Joseph Caleb Denney!

Well, needless to say, the biggest development since our last blog is the addition of Joseph to our family! Hopefully by now, most of you have seen Joseph, or at least seen pictures. If not, we have plenty that we'll try and put the best of on here. Well, now for a quick recap of what has happened since last time.
We are more or less settled here in Ventura. Julie was able to take it easy at the end of her pregnancy, which was a nice change from being a working student. She was also able to spend a lot of that time with her sister Stacie who lives very close by. Though the weather here is extremely mild (heavenly, really) Julie got a maternity bathing suit so she could give floating a try, as her doctor said it would feel really good and remove pressure from the pregnancy. Here is a picture of Julie the night that she went into the hospital. It is really hard to believe that Joseph used to be in there. He is getting big so fast.
For those of you who want the exact details and numbers, Joseph was born on July 24th at 4:27 p.m. He weighed 9 pounds even and was 22 inches long. He has blue eyes, and his hair was brown, and is now showing a little bit of orange, depending on the sunlight. We can't wait to see how he changes. At first glance, everyone said he looked like Aaron, but upon examining both of our newborn pictures, he actually looked like Julie. But he is changing everyday, and we can't wait to see how he changes and what his personality is like.
As for Joseph's progress, at his last doctor's appointment (which was when he was 3 weeks old) he weighed an even 10 pounds and was 22 3/4 inches long. By now, who knows how much weight he has gained. He has just recently started to flash little smiles at us. We don't have a picture of it yet, but once we do, you will all see it. I'm sure it will just make every single one of you melt, because it is absolutely adorable. Unfortunately, right now his most alert and social time is around 4 in the morning. We're working on that. He sleeps pretty well though, with his first shift lasting up to 7 hours. However, his next shift after that is kind of non-existent right now. We're working on that too. He's starting to be more active and alert, which makes Julie's days more fun. Hopefully as he learns to enjoy being awake during the day, he'll learn to enjoy being asleep at night!
As for other things that have been going on, here is a picture of Aaron with his nephew Riley. On the fourth of July we went to visit Riley's dad Jim at the fire station. We were able to watch the fireworks from there. It was a lot of fun, and Riley enjoyed being around Aaron. This other picture is Aaron infront of the Newport Beach Temple. We were able to go there for a session when Julie's sister Stacie attended the temple for the first time. It was a wonderful time, with wonderful weather and a beautiful temple. Luckily, Joseph was calm during the temple session so Julie wasn't too uncomfortable. Though the temple staff were more than willing to accomodate her if necessary.
This picture is of Aaron beginning the "Sydney Happened" 5K run/walk. He did quite well considering he hasn't been running regularly. It was a really special way to get together and honor Sydney's memory, and donate money to the MMA Research Foundation.
And latest in our news was Joseph's blessing this last weekend. Dick and Diane were able to fly in from Montana and spend the weekend with us, which was wonderful. Almost all of Julie's family was able to drive in for the blessing as well. The day before, everyone went to the beach. It was a great time, thought Joseph won't remember it because he slept the whole time swaddled up in his car seat. On Sunday, Joseph was most well behaved during his blessing and didn't even cry. Julie was very pleased! Then afterwards everyone was able to go to a park for a nice picnic. It was a bit breezy, but overall a beautiful day and it seemed like most had a great time just being together as family. We definitely all missed those of you who weren't able to be there!
Well, hopefully this update has caught everyone up to date on the many things going on with the extension of the Denney family. Hopefully we will be able to keep you all informed on a more regular basis from now on, with tons of pictures of Joseph so you can see as much of his growth as possible. We love you all. Thank you for all of your love and support during the last few months!