Joshua-isms and Joshua stories

Joshua is very excited about his upcoming birthday. In fact it's his favorite topic in the car. Here are just a few of his comments that he's made about the big day.

"One day I'm going to be bigger and do grown up things. I won't need a step to reach the movies or the moon." This makes me want to tell him, slow down baby, you've got plenty of time to grow up. (We keep the frequently viewed DVDs on top of a cabinet that J recently realized he can reach if he uses a step.)

Joshua wants a bike for his birthday. First he wanted his very own Toy Story bicycle. Then he wanted a TS bike with a helmet. Then he asked for a TS bike with a helmet and pedals. Pretty soon I think he'll be asking for brakes and a handle bar.

"Mommy, I not ready yet, but when I'm 5 years old I'm gonna take a rocket to space. That means when I'm 4 you'll have to get me a jacket because there's no flying without a jacket." Joshua loves to make plans. He also loves space and rockets and talking about going to space. Lately he tells me I need to go to the store to get the batteries for his rocket. He says I can ride with him into space on his rocket, but Daddy and Noah have to watch from an airplane. He also said he needed a "space helmet with a bubble." I love his accurate description of an astronaut's helmet.

Joshua said "I'm gonna be 'free' and Noah's gonna be 1." I told him we were going to have a big party with family and have cake and ice cream and there would be presents. He replied "Wait, Santa's going to be there? Is he bringing Buddy Elf." And as anyone who knows my son can tell you he loves Will Farrell's character in Elf. He'd watch it year round if I'd let him.

Noah laughing

Happy Anniversary/ Noah's 11 months old

Happy Anniversary on July 24th! It's hard to believe 7 years have gone by. Our lives are so different now than they were before we married, but it's all for the better, as cliche as it sounds. A couple months ago our pastor did a series on marriage and one of the statistics he quoted was that the average American marriage lasts about 7 years. Matt and I have both had a little fun as this date was approaching about getting back in the dating scene/ getting a new trophy husband/wife or deciding if we want to buy something since we were just going to divide it in a few weeks.  All fun aside I feel so blessed to be married to my best friend, who shares the same values as I do, is a wonderful husband and father, is funny, and it especially doesn't hurt that he's so good looking. I love you bebe!

My Thing 1 and Thing 2

For our anniversary we decided to hire a baby sitter and go out for the evening. We started out going to the movies. We planned to go see Captain America, but when we got there it was sold out (which we should have assumed could happen because it was opening weekend). We ended up seeing the final Harry Potter movie which was interesting considering we hadn't seen the previous two movies in the series. While we were waiting for it to start I asked the lady next to me if she could summarize any major events that happened in the previous movie and she said "Oh honey, you've missed too much." We still had a good time and enjoyed our time out. Afterwards we went to the beach to have dinner at The Grand Marlin which is probably our favorite restaurant around here. Dinner and drinks were great. It was also pretty cool not to have to change diapers during dinner or share "just one more bite" with a toddler with a taste for upscale dining. Our gift to each other will be a vacation to Disney World in a couple months. We're looking forward to it.

Another milestone on the 24th was that Noah turned 11 months old. I can't believe my little man is closing in on being a one year old. The birthday planning has already started. So here are a few facts about Noah. He is really close to walking. He still "powers down" at bed time. We are fortunate to have such a good sleeper and one who goes down so effortlessly. He loves clapping and smiling and playing with his brother. Joshua likes to tell him "I love you No-ie beary." or "I love you brother!" Noah has recently turned the corner on eating and has become much better at eating foods with textures (he used to have a big gag reflex). We can tell Noah has a bit of a temper. Whenever Joshua takes a toy away from him or mommy takes the tv remote from him his face contorts and he screams, sometimes falling to the floor. I think we will have our hands full with him. His favorite song for me to sing to him is "How much is that doggie in the window." He is a delightful boy and we've enjoyed getting to know him as his personality blossoms.

A Sign and a Milestone

Yet another sign… While all the other kids in Joshua’s class decorated their balloons like confetti, Joshua opted for the more sophisticated grid pattern. He’s our future engineer! Daddy is so proud that he’s got the art work hanging up in his office at work.

Is that comfortable??

And now for the major milestone – Noah stood up for the first time all by himself! YEA! Claps and cheers for our big boy! I think he was as surprised as we were when he stood up in the middle of the room (without any assistance) and looked around the room trying to keep his balance. Our happy boy even clapped for himself when he fell down. He’s such a good boy! Unfortunately I don't have any good pictures of this because he doesn't stand for very long and is easily distracted by cameras. For now we'll enjoy this special treat with memories.

