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Since the last time I wrote on the blog we have celebrated Thanksgiving, vacationed at Disney World with my family, went to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios, played the part of the holy family (you know Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus) twice, vacationed in Oklahoma and spent time with family over Christmas, had both our cars die on us while traveling on vacation, experienced two snows, and now our baby boy is starting to sit up all on his own!

2012 was definitely a great year –full of change and new beginnings.  I look forward to 2013 and all that is in store for our family and seeing Josiah get bigger every day.

I hope that you and your family are well and are getting off to a great start to the year!  May you continually  experience God’s blessings.

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What is the best thing you can look back on from last year?  What do you look forward to this coming year?

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-M

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Summer 1989 (2 years old)

For some reason, this is the only picture I have of our trip.  My mom has more, but this is the only one in my scrapbook.

Like I said earlier, I don’t remember this trip at all, but I know my family had a great time!  We went with my mom’s whole family.  And one of the things about taking such a little kiddo (at least so I’ve heard) is that it’s more for the parents than the kids.  I know my parents loved watching me get so excited while we were there.  And I’m thankful that I was able to go at such a young age!

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June 2002 (15 years old)

I just took pictures of my scrapbook pages for this trip since I don’t have any digital copies of the pictures.  And here’s a close-up of our family:

This trip was a BLAST!  We camped at Fort Wilderness on Disney property, and stayed for a whole week.  My little sister was 5, my brother was 12, and I was 15.  We were all at such good ages for a Disney trip.  My uncle, aunt, and their 3 kids also went with us.  We had such a good time, even though it rained every day.  We felt like a group of ducks in our yellow Mickey ponchos!  We visited all the parks, both water parks, and played mini golf.

It was so wonderful to be there with my family.  We made SO many great memories, from dancing with the parade people at Epcot, to getting splashed on the last hole at Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf, to eating breakfast with Pooh and friends, to riding everything we wanted to at least once, to just being together.  It was one of my favorite vacations of all time!

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October 2006 (19 years old)

This was our “Girls and PawPaw Trip”.  I skipped college and took off work for a week in order to go on this Fall Break trip.  My mom, sister, aunt, cousin, her two girls, Meme & Pawpaw all went.  We really missed my dad and brother, but it was such a great trip!  We were on the Disney Dining Plan for the first time, and it was probably one of the biggest highlights of the trip!  (I’ll probably never go to Disney World without it now!)  It was also my first time to go “off-season” and now I’m sold on the short wait times and cooler weather!

We met TONS of characters,

Rode/saw everything we wanted to with virtually no waits,

Went to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party,

Acted goofy,

Ate INCREDIBLE food with the Dining Plan,

And just had a great trip.

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September 2009

This trip was just Michael and me.  It was AMAZING.  We went as a sort of delayed honeymoon.  There will never, ever be another trip like this one.  We were able to do and see everything we wanted to–without having to do the things we didn’t want to.  We didn’t have a care in the world besides what to pick to eat.  And speaking of eating, we did the Dining Plan again and ate at incredible restaurants!  We were goofy and carefree, but also took time to enjoy just being together and celebrating us.  It was PERFECT.

We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge,

Met Mickey & Minnie,

Ate at incredible restaurants,

Saw all of the different nighttime events, including Wishes, our favorite fireworks show,

Had PRIME seats at all of the shows and rides due to planning, planning, planning (this is when I fell in love with planning Disney trips, by the way),

Took pictures in goofy hats around Epcot World Showcase,

Michael got to be in two shows,

Rode everything we wanted to at least once,

Took a tour (which was great),

Took tons of “magic shots”

& just had an AMAZING time together.

Like I said earlier, it was PERFECT.

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Needless to say, I am SOOOO excited about our upcoming trip.  It’s going to be so great to take Josiah to Disney World for the first time and get to spend time with family.  It’ll be here before we know it!

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–Staci

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Q for you:  Have you ever been to Disney World (or Disneyland)?  What was your favorite thing?

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Here is the second half of my list, starting with number 16 through 30 (and as mentioned before, this is in no particular order).

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16.) Friends – I’ve had a lot come and go in my life, but I’m thankful for all the ones that have meant so much to me.  I don’t really have many anymore.  I guess that’s a part of growing up.  But for those that I do have, I am thankful.

