Our boys

Having major virus/computer issues, so updates will have to wait.  Until then, here's a sweet picture of Jude and Waller.



Happy Birthday Daddy

I can't believe Lonnie is 29!  I am so blessed, happy, and thankful that he Jude's father, my best friend, and husband.  I learn so much from him (shhh don't tell him) on how to be a better person and Mom.  I am so proud of him and the father that he is.  I still can't believe that we are parents to this great little kid, Jude, and it's been amazing to share in this experience with him.  Happy Birthday babe!  To many more!



Still here

We've been crazy busy around here.  Between the new job, a quick trip to Chicago, Thanksgiving, 2 trips to the ER, and getting ready for Christmas...posting on the blog hasn't been much of a priority.  Since I really won't dedicate a full posting to the ER visits, I'll give a quick update on those. 

The Monday before we headed out of town for Chicago, Jude rolled off the bed at my parents' house, did a little crying, and then refused to move his right arm, or have anyone touch it for an hour.  We were convinced it was broken.  After a visit to the Immediate Care Center was a bust (he wouldn't hold still enough to get an X-ray), we headed to Kosair to get the experts in kiddy X-rays to see what was wrong.  It was insanely busy at Kosair, and we had a tired, thirsty, and hungry toddler on our hands.  We were told at the Immediate Care Center to not let him eat or drink since he may have to be sedated to get an X-ray, or if it was broken, a potential surgery, and that they needed an empty stomach for all of that. He had barely eaten any breakfast, didn't get his nap, and then, he had to be tortured (truly it was torture for all of us involved) and have his arm touched to get what seemed like 30 X-rays.  We had to do it 3 different times (luckily no sedation was required), with 2/3 adults holding him down.  It was BAD!  At one point I started tearing up because it was so stressful, he was in a lot of pain, and I just wanted it over for everyone!

Finally, at 6/7 p.m. at night, we saw the resident, who proclaimed that there were no broken bones (yes, hallelujah!).  But, clearly something was wrong.  If you touched his shoulder, arm, elbow, hand, fingers...he wailed in pain.  It was so sad to see.  Finally, the attending physician came in, ran his hands down both of Jude's arms, and proclaimed, "he's fixed."  Huh?  He had apparently popped one of Jude's ligaments that was out of place back in when he ran his hands down his arms, and he was cured...just like that.  He had Nursemaid Elbow and just needed his ligament popped back in to place.  Not even, 3 minutes later, Jude was running around and flapping his arms like his old self.  It was like a miracle!  We got this boy some food and water, and he was happy as could be, running around the ER and talking to everyone.  The doctor said it will happen again, and now that we know, we can at least have some piece of mind that it can be easily fixed.

Here's the babe after he was cured.

Our next visit...was the weekend after Chicago.  Jude's been going to daycare one day a week, and the Friday before our trip when we picked him up, there was a notification that a 2 yr old had pink eye, and to be on the lookout for symptoms in your child.  Well, a week later, Jude got it.  It started with the goopy eyes, and turned into a fever that lasted all weekend.  K Pa took Jude to the pediatrician to get some medication, and while there, Jude vomited, and we learned that he had a 102 degree temp.  Not terrible for a toddler, but a fever nonetheless.  We started the eye drops and tylenol -- all which was a blast giving to a 21 month old!  Jude and I stayed that night at my parents while Lonnie took over our house doing some music stuff. I let Jude sleep with me because I knew he wasn't feeling well, and while he was sleeping, he started shaking, and his clothes were damp with sweat.  I started freaking out..and got my parents to take us to the ER.  He shook the whole way there, but even though he was groggy (it was 12:30 a.m.) he still smiled some and seemed like he was ok.  When we were seen by the physician, he had a 104.7 degree temp. We stripped him down, gave him some apple juice, and watched cartoons.  His fever quickly came down, I learned that shaking is normal when a fever is high (just like adults - duh), and we went home alternating tylenol and IB profen for the next 2 days until his fever was gone.  I too got sick, with a fever that turned into the worst, most painful cold/cough I've ever had.  So, for a good week after Chicago, Jude and I were a mess. 

We're all healthy now...at least until Jude gets the next disease at his daycare and takes us all down with him. 

I'll have some posts coming up with Chicago and Thanksgiving.

Boo!

We continued the tradition of heading over to St. Matthew's for Halloween night.  Raegan's parents' live in a neighborhood where they have a Halloween parade, costume contest, and tons of kiddos that trick-or-treat.

My lion last year at Rae's.

Giraffe this year.

Can I just say I LOVE that Lonnie dressed up as Buddy the Elf.  Next year, we're going to all dress up.

 Blurry, but, walking in the parade with Rae.

Hanging out during the costume contest.  Jude won!  Not sure what place really, but he got $20!

Then it was on to trick or treating.  This was a challenge.  Jude understood that he would go up to the doorstep, hold out his bag, and get candy.  What he didn't get, is that he was supposed to keep it...he kept trying to give it back.  He also had a hard time understanding that we were moving from house to house, and he would dilly daddle at each home taking his time.  



Giving his candy back to Rae's mom.

We did the remainder of our trick or treating courtesy of Daddy's back.

 We had a wonderful evening, and I'm looking forward ot next year, when Jude might actually understand the entire concept.

Jack-o-Lanterns

Uh, I'm not very creative.  I honestly wish I was, and that I could be the mom that loved making scrapbooks, doing fun arts and crafts activities at home, making cute things (bib, blanket, anything), but if you know me, you know that's not me.  So, pumpkin carving is something, I think, that falls underneath that "creative" category.  Last year, we did an awesome pumpkin....

