Indiana Bound!!!

Tomorrow morning we are heading to Indiana for the weekend!!! We are so so so excited, especially Eli. All he talks about is going back to Indiana. I am sure it is going to be a super fun weekend! We are staying with the Reger family but will be able to see my side of the family on Saturday at a big family cookout at a Yogi Bear campground. I am so so so excited to see everyone! The boys are packed and ready to go!!

Getting some use out of the bags they got for Christmas!

Eli

Jude

"Hi Grandma!!!"

Teething

Poor baby Jude had a rough night last night. I think he is getting his 2 top teeth. I can't see them yet but his gums look a little red and swollen. We have been working on Jude putting himself to sleep for naps and at night and he is doing great for his naps, but in the evenings he wants nothing to do with it and just cries and cries so I end up rocking him to sleep. Normally he is asleep in my arms in 5 minutes but last night he was so restless. He tossed and turned and just couldn't get comfortable. I tried laying him in the pack and play and that didn't work, I tried rocking him in the chair and that didn't work. I tried standing and rocking him and that didn't work. I had given him some Tylenol and a little orajel and once that kicked in I laid him on the couch (I didn't leave his side) and he just closed his eyes and fell asleep. Once I got him into bed he slept pretty well, only waking up once at 5:30. Of course Eli was up at 4:30 and then again at 6:00 for the day. Oh well, who needs sleep anyway :-) Jude has been a little fussy today, but his teeth don't seem to be bothering him too much. They definitely aren't hindering his eating in anyway. This boy sure loves to eat!!!

Poor baby Jude didn't feel well

Reggie was worried

Blueberry Muffin for breakfast

Chicken pot pie, peas, carrots and pears for lunch

If only Eli would eat this well!

Family Day

Today was such a fun, busy day! After breakfast we went to the Tanger Outlet Mall that is about 25 minutes away from us. We have been wanting to check it out for a while now and today seemed like the perfect day. We had a very successful trip. Mike got some new clothes, Eli and I each got a pair of flip flops from Old Navy and Jude got some summer clothes. We got everything at such a great price! Mike got all of his clothes for such great deals. Old Navy had there sandles on sale for $1! Jude got 5 short outfits for $23!!!!! I love love love the Carter's outlet store!!!

Eli in his new sandels!

The boys did pretty good job while we were out shopping. Eli got a little bored while we were looking for clothes so we had to skip a few stores at the end. I wasn't sure how Jude would do since it was nap time but he did great. He just rode in the stroller and looked around and then as we were walking to the car he was suddenly asleep. He went from smiling to sleeping in 30 seconds.

Sleepy Jude

We came home for lunch and naptime and then we headed back out to run some errands and go to dinner. I love spending time with my family!

Jude's 9 Month Check Up

I took Jude for his 9 month check up today and it was all good! Much better than his 6 month check up. The Dr was very happy with the weight Jude has gained but she would like to see him get up to the 5oth% so we are still going to add the butter to his baby food and formula to his evening bottle and check his weight at his 1 year check up.

Jude's 9 Month Stats

Weight: 17lbs 8oz 10th%

Height: 27 3/4in 30th%

Head: 18 1/8in 75%

I saw a new side of Jude while we were at his appointment today. I think part of it was because he hadn't gotten much of a morning nap, but he didn't want anyone to hold him except for me. The nurse took him to measure him and get his weight and he just cried and cried and cried. Poor baby boy. He has really become aware of strangers and strange places. He even cried when I laid him on the table to change his diaper and I was the only one in the room at the time.

Here are a few pictures of my silly boy!

Play Time!

We have been planning on getting some outdoor play equipment for a couple of months now. We have been looking online at different pieces of equipment but hadn't had a chance to go look at stores. Since Mike finished up his semester on Thursday we decided to use his first weekend free to check out a few stores. We had decided that we wanted to get some sort of house and some sort of climber with a slide. We went to a local Menard's last night and were a little disappointed in there selection. They had one small house and one small climber set up, but neither were in stock. Eli liked the climber a lot and we really liked the size of it. We were both surprised at Eli's reaction to the house. He acted like he was scared to go inside. Today we drove to Cedar Rapids to check out Toysrus. They had one of the houses that we were considering but after Eli's reaction the night before we weren't sure about getting a house anymore. We then went to the Menard's in Cedar Rapids to see what they had. They had the same climber that we liked and a different one with swings we were considering. They also had a small house set up and all 3 were in stock. Eli played on the climber and kept checking out the little house. It took him a little while but he eventually went into the house and he loved it! He ended up playing in the house more than the climber. We knew we wanted to get a house and a climber, but we also knew we could only fit one in our car and would have to order the other online and have it shipped. Since Eli was having so much fun in the little house we decided to get the house we wanted at Toysrus. We go back over there only to realize that it was too big to fit in our car so back to Menard's to get the climber today and order the house later. It was quite a busy morning but all worth it to see Eli's smile when he saw the little climber in out back yard!!!! We are going to have so much fun this summer! We are going to get the house soon and also want to get a little pool for this summer.