17.) District Youth Director Meetings – Speaking of not having many friends, the UM Youth Directors in our area are beginning to meat monthly and I am really excited for the connections we’ve already made and will continue to make.  It’s so nice to be around other adults who totally get where we’re coming from

18.) Fusion – On a similar note, I’m proud to be a part of a new youth movement here in Southeast Texas that we’re calling Fusion.  A group of Youth ministers have come together, crossing denominational boundaries, to bring our students together for passionate worship with the ultimate goal of breaking down barriers and helping students into a deeper walk with God.

19.) My Guitar (acoustic) – Love my Larrivee!  It’s been a big part of my ministry for 8 years and I still love that it’s not a Taylor or a Martin    (this is a picture from a while back… you can tell cause of the hair)

20.) My Guitar (electric) – The second addition to my musical family.  I’ve had my Peavey amp for many ears because I got a killer deal on it and never had a good guitar to play through it.  It’s a big part of my ministry through music today and a big part of my contribution to Fusion.

21.) Music – You’ve probably seen some of our music posts on this blog.  I love to listen to it.  I love to play.  Music is awesome

22.) Thanksgiving – (put it at 22 cause that’s Thanksgiving day this year)  What is there to really say… family, food, fun, football!  Second or third best holiday in my opinion.

23.) Christmas Season – This would be the day after Thanksgiving also known as Black Friday.  I hope you’ve experienced the joys of Black Friday, but I digress.  I love Christmas and I love the Christmas season!  The music, the lights, the atmosphere, the weather… it’s all so perfect!  (And another vintage picture)

And now things take a bit of a material/superficial turn:

24.) My Bed – It’s warm, it’s comfy, it’s soft, I love it!

25.) iPhone/iPad/iMac – OK, so I don’t want to sound like an Apple fan boy or anything; I promise I’m not.  But I do love our computer and the iPad is just so convenient and fun.  I always thought the iPhone could be overrated, but I’ve really enjoyed my 4.  It may be 2 generations old, but it works great, it’s easy to use, and I love the apps.

26.) MyFitnessPal/RunKeeper – Speaking of apps; I’ve been really trying to work on getting in better shape and losing some weight.  RunKeeper helps me track my running and I like being able to actually gauge my progress.  MyFitnessPal is a calorie counter and I started using it Labor day weekend.  As I’ve followed the daily plans and cut back on my calorie intake, I’ve lost 16 pounds in just 2 months.

27.) New dSLR camera/HD video camera – Staci is big into photography and I love doing video work.  These new cameras have been awesome for our family and documenting Josiah’s early life and our family experiences.

28.) DVD/Bluray Collection – I know, it’s nerdy.  But Staci and I never watch live TV (The few TV shows we actually keep up with we watch on Hulu), so we pride ourselves in our collection of movies and TV shows.  Superficial? yes.  Awesome?  Heck Yes!

29.) Modern Conveniences – I know this is kind of general and vague, but I was running out of space, and I’m just so glad for electricity and plumbing, and cell phones, cars, planes, etc.  It’s just nice.

30.) Upcoming Family Vacation – Family time is something I’ve always cherished and now that we live so far part it’s very hard to come by.  So it will be really special spending so much time with all the family.  I’m glad everyone wil get to spend so much with Josiah too!

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So these are a few things I am especially thankful for this season.

What are some of the things you are thankful for this year?

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- M

For those of you who know me well, you know that I absolutely LOVE Disney–I love Walt Disney World, Disney Movies, Disney Music, etc.  I even convinced Michael to let me decorate our office in Disney things.  This will be my fifth trip to Disney World (but I was too young to remember my first trip).  I’m so excited to go back.

Michael and I finally got around to making our count-down yesterday.  We went ahead and made it for 30 days.  Last time we went (in ’09–just Michael and me), we made a poster countdown.  This time, we decided to make a chain with things we’re excited about.  We each wrote on one side.  Here’s a pic of part of our chain:

And here are the things we’re excited about…  By the way, we didn’t look at each other’s items.  We just really think alike.

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S: Visiting the New Fantasyland

M: Spending Family Time

S: The Candlelight Processional

M: Disney During Christmas

S: Josiah Getting Good Time w/ Family

M: Experiencing New Things w/ Family

S: Finding Nemo – The Musical

M: Josiah Getting Family Time

S: Mickey’s PhilharMagic

M: Visit New Fantasyland

S: Going on “It’s A Small World” with Josiah

M: Ride on Space Mountain Again

S: Spending Time w/ Family

M: Toy Story Midway Mania

S: Celebrating our Anniversary at California Grill

M: Lights, Motor Cars, Action!

