Super long Joey post

WOW! My Joey turned 4 years old yesterday!! I just can't believe it. When I first had him, it was much more of an adjustment than I ever thought. It felt like he would never get older, that he would always be a baby. So to watch him turn 4 was so surreal to me!! How did that happen? I could swear he was just a baby yesterday. I know that sounds so cliche, but now that I've lived through it, I understand it. I know it will be just tomorrow that I wake up and he'll be headed off on his mission or to college. Hm... Crazy. I do love this little guy so much!

Since I just started blogging not quite a year ago, and I have a TON of Joey pictures that have not been blogged yet, I figured I'd choose some of my favorites and post them in honor of his birthday. At the end of this post, I have pictures from his birthday yesterday. Unfortunately, on this computer, I don't have any pictures of him younger than 1... so no newborn pics to grace you with.

This was taken on our trip in Aug of 2006. We went to Arizona and got to visit with Kris' paternal Grandmother and her husband. Joey is just barely over 1 here.

Another one of him and our trip out west. 1 y/o

I love this one... This is on our flight back from Utah (we flew to Arizona, drove to Utah, and flew back from there). Joey was super tired andf ell asleep, but my arms got tired holding him, so we parked him on the tray tables as a bed - it worked!!

Here's Joey bein Joey... 1 y/o

Joey in his 'thinking chair'. He got this from Meemaw (Kris' maternal grandmother) for Christmas 2006. He was into Blue's Clues back then and would always get in his 'thinking chair' to watch it. He still has the chair - it lives in his room now.

Another one of Joey being Joey. These were my favorite jammies on him - I was so sad when he grew out of them...

I took this picture becase I was amazed Joey had gotten old enough to sit on the couch and eat a snack by himself... I know, lame, but it was a milestone in Mommy's eyes.

Joey turning 2!!

I had laid Joey down for a nap - this was shortly after he moved to a 'big boy bed'. I always had to just lay him down and shut the door and wait for him to fall asleep, then go back in and lay him back in bed because whereever he fell asleep, it wasn't in his bed. Ha ha!

Joey and his buddy Ethan at the zoo

Joey enjoying the joys of finger paints...

Halloween, 2007 - my little cowboy.

Joey playing ball with his Aunt Kara and Uncle Garrett.

This is why Ace is a good dog.... He always lets the kids climb all over him and acts like he loves it!! He's so patient with them.

Joey trying to fill daddy's shoes.

Another one of my favs... Joey's 3rd birthday party

Halloween 2008 - my little fireman

Joey - my bouncing baby boy

Kris and Joey at Coco key water resort, Valentines day 2009

The rest are of his birthday yesterday. We had his party at chuck-e-cheese. It was fun, and decently priced, and I didn't have to do any cooking or cleaning, so totally worth it in my mind! And all the kids had a blast!!

Here are some of the kids that were at his party (L ro R) Ellen, Kristen, Kaylee, Joey, Ethan, and Alyssa. Not pictured are Meghan, Kenny, and Jacob. Meghan didn't like chuck e very much and Kenny and Jacob were too busy playing to stop and get a picture!

Joey and Chuck E

Joey blowing out the candles

My sister-in-law made the cakes - she did an AMAZING job!!!!

She made this Lightning cake out of red velvet cake, so it was red inside and out. I was shocked at how perfect it turned out!! I mean, I know she's talented, but this looks professional!! Thank you so much Melissa!!! Joey LOVED it!!

Earlier in the day I took Joey to COSI - they had a big 'farm machines' exhibit open - Joey LOVED it! Here are some pics from that.

Joey in a tractor - he thought he was soooo cool!

Savanna my water baby

In the farm machine exhibit, they had all kinds of fun farming things to do, including milking a cow. LOL! no, it's not a real cow and the 'milk' is water, but Joey had fun all the same!

Joey in the combine

Joey in the combine again. He was like 'look, mom! I'm in Frank!' (if you've seen the movie Cars, you know what I mean)

Savanna in my most recent 'haley holder' This one is my favorite so far! I had her hair in cute pigtails, but it's hard to see in this pic.

Joey and his buddy Aiden in a tractor

Joey under the sprayer tractor - he was so funny he said 'LOOK mom! I can get under this one! Now I'm out of the sun!'

He was totally enamored with the BIG tires!

All in all, I think Joey had an awesome, albeit very busy, 4th birthday. I love you SO much my little Joey! I'm so proud of you! You are an amazing little guy and I just can hardly wait to watch you grow!

