Krauss family

"Is the foot a part of your body?"

2011-10-07T22:41:00.002-05:00

Joshua's speech teacher is working on classification. They are supposed to identify things that are and are not a part of their bodies. Joshua likes to ask "Is the foot a part of the body?". He basically says yes to every question you ask....

Tchaikovsky

2011-04-10T11:28:00.003-05:00

So, Joshua has really been enjoying Little Einsteins lately (the preschool follow-up to Baby Einsteins). At the end of very show they clap for the composer of the day. It is ridiculously cute to hear him try and say Tchaikovsky.

"Wait a minute, we're fish"

2011-04-08T17:36:00.003-05:00

So, Joshua pretty routinely goes around the house reciting the lyrics to "Wait a minute, we're fish". It is very difficult to get these impromptu performances on camera, so I had to prompt him a bit. I have never actually heard the song, other than Joshua's version.

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Joshie's New Playhouse/Swing Set

2011-04-03T19:49:00.002-05:00

We finally finished putting together Joshua's playhouse/swing set. I almost waited to put on the glider thinking he would never use it. It turns out that he loves it.

Bye, Bye Trees

2011-02-28T09:11:00.007-06:00

We had a crazy thunderstorm blow through last night. 70-ish mph winds. We used to have 8 30-40 foot pine trees in our backyard. Two were uprooted, three were snapped at their trunks, and two were snapped about half way up. Only one is unscathed.

When I took Joshua out to show him the damage this morning, he said "Bye, bye, trees."

"I see snow."

2010-12-12T20:07:00.004-06:00

So, up until recently, almost all of Joshua's sentences started with "I want...", which is great for reducing his getting mad when he wants or needs something. But it is kind of limiting. So, one of his therapists has been working on "I see..." as a next step. We woke up this morning to snow on the ground....

Fall Portraits

2010-11-09T21:34:00.005-06:00

Here are some of the highlights from some fall family portraits we took recently:

Joshua's First Day at Preschool

2010-08-30T20:13:00.002-05:00

So, Joshua really doesn't like his backpack, but he looked really cute in his new school clothes. He did great. He kissed Missy good bye and went to play with toys. He was happily coloring when Missy picked him up. Great job buddy!

"Daddy"

2010-08-02T07:45:00.005-05:00

So, you kind of have to want to hear it, but Joshua is saying "daddy". OK, maybe it is "da-eee" or "ah-dee" or "ah-eee", but he is definitely trying and he is using two different syllables, which is new. So precious.

Baking

2010-07-27T21:04:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures of Joshua helping mama bake some cookies:

These are the first pictures I am really happy with using my off-camera flash and wireless trigger. The middle of our dining room is a tricky lighting situation in our house.

Christmas at the Cabin

2010-02-09T14:26:00.007-06:00

We try to make a tradition of getting away by ourselves after the extended family Christmas celebrations are over. This year the 3 of us rented a cabin in southern Illinois near Carbondale and had a cozy little Christmas.

This might be the first picture I took with the new flash I got for Christmas (a Nikon SB 600 - thanks parents).

Joshua started opening his own presents while we were there. Very fun to watch!

Family portrait.

It snowed while we were there. We didn't really pack for that, but we tried to go sledding anyways. It didn't go very well.

Nice gloves papa.

Elmo Party

2010-01-31T20:41:00.011-06:00

We celebrated Joshua's second birthday with an Elmo party.

Missy made Elmo cupcakes.

A center piece in honor of Dorothy.

Alice

Adam and Isaac

Anthony

Megan and Ruth

Ben and Bailey

Lucas

Blowing out my candle (with a little help from mom)

Opening presents

I got a cool remote control car.

Daddy and me

Photo Contest

2009-11-10T05:57:00.003-06:00

Here are the three pictures I entered in the black and white category of the annual photo contest at the Edwardsville Library.

Oh my goodness he is sweet!

I love how Joshua always makes his grandparents smile.

This one actually won. I think it is the directional lighting and the shadow on one side of his face that put it over the top. Thanks for your help little buddy!

Here is a link to the official results:
http://www.edwardsvillelibrary.org/misc/photo.html

Forrest Park and Zoo

2009-10-24T21:53:00.003-05:00

We took advantage of a beautiful day today to get some fall pictures of our family and go to the zoo. It turns out that it was "Boo at the Zoo" day and it was really crowded. But we still had a great time.

A family portrait in Forrest Park.

and another one

on the way to our photo shoot...

hanging out with papa.

having a snack before we went to see the elephants.

A cooperative elephant getting his (or her) picture taken.

Lounging in my wagon at the end of the day.

Punkins!

2009-10-15T06:39:00.003-05:00

So, our blog is again ridiculously out of date. Here are some pictures from a recent trip with Gramma and Grampa Dickson to an apple and pumpkin farm.

Having some lunch near a cool old truck.

Walking in the apple orchard.

It was getting close to nap time and I was sick of all these pumpkins.

OK, one more cute pose, but this is the last one.

More Fourth of July Pictures

2009-07-26T08:32:00.002-05:00

Mainly I am trying out Picasa for Linux and its "BlogThis!" feature, but here are some more cute pictures of Joshua on the Fourth of July (I guess cute and Joshua is redundant, but oh well).

Walking!

2009-07-22T21:10:00.006-05:00

It has been a long time coming, but Joshua is finally starting to walk.
Check out these videos:

July 2009

2009-07-20T07:06:00.004-05:00

So, our blog updating has fallen to Bowman-like levels. For that we are deeply sorry. It has been a busy first half of the summer. Here are some recent pictures (Fourth of July and such).

Joshua and My New Lens

2009-05-21T09:38:00.005-05:00

As an early Father's Day gift, Missy got me a great new lens for our camera. It is excellent in low light (f1.8), which is awesome because we love to take natural light pictures of Joshua (no flash!). Check these out.

