Several posts...

October 28, 2006
What fun we had today at our Sunday School's Pumpkin Party! JoElle bounced in the bounce house for little ones, she got a butterfly painted on her face, she devoured a hot dog, we got our picture take as a family, hunted for Halloween candy in the park across the street, she made a new friend, and a little baby dressed up as a pink angel. JoElle laughed at her, sat down with her, gently touched her costume and handed her candy. She was very excited to play with the baby! We can't wait to meet little Madison, JoElle's soon to be born cousin! She will be arriving shortly, on November 9, 2006!

Tuesday October 24, 2006
Tonight at dinner, JoElle prayed out loud for us, in fact it was very loud! I guess she thinks God is deaf :)
How precious it is to hear her pray. She loves to pray for everybody, Tandi you have been getting LOTS of prayers lately from JoElle at night before she goes to bed!
JoElle likes to give hugs. She loves to hang from neck in the morning when I wake her up and she also will plant a kiss on me because Daddy always hugs and then kisses her. She is such a sweet child. I am so blessed to have her!

Sunday October 22, 2006
Fall Festival at a Methodist Church not far from the house-
After eating at Ton's Mongolian Grill (JoElle loves the eggdrop soup there, she can eat it with a spoon like a pro by herself!) we stopped in at the Fall Festival going on down the street at St. Andrews United Methodist Church.
Almost as soon as we got there, JoElle was pointing at the bouncing apparatus saying "I want to bounce," so of course we bought her tickets to bounce, this one wasn't actually a bounce "house" as it was flat with dinosaurs, trees and a bridge, with no roof. She had fun while the choir sang outside on stage. Then her and Daddy shared a watermelon snowcone, even though it was a little cool outside that day!
She also loved the dogs everyone had; she kept saying "I want to touch"
Did I mention how great her speech is now? She speaks very clearly most of the time and uses 3 to 6 word sentences consistently.
We are working on names, she is learning her full name- It is very cute when she says Alexandria! She is learning my name, Daddy's name, Nana's, Granny's, Grandad, Grandpa (my dad) and all her cousins and aunts and uncles's names.
In fact, when we got home that next day, JoElle starting calling out "Tim, Tim!" I was cracking up so hard when I realized that this is what I say when I get home!
She also is learning how to use I, me, you, your's, etc. in sentences. Daddy and JoElle were opening up a play bottle and he was telling her I opened it, so then she would say "I opened it" and "You opened it" and the "I closed it" and "You closed it".
JoElle also cracks me up when she walks around saying "Where are you (fill in the blank)?" with her hands in the air,then she answers, "Right there!"
Oh yeah, at dinner she wanted something, so she pointed at it and said "I want that!"
She also likes to drop things so that she can say " I dropped it" and then "I'm going to pick it up"
After Aunt Ana's baby shower, JoElle was taking out Baby Madison's clothes, holding them up and saying "Cute!" then she was say "Madison's" She is going to love her new cousin!!
Her manners are coming along great! When she burps, she says "excuse me" most of the time, she is starting to say "thank you" quite a bit without prompting, she says "sorry" when she hurts something/someone. She was telling her doll "I'm sorry" tonight because she accidentally hit her on the head! Then she kissed her head. Oh yeah, she loves to help with putting the dishes up from the dishwasher and she dropped the fork and told the fork "Sorry!" JoElle definitely knows how to use please!! She says please all the time.I am very proud of her!

October 12, 2006
At school, JoElle was carrying her baby around saying "the baby farted"!I don't know where she picked up this word because we say "toot" instead of fart.
Also, there are scarecrows all over due to Halloween, she calls them monsters and she has her class calling them monsters, I finally figured out how she knows what a monster is; her potty Elmo pick at the end says "I'm a BIG monster now!" She can also say scarecrow, too. She loves pumpkins; everytime we see one in the car or walking somewhere she points them all out.
JoElle had her first open hous at school. The entire time the other kids were singing for us, she was with all her teacheres instead of me and Tim! She loves them so much, it is very sweet and they love it!

