Photos: The Iraq War, 2003-2011

My dearest Joey,

Wow! What a cool kid you are!! You just visited us here in Playa for 10 days. What a whirlwind - a GOOD whirlwind! I honestly don't know where May went. It sped by sooo fast!!

You are happy, so happy! You are smart, so smart! You are funny, sooo funny! You are so darn cute to boot! But everyone says that of you.

You love the beach! The first day we went, you sat at the water's edge with me and every time a wave would lap us, you would laugh. It was so much fun! And then there was the swimming pool. The first day you learned to jump in the water and loved it so much that you exhausted me. I am such a nervous nelly with you so I couldn't just sit and relax while watching you. You really are like your mom - you took to water like a duck does. At Akumal, you learned to float on your back all by yourself! I believe a video was taken of that.

One day, your mom went on a tour with Auntie Carrie and I was your babysitter - how lucky I was. We had such a super day! One of my favorite times with you was when everyone went out one night and we got ready for bed and watched, men, men, men, oooh, oooh! You were so cuddly and cute. You are so easy to put to bed. I know that is because your mom and dad have set up a great routine for you. I am most impressed as that was one of the hardest things for me as a mother - putting you and Uncle Bobby to bed! Thanks to Grandpa, I soon learned how to do it easier! Your mom is one smart cookie!!!

I am also so impressed with your power of concentration for a 20 month old! One day we decided to watch the finale of Survivor and your mom gave you her iphone and you sat in one place for close to an hour playing this game. Being a teacher, let me tell you, that is amazing for your age!!!

We all had a talk and it was decided that we would come there for Christmas!!!! I am so excited. This time, however, I am going to sit back and watch a lot more instead of doing! I know it will be okay with your mom because she has dad to help!!! I think your mom will be shocked at Gamgam sitting so much! Haha! Can't wait!

We love you very much Joey! Will write again soon.

Feliz Compleanos Joey

Well Joey you have had a year to make your way around this planet of ours, What do you think so far? I know what I think of you as my my nieto. To say you have brought joy and happiness into our lives is an understatement. You are a giver Joey. When you enter a room or a beach you bring with you smiles, so many smiles and your contagious laughter that seems to be endless. You look into our eyes and let us know who you are which is a very happy human being. Everybody I'v known spends a lifetime trying to achieve what you have accomplished in one year. Most people do what is expected of them and create a life mould from others desires of ourselves but you already have that figured out and you do what it is that you want and have created your own mould, kind of a free spirit mould or a Joey mould. There will always be bumps in the road but as you keep smiling and laughing these bumps will be easy for you to get through. Joey you bring us so much which we should all learn from ; like caring, sharing, genuine communication, warmth, freedom of expression, doing what is important to you, growing as you see the need to grow, your love which seems endless, just being you and not trying to be any body else. You are simply perfect Joey because you decided this is what you are. As we all tell you as well as everybody else that you are so beautiful, well you are more beautiful inside believe it or not. You have so many things we all had and lost, but you know how to keep the things that are precious; love, compassion, humor, smiles, integrity, having fun. We need to all watch you as you teach us so many lessons. We need to learn your lessons like following your heart. You have taught me lots in your first year joey and I thank you for that. These are things I will not forget and I love you more than you will ever know for being you.

All my Love,
Grandpa Heard

These pictures are from my cellphone so they aren't the best quality, but these are a few of my personal favorites over the last 2 months or so. I have a lot more but here are just a few for now!

Love, Daddy

Hi Joey,

I caught a couple cool new videos recently of you. First another laughing fit while your Buffer (Rocky) runs around the room, and also a video of you climbing up the side of your crib all by yourself! You do that all the time now, I it's a good thing to show you. Sorry the quality isn't that great, the video is from my cellphone.

Love, Daddy

Hi Joey,

I just wanted to post a couple of videos of you from today. Actually I was talking to your sister last night and she requested some videos and I told her I would take some today. So I figure I will post them here for her and everyone to see. You were getting very close to crawling today and I took some video of you on the bed trying. And another video of you hangin' out in your jolly jumper.