I think this last one is hilarious. Joshua has a book with pictures of foods with different textures. It has sand paper for chicken nuggets. He licked the sandpaper way before he ever ate chicken nuggets. Here he is licking some velcro. Funny stuff.

Joshua vs. The Beach Ball

2009-05-03T17:52:00.004-05:00

So, after a month with no new blog posts, today you get two in one day.

So, Joshua's speech therapist gave us a deck of cards that has ideas of fun stuff to do with your toddler. One of the ideas was to tie a beach ball to a string and hang it so your child can hit it. It turned out to be pretty darn cute.

Joshua Ate Chicken Nuggets and Fries!

2009-05-03T12:28:00.007-05:00

For most families, this would not be news. But for the parents of the pickiest eater in the world, this is a big deal. Joshua refuses to put most foods in his mouth based solely on texture. If it isn't a chip, it isn't going in. BBQ potato chips are a staple. So, a somewhat softer texture and some protein (besides milk and yogurt) are a big deal. Yeah buddy!

This is just me being cute:

I love to play on the landing. I like to pull up on the bars. But I still like to pretend I don't know how to get down from this one step.

Reading and climbing!

2009-03-30T15:14:00.003-05:00

Joshua's new favorite past times are reading and climbing! He likes to bring a little ball up the stairs with him. At least once a day now we climb up our big set of stairs and sometimes down again :) He also has been enjoying his books more. He definitely has some favorites that we've memorized but he loves dragging a book over to us and can sit and read with us a long time! We love our little reader and hope you enjoy the pictures :)

a favorite book...

look at that big toothy grin :)

Go buddy go!!!

Joshua's Jungle Birthday Party

2009-02-22T16:35:00.006-06:00

All the grandparents came for visits and celebrations. Grammy was here for Joshua's party with his friends!

Daddy and Joshua opening up his gifts!

Emmy...Joshua's little friend.

After cake with 2 other celebrations where Joshua cried and didn't want cake...at his party he tried some... not the crazy mess like you'd expect though :)

Happy Birthday to you sweet boy!

Isaac ...another little friend...I painted the lion and Ryan took the pictures :)

Bailey...the ferocious tiger!

In the "jungle"

The jungle chicken, Anthony!

Dressed like a leopard with monkey slippers and ready to party!

Little animals for the party guests and bowls of jungle animal crackers...

Lion cupcakes

Elephant birthday cake - my first shaped cake...it took more than one try :)

To all our faithful friends and family who check the blog - sorry it has been so long since we posted! Hope you enjoyed some pictures of Joshua's birthday party - a jungle theme with his little friends. It was a great day and were so thankful for all the presents from everyone.

One Year pictures!

2009-02-22T16:29:00.004-06:00

Joshua's one year collage picture

Our precious one year old!

Here is a collage picture that we used for Joshua's party invitation - it was a jungle theme!

No, I will not eat eggs

2009-01-28T13:47:00.006-06:00

You might think that a boy who loves bacon would naturally like to eat it with eggs. You would be wrong.

There is literally egg on my face, but it brings out the color in my eyes. A pretty maize and blue thing going on.

It might not be completely clear from this cinematic masterpiece that no eggs are consumed in this video. He immediately spits them all out.

Joshua is Crawling!!!!

2009-01-11T16:44:00.003-06:00

NiteLites

2008-12-24T13:56:00.003-06:00

While we were home for Christmas, Grammy took me to see NiteLites. They have a lot of neat Christmas light displays. Here is a pretty nativity scene.

I really liked looking at all the lights.

It was snowing pretty hard.

Papa risked being buried alive under the snow to bring you this cute shot.

A lovely Christmas dinosaur.

Lazy Saturday Morning

2008-12-13T13:45:00.008-06:00

My New Manger

Aunt Melissa, Uncle Chris, and cousin Ethan got me a Little People Nativity set for Christmas but told me I could open it early. I like it a lot. I play with it every morning.

This donkey cart is tasty!

Help, the shepherd boys are attacking me.

Jesus is the bread of life, so I eat Him.

I am getting ready to crawl by getting up on my knees.

This is me being tickled.

Me and my papa.

Joshua's First Halloween

2008-11-16T14:54:00.003-06:00

This Halloween Grammy came and celebrated Halloween with us. Joshua went trick or treating and handed out apple butter, and passed out candy with Grammy. For a good laugh, check out Ryan's pumpkin outfit and green hair!

Hiking at Castlewood Park

2008-11-11T20:08:00.003-06:00

We enjoyed the beautiful fall weather hiking at Castlewood Park, playing in the leaves and taking pictures in Joshua's dinosaur hat.

Bring Papa Home NOW!!!

2008-11-05T20:43:00.003-06:00

Papa is away at a conference until tomorrow night and Joshua is quite grumpy while he is gone. Please pray that Joshua would be comforted, daddy would make it home safely and soon, and that Missy would have extra patience and strength to cope with the grumpy boy.

Joshua's First Tooth

2008-10-21T18:08:00.003-05:00

You kind of have to want to see it, but we can definitely feel it. Joshua's first tooth has arrived.

Swinging

2008-10-18T17:11:00.003-05:00

Joshua really enjoys his swing! Here are some fun pictures of him enjoying time outside in our yard :) We've been doing some outside yard work lately and he seems to really enjoy being outside in his swing, in the wagon or sitting on the grass. No crawling yet, so he stays put while we are working. Thanks again Grammy for his fun swing!

Going to the Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-10T09:43:00.002-05:00

Last weekend my parents came down and we went to the pumpkin patch! We went to the petting zoo, picked out two pumpkins and some flowers, and had hot dogs and funnel cakes for lunch!

Wearing his big boy shoes, he kept them on, but liked to eat them :)

Daddy and Joshua with a BIG pumpkin!

