The AMAZING Foss dancers!

They get their rhythm from their daddy. Hehe:)

Music Box

You see, Nana was so sweet to send us this lovely music box. Unfortunately, something happened to it. Sorry Nana. I hope you think that it's funny. I sure do. :)

Getting ready for Christmas...

Here are a couple video of the boys putting up ornaments on the tree. We're trying something new this year... we're putting up an ornament a day, hoping to build excitement for Christmas as it approaches. Stephen loves it, and Joseph... well... Joseph just loves life in general, as you can see by the video. :)

I uploaded them backwards, so you should watch the first one second and the second one first.

Baking cookies...

We decided to bake cookies today. Stephen was quite the helper. He poured everything in the mixer and would lock it, but he was a little squirmish about actually turning it on. Then he helped knead the dough and (kinda) rolled it out, and he had a lot of fun using the cookie cutters (thank you Auntie Claire... no longer are they only used for bath toys!) Speaking of Auntie Claire, we thought of you and Isaac while we were cooking. As you can tell by the picture, Joseph and Isaac have quite a lot in common. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, check out Claire's blog... http://cchowlett.blogspot.com/

Here are Kolbe smiles...

Hope it makes you smile....

Quite the show...

Jerome put on a puppet show for us the other night. Low budget, as you can tell by the puppets. :) But, Joseph stole the show. Check it out....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBxcjyHltV4

Kolbe...

-- Our sweet lil' boy --

Uncle Dave and Titi Laura come to visit

Uncle Dave and Titi Laura came to visit! We had a wonderful time... here are some photos of our time together......

Hmmm... I'm still figuring out Picasa. It didn't upload all the pictures. Hmmm. Well, the rest are on our webalbum.

http://picasaweb.google.com/fossfamily654/110208#

Kolbe Augustine Foss has arrived

Here's a little ditty that my mom made that sums it all up...

He made his debut on his own terms...
A SUNDAY baby he wanted to be!
Kolbe Augustine Foss has arrived
In a family of boys, he's three.

At 7 lbs, 6 ounces, he's a bit of a handful,
20 inches in length he stretches.
The pictures will give you a little look,
You can decided who he matches!

So October 5 will be the day
We celebrate each year...
Praise God for a beautiful baby boy,
I'm sure you'll agree, he's a "dear"!

Long time... no bloggy

Sorry... it's been a while since my last blog. It's not that I've been incredibly busy or anything, it's just that sleep definitely wins when put up against blogging. Kolbe is wearing me out these days! Although there was a time where I happily thought he might just come early, after going in for my checkup today, I think he'll be riiiiiiiight on time. (10-2-08) That's okay... really... it's good for him to cook as long as he can so everything can develop nicely... it's just that this last month of pregnancy is a bit challenging for me. Ah... it's good, though. The 5-6 times I wake up a night to go to the bathroom is only preparing me for those late night feedings, right?!?

Although not the most flattering of photos, here's a shot of the basketball, I mean Kolbe...

I gotta give you a couple pictures of the other two, too. So here's Joseph with Papa...

Papa came to visit us around Labor Day weekend. We unfortunately had a death in the family, so he came for the funeral. A bittersweet experience, only because of our hope in God. Surely, Fran is in Heaven, and so our grief is coupled with joy. We enjoyed our time with Papa, and we even went to Westfest with him. Stephen especially enjoyed the parade... Candy and tractors?!? Could life get much better?!?

We're just taking it easy these days... preparing for Kolbe's arrival. Here's a photo of the boys in the tupperware that previously held the 0-3 month clothes. We finally pulled them out for Kolbe...

Jerome is an amazing husband and has really been a huge help. He's started his semester, but he's made sure to make plenty of time for anything I need. And I can't say enough about Nannie and Poppie (Jerome's parents), too. I tell ya, when you have a mother-in-law that will come over and clean your bathrooms so that you don't have to bend over your big belly to scrub a tub... you've got a good thing going. And thankfully Nana (my mom) will be here soon to help out, too. Gosh, I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family! Thanks be to God!

Okay... my bed is now yelling at me to come sleep in it. We can't have that silly bed waking up the boys, so I must go. :) Hopefully there will be more blogging in near future...

More Family Pictures

Here are some more pictures from the photo shoot at the Arboretum. What a good lookin' family!

Family pics

We went to the Arboretum on Saturday and took some family pictures. Here are a few... more to come... maybe...

