Joshua Daniel: Four Months

 Josh has done a lot of growing this past month, and he had some big adventures too.

We don't need mistletoe to kiss those cheeks, but it doesn't hurt.

Little man flew on his first airplane this past month. He did great on both flights, to and from Utah. It's definitely easier when they're this small. He slept through the entire flight to Utah and almost the entire one home, just waking up on the return flight to eat once. He did well in the car on the way to and from Dallas too. He seems to be getting better at being in his car seat, thank goodness.
He has officially met all his Aunts and Uncles now too. Dan gave him a baby blessing on the Sunday we were in Utah in my parent's home. He blessed Josh with health and strength, to develop and grow to be a vibrant young man and adult. He blessed him with the Spirit of Christ and desire to follow Him. To receive the blessings of the Priesthood. To find joy in his family and friends. To be a light in the dark world. To choose the right and follow Jesus. To obtain his covenants and endure to the end. To create a family and preside in righteousness. And to be a servant in the Lord's kingdom. Can't wait to see all the things in store for our son.
Josh has found his voice and loves to coo! He can be quite the chatterbox sometimes. I absolutely love it and only wish I knew what he was thinking. Sometimes he will throw his head back and pucker his lips and make this higher pitched sound so I decided he's howling at the moon haha. He seems to do it when he's sad or tired. It's adorable and makes me smile.
Josh gives me the best smiles after I've fed him or when he wakes up from a nap. It's the best seeing how happy they are to see you. If only it stayed that way as they got older right? I'll sit and chat with him and he grins from ear to ear and will coo at me. His personality is coming out more and no surprise that I'm loving it! 
Poor little guy did get sick again while we were in Utah. I wasn't surprised and kind of figured he would. He's starting to get over it. Hasn't been extremely stuffy anymore but still spits up some mucous sometimes. 
Joshua is super active! He is constantly kicking his little legs and wiggling when he's awake. I'm wondering if that's part of the reason why he doesn't have as good of stretches at night with his feedings. He's gone back to only four or five hours between them. He might be going through a growth spurt too.
He is still fitting in his newborn clothes, but I can put him in his 0-3 month ones and they fit too. He's still in size one diapers. The sleep sack we got from the hospital when he came home is almost too small for him. It makes me sad to think how big it was on him when we first brought him home. He's growing so well. 
His sisters still love to hold him and be all up in his business. He's had glitter on his clothes from washing his with theirs, shimmer mist residue from Hayley holding him after she's sprayed it on her, and I found him asleep with a queen crown on his head when I stepped away to do something. Life with three older sisters. 

We made a pretty good nativity this year with Joshua being our baby Jesus.

Paige insisted he sleep on her big squishmallow.

One of the first onesies I bought for him (while I was still pregnant).

First flight.

Aunt Nini doing tummy time with Josh.

Little man's baby blessing outfit was a little big on him, but he still looked so handsome.

Twinning with Hadley on Christmas.

Texas Tech socks from one of my dear Lubbock friends, Teresa.

All four of my kids have worn this outfit.

Little guy got hungry while we were waiting for our groceries from Sam's Club so here I am just feeding him in the front seat.

We all truly adore this little guy. He's the best little boy. So grateful he's part of our family!

Sojourn to Utah: December 2024

We didn't think Dan would have Christmas off this year, so our trip to Utah for Christmas was a huge blessing!

December 20
We drove to Dallas as soon as Dan was off work, which ended up being around 7:00 PM, and stayed the night in a hotel so it'd be easier to get up and to the airport the next morning. Of course, we had to make a stop at Bucee's.

December 21
We woke up around 5:30 AM and made it to the airport a little after 6:00. It was a lot busier than we anticipated so I got in line to get our bags checked while Dan printed our tags. It was nice there was two of us to do this cause the line was super long. It did move fairly quickly but we would have been in trouble if we didn't divide and conquer. We made it to our gate right as the A list was boarding. Perfect timing, but cutting it close for sure.
Josh did really well on his first flight! I fed him right before take off and he slept the whole time. He was hungry when we got off so I fed him while Dan and the girls got our bags. For some reason Paige's bag got sent to Austin so Dan had to go and deal with that. They told us it'd be delivered to my parent's later in the day.

My Dad and brother picked us up. Hayley rode with Matt and Andrea to my parent's house and the rest of us were with my Dad in his truck. We're too big with Josh now to fit!
Dan went over to his parent's to help with something on their new house and he took the girls with him. Josh and I took a nap while they were gone. We were supposed to do our Santa pictures that late afternoon but since we didn't have Paige's suitcase that had her matching pajamas in it, we didn't go. I tried calling several times, left a message, and sent an email to explain the situation but got no response. So I'm hoping they will let us reschedule!

December 22

We went to church this morning. My Mom is still the ward chorister and did an excellent job conducting the Christmas program. It was fun to see former ward members and introduce them to Josh (since they had seen me pregnant with him last summer). When we got back to my parent's we got things ready for Jace and Josh's baby blessings. It was neat to have them blessed together. Jace went first before all our Hayward family arrived. Once they were they, Dan blessed Josh. We had some lunch afterwards.

Got a nap in before the blessing.

Andrea took Boston to Instacare right after church and he had strep throat and an ear infection so unfortunately they went back home so he could get feeling better. It was nice of them to do that though to try and keep everyone else healthy. 
Kelley's hung out at my parent's the rest of the day and it was pretty chill.

December 23
Dan went snowboarding this morning and into the afternoon. I finally got a hold of Fotofly and we were able to reschedule our pictures and get them done. I would have been so sad to ruin that ten year tradition! The mistletoe picture was my idea and I brought that all the way from Louisiana only to forget it, but thankfully Nikkole saved the day and brought it to us to use.

Fotofly was running behind, per usual, so I had to hurry and leave to get my haircut as soon as we got back from that. I was a little late but Kristie said it was fine and I just didn't have her style it at the end.
I went to a Christmas HIGH class that night. It was super fun and so good to see lots of my instructor friends.

December 24