Did That Really Just Happen?

I put Eli to bed a little before 8:30, but since he wasn't feeling well he had a hard time going to sleep. At 9:00 he was still fussing a little and it was time to feed Jude so I decided to get Eli before I started feeding Jude. I laid Jude on his back on the floor in the living room and went to get Eli out of his room. When I came back into the living room Jude was on his tummy. Eli's room is right off of the kitchen which is connected to the living room so I was gone no more than 20 seconds. I know that Jude likes to roll from side to side a lot, but did he really just roll from his back to his tummy at 6 1/2 weeks old? And did I really miss his first time rolling over? I am calling this his unofficial first roll. I guess we really need to start working on tummy time to strengthen his neck so he can hold his head up better if he is going to be rolling over. :-)

Super Baby Jude

Happy 20 Months Eli!

Eli is 20 months old today. Unfortunately he isn't feeling the best. He has a little bit of a cold with a low fever. Hopefully he will get over it fast and will be back to himself soon. Eli spent the majority of the day cuddled up with 'butta' and some random stuffed animal. I thought this picture was sweet, too bad he is cuddled up with Jude's bear. I guess we will cross that bridge a little later.

Since he wasn't feeling the best today he didn't have much of an appetite. He didn't eat hardly any breakfast so I really wanted him to eat something for lunch so only way to get him to eat was to let him sit in the big chair all by himself and he still didn't eat that well.

Eli is learning new things each day. We are really trying to work with him on talking. Lately he has started counting and saying more animal noises. He loves to wear hats and today for the first time he tried taking his shirt by himself and he thought it was pretty fun!

Since Jude was born Eli has become quite the Daddy's boy. When Daddy is home Eli wants him to sit on the floor and play with him. If I ask Eli if I can play he tells me no. I like seeing the bond between them grow. In this picture Eli is sitting by the gate yelling for his Daddy.

Even though he wasn't feeling the best today he gave me a nice pose for his 20 month picture. I love this little boy and can't believe how big he is getting. I love watching him grow and learn new things. He amazes me everyday!

Jude Michael's 6 Week Pictures

On Saturday I took the boys to get pictures taken. I am very happy with how they turned out. Jude was sound asleep for all the pictures. I tried to wake him up so we could have some with his eyes open, but he just got mad and went back to sleep. Here are a few of my favorites.

I thought this collage was adorable. I normally don't spend the money for these collages, but how could I pass this one up!!

What a Wonderful Weekend!

On Friday my mom and Jackie were coming for a visit. I couldn't wait to see them. When they got here I went outside to greet them and was completely surprised to also see my sister Katie and her too little ones, Maya and Sunjay! It was such a wonderful surprise! We had so much fun all weekend. On Saturday morning we took the boys to get their pictures taken and to check out a mall in Cedar Rapids. The pictures turned out amazing but the mall was not so great. After that we went to Steak n Shake for lunch and Eli got to try ketchup for the first time! After lunch we came home and the little ones took naps, as well as a few big ones :)! After nap I took them to the mall that is close to us and the kids got to ride the carousel. Eli liked it at first, but then needed mommy to hold him. We had so much fun talking and catching up. It had been almost 6 weeks since I had seen Katie and 4 weeks since I had seen my mom. We always have a blast when we get together. If Tracy would have been here it would have been perfect!

Eli enjoying some ketchup!

Riding the Carousel

Cousins; Sunjay (10 months), Maya (3),Jude (6 weeks), Eli (20 months)

Eli became very attatched to Aunt Katie

Baby Sunjay

My mom, Jude, Jackie, Eli

My mom, Jude, Jackie, Eli, me, Sunjay, Katie, Maya

6 Weeks!

Baby Jude is 6 weeks old today! Time is just flying by and I can't believe how big he is getting. He doesn't go back to the Dr for another couple of weeks so I have no idea how much he weighs, but he is definately gaining weight. I can tell by his chunky thighs and chubby cheeks!

Jude at 6 weeks

Eli is in need of a haircut!

Smiles!!!!

For the past week I have been waiting for Jude to smile. Yesterday was the first time that he smiled for me(I have a picure of him smiling at 4 weeks but I think it was just a fluke), but of course the camera wasn't around. Today I was able to catch a few smiles!

I love how Eli is half naked in the background!

I know it isn't the best picture, but it is a big smile!

Here is the first picture I have of Eli smiling, he is about 5-6 weeks old. They look more alike than I realized, they both have chubby cheeks that I love!

He isn't smiling in the video, but it is a cute video and it shows how big he is getting and how much he is changing!

I Love My Boys!

We are trying out a Paci with Jude. They say if you are nursing to wait 6 weeks. With Eli we waited the 6 weeks and he never took to it, which is absolutely fine. Jude always has his hands up by his face and we don't want him to suck his thumb so we decided to try the pacifier at 5 weeks. Right now he doesn't really need it too often so we will wait and see.

Eli loves this dog. He has recently started talking to it. He will get down and ramble something in baby talk and then give him a kiss, or he gets in his face and yells no no no! It is too cute!

