What a playful little guy!

It's time to celebrate Joseph's birthday! Here's a shot of us after dinner with his cake and presents...

and here's a close-up of that yummy-looking cake!







Of course, he doesn't really even know it's his birthday, but he did seem to realize something special was underway when we started blowing up these balloons. Not surprisingly, he's fascinated by the way they bounce and fly...



and squeak! What a silly little guy!









Here are some shots of him opening gifts...

and, finally, trying his cake! As is somewhat traditional, we decided to give Joseph his first slice of chocolate cake today and let him have at it. He's definitely interested!





We gave him a bite, but he seems more interested in poking his little finger into the cake than eating it. I'm guessing we're going to have a big mess on our hands here shortly!

As anticipated, the cake is everywhere! I think Joseph has really enjoyed himself tonight, but he's getting very, very tired. I guess we'd better give him his bath and whisk him off to bed. Happy Birthday, our little hot pepper!

Hurrah! This afternoon, the neat freak in me couldn't help cheering when Joseph actually started putting his toys into a box, instead of just pulling them out. Now he's doing it with all sorts of things, like putting laundry into the hamper and putting Cheerios into a bowl. What a smart little guy!

Today is Joseph's first birthday! On the one hand, this last year has absolutely flown by, but on the other, I can't really imagine our family anymore without our little hot pepper. Here he is learning to ride this little trike Grandma and Grandpa Gedlaman gave him for Christmas!

Our little hot pepper sure is growing and changing. He's nearly walking now and so playful! Here he is having fun with Daddy today!

Things are a little lonely around here now that everyone's gone, so we were glad to see this little White-throated Sparrow stop by for a visit. His presence is a sure sign that winter is on it's way, since he spends the summers way up in Canada!

Although it's almost impossible for me to believe, Joseph's first birthday is coming up this Monday! Since Grandma and Grandpa Gedlaman are heading home today, they decided to give Joseph his birthday presents a little bit early so they could watch him open them. He's getting better and better at ripping the paper off packages, and he's also having fun pulling all these neat blocks out of the box!



Here are a couple nice shots Tim took just before Mom, Dad, and I left for the airport. We sure are grateful they were able to come out for Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving Day! Jared, Ruben, and Maya headed back to their home in Jacksonville, FL yesterday, but we're so grateful to still have Mom and Dad here. My mom, of course, has been helping a lot in the kitchen today, instructing me on the finer points of making rolls and stuffing, making her famous 24-Hour Fruit Salad, and basically keeping us organized so we could enjoy this delicious dinner!

Joseph ate his Thankgiving fare before the rest of us, and really seemed to enjoy everything, except the Brussels sprouts, that is!



Now we're just trying to keep him busy while we're eating. He's getting a lot more comfortable with cruising around the room, and with all the growing he's been doing lately, both in height and arm length, he's discovered that he can reach right up on to the table. Yikes!

Of course, since we wouldn't let him actually pull our dinner plates onto the floor, he eventually lost interest in the table and moved on to bigger and better things, like the toilet and toilet paper. Double yikes!

In any case, I think one of the greatest achievements of the day is that Joseph finally garnered enough courage to approach Grandpa Lloyd all by himself...

and he's getting pretty friendly with Grandma Susan, too!

Since we'll be fortunate enough to spend Christmas with Tim's parents, we decided to exchange Christmas gifts with my parents tonight. As you might expect, Joseph wasn't as excited by the gifts themselves as the wrapping paper and boxes!

Still, he's intrigued by this little Elmo with clothes you can button, strap, lace, Velcro, and zipper...



and this awesome, squishy Hug-A-Planet globe. I think for all of us, though, the best part about the day was just being together!

It's a lovely fall day, so we decided go on a walk around the neighborhood and take the kids to this nearby park. They're all having fun swinging on the swings, even little Joseph!





There are still loads of leaves on the ground, so the kids and Grandma Susan are having fun playing in them: burying each other, building big piles and jumping in them, and just plain throwing them around!

Here's our little cutie just taking a break with Daddy!



Before we left the park, Ruben found this giant stick, and on the way back to our place Maya found this pretty, fluffy seed pod.



Here we are on our way back home. What a lovely day to be outside here in Blacksburg!

Although Joseph has been a little unsure about all the visitors we've had around here the last few days, he couldn't resist going into Grandma and Grandpa Gedlaman's room this morning and showing them how to pull apart this little wooden apple. Actually, I think he's doing rather well getting comfortable with everyone, considering that he's already bestowed several nose-scrunches on Grandma and Grandpa, and he's getting braver as the days go by!

Jared, Ruben, and Maya arrived last night for a pre-Thanksgiving visit! I haven't seen Jared or Ruben in almost five years, and I've never met Maya before. Both she and Ruben are such cute and nice kids, and they're really having a lot of fun getting to know little Joseph!

We had originally planned to head up to Washington, DC today, but due to Joseph's recent aversion to car travel, we decided we might all be happier just hanging around Blacksburg instead.

So, the kids are playing around with all of Joseph's garage-sale toys...

jumping on this little trampoline and watching movies...



playing Ruben's favorite game, Monopoly...



and, after a long day of fun, sleeping! It sure has been nice spending some time together today!

These lovely shots were photographed by our friend Michele Sudweeks last week down at the Blacksburg Arboretum. I think she's amazingly talented, but I'm sure it helps to have an exceedingly cute baby for a subject!