A Christmas Preview

Yes, I dressed the boys alike this year... I am THAT mom. :) But aren't they adorable??!

Josiah is Stylin'

"I just wanted to send a thank you to Aunt Mer-Mer for the sweater and hat she knitted for me! Jared tried to wear it but of course it was made just for me! I love it!"

The Boys

Some new pics of the boys in our front yard...

A Petting Zoo, etc.

This past weekend we found out that O2B Kids would have a big activity day, including a mobile petting zoo, and because of Jared's love for animals we decided to go. Josiah was in attendance but missed most of the festivities due to his rigorous schedule of perpetual napping. Thus I decided to include these pre-activity photos.

"So, where are we going, Mom? A petting zoo? What's a "petting zoo"? Animals? What's an "animals"?
"Josiah, the petting zoo will be awesome! You HAVE to promise to stay awake! It's going to be sooo much fun!"

"Okay, Jared-- I still don't know what it is, but I promise! I promise!" (This concludes the photos of Josiah for today-- stay tuned for his next adventure when we HOPE he stays awake past the car ride!)

We arrived at O2B Kids at the same as Uncle Tim, Aunt Shelley and Jordyn...

"Hey Jared."

"Hey Jordyn. Hey Uncle Tim."

Uncle Tim and Jordyn headed down to the petting zoo...

"Wow, Daddy, look at this cow. Moo Moo! Moo Moo! This looks like a baby Chick-Rick (Chick-Fil-A) cow!"

"Are you trying to tell me BOTH of those 'aminals' are chickens? They don't look ANYTHING like Papa's chickens!"

"Mom! Can't you see I am examining the 'aminals'? I don't have time for photos!"
"Okay, Daddy, how does this brush work?"

"I am brushing the sheep, Daddy! "
After the petting zoo, we decided to check out some of the other activities. Naturally, Uncle Tim (the golf addict) took Jordyn to the putting spot.

Then Uncle Tim and Daddy played basketball with me. Daddy says I can handle the ball well and Uncle Tim helped me make a shot!

"SLAM DUNK, DADDY!"

And I finished the day on the jungle gym. Thanks Mommy! Thanks Daddy! Thanks Baby Siah!

"Watch Me Move" -- A Video

I had to upload this video of Jared dancing to the new Verizon commercial, which he makes me repeatedly play so that he can dance. He says "Mommy, I wanna dance with the phone again!"

I have uploaded Take 1 and Take 2 because I find them equally hilarious.

Dalvin says that we should have him do several repetitions before bed every night so he can get in his cardio!

VIDEO - TAKE 1


VIDEO - TAKE 2

Get your mouth out of your finger! - A Video

Josiah has been smiling the past few days and I wanted to catch it on video. In the meantime, Jared has his own ironic message for Josiah. "Get you mouth out of you finger!" as he makes his signature backwards pinkie in the mouth move.

This very random video clip has a few funny elements that are part of the changes in our household these days... Josiah continuing to grow at exponential rates... Jared pretending to be a baby and at the same time being such a tender, sweet, affectionate big brother. I love my boys! :)

Josiah is six weeks old...

Because he is growing at exponential rates, I thought I would share a photo of Josiah at six weeks old (although he is arguably the size of a 4 month old)! :) They grow so fast!

Halloween Adventures -- 2007

Halloween this year was a smashing success! This was Jared's third Halloween, but the first time he finally understood what was going on. It was pretty amusing in the days preceding Halloween, because he didn't really understand. He was sort of excited because he knew he had this cool costume that had something to do with Halloween, but he had also seen plenty of frightening Halloween images, so whenever the topic came up, he would say "Mommy, I scared of Halloween." It didn't help that we ran into life size ghouls and mummies everywhere we went! In the end, dressing as Thomas and the promise of lollipops won out and he got very excited.

On the other hand, Josiah spent his first Halloween (at 5 weeks old) doing exactly what Jared did during his first Halloween-- he slept. We dressed him in this adorable red chili pepper costume and he stayed awake long enough for a few photos (just barely) and then he slept for the next 3 hours.

After dressing the boys and taking photos, we finally ventured out to find that almost no one on our street actually answers the door anymore. It was initially a bit anti-climactic, but we hung in there and by the time we reached the end of our cul-de-sac we found some Halloween enthusiasts. Jared tried to go into a few people's houses which was pretty hilarious-- especially if there were dogs or other children there. The only way to get him to move on was dangling the promise of more candy at "the 'nother house". Mostly people ooh-ed and ah-ed over the boys and their costumes and Jared got the lion's share of lollipops. It was no surprise that Josiah slept the rest of the way home.