Nana and Grandpa with Joshua! What a fun day! Thanks for coming to see us!
We hope you are all enjoying the beautiful fall season.

Some sweet pictures and an update...

2008-09-14T14:19:00.004-05:00

My sweet boys playing together... what a good papa.

our precious boy

one of Joshua's six month pictures

sleeping sweetie

awww...

Joshua's experience with "hoppy" - his first pet frog :)

Joshua is not crawling yet, anytime we put him on his tummy he rolls to his back!

Us on a date, thanks Grammy for watching our boy, we had a great time!

Our happy baby!

Look at those cute little piggies!

We are doing well! We are excited that fall is coming and that means beautiful colors, comfy sweaters, warm chilis and soups and football! It's one of my favorite times of the year and I am looking forward to experiencing it all with Joshua Ryan.

He is doing good. He seems to be a late bloomer just like I was when I was a baby. The doctors don't seem to be concerned that he's not crawling or sitting on his own completely yet so we aren't either we are just enjoying his cute little self and giving him lots of opportunities to use his little muscles so that they can develop. He has also grown up to be a big boy, wearing 12 month clothes already at 71/2 months and loves to talk and squeal - sometimes VERY LOUDLY! We both adore his cute little self and are so thankful for him.

Ryan's year is going well. He feels like he's gotten on top of his teaching load even with being given a class without much notice. He has attracted more graduate students this year and is excited to have his first graduate research meeting with them a week from Monday. - A direct quote from him :)

I'm doing well. I hit a rough season with my headaches so that was a little discouraging but we are still hopeful. I am taking a break from leading my girls group until after Christmas so I am really hoping to finish up projects in the house :) I think I am always saying that though :)

I hope you all are doing well. Give us an update if you get a chance we love hearing from you!

love to each of you!

swimming

2008-09-05T14:35:00.002-05:00

Joshua went swimming for the first time at Grammy's house when we were in MI last weekend!
We had a great trip with lots of fun pictures to share but this one was so great.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

unhappy without papa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-21T10:34:00.003-05:00

I WANT MY PAPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We miss you and love you Kraussy!

2008-08-20T16:43:00.004-05:00

Ryan is in CA for a couple of days at a conference! We miss him already!

Papa, here is a note from your little buddy...

fqawerwae treqwe rt "I miss you Papa!!!"

We hope you are doing well and we look forward to talking to you soon.

Love,
MKP and LKP

Joshua and his papa

2008-08-15T22:19:00.004-05:00

Here are my sweet boys playing together...

Lucky girl aren't I :)

We hope you all are doing well!

Happy 6 Month Birthday Joshua Ryan!

2008-08-04T14:16:00.004-05:00

We celebrated Joshua's 6 month birthday with a baby Einstein party! He had a caterpillar dinner of peaches, pears and prunes. He got his first lap top computer :) We watched his favorite baby Einstein, Baby Noah - it was lots of fun for all of us.

Gramma and Grampa Krauss' Visit and My First Fourth of July

2008-07-26T12:50:00.010-05:00

So, my parents have fallen behind in their blogging, so I am going to have to take over. Here are some pictures from Gramma and Grampa Krauss' visit and my first Fourth of July.

We had a really great visit. We played Catan:

I hung out on the floor with Grampa:

We had a cook out (papa made some good barbecue, but I didn't get any).

We went to see the fireworks:

I feel asleep just before the fireworks started and slept through the first half. But I sat with Papa for the second half and thought they were pretty cool.

And then we took some pictures for my new grandparents frame:

I resized these images so they are smaller and upload and download faster. If you want print quality images, send my parents an email.

74 hours down - 6 to go

2008-07-23T15:57:00.004-05:00

Papa, waiting to fly out of MDT - Harrisburg, PA.

It has been 74 hours since I have seen my family live. I have been at a really good teaching workshop at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. But I am ready to get home. It has been nice to be able to Skype my family:
but I am ready to see them live and in person and hold them. Hang on little buddy, I will see you in 6 hours (Lord willing).

Breaking News

2008-07-15T22:04:00.009-05:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming of cute pictures of Joshua with his grandparents to bring you this breaking news: Joshua rolled over!

Instant replay:

Go Buddy, Go!

A fun visit with Nana, Pawpaw and Aunt Jessica

2008-07-06T16:40:00.008-05:00

After Grammy came to see us Nana, Pawpaw and Aunt Jessica came to see us! We had lots of picture time, play time and cuddle time.
Thanks for coming to see us!

Aunt Jessica and Joshua having some cuddle time and play time!

I love my Pawpaw!

Picture time with Nana and Pawpaw (and Tony)... Lots of kisses...

Tony, Nana and Pawpaw's dog came to see us too.

Grammy's trip

2008-06-29T16:39:00.005-05:00

Grammy came down to see us this past week! We celebrated Joshua's five month birthday with an applesauce party and he had lots of cuddle time with Grammy.

Father's Day

2008-06-24T09:47:00.007-05:00

For Father's day Joshua and Daddy got matching shirts - Go Hokies!

We also went hiking in Castlewood Park.

Joshua missed alot of the scenery - he slept.

We also had a picnic lunch afterwards in the park. He woke up for that :)

Thanks Jen!

2008-06-20T19:34:00.003-05:00

The adorable quilt behind Joshua was made by my friend Jen! We use it daily for tummy time!

Thanks Jen!

Praise and Thankfulness!

2008-06-17T09:11:00.002-05:00

I know probably all of you who are reading this blog know my headache saga. It's been over three years now that I got a headache that hasn't gone away. It's been a crazy battle of going to doctors and trying to explain my crazy symptoms and trying so many different medications and having awful side affects. But since Joshua has been born in the last few months I have a new doctor who has been able to help me. Even last week with a rough headache week I was able to go to the doctor on Monday and was given some relief.

