The littlest firecracker!

We stopped by to see Jose's brother Juan's new house. Joslin loved getting her toes wet in the baby pool.
Two off my favorite people!
When we got home we decided to change Jos into her swimsuit, and test out our pool. She absolutely loved it. It is a little smaller than a normal baby pool, which is good, because she still hasn't quite mastered the sitting yet (she is getting close). The duck gives her the extra support that she needs. I think you can tell from the pictures how much fun she was having.

We were a little worried about how she would handle all of the fireworks, but she just slept right through it. WHEW! We headed outside with the monitor, and except for the crazy bugs, it was a beautiful night. We shot a few fireworks including a roman candle that tipped over and shot directly into the Jose's shop, and an artillery shell that was accidentally placed upside down. Thank goodness for the amazingly strong tube :) We also enjoyed the ones from around the neighborhood.

Look out world!

Joslin started crawling today...or should I say scooting! I had just finished scrubbing the floor, and I put her down to see what she would think about playing on the hardwood. I saw her eyeing the toy basket, so I just let her go and ran to get the camera. It took her quite a while but she made it to the basket and was so proud of herself!

Here's where she started

Notice the toe action (she has her body completely lifted off the ground). Pretty impressive.
Still going...
Just a little more
I can almost taste it
SUCCESS!!!!

Summer Project #2

Well, we finally started working on the living room last weekend. On Sunday, Joslin went to Grandma's and we pulled up half of the carpet, staples and tack strips. Then yesterday, Haley came over to watch and entertain Joslin, so that I could pull up the other half. Joslin also helped out by taking an extra long nap today while I was scrubbing the floor. I never realized how much pre-planning and help from others we would need to do things that were no big deal before. Thanks to everyone for your help. Now we have hard wood in our living room. It is not in perfect shape, but it is much better than the blue carpet. I don't think it shows in the pictures but, I have also started sanding the trim. I have it almost ready to be painted. We are going to paint it white like in the bedroom and Joslin's room. Then we decided to hire someone to take off the wallpaper. It was nearly impossible to get the walls free of paste in all of the bedrooms, so we gave up and are calling in the experts. We actually got a very reasonable estimate, so we decided to have him paint it for us as well. That also helps to shorten my list of summer projects :)

Concert in the Crib

I was in the bathroom getting ready this morning and I hear all of this crazy noise. Then Jose says something about a concert. I look in Joslin's room, and he had set up all of her toys that talk and move, and had them all going at the same time. Frankie the pink elephant was counting and dancing, Tigger was talking and bouncing, while Toby the talk-bot was practicing his alphabet. What a fun dad!

Found

I was going through Joslin's stuff the other day to get ready for a garage sale, and I found the hat that they gave her at the hospital. She actually did wear it when we were there, we just had to fold it a million times to make it fit. I looked back at the first pictures that I uploaded of her, it looks a little different on her now.

Water Babies

I am sad to say that Joslin and I will not be able to take a water babies class this summer. We missed the June class and they don't have any in July. I was REALLY looking forward to getting outside with her and splashing around. However, I found out that the classes were in the evening, and at the Rec-center pool which made it all a little less appealing. It looses a little something if we can't be outside enjoying the weather, and Jos might get a worm in her hair at the rec pool. Remember that E. If she will get on the ball with the sitting, we will be able to play in a little pool in the back yard. Keep your fingers crossed. Right now she really has no interest in it becuase that would mean she would have to be still for more than 5 secs. We keep practicing though. We even have a little bump on our head to prove it. Oops!

Cherry Picking

We went to the cabin for a father's day BBQ with my dad and grandpa. Joslin and I also got to meet her newest cousin Cady.

This is Cady sleeping on her mom's shoulder. What a sweetie. She is just over 3 months old.

Wiffleball

Some of my friends were in town this weekend, and Jos and I had a good time hanging with the girls. We went to the wiffleball tournament, then home to rest, next out to dinner with Edith and her mom and then home to bed for Jos. Or so we thought... She was having so much fun with Edith and Nan that she wanted to stay up late with us.

Notice Joslin's left foot in this picture. That is her new thing. She has aleast one foot hooked up there almost all the time. In the car the other day, I had her shade pulled forward to block the sun and she hooked both of her feet on it, and then fell asleep with her feet up in the air. Since I was driving I opted for no picture. What a silly little girl.

Go KAOS!

We went to Haley's softball game on Thursday. She plays in a league that travels to small towns around Wichita. This game was in Bel Aire. I was trying to keep up with Jos so I can't say that I saw much of the game, but they did win! Jos was there to cheer in her team shirt :) Go Kaos!!!

Jim's Nasium

Today we went to my parent's house for supper and Joslin got to experience Jim's Nasium. Let me explain...When I was in 3rd grade, and we first moved into our house in Newton we didn't have any furniture for the living room. We loved it. We were able to practice all of our gymnastics moves. We did all sorts of handstands and cart wheels. We thought it was clever to call it Jim's Nasium. Yesterday my mom cleaned the carpet, so all of the furniture was pushed to the sides. Little did she know that she unearthed Jim's Nasium for the next generation to enjoy. Jos loved to roll...and roll...and roll around!

Happy Birthday Haley!

