This week

Well, we're at it again. We left on Friday for the long weekend in Sandusky, Ohio with my cousins and their crews. We ended up with what seemed like a million people (probably close to 30ish in reality) bouncing all over two houses. Joseph did so well. He got a screaming kick out of his little cousins (second cousins, actually) and they seemed to love him. He's currently the littlest one so we just had to keep an eye on him so that he didn't get hurt. We had a great day at Cedar Point too. My cousin Nathan drove us over there in the boat which was infinitely easier (and way more fun) than driving the car. Joseph didn't particularly love the boat, but he'll learn :) Then Matt left for home with my folks and Jackie on Monday and Joseph and I drove to Chicago today for some time with his folks. He did wonderfully in the car--slept most of the time. I'm wiped, but hopefully I'll get caught up sometime this week.

Food 'n stuff

Food! We've waited a bit to start Joseph on food on the doctor's advice...apparently since he's prone to excema (which we seem to be managing pretty well), that can indicate a propensity for food allergies. But, we decided that it was time for rice cereal. He's getting used to it. Who would have thought that swallowing food would be something that you'd have to learn? He seems to be doing pretty well with it, though. Since he's figured out how to roll onto his tummy, we can't keep him on his back either. Ordinarily this wouldn't seem to be a problem, but he rolled over last night and forgot to turn his silly little face, so when I went in to check on him before I went to bed he was face down in his mattress and crib bumper. I just freaked a little. I took the bumpers off (in the dark...) and rolled him back over. Then, I woke up like every 45 minutes and went in there to make sure that he wasn't suffocating himself again. It was a great night for me :)

In other news: Max and Jackie are home (yeah!). Jackie helped me buy jeans yesterday which I despirately needed (thank you-we had tons of fun!). My cousin Stephanie is pregnant! Yeah! Congratulations Steph! We leave Friday afternoon for our annual all-of-the-family trip to Sandusky, the Cheese Nazi, and Cedar Point, America's Roller Coast. Then Joseph and I are going on to Chicago on Tuesday to hang out with Matt's family until his sister's wedding on Saturday. So, we're getting ready. Busy busy busy.

Philosophies of Life

While Max and I were growing up, we were regularly treated to bits of philosophical intuition from our parents. As I have grown up (in body, anyway), these little bits have stuck with me, and I'm crafting my own. Here's what we started with:

My mom's:
1. Things are never the way that they seem.
2. Things have a way of working out.
3. There is no situation which cannot be improved by the addition of chocolate.
4. If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. (my dad wrote that one)
5. It's only stuff.
6. Life's too short.
7. Life is like algebra: it goes on whether you understand it or not. (coined while I was taking algebra in 8th grade)

My dad's are slightly less profound:
1. Blow it out your a--.
2. Eat s--- and die.
These were usually just referenced with either a #1, or #2 while we were all riding in the car...

I'm working on:
1. Life's tough, get a helmet.
2. People who have money still have problems, money just isn't one of them.

I've got some more in the warehouse that I'm crafting too. These little bits have helped to ground me a bit as I'm kind of starting to freak out about a variety of things (all related to our finances, or lake thereof). So, I'm looking around me at the wonderful blessings that we've been granted and it's helping me to keep from totally flipping out. I'm getting my helmet on, too :)

Fork.

Stick a fork in me. Why do mother's only get one day a year? I'm trying really hard today to take a step back and not cry at the impossible list of things that need to get done in the next 2 weeks. I'm not doing very well with that (the not crying part, or the list). Anybody want to clean my bathroom for me? :)

I'm also getting increasingly more anxious about what's going to happen next school year. I'm trying to teach part time but I don't feel like I'm getting much support in this decision, so I'm getting frustrated. Oh well. Things have a way of working out (that's #2 in my mom's philosophies of life. #1 is: Things are never the way that they seem). So, we'll get there.

In the meantime, Max and Jackie are on the road today so wish them safe driving (and cheap gas!). Max is hoping for Pennsylvania, but I think that's a rather lofty goal (they're starting in Oklahoma...with a cat). Either way, they'll be home tomorrow night--can't wait to see them!

One makes all the difference

So, I know that this is a statement of the obvious, but I can't believe how quickly the last five months with our sweet little Joseph have gone! I was just looking at pictures of little 4 day old Addison and remembering when Joseph was that small. WHAT?! He's still a little baby! But, he's not so little anymore and he's changing so quickly. I'm so happy that he's doing his wonderful growing thing, but I'm in complete awe of the whole situation. This whole parent thing has completely opened a new aspect of my Faith as well, and I couldn't be happier about that. I love how it's all coming together and I feel wonderfully complete :)

Musings slightly after 5 months

I shouldn't be allowed to read things on the internet. Now I'm all concerned that Joseph has reflux. He spits up. He's been kind of fussy at food-time lately. He arches his back sometimes. He's kind of skinny. And he sucks on his hands and rags. Coincidentally, these are all symptoms of reflux. Aren't they "symptoms" of being a baby too? Oh well.

Here's our 5 month picture with Mona the cow, for those of you keeping tabs on our growing boy.


In other news: I finished my first sweater! I'm so proud :) Too bad that it won't get too much use. I'll just have to make another one...much bigger...

We're rolling too. We've had about 5 or 6 successful flips from front to back. It seems that he's figuring out that he's controlling this, too. He always looks surprised when he ends up on his back. Sometimes he looks like Elvis before he rolls over :)

My poor mom's flight from Beijing was cancelled today because the plane was having wing flap issues. She hates flying so much and I know that she's a little bothered by this (that would be an understatement). She should be home tomorrow, though. I can't wait to hear about her trip!

Good luck with exams this week, Max and Jackie! Study hard and be wicked smaht like I know that you both are. We can't wait to see you both soon!