Happy 13 Months Jude!!!!

This last month has just flown by. It seems like he just had his birthday and a month has already passed. In the last month he has gone from my little baby to a toddler. I can't believe how much he is growing up already. All of a sudden he has gone from taking 5-6 steps at a time to walking everywhere in the last week. I think the big difference is that he can stand himself up when he falls. He doesn't need to crawl to something to stand back up.

Jude at 13 months

My little walker

He has also started to talk more. It doesn't always come out as words but he is definitely talking more. He can say Mama, dada, ball, and baby really well. He is working on fish but it just comes out as ffff. I also think he is trying to say Gabba and Brobee. He doesn't really watch that show but he loves the Brobee chair we have. I have been trying some sign language with him as well. He can do the sign for more. I am working on the sign for eat, but he always just gives me the sign for more. We will keep working on it.

Silly boy

Jude still loves to play with his toy cars, but he has found a new love. Jude loves to play basketball, just like his big brother! I am not surprised Jude loves basketball. It is Eli's favorite thing to play so we are always in the toy room playing basketball. Last week Eli wanted the basketball hoop lowered so that he could dunk it. I was lifting Jude up so he could make some baskets and I guess one time he got a little impatient waiting for me (I was taking pictures). He grabbed a hold of the net and held the ball up. I said "look Mike he wants to make a basket" and all of a sudden he made a basket by himself! He was so proud of himself, it was so adorable!!! I had my camera ready and got some pictures of Jude's first basket!

Jude's first basket

Yay Jude!

My mom got Jude a little blow up pool for his birthday so we could use it as a new ball pit. I borrowed my sister's air pump today and we finally got it blown up. The boys had a blast playing in the ball pit. We still need to get another bag of balls to fill it up but both boys had a blast. Our old ball pit was smaller so it was hard for both boys to play in it together without one of them getting frustrated. I can tell we are going to have tons of fun with this new ball pit!!!

Jude loves his new ball pit

Eli does too!

Having fun together!

Jude's 1 Year Pictures

I took Jude to get his 1 year pictures done a few weeks ago and he did a great job. As soon as she started taking pictures he had one smile after another! I am so pleased with how he did. I tried to get a few pictures of the boys together wearing their Colts jerseys but as soon as Jude got a hold of the football he was no longer into taking pictures. I didn't mind though, getting Jude's pictures was the main reason for going. I am just going to try and get some of the 2 of them together myself.

Jude Michael at 1 Year

This was the best I could get of the 2 of them together

Jude's First Haircut

Jude got his very first hair cut today. Mike has been wanting to get his hair cut for about 3 months now, but I just wasn't ready to get rid of his baby hair. I agreed that we could get his hair cut as long as it was just a trim. I am not ready for him to have a big boy hair cut just yet. So we took him to Cookie Cutters for his first hair cut. He did such a great job. He got to sit in a cute little car and he loved it. He reached for me to pick him up several times but he didn't cry, he never even got sad and that made me happy. The stylist did a great job and he still looks absolutely adorable. :-)

Before

What a cute little driver!
He did such a great job!

All done!
Still handsome as can be!The First hair cut certificate he got
His baby hairEli had fun playing on the big Dinosaur slide while Jude got his hair cut

Feeling Better and Having Fun

The antibiotics are kicking in and both of the boys are starting to feel better. Eli is finally getting his appetite back and they both have energy to play. I am so glad this round of antibiotics seems to be working the only downside is that the boys need to stay out of the sun while they are on this medicine. That means we have to stay inside for 10 days. 3 days down, only 7 more to go. We had been taking daily walks to our neighborhood playground, sometimes twice a day. Both boys are already going a little stir crazy. Eli has asked several times to go outside and Jude keeps looking out the back window and pointing. So I decided we would have to find other ways to keep us busy. :-)
Yesterday me and Eli built a fort in our living room with blankets and couch cushions. Both boys thought it was pretty cool until they realized that I took the cushions off the couch and that they could climb and jump on it. Eli did eventually get bored with the couch and then he had a blast in the fort.

Eli and Jude having fun in the fort

Jumping on the couch

Jude was thrilled that he could climb on the couch by himself!
I think this picture is hilarious, Mike saw it and said "you allowed them to do that"Jude had so much fun climbing!!Such a big boy!

Jumping on the fortCrawling in the fort
The fort was fun, even when it collapsed!

Today we went a different route. Since the boys had been on the antibiotic for 48 hours and were doing much better I decided to take them to the library. This was actually the first time I have taken the boys to the library. Eli was more interested in being able to walk around and look at everything then he was in picking out some books. Both of the boys liked looking at the fish :-) I did finally get Eli focused on the books and we came home with a book about Dinosaurs playing soccer and a book about a polar bear and a penguin.

Eli looked so cute sitting at a table and reading

Eli thought this chair was pretty funJude loved the fish!

Both boys are definitely starting to feel better, but we still have our not so great moments. Eli's moods are all over the place. One minute he is fine and then all of a sudden he is in the worst mood. I know it is just because he still isn't feeling the best. Hopefully he will be back to himself soon.

