2 months and still smiling

So, this past week, Joseph turned 2 months old; amazing how fast time flies by.  Here's his 2 month picture- very relaxed and kickin' it back island style.

It's been an amazing past 2 months- some of the most demanding and rewarding that I've experienced.  We are definitely very thankful to have him in our family. 

Here are some fun new pictures of Joseph.  This first one is of Joseph in his overalls.  Much to mommy's dismay, he's not going to fit them for too much longer.

Over the past couple weeks, Joseph has started to become significantly more aware and curious about the world around him.  Long gone are the days of him being content to stay in one place for a while.  He also now wants to be able to see what's going on around him.  He'll lay there and look around the room to see what's going on.  However, when's he's sleepy, he goes into a very relaxed mode; which we caught with this picture.

 This is also still a favorite past time of Joseph- cuddling and sleeping on your chest.  However, these occasions are gradually becoming less frequent.

One very fun and exciting achievement of being 2 months old is he is starting to master smiling and exploring laughing.  He usually is best at smiling and a few giggles in the morning.  Here's a few pictures of his latest smiles.

Well, its pretty fun being a 2 month old- but it can wear you out.  So, Joseph says goodbye and hopes that you all have a goodnight.

Smiles

So, first things first.  We forgot to post three pictures from the last blog.  The first is Joseph in his blessing outfit.  He looked very handsome for his special day.

 These next two go to show why Joseph had so much fun with his uncle Chad.  Look at the captive audience that Chad had while reading a story.

After having so much fun together, this was the result.

Over the past week, Joseph has been working on a new skill- smiling when he's happy.  He's been smiling for the past month or so, but usually when he peed.  However, this past week he started smiling when he saw or heard either Jodie or me.  Then, occasionally when Jodie would tickle him, he would start to smile.  So, Sunday night, I decided to try and capture it.  He started out pretty good and making a few smirks.

But he quickly became distracted by the camera and was more interested in the camera than smiling.

Which wasn't that bad though because he intently followed the camera and I got some good shots of his eyes.

Determined to get a picture of his smile, I enlisted Jodie's help to tag team Joseph.  I sat out of his view and Jodie distracted him and tried to coax a smile out of him.  After a few minutes, we started to get a few smirks.

 

And then we finally got it.

Visitors and Joseph's Blessing

With Joseph's blessing today, we've been privileged with some visitors for the past few days.  Jodie's parents flew into Tucson Thursday and one of Jodie's brothers, Chad, flew in on Friday.  So, for the past few days, we've had some visitors.  So, here are some pictures from the past few days.

Here's Jodie and her dad in our kitchen.

Joseph had a really fun time getting to know his uncle Chad.  Here are two of my favorite pictures of them hanging out Saturday.  A more serious picture.

And a more silly faces picture.

With playing on the fitness ball, its not hard to see why they had fun together.

He also loves hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Here's a picture of all the priesthood who were there for the blessing.

The happy family.

Here's a picture of everyone who came for the blessing.  Thanks for everyone for coming and the sacrifices you made to be there.  We greatly appreciate it.

Afterwards, we had a little luau with all the family.  Special thanks to everyone for all their help in making it possible.  Here's a picture of all the food.

We had to move our furniture around a little to make space.

Here's a picture of everyone.

We also were very happy that his uncle John was able to come and join us too.

After everyone left, uncle Chad and Joseph had some fun together.  I love this picture of them both smiling.

Thanks everyone for coming and making Joseph's blessing such a special day.

1 Month

Ok, so we are a little late at getting these out and on the blog.  But anyway, here are Joseph's 1 month pictures.

For those who are wondering, he's growing very well.  He's weighing in at 9 lbs 4 oz and stretches out to a good 21 inches long.

I love this picture, the beginnings of his smile.  Although its not a big gummy smile, it totally makes my day whenever I see it.

 I found him sleeping like this the other day.

Over the past week, the new development is tracking objects.  He's starting to really watch the animals in his swing as the spin around.  He starting to get really good at it and will keep him entertained fairly well.

 At least for a few minutes, until he gets tired and you get this look.