I really think this little climber was one of the best purchases we've ever made. Joseph plays on it several times every day, and although Rosalie isn't even walking yet, she's already having fun with it!

This little trampoline ain't bad for fun, either. As Joseph demonstrates here, the possibilities are really almost endless!

Happy birthday to me! We waited a couple days to celebrate so we could have the weekend at our disposal. Plus, it really doesn't matter to me when we party, it's just fun to have an excuse to do it! I'm not absolutely sure, but I think Tim's mom made this card herself. In any case, it sure is lovely!



Joseph was so excited about the idea of another birthday around here, and kept asking for it to be his birthday, not mine. When he saw what my gifts were, though (Bourne movies, peanut bird feeder, new set of scriptures from my parents, and tote bag to hold them), he became distinctly less excited. He's still holding out for the cake, though!

I guess even at 28 years, I still like to make funny faces in front of the camera! Actually, I'm feeling grateful for the simple things tonight, like having a sense of humor, a healthy body, and a loving family right here with me. There's not much more I could really ask for on my birthday or, in fact, any day!

Life sure is fun when you're a little baby!

These two play like this all day long! Of course, I'm sure Rosalie won't always tolerate having thing grabbed from her hands like that, but for now I'm just happy to let them enjoy being together.

If there's one thing Rosalie is absolutely serious about, it's having fun. We absolutely did not teach her to do this, but once she got going, we just couldn't resist playing along. Who knew someone so little could be so silly!

Rosalie is a very happy baby, and although she naturally has her fair share of frustrations (especially now that she knows she can move around and do what she wants most of the time), she is rarely sad. This afternoon, she woke up from her nap with a frowning, stuck out lower lip and big, swollen tears. She's doing better now that's she in her high chair (this little girl really loves to eat), but I thought I'd capture those tears before wiping them away!



Not long after her snack, Daddy came home! Both Joseph and Rosalie really seem to anticipate his arrival, and who can blame them? He's such a fun guy to be around!

Books, books, books! This little girl is crazy about books lately. Besides Fuzzy Yellow Duckling, she also seems to really like this little photo book. I see, though, that the shots in it were all taken back when Joseph was a baby. I guess it's time to update it!





Today, Go, Dog, Go! seems to be a hit as well. It's always amazing seeing the world through the eyes of your children!

After we got the kids ready for church this morning, Tim thought they just looked too cute, and since we have a couple extra minutes, he decided to snap a few shots. What an adorable pair!





When I went to pick Rosalie up, he decided to take a few of me as well, since our outfits kind of match. I do love those little red shoes!

Rosalie is entering the stage where she loves to visit the bookshelf and pick out a few (i.e. as many as she can reach before she loses interest) books to peruse (i.e. flip through and mouth a bit). So far, Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings by Matthew Van Fleet seems to be her favorite. It could be because it sticks out a little farther than the rest and is easy to grab, or because the pages are particularly easy to turn. Maybe she just likes the colorful drawings! In any case, here are a couple shots of her looking at it just before nap time today.

While the kids were resting, Tim and I dashed out back to do a little yard work. One of my projects was to trim the Nandina bushes, and when Joseph came out and saw the pruned stalks, he could resist waving and bashing them around a bit. Look out everybody!

This morning, Tim woke up with the kids and let me sleep in a bit. What a great hubby! Joseph and Rosalie loved being with him, of course, and here are a few shots of them having fun together. What a great daddy, too!

Rosalie crawled into Joseph's cozy tent today before quiet time and they're having quite a bit of fun playing with each other through the mesh window. They sure love being around each other!

While grocery shopping together on Sat, Tim told Joseph they needed to find some chocolate syrup. Apparently, the word "syrup" in Joseph's mind means "pancake topping", and he's been excited ever since about the idea of having chocolate syrup on his pancakes in the morning. It sounds like a questionable part of a healthy breakfast to me, but here he is getting Snuffle all ready to enjoy some!

Rosalie can get around pretty swiftly nowadays! This video didn't turn out the way I intended, but it does show her zipping off, and it shows how Joseph loves to follow her around, too!

Rosalie isn't exactly pulling up yet, but the last couple of days she's been crawling up to boxes, bookshelves, etc and getting herself upright on her knees. Here she is doing it this morning on this little trampoline while Joseph jumps and plays around with her. I love watching them have fun together!

Here she is now with knees off the ground, too. She's actually crawled up on the trampoline a couple times, kept going, and tumbled right off the other side. She sure didn't seem like that much, but I guess it's all part of the learning process, right?



For now, though, she seems content to just chill out leaning on the edge here playing with Joseph again. What a little cutie!

Sometimes, she gets herself stuck and can't get back down, so she cries out for help. A minute ago when I heard her, she sounded like she was down the hallway, perhaps in Joseph's room. I checked all the hallway bedrooms and bathroom, but couldn't find her. So, I left the hallway to check the living room, and immediately heard her cry out again from behind me. Returning to the hallway, I said "Rosalie, where are you?" and heard her happy, breathy pant in response coming from directly below me. She was completely inside the closet, and I'd walked by her twice without seeing her!