As I was having a quiet time this morning I realized that I have yet to truly give God the great Thankfulness and Praise for answering the prayers of so many. We truly now have a new hope that we may be able to stabilize my head and I have renewed life and energy. So thank you God for helping me! Please say a thank you as well to our great God!

Lots of love!
Missy

I love [the Ward's] Jumperoo

2008-06-14T09:39:00.003-05:00

So, I can't quite go at it like that Matthias kid, but I love this Jumperoo. Thanks Ward family for loaning it to me. I will try not to spit up in it before your new little one needs it back. Why is he/she not here yet? I am looking forward to meeting him....or her.

Joshua is on the move!

2008-06-12T09:04:00.006-05:00

Joshua rolled over!

A few days ago I put Joshua on a blanket for Tummy time and when I looked back a few seconds later he was on his back! Ever since then we've been trying to watch him do it again but he's not willing to put on a show yet :)

He's also slowly scooting along during tummy time. Fussing all the way. Joshua is definitely a cuddle bug who doesn't want to have to work hard to get anywhere - yet :) I'm sure we'll be thankful when the time comes that he hasn't started any sooner!

blowing bubbles...

Napping with Annie

Our sweet little boy!

2008-06-05T20:32:00.004-05:00

Joshua, our precious big boy, 16lbs. 9oz!

Family picture

Joshua's first hiking trip!

Joshua turned 4 months old while we were on vacation. He got his first baby food - applesauce.

Joshua and Papa hiking together :)

Our cabin

Here is a quick update on the Krauss family...

Joshua is eating baby food now. He tried some bananas today in his new high chair (Thanks Grammy and the Fergusons) he got a little in his tummy but is still working on not spitting it all out on his bib.

Ryan has started his summer class and is working on research. He's also savoring the last of the basketball for the season.

I have been enjoying many low level headache days, today I painted my bathroom, and spend alot of time taking care of my little boy.

We hope you are doing well!

Love,
Missy, Ryan and Joshua

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-12T09:44:00.002-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

It was my first mother's day and it was wonderful. Here is a precious picture of my son signing my mother's day card. It was sitting with him in his crib when I got him out of bed Sunday morning. Awwww....

Love to all of you!
Missy

Joshua's new toy

2008-04-28T08:55:00.002-05:00

Joshua is growing and growing! A couple of days ago our friends had a baby who was 6lbs 11oz (Joshua was never that small) but sitting next to him it was pretty crazy! He really likes to sit up now that he can hold his head up and he has started to play with the toys on his exersaucer.

During tummy time he is also getting to the point where he is trying to scootch.

Not much new with Ryan and I. Ryan's semester is almost done and we are both thankful! It's been a busy one for all of us. It is still undetermined whether or not he will be teaching this summer or not.

My new medications seem to continue to be working! They have not been as effective as at the very beginning but they seem to help and give me more good days! Yay! So I have been cooking, baking and sewing more lately. Joshua does pretty good in his carrier so he has had a few baking and cooking lessons :)

So that's our life...not terrible exciting but we like it that way :) We hope you are doing well too!

love,
missy

3 months old!

2008-04-24T21:19:00.004-05:00

Happy three month birthday (and one day old) to our little buddy!

Going to the Zoo

2008-04-13T16:02:00.004-05:00

Daddy and Joshua looking at the big fish!

Joshua giggled at the elephants :)

More big fish - stuff he could get real close to see.

Hanging out enjoying the ride...

The Krauss boys

Taking a nap on Grandpa at the end of the day.

pictures

2008-04-07T11:51:00.002-05:00

Joshua really likes bath time. He kicks and splashes the water on mom!

Sleeping boy... Joshua is doing really well sleeping at night. Most nights at least 6hours! Yea!!

Hanging out - isn't he a cutie :)

Hope you are all enjoying some spring weather - sorry MI people!

love,
missy, ryan and joshua

pictures

2008-04-02T10:54:00.004-05:00

Joshua helping daddy grade tests :)

Ryan's new hobby! Homemade pizza and breadsticks. Next time you come visit - you'll probably try some :)

sleeping....so sweet.
We are doing well. Joshua is sleeping more at night :) He laughed for the first time on Sunday and seems to have now found his voice and likes to talk. I have had some progress with my new headache treatment and saw my new doctor yesterday. We are very hopeful that he is going to be able to help us. Ryan is doing well busy working but really enjoying his new hobby of pizza making and bbq. (He got a smoker for his b-day)

We hope you are doing well! We'd love to hear a quick update from you as well :)

love,
missy, ryan and joshua

Two month check up

2008-03-26T22:49:00.005-05:00

Joshua is already 2 months old! He had a check up yesterday and is now 13.3lbs and 23 inches. He is at 75% in all areas. He also had his first round of shots. He cried hard for a little bit and was sleepy and wanted to be held afterwards but is doing well now.

We are doing well. Joshua is now in a sleeping schedule of about 5-6 hours at night (we are so thankful to have more consistent good nights of sleep) We had our first road trip a few weeks ago and Joshua did wonderfully!! He slept most of the way each time :) I'll post some pictures of our trip soon.

Here are some other pictures...

Joshua having mat time... he loves hitting his little toys

Sleepy boy

I'm smiling and talking alot now :)

Joshua's first walk in his stroller

I'm soooo big!!!

love to all of you!
missy, ryan and joshua

Joshua Update

2008-02-26T21:01:00.004-06:00

Here is an update on me. I went to the pediatrician today and I weigh 11 lbs. Dr. McGranahan is very excited about my weight gain.

Here is a picture of me at the day spa. I didn't like my first couple of baths, but once you can go in the water, you don't get quite as cold.

I have been going on lots of car rides lately. I don't like getting put in my car seat, but once I am in, the car puts me to sleep.