His reaction to seeing the climber in our yard

He was pretty excited

He loves it

Climing up the ladder

Checking out the top

Going down the slide

Crawling underneath

Of course he had to climb the slide too

Checking out the steering wheel

Looking through the window

He had a blast!

Jude had fun outside too!

Happy 9 Months Jude!

I can't believe this little guy is already 9 months old! Wow is this year going fast! Jude goes for his 9 month check up next Wednesday. I am looking forward to seeing how much he weighs. He has definately put on weight. I can see it everywhere. His little arms and legs have a few cute rolls and his face is so much fuller than it was at 6 months. His little face just glows! He is such a happy baby. You just have to say hi Jude and his entire face lights up. He is also so content to play. He loves his exersaucer and he loves to play on the floor. He goes from sitting to laying on his tummy, but just skips the hands and knees part. Eli didn't crawl until 10 months 4 days and I don't see Jude crawling any earlier than that. He loves loves loves to eat. We are trying out a few table foods with him and he loves everything. I am looking forward to giving him more table foods and less purees and he just gobbles everything up. He is just growing up too fast. I can't believe in 3 months my baby will be 1!

Jude Michael at 9Months

Sticking out his tongue

:-)So big!

Where's Jude

There he is!!

The Mirror

Our exersaucer has a little mirror on it that has caught the eye of both of our boys!

Eli 8 1/2 months

Jude 8 1/2 months

Where's Jude?!?!

Jude is such a fun fun fun little guy! Here is a video of his new favorite game to play! He literally makes me smile all day long!

Happy Mother's Day

I couldn't ask for anything more!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, mothers to be, and mothers at heart!

Happy Birthday Reggie!

Today is Reggie's birthday! He is 5 years old! This morning I took the boys to the pet store and they helped me pick out some toys for him. Eli was more into looking at the fish, birds, hampsters and reptiles then looking for dog toys but he was excited to go home and give the toys to Reggie.

Eli giving Reggie his present

A present from Jude

Eli and Reggie playing together

My 3 boys!

Happy 5th Birthday Reggie!

Happy Reunion!!!

When Eli woke up yesterday morning I noticed that he had soaked through his diaper and his jammies were pretty wet. I got him up and changed him and changed his sheets and then went on with the day. A little later I was rocking with him and noticed that something smelled. I first checked butta and it was clean and then I found the source of the smell; cat. I had been worried about this happening because it says right on the tag surface clean only. I tried a couple different fabric sprays we had and they didn't work at all. I asked for some advice from friends on Facebook and got some really good suggestions. I decided to try putting him in the washer on gentle cycle and putting him out in the sun to dry. Of course by the time I decide this it was already night and would have to wait until morning. This meant Eli had to sleep without cat. I was surprised at how well he did. He asked for cat at bed time and we just explained that cat was dirty and mommy would clean him in the morning. He picked a bear to bring to bed and went to sleep just fine. His first words this morning were "Cat dirty, Mommy clean cat for you." Luckily cat survived the washer and made it back into Eli's arms before nap time. Eli was so so so excited to have cat back. He hugged it and said "I love cat, Mommy."

So happy to have cat back

Big Hugs

kisses too

Cat was by his side the rest of the day

Up Up and Away!

Jude has been doing great in the Up and Up diapers. He has only had one leak through since we switched. The leaks before were up his back and this was down his leg so I am thinking I just didn't get the diaper on right. The best thing about these diapers is the price!!! It is so much cheaper than Pampers, huggies and even Luvs. We have had such a good outcome with these diapers that we decided to switch Eli too! I love my boys! Now that they have matching diapers I had to take a few pictures, you know me!!!

We love Up and Up!!!