Big weekend

We had a lot going on this weekend! Saturday morning I ran the KC Half Marathon (13.1 miles) with my friend and fellow mom Sydney. It was a great race - the weather turned out to be perfect and the course took us through downtown, Westport, and the Plaza with several bands playing along the way. We enjoyed the views but not the hills. :) We averaged about a 10 minute mile pace. We finished a full 30 minutes ahead of the elite marathoners - yes, this means that there are people who run 26.2 miles in only 30 minutes more than it takes us to run 13.1. Jerks.
We made these fun t-shirts to say thanks to our supportive husbands who (mostly without complaint) watched the kiddos for all those training runs for the past 3 to 4 months.
Saturday afternoon we got to see Jason's parents as they were passing through town. Josiah loved seeing Paw Paw and Mi Mi (he made up this name for Jason's mom - none of her other 6 older grandkids calls her that), and especially loved driving Paw Paw's big truck!
Sunday afternoon we went to a pumpkin patch with some friends which had lots of fun stuff for the kids. Josiah loved feeding the goat:
and hanging out with his friends:Yes, my shirt says "Single", but the fine print says "during hunting season". Always read the fine print.
Sunday was a momentous day - Josiah peed in his potty for the first time ever!!! It was very exciting. There has not been a repeat performance since, but I know it will take time, and we are working on it.

Here's a fun picture from breakfast - not sure how he got a Cheerio stuck to his forehead. That takes talent.Josiah is talking up a storm. He started saying 3 word phrases last week like "need that book". It is fun - you can pretty much have a real conversation with him now! His new favorite words are hurt, broke, and naked (i.e. "mommy hurt" because I hurt my finger, "broke" when his crackers or bread break in 2 - he prefers them whole). He loves to be naked (fully or just in a diaper) at any and every opportunity, and usually twirls in circles when he is naked.

In a little over a month he will turn 2. It's hard to believe how much he's grown and learned in the past 2 years. We are having so much fun with him!

Family fun

Labor day weekend we went to visit Jason's side of the family. Many thanks to Ericka, Colynn, and Jason for each running a part of 8 miles with me! And thanks to Debby for making me ginger snaps to fuel my running. We had a fun weekend - here are some pics:

-with Grandma:
-with Grandma Mary (and the discovery of delicious Smarties suckers):
-with Paw Paw:
-with Samantha (the best babysitter):

During the trip, Grandma gave Josiah the bear that Jason used to sleep with as a kid. Now this is how we eat breakfast:On Sept 19th Jason, Josiah and I had a great family day. We went to the zoo and then roasted marshmallows to make s'mores after dinner. Here are some pics:



At the end of Sept we went with my side of the family to Branson for a couple days to get away. We had a great time...more pics!

-Playing the guitar with Paw Paw (yes, there are 2 Paw Paws):
-hanging out with mommy:
-more hanging out on our way to a playground:
-at Silver Dollar City there were a grand total of 2 rides Josiah could do, but only accompanied by an adult. He LOVED them:


-riding in the jogging stroller with cousin Ava:

We hope you all had a great September!

Big talker

Josiah seems to be adding more words to his vocabulary every day. He started saying 'no' a couple of weeks ago but he says it in the sweetest way possible (most of the time). And now he says "no way". His affirmative response to things is "yeah" - but lately he has been saying "oh yeah". His most recent word is "cookie". Jason made his mom's famous ginger snaps this week, and now he cannot walk into the kitchen without saying "cookie? cookie?". It is cute but hopefully he will realize that there are other foods besides cookies. I think he also said "coffee" this week - he is obsessed with Jason's coffee mugs and thermos. He loves to just carry them around (don't worry, we only give him empty ones to carry). I will get a recording of him talking and get it posted one day soon, but wanted to let everyone know how he is progressing!

Since my last post my bestest friend Genevieve came to visit (and we decided on the spur of the moment to paint our kitchen), my parents came to visit and brought my nephew & niece (Kason & Ava), and we went with friends to see Disney's train tour (including a 10 minute 3-D movie trailer) to promote their Christmas Carol movie coming out in November. Here are some pics:

Summer fun

Summer is flying by! We are loving the weather and trying to get outside as much as possible. Here are some of the things we've been up to (I'm listing the ones we have pictures for):

We visited my side of the family for July 4th.


My family came here on July 10th/11th and we were in a fishing tournament.

I took Josiah to a BBQ at his friend Isaac's house on 7/18.


Got Josiah's picture made:
http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/
To log in use my (Danita) email address and this access code: 21b44d1385

Picked some cucumbers from our garden:
Bathtime fun:



He must have been really tired, because he thought this was hysterical. I was talking to his Elmo toothbrush:



More updates soon!

Dancing fever

Last week I took Josiah in for his 18 month doctor appointment. I can't believe it's been 1 1/2 years since he was born! He grew 2 inches and gained 2 lbs. in the 3 months since his last appointment, but the best news is that he doesn't have to get any more shots until he is ready for preschool!!

Last week he also figured out how to make a pig noise. We'll have to get a little video of that to post for you.

At the end of May we went to a family wedding (congrats Joshua & Stephanie!) and Josiah ate mashed potatoes for the first time at his granny's house, and he also ate fresh blueberries at the wedding reception. These things may not sound like a big deal to the average person, but this is a huge victory for parents of picky eaters all around the world! He had a blast at the wedding, which was held at a country club (hence the golf cart pic). He even figured out how to do part of the chicken dance the week before the wedding. Here are some pics:

"What! I can't believe I have to go all the way to the first tee to play with my toys."

"If only I could reach the pedals..."

At the reception:

Just bust a move:

Cutting a rug with grandma:

In other news, Jason and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this past weekend by staying at the Hyatt at Crown Center and relaxing for a couple of days while my parents watched Josiah. Everyone had a great weekend - Josiah did not even seem to notice we were gone, and we got some much needed down time.

Have a great week everyone!

Picture updates

Over the past 3 weeks we have had fun hanging out at home and hanging out with friends. Here are some cute pictures...

Our old frozen cookie dough container is now a very stylist hat (and yes, he does do all his own stunts).Josiah loves cars. He loves to sit in them unrestrained by those annoying safety seats. Here he is with his friend Asher...

"Look how sweet and innocent we are!" "Ok, I think they are distracted. I'll steer if you man the pedals."
"Wait - first let's roll up the window so they can't hear our escape plans!"
"Oh, you heard all of that? We were totally joking."

Josiah got a pair of Hot Wheels sunglasses as a gift from the amazing Parents as Teachers board. He looks super cool but he only wears them for a couple seconds at a time.

Wearing his daddy's boots. He wants to be just like his daddy when he grows up. Be very afraid.

Hanging out with one of his long distance girlfriends (Allie) who was in town for Memorial Day weekend. He's driving her around in his sweet (pink) ride.

First time drinking out of a straw!!! We were so excited that we caused a scene at the restaurant. We love you Crayola!

Chillin' with friends who are 1 day older - Connor & Jacob.


He loves Connor & Jacob's dog Millie. She is the first dog he ever really tried to pet without us forcing him. And then he found her very fun ears.

In other news, Jason replaced our back door last weekend. We are excited that we can no longer feel air coming in around the back door! The battle against the house continues. We won this round!

Have a great weekend!