Today was a beautiful day in Starkville. I'm guessing around 70 degrees and slightly breezy. Anyway, we felt like going outside to catch the sunshine, so we picked Jo up at day care around 2:30 (after her nap) and took her to campus.
She and Stella had the best time hanging out. She spent most of the time in her stroller, but we pulled her out to take photos at different stops on our walk.
Again, we're outside - exploring campus - and Jo's much more interested in the thing that came FROM HOME. They're best friends though - she had a blast.
Checking out the engraving on the seat bench near President Lee.
Mom, baby Jo, and President Lee. It's not quite exam time yet, so we did not give him the obligatory salute! (We'll go back in May...)
Josephine had a wonderful time exploring leaves and grass. To my knowledge, she's never crawled around on grass until today. She really liked the leaves and pulling them apart - and only tried to eat them twice.
Here I am with my first two babies!
Again, like I said, she's never really crawled on grass before, so she was skeptical at first, but I think she really enjoyed it when she figured it out. She did whine when we took her and put her back in the stroller. She wanted to stay and play with her leaves! The grass was a little wet, and although she didn't put enough pressure on the grass to soak up any residual moisture from the rain a few days ago - I did. I had a wet spot on my rear end the rest of our walk. 
Here's Jo giving you her best BULLDOG face. They look alike in the cheeks, huh?
At home earlier this week.
She's started to watch TV - we'll put on Dora or Diego - or any cartoon movie Chip has recorded. He's good about picking out good movies. He's recorded The Land Before Time and the Veggie Tales movies for her and she's really enjoyed those.
Jo loved shaking my Hot Tamales box, then it ran out... and it wasn't so fun anymore. But here she is while it lasted. I'm in the background (do not pay attention to how I look - it's SPRING BREAK). I'm reading aloud in this picture. I checked out a copy of The Giver from our school library. It's one of my favorite books ever, but Chip's never read it, so we're reading it as a family this week. Even Jo's getting to hear it, although I know it doesn't mean anything to her now. She mainly serves as a distraction, but I enjoy the family time. 
Here she is with her big puppy dog. It's multifunctional. It serves as a body pillow for her, as well as a toy, something to climb on - you name it! This night she was being especially silly. Singing and dancing - she was so fun!
Jo is often generous to the dog. Here Jo is eating and Stella's hoping for a snack. We're trying to train Jo NOT to feed her, but Jo gets such enjoyment out of Stella's reaction - it's going to be hard to break! 
Here she is eating CHICKEN! By far, one of her favorite meals is chicken nuggets. We gave her mac-n-cheese yesterday and she enjoyed that too. There's not a lot that goes in and comes back out with this child. She is much like her father and mainly just enjoys eating.We are so thankful for her - she's added so much to our family and made life so much more fulfilling. She's strenghtened my relationship with Chip and helped us find mutual enjoyment in so many things. Now that she's almost a year, and each day seems to get more and more exciting - I can't wait to see what's in store. I've never enjoyed something so much as having my family! I love being a mom and a wife and I know Chip really enjoys his role as father and husband - he's wonderful at both!
