Judahtales

Everyday Moments Part 2

2012-02-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Nothing spectacular, just some Mommy memories to share…

Where did we get Sarah?

Sarah was having a not so pretty moment at the table one night. The screaming/crying/fit-pitching was dragging on and on. Luke and I were attempting to ignore it but there was really no way. At one point Luke looked at me and asked, “Moma, where did we get Sarah?”. Almost like, “can we send her back there while she finishes her fit?”. I responded, “God gave her to us”.

Sarah pottying

Sarah now likes to walk around and just randomly pull her shirt up imitating Luke going to the bathroom. I will just laugh every time and ask her in a serious voice if she is going potty. She will shake her head yes. Then some nights before bath time if she sees Luke using the bathroom she then has to have a turn. Luke was very concerned one night when after bath Sarah “told” me she wanted to use the potty. I took her over and lifted her up but didn’t pull her pajamas down. I had to reassure Luke that it was ok we were just pretending!

Sarah’s “uh-oh”s

Sarah is in the “uh-oh” stage. I really don’t remember Luke going through this. Maybe I blocked it out of my memory. She says the word I know no less than 2.5 billion times a day. Or so it seems. She will take her hairbow out of her hair and hand it to you all the while repeating constantly “uh-oh”.

Just getting out the door

Bible study morning is always exciting. Even when I do everything to make it not so exciting. It was so encouraging and faith-building to hear last week when we walked through the church doors and I made a comment about how we almost didn’t make it that the Children’s director said they had been praying us in. I’m just saying that prayer is usually the only thing that gets us there. Here’s a short recap for my “look back and laugh” book (one that I’m compiling to read to my grandchildren one day all the things that my children did!!) of last Wednesday morning.

Sarah was dressed and ready to go (read: “after much wrestling and wrangling after which I had to stop and catch my breath) when she pour a whole cup of water down her outfit. It was so wet that I couldn’t pull one of those “oh, it will dry before we get there”. So more wrestling, wrangling and now Sarah is in outfit #2. I am not dressed yet and we need to leave in 10 minutes. I put a video on for the kids and they watch one or two songs then Luke turns it off~deciding that they had seen enough. We get to the car and Luke needs to go to the bathroom. He pulls his pants down outside and while I’m buckling in Sarah he manages to pee-pee on his little backpack of extra clothes/underwear for Bible study. REALLLYY!!! With 3 acres of land you had to hit the bag???? So in the house for another bag and set of clothes. Now we are pulling out of the driveway when Luke says, “Look, I turned on all the lights!” Yes, all the flood lights are on! No time to go back inside. Never ceases to amaze me!! I promptly turn “the children” (what my kids call the children’s CD they listen to in the car") off and proceeded to pray.

Always exciting! I’m loving each moment that reminds me to be thankful for the gift of motherhood.

Everyday Moments…

2012-02-08T14:42:00.001-05:00

I’ve said before but I’ll mention again that it is a wonderful blessing to have family and friends with which to share these crazy Mommy moments. After I’ve gone through a tough morning/day/situation and get to share the details with others I can usually stand back and see the humor with two little ones.

Potty-breaks

Public bathrooms are still such a challenge sometimes for me. I just can’t seem to make it a graceful situation no matter how hard I try. Here are some more memorable trips:

~One of my first Walmart bathroom trips with a potty-training toddler, he of course had to go while we’re in the middle of the store. I drop what I’m looking at and quickly make my way all the way to the front of the store before he has an accident. While I’m holding him up, because he’s too short to reach, Sarah decides it would be fun to play in his stream of urine! Luke is mortified that she is doing this and could possibly get his pee-pee so he starts yelling. I have no hands to hold Sarah so I have to take my leg and stick it out in hopes that it will keep her far enough away so she is not playing in the pee-pee, the potty or anything else. Then she sits down on the floor~YUCK!!! There was NO soap in the whole bathroom and I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

~I have also decided that it is much better to not go into public restrooms with young children no matter how bad I have use it. It is enough just to keep Sarah out of trouble while Luke goes. Fortunately, and I don’t know when it happened but Luke is now tall enough to reach and can manage his pants by himself so all I have to do now is hold Sarah. It was pretty tough there for awhile holding Luke up high enough with one arm and balancing Sarah with the other. But, for the public bathroom Olympics I will add that I have gone multiple times while holding Sarah on my lap or just simply holding her up off of the floor as she tries to go limp on me because all she wants to do is crawl around on the floor. One day I’ll miss these times, I know!

~After Bible study on Wednesday morning another friend of mine and her two children all head to Chick-fil-A to eat lunch. We are starting to really enjoy these times because the boys play so well together and we can take their kids meal toys and turn them in for free ice-cream. (Shhh don’t tell them!!!) But, in all of our experience we have found that it is much easier (as easy as it can possibly be!) to take everyone to the bathroom at church before we leave. The other morning my friend had her two in the handicap stall both sitting on the floor and she commented that she didn’t know how well it would work. I volunteered to hold her 10 month old but she thought they would be ok. About 22 seconds after she said that the 10 month old started to escape, crawling under the door. Then her 2 year follows. As other ladies are coming in to use the restroom they are laughing at all the children running/crawling around.

~One more bathroom/potty-training story…I’ve learned to always have wipes…ALWAYS! Luke and I were walking one morning this past week when all of a sudden he had to go poo-poo. There was NO WHERE to go and we were quite a ways from the house. So, in the ditch we go. As I’m praying that no cars come by I also begin to pray that he is a little on the constipated side. OH, no…as it would be we had some hitchhikers that I had to get off. Enter, Mother nature’s toilet paper~leaves!!! I really can’t believe that happened but it did!

Luke’s Questions

After our story time each night Luke always asked in a sweet little voice if I want to lay with him. As always I say “yes”. This is when we recount our day. Usually it ends up with Luke saying “why” to almost everything I say.

We were talking one night about the letters on my shirt when we landed on the topic of where is Chattanooga? I replied, “It’s in Tennessee. Where we went to the mountains a couple of months ago.” He asks, “did we have to get on the highway”? “Yes”, I said. His next question, “Where’s Chattanooga’s driveway”?

How do you explain that???

A Full Christmas

2012-01-18T13:54:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas was full. Full of memorable moments and delicious food (most of which I didn't have to cook). We kept saying over and over again how wonderful it was to be able to celebrate with not only our parents but extended family as well.

It all started the week before Christmas with a Saturday celebration with the Carrolls. The kids had the best time playing with cousins Callie and Owen. It was hard to get them to stop long enough to eat. Sarah just handed her plate right back to me after I had gotten her settled into her high chair for lunch.
No thanks, Moma.

The older two were a little more into the eating scene. Sarah adored both Callie and Owen.

Everyone enjoyed watching them exchange and play with all the presents.

The Eve of Christmas Eve

In order that we didn't overwhelm the kids with presents we sort of divided gifts over a few days. Grandpapa and Grandmama gave their gifts the day before Christmas Eve. After placing the gifts under the tree, this was Sarah's immediate response.

It just proved that my thinking was correct that putting gifts under our tree this year would have been quite a challenge!

Sarah just wanted to put her hand through the ribbon and suck her thumb. She really didn't care about opening any gifts.

Sarah also just wanted to wrap herself and her thumb around the sweater Grandpapa and Grandmama gave me. I had to wrestle her out of it.

The Real Christmas Eve

We went to Church with the whole family in tow. It was a truly amazing family service. The kids did incredibly well. Luke sat glued to Joel's lap and just marveled at the manger scene, live animals and children singing about our Savior's birth. Sarah hopped from Mimi, to Me, to Granddaddy.

After the service we were able to get up close and personal to some of the animals in the production. Sarah LOVED this part.

After a delicious spaghetti supper and the kids were in bed it was time to put out the gifts. Joel had to finish assembling Luke’s tractor and then decided to put together Sarah’s crib/highchair/kitchen gift from Grandpapa and Grandmama. We all had a long laugh as he worked for well over an hour. Next year we decided that we will only buy gifts/toys that are already assembled. Joel had already assembled Sarah’s car which had over 40 steps and took him several hours.

That is the cradle that Granddaddy made for me when I was a little girl and my old Cabbage Patch doll in it. Yes, the doll is missing her clothes because we decided to wash them THAT NIGHT!!!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning we were up by about 7. Luke immediately went for the car transporter and little cars that Joel bought for him at his favorite shopping place (i.e. the flea market).

Grandmama and Aunt Cynthia came Christmas Eve and spent the night here in Macon.

Sarah received her own set of hair rubber bands to use for sucking her thumb. Now she doesn’t steal mine as often.

The kids each received laptops from Mimi and Granddaddy.

Luke was being such a gentleman and helping Sarah get in her new car then shutting the door for her.

This was Luke’s big gift. He takes his driving very seriously.

Sarah loves riding in the trailer but her attention span often dictates that she jump out of the trailer without letting the driver know. So, for now the trailer is not attached to the tractor.

When the children went down for their naps we did the gag gift exchange. Grandmama, Aunt Cynthia and Mimi always do such a great job.

Christmas gets more memorable each year!

