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

Babysitting Baby Waller

So, I mentioned sometime ago that I was going to babysit baby Waller.  I also mentioned a bit ago that Jude got really sick with "food poisoning."  Um yea, that wasn't food poisoning - it was a stomach virus that both Lonnie and I got the early morning hours of the day I was supposed to watch Waller.  It kicked our butt, we sent Jude off for the weekend, and Lonnie and I moped around the house doubled over in stomach pain and sleeping and doing other things that are rather disgusting.  So, we didn't get to watch Waller.  However, we made up for it this past weekend, and while it kicked my butt in a different way, we still had a blast.

Aunt Sue Sue was in town, and spent that whole day with us, so luckily I had Lonnie, Susan and Brother John (Susan's brother) to help.  Yep, it took four adults.  Jude on his own that day took three adults.  There must have been something in the water, but he was INSANE.  Insane I tell you!  I've never seen him that amped up.  He was throwing tantrums at the littlest things, torturing the dogs, running in circles, dancing and jumping around from 2:30pm. to 10:00pm.  I know Susan was wondering what happened to the Sweet Jude that she saw last time she was in town, but I kept trying to tell her that this behavior was not normal for him.  It made watching Baby Waller extremely difficult, but like I mentioned, I had quite a few extra hands.

We really did have a great time, and Baby Waller is such a good boy.  But, he's a boy that has to be held at all times.  At least he was that way at our house.  I tried the baby Bjorn - nope, the infant seat - nope, my arms for 4 hours - yes!  It was very hectic trying to feed Jude, clean up after Jude, feed Waller, change diapers, do bathtime, and night routine with Jude.  I definitely learned there is no way I could have a 2 month old and 19 month old.

But, I did capture some sweet pics of Jude with his cousin.  He really loves him and we talk about him all the time.  I'll talk to him about Baby Waller and Jude will say "babay" and smile.  He knows how to be gentle, and even tried offering Waller his sippy cup of milk.  I'm so happy to see my rambunctious baby boy starting to share and be thoughtful :)

Jude loved holding Waller - but didn't have much patience.  We'd put Waller in his lap, and he'd smile real big for 10 seconds, and then be done and try to push him away.  Lonnie would pick Waller up, and then Jude would want him back right away.  Silly kid, make up your mind.

Lonnie with his nephew -- he's so good with babies now :) I remember when he was afraid to hold one.

Is this not hilarious -- he looks like Elvis with that snarled lip.

Doesn't he look so old already...quit growing!

I'm looking forward to watching this little guy grow and babysitting him again!