Joseph is 4 Months Old!

Wow, where has the time (and my tiny baby) gone?  It seems like just last week Joseph was a newborn and we were in the dreaded limbo period waiting for the adoption to be final.  Now we have a sweet little guy who will pretty much talk to anyone that talks to him and gives smiles freely.  He's very social and doesn't like to be left alone.  He will explore independently as long as you are in the room with him, but the moment he realizes you stepped out, he starts crying (and will normally stop when you return and talk to him).  So far, he's done a great job keeping up with our on the go lifestyle (seriously, we took him to campus for pregame festivities, the lake, and a football game this month alone and he was a champ at all of them). 

Joseph - 4 Months

He has finally started manipulating toys on his own and pulling them to his mouth.  I've been waiting for this milestone so I am no longer his only source of entertainment.

He loves his jumperoo!  We didn't have a jumperoo until last month, but decided that this little boy who loves to be vertical needed one.  I'm so glad we have one for him now!

I get this look a lot!  I think he's still trying to figure me out :)

Joseph discovered his feet mid-photo shoot yesterday.  Let the fun begin!

Joseph's First Football Game

Although I realize he's too young to remember it, the opportunity presented itself, so Joseph attended his first OSU football game today.  I don't have any pictures to document that he actually went into the game (I was sitting somewhere else with my girl Julia (why didn't I get any pictures of us?) when Sam's mom took him in to where Sam and his dad were sitting since they had a couple of extra tickets), but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.  He didn't stay long, but he was a hit in his little football beanie.

After the game, Sam's dad requested a picture with Joseph in front of the OSU spirit rider, so we took a few pics of the grandparents.

Joseph and Grandpa Parks

Joseph and Grandma Parks

Joseph, Grandma Parks, and Grandpa Parks

Then decided to take a few family pictures.  He's really into blowing bubbles and puckering his face as if he is sucking on sour candy these days.

And here's one more Joseph pic, just because he's a cutie. Is he rocking those glasses or what?

Who Says Lake Season is Over

A couple of years ago, due to unseasonably warm weather and an away football game weekend, a group of us went on an impromptu trip to Lake Tenkiller.  We had so much fun, that we have since talked about going again.  We weren't able to make it happen last year, but this year Sam's older brother, Ty, took charge and planned a weekend getaway for us.  Both times, we stayed at Fin and Feather Resort, a place that holds fond memories for me. 

We had a few people back out last minute, so we ended up with two boats for 6 people and a baby.  Oh well, we just took a different boat each of the days we were there.  For those of you familiar with Fin and Feather, the rest of the crew (Sam and I had our own room since not everyone wants a baby crying in the middle of the night in their room) stayed in the cabin joined to the convenient store.  I had always wondered if people ever really stayed there. 

They had this awesome view from their front porch.

We woke up Saturday morning in our OSU pajamas and tried out the go-pod (which I love and will write more about in a later post).

Then changed into our Hoosiers style OSU outfit for game day since it was a little too chilly to go out on the lake that morning.  (Who said dressing little boys isn't fun?)

When it finally warmed up, we donned all of our safety apparel and hit the lake (don't worry, we had the shade up on the boat and he was under it except for during this picture).

We didn't stay out too long since we had the babe, Kim was needing to head back to Tulsa, and it was super windy.  When we returned to The Fin, Emily and I hit up the gift shop.  I texted Sam this picture asking about buying this hat for Joseph.  He had no choice but to say yes!

The day ended with the boys playing with a group of 7-11 year old kids in the pool for a few hours before everyone ate and crashed.

The next morning, the guys decided to go back out on the lake since it was both warmer and less windy than the day before.  I opted to stay behind and enjoy this view.

As we walked around the resort, I realized that this place really hasn't changed.  They still have the Fin Bin.

Which I'm sure still has the same games and miniature golf course from my childhood although I couldn't check it out because it was closed.

They even still have the same laundry carts, flowers on the side and all.

One thing that has changed is Soda Steve's.  It used to be a little corner of a building, but now it is it's own restaurant.

I couldn't resist some cheese fries and a root beer float while Joseph was napping. My Uncle Don and I would always get root beer floats when we visited.

Since I didn't go out on the boat with them Sunday, I don't have any lake pictures, but I was told that a lot of wake boarding, snorkeling, and just hanging out happened.  Instead, you are stuck with more pictures of Joseph because that's what I did while they were gone, played with and took pictures of Joseph.

In case you are curious what a series of Joseph photos looks like, here you go.  I seriously took these three pictures consecutively.  I have many picture files with series like this one on my computer. 

When they finally got off the lake mid afternoon, we took a quick group picture (minus Kim since she left early) then headed home... tired, refreshed, and ready to do it again next year.

Orange Friday and Game Day

The Friday before the first college football weekend this year was called "Color Friday" and everyone was encouraged to wear their school's colors.  I don't know who came up with this idea, but I would like to tell them that has been a tradition at OSU for as long as I can remember.  It's one of the things they teach you at freshman orientation... the words to the fight song, left hand goes up for the "S," and wear orange on Fridays (especially if you are on campus and during football season).  Joseph has already participated in many orange Fridays, but I decided to document the one before his first football game.  I didn't get a good picture of his traditional OSU onesie, but you can see here that it was definitely orange (as are both of his taggie blankets :). 

He even wore his orange OSU pajamas to bed that night.

And changed into his OSU jersey as soon as he woke up in preparation for game day. 

Since it was his first game day, we took him to campus to enjoy some of the festivities.  You can tell he was thrilled to be at "the walk."

We didn't go to the game.  Instead we came home, enjoyed some naked baby play time,

and watched a little football and a movie with some friends (our game wasn't on any of the channels we get :(.

Two Blooms

I've been meaning to write this post for a couple of months, I just haven't had a chance or felt up to it.  

When Aubrey passed away, we held a small graveside service for her.  Nothing big, just family and close friends (really, we didn't call anyone and tell them, it was just people that heard and wanted to attend).  As is common with most funerals, some people sent floral arrangements or potted plants.  I have managed (barely) to keep two of Aubrey's potted plants alive.  One is some kind of viney thing and about once a week I really wonder if it will make it to the next week.  The other one is a Peace Lily.  The Peace Lily and I have a decent relationship, although it seldom blooms for me and when it does, it only has one bloom at a time.  Both plants live in our kitchen window and neither plant has a name, they are simply referred to as Aubrey's plants.  Shortly after Joseph joined our family, I was washing dishes when I looked up and noticed two gorgeous white blooms on the Peace Lily (when we left for the hospital, it had none). 

Some might see this as a coincidence, but I took it as a sign from Aubrey.  It's hard to have a new baby join your family after a loss.  You don't want to replace the child you lost, but at the same time you have to keep moving forward.  To me, two blooms were Aubrey's way of saying, "Mom, you have two kids now.  I know you won't forget me and I want you to know that it's ok to move on." 

I like to think that Aubrey got to help God to choose the perfect baby for our family.