Merry Christmas Everyone!

Gobble Gobble!

Josie's first Thanksgiving was a big success. She enjoyed her banana cereal while everyone else munched on Turkey and all the fixings. This year we have a lot to be thankful for!

Happy Feet

Something big happened to Josie when she turned 5 months. It's a moment we've been waiting for...in fact I feel as if it is a moment that every young lady waits for, counting the days until it happens, hoping that one day it will actually happen. Yes, I am referring to the day that Josie finally fit into a pair of shoes!

This young lady had about as many pairs of shoes as her mom before she was born! She has so many they don't all fit in the same drawer. So many of these shoes were suppose to be 0-3 months, but up until the big 5 months none of these shoes fit. (Yes I did try to put them on every week since the first day we brought her home from the hospital!)

Now don't get too excited... the shoes in the picture are the only ones that fit so far! Perhaps at 6 months a few more pairs will no longer fall off her little happy feet.

The Windy City

Josie had her first "vacation" the last weekend of October. Josie was on the road back to Omaha at the mere age of 5 days old and she has been back to Omaha countless times since. Therefore, Omaha has become her second home. So our first bonafide road trip was to Chicago in honor of Uncle Danny's birthday. Plus, Josie was dying to see the place her big cousin Maeve calls home. So we headed east Friday morning and returned home Sunday afternoon.

Our trip was filled of lots of football watching, a trip to the zoo, and lots of eating...at least for the adults! I don't think Josie's intake increased much across the border.

Josie was such a trooper in the car. Due to traffic we were on the road for 7 hours Sunday. She either slept or babbled and played with her crab rattle. (The crab rattle seems to be her favorite toy right now...thank you Matt, Maria, and Lucas!)

Halloween at the Bemis'

Well as most of you know...Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday. It beats your birthday in my book! Therefore, my daughter's 1st Halloween had to be perfect! She had a total of 5 Halloween inspired outfits and 3 (yes you read that correctly) Halloween costumes. So what does a 4 1/2 month old go as for her 1st Halloween?! I shall tell you... The traditional pumpkin is what we had her pictures taken in, a banana for my work party, and finally a grammy for our annual Halloween party. Why a grammy you ask (you really are asking a lot of questions today) well I was little red riding hood, Billy was the big bad wolf, and our costumes wouldn't be complete without the grandmother!

Ice Ice Baby!

Josie attended her 1st hockey game tonight. Her pals Nik & Jay accompanied us to an Iowa Stars game. While the stars may have lossed, the boxed seats, food, drink, and conversation were great!

Josie was a perfect baby for the whole game. The bright lights and colorful images on the screens kept her entertained the entire night. Josie only wished the raccoon mascot Shooter stopped by. Perhaps next time.

Thumbs up

Move over mom and dad, move over binky, there's a new friend in town! Josie officially found her thumbs.

Josie is growing before our eyes. She will be 4 months in two days. She is rolling on her sides and wiggling all around. We will lay her one way and she will be in a completely different position right away. She drools so much she is like a leaky faucet. We can see a little whiteness in the back of here mouth which is her 1st tooth making its way in.

And what a chatter box! Mom and Josie are fighting for air time at home. If Billy isn't paying enough attention to Josie due to a football game on t.v., Josie will let him know (I will too). She starts yelling "Hey" and gets louder and louder until he looks her way.

She's got legs...

Grandshe's 60th birthday party was the perfect occassion for Josie to wear tights for the first time. Josie had a great time at the party. She was tossed around to about every person that walked in the door. Everyone wanted to spend good quality time with the lady in red... (tights that is).

It was a great weekend as she got to see her favorite cousin Maeve. Yup, as you can tell from the picture Josie really looks up to Maeve. She's quite the role model.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Josie had her 3 month pictures taken Sunday. On the way there she smiled and cooed. I kept saying, "Don't waste your smiles on me! Save them for the camera." As soon as we got to the place she looked like a deer in headlights. Completely stone face. Perhaps she thought now that she is the big 3 months she needed to show her mature side. She never cried though.

When we were exhausted from trying to make our serious mature baby smile, we put Josie in her carrier and left. She took a little snooze and next thing you know she woke up. Josie looked all around and once she realized the cameras were gone, she was all smiles again!

What a Week!

This has been a very big week for Josie. First of all she was baptized on Saturday with her pal Lane. She was a trooper, didn't even cry when the holy water was poured over her lovely lady locks. Afterwards we had a big celebration for Josie. 25 people came from near and far for the occassion. Most of her fans came from Omaha, but some came from Chicago, Minnesota, South Dakota, and we can't forget Nate who came from just up the road.

