Model in the making....

This is by far one of the cutest pictures that I’ve taken of Joseph this year.  It is so hard at this age to get good still photos of him, most of the time he’s running around like crazy and refuses to look at the camera.  We love this boy to pieces!

First magical experience!

Earlier this year, Brian and I volunteered at the Placer Nature Center up in Auburn for Disney’s “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program.  Disney set out a goal to get one million people to volunteer a day’s service in return for a one day free admission to a Disney park.  The Nature Center has a nature trail, gardens, and a ton of hands on learning exhibits for kids.

Aside from the 8-hour drive down to SoCal, we all had a great time.  Our friends Scott and Jen were kind enough to let us stay with them in Huntington Beach.  Between Scott and Jen, there little ones Jack, who's 4 months older than Joseph and baby Charlotte who is only a couple of months old, we had a blast.  Joseph and Jack were instant best friends and ran and played with each other the entire time we were there, aside from the occasional fighting over the same toys of course! 

One of Joseph’s favorite rides at Disneyland was It’s a Small World.  We went on it twice, and each time he was blown away at all of the colors and the little people moving around.  I forgot how long of a ride it actually is!  He didn’t really care for the Pirates of the Carribean ride, but we managed to go on it twice anyway and he fell asleep on the Haunted Mansion.  We even ran into Peter Pan!  All in all we had a great trip and ended our day with the fireworks, which was awesome!!!

Eggcellent Easter!

Joseph had a ton of fun going through his Easter basket this year...one thing remained the same as last year, the Gerber sweet potato puffs inside the eggs were his favorite!!!  He got an extra treat and had a basket from grandma and grandpa too.  Last year I picked up the cutest, softest little bunny that I added to his basket at the last minute, so this year, while getting together with the Easter bunny, I thought it’d be a fun tradition to add the little bunny to his basket again.

That weekend we met up with Josette and Ross at the Fair Oaks park where they have their yearly Easter egg celebration.  There were tons of jump houses, face painting, huge egg hunts, and even a fire truck for kids to sit in.  Joseph loved pushing all of the buttons, and even cried when we took him out!

Carpenter in the making...

DIY --Joseph had his first experience using the sander.

My Valentine

Enjoying his valentine treat!

All gone!

There is a really neat house on our street that goes all out for Christmas, and has been for many years according to the local newspaper. On the way home from work we would stop by there several times in the month of December, tune the radio in to the station and show Joseph. Fast forward--this afternoon daddy and Joseph took a walk around the block before naptime, as they made there way in front of that particular house, Joseph said, “All gone! All gone!” referring to the Christmas lights...it just amazes me how much Joseph is learning and growing each day. =)

Twas' the night before Christmas...

When all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung, by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there.

What a difference a year makes...

We are so unbelievable excited this year to watch Joseph unwrap his Christmas gifts from Santa and Mommy and Daddy. So far, he's done extremely well with the Christmas tree, and hasn't bothered the presents at all. He has however, removed an ornament here and there a couple of times and loves pointing at the balls, (for that reason all of the breakable ornaments have been moved to the top half of the tree). Joseph loves "Oooh-ing" and "Aww-ing" the Christmas tree, and every time we plug the lights in he says, "Whoooooooaaa!" We've driven through a couple of good neighborhoods where we live to look at the Christmas lights, and the entire time we do that, Joseph sounds like a broken record saying "Whoa" over and over, it's too cute!