Christmas is Coming

I know there is still over a month before Christmas, but I probably won't post until after Christmas. I mean, I still haven't posted anything for Halloween. That's pretty sad.

Anyway, on Halloween Joseph had a small surgery. Nothing real big but I'm glad it's over. He was so good with surgery. We went to a Halloween party that night and you would never know he had been in surgery that morning. Here is a pic of that day.
He is a pirate. Just in case you couldn't tell. He is just too cute to be mean and sinister.
But he does try.

He is going all over the place now. He loves to climb up on the furniture and look out the window. Luckily he also can climb down off the the furniture.



He loves looking out the window and gets so excited when he sees anything. Mostly all he can see are trees, but sometimes he can see a passing car or person. He just likes that he can be in the house and see outside. He's just too much fun.

A couple weeks ago Josh got some Oreos in primary. They were for his birthday and he wanted to share with us. This is Joseph's first experience with Oreos. He loved them. Can't you tell?

Also, this is the face that Joseph likes to make when he sees the camera. I think he thinks this is the smile we want to remember.

A few weeks ago we bought a baby gate to keep Joseph out of the kitchen. Here he is in his prison. Poor little boy.

He's so much fun to have around. I hope that I remember (and have time) to do some more posts before Christmas. This is my favorite time of year and I want to share it with everyone.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Enjoy your turkey, stuffing, yams, and PIE.

A List of Firsts

So Joseph has been up to a bunch of things lately. He is trying to learn to feed himself. Here are some pictures of his attempts.





He thinks this is so much fun. The only problem is it takes him so long to get any food in him it's time to eat again before he finishes. Luckily he does really good with baby finger foods. It's the big stuff (cereal, pasta, etc) that takes so long. But he is growing up and loving it all.

Another first would be his first "big bang". I don't mean he created anything. I mean, he fell down and got a real big owie. It didn't slow him down. He was right back up trying to stand on everything just moments after it happened. And you'll notice the big smile on his face. He cried for two minutes and then was all smiles.

Another first would be his first Conference. It was really his second conference but he was only seven weeks old for the first so he didn't know anything was going on. He enjoyed listening to the talks. He even sang along with the choir a few times. I think he loves our Prophet. How blessed we are to be able to hear the gospel in so many ways.



I am so grateful for this wonderful little man that Heavenly Father has given me. What a blessing to be his mother and watch him grow and develop. Every day I pray that Joseph will get the opportunity to be a big brother and I can watch him in that capacity.

The only thing better than my little son is his wonderful father. I am doubly blessed to have such a wonderful man who loves me and my son and helps us and shows me what a man he is by playing with and loving his son. I don't know what I did to deserve so many blessings, but the Lord just keeps dishing them out.

The Cutting Edge

No, Joseph has not taken up figure skating. Neither have Josh or I. No, the cutting I refer to is much more exciting.

Joseph cut his first tooth this week. It's so fun to hear him clicking his tooth on this toys and other solid objects that make it into his mouth. He won't let us see it. I have caught glimpses as he opens his mouth for food, but he is very fussy about people touching his face. Especially his mouth.

Also, Joseph got his first haircut a couple weeks ago. It's sad that my baby is starting to look more like a big boy. Here is a picture of the new do.
He's such a cutie. I'm so grateful to have him in my life. Heavenly Father sure has blessed us with a crazy, rambunctious child to help keep us young. Every morning he wakes up with so much energy and Josh and I can hardly open our eyes. He sure keeps us on our toes.

We went to the zoo last week. I don't know how much attention Joseph gave, he didn't seem to pay much attention to the animals. Some he noticed but others, not so much. It seems that the more active they are the more he notices them. He loved the penguins. He could have watched them all day. He also liked the big birds in the bird show. Here are a couple pictures of him with a bald eagle and some other birds.


I think he really enjoyed the carousel. At first when he started going down and around is scared him a little, but by the end he didn't want to get off and he loved patting the polar bear he was riding (that's for you Mom.) He loves things he can interact with, even if it's only in his mind.

But I think his most favorite part of going to the zoo was that he got to play with Mommy and Daddy all day long. He loves being with his dad and they have so much fun playing together.

Like I said, he is so fun and so active. He sure keeps me busy. I hardly have any time for myself. But there isn't anyone I would rather spend my time on. I love watching him discover the world around him. He is climbing over everything and pulling everything down trying to figure it out. Heavenly Father sure gave me a wonderful blessing when he let me become a mother.

