4 Months

Hi everybody - it's Joseph again and I'm here to give you my 4 month update! So much has happened in the last month!

The biggest news is that we moved to Texas! I sure like it here, but goodness it is hot! I really like our new house and our new living room is so much bigger which means lots more room for me to play!

I went for my 4 month check up on Tuesday. Dr. Scott was really nice and I gave her several smiles when she was listening to my heart beat and my lungs. Of course I tried to grab her stethoscope but she wouldn't let me have it. I weighed 15 lbs, 15 oz (50-75%) and am 26 inches long (75-90%)! I think Mommy understands now why my outfits get short on me so quickly!
I got my next round of shots at the appointment and Mommy said I did well.

Now that I'm getting older, I sure do enjoy playing! I still like my activity mat, but sometimes I get tired of being on my back so Mommy will put me in my exercauser - so many new things to chew on! I smile so much now and am starting to giggle a lot more too! I tell you one thing I LOVE to do is pull Mommy's hair! Even when she thinks it's safe in a pony tail, I find a way to pull some of it out! I also like to pinch things really hard - especially Mommy's arm when she's changing my diaper, but she doesn't seem to enjoy that for some reason. I'm also notorious these days for pooping out of my diaper in my favorite outfits - what can I say, when you gotta go, you gotta go!

I still like when Mommy sings songs to me. I've also come to enjoy books a little more - it's fun to chew on the corners and lick the pages when Mommy attempts to read them to me! ;) I've also gotten a lot better at naptime and usually sleep at least 40 minutes and sometimes an hour or more! I really like to stand up a lot too - if I get bored with playing, I normally get happy again if Mommy and Daddy stand me up!

Here are some pictures of what I've been up to lately! Here is my 4 month pic with Kermie in my new room!

Me and Mommy - I sure like when she holds me!

Here I am being a cool dude in my "J" hat that Aunt Jana made me!

Here I am showing off my new onesie that Grandma Eckel gave me! Be sure to read what it says - so fun!

Here I am in my Bumbo seat on the island. I love sitting here when Mommy does things in the kitchen!

Mommy let me sit on our new couch we got for the living room - I haven't even spit up on it....yet....just give me time!

I've recently discovered a handsome little guy in the mirror that seems to always do everything I do!

This was me and Daddy during my bath tonight - wow, look at all my rolls!

The Move

We are officially residents of the great state of Texas again! It was definitely a lot of work, but we got it all done! (warning, this is a pretty long post)

Michael gave his notice to Cargill and they agreed to only make him work the rest of that week since there wouldn't be much for him to do the next week. We were thrilled that we would have the whole weekend and the 3 days after that to finish packing and get everything ready before my dad flew up to help drive the Uhaul down.

Well then things got a little challenging. Michael came down with a pretty high fever and stomach issues from Thursday through Sunday night. That meant him having to lay on the couch to rest up (and not get me and Joseph sick) the whole weekend. It stressed us out quite a bit because that certainly was not in the plans but we both knew it was better for him to get better as soon as possible.

We had some good friends come over to help Michael load the U-haul and spend our last night with us. (Thanks again for your help guys!) Then when they were loading, after using some mad loading skills, they filled up the entire 20 foot U-haul with several stacks of boxes and items left in the garage to load. I knew we were in trouble when Michael said, "So Kyla, just how attached are you to the desk and the treadmill?" ??? So we had to make a change in plans and get an additional Uhaul trailer to pull behind Michael's truck and tow my car instead. It certainly wasn't ideal, but at least it was a solution!

I flew down with Joseph and Michael's mom picked us up. She spent the next few days with me and helped a lot with Joseph so I could have the fridge delivered and set up, make lots of phone calls and of course the big Wal Mart trip of essentials. It was so valuable having her help - thank you Faith!

My dad and Michael drove the Uhauls down. They left on a Wednesday morning and drove for about 12 hours and spent the night in northern Oklahoma. Then the next day drove the rest of the way and got into Houston around 7:30pm. Thanks again Dad for making the big drive! When they got in, we decided to go ahead and get everything unloaded that night since it was cooler than the morning would have been when the sun was back up.

It was a busy rest of the weekend but with both sets of our parents and Michael's sister and her hubby, we got lots unpacked and had so fun settling in our new home. Thank you all again for your help!

Joseph is liking his new home so far! The very first time he was in the new house, I had him on the blanket in the living room (since the house was bare at the time) and he rolled from his back to his tummy for the very first time. I think he had been holding out that first for when he was in Texas!

It's still sinking in that we are here...and that we are here to stay. I keep saying "well back home, blah blah blah." It's funny to catch myself saying "back home" when thinking of Minnesota. I still kind of feel like we are just here for a long vacation, but it's so fun to realize this is home again.

The guys arrive!

Time to start unloading

Stuff was everywhere

Boxes, boxes everywhere

Having fun in his new house