We just got back from a wonderful weekend at the cabin. Haley had some of her friends come up to celebrate her birthday. They were bummed that they couldn't take out the boat (way too windy) but they had a great time hiking, swimming and playing Foosball. Joslin and I crashed the party, and it was great to have a weekend away from home (but not too far). The girls were wonderful with her and she loved to show off for them. She was all smiles pretty much the whole weekend. So much for that stranger anxiety. She even slept pretty well for being in her play yard away from home. We did have to take an emergency bath in the sink due to a leaky diaper. Oops!

Joslin is 6 months

Here is Joslin's 6 month picture. It was just as dificult as last month. Needless to say there were several out takes. Too many to post though.

Summer Project #1

Well my mom and I attempted to stain the deck yesterday. It was quite the experience due to a crazy deck sprayer. After a long and hot afternoon it now looks much nicer, and is more protected which was our main goal. (Thanks Mom!! You're the BEST!!!) The sprayer however did not survive the project. It quit halfway through. We emptied as much of the stain as we could, but then it sprung a leak resulting in a stained drive way (UGH!). I just barely got my face out of the way in time. I boxed and double bagged it to return it, and it still managed to leak in my car onto my floor mats (Double UGH!) Then the lady at the store asked me if I thought it was defective...Hmmmm???

New Foods

I think this was a cereal, carrot combo. YUM!

We have now added vegetables to dinner time. So far we have tried carrots and squash. We will be trying sweet potatoes soon. Today we went to grandma's to stock pile some homemade baby food. We made squash, applesauce and sweet potatoes. We froze them in ice cube trays so that the will be easy to store and serve. What a great idea grandma! I have yet to find any food that she won't eat. Keep your fingers crossed.

Joslin's First Cabin Trip

We took our first day trip to the cabin today. We got a play yard on our way out of town for her to play/sleep in and it worked pretty well. She didn't sleep but a few minutes, becuase she was right in the middle of all the action but she did enjoy playing with her toys in it. She also got to

try on her life jacket so that she will be ready when we take out the boat.

Funny girl

About a week ago I noticed that Joslin was sucking on the tag on her monkey toy. I started to pay attention, and have found that she finds the tag on every toy that she has. It is amazing to me that she can even find the tags yet, they are pretty small. She has a blanket with lots of fabric tabs around the edge, but she still finds the actual tag on it. She likes to softly rub it on her mouth when she is sleepy. Pretty sweet. This morning I noticed that Joslin had found yet another tag. She has a applique blanket that hangs behind her crib and she had found the big tag (the one that says do not remove under penalty of the law or something like that) and was chewing on it. You can't tell from the picture how hidden the tag was, but it was pretty hard to find. If you have any lost tags that need finding Joslin is your girl!

A day at the park

We took our first family trip to the park today. We went out to Centennial where we could let Barkley run, and sit with Joslin in the shade. We stopped by Sonic on the way for happy hour drinks and Walgreen's for baby sunscreen. It wasn't too hot, and we all had a great time. Especially Barkley. She got to get off her leash and play fetch. We did find out that she is not so good at Frisbee though. Jose even said we should have brought sandwiches, which I had thought of suggesting but figured that he would make fun of me for being too cheesy. Guess you never know.

When we got back from the park, I put Joslin down to sleep. When I came out of her room, I found Barkley conked out in the living room, and Jose in the family room. I guess we were all pretty tired. I knew better then to try to take a picture of Jose too.

5 month picture...Take Two

Here is our second attempt at the 5 month picture. It went much smoother than the first try. We still had several out takes, but also some keepers. She is actually more than a week over 5 months but who's counting anyway.

-Woo Hoo... another one with no miSSpellings

Happy Mother's Day!

I love that I got to celebrate mother's day this year. We didn't do anything too special, but I just love the idea that I am a mom now. It is pretty unbelievable actually. I have never been good with words (Edith you can't help me this time), and so it is hard to describe how it feels. Most times it is pure joy I feel, with a little bit of exhaustion and anxiety mixed in as well. I have a great mom as a role model, and I hope that I can be half as good to Joslin as she was and is to me. I love you mom!

-I have to brag a little that this is the first blog entry that I have typed where there were no mispellings or typos found. That is pretty amazing for those of you who are familiar with my spelling skills.

Oh crap...Now it found a word in my brag blurb. I misspelled misspellings (of course it would have 2 s's... duh) Oh brother... I guess I shouldn't enter a spelling bee just yet!

5 month picture...Take One

As you can tell Joslin is quite wiggly. She NEVER sits still. We attempted to set her up on the couch for her monthly picture but she had a different idea. I do like that her monthly pictures show her stages of development. In the "out takes" of her 4 month picture she had the bear in her mouth, because that's where everything goes. Now in her 5 month "out takes" she is so squirmy that she won't sit up. I wonder what 6 months will be like?

Gracias Tio Juan y Tia Rachel

For Christmas Uncle Juan and Aunt Rachel got Joslin a jumper. I have to admit that when I put it together I was feeling a little like our house was being taken over by baby things. I just had no idea how BIG it was going to be, and we already had a bouncer and a swing. But the look on her face when we put her in it for the first time quickly changed my mind. She absolutely loves it. It plays music and makes animal noises as she bounces. She was squealing with delight. I immediately didn't care if it took up the entire family room. At times she got frustrated because she couldn't get the toys in her mouth. That is what all toys are for right? Since then she has learned how to work all of the different toys, rattles and wheels. She can even turn her little seat around to find different toys if she starts to get bored. Luckily there is one bug on a string that can easily be put in her mouth. Whew!

As you can tell she can really get this thing a movin'!