New Year’s Eve Chick-fil-A Bowl

2012-01-03T06:53:00.001-05:00

Here we are four rows up from the field. I couldn’t believe Joel sprang for the great seats. Despite two sick kiddos and both of us with colds we were able to break away and leave our precious little ones in the very capable/brave hands of Mimi and Granddaddy to go watch Auburn beat Virginia. It was a wonderful night. There was some concern on everyone’s part about whether or not I could stay awake since it was a 7:30 game. I made it, thanks in part to the great seats. There was always something to watch on the field or sidelines.

We stayed at a hotel at the airport and rode the Marta in to the Dome. After standing in line for about 30 minutes to get t-shirts we found our seats and watched the pre-game. Then it was the parachuting cow show!! I just have to say that I love Chick-fil-A!!! This is a picture of the thousands of cows attached to parachutes falling from the rafters of the dome.

This is how close we were. I mean, it’s not every night or even twice a year that we get babysitters for overnight~thanks again, Mimi and Granddaddy!!!

Then, I thought I saw Louie Giglio standing on the sidelines. He’s a pastor/Bible study leader that I’ve listened to, gone to conferences to hear, and even driven to Atlanta and back to Augusta in one night several times in nursing school to hear. I kinda like the guy. Anyway, I tell Joel that I had spotted him and Joel tries to take his picture. Well, after noticing that the guy is drinking a beer and appears to be gay Joel says he doesn’t think it’s Louie. Needless to say, he took the wrong guys’ picture.

Oops, not, Louie!

This one is Louie, in the black jacket with arms folded.

My date for the night and forever! Love that guy!!

It was so much fun being out together! Mimi and Granddaddy did great with the kiddos as always. We could never thank them enough for the chance to invest in our marriage. We almost felt like college students again.

Christmas Pictures

2011-12-20T06:15:00.000-05:00

I am never courageous enough to do pictures of the kids by myself. I always wait until Mimi is here to help bribe them to stand still and cooperate. She is the perfect helper!

Cheerios and M&M’s also work well…

One more Christmasy thing we did was to attempt to make Christmas cookies. We had more fun eating the sprinkles than eating the cookies with the sprinkles on them.

Praying your holiday is filled with the joy of knowing our God gave the most perfect gift in His Son Jesus.

Decorating, Celebrating, It’s Christmas time…

2011-12-18T06:52:00.000-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving we started getting ready for Christmas. Luke was excited to say the least. He’d been talking about putting up the tree for months and he enjoyed going to visit it in the attic some days.

We put our 14 ornaments on the tree and all at the top. Sarah still doesn’t know quite what to think of it but she knows what it’s called. She will go running and pointing to it whenever someone says, “Christmas tree”. It was also Granddaddy’s birthday that weekend. We had to do some fast talking to keep him from buying one of his gifts the day after Thanksgiving but Joel managed to convince him that Sears was all out!

Our ever ready gift openers jumped right in to help.

There are moments sometimes (ok all day long!) that remind you you are a mom of a preschooler and now toddler. One morning I was talking to Suzanne on the phone. It’s not often that we get to chat but the kids were finishing up breakfast and I thought it would be a good time. As the conversation continued and my attention to them dwindled things quickly got out of control. I looked over at one point and Sarah was COVERED in yogurt from Luke’s yogurt cup and had begun to paint the backs of the chairs with it. Luke in the mean time had spilled a bag of sunflower seeds (he calls them “sunflower beans”) all over the floor. As I tell my sweet sweet friend that I should probably go she, in the most precious voice says, “thank you for letting them do that so we could talk.” I mean, sometimes you just have to let it go, right???

Here they are enjoying the “beans”….

One last thing…

Sunday afternoons we always do something together as a family. I am amazed how many different things we come up with each week. Usually it’s nothing to spectacular in the worlds view but we sure have made some memories. I have tried to be more purposeful about taking pictures of our adventures but sometimes I forget the camera (like last Sunday) and sometimes we do things the camera shouldn’t come (like mud bogging in the golf cart where I’m trying to just keep myself and my children on the cart and away from limbs!). This Sunday was ride on the lawn mower day!!!! We are so redneck sometimes but the kids LOVED it.

More Christmas coming soon…

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-12-16T06:54:00.000-05:00

It started a little rough for us. The kids had been sick the week before. Joel I'm sure was on call/working late several nights before and then he noticed that 3 of his truck tires were all full of roofing nails. Granddaddy and Mimi came on Wednesday and it was such a relief. They helped and played the whole weekend. They also came bearing gifts for Luke and Sarah. Mimi recorded another storybook about God's Christmas Promises for Luke and gave Sarah a precious little pearl necklace and bracelet set.

Sarah got to show off her driving skills to everyone. She really cracks us up. This is how she drives~NO HANDS!!! I have to get her going in a circle so she won't run into anything. She will just kick back in the seat and smile.

Thursday our home was full and we were so very thankful! Aunt Cynthia (complete with her own filtered ice and water) brought Grandmama down, Bryan and Felicia came with the pups, and Grandpapa and Grandmama all joined in the craziness of cooking, eating and playing. My two kiddos were beside themselves trying to watch the dogs' every move. Luke couldn't stand not being outside with them.

The girls enjoyed our time in the kitchen "cutting up" (literally and in conversation). Joel did his pre-black Friday shopping/scheming and the dogs chased a lot of balls while the children chased the dogs! It was quite the feast with turkey, ham and all the trimmings. Grandmama Judah's famous and fought over chocolate cake and Grandmama Poppell's famous and fought over pound cake and pecan pie all made an appearance.

After we ate we headed outside to play.

Black Friday morning was a date for Joel and me. We got up early and hit some stores for Christmas gifts for the kids. It was after the third store we went to that I suggested going to Chick-fil-A for a biscuit (I was starving) and that the next store we went into we would need to look at something else besides tools. It was such fun just being out together "on a mission". We pretty much did all of our shopping in one morning. Mimi and Granddaddy got the kids up and stayed with them until we came back later that morning. They are such the troopers.

Joel said that there were people in the Lowe’s parking lot laughing at him trying to fit everything in our car while I was in Walmart. We had to take a picture.

Another trip to Mimi & Granddaddy's and the Far Away Visitor

2011-12-14T14:34:00.000-05:00

Our far away visitor~Aunt Elizabeth sure made the weekend special. Luke and Sarah got sweet little gifts from her. Her visit brought most of the whole family together which hasn’t happened in a long while.

October

2011-12-12T06:35:00.001-05:00

I'm very behind on blogging. The fall has been one cold/virus after another around our house. I'm really thinking of talking to that daycare my kids go to and tell them to clean up their act (oh, that would be my and my house!!!) We've also stayed pretty busy and I've been trying to research preschool curriculum for Luke. It sometimes will consume me as I read and read and order and return and read some more. I'm thinking that I'll do a blog on what I've discovered for us.

So back to the last two months. It started with our Mountain adventure (check, already blogged), Grandpapa's birthday celebration, two trips to Mimi and Granddaddy's, and then Thanksgiving. So here's a little recap to catch everyone up.

Celebrating Grandpapa

We celebrated Grandpapa's birthday with a wonderful supper and some fun opening gifts. Here is Grandpapa's little helper. He thought every present was going to be a tractor. He also "helped" himself to some of the birthday cake a little before we cut it. It was such fun being able to celebrate all together.

Mimi and Granddaddy's

We had some precious time at Mimi and Granddaddy's house while Daddy was away at a meeting. There were lots of hours pushing little ones on the swing.

Luke and Sarah received lots of hugs, kisses and stars on the back from Grandmama.

We took a trip to the fair one night. Luke was a little timid about all the lights, rides and noise but he eventually warmed up. He really just wanted to sit on the tractor in the parking lot and couldn’t understand why that wasn’t a ride.

This was the first ride I convinced him to go on. Why not start big, huh??

Sarah was not to be left out. She LOVED the rides.

I caught a precious moment one night of Granddaddy and his grandson reading on the couch together.

I think this was also the trip that Granddaddy pulled out his new headphones to watch TV. They were quite useful when the kids were going crazy right before bedtime and he needed a little respite. I think I need a pair. He said that they worked great and he couldn’t hear a thing!

We love our time at Mimi & Granddaddy’s and go every chance we get.

Mountain Fun

2011-11-30T14:38:00.007-05:00

Warning, I take too many pictures and can never really narrow them down so this post is “slap full” of pictures and pretty long.
We set out on our mountain adventure the first part of October. It was a long 6/7 hour drive. Fortunately everyone did great. We made several stops along the way (including Academy Sports because my husband can’t get enough of that place, and Chick-fil-A because I can’t get enough of that place!). Our cabin for the week was called “Papa Bear”.
The first order of business for the children was to check out the pool table on the lower floor. They thoroughly enjoyed crawling all over it and playing with the balls since this is not allowed at Mimi and Granddaddys (mostly b/c their parents don’t want them to break anything).
Mimi could get a good laugh out of Sarah when Sarah threw the balls over the edge.
The next morning we started at the Applebarn. DELICIOUS!

