Judah's 22 Months!

OOPS- found this draft... I didn't finish it but here are some 22 month pictures of the wild man.

In just a few more months 'Cubba boy will be 2!!! Here's the happenings of last month in the life of Judah :)

Lil' bugger face!

Running up to me in motion of throwing his ball... :)

Our German balance bike passed on down to Judahcub! He LOVES it and is really good at it!

Like my Aunt said, "He's choosing to do it the creative way"

I think this picture is the best. haha I think Judah is really just hollerin' for the TOOL but it looks like he's playing the supervisor role here.

Seems to be a good place to lay.

Snuggling for .3 seconds the on to...

  ...climbing and wrestle mania.

It fits!

Some BIG News!!!

It's been awhile since I've updated our blog- things have been just nuts. We have some pretty big news to share with everyone!!!

1. We received Ben's retirement date! He will be retired from active duty service Sept. 27th 2014 after 10 years of service. We are so proud of him! We are really, really going to miss the military- we truly love the life and everything that goes with it (just sometimes we don't LIKE it very much). We have met some of our most cherished friends and have been all over the world. It'll be great that we will have retiree benefits and look forward to taking full advantage of them.

2. We are moving to Knoxville, TN! We will say it's a definite when we change our address but for now, that is the plan. We love our family and enjoy going home to PA to see them however- moving back there to live again just isn't for us. When you have had the chance to live all over the place, see to things, meet new people in a different surrounding than what you grew up in- it grabs you.  We don't know how long we'll be in TN but it's our next stop. We're excited about living so close to a National Park, hiking, fishing, warmer weather, getting to be outside more throughout the year (a rough winter with two wilds cemented the fact that we needed to live in warmer weather), getting to see family, and moving somewhere that we have some connections.

3. We are getting ready to take a month long family vacation to Europe!! Ben will be on terminal leave so we will take a military flight over and stay with friends while we travel. It's been over 3 years since we have anything more than a weekend trip. We desperately need some solid family time and going back to Europe is what we've been saving for. We're going to be in Germany, France, Italy, Austria with some possible other places depending on time.

4.  WE ARE EXPECTING WILD #3 IN DECEMBER! The largest reason for my blog absence. I'm not sure if it's because I have 2 wilds that I'm so wore out and sick with this one? Golly, I was sick for a long time with the wildwoman (26wks), with Cubba its was more intense but for shorted amount of time (18wks) and this one was/is the most intense and was going strong up until Memorial Day weekend. It got so bad that I had to go back to the doctor for something. I've been on zofran round the clock until the holiday weekend. I tried every home remedy, I tried essential oils but the smells about did me in, keeping food in my stomach, nothing, NOTHING helped. I was a mess and really felt like I wasn't able to care for my wilds as I should have been. We did a mess of reading in Momma's bed those weeks and for the first time in their sweet little lives they had Chinese take out hahaha and a good bit of pizza... Praise God I'm feeling more human but have to watch that I don't over do it when I feel a little bit like my old self. Ben's been so awesome. He's made dinners (and ordered them too), cleaned, and told me not to worry about not getting stuff done. I'm down to only taking the zofran in the afternoon/early evening when it's the worst- I think because that's the toughest time of day for us. I nap/rest with the kiddos and that helps too. We are crazy excited and so are the kiddos.

We're just waiting to hear when the movers have an opening to pack up our house- it's PCS season they are super booked. God has blessed our family so very much and has worked everything together- like He always has. And it's so much better than anything we could have imagined.

Judah 21 months pics

I blended his 20 and 21st month together in the last post but just did 20 month pics. These are from this past month....

Needless to say, there was more paint on him than the paper- again I say, needless.

Putting sis's baby in the police car- she must have resisted a rest!! hahahaha I'm so funny.

Big boy undies since duck taping the diaper no longer works.

Big boy undies with sis's dress up shoes :)

He's laughing because I had JUST made the bed.

snoring.

His famous silly face with Mr. Potato head glasses

Even though we have a trampoline in the corner of the living room- Dad is way better to jump on.

