Friday, May 29, 2009

More babies

Oh, I almost forgot to add my friend Jill Irwin is expecting in January; my friend, Marcy Mayhew, is due in August; my cousin, Jenny Harter in October; my friend, Mandy Jaffe, in August; and I'm covering a girl's maternity leave from work, Charla Anspach, who's due on my birthday- June 12th!!! What have they put in our water??

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Oh oh oh....


I forgot to mention Joey and I went out the night before the race. We went to Speedway! HOLY COW!!! If you've never been, it's a must next year. This is a pic of my best friend, Erin Madden, who went out with us. Erin has been one of my best friends since we were 3. She lives in Chicago now and works for a theatre and a Wrigleyville bar. Well, we definitely didn't miss a beat that night!! It's amazing what one night of "letting go" and "partying it up" will do... REMIND YOU OF HOW NICE IT IS TO FEEL NOT HUNGOVER IN THE MORNING AND RESTED!!!!!! We had a great time though. Thanks to Pelley and Jenni for hosting us. They are due to have a baby in November- real troopers!!

Summertime and babies...

It's finally summer, well close enough. On my days off, LJ and I can't find enough pool time, stroller rides, park time, and Mrs. Curl's ice cream shop. The only problem with this is LJ isn't walking yet, so he scrapes the heck out of his legs and feet when he crawls on the deck, the driveway and at the park. It brings me to my point... planning for #2, yes baby #2. Is there ever a perfect time of year to have a baby??? My sister is due in September; I have a cousin, Brooke Meek, due in January; a friend, Erin Moran, due in July; another, Amy Feldman, due in October; and another, Taytum Bultema, due in December. My mom had 2 babes in June and 1 in September and my mother-in-law had all her babies in October. Is there a perfect time?? Joey and I thought May was perfect, ya know, just before summer. After we thought about it though, a little baby stays pretty cooped up in the house for their first few months of life controlling their temperature, staying out of the sun and away from germs. So maybe having a 2nd baby in May isn't a good idea, especially if you already have one because then your oldest doesn't get a lot of outdoor park time. On the flip side, having a baby in the winter poses the risk of RSV, but what the heck THE SWINE started spreading in April- ahhh!!

I'm a planner, like a big planner. Little Joey was a surprise (a pleasantly wonderful surprise), but #2 will be planned :) My last boss insisted there is never a "perfect time" to have a baby, but I disagree. I'd like to try and find a close to perfect time. Can I get some feedback though?? What is your perfect time???

Sunday, May 24, 2009

So, I'm One Year Old


Howdy y'all,

Mommy and Daddy keep telling me and showing me this little journal they have been writing in and posting pictures and stuff, and they asked me to let you guys know what I think about my life...here goes!

Things change all the time!!

I look back at pictures of myself last year and holy cow, I got a lot bigger over the last year! I asked mommy and daddy if I need to start going over to LA Fitness or something because I weigh over 28 pounds and already have a bigger belly than daddy! I don't know what I need to do though, all I eat is strawberries and applesauce and yogurt and chicken and turkey and hot dogs and cheese and crackers and pizza and breadsticks...but I guess that's just my lunch and then I do it all again for dinner! Is that too much food???

So, I'm thinking that I cannot change what I eat because it is JUST SO YUMMY!!! So I said to mommy, "Mommy, what can I do to lose a few lbs?" She suggested to do some exercises, so that what I do. I crawl around the house like 15 times a day. Then I go out on the back deck and crawl around. Then I go down the stairs (I love climbing up and down stairs by the way) and I crawl all in the yard. I pretty much am crawling all day long. But, that's not helping me drop a few, so I think I want to try this thing called walking. If you haven't heard of it, it's pretty cool. Instead of moving your hands and legs to crawl, you stand up and move you legs and that's all you have to do. Yea, easier said than done! I got this whole standing thing down if I can hold onto the couch or something. But man, you try to stand up when you've got a belly bigger than the rest of your body!!! Hopefully, I'll be able to figure out that walking thing here pretty soon. But gosh darnit, I am a pretty darn good crawling right now. Anybody wanna race???

One other thing I have found out since my birthday is that birthdays are a big deal!!! I didn't think there was anything to it, but a couple of days after my birthday, a ton of my family came over to hang out with me! Then, they gave me boxes with really cool paper on the outside. Mommy and daddy helped me tear open the paper (that was sooooo fun) and see what the boxes said. I got so many boxes from so many people! Thank you so much to everyone who brought me some new toys to play with...they are awesome!!