Eli loves his ball pit. It is in our downstairs playroom, so Eli stands at the gate yelling ball ball ball several times a day. He had thrown the pillows off the couch into the ball pit and was diving on top of them! He always has a blast!

Jude likes to lay on the floor after he is done eating. He rolls from side to side just looks around at everything. I am really surprised at how much he moves from side to side.

This is the face Jude made when I put the bar on the bouncy seat. He has been in the bouncy seat several times, but this was the first with the toys, lights and music. I think he was a little unsure.

Eli, on the other hand, loved it! He has to check out all of the baby items. He sits in the bouncy seat several times a day.

Jude is not to found of tummy time but we will keep working on it. When he is up on the boppy like this he usually just tries to chew on his hand or arm. He is five weeks old in this picture.

Eli would run around like this all the time if he could. He especially likes to be shirtless. It is becoming a little difficult to get him dressed. He lets me undress him, but he fights me when I am trying to dress him.

Jude and Reggie having a conversation. Reggie was always very protective of Eli when he was a baby. He isn't quite as interested in baby Jude, probably because Eli terrorizes him, but I thought this was a sweet moment.

Walks

For the past few days I have been taking the boys for walks around the neighborhood. All 3 of us seem to enjoy it! Jude looks around a little but soon falls asleep and then takes a great nap. Eli is usually pretty quiet and just looks around. The only time I hear him is when we see a dog or a basketball hoop and then he gets very excited. I really enjoy seeing our neighborhood. I have been trying to go different ways each day so that we can see new things. Our neighborhood is very neat. There is a little bit of everything. There are some houses, a lot of duplexes, an apartment building, some condos, and it backs right up to an elementary school. There is also a little pond with a walking path by it and tons and tons of grasshoppers. The majority of our neighborhood is duplexes and it seems that everywhere we go around here we see more duplexes. I have also noticed that most houses and duplexes are split level houses. That must be the trend around here.

Tomorrow will be 1 month since we have moved from Indiana. We are really liking it here in Iowa. The town we live in is a really small community and I like that. We only live about 10 minutes from Wal*mart and a mall so we are set. We haven't met too many people yet and I hope that changes soon, but I have noticed quite a few people around us that have children. The neighbors on either side of us don't have children and seem to keep to themselves but several others are out with their kids.

The stroller my mom bought us, I don't know what I would do without it!!

Eli found a dog

Jude got a nice nap!

Happy 1 Month Jude Michael!

This past month has been probably the most hectic of my life, but also the most wonderful. Moving to another state, away from all of our famiily, with a toddler and a newborn is very hectic, but watching my family grow from 3 to 4 is the most wonderful thing I have ever experienced.

I can't believe that Jude is 1 month old already. He has changed so much in the past month. I have been taking tons and tons of pictures because he is just changing so fast. We don't go back to the Dr for another month, so I don't know how much he weighs or how long he is, but I can tell he is growing. The newborn clothes no longer fit, but some of the 0-3 month clothes are still a little big, especially the pants. He is much more alert now and loves to look around, especially right after he eats. I try to do tummy time each day. He doesn't mind it for little bits at a time. I can tell that his little neck is getting stronger and stronger. He sleeps great at night, usually only getting up once at 3:00 or 4:00 to eat. During the day is a different story. About half of the time I can get him to sleep and lay him down, the other half he wakes right up when I lay him down. He sleeps great in my arms while I am standing and swaying back and forth. Unfortunately I can't do that all day.

I see some similarities between Jude and Eli but I don't think that Jude looks just like Eli. They have the same nose and chin and they both have my dimples. They both have blue eyes, but Jude's eyes are a darker blue. Right now Jude's hair is lighter than Eli's was at this age but we will have to wait and see what color it will be.

We had a little photo session today for his 1 month pictures!!! :-) I take a lot of pictures!!! Here are a few of my favorites. This is the outfit we brought him home from the hospital in. It fits him better now, but it is still a little big.

Visitors!!

We had some visitors this weekend!!! My dad and twin sister Jackie came out yesterday and had to leave today. It was a quick visit, but I am so glad that they were able to come. We had such a wonderful time. I am already ready for them to come back and they have only been gone for a few hours. Eli loves when we have visitors. He asked for Jackie and Papaw when he woke up from his nap. While they were here we celebrated my Dad's birthday, his birthday is September 21st. We also celebrated Jackie being offered a permanent teaching job this past week!

With their cake

Jackie and Eli

The boys with Aunt Jackie

The boys with Papaw

Me, Jude, Dad, Jackie and Eli

I love having visitors and seeing family and I look forward to when we can see all our family again, but it is very difficult to let them leave not knowing how long it will be before I see them again. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I miss them all so much!

4 Weeks Old!

A little Smile at 4 weeksBright Eyes

Checking out a toy
Brothers playing together!

Here is a video of my 2 boys. Eli is such a good brother. We are working on being gentle and not touching Jude's face. Don't mind the mess in the background :-)