Happy 23 Months Eli!!!

Wow!!!! I can't believe that Eli will 2 in a month! We decided to throw Eli a birthday party on 1/1/10 so that we can celebrate with all our family in Indiana. It is going to be a blast! Eli become very verbal in the last month. He can repeat about anthing we say now and he is also starting to speak in phrases. He gets very excited when he accomplishes something and shouts "I did it!" He is also counting to 10 now. And he FINALLY said Grandma!!! I know 2 people who were very happy about that!

Eli at 23 months

His first 2nd birthday present(if that makes any since)

Its a BROBEE back pack!!!!!!!

Thanks Aunt Beth, Uncle Ken, M and JP!!! He LOVES it!!!

Christmas Day

We had such a wonderful Christmas today! Unfortunately Eli wasn't feeling the best(teeth and a cold), but he still enjoyed his Christmas. He had so much fun opening his presents and he also helped Jude open his. Santa went a little overboard this year, but I think he knew that Eli and Jude have been such good boys:-) Here are just a few of the pictures I took today! ;-) Love my new camera!!!!

Setting out cookies for Santa last night

Santa was good to our boys!

Jude's first Christmas

Eli was a little standoffish at first and needed momma, but then this became his favorite thing!

Jude's favorite present

He played on it all day

Even did some tummy time!

Eli checking out the goodies in his stocking

Jude checking out his stocking

Eli LOVES his Yo Gabba Gabba Laptop! Ninoland and Ninos(this is where Santa went overboard)

Loving the nino car

Eli with his new hat, it's Plex from Yo Gabba Gabba!!!!

Jude checking out some new toys and the new tray for his bumbo!

Baby Jude reminding us the real reason for this Holiday!!!!

I had such a wonderful day with my family! I feel so blessed. I love my husband and my 2 little boys so much. Tomorrow we are heading to Indiana for a week (as long as the weather is on our side). Right now the roads are covered in ice so we will just have to make sure the roads are clear for us. We are all very excited to visit everyone! We have 3 family Christmas parties to go to and we are going to have Eli's 2nd Birthday Party while we are there (his birthday is January 30th)!! There will be lots to post when I get back! And you can count on tons and tons of pictures!!!! :-) Merry Christmas again!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Cookies for Santa!

Tonight Eli helped me make cookies for Santa!

He only tried to eat the dough a few times

We had so much fun together!

Of course he had to taste the cookies and he immediately asked for more!

The finished product!

Maybe next year we will actually make our own cookies, but we have been busy getting ready for Christmas and a week long trip to Indiana so I decided to go with the premade dough this year. Eli sure didn't mind and I don't think Santa will mind either:-)

Tomorrow we get to put out some cookies and milk for Santa!!! Christmas is so much more exciting when you have kids to share the excitement with!

Christmas Came Early for Me!!!

Mike decided to give me my present early so I could have it all figured out and use on Christmas morning. I got an amazing new camera!! When I say amazing I mean wow!!! This is actually a Christmas/Mother's Day/Anniversary/Birthday present. It takes the most amazing pictures and videos. They are so crisp and clear. I am so so so happy! Here are just a few of the great pictures I have gotten.

My Boys! Smiley Jude Michael Eli and Butta Jude in the bumbo Eli playing Jude getting ready for bath! (my favorite picture, check out the mohawk)Bath time for Jude Eli dancing Jude playing

Eli having some milky

I LOVE MY NEW CAMERA!!!!!!!

Santa!!!!!

We took the boys to see Santa today. I have been prepping Eli for this for weeks now. We have watched Christmas shows and talked about Santa. I would ask Eli what he wanted Santa to bring him and he always said ball. Eli would get so excited when we would talk about sitting on Santa's lap. Even with him being excited I knew there was a slim chance of Eli actually sitting on Santa's lap. I was happy that he sat next to Santa and Jude didn't mind sitting on Santa's lap! I think the family picture turned out cute! After the picture Santa gave Eli a little coloring book and then Eli had a one track mind. When Santa asked Eli what he wanted for Christmas Eli said color! It was pretty cute. And of course as we were leaving Eli started crying "Santa, Santa Santa"!

Santa 2009

Jude's 4 Month Check Up

Both of the boys had to go to the Dr today. Jude for his 4 month check up and Eli to get the 2nd dose of the H1N1 shot. Thankfully Mike was able to meet us there on his way home from work. Two little ones getting shots is not easy or fun, but they both did pretty well. Jude was easy to comfort and calm down, Eli not quite as easy. It didn't help that he had a rough night sleeping last night and no nap (teeth).

I was a little surprised at Jude's weight. He weighed 8lbs 4oz at birth, 13lbs 5oz (90th%) at 2 months and now he weighs 14lbs 5oz (45th%) at 4 months. He gained 5lbs the first 2 months and 1lb the next 2 months. His Dr said it is normal for babies to gain a lot of weight in the beginning and then average out. She also said since he is still gaining weight and at an average weight for his age there isn't anything to worry about. :-) I wasn't too worried, I know he is a good eater! He is also 25 inches long which is in the 60th percentile.

We also got the ok to go ahead and start food. I plan on waiting til he is closer to 6 months unless he starts acting like he needs it. I asked the Dr if we needed to do cereal and she said it is up to us. I am glad to hear that because Eli had a terrible time with the cereal. He basically didnt sleep more than 2-3 hours for 1 1/2 - 2 months. So I plan on skipping the cereal with Jude!

Jude is even smiley after shots!

I can't resist a baby in jammies!!!

Eli wasn't in the mood for pictures today :-)

Happy 4 Months Baby Jude!!!

Baby Jude is 4 months old today!!! He is such a great baby. He loves to play on the floor and look around (as long as it isn't tummy time!), he loves his bouncy seat, he enjoys his swing, and he is the happiest baby. It is so easy to get him to smile! I love it. I have so many adorable pictures of him. He is also an easy baby. He has been a breeze to get on a daily eating schedule. He eats around 8, 12, 4 and 8 each day. For the past few weeks he has been taking his morning naps (about an hour) in his crib. His afternoon naps are either in the bouncy seat or on the floor( 1-2 hours) because Eli is napping in their room. He usually gets a 30-45 minute nap in the evening on my shoulder or in his bouncy seat. He is still my night owl, he is usually up til 10:00 - 10:30, but he sleeps straight through the night until 7:30AM!!! He has been sleeping through the night for the last 4-5 weeks!!!!! This is so much earlier than Eli did! Right now he is still sleeping in the bassinet in our room. We are a little nervous about switching him to his crib only because he will be sharing a room with Eli. We are nervous about the boys waking each other up. We plan on working on this while Mike is off for Christmas break.

Jude at 4 months

My Happy Baby Boy!

I love his dimples!

He isn't the best at lifting his head from his tummy, he hates tummy time

This is his favorite toy to look at on the floor

He constantly moves, this is not how I laid him on the floor!

Snow, Snow, and More Snow!

We got a little bit of snow last night. Or I guess you could say we got a little bit of a blizzard!!! The snow just kept coming down and when it finally stopped that is when the crazy winds started. It is so so so cold and nasty out, I am so glad we were all able to stay home yesterday and today! Hopefully this isn't typical Iowa snow, I can't imagine this all winter long.

Eli checking out the drifts on the back porch

He thought it was pretty neat

Jude didn't mind all the snow

:-)