Sarah immensely enjoyed the apple fritters.
Then we took some pictures outside.
Joel and I took Luke with us to church that Sunday morning. It was his first time going to a service and not going to Sunday School. He did AMAZING!!!! It was a precious little country church right off the main highway. Then we thought we would attempt some family pictures… And pretty much we hung up ever taking family pictures again until the children are over 18.
We celebrated Mimi’s birthday with a cake from a local bakery. It was delicious.
One of the afternoons my precious husband said he would listen out for the children so I could take a nap. When I woke this is what I found…     My husband still eating his lunch (for those of you who have ever eaten with him you will appreciate the time he takes to enjoy his food) and the monitor not even plugged in much less on. He keeps me laughing!
There was some sweet pajama times in the morning with Granddaddy drinking his coffee.
Then it was off to Gatlinburg for the morning of our third day. Naps were sort of put on vacation and I was eating up the freedom.  Although, I have to admit that coming back home and getting back in our routine reminded me why we have a routine!
In downtown Gatlinburg before we rode the tram up to Ober Gatlinburg, Granddaddy, Luke and Joel posed by the waterwheel.

At the top of the mountain were all these things for the kids to do. Sarah hopped on this ride.
She sort of resembles Ol’ Fred, don’t ya think?
Granddaddy, Joel and I rode the chairlift almost to the peak to ride the alpine slide down. Mimi stayed with the kids for us and said that as soon as we left all Luke talked about was that he wanted to ride the slide too. There we are, riding the chairlift up to get to the top of the slide. Here we are at the bottom. Luke did great and LOVED it.
He rode the little train one last time before we rode the tram back to Gatlinburg to eat lunch.

This was the view from the tram coming down the mountain.  Joel took this picture. He wanted to make sure we kept straight who took what picture. I'm probably going to have to watermark his work for him!
We ate lunch at an INCREDIBLE pizza place in downtown Gatlinburg. I was determined that my children were going to get very good at eating out during our trip (mostly because I wanted a vacation from the kitchen!).  It helped that we were able to eat outside by a creek.
Applebarn breakfast trip #2 because it was oh so delicious!!
Dollywood...
Riding the train was the hightlight of the day. Luke had been looking forward to it since we began planning the trip.  It was named “Cinderella”. Sarah crashed in Granddaddy’s arms and slept a good two hours in the stroller afterwards. She had had enough of missing too many naps. She was quite the trooper.

We managed to get her in the stroller after the train ride only to turn around and find Luke urinating in a flower bed in the middle of a walkway with an older couple just laughing their heads off. Granddaddy witnessed every bit of him preparing to pee-pee and didn't stop him or tell me until Luke had already started. I was mortified and Granddaddy was laughing!! I yanked up his pants and ran to the nearest bathroom. Poor fella~it's hard to know what's the woods and what's not the woods!!
I could write another post on all the places we've stopped to potty!!

Wednesday we went to Clingman’s Dome. It’s the highest point in the Smoky Mountains. You drive for a really really long time (especially when there are two toddlers in the car~the distance for some reason just seems that much longer!) and then you hike up the last 1/2 mile. No problem, I thought. Just a 1/2 mile. Oh but the 1/2 mile is STRAIGHT UP!!! My wonderfully strong husband did the Fatherly duty of pushing our children in the stroller for most of that 1/2 mile. All the while one of our little ones WHINED almost the entire time that he didn’t want to be there. I even tried to make it exciting by letting him pee-pee in the woods. Here we are before the hike.
This is what Luke really wanted to do. We should have left him with Mimi at the bottom.

Strong Man!

Yes, he was parallel to the ground it was so steep. Granddaddy, Luke and I stopped for a picture (or maybe really it was a break).Once you reach the top you have to then climb the ramp up to this observation deck.
This was the picture right before the meltdown. He continued to meltdown the ENTIRE way down the mountain! Granddaddy just kept walking. He beat us down the mountain as Joel and I traded off children from the stroller to my back and back to the stroller trying to keep everyone happy. The hiking path was full of people and we had some pretty funny looks. The pictures we took, however were great!
Note to self: when attempting to ride in a car for a long time to climb a mountain that small children could care nothing about don’t do it at the end of a week where they’ve had hit and miss naps!
Mimi had a surprise waiting for them at the bottom. These cute little grizzly bears. Way to save the day, Mimi!!!

Thursday was heading home day. We stopped in Chattanooga to visit the aquarium.

It was really neat. Luke was not so crazy about it at first but didn’t want to leave when it was time. We ate lunch in downtown Chattanooga and then headed south. It wasn’t until we were crawling through Atlanta traffic that Joel needs to stop for a bathroom break. He mentions to me that he had had 6 glasses of water and a glass of tea at lunch~REALLY??? We were barely out of Atlanta when he couldn’t take it anymore and pulled off the interstate. The only place he could find to go to the bathroom was a DMV (dept of motor vehicles).
We made some wonderful memories and ate some wonderful food. The kids really did a great job hanging in there with us. Mimi and Granddaddy were really brave and so very patient with us as well. We would never have been courageous enough to do it without them.

Luke is Three

2011-10-10T15:23:00.001-04:00

You are three years old, big Boy! You’ve been up to so much this year. You won our hearts from day one and continue to amaze us with your precious spirit.

Pictures through the years:

a week or so old

one year old

two years old

And 3 years old

You went from weighing 8lbs 2oz and 19 inches long to now 34 lbs and 38 inches tall. Your sweet little heart has just grown and developed into a precious little boy. You still fill our days with unspeakable joy and lots of talk about tractors.

This past year you:

~started potty training

~pedaling the tricycle and now your own bicycle with training wheels

~started playing on the playground at Chick-fil-A (this was a huge accomplishment as you have been so scared of going in it by yourself).

Some of your favorites are:

~going to the flea market with Daddy (Grandpapa and Granddaddy) every Saturday morning and choosing a toy to buy

~playing with your trucks & tractors in the sand box ( you will usually come out of your bedroom in the morning and ask to go right outside).

~playing on your swingset

~riding Granddaddy’s tractor

~goldfish, yogurt covered raisins and swallows of Granddaddy’s coke are among your favorite snacks. We haven’t yet found a food you don’t like. You are a wonderful eater.

We celebrated your special day with all kinds of precious friends. Mimi and Granddaddy showed up bright and early on our front porch the morning of your birthday. Then Daddy, Granddaddy, Grandpapa and you all made the weekly trip to the flea market. You scored big that week with a bulldozer, a scraper, and a very loud train.

After naps we had your birthday party with some friends from church. Tractors, tractors, everywhere tractors…

You played so hard on the swing set with them. You were such a big boy opening your presents and being very intentional about telling each person thank you. It was macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, and fruit for supper that night.

Then a tractor cake, of course.

We all had such fun.

You were so thoughtful to go around to each of your little friends and offer them a party hat. When they declined you gratefully said, “oh, ok” and moved on to the next one. Your precious spirit is so sweet.

There was so much going on that day that we had to wait until the next day to give you your gift from Moma and Daddy. It was a pedal front loader tractor.

How blessed we are to get to call you ours. How thankful we are for you. We pray each night for your little heart to come to know, love and serve our Jesus one day. (You’re moving in the right direction working so hard on your memory verses.) The other night you decided you would “lead” our family prayer time and you prayed so sweetly for Sarah. We were moved to tears and our hearts overflowed with joy. You are learning to be a big brother and the hard lessons of sharing not only your toys but also your parents. You are becoming more of a daddy’s boy although there’s still many times it’s Moma you want (how thankful I am to get to be yours!). Thank you for lighting our lives with your little smile. Keep growing little one. God’s got great plans for you and we’re all rooting you on.

S napshots from the party:

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A Judah update

2011-09-18T07:10:00.002-04:00

I promise that we’ve been up to more than just birthday parties around here. We’ve just been up to so much that I just haven’t had/taken the time to blog.
This past week was our first week of going to a morning Bible Study that I’ve waited about a year to start. I wanted to wait until Sarah could handle missing a morning nap. It was incredible. Especially for the children. Joel told me that even if I didn’t like it he wanted the kids to go. I was a little apprehensive about how the children would do but we prayed several times that morning before getting there and God answered. The kids did great. As we were pulling out of the parking lot to go home Luke said, “I had fun, didn’t I?”.
Each week they have the same teachers and in both of their classes (even Sarah’s age) have a Bible story (they study the same thing we study!) and sing hymns. In Luke’s class they memorize scripture, even have a “quiet time” where they learn to be still and meditate on God (AMAZING!) and pray at least twice during the 2 hours. There’s no crafts because they don’t have time for that! Oh and in Sarah’s class they do sign language with them! Be still my heart!!!!!!
I attend a small group with other young moms for the first half and then all the women meet for lecture. I have 6 days of lessons to complete and it has truly been wonderful. We just study scripture. No outside books, etc…allowed. So after my first week I’m sold. I love it.

Just this past week or so Sarah has started signing. Saying, “please”, “all done”, “more” and “milk”. She is attempting to feed herself with a spoon~almost absolutely insists that she do it herself most of the time and is still climbing. She is all smiles and is getting very proficient with opening doors! She just had her 12 month check-up. She weighed 23lb 9oz (90th%) and was 32 inches long (100th%). She received four vaccines and did pretty good. She had a fever the next day but this ol’ experienced Moma (yeah right!!) remembered that Luke did the same thing with his 1 year vaccines.