Here are pictures of me curling up on the couch with papa after a long day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T21:13:00.003-06:00

We hope you all are having a great Valentine's day!

Here are some pictures of our sweetie!

Love from the Krauss family!

Lots of love!

2008-02-01T08:12:00.001-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa Krauss

Taking a nap with Grandpa

Enjoying some time with papa

Mama loves to read to me

I love Daddy

Still more lovin'

2008-02-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

Nana

Pawpaw

Grandma meeting me for the first time

Grandma

Grandma Krauss helped me with my first bath!

one week old!

2008-01-30T11:17:00.000-06:00

Our little buddy turns 1 week old today at 2:33pm!

Here is one of my favorite pictures...

I'll post some grandparent pictures soon :)

We are a wonderfully happy little family! Joshua is doing well and teaching us how to love him best. We feel overwhelmed by the joy we feel by this gift of our precious son.

Today we have his first doctor's appt. We'll let you know how it goes.

Also, if you think of it please pray for Ryan - he's starting to get the flu and I'm in the midst of a pretty nasty migraine - but it's totally overshadowed by the cuteness of our son.

Love and hugs to everyone! We can't wait to introduce you to our little boy!

Our sweet boy

2008-01-27T19:56:00.001-06:00

Mama and Joshua - I'm doing well, recovering and feeling more like myself :)

I love this picture! The best papa in the world and his sweet boy.

Oh my he's cute!

He likes his pacifier and his hands :)

Proud papa

Thanks to everyone who has loved on us! We feel so thankful that Joshua is so loved and to have the support of so many wonderful people.

We are so in love with our little boy already. He is doing well and we are beginning to figure things out :)

Joshua Comes Home

2008-01-25T16:24:00.000-06:00

Missy and Joshua were both released from the hospital around 10:30 this morning. Both are doing well. Here are some pictures of Joshua getting bundled up and arriving at home. Thanks aunt Jessia for my cute, warm hat. Thanks Karen, Lisa, and Laura for my warm, soft bundle-me. My 3 minute ride home was quite comfortable.

Missy and Joshua

2008-01-25T13:33:00.000-06:00

Joshua has really been a very content little boy. Here is him being "active" and enjoying some time with his mama.

Joshua After His First Bath

2008-01-23T21:46:00.000-06:00

Joshua wasn't super excited about his first bath.

Joshua Ryan Krauss

2008-01-23T19:00:00.000-06:00

Joshua has arrived. He is 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 19 in. long. Here are some pictures. He and Missy are doing well.

The epideral is in

2008-01-23T13:28:00.000-06:00

Missy's epidural is in and she is dilated to 8 cm. Missy says "I like epidurals" and "I didn't enjoy my contractions".

We are at the hospital

2008-01-23T07:44:00.001-06:00

We are excited to start the induction and welcome our son. Just waiting now...

Joshua is coming tomorrow!

2008-01-22T16:59:00.000-06:00

We had our doctor's appt today and I am 3cm dilated and because he's a big boy Dr. Scharff, whom we have been praying would have wisdom, asked if we wanted to induce.

So 7am tomorrow morning we head to the hospital and will be bringing our son home this week!

We'll keep you posted and would appreciate your prayers!

love,
missy

some more finishing touches

2008-01-20T09:14:00.001-06:00

Thanks mom and dad for our beautiful new rocking chair!
It is our new favorite place to sit in the house :)

39 weeks

2008-01-19T10:32:00.000-06:00

Ryan took me out to a nice dinner - probably our last date night as just the two of us. We couldn't stop talking about our little boy though :)

We are doing well and so excited to meet Joshua!

Finishing Touches

2008-01-16T22:30:00.003-06:00

Obviously, I am a bit biased, but I think this is the cutest sign in the world:

38 weeks 5 days!

2008-01-16T16:54:00.000-06:00

We had our ultrasound today and it was so great to see our little boy! We have no doubts at all now that he is our Joshua! We didn't get a great shot earlier and were mainly just trusting the tech lady, and last time he was being shy but this time we can now have no worries that we'd have to redo the nursery :)

Also the BIG shock of the day was that he measured at 8lbs 11oz!!! Yes, you read that right, it's not a typo! He is misleading from the outside and tricked the doctors - one of whom predicted 7lbs at 40 weeks! We were shocked. We had thought that because he was small we didn't want to induce unless it was medically necessary but now we think our doctor might want to induce because he's already so big. We'll just wait and see.

We really like our doctor and feel confident that he will help us make the right decision :)

So until then we recover from the shock and are now really excited that he's healthy and we'll get to meet him soon!

We'll keep you posted :)

love,
missy

38 weeks and 4 days!

2008-01-15T17:23:00.000-06:00

We had our weekly OB appt today. Joshua is progressing! He has dropped! It was an eventful afternoon for us. We are all doing well, but I am still measuring small and to just be cautious we did a non-stress test today at the hospital. Unfortunately that is definitely one of the quietest times for him during the day so we were there for about an hour and a half - everything seems to be looking good though and the nurse told me I was having contractions. I have yet to feel anything though.

Tomorrow we have another ultrasound just to make sure everything is ok.

We'll keep you posted - I'll let you know how the ultra sound goes.

38 weeks tomorrow!

2008-01-10T18:36:00.000-06:00

We had our weekly OB appt. today and there is no sign of Joshua coming early. He seems comfy in there and not ready to come out yet. He hasn't dropped and I'm not dilated at all. So it seems we all need to settle in for the next few weeks.

We are doing well. Ryan starts back to school on Monday. I am feeling pretty good. Normal pregnancy aches and pains, but thankfully nothing worse than that.

Not much else going on right now. We'll keep you posted!

love,
missy

Joshua's nursery

2008-01-04T16:24:00.000-06:00

Here are some fun pictures of Joshua's room!
We think it turned out pretty cute :)
Now all it needs is our son.