2 Sick Little Boys

I have 2 sick little boys. I feel like 1 or both of them have been sick for the past 3 1/2 weeks. This all started on August 13th. Both boys had a little bit of a cold and were congested. Over the next week Eli's cold cleared up as Jude's got worse. Yellow stuff started coming out of his eyes so I took him to the doctor on Monday, August 23rd. The Dr gave Jude some amoxicillin. After a few days of the prescription he started to get better. I thought it had completely cleared up until his cold symptoms returned on Tuesday, August 31st when he was still on his antibiotic. His cold was continuing to get a little worse when I took him in for his 1 year check up on Friday, September 3rd. His Dr told me to watch him over the weekend and if it got worse he would call in a prescription for him. Well not only did Jude get worse over the weekend but Eli started with a fever and runny nose Friday and got extremely worse over the weekend. I took both boys back to the Dr today. Jude has a sinus infection and an eye infection. Eli has a sinus infection, an eye infection, and a double ear infection. Both boys have a new antibiotic that should clear everything up for good. I hope it works because I hate to see my boys so sick like this.

Poor Sick Baby Eli has been miserable

Sleepy Baby Jude getting some much needed rest

Since I had both boys at the Dr I was able to see how much they both weigh. Jude is 20 lbs 6 oz and Eli is 28 lbs. Both growing boys :-)

My Sweet Eli

I meant to do a post when Eli turned 2 1/2 (July 30th), but with the move and everything it didn't happen. I actually started a post but never got around to finishing it. Better late than never. :-)


Eli amazes me everyday with what a wonderful little boy he is. He is full of energy and a total boy. He loves to play outside and I think his all time favorite thing is to play basketball. (Daddy is so proud) He is too busy to sit and go over things like letters and numbers with me so we have just to learn as we are on the go and I am amazed at all the things he just picks up on his own. He has an amazing memory. He still talks about our move to Indiana and he always follows that with "I am so happy". :-)


I love seeing Eli as an older brother. Now that Jude is a little older Eli is finding that it can be fun to play together. Of course there are plenty of moments where we have to remind Eli that Jude is still little, but there are so many more moments where Eli is giving Jude some toys and trying to give him a hug. I love seeing them together.


Eli is becoming so independent. He loves to try and put his shoes on by himself and recently he put his shorts on all by himself and he was so proud. It was such a proud moment for mommy :-). He takes his shorts at nap time almost everyday, luckily he hasn't attempted to take off his diaper yet. He still is showing very little interest in potty training and I am trying not to push him into it if he isn't ready, but I would love to get him potty trained. You would think some one who is so into be independent would want to be able to go potty by himself. I just keep thinking if he isn't ready then me pushing him is going to do more bad than good, I am trying to be patient.


Eli is a pretty picky eater right now. We have such a difficult time getting him to try new things. His favorite thing to eat is his chicken and ranch. He loves all fruit I make sure to give him fruit with every meal. Veggies are very hit or miss lately. He will like green beans, cauliflower, corn, and potatoes on certain days and then the next time I make them for him he won't touch them. I got him to try some cooked carrots the other day and he gagged to the point where I thought he was going to throw up. We are really working on getting him to eat more veggies. I have tries a couple of recipes with hidden veggies in them and they have gone over pretty well. We have also switched his juice to Mott's Medleys. It has fruit and veggie juice mixed together. So at least he gets a little bit of veggies each day with his cup of juice with snack. Mike and I are working on eating more veggies ourselves so that Eli will see us eating them and eat some himself.


I am so glad that I get to be this little boy's mommy. I am so proud of him. I love him so much. I my life changed completely on January 30th, 2008. My heart belongs to Elijah Kent.

Fun Family Weekend!

We had a weekend full of family fun! Friday the boys and I headed over to Mike's parents house and got to hang out with his mom, sister, and her 2 kiddos. We visited at the house for a little bit and then took all the kids to the neighborhood playground. The kids had a blast playing together but I think they had the most fun feeding the fish and ducks.

Eli got to go down a tunnel slide for the first time!!

Jude enjoyed the swings for s few seconds before he wanted out to crawl around

Madeleine riding the big dinosaur
Waiting to feed the fish and ducks
Who knew fish liked Cheese its
The ducks enjoyed the crackers too

Saturday evening we headed over to my sister Tracy's house for my niece Grace's 8th birthday party. It was a blast. It was great to be able to see Grace open her presents since we had to miss her party last year. After the presents and cake the big kids went swimming and we got to play outside. Eli found a battery powered 4 wheeler and had a blast! He would have ridden it the entire evening but the batteries died. It was a great party!

Grace with her cousins at the party
Look at his smile!
My sister Tracy and a very serious Jude :-)

On Sunday we headed back over to Mike's parents for a pool party and dinner. I was so impressed with how well Eli can swim now. He still wears his little life vest and arm floaties, but he cam swim all over the pool by himself. I couldn't believe it. Next time we go over there I will remember my camera so I can take a video of him swimming.

Weekends like these are why I am so glad to be back in Indiana. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful families and I want to spend as much time with them as we can. It is so wonderful to watch Eli play with his cousins and see how excited he is to go to Grandma's house.