S: Getting a Family Pic at the Castle

M: The Food!!!

S: Riding the Tower of Terror

M: The Snacks & Treats!

S: Staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge

M: Visiting Harry Potter World

S: Josiah Meeting Mickey

M: Butter Beer!

S: Eating at Be Our Guest

M: Using our New Cameras

S: Using our Snack Credits

M: Animal Kingdom Lodge

S: Visiting Harry Potter World

M: The Fireworks

S: Riding on the WDW (Magic Kingdom) Railroad

M: Getting Away for 9 Days!

S: Being on Vacation for 9 Days

M: The Desserts

S: Taking Time to Explore Epcot World Showcase

M: Making Memories

S: Christmas Decorations

M: Riding on the Updated Test Track

S: The Food

M: Mickey’s PhilharMagic

S: Taking it Slower b/c of Josiah

M: Seeing what Everyone’s Favorite Ride Is

S: Seeing Dr. Seuss Land

M: Seeing what Everyone’s Favorite Food Is

S: Toy Story Mania

M: Turtle Talk with Crush

S: Taking Pictures

M: Dinosaur (The Ride)

S: Rice Krispie Treat From Goofy’s Candy Co.

M: Be Our Guest Restaurant! (I Got the Reservation)

S: Experiencing “Slower” Attractions

M: Christmas Lights & Music

S: Shuffleboard Energy Game & Innoventions

M: Exploring New Areas

S: Resort Hopping/Visiting

M: Walking Around Hogsmeade

S: Exploring Hogsmeade

M: Getting Josiah Souvenirs

S: Making New Memories

M: Finding Nemo Show

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–Staci

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Q for you: What was the last thing you made a countdown for?

The only thing with posting something you are thankful for each day, most people start strong and by the second week of November most people stop.  So I decided to make sure I get all 30 days of thankfulness in, I’m going to post all thirty things right here, right now… but so I don’t bore everyone to death I’m actually going to break this into 2 posts –15 today and 15 later this week– and I’m going to try to keep each one relatively short so you can read through them all.  (Lastly, they are in no particular order)

Here we go!

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1.) My faith – It has made me who I am today

2.) My wife – The way I’ve described it before is that we are so much better together than apart.  Staci helps me be a better person in so many ways and challenges me to always grow and mature in my faith and in my daily life…. and we have so much fun together and so so so much more!

3.) My son – He is a sweet little guy and has already shown me so much about life, unconditional love, and so much more.

4.) My family – Since I already mention my personal family unit (Staci and Josiah), this one is for my immediate family.  Couldn’t be blessed with better mom, dad, brother/sister-in-law, and sister.  Also, all of Staci’s family is so special to me.  You hear all kinds of in-law horror stories… none here! 

5.) My family – I know I already said family; this is for all the extended family!  I love my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. And once again, all the in-laws are awesome too!

6.) My job – Working with Staci is awesome. And getting to hang out with our students is awesome!

7.) Our students – We have an amazing group of kids at Wesley.  Love them to death!

8.) The Wesley Staff – While I’m still focused on the job front, we do have an incredible staff at Wesley

9.) Wesley Church Members – OK, one more for Wesley.  We do have some really awesome people in our congregation who care so much about their faith and each other.  What a great church family for Josiah to be raised in!

10.) Our house – Being able to build it from the ground up was a pretty cool experience. We love it and couldn’t be more happy to be here.

11.) My Heritage – Can’t lie… I love being a Mexican.

12.) The Spurs – Grew up loving them, going to games, watching them on TV.  I have lots of great (and not so great) memories with this team.  Love the way the Spurs really bring the city of San Antonio together… which brings me to…

13.) San Antonio – My home town.  It was an awesome city to grow up in.  I still love going to visit when I get the chance.  Mom, Dad, you better never move from there or I will be mad!

14.) The internet – Let’s face it… you wouldn’t be reading this if it weren’t for the inter webs!  But honestly, I love it for the quick and easy access to information and for how easy it makes keeping in touch with friends and family through email, facebook, blogs and…

15.) Facetime/Skype – I love that even though my immediate family are hundreds of miles apart we can still keep in touch through video chat!  And, it’s not like the really choppy stuff from back in the day; we’re talking quality audio and video here.  It’s especially nice with Josiah here so that he can see his family and they can see him even though we are so far apart.
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So those are a few… I’ll have more up soon so stay posted!

