Joseph's Talents Caught on Film!

'Hmm, sucking my fingers is getting boring!'













'Ahh! Maybe a toe-snack would be good!'















'Oh! Have you always been there?'






"Just pretend you didn't see that, okay?"

Joseph the Clown

Some more "good mood" shots. The one on the left is a
expression exclusively reserved for daddy. I've
decided to take it as a sign of affection!

Little Mr. Sunshine

It seems like no matter what happens this kid is happy!
He's discovering new things and has learned how to grab
everything around him. Now if we would just let him eat paper
and he could grab the nose of the kid in the mirror
his life would be perfect!

One Man's Trash is Another's Treasure!

Just on the day Ami was worrying that Joseph was out growing his baby
tub,God sent his answer. In our apartment there is a custom that
anything people don't want, they can leave near the mail boxes. The
scroungers that we are, we were able to nab this floaty toy that allows
Joseph to finally have a bath like a big boy!

Play time with Joseph

Joseph has somewhat learned the concept of a "game" so
we're having some fun now. His favourites are "Where's Joseph?"
(A kind of peekaboo with a mirror) and "Superbaby" which you
can see in the top photo. Life is good!

100 Day Splurge #3

Chair makes him look tiny, doesn't it?

100 day Birthday Splurge #2

There are likely to be a few more waves of these pictures.
Ami was very busy on his 100 day birthday. I figured I'd
space them out a bit!

100 Day Birthday Photography Splurge

Happy 100 day birthday Joseph! These photos are a testament, not
only to what an adorable little boy Joseph is becoming, but also
to Ami's photography abilities. Personally I don't think a professional
could do any better! (Forgive a proud husband and father:)

Joseph the Appreciative Audience

It's getting easier and easier to get Joseph to smile and laugh. Both mommy and daddy are very funny now and it is the greatest thing in the world to hear his delighted squeals.

You're not going to stick me again, are you?

A wary Joseph is on the look out for those mean nurses who inexplicably want to stick more needles in his legs. The stickers show the puncture sites. Actually the gal who gave his injections was very nice and very quick, but that didn't make his first four injections any more fun!

90 days old

Just 10 more days until we reach the significant Korean "100 day birthday." These days he finds mommy especially funny. We wish we could post videos here. It is so fun to hear him laugh!

Proud Progress

Joseph isn't quite at the point of turning yet, but his neck is getting stronger and he's moving his legs a lot when he's on his stomach. He's such a happy baby! We're so blessed to have a baby like this to "break us in."!

Joseph with his Baby Bible

The Cabbage Patch modeling contract
fell through, so Joseph has decided to get started on his theological degree with his English/Korean Baby Bible. (It's not as big as it looks)

The Many Faces of Joseph

Joseph's expressiveness isn't only limited to his bad moods! His good moods are increasingly more frequent and he is becoming more and more fun as he seems to be in the beginning stages of trying to "talk" to us. We think we might get into this parenthood thing!

Siamese Twins

What, you can't see the family resemblance?

Baby's First Christmas

You'll find this a marked improvement over our first (exhausted) family picture!

Hangin' Out with Friends

So...You up for a game of Dutch Blitz?

Escaping His Straitjacket

If I just keep on kicking, I might just make it all the way out!

With Grandparents

Lead Up to an Eruption

Lest you all think his life is a bed of roses, we present to you a developing tragedy in the life of Joseph Thoutenhoofd

Getting Chubby!

Ami thinks Joseph has inherited a dimple from me. Should come in handy for his dream of Korean-Canadian Cabbage Patch doll modeling!

Bath with Halmony (Korean Grandma)

C'mon mom and dad! Do you have to have a picture of every bath?

19th Day

It's a lot of fun to stare into those eyes!

Old Man Joseph

Life was much warmer back in the old days in the womb

Wait a minute, you're not mommy!

A nervous Auntie So Eun with a confused looking Joseph

Back to Normal

Ami and Joseph at Joseph's first visit to grandma and grandpa's house. It is so good to have my healthy and happy wife back, in addition to having a healthy baby. Praise God for his goodness to us!

Like Father, Like Son

At this point Joseph seems to have inherited many traits from his mom, but there is one obvious way he is like daddy...

10th day

The Adventures of Ami, Chris and Joseph

Ami's asked me to be the one to do the recounting of the story of Joseph's birth. Obviously that limits the perspective somewhat, as I can only say what's was going through my head, but I'll do my best to give you all a sense of the experience. (Hey, just be thankful we don't have a video.)

