Finally...

Josiah got to meet his Great-grandmother Parker, Uncle Ronnie, Aunt Gail, Jaclyn and Hank. And he got reconnected to Uncle Parker and Aunt Rachel. They were there when he was born, but never got to hold him because he was whisked away to the NICU. Then they moved to Boston, so Parker could study at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. Needless to say, they were starving for some quality time with their nephew!

Grandma and Josiah got along very well. She was always coming up to him, and he'd grin at her. He loves trying grab her nose and eat her bright-pink fingernails.

Some hang out time with Uncle Parker. He was teaching Josiah to read the paper. We said read, but Josiah heard eat.


Aunt Rachel had lots of fun with her nephew. She got lots of smiles too.

With Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Gail, actually GREAT Uncle and Aunt.

One of the things I love about going to Stella is that family and friends just stop by for visits. Cousin Jill came over with her daughter Eva Grayson. We all thought it was so cute because when her grandma and mom held Josiah, Eva got really upset and jealous. Eva and Josiah are technically second cousins once removed, in case you were wondering.

Josiah with Aunt Gail. Parker and Rachel gave him the onesie he's wearing. It says, "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night."

With "Aunt" Jaclyn. Josiah's face is hysterical.

Susan taking Josiah for a walk.

Josiah fell asleep with Uncle Ronnie while we were all opening presents. I don't think he minded.

Moseley Christmas Card

Back in Wake Forest, we took a Christmas card picture with the Moseleys and had dinner before heading on to Grandma Parker's house. We tried to travel during Josiah's sleep times, but I don't know if it made much of a difference; he slept terrible the whole week. I don't know if it was all the activity or sleeping in new places.

Awww...

This one cracked me up: Josiah's cute little frown and my geeky smile.

Seeing Friends

The first stop on our grand tour was in Atlanta, but just briefly. It helped to break the trip into pieces. We did stop by Dad's office, where Josiah wooed all the ladies.

Then we arrived in Raleigh on Saturday and stopped in to see some friends who were still in town for the holidays. Our apologies if we didn't get to see you. Hopefully we'll get to come up to NC again during a non-holiday time.

We saw our friends Caron and Jamie Lye and their son Matthew, who is 15 months old. Matthew had grown so much since we saw him back in June!

Matthew decided to check out Josiah's car seat.

Matthew was really interested in Josiah, so it was sweet to watch them interact.

All the boys. Jamie is in his first year of pediatric residency at UNC, so we all had a lot to talk about.

Then we went to visit the Efirds and met their baby girl, Anna. You know you're back in God's country when we were trying to make plans, and we had to schedule around the Carolina game.

Anna was born about four weeks before Josiah (although he outweighs her by at least five pounds). He'd never gotten to interact with a baby so close to his age so it was really fun. We told Josiah to be on his best behavior on his first "date" with this cutie.

So we decided to introduce Josiah and Anna. It was so adorable because they're both into exploring things and grabbing. So they were kind of wrestling for a few minutes, both very fascinated that the object their size reacted to them.

Ending the Drought

Sorry for the posting hiatus. It's been really busy for us lately. Before Christmas, I threw a Christmas coffee for the women in my neighborhood, which is a whole new ballgame with a baby. It went really well, and it was a great chance to meet my neighbors. Thanks for those who prayed!

Then there was shopping and packing for our big trip. We traveled to North Carolina for Christmas, to Wake Forest with Jonathan's parents, and Stella, NC, (outside Jacksonville) with my family. It was a long trip, but Josiah was a trooper and did great. He charmed all of his relatives, which was another answer to prayer because he was having some stranger issues just the day before.

I'll be posting pictures in batches, but here is one to end the drought. We stopped often to feed Josiah and let him stretch his legs. I ran to the bathroom on one break, and when I came back someone had stolen my seat...

All those car seat advocates are a little extreme. He looks perfectly fine riding in the front. Don't worry - his Dad put his seat belt on right after this - safety first!

Disclaimer: We, of course, had him in his car seat the whole time we were driving. We haven't gone all Britney Spears on you.

Merry Christmas!

If we were sending out Christmas cards, one of these pictures would definitely be on it. Isn't he the cutest little Christmas elf (an elf raised by humans...catch my allusion)? This hat goes with an outfit his Mimi got him, and it tickles me so much I put him in it several times a day. Jonathan just rolls his eyes...

The best present under the tree!

Santa?

These are the outtakes, and I like them just as much, if not more.

Why do you have me in this ridiculous hat?

I heard something about cookies and milk...I'm mainly interested in the milk...

Yo. My stocking is only this big.

When will this be over?

Please, lady, enough.

It's hard work being an elf, especially when I'm helpless and my mom makes me do it.

Trip to Montgomery

We made our first trip to Montgomery with Josiah last weekend. It was a fun visit, and Josiah did great with an overnight trip. His great-grandparents were so tickled to get to see him for more than an hour or two.

Rolling, Flying, Standing

Sorry for the long pause in posting. It's been busy lately - 'tis the season! Josiah has been doing lots of new things lately.

I've only found him doing this once. He rolled over on his side to grab the duck, but more importantly to put the duck into his mouth! It was so cute; he'd tuck his legs in and shift over, then flop over real quick.

Josiah LOVES "flying." Every time you lift him into the air he breaks out in a huge grin. It's very rewarding. Jonathan also started tossing him, which of course freaked me out, but Josiah just thought it was the coolest. We may have a daredevil on our hands. At first I was worried this was risky parenting, but then I saw a blog post of some friends tossing their one-year-old several feet onto a couch and I felt better (Thanks, B!).

(And yes, he's wearing a Santa hat. More pics with that to come.)

I tried to capture the grin, but this isn't even close.

Jonathan has done some research and carefully documented Josiah's tickle spots. He says they're the same as his sister's. I can't seem to find them quite as well as he does.

Josiah also really likes standing up. You also normally get a grin from this too. And then he tries to eat your hand.

Family Portait

Our very talented friend Kristen took this awesome family picture of us. We had to snap it quickly because it was freezing outside, but she still managed to get a great shot. Poor Josiah was shivering. Kristen also designs beautiful birth announcements and Christmas cards (timely endorsement, isn't it?). Check it out at www.wingedfeetdesign.com.

An indoor shot, but Josiah was not quite in the mood.

Afterward, we got to enjoy dinner with her family as well, which was so fun. She snapped another shot of Josiah enjoying the moment. He's so cute when he's conked out.

Sweet Moments with Family

Bumbo

Jo-Mo chillin' in his Bumbo.

Hey, Dad. What's up?

More Pictures from 3 Months

Later in the day of our three month photo shoot, I took some more shots just because. Unfortunately with these you can see his little scrape, which came from me being a bad mommy and not thoroughly trimming his fingernails. But the last time I thoroughly trimmed his fingernails I was a bad mommy and clipped his skin. He has a really powerful grip, so it's almost impossible while he's awake, and I always forget when he's sleeping. Alas..




This picture made me realize that Erica Owens and I are officially blog shadows, as she had a picture very similar to this. I don't do it intentionally, but so many of our posts are similar. Probably because Josiah and Vivian are only a few weeks apart. I guess we've been your shadow ever since we announced we were pregnant the week after you guys in our Providence LIFE class!

This is one of our new favorite games, "Flying." If you couldn't tell, he's propped up on my legs. One of the things you come up with to occupy a baby all day. He really seems to love it. I'm hoping to post some video of this soon and Jonathan's new favorite game, "Tickle Spots."