Joshua's nursery

2008-01-04T16:10:00.000-06:00

Here are some more pictures of his nursery!

The only things missing right now, besides him of course, are some things on the walls and we are getting a new rocking chair.

37 weeks!

2008-01-04T08:40:00.000-06:00

I am now considered full term! I had another appt. yesterday and Joshua is still head down and has now centered so that was good news. I'm not dilated at all yet though. We also pre-admitted to the hospital this week. We are so excited to meet our little boy :)

Ryan and I are doing well. We had a great new year. We invited friends over for a game night and ordered pizza. We ended staying up until about 2am and then slept in really late :)

Joshua's room is almost complete! We just have a few things to put up on the wall and still need to find a rocking chair. I will put up pictures hopefully today or tomorrow of his cute room. I have been also working on his baby books.

So that is our life right now. Ryan is making good progress on his class prep and proposals and I am working on finishing all those little things I have been putting off or haven't had time to do.

I would be surprised if Joshua comes this early, but we are going to have a friend from here send out an email and will be in touch when our little boy comes!

I hope you are all doing well!

love,
missy

36 weeks

2007-12-28T16:55:00.000-06:00

We are down to the last month!

Not much news here. Joshua continues to grow. We had an appt. on Wednesday and at first he didn't appear to be head down, so they did an ultra sound and he is head down but it is to the side. Our ob said that it should just take some contractions for him to drop. So no worries and it was a nice little bonus to get to have an extra ultra sound. He looks all smooshed in there :)

I am doing pretty well. I've actually had a hard headache week but we're doing fine.

Ryan, Joshua and I have had a wonderful christmas. Joshua got some very cute stuff, Ryan got some fun new toys, and I got some new cookbooks (my favorite) and some GC's and money to tuck away after Joshua is born to get some new things. Thanks everyone for such a great christmas!

I'm hoping to get that burst of nesting energy to finish up all the little details of Joshua's room, and have everything organized :)

I hope you are all doing well.

love,
missy

Baby stuff

2007-12-22T10:13:00.001-06:00

So we are mostly ready!

Joshua's quilt is done, his closet is full of clothes, we got our cute bouncy seat from our friend Nicole for Christmas. I will plan on posting more pictures of his nursery and our prepared house after Christmas when all the little details are put into place - so you can see the finished project.

His little closet. We also have 2 basket bins full of onesies, containers of socks, shoes/booties, hats, etc. I think he has enough to wear :) so cute.

Joshua is so much a part of our family in every way. I found this little stocking at Hallmark and couldn't resist.

Thanks Nicole for our bouncy seat!

His finished quilt. I made curtains to match as well.

Christmas party

2007-12-22T09:59:00.001-06:00

At the Intervarsity Christmas party this year the theme was ugly Christmas sweaters. Below is who I would consider the winner! He didn't have one, well for that matter, no guys had one on, except for this handmade beauty I put together at the last minute.

This is our good friend Becky, leader of Intervarsity, the campus ministry we are a part of. Her sweater was pointed out to have typical MI snowmen. (if you look closely there are splotches of dirty snow in each snowman) -- unfortunately, we didn't stick around long enough to see who the winner was, but I would say Ryan would have been a contender:)

More fun shower pictures...

2007-12-22T09:43:00.001-06:00

Joshua's shower with Ryan's Dad and Dawn! So many cute little details. I have regular camera film that needs to be developed from this one, so that won't come for a bit. :)

My girl's group threw us a shower too! We have definitely been showered with love, friends and family! All of the showers and gifts everyone sent have given us everything we need and more. Thanks!

Just some of the great friends who came - it was fun to have so many people there that we have gotten to know and love in the last year!

Fun shower pictures

2007-12-22T09:27:00.001-06:00

Ryan's mom's shower for us! It was wonderful to have so many people I love and don't get to see as often there.

My dear friend Laura and I.

Thanks!

Decorations at the Dickson shower! A beautiful fall theme.

Thanks for the wonderful showers! I definitely felt spoiled and loved to know how excited everyone is to meet our little boy :)

2007-12-22T09:15:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas

34 weeks! Thanks Aimee for the cute sweater!

35 weeks!

2007-12-21T20:46:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas

I hope you are all doing well, have your shopping done, and are enjoying time with family and friends. We are enjoying not traveling for the first time in many years. I'm very thankful to not be traveling right now as Joshua is growing and making me somewhat uncomfortable. It is hard to believe that soon we will be meeting our little boy.

We have now started our weekly appts and I am happy to report that at our doctor's appt. this week Joshua was head down! We were able to feel where his head is - it was one of those "real" moments again as his head is now a normal newborn size :)

Joshua's room is now almost completed. There are a few finishing touches (mostly hanging things up and organizing a bit more) but it has turned out great. All his clothes are hanging up in his closet freshly washed and ready to go. This week I set up his little area downstairs as well - that too just needs to be bit more organized. We are feeling pretty ready - or at least as ready as you can ever be :) There are plenty of projects around the house to keep me busy after Christmas until he comes so we will just wait and see what God's perfect timing is for our little boy to come.

I have a bunch of fun pictures to post - nursery, christmas picture, my belly, showers, etc. I'm planning on working on those soon.

Love to all of you!
missy

33 weeks and 4 days!

2007-12-11T09:34:00.000-06:00

Today Ryan gives his final exam and then after grading his classes will be finished for this semester. He will then be focusing on research and preparing for his next semester classes. We are both hoping that these few weeks will be a time for him to get ahead :)

This past weekend my family came to stay with us for the weekend for the Dickson Family Christmas celebration. There were 14 of us, with 9 adults and 5 kids in the house it was a busy but fun weekend. We had a christmas tree decorating contest, fondue night, and celebrated my dad's birthday as well as a big christmas day celebration with presents and a big meal. They left on Sunday and thankfully did not get stuck in any bad weather.

