A Year and a Half Already?

 Our sweet little man turned 18 months yesterday. Wow...our new family pastor said it well last week in Sunday school, "Sometimes the days seem long, but the years go by so quickly." Amen.

Without becoming too nostaglic and longing for time to slow down, I'll give an update on this little guy. In the past month, Jude has gotten into his new routine and is settling in as a temporary Northwesterner pretty well. He talks up a storm and can tell you pretty much any animal. No joke. His favorite books now are his Eric Carle books, including the whole Brown Bear series and the "Can You Do It?" Book. He really enjoys thumping his chest like a gorilla. He points at everything and tries to say the word. He also likes telling us that "I Jude" while pointing to himself, and pointing at us and saying "Momma" and "Dada". He is continuing to eat well. This month, he has gone away from not wanting any water, actually refusing it, and wanting only milk...hmmm....I have broken down a few times and given him really watered down juice because drinking 24 oz of milk a day at this point is not only expensive, but just seems like too much. Not sure? He also trying new things. He is eating small salads with lettuce, cucumbers, and carrots (and plenty or lite ranch), as well as more whole wheat pasta options.

He loves being outside and usually pitches a fit when it's time to come in. He loves his bathtime and playing with puzzles. His favorite game is hide and seek. He'll pull at us and say "Ga hide" and wants us to hide with him with the other finds us. He will "shush" you while hiding but then start giggling himself. His new favorite word is "No" and we're really having to press upon him that there are very few times when telling Mommy and Daddy no are truly appropriate. It's tough, "Do you want water?" Jude says "No" and that's ok. I ask, "Jude sit down please." and he responds "No", not ok, disobedience.

 Last weekend, this little guy was really sick and ran a high fever. He stayed home with Daddy on Monday and I took him to the dr. that afternoon. We found out that he had his first DOUBLE ear infection, poor guy. He stayed home on Tuesday again and seems to be doing much better. We are so thankful this was only his 2nd ear infection ever, knock on wood.

He continues to be a sweetie. He wants to snuggle before every nap and bed time, which I certainly don't mind. He only gets his Bap (paci) while in his crib or snuggling in the rocking chair right before which I'm really proud of. We don't take it anywhere with us. His usual bed time is around 8:30 (9 on the weekends) and he will sleep til 7:30 if we let him. Unfortunatley, during the week I have to wake him up by 6:45 to get to work on time.

Jude is in all 18-24 month clothes now, with the exception of a few pair of shorts and summer shirts that are 12 months. He wears a size 5.5 shoe. He weighed 26 lb. 10 oz. at his appointment last week but we have our actual 18 month check up tomorrow.

Jude is becoming so independent and has a helping heart. He helps feed and water Mason every day and if I need him to get something, he can follow 2-3 step directions. He's really good at getting my purse or shoes from another room if I need him to.

Something you can't quiet tell from pictures is his crazy hair. He's definitley a blondie and has wispy hair like I did when I was little. Because it's so fine, it sticks straight up at his crown. We will wet it down but the second it gets dry, it goes right back up. It's pretty darn cute and almost everyone comments on it.

Jude, we are so thankful to have you in our lives. We are blessed beyond measure to have the opportunity to raise you as our son. We love you!

Woodland Park Zoo Visit

 We have been enjoying the beautiful summer weather in our new town. Not a drop of rain since we moved in 3 weeks ago. It's been in the low to mid 70's every day with beautiful clear skies. This weekend, we went to one of the local zoos. I really enjoyed the lay out because the enclosures are closer together and the animals are much closer and easier to see. This little guy LOVED it! He didn't want to leave any exhibit and we had to keep telling him we were going to see more animals. He loved the exhibit with the snakes and lizards and he hissed the whole time.

 Jude was really brave and fed some birds. He wasn't so sure about petting the goats and sheep at the petting zoo though.

 He was zoning in on the monkeys.

 One of his new books has a macaroni penguin so he was pretty excited to see these guys. He also liked being able to watch them go under water in their tanks. The otters did that too and he would jump back every time.

And, I was able to snap a picture of Jude doing his skunk face. He adds in the sound "shew" too and it's pretty darn cute. We are planning an aquarium visit soon and I'm pretty sure this little guy is going to have some similar interests as his Daddy's, at least for now. :)

Elijah Mason



The soon to be Mommy and Daddy

 In the midst of the craziness of summer and yet another cross country move, I have not been able to blog about my sweet nephew who is due in January!!! In May, my sister texted me a picture of a positive pregnancy test while I was at school and I screamed when I checked the text. Later that afternoon, I showed Justin the picture and he said "Does that say positive?" and I said "yes". He then asked, "Who peed on that stick?" with a look of sheer horror and I busted out laughing, assurring him it was Jillian's. Any who, I am thrilled to know that my sister is getting to experience the beauty of motherhood and the fact that Jude will have a cousin so close in age (22 months apart) to play with and share memories with!

We were SO lucky to be at home when Jillian and Phillip had the ultrasound to announce the gender of the baby. Because I won't be back home until Christmas, I wanted to throw them a Revealing Party with the help of Mom, Phillip's Mom, and his step-Mom. We had a great time and it turned out really well!

 The delicious spread!

 Phillip's Mom did a great job on this adorable fruit basket. I was super impressed!

 Everyone was supposed to wear their color of gender guess and team blue out voted team pink. Aunt Brenda, Phillip's cousin and me were the only ones to go pink. Of course, my Mom tried to cheat and wear both.

 Phillip and Jillian played a matching game where there were different things on the cards to represent either a boy or girl. For example, there were 2 football players and 2 purses matched up. After the ultrasound, they took out on picture of the gender the baby is so leave 1 picture unmatched.

 Aunt Debbie, Gerri Le, and Jamen also got to "attend" the party via webcam. I love modern technology!

 And, of course as we know, it was a boy! Jude was pretty stoked to see "bababalloons" regardless of the color but he was definitely the ham of the party.

We had a great time and it was a great way to kind of finalize our wonderful summer at home. I have been busy going through Jude's clothes that we can hand down to Eli in hopes to take them home over Christmas. Since he will be born in the winter and Jude was a spring baby living in hot areas (AL and AZ) some things won't match up because of season, but having birthdays only 2 months apart allows for some clothes to overlap. From what I can tell, fall and winter clothes will be good but since Jude is on the smaller side his 12 month clothes were all summer and Eli will be in the dead of winter at 1 year. However, we have some really cute snuggly new born and 3 month clothes Jude never even wore that Eli can wear since it was so unseasonably warm the spring Jude was born. (87 degrees on March 17, the day we brought him home.)

I am so super excited to meet this new sweet little man in our family! We can't wait to meet you Eli and we are so happy for Jillian and Phillip!