They're Growing

This sweet girl turned 10 months old this past week. It's hard to believe she's the same age now as Eli was when she was born. He seemed so much bigger at the time. She is an absolute mess! Her favorite things are getting into everything, making a mess, and aggravating her big brother. She could not be more different than Jude, but we are enjoying learning about the differences in our sweet babes. Jude would sit for hours and let us read the same books over and over, even at 10 months old. She is on the go, getting into everything. She wants to take things out of everything; drawers, the toy baskets, cabinets...you name it, she'll destroy it. But, she's oh so cute while doing it. :)

Now that she's getting older, Jude and Sadie are "playing" more together. It's quite cute and Jude is already protective of her, especially when she has to be disciplined. No biggie that she wants to play in the toilets, pull out the bath tub plug, eat dandelions and the like.

At 10 months, she can sign "more" and "all done" but not consistently. She will wave "hi" and "bye" and shakes her head no. She is very efficient at pointing and grunting for what she wants, usually food or a toothbrush, her absolute favorite thing to chew on. She calls me "Nee Nee" and has said "Da Da' and "brudda" for brother. Her favorite toys are her teddy bear top, shaking the marraccas, and emptying the lego bucket. She enjoys "dancing" to music too. She gets a kick out of watching Mason and still LOVES the sand box. She enjoys our daily walks.

She is a big girl and is all legs. She can still wear her 9 month onesies but 12 month pants fit perfectly. She is in a size 3.5 shoe. She's about the same size now as Jude was on his first birthday. She is crawling. pulling up, standing up, and doing squats like no one's business and will take steps while holding onto only 1 hand.

I do believe Jude will be our reserved, academic and Sadie will be our socialite. I may be wrong and it really doesn't matter, but it's fun to see their personalities already bursting through and both bringing so much fun to the mix of things.

This past week, Jude turned 3 1/2. He is a "threenager" through and through, struggling with his emotions, sharing, showing honor and respect and all the fun things we're trying to instill in him. But, he's a sweet, sensitive boy. He loves his animals still. We go no where without one. He is enjoying doing "school" at home and is making big strides in trying new things. He is silly and loves to "tell jokes". He enjoys being outside, playing chase and lions and antelopes. He also loves riding his tricycle and is ready for a big boy bike. He still enjoys Cars and Planes, but in the past few weeks, really clung onto animals and dinosaurs.

Jude continues to love to read and music. He amazes me at the details he notices and is becoming more of a "Daddy's buddy" and not being so attached to Mommy. It makes me a little sad, but I knew it was inevitable and will be so important as he grows.

Jude is also tall for his age. He's in the 90% for height and 85% for weight. He still wants to snuggle and thinks it's funny to "leave me hanging" when I come in for a kiss.

Our sweet babes are growing indeed. We are so blessed to have healthy and happy children. Oh, how I pray they will come to know Jesus and to love Him. Time won't slow down for us, so I'll try to cherish these moments, each special one.

Visit From the Grandparents and Montana

 We were so blessed to have Justin's grandparents (Papaw Mick and Mamaw Ann) visit us last week. Mamaw brought me some new domestic things and I practiced making home made biscuits and pie crust almost every night. Yes, we had 2 peach pies and 1 strawberry rhubarb, no big deal. Jude thoroughly enjoyed making a mess with us. By the end, we  usually ended up with flour in our hair, on our faces, and all over the floor.

We also visited Justin at work one day and enjoyed the ferry ride. We took an evening trip to Colville to show the grandparents where we go to church and to experience the logging company and Big R. The big sights around here. :)

 The kids really enjoyed having them visit. They played outside most days and enjoyed the cooler, fall weather. Sadie LOVED hanging out with Papaw and was a Papaw's girl.

While here, we took a trip across Idaho to Montana to visit Glacier National Park. It was amazing. It truly was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. On the first day, we did a few short hikes, one being to McDonald Lake where we enjoyed skipping rocks and seeing deer.

Jude was a trooper the whole weekend. He hiked like a champ and loved seeing all the wildlife. I had no idea until we got back that he had a bad ear infection the whole time. He kept complaining his ear hurt, but we all thought it was due to it popping and the higher elevation. He didn't run a fever...poor guy.

Sadie was also a champ. We couldn't believe how great she did making due to sleep wherever during the day.

One of the most beautiful places!

To make for more room, we rented a van and we really enjoyed the extra space. We had a fun road trip for sure.

The best hike was a 3 mile hike from Logan's Pass to see Hidden Lake. It was truly breath taking. Jude hiked the whole way and we got to see mountain goats literally only feet away. At one point, Jude had to tinkle, so Justin took him off the trail to do his business. Within 30 seconds, a goat had come to lick it up, as they are salt deprived. Jude got a kick out of it drinking his pee pee.

This picture does not do the scene justice, but it's the best one I've got. The water was the most amazing color of sapphire blue.

This is the view from our place we stayed on the last night. You put our son near a body of water with rocks, and you have one happy boy.

On the way back home, we made a detour to see the National Bison Range. Sadie enjoyed "driving with Daddy" for about 10 minutes before she conked out and slept on me for the next 2 hours while we enjoyed seeing the animals.

We got to see bison, bighorn sheep, elk, mule and white tail deer, and Jude's favorite, antelope. He did not want to admit they were antelope, as he thinks they only live in Africa, but we agreed to disagree.

We were very sad to see the grandparents go, but we had a wonderful time. I am so thankful that my children get to know their great grandparents (and even 2 great great grandmas). I am really looking forward to more family time when my sister and nephew visit in November.