The next few weeks for us is filled with doctor's appts, christmas visitors, and the last touch ups in Joshua's room. Probably some christmas baking in there and a bit of shopping left to do.

Also, we are enjoying getting all the fun christmas cards and pictures. This year you will be getting a card from us as well but we are going to do a birth announcement/new years update letter when Joshua comes :)

Joshua is continuing to grow as am I. My doctor said last week that I am right on track and am doing well. So that was encouraging to hear. We have one more appt. next week and then we start going weekly and begin the joy of physical exams each time. I'm still not excited to go through labor but am getting more and more excited to hold my little boy. I actually can't think too much about holding Joshua or I get all weepy -- hmmm... a little hormonal perhaps?

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the holidays!

Seattle pictures

2007-11-30T08:55:00.001-06:00

A Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T08:46:00.000-06:00

We are home from Seattle and MI and really enjoyed our trips. Next time we venture anywhere there will be three of us! I imagine it will be much different :)

Seattle was great. We were able to visit the ocean shore, Mt. Rainier, had fun downtown shopping and sightseeing, and enjoyed some great restaurants. We were able to see Michael, Ryan's brother who is stationed in the army near Seattle. Ryan really enjoyed Mt. Rainier, but being in my third trimester and clumsy even when I'm not pregnant, I decided not to venture onto the snowy trails and instead enjoyed the view with some hot cocoa and a book. The ocean shore was beautiful. It was supposed to rain but we took the risk and it was a beautiful day! Ryan's conference went well. He had very long days so it did not always feel very vacation-like during those days, but we had a good time regardless. It will be a learning experience the first time we take our little boy :)

In MI we were able to see most of our family and friends, ate a lot of yummy food and were spoiled with gifts for Joshua and myself at a baby shower.

Joshua is good. He is growing and moving. It is on my list to get some updated pictures of all of us and his nursery posted.

This week should be a relatively slow week to catch up on laundry, cleaning, etc. I'm hoping to work on organizing Joshua's stuff and doing some massive laundry of ours and his! I'm also definitely in the Christmas mood because my entire family is coming for Christmas next weekend. So I am hoping to get the tree up this week and get decorating. We also have our last baby shower this Saturday with our friends here. So fun!

It's always good to get away for awhile but then it is also so great to come home again.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! and enjoy all the fun christmas stuff coming up! More hot cocoa, scarves and mittens, christmas trees, twinkling lights, christmas music, and christmas baking!

And then after all the festivities... our best gift will be on his way!!!

love,
missy

2007-11-08T08:16:00.000-06:00

We had another doctor's appt. this week. Joshua is doing well, he was quite active in there and I'm measuring well. We are so thankful for his little self. I decided to stop weighing myself and just be ok with what our little boy needs so that was a bit nerve wracking, but all our doctor said was that my weight gain was good.

Our friends had their little boy Matthias a few days ago and it was the first time when I really thought about holding Joshua in my arms instead of just carrying him in my body. Another friend of ours had a friend only a few weeks further along than us and she had to have an emergency c-section a few days ago. (thankfully mommy and baby are doing well, but he was only 3lbs) So we are praying that Joshua would stay put for awhile! Anytime after the holidays would be great :)

We leave for Seattle tomorrow, so today is packing, last bit of laundry and cleaning.

Not much news since last time. Same stuff. Being pregnant, loving our little boy, Ryan working hard. I did try a few new recipes which both of them turned out quite yummy. So for my cooking and baking friends....

Baked potato wedges
http://www.recipezaar.com/49200
*I added way more cheese and made a dip of sour cream, chives and bacon bits - yum!

Brown sugar bundt cake - very moist with a sugary crispy outside
http://www.recipezaar.com/42976
- I added a caramel glaze made of brown sugar, powdered sugar, and whipping cream (not necessary but yummy)

Hope you all are doing well!

love,
missy

28 weeks 3 days!

2007-11-05T08:37:00.000-06:00

We are now officially in the third trimester! Joshua will be coming shortly after the holiday season. He's been pretty funny lately and amazing to me how much his little movements change in just a short week. He's definitely not a flutter of any kind anymore and is now making his presence clearly known as he's poking around in there. It's been fun because Ryan is now able to feel him a lot easier - all he has to do is lay his hand on my tummy when Joshua is awake.

I have been doing well. My headaches have been very manageable this past week. No really bad days which is wonderful!

Ryan's grant for this summer was approved! So that is a great answer to prayer as it not only provides extra funds to do his research but it also guides him in his research.

He is now working on his presentation for the conference, a publication and working towards writing a grant from NSF (National Science Foundation) which is a big deal. He's a busy guy, working hard but doing great, and for the most part enjoying his work.

We leave for Seattle Friday until the following Friday for Ryan's conference and a last get-away as just the two of us. The conference starts on Monday and goes until Thursday. We arrive Friday and have plans to go to Mt. Rainier, and Mt. St. Helens or possibly the coast depending on how we are feeling and how much we want to drive. We are staying one night in a lodge type place by Mt. Rainier as our special night. Sun - Fri we are staying in a hotel in downtown Seattle. Ryan will be going to the conference during the day and I am hoping to get a majority of our christmas shopping done, work on Joshua's baby book, and relax. In the evenings we are planning to check out more of Seattle - that's my job this week is to find fun places to visit in the evening with Ryan. We are also planning on seeing Michael, Ryan's brother, who is stationed near Seattle. It will be a wonderful trip and we are so thankful for this perk of Ryan being a professor :)

I need to download some pictures soon. We have some great ones of the baby showers, and now need to take some pictures of our basement - some before and after ones - the intervarsity students came Friday and painted it! It is an amazing improvement as you will see. It now feels like part of our home and not just a storage room. So great!

