Brief retrospective (some cute shots from November and December 2011

Annie loves her little brother...he loves her too, he's just not always sure about her hugs (or near strangulation attempts)

Early November and some great afternoon light...and a mostly cooperative baby Joseph

Annie LOVES her big girl bed and so do her stuffed animals and little babies...she takes GOOD care of them.

Peek-er-Boo! (What Annie sometimes says.) He loves playing hide and seek!

Another great light day...Darla snapped a bunch of photos of him sitting in his highchair playing with a little beaded necklace, you can just see him trying to figure things out.

Was it Measles or...

...a pomegranate.

Taking a quiet hike through some of the foggy woods south of our house. Annie and I had a close up look at a woodpecker. Then Annie wanted to learn how to run on the trail: pick your feet up and watch where you're going...she's a great trail runner...only one small spill and even then she was back up and ready to run some more.

Daddy and daughter...Washing dishing and talking...how better to spend a winter's eve.

If you ever need some disposable glasses, you might want to consider what all the kids will be wearing this Spring... Pretzels.

February Fun 2012

Lots of fun things this month, a few on display here and surely more to come:

Joseph and Daddy sharing a little hang out time before bed, my new work schedule allows me to be home with the kids for all their bedtimes now...wow do I love this little guy!



Now that Joseph can sit up we can do all kinds of new things...this was the first siblings shared bath time without the baby bath tub...they loved it. (I cropped this photo for modesty sake...next time I'll use the tastefully positioned wash cloth trick.)


We went on a little hike today and then to a coffee shop (a shout out to Sweetness Bakery in Portland!) Since it is the weekend before Valentine's Day they had lots of heart cookies and Annie wanted one that said "Sweet heart," of course it was PINK.





Today was baby dedication Sunday at church, so at the service we went to there were 18 families (including two sets of twins). We briefly shared about the meaning of Joseph's name and our commitment to raising him in the church and our need for God's help, as well as the help of the community. Sweet time for all of us...not to mention the chaos on stage (pretty funny really)



Annie was all dressed up, but still wanted to play a little bit before she got into the car...






Joseph who had fallen asleep on my chest (Steve) during the dedication service was fairly mellow waiting for Annie to finish up with her antics.




Hope you all had a great weekend and w'll be posting more soon. Love you all!

Welcome 2012... Pictures and a Promise

Here is a picture from this week of Annie and Joseph! We love them so much! Sorry to have deprived you of the cuteness for so long. I promise there will be more pictures on the way...(yup he's got 6 teeth now)



and one of Joseph from about a month ago..




stay tuned

Autumn at the new house (November 2011)

Some shots around the house as we bundle up and settle in for winter. Two of Joseph..he seems to be getting the hang of the little silver box that takes his picture...but he is all smiles most of the time.

We have a red maple tree out front that appears to burst into flame every fall...WOW!

Three more of the littlest Baliko cuteness!

Annie wanting to get in the act of falling...and being tossed up in the air again and again and again!

Annie has been introducing Joseph to the wonders of forts in the living room...he's not quite into it yet but I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot more of our bed sheets be repurposed as castle walls and ceilings for sailing ships.

Darla informs me that just prior to this shot Annie took a nice big bite out of each of these stalks of broccoli...well if that's her version of mischief, then bring it on!

Joseph's Fifth Month Pictures (November 3, 2011)

Well still about a month behind but to make up for the tardiness, here is a whole bunch of Joseph (and a few of annie). These are of him at five months with five leaves (couple different sets of leaves as he has gotten "grabby grabby" and those leaves crumpled quickly)