Luke is becoming such the boy and “big brother”. I have found he and Sarah together in the bathroom both standing on one little stool with Luke instigating them playing in the sink!! He is sort of at an “easy” stage right now. He’s gotten so much better about (for the most part) pitching fits. I have to brag on him. Yesterday I loaded them up to go eat a biscuit at Chick-fil-A so Joel could sleep-in. When we had to quickly leave after Sarah threw-up all over everything in her vicinity and he didn’t have the chance to play on the playground, he left without a fuss. We’re growing up! He is also however at the talk-my-ears-off stage! It is non-stop most days with “Moma, what’s that?”, “Moma, who brought that?”, “Moma, what do you use that for?”, “Moma, this…Moma that”, “Moma watch this.”. He usually responds to my answer with “Oh, I didn’t know that”.

Joel is working, working, working. He is planning some time off each of the next three months and simply can’t wait. We can’t either. He had a really tough call weekend in August that just seemed to wipe him out, working until 1:00/2:00am most days.

I was thinking the other day that it’s finally starting to feel like we’re settling in to Macon. I guess I’m starting to feel more settled. I’ve had a couple of girl’s night outs where some of the girls in our Sunday school class have gone out to eat. It's amazing how a meal out with other young moms can make you laugh at the things you just want to pull your hair out about during the day.

It’s also been a bit of relief to have cooler temps so we can get outside. Both of my children would walk straight out the door from their beds in the morning if I would let them. We’ve had lots of lunches outside lately and have started going back to some playgrounds.
Here’s some pictures just for fun…

Sarah

2011-09-09T15:15:00.001-04:00

Oh precious one~

We made it! I always feel like things begin to really settle when one of my little ones hit the one year mark. You are so beautiful! Your spirit is already showing itself to be fun-loving, sweet, caring and absolutely precious. It still amazes me the way you come from a tiny little one who can’t hold her head up to now running through our house imitating our sounds and pushing your brother on the four-wheeler.

We got to celebrate you all day long. Singing “Happy Birthday” and clapping at the end as you just stood with an “awe” look on your face. You had phone calls from Mimi and Granddaddy, Grandpapa and Grandmama, Aunt Cynthia and even a couple of my friends wished you a Happy Birthday.

Some snapshots of the birthday celebration on Saturday.

You are doing so much now. Loving your baby (holding it close and saying rather loudly “awwwww”) and giving her a bottle are so sweet. Climbing is one of your favorite pastimes and you can pretty much scale anything. Even the rock wall on the swing set has been tried but not yet conquered. Your old carseat is another one you love to work your way into.

You have a heart of obedience as you will usually move away from a “no-no” but not without a smile! You adore Luke and love getting in his bed at night as we all pray as a family. Hairbows don’t stand a chance in your hair most days and you will bring them to me saying “uh-uh-uh”. You LOVE LOVE LOVE some bread~any bread but fruit and veggies are slowly making their way onto your “like” list.

It’s so funny to watch you play with all of Luke’s tractors/cars/trucks. You will take them and make the sounds while pushing them. You crack us up when you imitate the siren on one of Luke’s ambulances. Moving, moving, moving is how I would describe your day. You love to empty drawers and everything still goes in your mouth for inspection. I’ve dug out rocks, leaves, bugs, sticks, grass, and most anything else you’ve gotten your hands on.

You smile with your eyes and love to brush your teeth.

You are saying, Moma, Dada, uh-oh (although the “oh” part is usually left off), flower (sort of sounds like pow-wer), and just yesterday you said ball.

My prayer, my hope for you little one is that our loving, glorious God would make Himself known to you at an early age. That your little heart would be confident in His love and provision alone. That insecurity would be a foreign word in your world and that your precious spirit would be given over to serving for His amazing glory. That you would walk assured that you have been chosen and called Holy and Beloved each day of your life. He’s got a plan for you and I can’t wait to watch!

We love you…

A cake, some candles and a pink tutu

2011-08-20T14:29:00.002-04:00

It all started with a pink tu-tu and a cute shirt that said “birthday girl”.

Then there was a brother/sister moment.

And finally, out came the cakes…

Luke’s was loaded with a cement truck, a front-end loader, and a dump truck. (Yes, his moma knows the difference!)

Sarah had a hello kitty cupcake cake complete with a little purse and compact.

It just occurred to me that the cupcakes were in the shape of a purse~Go figure!

Then there was a little help from Granddaddy to get the ball rolling (or the fingers smashing!).

Her very own smash cake…
I would say she did a pretty good job. We were all laughing hysterically at this point.

This was Luke watching Sarah…

The Birthday Girl did a great job! And Mimi did a wonderful job planning it all and getting the pink icing out of her shirt!!

There were oh’ so many gifts from some very special people. And there might have been some pushing a baby stroller without a shirt going on from a certain someone who got hot pink icing all over her shirt.
The next morning, this was Sarah’s bed hair picture!

And finally, a picture of the two precious bother/sister duo in a puppet show tent Luke got for his birthday. Here they are the split second before Sarah manages to push the whole thing over trying to climb out of it.
She’s my climber! I’ve found her on chairs, at the top of the slide and even today she managed to climb out of the high chair at McAlister’s while she was buckled in!
It was such a fun celebration. What a privilege to celebrate two birthdays of two precious children who light up not only our lives but our family’s lives as well. Thank you to everyone who was able to come and celebrate with us.

For the love of a monkey

2011-08-05T14:30:00.001-04:00

Luke pulled this backpack/leash thing out of his closet the other day and Sarah fell in love with it. I initially put it on Luke’s back and when he got tired of playing with it she picked it up. She wasn’t satisfied to just carry it around, she had to have it on her back also. She was so cute toddling around. I tried really hard to get a back picture but she kept turning around to see the camera. Here’s a short video of her walking around with it. I leave the bottom strap unbuckled and she loves to try to do it herself. Keeps her busy!

Peaches, peaches and peaches

2011-07-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

It was a peach kind of day so to Lane’s Peach Orchard we ventured.

They had the best peach ice cream. Luke, being the big boy he is got his own cup. Only a picture of his little face could adequately describe how much he enjoyed it.

Sarah hijacked his spoon with hopes of scoring a bite. She was unsuccessful with him but Mommy and Daddy hooked her up with some.

A peach ice cream mustache~YUMMY!

Yes, we are officially walking!

We endured the 150 degree heat and let the kids play on the playground and old John Deere tractor. Luke mainly checked out the tractor until we couldn’t take it any more and had to go hunt down some a/c.

A July afternoon on a front porch in a rocking chair with some homemade peach ice cream~gotta love the south!

Fishin’

2011-07-25T15:11:00.001-04:00

This is the expert fishing crew headed down to our creek to catch some fish.

The girls mainly observed and took pictures.

And yes, after gathering our gear, hiking down to the creek, baiting our hook, with the first cast Luke caught a fish (maybe Joel helped a little!). And here is the prize. Luke wasn’t much for touching it so Daddy handled that part. The moment captured on video. I think Daddy was more excited than Luke!!

First catch

Beach Memories~the Children’s Museum, Harbor Town and snapshots

2011-07-23T06:00:00.000-04:00

On Thursday we visited a children’s museum. It was a smaller building and with lots of children running around it sort of made it seem pretty chaotic. So chaotic that Granddaddy decided to hang out on the porch while Mimi and I took the kids in. Chicken!!!

There was a baby area that allowed Sarah to just play. She LOVED it. She conquered everything in there and even climbed over a little 15 month old who was too bashful to go down the slide.

I don’t think she liked the rocking horse one bit (read sarcastically!).

This is how she figured out to get down the slide.

Once Luke warmed up to the chaos he was off and exploring.

Friday morning we headed to Harbor Town. It’s a little shopping area in the Sea Pines Plantation.

A little playground action for the kids…

Then some yacht-looking. Luke was enamored by them. Luke and I climbed the lighthouse all the way to the top~114 steps! He did great. When we made it to the top there was a gift shop (shock), and a huge bucket of small cars and trucks. I had a time getting him away from those.

Some snapshots

Very serious stuff happening here… He looks just like Granddaddy does when he talks on the phone.

All the boy wanted was some dirt and his bulldozer.

I’m thinking she’s thinking, “Hey, you, with the camera. Could you help me get out of this huge bathtub they keep putting me in? I just want to crawl over and play with the stroller.”

You have to wonder what they are thinking when we torture them with things/places we just think are so much fun.

Pool time wasn’t such a big hit with Sarah but Luke turned into a fish. He LOVED the water and went from clinging to me to swimming with his floatation device back to the side of the pool all by himself and even jumping in and going under water. He would say “You not help me” right before he would jump in the pool. Somehow I got through the whole week and never got a picture of him in his “get-up”.

It was a wonderful week. Everyone slept pretty good which is always my biggest fear. Granddaddy and Mimi survived and were such a wonderful help and even want to go off with us again. Bless them!! We made some pretty incredible memories.

More Beach Memories~July 4th

2011-07-21T13:35:00.001-04:00

It was our first morning of vacation. The kiddos were up early (I guess you don’t understand the meaning vacation until you are a teenager at least!). I made some screaming pancakes and bacon and we ate out on the deck. Granddaddy was attempting to keep Sarah out of his plate with a little cantaloupe in her bowl. Mimi and I had quite a giggle watching him try to eat and keeping her occupied and out of his food. Yes, my children rarely wear clothes. Sarah had on a sleeper but it was just too hot on the deck so Mimi took it half-way off and tied the sleeves around her waist.

Mimi found the cutest shirts for them so we had to have a dress-up/picture party out on the deck. The chair they are sitting in was my Dad’s when he was a child. We found it in the attic a couple months ago and he has recovered it and made new arms for it. It turned out beautiful.