Really, how cool is that (it was the "master" level of the pumpkin carving kit)?  I was pretty impressed with our pumpkin last year, but even then, it wasn't creative.  We just picked out some kit at Walgreens and got ambitious with the level.  Anyway, this year, I didn't have the energy to do a "master" level pumpkin...instead, I did the easy, basic, any 5-year old could do level.  But, I did get a little "creative" thinking I'd carve a pumpkin with 'Jude' on it...good, right?   

Here's the first level pumpkin I did.  Jude thought this was pretty cool.

And he loved putting his cheetos through the holes.

When working on the "Jude" pumpkin, I completely didn't realize that my "D" wasn't going to work.  Lonnie actually said during the process "what are you going to do with your d?"  I was wondering what he was talking about.  And I found out.  My "d" looked more like an "o."  So, my feeble attempt at taking a stab at being creative failed again.  Can I just buy the pumpkins already carved out and ready to display next year?

Our two pumpkins -- sorry Jude, Mommy tried.

I don't think he cared one bit.

My two boys.

1st Cards Game

We took Jude to his first Cards football game last weekend, and he did a fabulous job.  At first, he was a little scared of all the noise and excitement, so much so, that when the Cards scored their first touchdown, Jude started crying because all the yelling and fireworks were a bit too much.  He quickly learned that those were good yells, and we were all happy.  He did great, sitting in my lap, clapping, whenever everyone else would, and he actually somewhat paid attention to the game.  We left at halftime due to naptime, but we had a fun, memorable, first Cards game experience.  Can't wait to do this next year!



That's my boy

Here's what's been keeping Jude busy this week:

Naked Stroller Climbing.  Lonnie recently brought inside one of Jude's umbrella strollers, and not only does Jude love being pushed around in it in the living room, but he also loves climbing on it.  After bath one night, Jude started climbing up and down his stroller.  He'd pull himself into it, sit down, get out, and he did this over and over again.  What's so interesting about that?

Climbing in.

Relaxing.

Getting out to do it all over again.

Bath Water Drinking.  Jude has been loving getting his nightime drinking courtesy of the bath water and faucet.  He scoops up cups of water and drinks it up, then proceeds to drink straight from the faucet.  He loves this.

Going for it.

Oh yea!

Playing Daddy to His Babies.  This was the first time I got Jude caring for one of his babies on camera.  The last few months he's been very affectionate to all his loveys, but recently he started taking care of them.  Jude had a runny nose this week, so we've been wiping it a lot.  I caught Jude doing the same thing for his Bear friend and Thomas.  

How sweet.

Climbing All Over Everything.  He loves climbing on the toilet to reach his tootoo, the kitchen chairs so he can turn off the lights while I'm cooking, his stroller (see above), the desk in our office, and the entertainment center.  I had to get these pics since he was really into trying to pull his pants down this night - hence the butt cheeks pouring out.

Eating Ice Cream Sandwiches.  Lonnie has a major junk food tooth, so we always have what I call "3-year old food" laying around the house.  Lonnie decided Jude was old enough to eat and handle one of those foods -- an ice cream sandwich.  Here's the hot mess it caused.

With the instigator.

Getting messy.

On the belly.

And speaking of hot messes - this is how Jude's been eating his yogurt lately.

Starting out right.

Who needs a spoon?

Finishing it off.

There's the week in a nutshell - my new job is keeping me busy, so this will have to suffice.

Mommy's Home!

At least for a few days.  I recently acquired a new marketing position at Norton (yay!) and between my old job at BCH and my new one, I'm having Wednesday-Sunday off....which means I get to be a stay-at-home mom for a few days.  Unfortunately, the weather's been miserable and we've been having to be creative with what to do indoors to not get stir crazy.  On Wednesday, we were supposed to go to Huber's with Mimi and Kitty, but that wasn't in the cards.  Instead, we went to Target (thrilling for me during work hours...Jude not so much) and Krispy Kreme.  We had a coupon for a free donut, and I thought it might be interesting for Jude to see how these yummy sugary creations are made.

Not too sure about that thing.

Hmmm...getting curious.

Success!

He ate half of his first KK donut.  I had no problem eating mine.  He enjoyed looking at the conveyor belt of donuts go through their process from lump of yeast to delicious donut.  And then this silly boy did what he does best, run around and be cute.

On Thursday it was a nasty. rainy day again.  So, we checked out his daycare that he's going to go to on Friday's.  I loved the place, but Jude was very clingy and hesitant.  Hopefully he'll get used to it soon enough.  We ran around Oxmoor Mall, where he was very fascinated with the "shoooo" aka shoes in Von Maur, the escalator, the fountain, and a train set "choo choo" (sounds more like tootoo) in Pottery Barn Kids that he enjoyed destroying.  And then today, the sun came out!  We went to the Zoo and stretched our legs.  Now on to the weekend.

Sunday Fun Day

Last Sunday was gorgeous, and we decided to do brunch and go to the park downtown.  We went to our favorite brunch spot, Toast (yummo!!!!), and passed the time riding piggyback on Daddy while we waited for our table.

After brunch, we went to the park downtown, and Jude loves this place!  They have four playgrounds, a splash park, and lots of kids to look at (one of his favorite pastimes).  We enjoyed the last bit of warm weather Louisville had to offer.  

And he's off!

He ran right up to the splash park and said "wawa?"  Sorry honey, no more "wawa" until next Summer :(

Monkey see

Monkey do

On the run.  I really need to get him running on video.  he flaps his arms so hard, like a bird.  I guess it keeps him balanced??

Tarzan!

He climbed all the way up this hill to get to his Dada.

 And all the way down.

Love this park!

He tries everything.  No fear in this kid.

Gorgeous Sunday Fun Day