All in all, it was a fun night. I am all for any excuse to dress the kids up and take photos, but it was also fun to see Jared begin to grasp a cultural tradition-- even if it is a bizarre one that sort of involves doing something that scares you a little for the promise of candy! (Naturally we had to have a little chat about that! ) :)


"HAPPY HALLOWEEN, Mommy!!!! I am THOMAS the Tank Engine!"

"Okay, now it's time to get serious. I have my Halloween basket and I am ready to go..."

"Okay, this one little box of Nerds is not going to cut it, Mom. We have to go trick or treating!"

"Mom-Dad-- apparently I am a red chili pepper. I don't know why I am wearing this but it is VERY cozy, and I am going to get a head-start on my nap!"

"Come on, Josiah! Don't go to sleep. Mom and Dad said that if we put on these clothes and go to people's houses they will give us CANDY!"

"Okay, okay, Dad! I will wake up for a MINUTE! What are we doing? Where are we going? What is a chili pepper?"

"FINALLY!! I still don't understand what trick or treating is, but I have my basket and I am ready to go.... as soon as I finish this piece of candy Mom already gave me!"

"Hello?! Who is it? Happy Halloween! Candy?"


And finishing off our silly family adventure... is Josiah doing what he does best! :)

A Close Up of Baby Josiah

Because I know my mother is going to complain that the photos are too small and she can't see anything... I decided to post a close up of Josiah I filmed when he was searching for his thumb.

In this video he is 4 weeks old and weighs 12lbs and 10oz.... more than many 3 MONTH OLD babies! I grow monster size boys, don't I???

(It doesn't look like it, but the video is below-- it looks like a plain black box. Just push play!)


***VIDEO ALERT***

Josiah's a Baby!

I am SO behind in posting pics of Jared and Josiah since Josiah's birth, but I promise I will get caught up! In the meantime I thought I would post this video and the associated pic of the boys. Even though it is a bit dark and you can't see Josiah's face, it is soo adorable I couldn't resist posting it! :)

***VIDEO ALERT***

Here is the photo from today of Jared (2 yrs old now) holding his brother (4 weeks old)-- something he does every chance he gets!

And here is one of Josiah where you CAN see his face! :) This photo is actually from when he was 2.5 weeks old:)

More to come!

Welcome Josiah!

I just wanted to post a very quick message that Josiah Devine was born on Tuesday morning at 8:33am. He was 9lbz 11 oz and is absolutely a dream. Here are just a couple pictures to tease you with until I have a moment to post more!

Jared is delighted to have a little brother and has really surprised with us his constant interest and concern for his little brother. If he hears him cry, he will drop everything and come running, saying "Don't be sad! Don't be sad! It's okay! It's okay!" Or he will look at Josiah and just burst into a fit of giggles.

Here is Josiah after his trip home from the hospital!




Needless to say we are both exhausted and blissful! More pics and Josiah's birth story later!

Love from Penny, Dalvin, Jared and Josiah

A Baby Shower for Josiah

This weekend, several of Mommy's closest friends (Donni, Latoya, and Veronica) threw us a baby shower for the impending arrival of Baby Josiah. :)

This is the cool cake that Auntie Veronica ordered to match the safari theme in Josiah's room.

Apparently Mommy is supposed to freeze this little cake until Josiah's first birthday... I thought it was for ME! :)

Here I am contemplating exactly what this baby brother thing means... so he is going to live with us? And I have to share everything with him? Including Mommy and Daddy...? Hmmm....

But I get to play with him too?! Sounds good to me!!!! :)

Hey... guess what, Jordyn? Mommy says I am going to have a baby brother! Another kid for us to play with!!

Sarah and Micah are excited too-- they just got a new little sister recently and they say Baby Hannah is awesome!

All in all, I am pretty excited about this Big Brother thing! :)

You asked for it!

Okay, so I have had repeated requests for belly pictures... and as I approach the last month of this pregnancy, I realize:
#1. Pictures of me are far and few between this pregnancy
#2. I am HUGE!

I don't have any recent pics except several that I inadvertently took as I tried to take pictures of Jared on my lap. So here you go! :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

***VIDEO ALERT***

Guess who is turning 2?!

Jared turns 2 this Saturday-- how time flies when you are having fun! :)

playtime!

Jared recently had some playtime with his pal, Jordyn! Isn't she growing up?

"Mommy, Jordyn has this dancing Elmo thing... why don't I have one?"
"That's pretty cool!"

"And now Jordyn is showing me some dance moves! Fun times!"