Snuggling up to Daddy.

Judah 20 Months

So I'm a little behind on the monthly Judah posts.. anyways- here's to catching up...

Weight: 31lbs

Wearing: mostly 3t's between size 5 and 6 diapers (hopefully not for long)

Development:

Judah's talking has just taken off. There is nothing he won't try to say- it's beyond adorable. Some favorite words right now are: boat (with a British accent, not too sure how that happened), ball, balloon, walk, eat, egg, dark, hot, tools, sticks, and boots. It's amazing. He's still only putting two words together but he's come a long way in just a few weeks. He's getting really good at playing basketball, loves to "help" Daddy in the garage with tools- in fact if Ben goes to the garage without Judah, Judah will stand at the door and YELL, DADDY.....TOOOLS TOOOLS- like Ben's in there playing with tools without him. 

Going for walks is probably his favorite thing right now. We go as soon as Ben gets home and if the weather is decent- in the morning before lunch. He'll wake up from his nap ask for Daddy then yell WALK. Having playground in the backyard is so great, we really put it to good use. We'll take Beretta to he dog park then a big loop to the playground, or go get the mail then back to the playground. I'm sooo looking forward to warm weather. Last year the kids and I were outside right after breakfast and didn't come in until lunch only in long enough to eat, then when Judah was napping, Aud and I would play outside till he woke up and all of us would be outside until dinner- it was the best. The kids slept better and longer when we could be outside for more than an hour.

Judahcub is a hambone. He loves to dance, sing songs, and get your attention. Most of the time he doesn't know just how funny he is but when he does, the boy runs with it. Fearless. Judah is 100% fearless. Doesn't matter what it is, how high it is, the boy will climb it and most likely jump off of it. I was skyping my Mom a few weeks ago and she could see what he was doing beside me. She was laughing then paused and said, "Jaim, you know the stitches are coming right- it's not a matter of if- its when" I said well, I'm hoping the scar that run from the top of his rib cage to the bottom counts against that because I think the poor boy had his fill at 3 days of life.

Sleeping:

I dread even writing this. I really do. At the end of January Judah was waking through the night multiple times, and having a hard time going back to bed. That seemed to calm down a little bit then Ben and I went away for a night (which my Mom stayed with the kids and they did awesome for her) and we attempted a Moms Time out at the church where Judah would be with kiddos his age for 1.5 hours (for the first time ever) and EVERYTHING changed. There was some issues prior to the start of the Mom's time out that really had me upset, then him not knowing what was going on with being in a class away from me for the first time with a bunch of crying kiddos seemed to just tip the scales. I kept checking on him and he was good after five-10 minutes, but we haven't gone back and his sleep has never been the same. When we got home he refused to take a nap. It was ugly. Here was my boy who would reach for his crib, tuck himself in, and wave goodbye screaming like a mad man who had to have thought I was leaving him again. It was so bad. And then the nights turned into the same screen. It got so crazy that we had to take him out of the crib and put in the double bed so we could lay down with him. Praise God it's improving but it's been a really long sleep journey. Lets just say my most favorite book right now and will be a book I will recommend to everyone, Sleepless in American by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka has helped greatly. It's been such a blessing to read a book that actually encourages what Ben and I have strived to do with our kiddos sleep- that so many people discourage.

We're finally back to his 3hr naps, there for awhile it was 1.5hrs and working towards a later wake up. He was waking at 05 or a little before hand... 0630 has never looked better folks.

Eating:

Praise God 'Cubba is still a good eater. Not so much when he's teething but he'll at least have one food he'll eat a ton of. 

This is Judah's Maybel. My baby sister got a Bernese Mountain Dog names Maybel that the kids adore.

Judah loves getting under the covers to play or to read books...

 and pretend to snore, like he's doing in this picture :)

I'm telling you, he will launch off of ANYTHING. This chair has been removed is case your wondering...

"Helping" take the crib down

Dinosaur Birthday Party!

