4 months is too long ....

What in the world have I been doing? Not updating this blog is all. I think I made it worse on myself when I made two blogs, one for Joey and one for Joshy. It would be so much easier to just go ahead and keep one for all the kids. Especially now that we're adding on another little boy to the mix so I think I'll go do that now ....

We're on the News!!!

Today Jim had reserves but it was unlike his typical drill weekend. We, Jim the kids and I, were to be at the War Memorial in downtown Milwaukee for a welcome, an official welcome home. Jim's been home from Iraq for 3+yrs now but never has the battalion said "Thank You" to him, his fellow troops or the families until today!
It was a nice little ceremony with a LOT of soldiers to thank and recognize for their time spent in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and other parts of the world in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
I sat in the right spot for once and had the local news standing right in front of me! Because my babies are so dang adorable they caught the attention of the reporter and her camera-woman and lots of camera time was spent on the boys. After all the awards were presented and the ceremony was over the reporter asked if she could interview us, I said yes, I was so psyched!! I've never been on TV or anything like that before. So we interviewed and here is the link to the video that was broadcast! All four of us were on and mentioned by name. I'm really excited that they spelled my name right, helps that they recorded ME spelling it for them I guess!! LOL So here's the link, I don't know how long it will be good for. I have a copy on DVD from my DVD recorder but I can't get it to work on my computer for some reason. I wrote to the TV station and asked if they would get me a copy so we'll see what they say.
http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/video/13683361/index.html

Enjoy!!

Our first 911 call and ambulance ride

Yesterday morning (Sunday) daddy got up with the kids and let me sleep in. Oh how I love that! He made us breakfast and I have to say he's a pretty good breakfast cook. So I got up and we were eating breakfast together. I got out a gallon of milk for me, that I'd not opened yet and put it on the table. I turned around to put other things away and get me a cup. I turned back to the table and there is Joey with the gallon of milk in his hand going head first off his booster-chair onto the floor. I can't really describe how he fell as it happened so fast but...instinctively I picked him up and took him into the living room. He was crying pretty good and usually when he's hurt himself he shows the tears for a few seconds and stops. Then it hit me, his neck, I saw his head go all the way back, it's like he landed on his forehead and the weight of his body forced his neck back then his body went forward so he kinda landed on his tummy. So I held him really close to my body and carefully moved from the couch to the floor and as carefully as I could, while stabilizing his neck, laid him down. Once I got him down and held him tight I told Jim to call 911 then call his mom and tell her to get over here immediately. (of course no one local was around so my mom had to drive down from 45mins away! Thank God for her!!)

The ambulance got here in just a few minutes as we live only 3 miles from the firestation. They put him on the c-spine board and had him all strapped down. Man did he hate that! He could only move his hands and wrists and feet and lower legs. He held on tightly to his Thomas the Tank Engine while he screamed for mommy and daddy.

I went with him in the ambulance and luckly they took him quietly so no sirens to scare him. Not even half way to the hospital he quieted down which was such a relief, I was holding up well but ready to break down at any moment with horrible thoughts of paralysis and such. Joey started saying "all done." It was heart-breakingly adorable! I was so all-done too.

They did a couple x-rays and he did pretty well with those. Not like he had much choice being all strapped up right? A bit later the doctor came in and said everything looked fine and he just wanted to take off the c/s board and look at his back and head. He gave Joey a good once over and he was deemed healthy and fit!

Thank you God for catching my baby and cushioning him during his fall and keeping him safe!

He was his normal self the rest of the day. We did our best to keep him quiet and not play too hard but that's not easy to do with a 2yr old. One thing he was really missing was his "5 Little Monkey's Jumping on the Bed" which we always do before naps and night time. But he didn't squawk too badly about it. Went down for his nap and at bedtime very easily and now I am to wake him every two hours (he's going to hate that!) to make sure he arouses ok and there's no head injury. I'm confident there isn't a head injury but I'll do it anyway for my big boy (baby) :)

Joey did great during the night. I went in there a few times and he aroused as usual, before I even got in the door! He's always been a light sleeper, you can't sneak in on him very often. He didn't like to be woken up but he did just fine and went right back to sleep again.

Forgot some pictures

Here's the pictures of Joey helping with the dishes! Isn't he cute as can be? Keep in mind, he's not even 2 yet on these :)

It's been too long...where has the time gone?