I'm not sure how long the party went since I go to bed at 8, but I'm pretty sure I heard Mommy saying to daddy and grandpa and uncle dog and others, "So, how were the Jello shots!?!?" Now, I'm not sure what that really means, but it seems as if everyone had just as much fun as I did!

So yes, I've had a great first year of life. I've met so many nice people and I look forward to meeting so many more. I feel like I learn about 15 new things every day. So, by my math, if I stay on that pace, I'll be the smartest guy in the world by my 8th birthday! Just look for me on the cover of Time Magazine as the world's youngest genius in 2016!

Love you all,
Joey

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Thinking...

Sorry for my lack of posting. I've been thinking a lot about exactly how much I want to share on the blog. Do I treat this as my journal or a way for distant family and friends to keep in touch?? There is just so much that is going on with Little Joey, our families, work, and friends. Who knew trying to balance life and keeping up with friends and family would be so hard?? I'm going to keep thinking, and post again. Meanwhile, I need to get my mom's camera so I can post birthday pics- it was a blast!!!!!!!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

My handsome man

We made it through the day. It started out peaceful- just a little bit of rain. Dun Dun DUUUUN.... at 12:30 we had to head over to our 1 year check up with Dr. Roscoe, where LJ got 3 shots and got pricked twice to check his iron level (which happened to be low but they're going to check it again at 15 months). After all of the trauma at the MD and screaming for 30 minutes straight, I figured we should head over to Toys R Us. A warehouse of colorful toys had to cheer him up.
The Toys R Us ladies showered LJ with a crown and balloons. Big Joey met us there and we picked out a perfect toy!



LJ loves his new little doggy, Chevy. He barks and wags his tail if you pet him on his head, scratch his chin, or touch his paw. He's adorable... well they're adorable.

Welp, that was pretty much our day. We came home, took a nap, headed over to the Matis boys' house and over to Nana and Pop Pop's for some wine (for the adults, that is). We'd like to head to the zoo tomorrow. We'll see how the weather is in the morn. Good night!


Where has the time gone??

Yes, it's today. Today is LJ's 1st birthday! It sure doesn't feel like it. A year ago from today, I was getting Pitocin, my water broke at noon, and I was pushing from 3-7 until Doc got out the vac. Nice!

Today I feel like we've made it. There are so many changes, obstacles, milestones, and learning curves this first year. For the most part, LJ has been delightful. I would consider him an affectionate baby. He has learned to really love people coming over. For a long time, he was timid with strangers and cried if someone else held him. Now he showboats anytime we have company. I think he's smart. I know all parents think their kids are smart, but I think he's a "thinker." He'll focus on things for a long time, he wants me to read him 20+ books a day, and he'll work on a task for 20 minutes until he gets it right. For example, he has figured out how to take a dvd out of it's case, crawl over to the dvd player and lay it on top. Then if I don't come over there, he sits down and works on how to put it back in the case. Now, I think that's pretty good. He's also a good sleeper. Last time he woke during the night was on spring break when he was having respiratory problems; however, he does get up between 6 and 7am- but oh well. So for the most part, he's been fairly predictable and simple (minus the 7 ear infections, 4 different antibiotics, and contant gagging on any new foods). Would I do it again? Yes, and we can't wait!


Now for the fun. A week ago we went to Easley Winery downtown with LJ. He loved teething on the cork as Joey and I drank a whole bottle- yes! Who knew a winery could be so baby friendly?? See, this is how smart he is. Who uses an M as an E because they only provide one of each letter in a alphabet kit?? HA!

Godfather Brian came into town!!!! AND..... HE'S ENGAGED!!! We absolutely love Jen- more pics and a story to come!

My family has a tradition. On our birthday morning, we request that our presents get thrown on top of us while we are still in bed. Well I thought that it would be a bit much to throw LJ's presents in the crib, but he did open them first thing.




This is our new horse/zebra, Stuffy. LJ's Godmother, Tiffany, sent this all the way from L.A. LJ's a huge fan. It really has helped him pull up and stand with just a little balance. Actually today, he let go of my leg while standing on his own- what a sweet boy- oh, and that's wrapping paper in his hand that he refused to let go of for an hour.... or two.