We were scheduled to have Ami induced the morning of the 9th, but Joseph had already started on his way the day before. The nurses advised us not to come in until the contractions were at least 3-4 minutes apart, so we arrived 4am on the 9th. Let me tell ya, besides the act of actually giving birth, there are few more painful experiences than watching your wife go through birth. She was a trooper though. Her older sister had told her not to waste energy screaming, so being the tough woman and obedient little sister that she is, she barely made a sound the whole time. She wanted to do this naturally, but even when she did take some stuff for pain all it did was make her unable to keep track of what was going on. The contractions kept coming closer and closer together and with greater intensity. There was a little graph there to let me know just how intense they were and you just wish you could take it away. I didn't go to the washroom for about 10 hours because was terrified of leaving her alone with this. In addition to this she was having chills and throwing up from what we mistakenly thought was the flu. Even in the midst of all this Ami was giving me advice. When I was eating my meal she reminded me to wash my hands etc.

After fifteen hours though, the doctors and nurses came to the conclusion that the baby wasn't going to fit through. They were trying to make the choice whether to do an epidural to allow Ami to relax so the baby could come through or go straight to a C-section. Unfortunately for both of these procedures a person needs an anesthesiologist and in the wonderful world of Canadian medicine they have declared that after 5 in the evening there is to be only of those on call. That guy was already in the midst of another surgery, so they told us that Ami had the privilege of going through an hour of useless contractions until he came. In the meantime, unbeknown to me, that little electronic chart that was graphing the contractions was turned off at the exact moment that Ami was going through a contraction, leaving me with impression that she was in a state of constant contraction and I was silently freaking out. He came earlier than an hour, but by the time the anesthesiologist came the baby's heart rate was occasionally dipping, so a C-section was the only option. Both Ami and I were a wreck by this point, having not slept for about 30-35 hours, but Ami came through the surgery well, and after a little recovery time, we were presented with our beautiful baby boy.

Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. After two or three days of recovery from the surgery the doctor felt Ami was okay to go home and took her off the antibiotics she had been on for her "flu." A few hours before we were due to check out Ami got seriously sick, prompting the doctors to do a few more checks. It turned out that what she had was not the flu, but a uterus infection. So as result we had to stay in the hospital five more days while the doctors tried different kinds of antibiotics to battle her infection. We were finally able to come home Friday afternoon.

In the midst of all this Ami and the Joseph were awesome. Ami was very strong emotionally after the C-section and Joseph was as perfect and healthy a little baby as we could ever wish for. He recovered amazingly well, given he had gone though such a traumatic experience. We were also able to take advantage of being in the hospital that long, pestering the nurses with questions about what to do in this or that situation and, I'm sure, making the nurses very happy to see the back of us. Ami actually said she was happy to finally get her money's worth from the all the money she's been putting into the BC Medical system in the form of insurance premiums. :) I can't speak for Ami, but for me that was an intensive training course in learning to both take responsibility for my family and also trust God for their ultimate welfare. Both were extremely valuable lessons for me and I pray I learned them well.

Going Home!

Finally, after nine anxious and exhausting days our newest addition is able to come home. Both baby and mom are healthy, though perhaps with a bit more recovery to go. Thank you all for your prayers!

Sleeping Joseph

He's even cuter when awake, but we think unconscioiusness becomes him!

First Family Photo

This is the very first picture of the newest Thoutenhoofd family and its newest addition. Joseph is doing his best impression of one of those Russian dolls!

With grandma & grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa Thoutenhoofd have been waiting a long time to have a grandchild close in near proximy. For the next few years at least, they should be able to see this one as much as their little hearts desire!

Welcome to the World: Joseph Hyun Thoutenhoofd

Nov. 9, 2006
This is about what he looked like when he first came out. Fifteen hours of trying to push through a small opening gave him quite the little cone head! And here are what his absolutely exhausted parents looked like!

2nd Anniversary!

We decided the best place to come to celebrate our second year of marriage was the site of one of our first dates, Westminster Abbey in Mission. It is truly beautiful there in the Fall and we enjoyed sharing this place with Ami's mom, sister-in-law and niece. It was a really nice day! (Incidently, Oct 30 was also the baby's due date, but apparently it's going to be a little late! Any day now! Keep checking here!)

Happy Little Princess

Meet Na El, our only neice on either side of the family!
She'll be staying with us for a few weeks, along with her mom,
Ami's brother's wife. Should be good practice! Ami's mom will be
with us for the next two months to help Ami.

Gifts from Auntie Courtney

Long Distance Baby Shower sponsored by Courtney!
Thank you very much, Courtney! It was more than I expected!
Only a month to go~~

32 weeks!

For Robyn :)