During this month of Thanksgiving, what are some things that you are thankful for?

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- M

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We’ve been so blessed by all of the friends and family who have come to visit little Josiah.  We thought it’d be fun to do a post of all of his visitors thus far. (Now, through the first month or so…)

We have TONS of pictures of him with our immediate family, but I’ll just choose my favorite of him with each person.

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Grandparents

Vovo’ (sounds like Vaw-Vaw: Portuguese for Grandma) – Staci’s Mom

Vovo (sounds like Voe-Voe) – Staci’s Dad

Grammy – Michael’s Mom

Pops – Michael’s Dad

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Aunts & Uncles

Tia Emmy – Staci’s Sister

Aunt Mandy & Uncle Rico – Michael’s Brother & Sister-in-Law

Titio Marcos and Titia Maddie – Staci’s Brother and Sister-in-law (we don’t have a pic with just him and Maddie, but here’s all of us together)

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Cousin

Elias – Staci’s Nephew

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Other Family

Meme – Staci’s Grandma

Pawpaw – Staci’s Grandpa

Auntie B – Staci’s Cousin, Bethany

Paul & Elizabeth – Staci’s Cousin & Wife (and soon to be babies!)

A – Staci’s Cousin’s little girl

Dodo – Staci’s “uncle”

Angie – Staci’s “aunt”

Trace – Staci’s “cousin”

Kylee – Staci’s “cousin”

Aunt Laura – Staci’s Aunt

Uncle Terry – Staci’s Uncle

Missy & C – Staci’s Cousin and her daughter

Michael & Paix (Daron, Michael’s husband also came, but we forgot to get a pic…) – Staci’s family

Uncle Kenny – Staci’s Uncle

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Friends

Amy & Sherry (& Amy’s son, B – not pictured) – One of Staci’s Best Friends from HS & her mom

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Church Family

Carly & Gracie – our youth

Pastor Robert – our pastor

Gail – friend & fellow church staff

Tyler – our summer intern (and friend from OK)

Barrett – our youth

Craig – our youth

Cal – our youth

M – one of the sweet girls from church

Elizabeth – one of our friends and youth moms

Courtlyn – our youth

Carlie – our youth

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Thank you SOOO much to everyone who came and loved on our little guy.  We are so thankful for all of our friends and family (and those who weren’t able to make it to visit, also).  We love you all!

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–Staci & Michael

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(Newborn Josiah)

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(3 Month Old Josiah)

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It’s been so fun to see Josiah learn and grow.  He’s just now getting to the stage where he really looks at you and responds (sometimes) to the things you do.  He’s started to smile a ton, and the other day even gave his first little squeaky laugh.

It’s funny how being a parent really opens your eyes up to your own childhood and parents.  It’s funny to see things on the other side.  You really start to appreciate parenting a lot more.

One of the things that hit me today was how proud I am to be our baby’s dad.  The funniest part is that he hasn’t really done a whole lot or given me much reason to take much pride in him.  Most of the time he sleeps, cries, and/or poops.  But the times I just get to stare at him sleeping I think about how blessed I am.  When he laughs while we play or get’s excited because he made a silly noise or sat up, my heart is full of happiness.  I think about how much more proud I will be when he begins to walk and talk, and read and write; when he get’s into sports, or band, or school clubs.  I’m thankful for our little boy, but I’m also thankful to look back and see that I know my parents felt the same way for me when I was Josiah’s age.  The pride of being a parent is like nothing you have ever experienced before.  And I know that pride will continue to grow over the course of our baby boy’s life, and I can’t wait.

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Tell us your story… What or who is someone you are so proud of and why?

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-M

It’s been such a blessing to be a part of Wesley church over these past two years.  I can’t lie that there are things that we miss –being far from basically any family (especially immediate), and experience the seasons with the weather (down here it’s basically hot, not so hot, and really hot!)– but we have also loved being at our new church and new home.