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the beautiful fall weather. We are enjoying hot cocoa, football, wrapping up in blankets, and not raking the leaves - yet :)

love,
missy

Feeling Loved and Spoiled!!!

2007-10-29T19:33:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went home to MI and enjoyed being spoiled by 2 baby showers! We came home with a car full of stuff that is now piled in the guest room. I'm feeling very motivated now to work on Joshua's room so I can organize and enjoy all his new things.

Thanks to so many of you who were able to come! And especially to Ryan's mom and my mom and sisters who spent so much time and love on every little perfect detail. It was a great weekend!

Congratulations Nicole!

2007-10-24T10:37:00.000-05:00

I need to brag a bit about our friend Nicole! She has been working so hard in her PhD program, moved to a new city by herself, and has had a rough few months! She just found out that she got an A on her mid-term in her hardest class!

We are so proud of you soon to be Dr. Ferguson!

2007-10-17T12:09:00.000-05:00

100 days left until we meet our little boy!

My doctor's appt. went well. We had more blood work done, all standard stuff. A glucose test for gestational diabetes. I am measuring well, gaining weight and Joshua is growing and active. It's hard to believe that soon we'll be in the third trimester.

I hope all is well with you!

love,
missy

2007-10-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

There is not much going on right now... Ryan and I have both been sick this week. He is already feeling much better thankfully. I take longer to mend. Friends of ours made us beef stew and brought it over for dinner yesterday so that was really great.

I have not made much progress on the house or nursery this week, but am hoping to feel better soon. Joshua is doing well. Yesterday I woke up and said good morning to him, like usual, but this time he moved right away. My little mommy heart wants to believe it was not coincidental :) He is continuing to move a lot and is growing. We have a doctor's appt. next week.

I hope you all are doing well and enjoying this fall weather! I love it.

love,
missy

pictures

2007-10-02T16:28:00.001-05:00

So here are some pictures... this is the nursery, we still have the chair rail and trim to put up and the closet to paint. The big box is our crib which I am so excited to put up!

Here is a finished quilt square and a closer shot so you can actually see the patterns.

Joshua's coming home outfit! So cute. It was super fun to pick out!

Joshua's super bowl out fit and the cute little feet of it.

pictures

2007-10-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

The first two pictures are from the day of Joshua's ultra sound. Right outside the office before and me walking into the office.

Ryan and I comparing bellies. He thought it was hilarious.

One of Joshua's new little boy outfits - it says little man on campus - so cute!

A recent picture of me right outside our home. 23 weeks and 3 days!

Random things...

2007-10-02T09:55:00.000-05:00

I am 23 weeks and 4 days pregnant! It's amazing to think that time has gone by so fast. Everyone said that it would, but I've been shocked to see how quickly. I think it's because there are so many fun new things to read about, learn and do to get ready for Joshua Ryan's arrival. It's been a very fun season of life and I must admit I'm looking forward to the baby showers coming up. I have always loved celebrations of any kind and to celebrate Joshua, our most favorite gift, is going to some of my favorites.

I keep saying I will post pictures and I promise I will soon. I keep waiting to post something until I have the pictures to go with it, but for some reason downloading the pictures doesn't seem to happen as easily.

Joshua is moving all over the place and seems quite active alot. We have just gotten to the stage in which he has now grown enough and is strong enough to give quite a punch and kick. He's also gotten big enough to hit two sides of my tummy at once.

We bought him his coming home outfit. A little pair of jeans and a striped onesy. So cute! Ryan is commemorating Joshua's arrival near the super bowl with a cute football sleeper with footballs on the bottom of the feet.

I'm getting bigger and will post a picture of myself as well. There is no doubt now to anyone that I am pregnant. I feel like in the last few weeks I've popped out quite a bit more. Ryan disagrees and thinks that it's been a gradual process. He's probably right, but I definitely feel more pregnant now and I know how much weight I've gained. Normal for how far along I am, but more weight than I've ever gained before!

I'll ask Ryan to write a post soon so you can catch up with him.

Overall, we are just so in love with our little boy and excited to meet him, but SO thankful to have some more time to prepare for him to come.

Oh...for all my sewing friends out there... I have made curtains for Joshua's room and am almost finished piecing together his quilt. It's turning out really cute. The curtains are a blue gingham (a bit darker blue) with a navy blue binding and border along the bottom. The quilt has both navy and gingham matching squares but also has a white plaid and white chenille square. In between the rows of 3 blocks of 4 there is a blue stripe that matches Joshua's walls and a navy blue border around the entire thing. I'm really happy with how it is turning out. I'm hoping to get it done this week :)

Quick health update: I had some blood work done because I've been feeling really tired and we found that my iron count is low so I am waiting to hear from my doctor about what iron supplements to take. My head has been pretty good. No really bad head days for awhile, but still a level of pain all the time. No major pregnancy issues, a little soreness and backache by the end of the day, but I'm just being careful to not lift stuff and that seems to help. All normal stuff. So we are thankful and just being even more careful to protect little Joshua and myself from sickness. We are so grateful that so far there have been no complications. It's been a continual prayer that my "temperamental" body will not affect our little boy.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

love,
missy

2007-09-18T15:25:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

I had my next doctor's appt. today. Joshua and I are doing well. The doctor did say that last week at my ultrasound I was measuring at 21 weeks 3 days. So I am measuring just a bit further along than I am but not enough to change the due date. My fundal height was 22. Joshua's heart beat was 140.

We had a very fun weekend registering for baby stuff and we bought a crib and a changing table. Yesterday I bought some fabric for Joshua's quilt and curtains. We are hoping to work on his room this weekend - mostly painting and trim. Once we do that we can clean up in there and get working on organizing and decorating -so fun!