The next few pictures demonstrates what happens when you attempt to get a 10 month old to sit still for a picture.

She wiggled right out of that thing.

This was Luke’s first time with a sparkler. Mimi thought of everything! I was just trying to get us to the beach without having to go to Walmart for too many things that I’d forgotten.

We had a great day that first day. The beach and then some pool time with a ride on the bikes to go eat some supper rounded out our day. After the kids had been in bed a while we heard some fireworks and decided to walk out on the deck to watch. Well, all we could do was hear them because of the trees. You would think on an island it wouldn’t be too hard to watch a fireworks display. Oh, well…

More to come about our trip. Am I really that far behind in blogging????

Hilton Head Family Pictures

2011-07-15T15:16:00.003-04:00

10 months old

2011-07-03T09:17:00.001-04:00

Sarah,

You are growing and changing so much lately it is hard to keep up. Your hair is getting so long that I almost have to keep a barrette in it to keep it out of your eyes. Cruising around the walls, taking some steps by yourself but mostly crawling just as fast as your little legs and arms can move, is how you get around now. You are not content to stay in one place. You’ve discovered the cooking pans and tupperware. You and Luke love to eat cheerios out of the muffin pan. I think you love being able to eat what he is eating.

Another favorite place is the bathroom (especially the toilet when Luke is using it!). You also love my hair rubber bands (really, the soft clothe scrunchies). You will hold them in your hand and suck your thumb. You went to bed with one last night and it was still there this morning.

It’s nap time and I’m trying to sneak in and get a picture of you.

See the little black hair scrunchy you were holding.

Standing in your crib with a crocheted blanket sucking your thumb is how I find you each morning. You will smile so big and wave at me. When I pick you up, you snuggle right into my chest and kick your legs. I feel so much of what I think you want to say. Your eyes light up and you just can’t seem to get enough of Mommy time these days. It’s been so precious the last week of watching you imitate Luke and come crawling over to me and laying your head down on my lap and saying, “awwww”. Melts my heart.

You captivated every little old lady in the grocery store the other day saying “hey” while waving your arms and smiling so big. You light up your daddy’s face in the morning when we get to go out on the front porch to say bye-bye to him. Just about every stranger we meet/greet comments on what a beautiful smile you have. It sure does light up our world.

You love your finger foods and have mastered the sippy cup. You want to check out anything your big brother has, although you’ve learned pretty quick that he would rather you play with something else. You two are starting to play together sometimes and it is precious. We’ve watched ya’ll read books together and you will giggle with delight when Luke attempts to “play” with you (which usually involves him sitting on you or rolling on you). Luke has stepped up to the big brother role in such precious ways. He has grabbed you before you went crawling down the steps to the garage. He knows which things are a “no-no” for you and will remind you. He also asks each time he has a snack or something to eat if you can have it as well.

One last funny thing you’ve started doing is, when we tell you “no”, you smile so sweetly, shake your head no and sometimes will try to do it any way or sometimes move on.

What a gift you are to us all.

Parenting Graces

2011-06-25T07:29:00.003-04:00

As I’m walking through this parenting thing, (one of the hardest, yet most precious things I’ve ever had to do) I thought I might share some of the thoughts I continue to dwell on.

Teach them. Even how to pull up their pants. They’ll get it, eventually.
Love them. Even when they are hard to “like” at the moment.
Play with them. Keep climbing in their treehouses, building train tracks and bridges out of blocks and digging in the sand.
Sometimes I do a fair job of staying in their world and not being driven by a need to accomplish something (check another thing off the to-do list or add another thing to the to-do list) and other days I’m driven by the to-do list.
Teachable moments impress~look for them.
God’s word is relevant even for the 2 1/2 year old who won’t stay still and wants to read all things tractors.
Sometimes the tantrums are a cry for a hug and some quiet lovin’~ other times they just need a nap more than they need lunch. I’m learning to discern these times.
Moms of preschoolers could negotiate middle east peace (seems like I negotiate ALL day long~you may have this first then you can have that”)
Keeping my patience game on~even during the hard evening time is key.
Some days I need another quiet time with God to make it through the afternoon.
They can’t see the goal so they need me to stay focused on it~raising godly children who love God and others holy.
Laugh at what you hear yourself saying most days~ “No Sarah, you can’t play in the toilet water”, “Luke, don’t stand on your sister. She’s not a step for the couch”.
You can put a baby/toddler to bed, making sure they aren’t overtired, keeping the same routine, but you can’t make them sleep.
One day I’ll get to sleep past 6:30am, but then I’ll miss all the sunrises.
There is a certain stance for poo-pooing that the toddler will take, it behooves me to recognize/pay attention to this and encourage him to move to the toilet.
Don’t expect a battle, just have in mind how you’re going to get through it.
Be thankful in everything ~ laundry that never stops, messes that seem to multiply, battles with bath time.
Don’t look to far ahead ~I tend to get overwhelmed. Just do the next thing.
Praise far more than correct.
When I mess up, apologize to them.
Start as you mean to go. What do you want them to look like in 10-15 years. Start now.
Sometimes you just need a prayer time with them on the kitchen floor when the morning is deteriorating quickly and we’ve got a long day ahead of us. It’s pretty precious to hear Luke say, “you prayed for me.”
Don’t be in a hurry. They aren’t and it’s like going up stream in a float with no oars or herding cats~IMPOSSIBLE. Slow down.
It’s ok to take 15 matchbox cars with us in the car, really. I’ll help you carry them~along with a 20lb baby, a diaper bag, the keys and our lunch. No problem. If it’s important to you, it’s important to me.
Children don’t enjoy shopping or going out to eat so don’t torture yourself. Just wait and ask yourself if you really need the milk or if we can just drink water for a few more days.

I read an article the other day reminding me that Motherhood is a Mission. I lose sight of that, probably most days. It does get routine, daily but the days are adding up and the planting, watering I’m doing right now will produce something. If I want it to be something that my Heavenly Father is proud of then I must stay focused. He’s entrusted them to me.

Phillippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal fo rthe prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

“Blog-worthy”in the Judah Household

2011-06-22T09:38:00.001-04:00

It truly amazes me how slow yet how fast the days seem to pass and all without me having/taking the time to blog.

It seems that we’ve had a busy June but I can’t really point to any trips/activities per se but more just life with a toddler and a now mobile baby. So, here are some blog-worthy moments from our neck of the woods the last three weeks.

~Sarah is cruising around the house holding on to the walls and just today let go of the bathroom door and walked 5 steps. Watch out Luke, cause she’s hot on your trail. I would like to add that she isn’t even 10 months old yet!

~She’s had a rough couple three/four/seems like forever, weeks lately. We’ve had long nights, whiny days and when I finally took her in, a change of formula solved it all!! Go figure that I’m married to a GI doctor but neither of us would have guessed that it was her stomach!! All of this while cutting her top two teeth. We had 3/4 good days when things were starting to calm down and then she started running a fever. Of course I took her right in not wanting to endure more long nights, etc…and the diagnosis was virus. I think we are now getting back to our old self, finally.

~Luke is at such a funny stage right now. He’s cracking us up with things he says especially about potty training. He was doing great with poo-pooing in the potty but lately he will go off by himself and then start to have one in his pants. On one such occasion we asked him if he was poo-pooing in his pants and he said “I’m trying to put it back in”.

~Luke’s been going to Mother’s Morning Out for the summer and they are cooking. So far he’s made pancakes and bread (although I’m not sure what he meant by “bread”). He’s doing pretty good with the separation thing and I enjoy my mornings of coming back to the house and putting Sarah down for a nap to get some things done. However, I usually can’t wait to go get him.

~We’re usually outside most days by 8am just so we can beat the heat for a little while. One morning I started drawing places for Luke to drive his tractor to on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. I drew the flea market and Lowe’s (a favorite Sat. morning with Daddy ritual), a fire station to park his fire truck and of course, a Chick-fil-A drive through. Here he is parking the tractor at Lowe’s.

The tractor doesn’t have reverse~poor thing!

~Joel is working hard both at work and at spending time with us. He truly amazes me how he manages to balance it all and do such a wonderful job. He’s planning some time off in July that we’re pretty excited about.

Sarah’s love of crocheted blankets

2011-05-26T20:39:00.001-04:00

Sarah has this beautiful snuggly pink crocheted blanket that Grandmama Poppell made for her. It really is so sweet to watch her snuggle with it every time she laid down for nap or at bedtime. It was so funny to watch her hands instinctively reach back searching for the blanket the moment her head hit the mattress. Then she would take it and hold it in her hand while she sucked her thumb. PRECIOUS!!

However, she has gotten herself tangled up in it more times than I’d like to admit. I’ve even found her wrapped up completely in it, including her face and head. I’ve had many nights that I wanted to go buy a video monitor just so I could check on her. So, after a weekend at Mimi and Granddaddy’s and putting our heads together, we came up with this idea.

Little crocheted blankets.

She took to them immediately and so there really was no transitioning her from the big blanket to the little ones.

Grandmama crocheted us not one but FOUR little blankets. I was only hoping for one but she and Mimi were so smart to suggest four because I can put them all in the crib and during the night she pretty much always has one within reach.

