of all of us the last night that we visited with David's family. It took some arranging though as Jon had to get going and Mary wasn't home from work yet and we were hoping the babies would both be awake to be in the picture too. However, as you can see, it all worked out and though Josiah looks asleep in this picture he really wasn't...just looking down. :)
We had a wonderful time visiting with David's family and we're so thankful that God provided the opportunity both financially and time wise to allow us to spend time with them. Grandpa and Grandma were thrilled to see their first grandson and there were some special moments that they got to witness. Josiah loved to crawl over to Grandpa in the morning when he was working on the computer and try to pull up on his chair. He would then of course scoop him up and would talk and play with him. Grandma got some time with Josiah at the park one day as well as she got to see the daily interaction of the little ones as they chased each other around the house. Anna Grace would crawl too to make it an even race!
I am thankful to have such wonderful in-laws. They have been so willing to include me as one of their own daughters/sisters and I appreciate all they have done for us since I have known them. We covet their prayers and support and are happy to know there is a special spot reserved for us in their home.
Since Josiah was born in June of 2005 and was too young to really understand what being outside was all about, it has been fun to introduce him to the outside now that spring is here. We haven't been out much due to the fact that it has been really cold and windy where we live. However, since we came down to South Carolina it has been really warm and nice and so Josiah has been doing some exploring of the outdoors.
Mary (Anna Grace's Mom) and I took a walk with the babies, which was a lot of fun. Then Josiah took a ride on the swing on the 
Carpenter's back porch. He was a little apprehensive of the swing at first, but then gave some delighted squeals of glee after a few pushes.
Today, we also attended a Kindermusik class with Anna Grace and her Mommy, which was a lot of fun. Josiah liked the drums, balls, and bells the best. All the things he could make noise with! When we played with the scarves, he wasn't interested and kept sweeping them away from his face. He then proceeded to crawl all around the room and found a bin to pull himself up on, which he also tried to open up to snoop and see what was inside. He was also verbalizing a lot during the class, which was pretty cute. He got to interact with lots of little babies his age and it was a really fun time for him I think. Afterwards he was tired and as we call it was "O.U.T. asleep" in his car seat when we got home. I took him upstairs and transferred him to his crib for a nice nap.
Josiah has finally had the chance to meet his cousin Anna Grace. Gracie is infatuated with Josiah and keeps coming up to me saying, "Baby, baby" whenever he leaves the room or goes to sleep. She also likes to give him hugs and kisses and sometimes gets a little overzealous and knocks him over. We have a nice shot of her tackling him on snapfish.When Gracie gets too much for him he says, "AHHHH" in frustration as if to tell us, "Heellllpppp!!" It is pretty funny really. This shot of the two of them was when he 
just woke up and was grumpy and was trying to get away from her as she was hugging him. It has been fun watching them play together! Right now we are having lunch and Josiah is setting a good example of eating lots for Gracie. We hear that usually it is a struggle to get her to eat. More to come from South Carolina soon.
The Carpenter family is going to do Bloomsday this year and so David and I have been taking the baby out for walks to try and train. We haven't really been that serious about our training as our walks may be only around 2.5 miles and Bloomsday is a whoping 7.65, but still at least we are doing somthing, right? We have a really nice place to walk around our house. The whole way is paved and we can take a variety of walks depending on how far we want to go.
that morning and I asked him again and then he made a beeline for the ball. So it was fun to see he comprehends that word. I am sure he knows a lot more words of course, but it was neat to see proof that he knows!