This was also the very first time Josie met her favorite cousin Maeve. They hit it off right away. Maeve loved to hug, pat, and supervise Josie's bath. She was a great big cousin from the start, already picking up things and giving them to Josie and letting everyone know when Josie was sleeping.

The day after the baptism, Lane & Josie had a nice playdate where Josie showed off her mad skills on the catepillar! As you can tell Lane was very impressed.

Finally, Josie's neck is strong enough that she can sit in her bumbo seat...What a week!

Babies Gone Wild

Brody to Marlee: "Look at this little kid, laying down right in the middle of us, who does she think she is?!"



Marlee to Brody: "I dunno but her nose looks so cute, like a little button. Don't you just want to pinch it?"

Josie to Marlee & Brody: "Oh for crying out loud, do you know how hard it is for me to sit up?! And when I do you just leave me here, all alone....I'm lonely. Soooo lonely..."

Omaha, Somewhere in the Middle of America

Josie vacationed in Omaha for the past week. She has not been there since she was the wee age of 7 days old, so she had plenty of friends and family to catch up with. It was a fun packed week of pooping on Aunt Kathy, cooing at the Grandma's, admiring ceiling fans everywhere, as well as sleeping 5 hour stretches at night (Mom and Dad say THANK YOU JOSIE!).

One of the finer moments was when Josie got to put on her bikini and go for her first dip at the Constantino house. We spent about 1 hour gearing up for the big moment that lasted about 15 minutes. Deciding what beach towel matches her swimsuit, finding her sunglasses, sun hat, sunscreen, binky, OK here we come Pool! As you can tell Josie didn't want the moment to end.

Life in the fast Lane

Josie had her 1st "date" with her new boyfriend Lane. Billy thought it was imperative that he introduce himself to this young lad early on. "Lane, you will know me as Josie's Father" he said in his most intimidating voice possibly. Lane just smirked. Josie simply grabbed Lane by the hair and said "Hey...you're my man and you're coming with me!"

Josie and Lane are already working on possible Halloween costumes. Some ideas include Little Miss Piggy and Kermit, Norbit and Rasputia (no we didn't actually watch this movie...) or Lafonda and Kip (yes we did see this movie).

Lovely Ladylocks

My locks, my lovely lady locks, check it out..I drive the boys crazy, I do it on the daily, dolce and cabanna, Sharyl and Madonna... While Josie's locks may not be gold, they are still lovely. Therefore I bring you the first installment of "Josie's Do's". How many other babies can do hair impersonations?!

The first picture is Josie's imitation of Don King. I think her whole boxing career is really starting to take over her life. Next we have Ace Ventura Josie Detective. Missing burp cloth, lost a diaper, have no fear Josie will solve the case. (We do realize this do is quite similar to the DK do, but her facial expression completely changes the character). Finally we have Josie the lawyer. With three out of five uncles being attorneys she couldn't help but mock them. "Legally, the way I see it, you have three options: feed me, change me, or snuggle me. Which do you choose?"

One Tough Cookie

Since day one Josie has liked to pose with her "guns" flexed and ready to take on any whimpy baby that may cross her path. Yup, she came out of the womb swinging at all the nurses and doctors. That being said, we thought it was time to name her biceps. After much debate and many names thrown out there (Tom & Jerry, Itchy & Scratchy, Touchdown & Jesus), we have decided to name them Mickey and Minnie.

We put on her jogging suit yesterday and she had some practice time. With a little more coaching and packing on the pounds I think she'll be ready for the ring really soon. I can hear the announcer now..."In this corner, weighing nearly 9lbs, Josie the Mighty Mouse Bemis! With her guns of steal, Mickey and Minnie, look out babies there is a new champ in town."

Josie is 6 weeks!

Josie turned 6 weeks on Friday. This picture was taken before we went on a walk that afternoon. Josie loves going on walks (or at least I like taking her on them) and she has been really good about wearing a hat to shade her from the sun (and of course to be a stylish baby!).

We cannot get over how fast the time has flown by. Josie is more alert now and is really starting to take in her surroundings. Billy swears she gets bigger everyday he comes home from work. I stepped on the scale the other day while holding her and she is almost 9lbs!

Josie coos all the time. We like to say "coo coo ca cho miss Josie" or call her a chatty Josie. I am pretty sure she will be a little extrovert like her mommy.