Sorrry, but I tried!

I had promised video to a few of you, and I'm sorry to say that it won't let me post video today! I'll try again this week, sometime. I do have a great video of Joseph with an ice cream cone! For now, everyone will have to settle for pictures!

Little man Joseph is doing great...He's currently getting over a cold and probable ear infection, but you wouldn't be able to tell it. He's still very active and playful and getting in all kinds of trouble. He is quite the little chatterbox and will repeat almost any word, except YES! He is quite opinionated, and gets himself in trouble when he throws fits. I have put him in the corner a few times, and he goes there like it's a 2nd home. When I asked at daycare, I discovered that he visits frequently, and will, on occasion, put himself in the corner! Guilty conscience, I guess.

More pictures from Christmas that were still on the camera!

A set of 3 balls from Uncle Mark, although Joseph still doesn't quite know what to think about the football!

Something else for me??

Two of my favorite expressions!

Playtime at The Wonder Place...

Playtime at home with my train set from Christmas (thanks to Aunt Claire, Uncle Phillip & Jordan-Claire!)

Merry Christmas and Happy Shots!

A belated very Merry Christmas to all! This was Joseph's first Christmas of interest! He still wasn't too into opening presents, but definitely liked playing with the toys once we were finally able to get them out of the box. He got to have 4 days of Christmas...we started Saturday with the grandparents Patterson, Sunday with the grandparents McClain and extended family, Monday with the Nichols clan, and Tuesday back home where Santa made a stop. Here are a few pictures...

Opening presents at Grandmaw Mae & Grandpaw Jack's house...

Outside on a cold Christmas day with my new wagon from Santa!

The day after Christmas, Joseph had his 15 month check up. He's doing great, still growing well, at 90% or above in all categories (30 lbs, 34 inches, 19 inch head), and has met all the milestones as expected. Unfortunately he had to have 4 shots (3 immunizations plus his 2nd flu shot) which did not make the little man happy! One of the pertinent milestoness is 2 words besides mamma and daddy. Well...he's got MANY more than that! The boy will repeat almost anything, and has many words that he knows the meaning of, but still hasn't fully grasped what "no" means, even though he loves saying it. He's growing and changing so much, it's hard to believe. Smart as a whip, but I'm a little partial. He can moo, bah, and neigh like a barnyard full of animals! Very cute! I'll try to get video of that.

A few more pictures...

Eating black olives just like his dad, and hanging out with mom in our camo hats!

Long Time, No Blog

Ok...sorry about that. I just haven't been into it lately, especially since we've been so busy.


Busy, you say? What have we been up to? Well, Joseph has been busy being sick. It started 2 weeks ago Sunday (December 2nd) with a fever that got as high as 104.5, vomiting (only once, thank goodness), and periorbital cellulitis (say what? an infection under his eye as a result of the high fevers from the virus). His white blood cell count was at 20,000 when we took him to the doctor on Monday. Thankfully after blood cultures and 2 Rocephin shots, it was down to 9600 on Tuesday, so we started oral antibiotics. As we were nearing the end of 10 days of antibiotics, every orifice on his head started to drain, so we now doing antibiotic/steroid ear drops in both ears twice a day. How fun is that??? Back to the doctor today because the ear drainage is worse, and he decided to spike a fever during Jon's Christmas work party Saturday night.


So, throw the Christmas season, Jon having a big project due soon, and me getting a cold now into the mix, and we're running a little behind. The Christmas cards will get there when they get there, ALL RIGHT?? Nah, no big deal. They may be New Year's cards. Won't matter to me, I'm working New Year's Day!


But, on to the latest and greatest that the boy can do...


He's talking up a storm...will repeat almost anything you say, so keep it G-rated.


His memory is much better now. He remembers that he likes to read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?". At first, we thought it was great that when we turned to the page with the teacher, that he would say (in his own little language) "teacher, teacher". Well, now, when we get to the page with the goldfish (the page immediately before the teacher), he starts saying "teacher, teacher"!!! How smart is that!!!