She’s mobile nowadays. She’s been crawling for about a month but within a week of crawling, girlfriend was pulling up and just Tuesday she took three little steps between Joel and me. She’s usually hot on the trail of Luke and there has been many “discussions” between the two of them about whatever toy Luke has and Sarah wants. Luke is doing a wonderful job of learning to go get her something else to play with. It’s really funny sometimes as he’s brought her a toy dust pan and says with such excitement, “Look Sarah, you can play with this.”

She’s also started signing. I haven’t seen her do “milk” yet but she has mastered the sign for “more”.

She fills our days with so many wide open mouth smiles and giggles. I just want to eat her up with kisses.

Birthday surprise

2011-05-13T14:10:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday , Daddy! We love you!

We gathered up some yummy cupcakes from a bakery near our house and got all dolled-up for our first trip to Daddy’s office. We totally surprised him but it worked out well for us to hang out while he saw his last patient before lunch. Then it was off to the hospital cafeteria for a birthday lunch.

I think they enjoyed his office!

We are so thankful for all our Daddy is to us and does for us. He is our wonderful gift.

But, somehow I got through the whole surprise without the first picture of the birthday boy. I’ll try to catch him later.

Easter Sonday

2011-04-28T14:33:00.000-04:00

“Luke, what does Easter mean?”

Luke says, “Jesus is alive”. Pretty much, little guy! He is risen!

Easter morning at the Judah household was crazy to say the least but we did manage to get some pictures. We set set up the tripod a little too far away from us but you get the idea that there’s a mom, dad, a baby (she’s the white spot) and a little blonde boy sitting in front of our house. Amateur photographers!!!

Here we are trying to get the kids to sit still and get Sarah’s bonnet tied. She kept pulling it off.

Notice the bonnet strings in her hands.

Amateur photographer again (me!), put the poor children right in the sunlight. Luke couldn’t look at the camera so that’s why you’ll see a series of funny faces from him. He was trying to cooperate.

Ok, now say hey and I’ll give you some chocolate!

Finally an close-up of Sarah. Nevermind the bonnet malfunction (I had to tie it behind her head to keep her from pulling it off).

Then we bring out the Easter baskets. They each had a book it in and some eggs filled with candy that Luke managed to get all over him before we even got in the car to go to church.

Sarah then spit up all over her dress. Probably from her Moma trying to get her dressed and out the door for pictures so fast.

A family picture (again the squinting!). Next year, I’ll know better!

Regardless of how good the pictures turned out we enjoyed our day. Worship was an amazing reminder of how great our God really is, what He has done, and how much He loves us. Praying my two little ones embrace this very soon as they watch their Daddy and Moma stand in amazement of His grace, mercy and love, daily, not just on Easter Sonday morning.

Puffs

2011-04-25T14:11:00.001-04:00

Ok, so I’ve been joking that you must be a redneck (or it’s your second child!) if you know that your baby is ready for finger foods when you notice her eating grass every time you put her down in the yard. Ooops! Yeah, she’s been eating some grass lately so I brought out the puffs. She is so funny with them. She’ll get them into her hand and then stick her thumb in her mouth. All the while the puffs are safely tucked in her hand. They haven’t quite made it to her mouth until today.

I was using the puffs to occupy her (never, no never, would I use food as a distractor!!) when Luke decided he would give her some.

One too many!! It was a funny mess!

Our weekend project

2011-04-11T21:16:00.001-04:00

Joel and I disassembled and reassembled this swing set last weekend. It took us all day Saturday but by 6:30 that night Luke was climbing up the rock wall and Sarah was swinging. It would not have been possible without Grandpapa and Grandmama pretty much taking care of Luke and Sarah for the whole day. Joel and I joked that we felt like we were on a date.

There was only one point in putting the roof back on top that I wanted Joel to call a couple of guys in our Sunday School class for help. He didn’t. We got it back on without any one getting hurt. We were pretty proud of ourselves and even had to turn the yard lights on Saturday night before we went to bed to take another look.

Two smiles at once

2011-03-31T12:07:00.001-04:00

It’s a little hard to get both of them to look at the camera and smile at the same time.

A little fun at Mimi and Granddaddy’s house.

Daddy Time

2011-03-23T14:15:00.000-04:00

This post is LONG overdue. It seems lately that I've had less and less time. Could it be a very active 2 1/2 year old, a more mobile 6 month old, loads of laundry and trying to figure out this couponing thing are eating away at my time?? Maybe. Anyway, I've wanted to record some Daddy Memories for a while.

Luke is moving to the "Daddy is IT!" phase and I am loving it! Luke loves to imitate him. He will tell me that he's going to work in the morning and that he needs a kiss. Then he gets his bag (just like Joel) and walks to the door. He loves to watch Joel leave in the morning (if he gets up in time). It is big fun to hold him and watch him wave to Joel. When Joel gets home in the evening he always makes it a point to spend some one-on-one time with Luke. They walk down to the shop, go visit the lawn mower in the shed, shine the blue flashlight and play on our bed. One night I took some pictures of this precious time.

Luke is shining the "blue flashlight". He will usually ask for it throughout the day but it's something that he has to wait for Joel to come home to play with it. Mostly because when he plays with flashlights during the day I forget to go back and turn them all off. The blue flashlight apparently has an expensive battery in it so Joel makes sure it is turned off when they finish.

Funny Faces

Joel took a day off a couple of weeks ago. Here are some "memories" from that morning.

He took Luke to the Habitat for Humanity building supply store that morning and then we all went out for lunch. After naps we went for a wonderful walk to see the tractors and ducks.

Joel is our rock. Even with his very demanding, often exhausting job he makes time for us. He prays for and with us just about every night. He tells our children daily that he loves them and is proud of them. He walks a godly walk bodly for them to see. Oh how thankful I am for him. He really is my best friend.

We love to do date nights and have even figured out how to pull them off without a babysitter! We get the kids in bed and then we sit down for a nice, quiet, long meal together. He calls every day to check on us and I know does heroic things to finish up at work and get home in the evening. On nights that he's on call he'll even come home around supper time, try to eat with us and help me get Luke and Sarah in the bed and then go back to the hospital. What a man!! What a man who loves his children and his wife so completely.

Luke can tell you that Joel works at the hospital, what color Joel's truck is and that he loves to go the flea market and Lowes every Saturday with Joel. They are building such a wonderful bond. That makes this Moma's/wife's heart overflow with joy. I just love that they get to call him Daddy and I get to call him my Beloved!

Judah news

2011-03-11T06:13:00.001-05:00

~Menu planning has now become my most favorite thing. I discovered it here under recipes. She lists out breakfast, lunch, supper and even their snack! There are some good recipe ideas that I found on her site and I printed off some and used that to make my grocery list. I sat down and started listing out suppers and after only planning 3 weeks worth I’ve still got tons of options to choose from. This is definitely going to help get us out of the rut of eating the same stuff over and over again.

~I also found this. It’s an exel document that helps you plan out your meals. Very cool.

~Sarah now has 2 teeth on the bottom. She is still lighting up our world with her wide-open mouth smiles. She loves to play with the baby in the mirror and squeals with sheer delight when her brother comes into view (briefly while running somewhere to get into something). I started signing with her the last few weeks pretty consistently. We start with the sign for milk. I think she recognizes it. Either that or the bottle. Her new foods are: barley cereal, sweet potato and we’ll try pears this weekend.

~Joel was on TV this week highlighting Colon Cancer. Luke and I got to watch him be interviewed and then man a phone bank to answer questions from callers. It was a little difficult explaining to Luke where Daddy was and when Luke saw Joel hang up the phone one time he said, “Daddy’s off the phone. He’s all done. Now he’s coming home.” Joel said he received some crazy calls, including one about foot fungus!

~Luke is cracking me up daily with his comprehension of happenings around him. He’s been “talking” on the phone for a while but now will tell me that he’s on the phone and I need to be quiet.

~Week 2 of potty training has been good. No accidents outside the house which is a huge thing because he’s been pretty afraid of public restrooms and how loud the toilets flush. I also discovered the challenge of taking a toddler to a public restroom while holding a baby and then having to go myself. All I have to say is that we will not be flushing the toilets for a while so if you come in after us, flush first! When you flush it scares both of them. Funny note: we were all out of our routine last night and as Joel and I tucked Luke into bed we apparently forgot to change him out of his underwear and into a diaper! Oops!!! He, the sheets, mattress pad and mattress were pretty wet this morning.

No big plans for our weekend. I need to make some baby food at some point since Sarah is flying through my stock. I’ve been going to an aerobics class on Saturday morning that I love and then I come home to tag up with Joel so he and Luke can head to the flea market.

Potty Training Week 1

2011-03-06T20:56:00.000-05:00

We jumped on the potty "train" this last week and it hasn't been as difficult as I imagined. I decided to just go cold turkey. No pull-ups. Big boy underwear during the day and diapers at nap time and night time. I think the underwear definitely helps because he will recognize pretty quickly that he has to go when he starts going in them and will come and tell me "there's poo-poo in there". (We're still a little confused on poo-poo and pee-pee). He's also using the big potty for everything.

After almost a week we're getting it. Slowly but surely, he's learning. The last couple of days he's come and told me he needs to go and only dribbling a couple of times. We even took the dive and he went to Sunday School in big boy underwear (and a couple of changes of clothes). He did have an accident but only one.

