Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Today is my mom's birthday. Yesterday my sisters all got together and took her out for dinner. I am so bummed that we weren't able to join them. :-( But I am glad that she had a wonderful birthday dinner. I love and miss you bunches Mom!!!!!

:-)

Finally Fever Free!!

After a few very rough nights, Eli is finally fever free! I thought he was getting better on Monday because his fever had gone down throughout the day but unfortunately Monday night was just as bad as the night before. His fever shot up so high that he threw up. His poor little body was shaking so badly from the chills. I took him to the Dr yesterday morning and she said to just keep doing the motrin for the fevers and if he still had a fever on Thursday to bring him back in. Thankfully it didn't come to that. Throughout the day yesterday his fever kept going down and by 7:00 he was fever free!!! I was a little concerned that the fever would coming back in the evening but it didn't and he woke up fever free this morning!! I am so glad he is over this virus. His high fevers were so so scary.

He fell asleep in a few not so comfortable spots

So far it doesn't appear that Jude has caught the virus and I really hope that he doesn't. He does however have a little cold. Poor baby is so congested. He has a little cough, but whenever he coughs he smiles so I know he isn't feeling too bad. He is such a cutie! Jude also learned a new skill yesterday. He rolled from his back to his tummy!! He has gotten so close before, even getting all the way over and not being able to get his arm out from under him and rolled back. This time he made it! I layed him on his tummy to play and he rolled over to his back and then continued on and rolled right over to his tummy again! It was so adorable!

This is where he started

This is where he ended up

:-)

My Poor Eli

My poor little boy is sick. :-( This came on so suddenly and unexpected. He woke up yesterday morning fine. He was in a good mood and did great at church. At lunch time I noticed that he felt a little warm so I took his temperature. He had a fever of 101.9 poor guy. I gave him some motrin and he went on playing. He only took a 30 minute nap, but was in a great mood. His fever never really went completely away and by 5:30 he was burning up and having chills. His fever was over 102 and he could have more motrin. We gave him a bath to try and cool down his body. Besides the chills he was still acting ok. He didn't eat much dinner and then played the rest of the evening. He still had a fever, but couldn't have more motrin until 11:30. At 8:00 we did his normal bedtime routine and he went to bed fine. We could hear him moving around and groaning through the monitor and at 10:30 he woke back up. Poor baby was burning up. We got him calmed down and I was going to sit and rock him when he threw up on himself, me, and butta. We got him into the kitchen and over to the sink and he threw up again. Poor baby was so scared, you could see how scared he was in his eyes. My heart just broke for him. After he was done getting sick we got him undressed and butta in the washer. We took his temperature and it was 102.7 and we still had an hour until he could have more motrin. Mike rocked him and rubbed a cold wash cloth on his head. We kept him awake so that we could give him more motrin at 11:30. It took a little while for the motrin to kick in and the fever got all the way up to 103.7 before it started to come down. We made Eli a bed on the livingroom floor with some blankets and let him fall asleep watching some TV, I slept on the couch so that I would be right there if he needed me. He fell asleep about 1:00 and slept until 6:00. He was burning up when he woke and I was about to take his temperature when he got sick again. I got him calmed down and took his temerature and it was 101.9. This was an improvement from the night before! As today has gone on he has continued to get better. He hasn't thrown up since 6:00 and his temperature went down to 99.9 this afternoon, it went back up to 100.4 this evening but I still think he is doing better. We have been giving him plenty of pedialyte and a few crackers throughout the day and he has done well with both of those things. He has played a little bit throughout the day, but he mostly just layed on the couch or chair and watched movies and his shows. We have watched Toy Story, Monsters, Up, Yo Gabba Gabba, The Fresh Beat Band, The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and Prep and Landing. I don't mind letting him watch tv when he is sick. I really hope we have a better night tonight and wake up fever free. I hate it when one of my boys is sick. :-(

Eli took a 1 1/2 hour nap in the morning in the recliner

and another 1 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon, Reggie didn't mind being a footrest

Jude's 6 Month Pictures

Jude did a great job getting his 6 month pictures today!!! I thought the photographer could have done a better job of trying to get him to smile, but I am still very pleased with how they turned out. I was so happy that he sat up for the pictures. Some days he is great at sitting up, and some days he is not so great, he did great today!

Jude at 6 MonthsWe did the same blue blanket pictures with Eli at 6 months. I absolutely love these pictures and they are special because the blankets were baptism gifts from my family. I love this little boy soooo much!

Checkups

Yesterday Mike and I took both boys to the Dr for their checkups, Eli 2 year and Jude 6 months. They both had to get shots and did really well, only a few tears. Eli also had to have his finger pricked to test his iron and lead levels. He did so great with this, he didn't even flinch. The nurse that did it was wonderful. She showed him what everything was and let him touch it to see that it wasn't scary. I was so proud of him!

Eli's 2 year stats:

Weight: 26 lbs 25%

Height: 33 1/2 in 25%

My Happy Healthy 2 year old!

