Happy second birthday, Joseph! It's so hard to believe that our little stinkerbug is already two years old, he's just growing so big so fast! Here he is this morning, still enjoying the Tupperware cupboard over a year after he discovered it, but playing there in a much more complex way. By the way, our little fashion guru specifically picked this outfit out to wear today. He calls the pants his "stripy pants" and the shirt his "car shirt" for the little blue car stitched on the front!



We decided to start Joseph birthday festivities right after his nap, instead of waiting until dinnertime when he's already feeling a bit tired. He came downstairs to discover a bunch of balloons all over the kitchen floor, and he's getting pretty good at kicking them around! Actually, while Joseph and I are playing with the balloons, Tim is talking to our realtor. It's closing day on the house we're buying in San Antonio and apparently the seller has decided not to sign the documents! We have no idea what we're going to do now, but that won't stop us from having fun with Joseph for the next few hours!



We've had Joseph's presents wrapped and displayed up on top of the piano for several days now, and he's been pointing at them and asking to get them down ever since. Finally, it's his chance! He looks pretty excited to be helping move them into the kitchen!

Here's all the loot in the kitchen, and now it's time to tear 'em open!

First a fun pirate ship from Grandma and Grandpa Allison with a real shooting cannonball...





and now a bunch of letters and numbers for the bathtub from Grandma and Grandpa Gedlaman! You wouldn't think a two-year-old would be that interested in ABCs and 123s, but our little Joseph sure loves them! He seems particularly partial to number 8 and numbers 6 and 9, which are a bit difficult to tell apart when you're carrying them around!



He had fun opening the rest of his presents and cards, including this card from Great-Grandma Jensen, and the little step stool from us...

which he's already starting to put to his advantage!

What a fun afternoon it's been!

After dinner now, it's time for the cake! Last year, Joseph seemed to find the cake more of a messy nuisance than anything else, but this year he's ready and waiting to give it a try! He's recently learned how to blow on hot things to cool them off, so we're using that skill to help him know what to do with the candle, and it actually seems to be working.

Finally, it's time to dig in and eat!









Apparently, the cake is pretty good, although I will admit I made a low-fat chocolate sponge cake and no-fat frosting so I could indulge, too. I'm not worried about fat per se, but this pregnancy thing gives me serious heartburn at the smallest offense! In any case, it's been another great birthday for our little Joseph! We just love him so much and are so grateful he's in our family!

Here are the kiddos this morning at Jared's eating breakfast together! Typically reserved only for special occasions around here, Ruben and Maya have been more than happy to eat Froot Loops and Fruity Pebbles with Joseph every morning since we arrived.



After breakfast, we all headed over to Jacksonville's Kids Kampus, a huge free park where the kiddos can ride bikes around mini roads with street lights, signs, and buildings, play on all the usual playground-type equipment, and even splash around in the water during the summer months. Here are Maya and Joseph on their free rental bikes!

Joseph spent only a few minutes on his tricycle before deciding he could get around faster and do more on his own two feet. He climbed up here on this little table all by himself!

Here we are now watching Ruben and Maya play around in the sand...





while Joseph runs, runs, and runs! He isn't slowing down much to look at or play with anything, he just loves moving on those little feet of his!

We finally did persuade him to try crawling through this little tunnel, but he is starting to wear down a bit from all that running. It'll be time to head back to Jared's house soon, but it's been a fun morning!

Happy Thanksgiving! Here in Jacksonville, Jared has a tradition of spending at least part of his Turkey Days at his neighbor Steve's place across the street. Steve is apparently the turkey guru around these parts, so he and Jared have worked out a deal in which Jared donates a bird, and Steve fries it up in his big turkey fryer! It's amazing how little time it takes to fry a turkey, and the meat is quite flavorful and juicy! Here we are eating, watching football, and chatting together at Steve's place.

Joseph did start to get a little antsy as the afternoon wore on, so we decided to take him on a walk before it got dark. The weather has been just gorgeous all day, and the sunset is quite lovely as well. It's been another great day here in Jacksonville!

After a week or so of wintry temperatures and winds in Blacksburg, we were grateful for the chance to skip town for sunny Jacksonville, FL to visit Jared, Ruben, and Maya for Thanksgiving! We arrived yesterday night and Joseph has been having so much fun already with his uncle, cousins, and their friendly cat. Here he is admiring one of Maya's sparkly necklaces as we head off to do some sightseeing!

Jared decided to take us down to nearby St Augustine, founded by the Spanish in 1565 and thus considered the nation's oldest city. Today it's a charming, tourist-friendly spot located right off the Intracoastal Waterway. Here are Tim, Ruben, and Maya posing next to the first interesting monument we saw!

St Augustine is also home to the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, constructed in 1672 to defend Spain's claims on the New World. As the only remaining 17th-century fort, it boasts the oldest masonry in North America, and is actually quite a bit bigger in person than it looks in this shot!



Although we got here a bit late this afternoon, we still had time to look around a bit inside before the fort closed. Here we are crossing the moat!







Here are some shots of the fort and Intracoastal from the gun deck. It's a gorgeous FL afternoon!

I just barely caught a shot of this little bird before it took off. I'm pretty sure it's a Palm Warbler, which means it's a new bird for us!



The masonry in the fort is made from a stone called "coquina", which literally translates to "little shells, and when you take a look at it up close, it's easy to see why!



After touring the fort, we took a walk around the cute St Augustine streets, full of fun shops and beautiful old buildings. We're just getting ready to find a restaurant and get some gelato now!

Joseph loves these foam numbers, and here he is playing with them this morning!

This is how the sky looked earlier today here in Blacksburg, and this afternoon we had our first snowstorm of the season. Granted, it was too warm for anything to stay around very long, but the gusty wind is really making it feel like winter is on its way! These are the times we feel grateful to be moving to a warm place like San Antonio!

While the wind blew outside tonight, Tim helped me put the finishing touches on Joseph's baby scrapbook! I had a goal of finishing it before Joseph turned two, and before we had another baby, and I just barely did it!

















It feels so good to be done, and although I'm definitely not a pro, I'm pretty pleased with the results. Here are some of the pages, done the old-fashioned way with tape, glue, scissors, paper, and photos. Next time I'm going all digital!

Although Joseph has always been intrigued by the dishwasher, we've recently started encouraging him to help us empty it, and he really seems to love doing it!

Although we're a little sad to go, our time here at the Houstons is about up! While Tim and I were getting ready to go, Jen caught a few shots of Joseph having fun playing with her and the kiddos. We're so grateful the Houstons were willing to have us on such short notice, and what a great visit it's been!