I'm so proud of him. I'm so glad that I waited for the right time for both of us. I guess doing cloth diapers has helped a bit because I'm washing like crazy but used to it. I just keep telling myself that we have no real timeline/pressures and he can have as many accidents as needed.

But, a post about potty training would not be complete without a thank you to the moms who have gone before and offered help and advice. Every time I come to a new "stage" or developmental milestone I usually run to some of them in my life and pick their brains for how they handled things. I'm so incredibly thankful for each of them.

5 going on 6

2011-03-02T13:55:00.001-05:00

You, “Sarah boo”~

are sitting up mostly by yourself

like to shake your head “no” just to get a smile out of us

love to watch Luke play and just squeal when he comes over to give you a little love and attention.

have started eating oatmeal, bananas, applesauce, and avocado.

just had your first tooth break through, Monday, Feb 28, 2011.

love your bath time each night, especially with Luke. You will both splash and giggle with each other.

you have even gotten up a few times on hands and knees and rocked a bit. Crawling isn’t far in your future.

suck your thumb mostly when you are quieting yourself to sleep and it is a most precious picture.

you got to ride the golf cart, the mule and the big tractor for the first time in just the last two weeks.

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” Song of Solomon 4:7

It was a caboose kind of day

2011-02-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

To say that Luke is fascinated with trains, is an understatement. We’d been driving down this main road here for a while and Luke would always says, see the caboose. I had no idea what he was talking about until one day when I looked over and saw this real caboose in the parking lot of one of the museums here. I kept waiting for the perfect day to go and have a picnic and the day came. Mimi was here for a visit so we loaded everyone up.

A little hesitant at first, Luke warms up to it.

He’s telling me all about how the conductor rides in the caboose and yells “all aboard”.

“Woo-hoo”, toots the train.

Sarah got to ride in the stroller again!

High Falls State Park

2011-02-21T14:26:00.001-05:00

A precious friend called us and invited us to take a little adventure for the morning. We loaded up three little ones with their two moma’s and headed to High Falls State Park. The weather was perfect and the little ones I think really enjoyed it.

Sarah road in the stroller over to the playground. It started out chilly but we were able to come out of the hats not long after we arrived.

This is a picture of the falls. Very cool. Luke said it was loud. He first ran around with his hands covering his ears but eventually those hands got busy and the ears seemed to adjust just fine.

Here’s the little guys on the playground.

Sarah on the blanket and towel after she discovered the little patch of grass/dirt and I flipped her over on her back.

Luke, running around eating lunch.

Luke and Grant playing on some old bricks. Grant came running up to me on Sunday at church and after recognizing me had only two words, “where’s Luke?”

What a special treat!

Things that came out of my mouth today and most days

2011-02-15T20:32:00.001-05:00

LLLL-UUUU-KKKK-EEEE, where are you, what are you doing?
Ok, I'll come make sandcastles
Push him down (referring to his pee-pee while using his potty)
What tractor is this?
Where's the hydraulic cylinders on this tractor?
I saw the smoke coming out of the muffler.
I'm using the potty.
We use chalk only on the driveway, not on the: tricycle, golf cart, wall of the garage...etc...
We only cut paper with scissors, not lampshades.
Do you want me to change your diaper on this couch or that one?
Can I switch out your diaper right here on the deck?
You have to put your pants and shoes on to go outside.
Use your spoon, not your hands, please.
Would you be the UPS delivery man and deliver this dirty bib to the laundry room?
Is that a John Deere tractor?
Those are roses, not raisins.
Yes, you can have an M&M for peeping in the potty.
No, you are not having goldfish for breakfast (lunch or supper either).
Luke, you don't dump the sugar back into the sugar container after I've already measured it and put it in the pitcher for the tea.
Do not turn on those lights on any more.
The truck is going to take a night-night right here.
The water stays in the sink/bathtub/cup/etc.
Blow your nose for me.
Don't stick that in your nose/mouth or any other orifice.
Grandmama, Grandpapa, Mimi and Granddaddy (whoever it happens to be at the time), are using the bathroom, let them go by themselves. They will be back in a minute.
No, don't pour water over Sarah's head/face. She doesn't like that.

I love you, Luke. You did a good job: picking up your toys/cleaning your spot at the table/taking a toy to Sarah. Thank you for helping me.
Good night, Luke. I love you. Sleep tight.

What’s going on…

2011-02-10T14:27:00.001-05:00

Here are some random catch-up notes from the Judah household…

Brother & Sister Bath time Fun

I just got a new bath seat for Sarah that I absolutely LOVE. I can now put both of them in there together. This makes my evenings (especially the ones I do alone) so much easier. Last night Luke would look at Sarah and smile or laugh and she would giggle so hard. It was a precious moment. She adores him and he can get her to laugh and smile so big.

I tried some rice cereal with Sarah last Saturday morning. She did ok with it but I’m not convinced she is totally ready. But she’s mighty cute with it spread all over her face!

Joel is working hard but enjoying his weekends. He and Luke have a great little Saturday morning ritual of going to the local flea market and Lowes. They both talk about it all throughout the week. They also usually both come home with something that they found to buy.

One afternoon I had to run to Lowe’s for some wood glue. It was pretty precious to watch my 2 year old son strut into Lowe’s like he knew exactly where he was going. He did. He walked right up to the lawn mowers (we call them “tractors”) and tried out each one. In fact, he even stated that he would just sit right there while I went to get my wood glue. I had to just laugh and explain that 2 years old was not old enough to be by yourself anywhere, especially in a store. Besides I needed him to show me where to find the wood glue. I’m convinced he probably could!

He also loves to watch the UPS trucks come in our neighborhood (ok, and to our house, too!). He was so cute yesterday morning as I was folding laundry on the floor he started a conversation about the UPS man. I said, “do you want to be the UPS man and make a delivery of these clothes to your room?”. He said yes and he did. He walked to his door, knocked on it and said “delivery”. Then proceeded to take his clothes into his room. I’m hoping this little game will hold out for awhile because it is very helpful!

Not much else going on here besides baths, some rice cereal, flea market and Lowe’s trips with a UPS delivery man in the mix.

Snow (more like “snice”) storm 2011

2011-01-26T13:32:00.001-05:00

There was talk of it coming. We had even had the threat the day after Christmas. Snow. It didn’t happen the day after Christmas though, and we weren’t real sure it was going to happen this time. They predicted it to start in the middle of the night and I heard ice hitting the roof about 2:00am. When I got up about 6:00 this is what our deck looked like.

Then when the sun came up I was able to get some more pictures of the snow/ice mixture.

I couldn’t wait to get Luke dressed and out the door. I was afraid it was going to melt before we could touch it. So, after a quick breakfast we got Joel up to check out the scenery.

Joel had gotten the call the night before that they had decided to cancel his clinic for the morning and then would re-evaluate by lunch time the next day. We couldn’t believe it.

Joel ended up having the whole day off!

Here’s his attempt at a snow man from the snow that had accumulated in the back of his old truck. After naps that afternoon, Joel and Luke built us a fire in the fire pit. We finally got Sarah out in it long enough to check out the guys building a fire and then she was ready to back inside out of the wind and cold.

It was pretty exciting around these parts to even have just a dusting. However, now I think I’m ready for spring. Dressing a toddler and a baby to go out even when it’s just cold outside gets pretty challenging. Someone usually gets hot before we can make it out the door.

Snow Mountain

2011-01-20T06:01:00.000-05:00

Mimi and Granddaddy gave Luke a trip to Stone Mountain (Snow Mountain) for Christmas. They have a whole snow park where they make snow. Luke has been talking about it since Christmas. The day before we left Mimi and Granddaddy came down to help and visit. I got to go shopping all by myself as Granddaddy took Luke out for some tractor riding and Mimi stayed with Sarah. I couldn’t believe it when I found a 6-12 month old ski suit at Old Navy on clearance for $5 (regular $35). I thought only Joel found deals like that when he needed them. If I ever need anything its NEVER on sale, much less clearance. Anyway, it was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. So here’s our smallest snow bunny in her outfit in the parking lot.

We are setting up camp in the snow park area.

Family picture

Mimi and Granddaddy picture. It was a little hard to get Luke to stay still. He was so excited. We had to tell him to throw snowballs at me (while I’m taking the picture) to get him to stand still and in the right spot long enough to snap a picture!)

There were tubes for tubing down the hills, buckets and shovels for making snowmen and snow forts, sleds for sledding but what did my favorite little boy get most excited about? Looking at the tractor that the workers use to move the snow. It wasn’t even moving, just sitting off to the side. We spent the morning playing in the snow and then checked into our hotel, the Stone Mountain Inn. Luke got to spend the night with Mimi and Granddaddy and Sarah got to sleep in the pac-n-play in the closet in our room.

(I almost forgot to include this)

For lunch, we went to the buffet at the Marriott. Just as we were finishing our meal, Luke announces that I need to change his diaper. This is in a room full of adults, at a very nice resort. I try to quiet him long enough to get him out of the door. He continues to remind me that I need to change his diaper. I’m only thankful that he did not announce to the room that he was poo-poo.

After naps we headed outside to play again. It turned out to be the most perfect weekend to go. Atlanta and all of Georgia pretty much had just had a huge snow/ice storm that week. Although most of our snow/ice mixture had melted, Stone Mountain was still covered.