Up and At'em

So Joseph is all over the place. He crawls everywhere and he stands up everywhere. Luckily he hasn't learned to climb up on anything yet.

He is also finding all of the different things he can do. Here is a video of one of his favorite pasttimes. You need to listen hard but it sure is funny. Enjoy.

Six months old

So Joseph is six months old now. I can't believe how fast the time goes. He is crawling everywhere. I am struggling to keep up with him. He is also standing. He pulls himself to stand on almost everything. Needless to say he is getting more bumps and bruises than ever before. But he loves it. He thinks he is so much older than he is but he is so happy and fun (as long as he hasn't bumped his head recently)

Here are some pictures of him sitting and standing. Like I said, he pulls himself up on everything. He tried to stand up on his stroller today. It didn't work too well.






We had a ward activity at the park on Saturday. He crawled around on the grass for the first time. He loved it. He doesn't have much room to crawl around at home so he was all over the place. He is just a crawling fool.

It's so much fun to see him growing up. I am amazed at how big he is. He had his six month checkup on Friday. 16 lb 4 oz and almost 27 inches long. I remember when he was just a little thing. He will be going to high school before I know it. It's so much fun to be a mother.

osh and I started teaching the 11/12 year olds in primary. It is fun to be teaching children who can concentrate for more than 4 seconds. It's also fun to be in there with Josh and Joseph. We have about 20 kids in our class if every one comes. It's a fun class.

Joseph is learning new things.



Here he is with his favorite past time, eating his toy box.


Here he realizes that he's been found out.


Here he's wedged himself between his bouncy seat and his toy box. He's not a happy camper.

Here he's playing with mommy in the laundry basket (no mommy is not in the basket)
This is my favorite. He has learned to scoot himself with his arms and feet. No longer does he roll or lunge he's actually doing a bit of an army crawl.


He is so much fun to be around. He makes fun little noises and at times fun big noises. He sure keeps me on my toes.

And they're off

So Joseph is very mobile now. Still not official crawling, but he gets around. (the noise in the background of the video is our dishwasher)
It is so funny to come into a room and see him on his hands and feet with his little bum in the air. Especially when he starts crying.
Yesterday I was doing some stuff in the kitchen and came around the corner into the living room and found this. He had wriggled right out of his diaper. He loves moving over to the front door and playing with the tile (I think he likes the two different textures, carpet/tile). I just never thought he'd make it out of his diaper. He thought it was so funny that he had gotten himself undressed. Lucky there were no accidents on the carpet.
I love this picture because we never get him to smile at the camera. This was basically a fluke that Josh got him to smile. He is so cute and has such a nice smile. Kindergarten will be good to him. Just hard on his mom as I try to keep all the girls away from him.
Here are some more pictures of this adorable boy doing his silly little boy things.

a couple of weeks ago I caught him trying to rip his crib bumper off the bed. I took it off and this is how he usually ends up if I let him play in bed for a little while.

here he was trying to move forward but just kept moving backward until he was so far under his bouncy seat that he couldn't even get out if he tried to. It's so fun to watch him and laugh at him (it makes me wonder how much my parents laughed at me when I was little. The joys of being the first born)
Josh and I got called to be primary teachers in our ward. We are teaching the 11/12 year olds. It will be a new thing for me to be in senior primary. I've been teaching sunbeams off and on since I graduated from high school. Another funny thing is that our class is bigger than the whole primary was in our last ward. We have about 10-14 children and on average we had four in the whole primary in Ogden. Interesting.

Happy Birthday

Well, Joseph is now five months old. I can't believe how fast the time goes. He's been alive over half of the time I was pregnant with him (think about it for a minute. You'll get it.) He is so much fun to be around and he is such a funny little boy. The top picture is from a bunch of pictures Josh took of him a week or so ago. He was just staring at himself in the mirror. He had a blast making faces at himself.
The second picture is what happens when we put him in bed and he doesn't want to be there. Josh had put him in bed and was laying on our bed reading. I was in the kitchen and heard Joseph start yelling. He was upset about being put in bed and had rolled himself up in his blanket. That made him even more angry. He is so funny sometimes.
But that's why we love him.
He's almost figured out crawling. It's more that he gets on his feet and chest and then pushes himself around. But he is mobile. Which is kind of frightening.
So I watched "Gone with the Wind" last week. I figured I needed to watch it after having read the book to see if the movie was any better. I will admit that the movie is well made. They spent a lot of money on the production and most of the actors did a very good job.
But it's so depressing and Scarlett is such an idiot. All she cares about is money and Ashley. And Ashley is a stupid man. My two favorite characters are Rhett and Melanie. In fact, they are the only two worth mentioning in the whole movie. Pretty much every one else is an idiot or on the verge of idiocy. I'm sorry to those out there who like this movie. But it is really stupid and depressing. I had to watch "Enchanted" two times (plus a few extra choruses of "How Will She Know" just to make myself happy again.

