How Odd...

I saw the oddest thing while driving on the highway the other day. I guess it isn't odd to most of you, my friends and family that live in colder climates. But to me, currently (and unhappily) living in southern California, it was odd. What I saw was something that I saw almost daily from October to April while living in North Dakota. Maybe weekly while living in Pittsburgh in those months. You all probably see this a lot and don't even think twice about it, but when I saw this, I took a double take. I mean, why was there a SNOW PLOW driving down a desert road when it was in the 60's and people were wearing flip flops and short sleeves? So odd...

Joey in February

I can't even believe that Joey isn't a baby anymore. Look at that picture. Does he look like a baby to you? I told him to smile and instead, he made this face. Apparently he didn't want his picture taken. Everyday he does something and I think to myself "Where did my little baby go?" He has started running instead of walking which has me moving a lot more! He goes over to his little cars and just sits with them and drives them around all by himself. Who taught him this? He likes to line them up and put them on top of eachother. He is more and more fun everyday and he makes me laugh all of the time.
I haven't been doing that great of a job of taking pictures of him and I am trying really hard to fix that. Hopefully in March there will be lots more. Here is what we have from February: Joey February.

Happy Birthday Joe!

Today is Joe's 31st birthday! We realized today that we are getting old. Joe picked what he wanted to do for his birthday and he decided that he wanted to go to Rancho Cucomonga. He wanted to go to REI and World Market to look for a new pair of running shoes and a new kitchen table. We had a good day and it was even better when we ate cake and ice cream for dessert:)
Happy birthday to my husband! He even did the dinner dishes on his birthday...isn't he great?!?!

1 Year Old Pictures(a few weeks late)

Today we had Joey's 1 year old pictures taken. It was a last minute thing. I called yesterday and they had an opening for today. Here are a few of the better pictures that were taken.

There is a carousel across from the place that we got Joey's pictures taken. The whole time that he was getting his pictures taken, he was looking and pointing at the carousel. So when we were done with the pictures, we took him on the carousel...like we though he wanted. Well, no, he didn't want to ride on the carousel. Infact, he was petrified. He didn't want to sit on the horses or ride around in a circle. And I forgot how sick I get when spinning in a circle...it was not a memorable first carousel ride.

Joe's Home! And Happy Valentine's Day!

Joe was gone for the past two weeks and believe me, it was a LONG two weeks. Joey and I don't really have a lot to do during the day and always look forward to the evening when Joe gets home from work, so...our days were long. During the two weeks, we made a few trips to Target, the mall, Target, Toys R Us, and did I mention Target? I know we live in California, but we really don't have that great of stores at our mall. I mean, Rave is fun and all if you are 15, but it really isn't my style anymore. Anyways, when Joe left, Joey was walking but not steadily and not all the time. In the past two weeks, he has gotten stronger and pretty much walks everywhere(other things changed in the past week, too, including a new bathroom curtain, new living room curtains, and a few new wall decorations...a little retail therapy helps!) .



Anyways, we were all excited to see Joe. The "we" includes me, Joey and Cece, who won't leave him alone and left me alone last night while we were sleeping and slept with Joe instead!
For Valentine's day, Joe got me exactly what I told him to get me...a box of chocolates. If you know me, you know that I love food, chocolate included. So, it was the perfect gift.

Joey's New Set of Wheels

For Joey's 1st birthday, we bought him a car to ride in. It is a cute little thing with a long handle for me to push him. We took it outside yesterday for a spin around the neighborhood. He loved it. He holds the steering wheel like he is really driving the car. It is kinda loud, though, so you can hear us coming a mile away!



When it was time to go inside, I took him out of the car and he pointed at it wanted to go back in! Luckily the weather here is so nice that we can go back outside again today to play!

Edwards

I tell a lot of people that I don't like living in California and they look at me like I am crazy. I say that I live about 90 miles from LA and the 90 miles goes in one ear and out the other and they think that we live in LA. It's always "Do you see lots of famous people?" No. We don't. Infact, we don't see anyone for miles and miles and miles. As I was driving off base today, I took this picture. This is what we see for atleast 15 miles while driving off base.



Ugly, right?

My Little Devil

Joey has started being a little bold these days. He knows what he is supposed to touch and what he is not supposed to touch. We do not let him touch the buttons on the tv, the picture holder that hangs on the wall or the blinds that is is now tall enough to reach. We didn't realize that he was going to be a climber so we didn't think that we had to keep him away from the end tables in our living room. He has now started climbing on the end table and sitting there, waiting for us to come over. It is almost like he is hiding there, waiting for us to find him. Although we don't want him climbing on the table, his little face is so cute when he does it. So I had to take a picture and now he is not allowed to climb anymore.



I also was able to get a short video of Joey walking. He still prefers to crawl. Usually when he walks, I do not have the camera ready. Yesterday I was able to get a whole 3 second video of him walking and then tripping.

Home from Shreveport and Joey's 1 Year Doctor Appointment

We got back from Shreveport on Saturday evening. Well, our flight got in around 2, but by the time we drove home it was about 5. We had such a great time and were sad to come home. However, it was good to get out of the little hotel room that we were staying in. And Joey missed his toys and books.

Today we went to the doctor for Joey's 1 year appointment. He weighs 26 lbs and is 32.5 inches long. He is almost walking. He takes a few steps and then falls down on the ground and speed crawls to where he wants to go. I think that he knows that he can get there faster if he crawls. He is a ton of fun right now. He knows a few animal noises. He says moo for a cow, sssss for a snake, and today for the first time tried to make an oinking noise for a pig. It was funny.

Now that we are back to California, we have to get back into our normal everyday lives that includes Joe going to work everyday. We had him at home with us for a month and I know that I got used to him being around!

Joey's (second) First Birthday Party

Yesterday on Joey's real first birthday, we had a birthday party at Chuckie Cheese. We had such a good time. Joey didn't really show much reaction. He just stared at the stage with the dancing animals. When we tried to take pictures of him, he wouldn't look at us but wanted to look at the stage. Our friends the Cummings (Betty, Denny and Callie) and The Hounchell's (Jana, Thane, Ian and Duncan) were with us. After eating pizza, we ate DELICIOUS cake fromm Julie Anne's bakery in Shreveport. It was sooooo good! I called them in the morning and they had it ready by 3! Joey had so much fun with his friends at Chuckie Cheese! Thanks to everyone that called and sent emails to wish Joey a happy birthday! Here are the pictures from Joey's Birthday Party!