NO SHEP! NO SHEP! NO SHEP!....ughhhhhh

These were the words heard approximately 3 am on the first night of our camping weekend...They were uttered by our friend Bob seconds before Shep was sprayed at point blank range by a skunk. Those skunks, wow, do they smell! Fortunately, Caleb, Josiah and I were sound asleep in a nice cozy camper during this unfortunate fiasco and didn't know anything about it until morning. Instead our friends who did sleep outside got the pleasure of hosing him down and banishing him to as far-away location as possible (because he obviously smelled horrid) but that was near enough that he wouldn't whine all night...an impossible task to be sure. Poor Shep: The smelly kid no one wants to hang out with!

To be fair, Rocky would have been there trying to eat the skunk right along with Shep but his leash was too short.

Josiah loves camping! Well, he certainly loves being outside. It will really be fun when he actually knows he is camping and he can run around and enjoy the outdoors. We had planned to really rough it, but didn't plan wel enough for that, so several days before we left we changed plans from Sedona to Canyon Lake. Canyon Lake is about 20 minutes from home and is basically a huge RV parking lot in front of a lake.

As you can see, our "campsite" was complete with picnic tables, a lawn, and a camper! Not really roughing it, but a good first camping experience for a 4-month-old. We ended up feeling pretty thankful for the use of a camper!

"crash landing " is one of our favorite games. I love to hear Josiah giggle!

Traci and Si

Bob and Bethany around our campfire. It was the coldest weekend of the season so far...I won't mention the actual temperature, or we will sound like wimps, but we desert folk were thankful for a good campfire none-the-less.

We had planned to go hiking all day Saturday but after a night of no sleep, we opted for naps and relaxing around the campfire all day long...it was wonderful! For most the group the lack of sleep was due to Shep's skunking...for me, it was because I slept in bed with the most violent-sleeping four-month-old ever who tried to snuggle with me all night! Don't get me wrong, those early mornings that we bring Si into our bed at home are some of my favorite moments. But all night with him was a horrible combination of being afraid that I might roll-over on him and him trying to roll-over on me! I could never have a family bed.

Bethany and Si

Joan and Loren and Si

This was the most activity that happened on Saturday...and the girls didn't even play.

Josiah wore socks on his hands all wekend bacause it's hard to find baby mittens in Arizona.

Parker also got skunked by proximity, and although he took like three showers on Sunday, none of them necessitated tomato juice.

Poor Shep!

baby bath found..

We found the baby-bucket-bath at http://www.mom4life.com/. It was 49.95 and worth every penny! We didn't get the stand because we didn't think it attached very well when we barrowed katie's. It seemed kind of dangerous, and although cute, was another 50 bucks. We can't wait for it to arive. (see last post for pictures)


I am planning to post some pictures of last weekend's camping trip but will wait until I have done enough working and cleaning to justify it! Just thought you might want to all go out and purchace a bucket tub in the meantime!

bath time

We love bath time around here! Here is a typical scenrio that plays out in our house when Caleb and I bathe Josiah together...

Caleb: Gets the baby bath down from it's hiding place and runs the water in the sink to get it to a nice warm-but-not-hot temperature.

Anna: Gets Josiah undressed, gathers the wash cloths and towel and changes his diaper (but doesn't put a new one on since we are going to put him in the bath).

Caleb: Doesn't get the bath water warmed up fast enough to accomodate a smooth transition....or Anna is just too lightening fast at her job....you could look at it either way ;)

Anna: Ends up holding an adorable naked baby waiting for the right temperature and praying that he will "hold it" long enough to at least submurge him in water

He doesn't always make it! On this particular occasion I held him just a little too long and our little naked baby peed all over me (as well as created a sizeable puddle on the floor) before we could get him in the bath! I think Joisah's face says it all....and then I showered.
We have a friend that let us borrow her new tub. It is bucket-like, I can't remember right now what it is called but as soon as I get a link to the website she ordered it from, I am getting one! It is shaped this way to simulate "what a baby experiences in the womb". (That statement is in quotes because I am not sure how 'they' know what a baby experiences in the womb and also because I hate the word womb.) Well, all that really matters is that Josiah LOVES it! It is so much better than a regular baby tub...as soon as our new flower petal tub gets here we are 86ing the old one! He is able to sit up strait in this tub without being held and he really enjoyed his bath. Also, we are able to keep most of his body under water so he doesn't get cold at all! Love it!

