11 Months with Jude

Wearing: some 6-9 month clothing still and 12 month clothing; size 4 diapers for nighttime tummy sleeping (mostly cloth during the day); 4.5 in shoes

Growth: I don't have official measurements, but he is weighing right at 21 pounds on our home scale 

Sleeping: He still takes 2 naps during the day and sleeps 10-12 hours at night; he is definitely more wakeful lately and doesn't fall asleep as easily when we are out. He is definitely struggling with nighttime sleep lately (teething pain and/or developmental milestones)

Eating: He likes everything and signs "eat" now. He also reaches into a toy bag and pretends to put food in his mouth. This month he is eating mostly table food and some new foods that he has tried include: baked sweet potato, avocado, cheese, and ritz crackers. He still really loves trying to eat paper which keeps me busy all day long trying to keep it out of his mouth.

Personality: Content, easy-going, extremely active, fearless, playful, independent, rough, and sneaky (always up to something!) 

Teething: He has four teeth now and working on more (so we've been cutting teeth all month!). 

Look: big brown eyes and curly brown hair. :)

New "Tricks": super fast crawler, pulling up, getting into everything, he is not walking yet but is letting go and standing for longer periods of time and cruising very well on furniture, says "Mama," "Dada," and "Duck"...also we think "Baba" (for ball or balloon), opening cabinets, climbing stools, getting into the toilet and trash can, can pull out his own little baskets of toys, clapping and now trying to wave, and he can pull himself up onto the end table by pulling out the drawer and lifting himself off the ground. He keeps me busy!!!

Likes: playing, being on the go and into everything, eating, bath time, watching us brush our teeth, swinging and being outside, anything that James is doing is where he wants to be, he seems to like dog stuffed animals and real dogs too (our neighbor's dog, Sunny, is the highlight of their day many times!), playing with books and paper (and eating paper), he loves to sit and flip through little books (it's so cute!), he loves remotes and cell phones, he loves taking out DVD cases, he laughs at the word "no" and "bless you" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" with Mama; clapping, being near and touching James at all times, Praise Baby DVDs - the only things that he dislikes are being stopped from all of his adventures, being left in the church nursery, and being handed off from Mama (we are in that stage now!)

Jude, I cannot believe that in just a few, short weeks we will celebrate your first birthday! What a whirlwind this year has been! You have brought us so much joy, and I loved delighting in all the unique things about your little life that you add to this family. I cannot imagine life without you, and I can hardly remember life before you. I love you forever, sweet stinker boy!

Evidence of his climbing...

Everyday Moments: Water Table Edition

The warm weather is coming, and the boys love playing with the water table! Jude drank so much of the water (that our neighbor's dog was also drinking from - yuck!). He stood without holding on for an extended period of time several times too.

Everyday Moments: Dinnertime Edition

Here are way too many pictures of the boys eating dinner, but I get caught up in all those sweet little expressions. Jude needs to wear a bib but constantly rips his bib off, and James doesn't wear a bib anymore but didn't want ice cream to get on his shirt this particular day.

Everyday Moments: Dinosaur Edition

I'm going to do a few posts of some of our everyday moments... Nothing fancy but precious to me!

We've been enjoying playing with Daddy's childhood dinosaurs... :)

Mother's Day 2014

This was my first Mother's Day with Jude and my 5th Mother's Day with James (unbelievable!). It was a wonderful, low-key celebration: church, lunch at Cracker Barrel, Daddy & James planted some petunias, peach cobbler and ice cream, and we enjoyed watching Free Birds together as a family. Stephen got me a new book/Bible Study, a sweet card, and helped the boys make some artwork for my "Mama Book." I'm thankful today for my sweet boys that are beyond what I dreamed for myself, my husband that loves and supports me (I could not be the mother that I am without him being the man that he is!), all the mothers/grandmothers in my life (and other precious women along the way too) that have loved me and my children well. I also remember today those sweet friends here locally and afar that are praying for a baby of their own and/or missing babies that are in heaven.

Here a few pictures of our day. It's hard to get a good picture with a four year old that doesn't enjoy pictures, a busy baby, and a Mama that blinks in every other picture but hopefully we have a few to commemorate the occasion. I love to write and I so wish that I had way more time in this season to write about all that this special day means to me (and what my children mean to me! I wish I had time to have my words sound as beautiful as they are...) and the profound way these two precious ones have forever changed me, but I'd rather spend it with them (just telling them!). And even though they are so young, I pray they remember even just a tiny bit of these days together. And that when they reflect back on their few early memories in these early years, that they will just remember an overwhelming amount of love....Because you are so very loved, my sweet baby boys. Don't ever forget that!