Carkeek Park

 Last weekend, we drove into Seattle and visited Carkeek Park. We had a great time. It's a nice park with lots of trails and right on the Puget Sound. You have no idea you're in a major city. It has a nice playground, including this amazing salmon slide. It was a little intimidating at first, but Jude really enjoyed it and kept asking "Again!" over and over.

 This indepedent little fellow loves these rocking things at every park...another hit for the day.

 After the playground, we walked onto the beach area, which was wonderful. The water was lovely and there were boats, geese, and ducks. We also saw 3 "choo choos" which made this little guy very happy! He played with the sea weed and crab shells and got really close to the geese. Jude enjoyed the sand and sticking his feet in the frigid water.

 He loved splashing in the puddles..

 And, watching the boats with Daddy. We had a small temper tantrum when we had to leave.

After the park, we went to UW's bookstore, which has an amazing selection of children's books. We had a great time there and Jude picked out some things for Christmas. On the way home, we stopped by Ezell's, a fried chicken place that was yummy! It was a taste of home...fried chicken, yeast rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, and sweet tea. Justin and I both agreed it's one of our favorite family memories. We had a wonderful time and it's so amazing to watch Jude continue to grow, learn, and develop his own little personality.

And yes, today is my birthday. I have enjoyed home made (by Justin!) Peanut Butter crossiants for breakfast, a wonderful service at church, and a friend is watching Jude tonight so Justin and I can have our first date night since our anniversary (July 19th). It's way over due! I am one lucky gal! (I also bought some new Seattle attire with birthday money!) :)

My Utmost Concern

It's October, already? Holy Cow! For people of know me, you know that Fall is my favorite season. Everything about Fall, I love! Pumpkins, the changing colors to orange, yellow, brown, and red. Football. Fashion. (I am a huge fan of cool enough to needs jeans and scarves, and the occasional boot, but not of frigid air.) The smells or cinnamon, sweet potatoes, and pears. The noise of crackling leaves, fire pits, and a light breeze. Ah, everything. And, not to mention my birthday. I'm so excited, yet nervous about this season...nervous you may ask. Well, Seattle's fall is much different than the South's fall. Apparently, the rainy season is coming. We have had GORGEOUS weather since we've moved. Nice, crisp mornings with highs in the high 60's to mid 70's. Lovely. But, the rain is coming. I'm nervous. Fall may not be the same for me any more...

Ok, back to the title of my blog. When I was pregnant with Jude, a parent of a student of mine at the time gave me some wonderful parenting literature by a wonderful conservative couple, Michael and Debi Pearl. I've enjoyed their thoughts and words of wisdom on raising children according to God's words. As I was reading in a new book I just started, they wrote this prayer and I wanted to share it (it's praying over our children):

"May they be lovers of God, co-workers with the Holy Spirit, and a friend to the Lord Jesus. And when their trail ends, may it end at the throne of God, laying crowns at the Savior's feet."

Oh, how I need to be in prayer over Jude continually, that he would grow in the knowledge of God's love and goodness and grace. I am so thankful that the Lord placed Justin and me in a families that taught us God's word and I pray that Justin and I will continue this heritage of faith.

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!

 Ok, so we're officially settled. Settled into our 5th home since being married in our 3rd state, and yes folks, we've only been married for 4 years. I can honestly say "God is so good." When I allow myself to stop and think about the many blessings that I have, the hundreds of things I have to be thankful for, I don't have as much time to complain. Didn't Paul say that he "Learned to be content in all things."? Well, that's what I'm doing. It's definitely a learning process.

Justin made his treck from AZ to WA state 2 weeks ago, just him and Mason. Talk about a tough trip. No big deal that he lost his wallet in the airport, which thankfully was returned but only after I had called and cancelled our bank and major credit cards. Some where in Nevada he got a flat tire on the moving truck. Then, after being in WA for less than 2 days, lost his cell phone, which was also graciously returned and had 2 flat tires on his bike, his only means of transportation. All I had to do was fly across the country with a toddler, who did do great by the way. Oh, and speaking of thankfulness, you learn to appreciate the small things when on your 5 1/2 hour flight from Atlanta to Seattle you get an open seat beside you and a wonderfully sweet grandfather of 7 sitting by you. It makes your life truly so much better!

Sorry the quality of this isn't great but yes, this is Jude's first day of "school". We've had a hard transition so far...some may think it's a normal transition but it's been hard for me. We were so blessed for Jude to not start any kind of care until 5 months old and then he went to a person's home with only 1 child. And of course we had sweet Ms. Debby who came to our house every Wednesday. To have 3 teachers and 15 other toddlers in the room with lots of stimulation was hard on my little man. The first 3 days, he refused to eat for them and took awkward timed naps but thankfully, he no longer screams when we pull in the parking lot and is doing much better.

I too am starting school again and I am so excited to be at an AWESOME SCHOOL. I have moved from high school to a middle school but I am really looking forward to working with some truly great professionals. Though my heart longs to be home with Jude, if I have to work, I'm glad I'll be working where God has opened this door.

Justin is doing great with his new project and we both have fallen in love with the scenery in this area. We live within a 10 minute walk to a great park on the lake that offers a playground and swimming area, as well as a fantastic dog park for Mason.

Lastly, I do want to through in a 17 month shout out to sweet Jude man. Though I'm bias, this kid is pretty awesome. His vocabulary continues to soar. He has learned several new words this month, including balloon and moon. He wants to see the moon every time we go outside, including first thing in the morning. He can tell you all kinds of animal noises/associations, but my personal favorite is when you ask him what a skunk does, he'll hold his nose and say "shew". Too cute. His new favorite books are the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" series and Justin is totally stoked that in the "Panda Bear, Panda Bear" one there is a red wolf. :) Jude has become less picky, knock on wood. He's never really been picky but kinda strange about textures, but so am I. However, this past month he's started to try new textures including rice, beans, and green beans. He has started stretching out his night time hours from 9 to 9.5 hours to at least 10, sometimes 10.5, which has really been nice. He still sleeps 2-3 hours every afternoon after lunch. He is a very strong willed little guy with an intense personality, but he is so sweet and will always give hugs and kisses when asked. He still enjoys and prefers to be outside. His favorite toys, other than his animals, are his Race car slide thing and his helicopter. It's really fun to watch his personality form. He still sleeps with his Lamby and/or Monkey and we've moved to only have his Bap (what he personally named his Paci) to his crib. When he wakes up, we tell him to give his bap to his animals in the crib and most of the time he willingly drops it in and says "Bye bye bap".

Any who, that's what's been going on...the last few weeks have been a whirlwind, but a good one. Students start back on Wednesday and a "new year" officially begins for me...yep, my 5th year teaching...whew...

Thankfulness

This summer has come and gone far more quickly than I ever imagined. I have spent the last few hours spending time praying and writing to Jude and thinking about the many things I have to be thankful for. The list is so long. Just about more than anything, I am thankful for time. Time with family and friends, time to be still and rest, time to make priceless memories with the people I love the most.

This summer has been filled with laughter, comfort, accountability, great conversations, time spent basking with my sweet little man, all day, every day and rejoicing in the things the Lord has given me.

I am so excited to say that we have another new blessing being added to our family. We found out last night that my sister and her husband will be adding me my first nephew, Elijah Mason Ball "Eli", sometime around January 13th. We had a fun revealing party last night to share the news.

To be thankful just doesn't seem like enough. I am so blessed, it's hard to think this place isn't our home. This Earth doesn't even begin to touch what our eternity will be like with our Lord.