Unfortunately Jude's checkup was not as great as Eli's. Jude has actually lost a little bit of weight in the last 2 months. I was concerned after his 4 month check up because he has only gained 1 lb but his Dr told me that was normal and it would only be a concern if he started to lose some weight. Well that is where we are now. We are adding some extra calories to his meals throughout the day to hopefully boost his weight. Since I am still exclusively breast feeding I don't really know how much Jude is actually eating. So I am pumping 1 bottle each day and adding a little formula to it to add extra calories. I am also adding some melted butter to his baby food each day. We started this last night and it seems to be going well. I was able to pump 4 oz yesterday and Jude had no problem taking the bottle. Since I was only able to get 4 oz I also nursed him afterward. I am hoping that I will be able to increase the amount I am able to pump over the next few days. I also added some butter to Jude's sweet potatoes for lunch. He didn't mind at all. We go back in 2 weeks for a weight check and I am really hoping that this does the trick. I need to fatten my baby back up. He now weighs the same that he weighed at 2 months and that isn't good.

Jude's 6 month stats

Weight: 13lbs 5 oz less then 3%

Height: 26 inches

Jude at 2 months (13lbs 5 oz)

4 months (14 lbs 5 oz)

6 months (13 lbs 5 oz)

My Littlest Valentine is 6 Months!

Little Jude Michael is already 6 months old! I can't believe it! Time is going by too fast. Jude is such a wonderful baby!! When I was pregnant with him I was nervous that he was going to be a handful because Eli was such an easy laid back baby, boy was I wrong! Jude is even easier and more laid back! He still loves to lay on the floor and play as he moves in circles on his back and now he is starting to get the hang of sitting up. He is still wobbly so I am always within arms reach of him. He is still working on his first tooth. I am really surprised it isn't all the way in yet. I can see one little white corner poking through and can feel it under the gum, but it is just taking its time. He is drooling like crazy though. Today he drooled through 2 outfits! Tomorrow I am taking Jude and Eli for their check ups. I am curious to see what they each weigh. Eli hasn't been weighed for months and months and Jude just seems so small to me. Here are a few pictures of my littlest Valentine now that he is 6 months old!!! LOVE HIM!!!!

Jude Michael at 6 Months

Happy Valentine's Day!

What a wonderful way to spend Valentine's Day, with all my boys!!! I have been telling Eli all about Valentine's Day, but everytime I would ask him if he knew what day was coming up he would get all excited and say"Birthday". I think somebody really liked his birthday! He did get excited about Valentine's Day when I told him we were going to make cookies! We got each of the boys a stuffed animal puppet. One was a monkey and one was an elephant. We decided to give Eli the elephant because it was a little bit bigger. He gave the elephant a big hug and was very excited about it, until he saw Jude's monkey. Needless to say the monkey is now Eli's and the elephant is now Jude's. Oh well, at least Jude didn't mind the switch! I love my Valentines!

Eli loved the elephant...

Until he saw the monkey!

Jude now loves the elephant!

Eli helping Mommy make cookies (I LOVE this picture)

My 2 little Valentines!

Sleep or No Sleep, We Have Fun!

My little boy is no longer sleeping through the night. For the past week or so he has gotten up at least once every night. Sunday night he was up 2 different times throughout the night for 1/2 hour each and then up for good at 5:30 AM. Did I mention this is Eli, not Jude! We really aren't sure what is causing this. He has always had a few nights here and there when he would wake up crying and not go back to sleep, but it has gotten progressively worse and now it is every night. We have tried letting him cry himself back to sleep but he ends up screaming in a panic. He doesn't have a fever and he is fine throughout the day so I don't think it is his teeth or an ear infection. I guess I am just hoping it is just a phase and it gets better. Both boys go to the Dr next week for check ups, so if it isn't better by then I will ask for some advice.

This is what happens at 9:00 AM after a rough night

Even though we have had some rough nights we still manage to have lots of fun around here. On Sunday we had fun watching the superbowl together. We were disappointed that the Colts lost, but we were happy the fellow Purdue Alumni Drew Brees won! We also got to try out Jude's new bath seat since he is starting to sit up better. I still don't think he is quite ready for it, but once he is it will make bath time so much easier.

During the Superbowl

Jude is doing really well sitting up

Jude likes his new bath seat

Scrub-a-dub-dub, 2 boys in a tub!

I LOVE THESE BOYS!!!

Jude's First Food!!

Lately Jude has really been eyeing our food. If I eat or drink anything while holding him he grabs for it and trys to bring it to his mouth. So we decided it was time to try some food. Since Eli had so much tummy troubles with cereal our pediatrician said we could skip it and start with baby food. For Lunch today Jude had some sweet potatoes. Jude didn't have much of a reaction at first. I started to think maybe he wasnt ready for it, but after the first few bites he started grabbing for the spoon and leaning forward to get the food. He LOVED it!!! I knew he would. He actually got a little upset when he was finished. Since this was his first meal I only gave hime 1/2 of a jar. We will gradually work up to more, but I didn't want to do too much for his little belly. We are going to stick with sweet potatoes this week and then we will try a different vegetable next week. I knew he was going to be a good little eater!

He was happy just to be in the chair

He wasn't too sure at first

But soon he started leaning foward to get it!

It was a hit!

The bib got a little messy because he would chew on it after every bite!

My 2 boys at lunch

After we fed Jude, Eli wanted to try. He is such a cutie!

Eli's 2 Year Pictures

On Saturday I took Eli to get his 2 year pictures. I was a little nervous about how he would do since he no longer likes to have his picture taken but he did great. I also got some pictures of the boys together and they are AMAZING!!!! I love every picture that was taken. I decided to wait a few weeks to have Jude's pictures done. That way he will be 6 months and sitting up better.

Elijah Kent at 2 Years Old

Eli(2) and Jude(5 1/2 months)