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Here’s sort of a Trip down memory lane since our move (PS… Some have links to previous blog posts):

- when we first arrived, we found out on a very first day at church about the Wesley Pumpkin Patch.  It was crazy overwhelming and made for a very long day, but after two complete Pumpkin seasons and heading into our third it’s been a blast and a great part of our ministry here.  It’s also been a fun opportunity for me to make it onto our local news stations every year.  In fact, one of my most memorable moments was being interviewed by Fox news my 3rd day on the job.  I had fun with that.

- That same day we left for IKEA in Houston and bought some new furniture!  It was my first trip and now I’m hooked.

- Staci went to her first Spurs game at the AT&T Center!

- We celebrated our 2nd anniversary up in Dallas!

- We spent our 3rd Christmas together in our third house, so we had to figure out how to decorate all over again.

- Went on my first Ski Trip!

- We began searching the housing market for when our apartment lease was up.

- My brother got married in Memphis and we got to road trip it up there together which was pretty fun!

- We jumped out of a plane!!!

- We found where we wanted to build our new home and began the process!  Before we new it we were moving in!

- Built my first porch on mission trip!

- Read all the Harry Potter Books and saw all the movies… umm… maybe 3 times….

- Found lots of new good music for all seasons!

- Moved to a new house!

- Got Pregnant!  And shared our story!  And found out he was a boy!

- Celebrated another holiday as a family… the first one in our new home!

- Celebrated our 3rd anniversary together in San Antonio!

- Had countless youth activities including: Christmas Parties, Halloween Parties, Mission Trips, Summer Camps, Retreats, A trip to Sacramento, CA, Beach Trips, Pool Parties, and tons more!

- Our Baby Boy was born!

And here we are starting our 3rd Pumpkin Patch season!  We can’t believe that it’s all flown by so fast (even though sometimes it feels like it’s been a really long, long journey)!  We have been so blessed in so many ways over these past 2 years and we are very thankful!  We look forward to the coming years with our sweet son and our new family unit!

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What have you been up to these past 2 years?
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- M

This may not seem like a big deal, but I assure you it is huge for all of us Disney Nerds trying to make reservations today.  You see, this morning at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time (so 6:00 a.m. here) reservations opened up.  So everyone who really wants to eat there between November 19 and 180 days from now tried to call at exactly that time.

We started calling at 5:55 and weren’t able to even get through until 8:10 when Michael just happened to call at just the right time.  And he just read that December 3-7 is completely booked already!

I’m still in shock.

Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie, and the restaurant is going to be like walking into the movie.  Check out some of these photos of the work so far: (the following photos are from thedisneyfoodblog.com)

The restaurant will be underneath the Beast’s Castle:

Cracked door arch into the Beast’s Ballroom:

The enchanted rose mosaic:

Portrait of the Beast in the restaurant:

Belle and the Beast Mosaic:

Rose Chandelier:

“Be Our Guest” Restaurant is part of the new Fantasyland Expansion at WDW.  Click HERE for a  great collection of info, pics, and videos.

I can’t wait for our December trip with Michael’s family, and now the fact that we get to eat at Be Our Guest makes me even more excited!

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–Staci

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Q for You:  What movie (Disney or otherwise) would you love to be turned into a restaurant theme?

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As Staci mentioned in her post, on Tuesday, July 3, we headed to the hospital early in the morning to meet our little guy later that day.  I was pretty excited.  I’ve never been to the hospital for myself before (and I guess technically I still haven’t, but this is the closest I’ve gotten).  Staci got prepped and I got into my scrubs.  The doctors/nurses filled us in on the process of trying to get our baby turned so that he could come into the world facing the right direction and what the procedure would be in case of the need of a C-section.  This is where things started getting intense and more real in my mind; I didn’t want there anything to happen to my little boy that would hurt him.  I listened intently.

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This is where being a father up until our baby actually being with us was so hard — all you want to do is fix things that you just cant fix.

For example: when Staci was dealing with morning sickness, the best I could do was help her avoid the food that turned her stomach and keep her hair out of the way when she was bent over the side of the toilet.  Or when Staci was put on bed rest, the best I could do was get her what she needed which I know was a big help, but I couldn’t fix the problem.  Then Josiah never turned the right direction for delivery and there was nothing I could do… helplessness is not a fun place to be

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So I got all “scrubbed” up and ready to go

When our doctor began the procedure it was another one of the toughest things I’ve had to sit through.  She had to press on Staci’s belly, and our baby boy, as hard as she could to try to get him turned around.  Staci was in so much pain, and all I could picture was our little boy on the inside getting so sad and hurt.  Once again, the best I could do was stand there and let Staci squeeze my had till I had no feeling left in my fingers and continue to encourage her to be strong and tell her that she was doing such a good job.  After 4 tries and about 20 minutes with no results the doctor, and Staci, finally conceded that this boy was going to stay breach.  So we moved over to surgery.