Joey is 2yrs old now! Oh my, how time flies. When in the world did he stop being a baby and turn into such a big boy?
We had his birthday party this past Saturday June 23rd and it was a very nice time. We had both grandma's, grandpa, both Aunties (Daniele and Lori), Uncle Chad, 3 cousins (Lindsey, Katie and Jacob), my cousin Lisa who was meeting Joey for the first time! Auntie Tiffany, Shane and little girlfriend Kasia, Playgroup from June and Jerry with their triplets (Eddie, Joey and Ella) and big sister Eva, Mary Ann (aka GG (Kasia's great-grandma)..I hope I'm not forgetting anyone.
He did a terrific job with blowing out his candles. He's never blown out a candle before and he knew exactly what to do some how. He was trying to blow them out before I even got them lit!
Mommy and Daddy got Joey a bounce house so he and his friends got to enjoy that which was really nice!
Well here are some picture of our big boy Joey who got a clean bill of health at his pediatrician's back on the 9th of June. He was
25lbs 13oz---- 25%:
33" long-----10-25% (don't know why they give that range?)
19 1/2" head----75%.
So he's doing great! OH and he's getting speech therapy now and is doing wonderful with that as well. He's now saying consistantly and appropriately and understandably:
ma-ma
daddy
Josh
shoes
all done
uh-oh
bye-bye
hi
hello and
thanks.
It's not a lot for a 2yr old but better than just the "thanks" which was his only word for a long time. He's signing better too he does,
hungry(or eat)
thirsty(or drink)
thanks
dog
ball
play
sleep/nap/tired
he'll mimic other signs but not doing them on his own yet. He's saying a ton of sounds on command and will do a wonderful bird and train sound for you if you ask! LOL
He is wonderful with Joshy and loves to help with everything and anything.
He has to take the bottle to Joshy and will half the time manage to get it into Joshy's mouth too.
He'll replace a fallen nuk a lot and pick it up off the floor for mommy.
He says HI Joshy every morning and gives good night kisses to Josh every night. He loves to clean things up and is alway wiping down a table or whatever.
One day Joshy spit up all over the floor and me and himself, it was a mess! Joey got me a receiving blanket (which we frequently use for spit up) and while I was cleaning off me and Josh, Joey pulled out some baby wipes and promptly started cleaning up the mess on the floor! It was great!
He loves to help with the dishes and his favorite thing is to push over a chair and stand next to you to help out! :)
He drinks out of a regular cup and does excellent as long as you don't put too much in there. If you do put in too much it's like he knows it and will make a mess
He will wipe off his own face when given a napkin
Uses a spoon and fork very well, he just chooses not to use them often
He's a good go-for..he'll go get almost anything especially shoes!
He's brushing his teeth 2x daily now
Wow, that's all I can think of for now. Lets see if I can't get those pictures posted now.

Lets Play a game called, what's hiding in Joey's clothing!!

This morning, in his sleeper............his toothbrush from last night!!!!
(I was wondering where that went to!)

Where to keep your personal items....

Last night while getting Joey ready for bed I found something interesting he likes to do....well let me back up... Jim got him up one day from his nap, we'd kept it a PJ day...DH happens to feel something in his sleeper. He unzips and low and behold Joey's got 2 AA batteries inside his sleeper at the foot.

Ok yes, bad mommy for letting him get the batteries but that's better than last night...

While I wasn't sure if he put the batteries in his sleeper or they happen to fall in there, I found out the answer last night.

He's got on this onsie that is a shirt (part of an outfit) and pair of shorts on. I take off the shorts and go to unsnap the onsie...what falls out? Oh about a dollar in change (quarters, pennies and dimes) and a AA battery! LOL
Apparently he doesn't like pockets which I've recently showed him how to use, but likes to keep his "things" tightly confined in his clothes!

My kid, the bank and Energizer bunny! LOL Hold on tightly to your loose change or Joey will get it!

After he was ready for bed, my big boy finally went BACK into his big boy room again. Awhile back, after baby brother was born, Joey started climbing out of his crib. I ended up putting him back into the nursery as that crib was more difficult to get out of. Well he figured out how to get out of it too but lost interest in it and hasn't climbed out in weeks. So last night I got his room, which had become a sort of storage area, back into some order and he spent the night in his big boy room (in the crib) again and did GREAT!!!

Go read Joshy's post to see where Joshy slept!! :)