October 1, 2006
We rode the Tarantula train from the Stockyards in Ft. Worth to 8th Street and back again! We went with cousin Peyton, Uncle Dan, Aunt Ana (baby Madison!) and Uncle Aaron.
The kids loved it! They were both so excited. They pointed at everything and told us what everything was. JoElle told us this one area was stinky - it was really stinky, she must have Daddy's nose. They LOVED when the steam engine went "CHOO CHOO" real loud, they both joined in! They have so much fun together; it's great watching them.
Aftwerwards we walked around the Stockyards a bit and they held hands until Peyton decided he was done holding hands. JoElle got upset that he didn't want to hold her hand anymore, so instead she ran to Uncle Aaron to hold his hand!
We at at Risky's BBQ and Daddy tore up a bunch of ribs while JoElle gulped down a ton of fries!

September 3rd, 2006 New Sunday School Class
We moved up in Sunday School at Church, now I am in a new class with some new friends and some old friends, new teachers, and a former teacher, too. My teachers sent me a postcard last week... I loved opening my own mail!
This is what is says,
"Dear Joelle,
Welcome to our class at Fielder Road Baptist church!
We look forward to teaching you about Jesus' love. Our 1st lesson will be about how important the BIBLE is: It is our "How-to" book for living each day.
We'll see you Sunday.
Mrs. Wilson, Ms. Debbie, Ms. Jana and Brittany"
How special for my teachers to send a special note before even meeting me! This is only one of the reasons why my Mommy and Daddy love Fielder Road's Childrens' ministry.
Daddy checked in on me before he left church (after service) to go to a football game with Uncle Aaron. When he peeked in on me, I was sitting in a big rocking chair (for the teachers) rocking back and forth watching the other kids.
Some of my new friends seem a bit younger than me.Mommy and Daddy say that I act older than 1 1/2 years old. I love to be with slightly younger children so that I can help take care of them.I will be a great a big sister be one day! But for now, I love being the center of attention at home!

August 30th- We are still working on potty training, she is going quite well at school, but at times falls off at home because she is too busy playing or we don't listen well enough to her saying she needs to go. The other day, I decided to try her in training pants, which are thick, padded panties. After she used the potty, I asked her to look me in the eyes so I could talk to her. I explained that she gets to wear panties because she is a big girl and that we don't go tee tee or pooh pooh in the panties, we do that in the potty. I repeated this a few times, but she was looking at me as if thinking "Ok Mommy, I'll try to remember that, but it sure is a lot to remember!"
Not more than 10 minutes go by and she has poo pooed in them...oh my, this is messy to clean up, you can't just throw it away like a diaper or pull up...! So we went through the explanation again, the whole time she is saying "sticky" "messy" and "nasty" with respect to the mess that was made on her, the potty and in her panties.
Another 30 minutes go by......she has one foot in her red bowl, the other foot in another red bowl in the living room, she walks with these bowls on her feet to locate the third red bowl, when she pauses, and then pees directly into the third bowl! She barely got a single drop outside the bowl!
I told her "You had an accident" with my hands up gesturing and shrugging. She did the same gesture and said "accident!" So after cleaning her up (and putting her back into a pull up!) she ran back into the living room and exclaimed, with her hands up and shoulders shrugged "Accident!" She was reading a story at school about a boy that is learning to use the potty and he has several accidents, so this word was just introduced to her and she was excited to really learn what it means. I hope she doesn't LIKE to have accidents!!
We'll continue on our potty training journey.....

August 30th~ Tonight while we were saying bedtime prayers, I prayed for our day, then I left it open for her to finish, I prayed, "Thank you Jesus for...." and JoElle offered "Daddy," then "Thank you Jesus for...." "Mommy!" and then I prayed, "Thank you Jesus for..." and JoElle excitedly prayed "JoElle!!" I love it when she says her name, it sound so cute!!!
These past two nights, she has been kneeling with me at her bed and clasping her hands together. Do you know how beautiful this is to witness? It makes my heart smile and overflow with love and joy!

August 29th~ Tonight while we were saying bedtime prayers, we prayed for Aunt Ana and her baby (she's pregnant), then JoElle chimed in "D" for Uncle Dan, so we prayed a blessing for him. Then she chimed in "Peyton" so we also prayed a blessing for cousin Peyton. I am so proud of her kind spirit; she is already reflecting God's love, she thinks of others even at such a young age!

August 28th~ Tonight while we were saying bedtime prayers, JoElle told me to pray for Daddy and pray for Mommy. Her thoughtfulness and sweet innocence really touched my heart!