For the next 10 or so minutes I waited outside the surgery area as they prepped Staci and got her nice and numb from the chest down.  As I waited, the anxiety sort of reminded me of waiting to see Staci on our wedding day.  Of course, there were a lot of other nerves running through my body like fear.  I didn’t know how things were going to turn out.  I knew that God had things under control, and I had to continue to remind myself of that and just breathe deeply.  Talk about the longest 10 minutes of my life.  In fact I started to wonder if they might have forgotten that I was standing outside, but then I knew that there was no way in the world that Staci would let them touch her before I was in the room with her.

Eventually I was called back to the room, and it felt like I had stepped into an episode of ER.  Like I said before, I’ve never had any kind surgery or been in the hospital for any kind of procedure.  The lights were shining down over Staci’s belly with about 5 doctors and nurses surrounding her working away.  I looked at Staci and thankfully she was so peaceful which helped set my heart at ease.  I didn’t really know what to do while we waited so I told her about waiting in the hall, and we made some small talk about how crazy it was that our son was going to be with us any second.  Before we knew it we heard little baby moans and groans coming from across the curtain that separated the surgery from our faces.  My eyes started to well up as I told Staci “That’s our baby boy!”  Then our doctor called the birth time and lifted him up for us to see!  It was a moment like I’ve never experienced my entire life.

This was a picture we took after seeing our baby boy for the first time:

Yes, if you can’t tell, there are a few little tears rolling down my cheeks.

The nurses then took our boy to get him cleaned up and I had my first opportunity hold him in my arms.  It’s funny how I’ve never been much of a baby holder, but as soon as the nurses handed Josiah to me, I felt like I had been doing it for years (paternal instincts I guess).

I’ve never felt so much pride and joy and good feelings all at one time!  It’s so crazy to think that I was part of making a brand new life.

I know that it had to be hard for Staci not to be able to hold him right away because of the C-Section, but I have to admit that it was a pretty special thing to be the first one (besides doctors) to hold our son.  The nurses had to take him to the nursery, and it was hard to leave Staci behind but I knew the doctors were going to take good care of her.

We got up to the nursery and they weighed our little boy who came out to be 7 pounds and 19 inches long.  It was a really special time getting to stay with our little baby boy for the first hour or so. During this time I had two of the most memorable moments of my life:

1) When Josiah first grabbed on to my finger while he was laying in his baby bed!

2) When our family came to the window and all stared in at him with so much pride and excitement!  Now that I think about it, I wish I had a picture from that moment.

Eventually I got to go back and see Staci and show her all the pictures I had taken of our little guy!  It was a really sweet moment for the two of us.  Then I headed back to the nursery while they took Staci from surgery recovery to her room.  On my way back to the nursery I was able to see the family and talk with them about it all and show them some of the pictures too!  It was such an awesome time to spend together.

We finally were able to all head over to where Staci was at and she had her first moment holding our little guy.  It turned out to be a crazy first couple of days with Staci unable to get out of bed.  Thankfully with my mom and her mom there they were able to help walk me through diaper changes, swaddling, and baby holding techniques while Staci recovered.  Talk about trial by fire.  I had never touched a diaper in my life and by the first night I was changing them on my own.  It was all pretty scary for a lot of different reasons, but it was so nice having Staci there with to coach me through it all from the bed.

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Most of the rest of the story is all kind of a blur with a lot of awesome things that I have already gotten to experience as a father.  Over a few following posts I hope to share some more of my journey into parenthood.  It’s been a lot of work and not a lot of sleep, but every second has been so worth it.  Even after 6 weeks, it still feels funny to know that I am a dad!

Every time I lay eyes on the little guy I find myself staring for minutes at a time!    And so I leave you with a few of my favorite pics of the little guy!

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The two loves of my life together for the first time

Three Generations of Elizondo Boys

First Diaper Change

Father and son

From his first home sponge bath

Playtime with daddy!

A Picture from Josiah’s photo shoot with Ashley Fisher Photography (click for link) at one week old (those are my hands he fit so small into)

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- M