This afternoon, a package arrived from Uncle Rick and Aunt Shelley with Christmas gifts for all of us. Joseph was so excited to get Chicka, Chicka 1, 2, 3 and this huge alphabet train floor puzzle. Both are perfect for him right now, and here he is busily putting the puzzle together.

Some might wonder about Christmas gifts arriving in Jan, but Rick and Shelley were plenty busy this holiday season, getting ready for this new little bundle of joy. Our adorable nephew, Jett, was born Dec 30, and I just wish I could take a turn snuggling him a while. Thanks, Rick and Shelley, for thinking of us at all during such a hectic time!

Meanwhile, I checked in on Rosalie to find her leaning on the trampoline again with legs straight, arms straight, and belly up! It seems like just yesterday she was as small as Jett, but now she's getting awfully close to standing and walking. She sure seems pleased with herself about it, too!

Let the underwear adventures begin! Perhaps they could have started earlier, but with holiday travels coming up I decided to wait until the first of the year. In any case, we're going to give potty training a try this week and see what happens! Here's Joseph wearing his underwear backwards, of course, so he can actually see that cool green car while he's wearing them. So far, he seems to be doing great, although I did just notice a wet spot on the bottom of his shirt in this shot!

For bedtime, though, he'll likely still be in diapers for a while. Tonight, he decided Snuffle needed a diaper, too, and I suppose when you're talking about a stuffed bear, the head is as good a place to put a diaper as any!

Here they are reading a bedtime story together, too. Joseph takes such good care of his bears! Actually, "the bears" seem to have become Joseph's first imaginary friends, often doing similar things as us, but with their own style and flair. For instance, if we're driving along and pass an interesting-looking street, Joseph will say "the bears are going to turn on this street!" If we're waiting in checkout lane 11, "the bears are going in number 12!" or if we're having cereal for breakfast, "the bears are going to have pancakes!" Those lucky bears get to have all the fun!

I just love these shots of Rosalie finding the fridge magnets during her continuing explorations tonight...

and this video of her eating yogurt for dinner. She doesn't seem to be a particularly picky eater so far, but it's obvious that yogurt ranks up there with her favorites!

Later tonight, Tim and I finally had a chance to get out and celebrate our seventh anniversary! For a while, we thought he might be going back to Dubai this weekend, but luckily they weren't ready for him yet. Tim surprised me by getting a sitter and driving us downtown to the Acenar Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk. Even though it's a chilly, windy night, we opted to sit out on the balcony and enjoy the view of the San Antonio River and all the downtown skyscrapers. We're eating the Crepas de Pato (Corn Serrano crepes filled with roasted duck covered in tamarindo-tomato grilled onion sauce) and the Crab Tinga Tacos (Gulf blue crab, tomato, onion, chipotle, avocado), and both are so good! I can't begin to express how grateful I am that we met right here in San Antonio seven and a half years ago and for our beautiful life together. Tim is an amazing husband and father and I love him so much!

During the last couple of days, Joseph has been talking about "The Four Room", "The One Room", etc, but I had no idea what he meant. As it turns out, he has devised a numbering system for the rooms in our house completely on his own, and here he is explaining it. Once again, he amazes me!

This afternoon, I made it a point of leaving the Tupperware cupboard open, hoping to attract Rosalie's attention. Sure enough, she pulled out the big bowl of lids...

tipped it over...

and is now carefully examining its contents!

She sure is a sweet and spunky baby and sometimes I wish she would stay just like she is forever!

As I mentioned, Joseph and Rosalie are playing a lot together nowadays. She went to see what he was up to, he came to see what she was up to, and now Rosalie's back again. I just love watching them interact together!

We got back to San Antonio Sun night and are finally starting to feel settled again here at home. Joseph seems to be enjoying having some new toys to play with, including this simple tangrams set. Jigsaw puzzles are still a bit challenging for him to do by himself, although he does love doing them with help, but these puzzles are perfect for him right now. Thanks again, Grandma and Grandpa Gedlaman!



Rosalie is also having a lot of fun just exploring the house. When we left, she was still just scooting a few feet or so, but now she's up on all fours and really going! I'm sure glad we did our baby-proofing in this house a long time ago, because she's already getting into everything. I love that she can go almost anywhere and do almost anything without me having to hover over her all the time!

Another thing that seems to be really different now that we're back is that Joseph and Rosalie want to play together all the time! I guess it's because Rosalie is so much more active, but they're also "talking" to each other a lot more and playing silly games. They just can't seem to get enough of each other! It's not surprising that there have already been a few conflicts here and there, but I suppose that's just part of life with a sibling around!

Today when Tim got home, I hurried out to snap this shot of him on his new road bike. He actually found it on Craiglist a couple months ago, but it needed a little work, and then we left for AZ. Having a swifter bike has already made a significant different in his commute time, and this frame admittedly looks much cooler than the one Specialized sent as a replacement for his hybrid!