I feel like there may need to be a disclaimer that no babies have been exploited in the making of this blog...I probably will never, ever post another picture of my baby naked but decided you all would enjoy our cutie and that 4 months may be about the cut off for even the most modest nakedness. A great friend of ours commented that these are the pictures that will be on Si's wedding slide show! I couldn't agree more!

4 MONTHS!

Josiah is 4 months old today! It is so hard to believe how fast he is growing up! He is so much more interactive and fun now that he has come into his adorable little personality, but we still have yet to really get it on video. I know baby-doing-nothing videos are pretty boring unless you are the adoring parents--or at least that is what I always thought when someone would send me a video of their baby just laying there. I guess now it is my turn. We are really trying to get the roll-overs and the giggles on tape, but just haven't gotten our little man in performance mode yet. So here are a couple cutie-patutie, baby-not-doing-much videos for your viewing pleasure (or bordom).

This is so embarrassing! What I won't do to get my kid to giggle, huh? Imagine what I must have looked like...maybe next time Si can tape his weird mom acting like a goof-ball!

Our week in pictures

Si had a special night tonight! Armondo's parents and nephew, Brandon were in town all weekend so that they and Traci could spread Mondo's ashes at the Grand Canyon. Tonight some friends had a BBQ in their honor before they head back to Ohio tomorrow. Armondo Sr. made Josiah this beautiful wooden race car! I just can not wait to see him racing it all over the house! We are so blessed to know the Tijerinas.

Josiah had a rough little night as you might be able to tell (just a little tummy ache that I am happy to report are very few and far between these days) but he LOVED Brandon! It was very cute to see them get to know each other! Another big tough guy bites the dust in the presence of a baby! Well a crying baby, but cute none-the-less.

Si also LOVES his daddy! Thank you, Lord that we are able to have such flexible work schedules that allow Caleb and I to share childcare and be with our son almost all the time! It is so fun to see Caleb as a daddy! One thing is for sure though, Si will not learn ANYTHING about fashion from him! See below:

(what you can't see about this outfit that makes it even worse is that the "shirt" is actually a whole outfit with shorts attached...it's like a unitard of sorts....the kind that you don't put pants over) This is what happens when I work the early shift and Caleb gets him dressed!

I recently bought the cutest little "Baby Yoga" DVD! I love it. It is a yoga/palates workout that incorportates play with your baby as well as baby massage and baby yoga. I am sure someone just made up the term "baby yoga" but I bet it sells a lot of DVDs. We love it! We are learning lots of fun ways to play together and Si really loves the stretching and massage! Don't worry, Si will also be super manly, as soon as we can start including weapons and violence in our play, I am sure we will!

We had our friend Maggie over to play the other day. It was my first afternoon with a 3 month old and 7 month old together. They did great, but WOW was I tired, you really do need some extra arms for that job!

Caleb and I have been trying to take some videos since Si has been SO cute lately! He has this adorable and histerical little giggle, the kind where he is just learning how to get the giggle out but rather than the cute, high pitched kid giggle, it is this loud coughing noice with a huge smile! It is absolutely precious and makes me feel like the funniest person in the world when I hear it directed at me! What an awesome feeling! Unfortunately Si is much better live than on camera...he tends to stop rolling, giggling, smiling when he sees the camera come out and just stars at it. So we'll keep trying to capture the perfect video that shows off just how awesome he is, but you really have to see it to believe how blessed we are to be his parents!

Josiah will be 4 months tomorrow! Can you believe it?! I will try to remember to take a picture tomorrow so we can all capture exactly how he looked at 4 months even! I really had awesome intentions of getting some professional pictures taken when he was 3 months so I could put one in a little "3 month" frame I have but since there are only a few hours left of 3 months and 30 days and none of them are during business hours; I don't think I am going to make it. Here's to good intentions.

We got spirit!!!

Happy Halloween! We celebrated at trunk-or-treat on Friday with our church. Josiah was as cute as ever as a lttle football star. Actually, he was half football player, half football which I thought was kind of weird but whatever, I guess realism isn't the point of Halloween. A shout-out to Joan and Loren for leting us borrow their precious Vikings jerseys! Josiah wasn't loving his costume (he must hvae wanted to be a Viking too) so we didn't put it back on for Saturday night. Instead we had family night at home and handed out candy to our neighbors.

Just took a few pictures this week; here is a sample

He had a little rash from drooling and chewing on the bjorn.