Summer Lovin'

I've been trying for four days to update this blog. Some days I am just amazed at how much work a 5 month old can create. And he's getting busier and busier.
Last Saturday we went to the Nature Center (free days are great). I don't know how many animals Joseph paid attention to. I think he just enjoyed being out of the house with both Mommy and Daddy. That doesn't happen very often. Usually Josh is at work and I'm taking Joseph shopping with me. He did love the trees and the plants. If he keeps this up we have our own little botanist on our hands.
He is so much fun. He makes the funniest noises and he gets excited about the funniest things. And he's so stinking cute. When is started to get to hot Joseph and I went to sit under a tree while Josh was chasing animals. Joseph lay on his back making the funniest noises. It almost sounded like he was crying or screaming or something negative. But he was having so much fun. He kept laughing and smiling.
Josh got some really cool pictures of some animals. Here are some of them.



I think Josh had more fun than the rest of us. He loves looking at animals and could spend all day doing it. Regardless of the weather or temperature or time or anything.
But Joseph did have fun with his parents and we had fun with him. He's starting to have so much more of a personality. He is so curious of the world around him and he gets frustrated if he can't get things to do what he thinks they should.
I love my two handsome boys. I'm so lucky to have the two of them. Aren't they about the cutest two boys you've ever seen? And they are mine. Heavenly Father must love me a whole bunch to give me the two of them.
I can't believe my parents have been in Finland for over three weeks. It's almost been a month since they left for the MTC. I've been on almost every single airline website trying to find the most cost effective way to go visit them. Of course, prices will change like crazy before we get to the point that we can go. I think it would be a wonderful cultural experience to go visit there. Finland is totally unique from practically any other country in the world. First, it's the only country where they speak finnish (figure that one out :)).
I also think it would be a good influence on Joseph to watch his grandparents teaching the gospel. I think seeing them and what they are about could be a good thing for him to learn about work and the gospel and loving his Savior. Even if he's not quite old enough to understand it all now, it will bless him in the long run. I'm so grateful for my parents and their desire to serve the Lord like this. It is a great example to me.
Joseph is learning to sit up. He can sit for about a minute before he faceplants. He usually is leaning way forward over his feet and legs but he is learning to balance himself and he has the strength in his back to keep himself up for a while. Before long he will be crawling all over the house. I'm losing my little baby. He is becoming a little man.

Media Update

I figured I always talk about Joseph so today I'm going to talk about myself.
Last week I borrowed some Frank Capra movies from my parent's house. I watched "You can't take it with you". It was a good movie. Just like all of his movies. It is about this developer who is trying to buy up this large amount of land in the middle of the town. He is opposed by this old Happy-go-lucky type man who lives with his daughter, her husband, their children and others.
All this family does is whatever they want. So there is dancing and singing and other fun stuff going on all the time.
Anyway, at the end of the movie the developer decides he wants to be less driven by the ever loving dollar and everyone is happy (sounds like all of Frank Capra's movies).
What I'm trying to get to here, is that the man who plays the happy-go-lucky chap is Lionel Barrymore. He's the one who plays Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life". It's so interesting to see him play a part so totally opposite from that. I've never seen him in a part like that. It was good.
Also, this weekend I finished reading "Gone with the Wind". That was one of the dumbest books I've ever read. Scarlett O'Hara is the most stupid woman in the whole world. She is smart when it comes to running a business type smarts, but she doesn't have any common sense. She is selfish and arrogant and doesn't understand other people. I have never been so angry at a hero or heroine as I was when I finished this book. I think I liked everyone else in the book better than I liked her.
Yesterday, we went to see Wall-e. It was a good movie. If you are totally involved in watching a movie with loads of dialog, then you will not like this movie. It doesn't have much talking at all. But one thing I liked about it was Wall-e is obsessed with "Hello Dolly". So most of the movie has "Put on your Sunday clothes" or "It only take a Moment" underscoring it.
I left that movie with a mad desire to watch "Hello Dolly". Wall-e is very funny. I mean, he's been alone with a cockroach for 700 years. He doesn't understand how to be around others. So he made that movie worth while.
Well, that's my life recently, here's a note from Joseph.
gnvvb f b bcvcf xd dxd ffg t ghg f f errbv

Happy 4th of July

My sister Kirsten shared this quote with the family and I want to share it with all of you.