Hi Joey, it's your daddy. Long time no post, but I will do my best to post more regularly from now on. Lots has happened over the last six months since you were born, and you sure are getting big! And today you had your first hysterical laugh! Rocky was running around the room with your stuffed Pooh bear and you just found it incredibly funny to say the least! You started laughing uncontrollably for the first time. I mean, you laugh quite often but not like this. It was more of a laugh attack and it was hilarious! I managed to get some video, but I missed the best part. I caught the end of it and then it just sounds more screeching, which you do a lot of too! Have a look for yourself:



Anyway, I have to get back to work. I will post more soon and just remember that I love your more than anything in the whole world! Well.... you're tied with your sister!

Love, Daddy

Hola Joey!! Today is Super Sunday. It will be your first Super Bowl. We are going to a Potluck at Mom's Hotel to watch the game with all our friends. It should be a lot of fun!! We have been looking after you quite a bit lately. It is soo cool. You love to walk everywhere while I hold your hands. You also love to watch cartoons and you especially love to lie on our bed and play with Kramer or stare at the fan. You also love to stare at the photos of your mom, uncle and great grandma!! You can sit up now!! for about 1-2 minutes before you faceplant or fall sideways. It is soo cute. You certainly love your Kramer. Have a look at these pictures and you will see for yourself. Your Gramma has just started her own blog on the internet. It is Cathy's Natural Remedies at naturalremediesblog.net. I will be writing about the natural remedies that I know of that work really well and natural remedies that I believe will help others. A lot of them involve herbs. I am also volunteering at Angel Notion, which is a clinic for the poorer Mexicans. There is a huge garden there where they grow vegetables and herbs. I love working there. I volunteer at the Peanut Pet Shelter as well. We have cleaned up a huge piece of property for the 75 dogs!! Now they have a really nice place to stay!!

It's been a while since I last wrote, I know, but you sure do keep us busy. You are 4 months old now. You've just had your first Christmas and New Year's and you've already traveled to Vancouver to meet the rest of your family and our friends. We have moved to a new condo near Grandma and Grandpa, so you don't have your Dr. Seuss room anymore, but that's ok, you've got plenty of other stuff going for you.

Since I last wrote, the USA voted in the very first African American President. Barack Obama will be sworn in this month, and we were all very, very moved when he was elected. It's given me a little hope, anyway. Here's a picture of you and Obama:


You were also spoiled at Christmas. Mommy might have to rent out a whole new apartment just to store your stuff. Here Mommy is living out of a few suitcases in Mexico, and you need a moving truck to move your stuff, haha. It's a good thing though, shows you how many people love you when they can't stop filling your life with fun stuff and cuddles and laughs and kisses. Here you are on Christmas morning with Grandma and Grandpa:

I love those little Candy Cane pajamas. Soon after, you had your first New Year's Eve. We made some good food and had a few drinks here with Grandma and Grandpa and then we went to Bar Ranita for the countdown. There were lots of people out and when midnight struck, I suddenly became very teary-eyed because you've made it the best New Year's I've ever had.

You are so special, Joey. You amaze me every day. Every day you've learned something new or picked up a new skill. It is absolutely amazing to watch you figure out that Rocky is not like us, how to grab your toys, to discover your feet and your vocal chords. Oh boy, Joey, can you screech. The last week or so you have been non-stop screeching at the top of your lungs, and not angrily, but with pure joy. We got a video of you doing this to Daddy's head:



You are a strange little boy Joey! You have also sprouted your first two teeth. They are the two bottom front teeth and holy crap, are they sharp. Here is a picture:


You sleep through the night most nights now and your favorite thing in the world is Rocky - every time you see him walk past you, you smile from ear to ear. He sure loves you, too. Just tonight I was lying in bed reading and Rocky walked in and stuck his nose in the space between slats in your crib just to see what you were doing and when he spotted you, his tailed wagged. You also love to walk when Mommy or Grandma hold your hands.

We have gotten some great picture of you Joey, you sure are photogenic. Here are a couple:



You are a very happy baby, as you can see. It's no wonder, you have a lot of people who love you. I feel so lucky to have you in my life and I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings. I love you so much Joe,

Mommy

Wow. Where to begin. Joey, for as long as I can remember, I knew I wanted to be a Mom one day. I thought about names, and envisioned what my children would look like. I used to have dreams about babies that were mine and I would always wake up hoping these dreams would come true one day. Well, they finally have and I can't even begin to explain how wonderful it feels. It is truly overwhelming. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, you make the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard and I can't believe you came from me. I am still having trouble wrapping my mind around this whole process. Mommy is feeling a million things all at once and it's amazing and scary at the same time. You are, by far, the most incredible thing that has happened to me and I can't wait to get to know you better and better. Here is my favorite picture of you and I:



I love you Joey. Welcome to the world.