Arnold Family Reunion

Gulf Shores, AL 2011



For the record, they wanted to be in the suitcase.

We spent last weekend and part of the week at a family reunion for Matt’s family.  It was a special gathering that started in Clanton celebrating what would have been the 100^th wedding anniversary of George and Ida Arnold (Matt’s great grandparents). We had a great time meeting relatives from New York, South Carolina, and more. There were some exciting firsts on this trip: Joshua got to ride in a boat, both boys played in the lake, and Mommy and Daddy went tubing! Jerry Pop worked his magic with both boys proving once again that he can knock the boys out anytime, anywhere. After spending a couple days in Clanton, a smaller group travelled to Gulf Shores where we played in the pool and the ocean.  Most of the cousins were there so the boys got to spend time with them. I was really impressed with how good the boys were in the ocean. Joshua loved his Buzz and Woody ring and his water wings which he said ‘make me fly in the water so I can swim.’ And Noah was content until he got hungry. 

The ocean wore Noah out!

Add caption

We learned on this trip that Joshua speaks Spanish. He can count to 10, say the days of the week, and sing the “Buenos Dias” song.  It’s impressive considering he’s picked those up in a couple weeks from his new teacher Mrs. Maria from Spain (who also happens to be his best friend Xavi’s mom).

Joshua ready to "fly" in the water.

Also having spent so much time in the car we got to hear Joshua talk about one of his favorite topics: his upcoming birthday. First he said he wanted his very own Toy Story bike.  Then he wanted a TS bike with a helmet. Then he wanted a TS bike with a helmet and pedals and a balloon on the back. Pretty soon I expect he’ll want brakes and a handle bar!

Grandottie and Jerry Pop with the grandchildren



Captain Adorable

This video was actually taken a couple weeks ago but I love it. Joshua's favorite pajamas are his "Captain Adorable" ones because they have a cape. He likes to make sounds like he's flying as he runs through the house. He also thinks if you wear pants when it is hot you are wearing "hotpants." Enjoy!

Independence Day

Joshua wearing Daddy's work boots

Joshua declared his own Independence Day on July 4th and has been using the potty and has not had an accident since then. He gets a few Skittles and a "prize" from the "prize closet" for each success as well as high fives and a celebratory "I did it! I did it!" He is so proud and knows that mommy and daddy are proud of him too. We are still working on #2 with some success. When we were leaving the bathroom this morning, J ran back to the potty and pointed and said "I'll have poop for you later." I'm not sure if that was a threat or what.

What we are up to...

So when drove home after our last trip to Bham we were surprised to find our AC was out. It was 86deg inside the house at 9PM, seriously! It was equally as surprising that it took a couple days to get all the parts to fix it, but we managed. Needless to say I wouldn't have been happy living in ye olden days.... Matt agreed saying "Don't take this the wrong way, but if I'd known you in ye olden days I probably wouldn't have married you given the amount of complaining about it being so hot." *SIGH*

Noah's doing more "talking" these days. It's very sweet. He's also gotten much better at escaping the boundaries we set up for him in the great room. Of course he does have a little help from his brother. Also Noah can walk across the room using a push toy. I know pretty soon we'll see those first steps.

Joshua and Hardy

Joshua is as entertaining as ever. Here are a few funny things he's said lately.

-- Joshua's really been talking up building a fort out of blankets with Daddy. He said "This weekend we build a fort out of blankets for Joshua and Daddy, but not mommy because she's not a boy, yet."

-- Joshua’s teacher (Maria) told me this story about him playing at daycare. Joshua was playing with his friend Christian. At one point Christian said “You my best friend.  Am I your best friend?” Joshua said “No” and kept playing. Christian’s feelings were hurt so he stopped playing and asked “Why?” Joshua responded “Because mommy’s my best friend.” Then Maria jumped in and said “Mommy’s are best friends but Christian is your friend, right.” And Joshua agreed “Yes” which made Christian happy so they continued playing.
Isn't my boy the sweetest?

-- A sign that we may go to Krispie Kreme too much. When we go out to dinner all the way across the bridge, we sometimes stop at Krispie Kreme to get doughnuts for breakfast. Over the weekend we went out to eat, but we weren't going to stop when Joshua said "I want to go say hi to the doughnuts. I watch them be made." So we stopped for donuts.