A wee bit Irish

Joseph has been looking forward to his birthday for a long time, since for his 5th birthday he would get to have a party at the gymnastics center.  He had a lot of fun with his brothers, cousins, and some friends. His favorite presents included a Wild Kratts vest and some new creature power disks, and a little Goofy fan. Happy birthday, Joseph!

Seven!

We celebrated Malcolm's 7th birthday with a Cars 3-themed pool party. Elizabeth very kindly made her excellent chocolate cake with M&M's on top. The kids all enjoyed a feast of pizza, chips, and other snacks, and had a great time swimming. He was very happy that Aunt Amanda could stop by on a trip from Guatemala, too.  Happy birthday, Malcolm!

Summer afternoon

 We had a little picnic at the apartment yesterday before Malcolm's baseball game, to celebrate my, my mom's, and my dad's birthdays this month.  It was a hot summer afternoon but we tried to stay cool and enjoy the nice weather.

Me and Oscar beating the heat at Malcolm's baseball game

Oscar and Papi

Holding my sweet little newest niece

Oscar signing "flower"!

Joseph birthday pictures

Obviously this is way late also, but here are a few pictures from Joseph's birthday this year.  He is a pretty awesome two-year-old :)

Joseph is two!

Here are a few pictures of Joseph right when he turned two last month :).  I don't have any idea where this kid came from - he's so conversational and funny.  We love you, sweet boy.

With his new animal sounds book

Love that little grin

Four!

Happy, happy 4th birthday to our one and only Malcolm James! We love him so much. We are thankful every day to have him in our lives. :)

We celebrated Malcolm's birthday last weekend with our first official pool party here. The weather was slightly cooler than normal (so, low 90s) and gorgeous. By special request, Elizabeth baked an amazing cake featuring both chocolate and vanilla cake, along with M&M's and lollipops - the boys helped her decorate the day before the party. Malcolm enjoyed chowing down on all the snacks, swimming and playing with his friends, and eating pizza and cake. He had a blast.

Pool party!

Joseph chills at the snack table with a tortilla chip

Eventually Joseph got in the water and had fun too

Elizabeth chatting with Michael

The amazing and colorful cake

Love that grin

Sweet boy sleeping after a successful party :)

Happy birthday to Joe

I'm going to do a couple of picture posts here, since things have been so busy around the house I haven't made time for blogging.  Joseph had a fun birthday party with his cousins.  We put up decorations around the house and blew up balloons, and the older boys picked out some party favors from the dollar store with Dad.  They had a blast with pizza, cake, and silly hats and glasses.  The Chicago cousins joined in via Skype for cake time.

First course was pizza

Glasses, hats, and a moustache :)

Cousins with the birthday boy!

Happy birthday, Joseph!

That moustache was too cute

With Dada and Mama

Joseph got frosting in his nose

Michael coordinating the dance party in his room

All clean!

We did presents a little bit later this time.  All of the grandparents were so sweet and sent presents so Joseph would be sure to have some of his own!  Joseph especially liked the soft books from Grandma, the yellow ducky cup from Lita and Papi, and the sand toys pail from Grandpa.  (Thank you also for the crib sheet and clothes!)

At his 12 month checkup, Joseph weighed in at 20 lbs 11 oz (20th percentile), but measured 30.25 inches (70th percentile) and had a giant head (95th percentile on the circumference).  It's hard to get any non-stretchy outfits over his head!  I'm not concerned at all about the weight/height disparity - he's a pretty active baby, still nursing a lot but eating just fine, and according to the doctor he's at or slightly ahead on his developmental milestones (pointing, starting to walk, recognizing words/commands, baby signs).  We're thankful he is doing so well :)  Happy birthday, sweet boy!