Mommy

Hola Joey!!! You arrived at 5:35 yesterday afternoon!! You were great! You came into the world in a hurry and then were so calm. You are absolutely perfect!! We were all very excited and emotional!! Your mommy did a super job and is now a little lighter!! Haha. She had a tiny bit of champagne to celebrate!! She and your daddy were soooooo delighted!! They couldn't stop smiling. We all got to go into the little room one at a time to see you. You were all stretched out on your back and looked soooo relaxed. Grampa, Uncle Bobby and I came over at 4 and you were born so quickly. We went over to Centro Maya to get dinner and your daddy texted us that you were coming quickly so we ran back and voila!! We stayed until 7:30, came home and sat up til 11 talking about how wonderful it is to have you here!! Today, we are going to see you and your parents after lunch. You are coming home tonight!!!! Can't wait. Love you lots, Joey!!
Gramma

PS There is a hurricane coming fairly close to us - Hurricane Gustav. Will let you know what happens. It should start affecting us with rain and wind by Saturday!!

Well big guy, today is the big day, I am very excited to meet you, I am your auntie Carrie. I have been best friends with your mom for over 20 years now. Your mom is in the hospital right now and she is having regular contractions. I thought it would be kind of fun to keep track of all the text messages that I am receiving from your parents.

Also I have not written on here since it started, but here is a few tips. Your dad is going to try to give you delusions about HIS hockey team. But just so you know, the Canucks are really the tean to route for. Yes..they have not won a Stanley cup or done anything good in the last 14 years but that is really no reason to give up..it just means (our) team is getting ready to win the Cup!

Anyway, I will meet you in September when you get to Vancouver (where your parents are from) and I will give you gifts and love and cuddles!

Today's Text Messages:

7:33 AM
In Hospital!

9:16 AM
Regular Contractions!

Hours Later...

4:32 PM
Joey Simmonds was born @ 5:30 8 lbs!

Now obviously this message was sent by daddy, cause your real weight was 7 lbs 7 ounces ( Gramma told me).

Well thats it! Welcome to this crazy world and I will see you soon!

Love Auntie Carrie

Dear Joey,

This is just a starting point in case you decide to take an interest in sports. You can always look back and find out what was happening in sports when you were born. Right now the Olympics are on in Beijing. Two of the biggest winners are Adain Bolt from Jamaica as a sprinter as well as many other sprinters from Jamaica and Michael Phelps in swimming - he won 10 Gold medals. He is American.

Baseball
Leading teams: Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels. A few notable players are Derick Jeter, Kevin Youklais, Dustin Peoria, Manny Ramirez, Jason Bay from Nanaimo, Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz. The World Series is usually in October.

Football (American Gridiron)
Best teams: New York Giants, New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburg Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, and just maybe the Oakland Raiders (your Uncle Bobby's favorite) but not this year. The Super Bowl should be won by one of these teams. It in early February of every year.

Golf
The best golfer in the world in Tiger Woods but he is out recovering from knee surgery for the season.

Tennis
Federer and Nadal

Hockey
Ask your dad about hockey. It is a very popular game. I just never had an interest in it. Your uncle Bobby has but your daddy has the most interest and he knows a lot.

Fotbul (Soccer)
Mancester United and Chelsea. Best country: Spain. Worst country: Canada.

I will tell you who won the World Series and the Super Bowl when it happens. If you want we can hang out at EZ and watch the Super Bowl together. By the way Joey, I am your Grandpa Heard, your mommy's father and you have a Grampa Simmonds, your daddy's father. Hope to see you on Monday if not sooner! How excited I am!!!