The weekend following Aud's birthday we had a little party for her. Her first party that wasn't only family ;) We had our neighbors from beside us and from across the street. All four are boys. Aud calls them "my boys". It was pretty low key. Amanda helped me make tails for the kids as favors. Trying to get them all together with all the tails on was impossible. We played a balloon game that my Mom did for us when we were little. You put big tshirts on the kids, pair them with and adult and see who can fill the kiddo's shirt with the most balloons. Aud and I would have won if Ben wouldn't have sabotaged me, by holding my arm away and taking my balloons! It was so much fun. Only three out of the 6 wanted to play but they all had a blast. Ben blew up so many balloons, they all had the best time playing with the balloons and popping them.

All of the boys wore dinosaur shirts to her party and her gift from Lincoln and Greyson was a T-Rex shirt. She was soooo excited and wears is all the time now!

We had pizza, veggies and fruit (for the herbivores), wonton crackers, dirt cups with dinosaurs, and homemade coconut ice cream. Aud told me I needed to make meatballs for the carnivores but was willing to accept the pepperoni pizza as their food! :)

I wish I could accept the credit for these tails but I can't. Ben made 3 of them and our sweet neighbor made the other 3. She made two for her boys then made 2 more for her nephews but with a cutting error, we had to borrow an one from her for Audrey's tail. Thanks for the help Amanda, you're the best! They were huge hits. Our kiddos wear them all the time. 

The hulk!

They had a blast and all of the kids were in bed sleeping well before 1930!

This was right before we started singing to her...

 ...when we started! She was so excited!

Spencer and Hayden

Greyson

Lincoln

The Woman is Four!!!

Our first born turned 4 about two weeks ago! We the day devoted celebrating Audrey. She woke up to balloons covering her floor, streamers, and special balloons from Daddy. We kicked off with the breakfast of her choice which was Waffles, sausage, and strawberries. It was a beautiful day so we went out to the playground. It was the first time Aud was able to pull herself onto the swing! She looked at me with these huge eyes and said, "Momma, now that I'm four- I can get onto the swing ALL BY MYSELF!" It was too sweet. We played outside for awhile and with the neighbor boy then we came inside for the lunch of her choice- pepperoni pizza. She is so loved and got calls and messages all day- she was on cloud 9! We had dinner all planned with her favorite saurbraten meatballs, egg noodles, and mixed veggies with frozen banana ice cream- but we made a trip to Joann's to get the material for her dinosaur tails and she saw a Chick-fil-A. She was so sweet about it, she said Momma, Daddy- it's my birthday and I changed my mind- I'd like to play at  Chick-fil-A and eat "chickie bites" with fruit. It was her day, so we changed gears and had a nice time. It worked well for us because right beside the Chick-Fil-A, was a Chipotle :) While the kiddos played, we had an awesome meal of veggie burritos and a salad. All the excitement, celebrating, and turning 4 must have been too much because by 1730, she was a mess. This Momma is a firm believer in kiddos needing sleep- she was in bed sleeping by 1830 :)

Naturally, there had to be candles in her waffle :)

Birthday gifts from Daddy and Momma, Snow Whites Prince and "The Princess and the Pea" book

Candles in pizza :)

'Cubba needed candles in his pizza too :)

Our sweet girl- what a complete joy you bring to our lives and everyone that knows you! You have such spunk, energy, and life in you- it's so much fun just to be near you! This past year, like the few years before, have been tough on our family- but you have flourished in spite of it all. 

 You are learning so much so fast- you amaze us! Your recollection of the names of dinosaurs is incredible! Your dance shows, songs you think of are more precious to me than you will ever know! You love to be read to, have things explained to you in the greatest of detail, and miss nothing! You love playing with your dinosaurs, your dolls, puzzles, matching games, paints, crayons, the sandbox, taking walks, and playing on the play ground.

You love to learn about Jesus, hear his word, and talk about him all throughout your day. We are so proud and will foster this above everything else. 

We love you, our wild woman. Since the day you were born, our lives have gained so much. Never had I ever laughed more, or been made speechless. You are the only you and we are so thankful God chose us to be your Momma and Daddy.