He will turn his head to the side for drops to be put in his ears. Does this say something about how often we've had to do that??

He can make a selection between drinks. He will say juice or milk depending on which he wants. He's also saying a lot of other food words, including cheese, cracker and cookie. I think he's also tried to say fruit.

Pictures soon, I hope...

Anti-Atkins

Grandpaw Joe & Great-Grandpaw Wayne would be proud...

Joseph had a great first Thanksgiving (that he actually got to eat). We went to Memphis to spend the holiday with Aunt Claire, Uncle Phillip & Jordan-Claire. He did really well He ate like crazy. For Thanksgiving dinner, he ate turkey, sweet potatoes, corn pudding and 3 (!!!) rolls. He loved it. Except the cranberry and the coconut, which he took out of his mouth and handed back to me! He had a fun time chasing and being chased by his cousins, Dylan, Macy & J-C. He'll get to see all of them again at Christmas.

The No-Puking Zone

As mother and ruler of the Nichols domain, I hereby proclaim that all territories inhabited by the Nichols clan (be that car, hotel room, or house) are declared puke free zones. And if that doesn't tell you how our weekend went, nothing else will.

So before we even left the boundaries of Little Rock for our weekend trip to Springfield /Branson, MO, Joseph puked in the car/carseat. Lovely, huh? We thought he was just a little bit car sick from the stop-and-go driving of running errands around town and eating too soon before we left. Well, he puked again (big time on this one) on just the other side of Conway. We couldn't get the car pulled over fast enough! It was horrible and smelled bad and we put him back in his car seat naked (diapered, but naked). At this point, we considered coming back home, but said, nah, we'll be allright. Boy, were we wrong!

We went on to Branson, did some shopping at the outlet mall, and then headed to Springfield to check into the hotel. I had started feeling bad, but didn't think it was much to be worried about. And then I puked...and puked...and puked. Saturday I woke up feeling better, but very weak. Maybe Joseph's wasn't motion sickness. We (very slowly) walked around the Bass Pro Shop and neighboring Wonders of Wildlife museum as well as the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield. Joseph felt great and had a good time. He LOVED the fish at the museum. He was determined to catch them as they swam by!

Woke up Sunday morning, and guess who was sick?? The remaining member of the trio! Here it is Sunday night and Jon hasn't puked yet, but all the other signs are there. So, we had a long ride home ( I drove if that tells you how sick Jon was), but we're here now, and all alive for the moment. Joseph and I are fine now, so hopefully Jon's turn will be short-lived as well.

Here are some pictures...much more interesting than our tale...

Joseph's injury pre-picture day.

We'll see how the photos come back.

From Wonders of Wildlife...

crossing the rope bridge looking down at the birds looking at the beaver

These videos are actually better than any of the pictures from the aquarium.

Just a cute video to add on...Ride 'em Cowboy!

Picture Day

Today is picture day at school for Joseph. In true form, he took a tumble yesterday and has some major scrapes on his forehead and cheek. I asked the photographer to try to get his non-injured side, but we'll see! I'll post some pictures later.

Lots of Fun!

Busy! We've been going like crazy!

Last Wednesday, we went to Boo at the Zoo...Joseph had a great time watching the other costumed kids roaming around, but wasn't interested in wearing his own costume.

Thursday through Sunday, we were in Northwest Arkansas. We all had a great time, and Joseph did really good, with the exception of not sleeping during the day. We got in some hiking at Hobbs & Devils Den State Parks. Joseph had a really great time with Grandpaw Jack and Grandmaw Mae. He really enjoyed the fountains in the atrium of the hotel...thank you, Embassy Suites.

We visited Boo at the Zoo again on Tuesday night and Joseph LOVED the carousel. They've refurbished the old "Over the Jumps" carousel which has stationary horses and a moving track. Very neat. You can't tell how much he liked it from the video, but as we were trying to leave the zoo, he kept walking back toward it and pointing.

Today, he had a Halloween party in his class at daycare. He still wouldn't wear the dog costume, but enjoyed the snacks!