"From a speech given by the then, Governor Ronald Reagan, we get an experience that could have involved the Angel Moroni. Governor Reagan gave the speech in Seattle, Washington, Oct. 12, 1966. The excerpt follows:
Thomas Jefferson tells that on the day of our nation’s birth in the little hall in Philadelphia, debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign a Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words ‘treason, the gallows, the headman’s axe, ‘ and the issue remained in doubt. Then a man rose and spoke. Jefferson described him as not a young man, but one who had to summon all his energy for an impassioned plea. He cited the grievances that had brought them to this moment and finally, his voice failing, he said, “They may turn every tree into a gallows, every home into a grave, and yet the words of that parchment can never die. To the mechanic in the workshop, they will speak hope; to the slave in the mines, freedom. Sign that parchment. Sign if the next moment the noose is around your neck, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom, the Bible of the rights of man forever.” He fell back exhausted. The 56 delegates, swept up by his eloquence, rushed forward and signed a document destined to be as immortal as a work of man can be. When they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found who knew who he was or how he had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors. Fifty-six men, a little band so unique, we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.”"

Isn't this a wonderful country that we live in? I'm so grateful to those men who willingly gave so much so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. It's amazing how willing they were to give up their lives and so much more so we can live in a free country. We are so lucky.

Here are some pictures of Josh and Joseph. They looked so cute sleeping together. After I took this picture I went in the bathroom to do my hair and makeup. When I came back into the room Joseph had moved his arm so they were in almost the exact same position. They look so cute together. Joseph loves spending time with his dad and I love watching the two of them together.

Tragedy strikes the Reeves home

This weekend something terrible happened. At least, right now I think it's terrible. Most people will think it is wonderful and be excited for us. But for now, it is truly a tragedy.

Joseph learned to roll all the way over. Now he can roll his little self all over the living room (or any other room for that matter). The problem with this is that there is no room for him to roll over. With our house still being in chaos and that not being remedied until we have it all finished and can put things away in rooms that are now torn up, we have no place that he can play and not get into everything.
I know that soon he will be crawling and things will be even more dangerous. But until Josh is really making money at his job, he can't take much time to fix up the house. So I basically need to stand over Joseph making sure he doesn't get into anything.

In reality I am very excited that he is growing and learning. It is a little sad that I am losing my baby and he is becoming a little boy, but it is fun to see him grow and see his confidence in his abilities grow.

So my parents are in Finland now. It's weird to think that they are on the other side of the world. The odd thing is that they are closer to me now than they were when I was on my mission. But they seem farther away. Odd.
It was so neat last week to watch them get set apart. I know that the Lord will bless us all for their service. It's amazing to see how He loves us and blesses us when we work together as a family.

The times they are a changin'

Well, it's been three days since my parents went into the MTC. Thursday they fly to Germany and then to Finland. It was weird saying goodbye to them. Friday we went to see them get set apart and then we had a family dinner at their house. I don't feel like it will be three years until I see them again. I feel like I'll see them in just a week or so. But it's not going to be that soon.

I'm so excited for them. I know it will be a good experience for the whole family. We will all receive many blessings. But I will be hard to be away from them. They will definitly be missed.

On Saturday we took Joseph fishing for the first time. We were only out for about 1/2 hour and we didn't catch anything. (I think Josh only threw out his line once) But it sure was fun to watch him take everything in. He enjoyed the water and the reflections on the bay. And he sure looks cute in his little hat. Okay so it's my big hat, but you get the idea.

He's such a fun little boy. Yesterday was his four month appointment. He is 25 3/4 inches long (75%), 14 lb 13 oz (50%) and his head is 161/2 inches around (25%).

He got his immunizations yesterday and he was not happy about it (who is). But he was such a good boy. I could tell he was starting to hurt on the way home but he tried to be brave and all he did was some little moaning in the back seat.

He's getting so social and friendly. He will follow you around with his eyes until you look at him and then he smiles like he's going to Disneyland. He's so fun.

I finally have a stove. We bought it last week but it finally got hooked up today. So I made a cake and I have chicken and noodles cooking right now. It's so nice to have a functioning stove.

We also got the washer and dryer hooked up on Saturday. Now I don't have to go to a laundromat to clean clothes. It's so nice to see the house coming together. In the next week or so I need to take some pictures and post them.