Sweet Potatoes- 1, Josh- 0

We finally got around to getting Josh a chair to sit in while we feed him. We've been using the swing, and as you can see, we would have to wash the swing cover almost every day because he is a bit... messy. In our defense, we planned on giving him a bath after he ate, so we weren't exactly careful.

Two Teeth

Yup- 2 teeth. Look carefully... He is 28 weeks- 6 1/2 months.

Halloween, Fall, and Baby Josh

So this is kind of a hodge-podge of postings all rolled into one. For Halloween, Steve and I dressed up as Jesse and Woody from Toy Story- and Josh was Bullseye. We borrowed costumes from Steve's brother Dave. We never got a picture of us all together though... Maybe we will stage some later this week to post. I did get pictures of Josh and I together when we went trick-or-treating with the cousins in Monroe. Allie, Michelle's daughter, is always game to take pictures! (Conner wasn't exactly in the mood to take pictures with the rest of us.)

But Conner came around after some encouragement from Grandpa Bob. Here are Lisa's kids- they were Hook, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. Hooray for Caitlin for staying in her costume!

Here are some pics of me and Josh so you can see our costumes.

So, Halloween was just lovely. In other Baby Josh news, he now has his first tooth coming through, so his nose is running CONSTANTLY and he chews on everything- even more than before. Also, on Saturday night, Josh suddenly learned how to pull himself up to a standing position at the couch. He now does it everywhere (at the coffee table, the entertainment center, the couch, and even this little stool in the corner!)

And- I just think the leaves are beautiful at good ol' Snow College West Campus, where my office is. They are so vibrant- I love it. Not the best picture, but here you go.

Oh- and here is a pic of Steve and Josh in their church clothes. What good lookin guys! Josh isn't wearing shorts- but he is so squirmy his pants always bunch up on his legs!

That's all for now!

Shots and 1/2 Birthdays

Today Josh is 6 months old! Holy cow- I can't believe how fast time has gone! So, Happy 1/2 birthday to Josh.
Unfortunately, that also meant that he had a doctor visit today, which meant shots. He did a little better this time. He didn't scream for very long afterwards. The saddest part was right after the first shot he looked right into the nurses eyes and his little lip started quivering and his eyes filled with tears. But it is good pain- healthy pain. He is a pretty tough little guy.
He weighed in at just shy of 18 pounds- the nurse said if I would have loaded him up with some rice cereal he probably would have been there- and he is 27 1/2 inches tall.
He finally got the hang of crawling this week. He has been scooting and lunging around for a couple weeks, but just recently he has been "officially" crawling with the arms and legs moving together. No pictures for today's post, but there are plenty of cute ones below to take a gander at!

Random Pictures

Here are some pictures that we haven't gotten around to posting. Here is a picture from me and Josh at the Homecoming Parade here in Ephraim. (Go Badgers! We beat the other team 58-12!) It was SOOOO cold. Hence the sweater and the winter cap. Yes- this photo has been altered. I think it looks neat.


And now for some pictures, and a video, of Josh in his Johnny Jump Up. We borrowed this from my sister Michelle and he LOVES it. So thanks Michelle. You are saving us a lot of sore arms from holding him while he bounces, and bounces, and bounces, and bounces, etc!



And now for the video. He is so funny! He had been jumping for like 20 minutes already, and he stayed in it for another 5 minutes after this video. Those noises you hear (apart from me talking) are squeals of joy coming from Josh. And the times when he stares blankly ahead- he is watching the Baby Einstein movie that was playing.

So Big!

Josh is getting so big! Here are some cute pictures my sis-in-law Marisa took of baby Josh during a family dinner this past Sunday. Thanks Marisa!

And look- he really does cry sometimes. But he is still cute!

Long Lost Family and Sanding

Wow--what a week this has been! Kristen's brother and family who live in the far northern reaches of Idaho came down to visit this week. Since it is a 15-hour drive each way, we don't get to see them very often. Something about having 4 small children and long car rides...

Kristen was able to go down on Wednesday to visit them for a few days before they go home tomorrow. All of the nieces and nephews were so excited to see Josh, and they were surprised to see how big he has gotten since the last time they saw him (which was back in at the beginning of June!)

While they were gone for a couple of days, I kept myself busy by sanding the trim around the wall that separates the kitchen and livingroom to get it ready to stain this week. I was able to buy a palm sander, and the dust really flew! The wood is just really old, and is in desperate need of a good refinishing. Plus, if we keep making improvements to the apartment, we hope that the Housing office will let us stay here for another year. It looks really good, and when we finish, we'll post pictures. Josh got really scared of the sander the first time I turned it on, so it was convenient that Kristen was able to take him for a couple of days so I could sand for hours on end without the fear of scaring the poor kid.

I had to get a substitute during the first week of teaching so I could go up to a luncheon in Provo. I was selected to receive the "Teacher of Tomorrow" award from an association of curriculum development. Every year, one student from each University in the state who is going into education is selected to receive this award, and I guess I got lucky enough to be nominated to get it. Pretty cool, eh?

This is Char Shepard, the director of student teaching placement from Westminster. She is the one who called me and let me know I had won the award.This is a really random picture, but we had to take it. Josh really loves to crinkle up magazine pages--he loves the sound it makes!

Well, this is a pretty long post, but it's been a pretty action-packed week.