Easter Weekend 2014; Jude's 1st Easter

We had a great Easter Weekend celebrating Jesus' burial and resurrection. This was Jude's 1st Easter and James' 5th! This entire season leading up to Easter has been one of the sweetest that I can remember: between the newness of everything for Jude combined with James' deeper understanding of Christ's sacrifice on the cross as we read stories and did the Resurrection Eggs almost every night (per his request!), it was almost more than my heart could contain. We had a pretty relaxed weekend: We made Resurrection Rolls for the first time this year on Good Friday, went to our Easter Egg Hunt at church on Saturday and then hid eggs multiple times just out in our yard when we got home (just for fun!), and then celebrated Easter with Stephen's family on Sunday (and another egg hunt! - with dye-free candy for James! Thank you so much, Nana!). One of my most favorite moments which brought tears to my eyes was watching James retell the Easter story using the Resurrection Eggs for Stephen's parents, Aunt, and Grandmother. It was so precious!

Here are a few pictures from our weekend:

Good Friday:

When James discovered that the marshmallow (representing Jesus) was gone, he said "this is the best day ever!"
And it was, sweet boy!


Saturday/Easter Egg Hunt:

James with his best friend Cody and his friend Caroline. :)

Easter 2014

 They woke up way to early in anticipation of Easter baskets...

One of my favorite outfits Nana has ever made. I loved James' 1st tie!

A Fun Spring Weekend!

These pictures are so out of order (kind of like my life at the moment!), but we had a fun weekend last weekend so I thought I'd share. We enjoyed spending the day at the Birmingham Zoo with Nana on Friday, enjoyed the sunshine and water table (Jude's 1st time!) on Saturday, and watched James sing with the preschool choir in church on Sunday. We also dyed eggs that were rocket ship and alien themed (James' Pick)!

"Jesus is Alive, He is Risen..Risen"

"The Tomb is Empty..."

"Just Roll, Roll, Roll that stone away..."

Zoo Train!

This is what James wears whenever he helps me cook these days. :)

Jude at 10 months old!

Wearing: 6-9 month and 12 month clothing; size 3 diapers and size 4 diapers for nighttime tummy sleeping; 4.5 in shoes

Sleeping: He 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

Eating: We are doing a combination of baby food and finger food at ever meal, and sometimes only finger foods.  He likes everything (including paper, leaves, bugs - there is not a thing that he will not try to consume)!! This month he had salmon, sweet potatoes, roasted veggies, and spaghetti and meatballs...just to name a few. He's still nursing as needed but he gets so busy that he'll go long stretches in between. I feel he will likely self-wean or weaning will be a non-issue when the time comes (so different than James!). 

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

Teething: He still just has two teeth on the bottom (since 6 months old), and I can see the white of a top tooth through the gum..so, any day minute now we expect to see more.

Look: Big Brown Eyes, light brown hair that seems to be getting very curly this month; He is referred to by people as "little girl" or "she" ridiculous amounts lately. We have just started laughing now because it's gotten so humorous. 

New "Tricks": super fast crawler, pulling up, getting into everything, can stand for a few seconds when he's still and not bouncing, says "Mama," "Dada," and "Baba" (for ball), He can escape from his high chair so we had to invest in a new one, opening cabinets, climbing stools, getting into the toilet and trash can, can pull out his own little baskets of toys, and his newest discovery is clapping which is so sweet! 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, 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 and being left in the church nursery

The best picture I could get before he ate half of the sticker...

We love you, sweet stinker baby! I wouldn't trade you for anything. I thank God every day for these precious months with you, Jude Brooks! You have brought us even more joy! Love, "Mamama"

My Boys...

Some days I still can't believe that I have the great privilege of being "Mama" to these two...

 My Sweet Boys, You are SO very loved!