Grandpa

Dear Joey,

Some of the notable world leaders are Stephen Harper, George Bush, a lady President in Germany, PM Brown in England, PM Rudd in Australia and so on. I don't remember names too well as they change all the time. Probably the biggest event in the world right now is the war in Iraq. The reason that the US invaded Iraq was to secure oil reserves for the 500 wealthiest people in the world, so that they can maintain their power and control of the world. North America is in the process of going through an economic recession because the politicians plan it that way to ensure the wealthy stay wealthy. But, recessions come and recessions go. There is also much controversy over the US election scheduled for November, when you are 3 months old. Hopefully, Barrack Obama will win and become a president of hope. He doesn't necessarily believe in war and he believes in helping people take care of themselves. The world has very big hopes for Obama. In the early part of your life time Joey, you may be seeing the disintegration of the American Empire. There are many details about this but instead I will suggest 2 books for you to read if you end up liking reading. They are The Seeds of Liberty: A Genesus of The American Mind" and "A People's History of the United States of America" respectively authored by Seville and Howard Zinn. Some of my favorite people are: Barrack Obama, Michael Moore, Ralph Nadar, Dick Cavett, George Carlin, Ghandi, Bobby Kennedy, Napoleon, and Tommy Douglas. I believe in revolution as it is really the only way to make a change. I deeply care for people and am a humanitarian. I love animals and sometimes I think that human beings are the only real predators on earth. I am against Global Warming and believe everyone should do their best to stop it. In the world right now the saddest part is Af so many children are starving to death because there is no food and the larger countries refuse to help them because of their almighty greed. Asia is the most populated part of the world and Australia, probably the least populated. A couple of movies you should watch sometime in your life are: The Corporation, On Golden Pond, and Good Morning Vietnam. Just a thought as you come into the world, when you wake up in the morning and you see a cloudy or rainy day, always picture the sun shining, because it is.

While we don't have all your furniture yet (your change table and crib were delivered today, the crib missing screws to put it together and the change table in pink!), we finally finished painting the Dr. Seuss illustrations on your walls. I drew them and Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa all helped me paint them. It took a long time and your poor Daddy has been suffering a stiff neck ever since (he did all the letters, so he was reaching up to paint the whole time), but we had lots of fun and I hope you like them! Although, I can't imagine you'll be much of an art critic yet. Here are some pictures:











Technorati Tags: baby, room, dr. seuss, cat in the hat, green eggs and ham

Hey Joey! This is Gramma! It is getting awfully exciting around here. You could arrive any day!!! Your mommy may have you next week! We all sat around talking about it last night for quite awhile. Your Grandpa and I were sitting on the beach yesterday in the HOT sun and we were saying how holding you is going to bring back such beautiful memories of when your mommy and Uncle Bobby were born. We cannot wait!!
About the beach and the weather - you are going to love this place!! The water is so turquoise and great to swim in. The weather here is always very warm and humid. We are in hurricane season (June to November) right now but so far it has not been too busy! It is supposed to be a very active season and August and September are supposed to be the busiest! We will see. There is nothing on the horizon right now.
Yesterday, I went to Angel Notion - it is a clinic for the poorer Mexicans. I helped take their blood pressure and weigh them. They have an herb garden there that I am hoping to be come a part of. I am very interested in herbs and their healing powers. I will let you know how it goes if and when I start at the garden.
Adios, my dear one! See you soon!
Love Gramma

And he said that Mommy's hips might not be big enough for your head (that's a mighty big head you have there, kiddo, Mommy's hips aren't necessarily tiny). I have to have an x-ray next Monday to find out if the hips can handle your cranium and if not, we will schedule a c-section. Which means you could be born next week! Although it's not the way I wanted it to happen, as long as you are safe, I am just overjoyed at the thought of possibly meeting you next week! Stay tuned...

Hi Joey! Today is your mom's birthday! Today she turns old, just like me. No just kidding, we're still pretty young, and age is all in the mind anyways.

So we are going over to your gramma and grandpa's place shortly because in addition to it being mommy's birthday, we are also have a baby shower for you. Lots of people are coming and bringing presents for you! We are pretty excited to see what neat things you get. We're going to sit out by the pool for the afternoon with everyone and then later we are going to a restaurant here in Playa Del Carmen called John Gray's. It looks pretty fancy and yummy! I gave your mom some presents this morning for her birthday from you, me and rocky. We gave her some new books, and a new note book, and a nice package of Hershey's kisses. I think she liked everything!

Yesterday we bought tickets for you, mommy, me and gramma to go to Vancouver, Canada in September. You will be born by then, and will get to go on your first trip at about a month old! You will get to meet all sorts of family including your mom's aunts and uncles, and gramma (your great gramma), as well as my dad (your other grandpa) and your sisters Abbey and Natasha. It should be a pretty fun trip. we are also excited about all the food we've missed since moving away from there. The sushi especially is the best I have ever had anywhere, as well as all the other multicultural foods that we love like, Chinese, and Indian that you just can't seem to get where we live in Mexico.

Well, I have to feed and walk Rocky before heading over to the baby shower. Talk to you soon Joey!