The big ol' update

Hey all - its been a while....I know. We're doing fine, despite. Somethings in life just stink. Stink bad. In a nutshell, there is someone doing us very wrong, in a business sense. Very wrong. Legally wrong. Personally wrong. Financially wrong. Just wrong.

I know the Lord will take care of us. All in His due time, right? Its hard to stay strong though, in the midst of adversity. Thank God for divine strength. Someday I'll go into the story....maybe. I haven't decided whether I will protect this person's (and their partners) identity on this blog. They deserve a bad public beating, but I suppose if I talk about it, I will be taken to court for defamation of character...even though we already have a case against them for that very thing.

Ahhh well. My blood boils, but my spirit is calm. Sort of....

On to better things....

Joey is growing!!! He's absolutely the most amazing thing my world has ever witnessed. He's going to be 6 months old at the end of this month. He's been a dream to travel with, and we've been on the road for the last month. He hasn't seen his own crib for some time, and he seems pretty content with the pack and play. Last month he learned how to flip over from his back to his front, and he has a bouncer now that he jumps into and just goes to town. Just recently, in the last week, he's learned how to flip from front to back now, and he's starting to get the notion of crawling. He scoots, which is really cute. If you leave him on his Baby Einstein gym and leave the room, he'll be scooted off the mat onto the carpet with in moments. he's amazing.

He goes in for his 6 month check up in a few days, believe it or not. Joe and I estimate a 20 lb weigh in. He's a big boy.

We started feeding him rice cereal with Applesauce about 3 days ago. At first he thought it tasted much better than pasty rice cereal, and ate it with joy. Now its a little tougher to feed to him. I'm not sure why, but he doesn't seem that interested. We start him on bananas tonight.



Here's the little man and me at the farmer's market last month buying some flowers. He's amazing!!!!

Lately...

On this past Monday, we returned from a wonderful week-long trip to Mississippi to see Joe's mom and dad. We had a wonderful time hanging out with "Mae Mae and Papa" but of course, it was much to short. We also spent most of our time doing taxes. THroughout the week, Joe and I were trying to run the business as well as figure out income vs expenses. We couldn't really concentrate until Saturday and Sunday when the phone wasn't ringing and the emails weren't pouring in. We still had the best time! We can't wait to go back.

We're excited....in about a week or less, we are heading to Iowa to see my folks and introduce Joey to my "side" of the family. I cannot wait!!!! I haven't seen my family since last year sometime. It will be nice to get home for a few days. AND...our phones hardly work at my house so we will definitely be on vacation. Lets hope anyway.

NOthing else going on, seems like. Joey is growing and growing. He had his 4 month check up the other day. He is about 15 1/2 pounds. He's absolutely perfect, Dr Moss said. We will start feeding him some cereal twice a day starting tomorrow. This should be interesting and funny. We'll make sure we have the camera ready! Its going to be messy I'm sure.

Joey spends his days playing, of course. He spends a lot of time reaching for the things in his crib and exploring the way things feel. He has a brand new teddy bear that our dear friend Steve "peanut" Oliver brought him a few weeks back. He loves it so much! Joey is learning his own voice more and more each day, and is very vocal. He likes to talk A LOT. Whenever he is near his "friends" (whether its his animals hanging from his mobile or his buddies hanging from his car seat handle) he's telling them all about his day and what he thinks. I love to hear his little voice. He has vocal inflections down....now we gotta work on the words and pronouniations. I'm very patient. :)

Joey loves to laugh. He's figuring out what's funny to him. He loves funny faces, and for his onlookers to stick their tongues out at him. WHen you poke his face lightly, he giggles. He loves it when you nuzzle up on him...he laughs and laughs.

He is the sweetest thing I've ever known. His demeanor is just angelic. He is an absolute angel of God. Joe and I are still in disbelief every day we wake up, and we never forget to thank the Lord every time we pray.

Belly Rubs

Rudy just had to get in on the belly rubbing action. He gets a little jealous still, so he felt he was "due."

Reading time

Joe and Joey had reading time today. It was A MESS. Joe was reading from a Winnie the Pooh book, and Joey was listening intently. Next thing I know, I hear Joe read, "And Eeyor said...or Jackass...or whatever the hell his name is..." JOE!!!!!! AHHH!!!!

What am I going to do with him? Our poor son is going to think that he can use "those" words. I'm becoming more and more conscious of my language everyday, but JOe...i'm having to work on him. ha! PRAY FOR US!!!! :) Poor Joe is going to have some hard times. I can hear his kindergarten teacher calling now.......

Tour End

Here's a photo of Joe and his two buddies, Paul (left) and Brad (right), from the Seger tour. I had the chance to meet these two guys in Memphis. They took great care of my Joe while he was away from me. :)

THe tour is officially done, and I'm glad. I feel like a complete person now that he's home. He gets to watch his little man grow every day now, with hardly any interruption. Its gooooood to have him home. Ahhhhhh.......

By the way, Joey is growing so fast. He's trying to roll himself over now, and he laughs at EVERYTHING! He is quite the little character!

Hey you with the camera.....

He's just a little squirt here....

Sleepy Cheeks

Zzzzzzzzz........

Friends???

As I've probably mentioned before, Rudy hasn't exactly been chipper about our new family addition, but tonight, he took a big step toward acceptance. The picture says it all.

He jumped up on the bed, came over to where Joey was napping, sniffed his little arm, and the curled up next to him.

((Don't worry, Mom and Dad!!! I was watching him REALLY CAREFULLY!!!!))

....this is good, but I still don't trust the little stinker.....

By the way, check out that baby jungle gym Joey is under. He's having a ball with it!!!....that is when he's not napping on it.

Wanna see what Joe's been up to?

As I've mentioned, JOe's on the road these days with Steve. Here's a little footage they caught at the end of one of his sets. Steve's been receiving standing ovations every night of the tour, which is great! Check it out!

Bath time fun!!!

I captured this pic tonight at Joey's bathtime. I can't take it.... he's so cute!!! I want to squeeze him! :)