Walking!

Just thought I'd post Savanna took her first 'step' on Monday, July 13! And she has been taking a couple steps in a row yesterday and today! Not many, but it's obvious she'll be out and running in no time! Fun times. I just love watching her grow up!

Who knew these ACTUALLY existed??

I saw an episode of Seinfeld once that was about these 'strength shoes' - it was really a very funny episode! But I clearly remember thinking 'now - those CAN'T be a real product'. BUT this weekend I had a garage sale and my bestest friend Amy brought some stuff to sell, too. She lives in the middle of NOWHERE, so a yard sale wouldn't be real productive in her neck of the woods, so I invited her to take part in mine. Well as she was unpacking she was like 'Sara - look at these!' and I looked over and there they were - Strength shoes!! Ha ha! I guess they were Pete's (her husband) but he hasn't used them in a looooong time. They are supposed to make your legs stronger for basketball. Real shoes that help you run faster and jump higher. I just got a huge kick out of them! And poor Pete got picked on alot about them. The shoes didn't sell (surprise surprise), so if you are interested, let me know and I can pass the message to Amy! ha ha!!



Here's a pic of our 'little' garage sale. It was huge! I had a ton of baby stuff and clothes and Amy had a ton of just about everything. It was fairly a successful yard sale, but unfortunately it got rained out on Saturday. We did have alot of traffic Friday, and we thought for sure Saturday would be even better since people woudl be off work, but unfortunately it just rained and rained all day Sat. bummer! But we both came away having unloaded alot of our stuff and with some cash in our pockets! And it was fun, so it's totally worth it!!

Amy brought her new pyranese (sp?) puppy with her both days so she wouldn't have to stay home alone. Meet Hannah - isn't she adorable??? She's 10 wks old and already 20 lbs! She's gonna be big! She must be growing, because she slept 90% of the time she was here! It was so funny, people would come in and fuss all over her and she wouldn't so much as open an eye. Sleepy baby dog! All that growing is alot of work!

Who needs a water park??

O how I love summer in the back yard. I LOVE just sitting back and watching my kids being kids!! Aren't they the most precious kids you ever did see??

Savanna LOVES water! I have my own little waterbaby. She does not care how cold it is or if it gets in her face or anything - if there is water, she is in it!! Joey likes it, but is a bit more reserved... he's not into splashing and craziness with water, but he likes to feel it.

New addition, 4th of July, and 11 months!

In the 6 years that we have been married, we have aquired many things: a cat, a house, another cat, a son, a horse, a dog, a daughter, more cars than I care to admit, and now we have a new addition:

That's right, Ladies and Gentlemen, now we have an ugly boat! What family is complete without an ugly boat? Kris' Grandpa has had this boat sitting in storage for the past 20 years and hasn't touched it since he bought it, so he offered it to Kris. I was super hesitant at first, but Kris and his dad worked on it and had it running by the 3rd and Joey LOVES it! Kris' grandpa owns a house on buckeye lake and we had a party there and got to take the boat out. We also got to watch the fireworks there. It was lots of fun! Here are some other pictures from the 3rd:

Here is Kris and his dad, Kevin, tying off the boat at my Aunt Nancy's house (who also has a house on the other side of buckeye lake)

Here is me, Joey, and Savanna on my Aunt Nancy's dock. Hers is the blue pontoon boat on the R of the picture.

Savanna was super tired on the day of the parties (we were at my aunt Nancy's at noon, then over at Kris' grandpa's lake house by 5 - not at home at all so it was a long day for us) so seh was super fussy, but as soon as my mom pulled out the camera she stopped crying and smiled HUGE - what a ham!

Here we are going out on my aunt Nancy's boat - Savanna was asleep in the sling before we even pushed off. Joey had a blast - he loves boat rides!

Here is Joey with Meemaw (Kris' grandmother) at the lake house.

Here's another shot of the boat and some family getting ready to go for the last ride of the day before the fireworks. Kris is holding onto the boat, Kevin is the driver, then on the Left side is Kara in the back (Kris' little sister on his mom's side), Brianna in the middle (Kris' cousin), Tina in the front (Kris' other little sister on his Dad's side), and on the R is Mckinsey (sp?) in the back (Kris' cousin) and Garrett in the front (Kris' little brother on his mom's side). They were super excited!

And they're off!

Here is Joey and his friend Pico waiting for the fireworks - they loved them!

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In other news: Look who's 11 months old today!!!

And she can stand all by herself now! I'm sure she'll be walking in no time!