Our summer...

We've had an exciting summer... Auntie Claire and Isaac came to visit from Australia! They, and Nana and Papa, basically got to stay with us for the month of June. Good times! Then we all flew to Alaska for Uncle Dave and Titi Laura's wedding (she's from Puerto Rico so we call her Titi instead of Auntie). We spent three weeks up there and had such a wonderful time. There's lots to blog about, but I just am having a hard time finding much time to do it. So bare with me (or is it bear... or beer... hehe) until I can get some time (and energy!) to blog again. :)

Uncle Dave got hitched!

A quick blog... Uncle Dave got married! We love our Titi Laura! Here are some pics...

Uncle Matty T is in town!

Uncle Matt is in town... hooray! He brought his friend Genevieve with him from California, and we've had great fun together. Here are some pics of our visit...

Stephen, the paper boy...

Building an arch at the Mayborn Museum...

Playing with trucks and trains...

Joseph... not quite tall enough... but trying!


Fireman Stephen...

At the zoo...

Yea for Uncle Matty T!!

Playing in the Spray Park at the zoo...

Having lots of fun...

Stephen...

The other day, I asked Stephen "What we should do tomorrow?" and he replied, "Plant a garden." I thought it was a cute response, but having the very brown thumb that I do, I didn't actually envision planting a garden. Well, Stephen took matters into his own hands. He found some supplies next to our shed and planted his own garden. He moved the pots where he wanted them, added some lattice for decoration, and then planted some seeds (buttons he had found). Here's a picture of him watering his garden...

He also surprised me one day when he decided to take care of his puppy. He found a bottle on the rocking chair and proceeded to feed it to his puppy. Then he carefully put puppy down for a nap. When he got up, he made sure puppy ate again. Then Puppy needed to swing. Puppy, Puppy, Puppy! Hopefully it is a reflection of the help he'll be with Baby #3!

Stephen carefully put him in the baby swing... :)

Here's a great picture of Jerome and the boys swinging...

I am really enjoying his creativity and imagination. What a fun kiddo!

Belly shot

Here's a pretty recent belly shot. Kolbe (we think that's his name... he hasn't said otherwise, yet) is really growing. Yesterday, we were watching a movie, and Jerome could feel him kick! He's being a good baby... not making me sick or tooooo terribly tired. Just growing and kicking around in there. He's actually right now kicking as I type. :)

Joseph's first step

Joseph is sooooooooo ready to be running after Stephen... he's not there yet, but at least he's getting closer to walking after him! Yesterday, he took his first step... I think I can consider it his first. He was pulled up to the couch, turned to me, took a step, and then lunged into my lap. He didn't get far, but he did it all on his own. He's been standing up without holding on to things a lot more, too. Today, he actually clapped a couple times while standing on his own. (It was a big clapping day... he's just figured out that he can do it.) He's gotta learn to walk soon... his cousin Isaac will be here in only two weeks, so then there will be two that he'll be running after! :) Here are a few fun pictures of the little guy....

MMmmmMMmm.... spoon.

Learning the art of fencing

Look at those pearly whites!

Getting into trouble... the little monkey

Our little bookworm

A photo from 2007... yes, out of date... but appropriate for the post, I think. :)

Stephen is so funny. He looooves reading books, and he remembers them so well that he quotes them throughout the day. For example, Jerome showed him our new umbrella, and as Stephen was twirling it on his shoulder, he said, "Tut tut... it looks like rain." (A quote from Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.) And at breakfast yesterday he said, "I'm feeling embarrassed in polar bear pants." (A spin off of a Sesame Street book about feelings... the actual words are "I'm feeling embarrassed in polka dot pants, but Stephen was wearing polar bear pants... so there ya go. I only wish I could convey his expression, too. It was so cute.) I've mentioned that we're known as the Tonka Truck people at the library because we've checked out all of the Tonka Truck books. Well, I often hear him quoting those books as he's playing with his trucks. Today, he was playing with a dump truck and said, "The mighty dump truck is king of the construction site." He cracks me up. :)

Joseph is so different... it's already obvious. Yes, he's only 9 months old, but he has very little interest in books. Well, except to maybe chew on them. :) But, I bet with Stephen's example -- because it is also quite obvious that Joseph very much looks up to Stephen -- that one day Joseph will become a reader, too. Until then, he can chew on the board books.