Well, here’s what else my favorite all-boy little boy loved about the trip. Being able to walk in the water in his boots. His moma could breathe easy because he had on his waterproof snow boots and pants! Have fun little one.

Here’s me and Granddaddy standing outside the hotel trying to convince Luke to move on from the water walking. I’m not sure why it took me so long to figure this out but I got Luke to slide down a small hill on his bottom and he loved it. He was pretty afraid of the other hill at the snow park.

Luke is also going through, continues to go through, and I’m thinking it will never end, Mommy only phase. So I ended up having to move him from my hip (because my arm was about to fall off)to my back to get him to the restaurant for supper.

The next morning we ate breakfast together and rode the sky lift to the top of the mountain. It has been all that Luke has talked about. He even remembers the color of the two sky lift cars that we rode.

It was a wonderful weekend. We made so many memories. Thank you, Mimi and Granddaddy!

Christmas List (part 2)

2011-01-18T14:51:00.000-05:00

A continuation of my list of favorite things to remember about our Christmas.

Luke opening a couple of presentthat night before going to bsed.

Sarah opening some of her presents from Grandpapa and Grandmama.

Luke in the frog towel Aunt Elizabeth sent him after his bath. He loves to come out each night and do "white and shiny" for anyone and everyone that is here.

Setting Luke's Christmas gifts out under the tree the night before. Joel and I were more excited about watching him than anything else.

Luke had us all up at 6:00 Christmas morning. Here he is walking into the living room.

First he got on the 4-wheeler

Grandaddy offered some assistance in driving it.

Then it was over to the basketball goal to shoot some hoops.

Next it was the excavator from Grandpapa and Grandmama.

Joel got Luke a remote control car. Guess who had more fun with it.

Sarah was finally up and opened some more presents from Grandpapa and Grandmama.

The precious table and chairs that Mimi and Grandaddy got for Luke.

This is the tractor bedspread Mimi and Grandaddy gave Luke for his big boy bed.

Joel and I had a cute surprise from Mimi and Grandaddy. A golf cart ornament to hang on our tree.

Sarah was finally dressed and ready for company. Grandmama Poppell, Aunt Cynthia and their chaufer Uncle Bryan, all came for Christmas day.

Her first day of wearing tights!

The food was delicious.

A whole table of dessert. Including Grandmama's pound cake, Mrs. Judah's chocolate cake, and Aunt Cynthia's fruit salad (she had never peeled an orange before that day!)

Also a comment about water. Grandmama and Aunt Cynthia showed up with 4 gallons of their own water. We laughed and laughed at them. For whatever reason they didn't think our water was clean enough. I asked how long they were planning on staying since they brought FOUR gallons.

Baby Sarah holding up her corner again while we all ate.

And Joel holding down the couch while we were cleaning up the kitchen. Caught ya!

Grandmama and Luke opening his gift from her.

It was one of the most memorable Christmases.

My Christmas List (part 1)

2011-01-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Mine is a list of things I want to treasure in my heart about our Christmas this year.

All the Christmas cards we received. Luke would help me hang them on the window each day after going to the mailbox.

It was their first Christmas as brother and sister.

All the different things we found hanging in our tree.

That would be a blue plastic play ball that Luke managed to throw up in it. And this would be a camel that he decided looked better hanging in the tree than in the manger scene.

Christmas Eve morning, watching Luke and Granddaddy play with the blocks on the floor in his room.

Now, Mimi and Sarah come in

The turkey….oh, the turkey.

Luke having Grandpapa and Granddaddy push him in the swing.

Sarah talking in her bouncy seat in the corner of the dining room. I promise next year little girl you’ll have your share of dinner.

Christmas Eve dinner around the table.

How cute Sarah looked in her outfit.

More to come…

Bath time baby and Big Brother

2011-01-08T06:08:00.000-05:00

Both of our babies have always LOVED bath time. In fact, now we laugh about how we would do the “bath test” with Luke whenever we thought he didn’t feel good or that something wasn’t right. As first time parents you have understand that we were clueless and with our medical backgrounds, we know just enough to be dangerous! I distinctly remember Joel and I saying to each other, “let’s give him a bath and then we’ll know”. I even remember using that as a deciding factor in whether or not to call the Pediatrician. Anyway, we would put Luke in the tub and if he smiled and enjoyed it we reassured ourselves that he was fine.

Sarah LOVES her bath too. I’m still trying really hard to get into a groove/routine with the two of them at night. It seems that every evening it’s different. If I’m doing it all by myself I try to start really early. Then if Joel’s here it’s a different order/routine and if Joel comes home in the middle of it, it’s a whole different story. And I confess that there’s been a few nights when we’ve just tossed the bath routine. I know, shock and horror are streaming across your mind that my children don't take a bath every night. But, it happens.

So, on the nights I’m doing it by myself it’s always a trick to try and keep an eye on Luke and do Sarah’s bath. Here he is one night when Joel and I were both home and I had gotten Joel to take some pictures of Sarah in the tub.

And, here’s Luke when we aren’t looking…

Ever exploring.

Christmas with the Carrolls

2011-01-06T13:53:00.001-05:00

To start off our Christmas celebration we had a get together with Joel’s extended family~the Carrolls.

There was…

lots of eating…

some children playing (totally not interested in eating)...

some baby holding…

a pretty little girl smiling for pictures…

some menfolk in the kitchen (although briefly, only to get more food!)

some menfolk feeding babies…

some chatting around the table…

a little posing for a pictures…

more baby holding…

and special sister time.

It was so much fun to have everyone over. Luke absolutely ate up some time with Callie and Savannah. (I’m not sure how I never got a picture of Savannah). We made some wonderful memories.

An Early Christmas present means…

2010-12-16T21:38:00.001-05:00

Here are some pretty funny pictures to share with you. Joel gave me a new camera for Christmas. He gave it to me early so I could go ahead and learn how to use it. His parents gave me one of the lenses. Now, my children get to endure my “learning”. I dressed them up one afternoon this week and here’s some funny “outtakes” with my dialogue of what a 2 year old and a 3 1/2 month old are thinking/saying during this process.

Luke was talking the ENTIRE time I’m trying to get him to say “cheese”.

She’s pulling up her dress already. Watch out Children’s choir!!!

Now, Luke has climbed under the Christmas tree.

Sarah’s thinking, “So, how long do I have to stay like this and what is that light that keeps flashing. Can I have it to put in my mouth?”

Luke’s saying, “Baby Sarah has toes.” Yes, Luke we’ve already established that little fact. Could you look at baby Sarah or look at me. One or the other.

Mommy says, “Luke, hold baby Sarah.” Luke gets his arms around her, gives me a goofy grin and then tells me that she’s too big.

Goofy cheese grin.

Again, Luke can’t be still or stop talking long enough to get a pose out of him.

Sarah’s turn…

Yet, again, Luke is all about anything else except looking at the camera or Sarah.

Goofy cheesy grin, again.

Mommy says, “Luke come sit by Baby Sarah and tell her about the Christmas tree.” Luke turns away from her and is all about not looking at the camera. I try to get him to tell Sarah about the Christmas tress. He says, “see the Chwristmas trwee, Baby Sarah”.

Sarah’s thinking, “there’s that loud toddler that never sits still. What is he jabbering about?”

Luke’s thinking, “Mommy, how much longer?” and is also mesmerized with the flash and continues to tell me that there’s a light on the camera.

Well, then we pull out all the stops and bloomers. Poor Baby Sarah, yes, I did blog this picture.

Finally, I get Luke to sit still and look at Sarah. Then he says, “Come here, Baby Sarah. Come here. I get her.”

Merry Christmas!

A Stone Mountain Christmas

2010-12-08T14:53:00.001-05:00

Skipping naps, a late bedtime??? It must be Christmas. It is and we were on a mission to see the lights and ride a real live choo-choo train. Luke was beyond excited. He woke up that morning and I reminded him that we were going to Stone Mountain today. His response, “and Luke ride the choo-choo train!”. Yes, my little one, we are going to ride a real live choo-choo and ride it with Mimi and Granddaddy!

Here is the little man, himself riding on the choo-choo. The train takes you around the base of Stone Mountain. Luke kept calling the mountain a big rock that would make a big splash if he got to throw it in our creek.

Christmas trees are another big hit with Luke this year. He loves to go and touch the lights.

The Bubble Man was a great treat as he would blow them as big as a small child. Here is Luke chasing one.

And here’s a picture of one popping all over him.

My precious boy’s smile gets me every time.

A private lesson from the Bubble man.

Luke also enjoyed taking handfulls of popcorn from Granddaddy’s box. Thank you for sharing, Granddaddy.

Baby Sarah spent most of her time in the stroller so bundled up that you couldn’t see anything but her face. She was an angel while we ate supper.

After supper we searched out the best place to watch the parade.

Luke enjoyed seeing the tractors and mules more than the floats and when Joel asked him which he liked better, Santa Claus or the John Deere he emphatically said the John Deere.

Joel, ever the good sport, brought along the ear phones and radio so he could keep up with the SEC championship game. His team, Auburn, was playing for the title and we inadvertently scheduled our trip on the same day! What a man!!!

We heard a lot of “what was that?” from him as he was constantly pulling the earphones in and out.

It was such a great time. I had more fun watching Luke and watching Mimi and Granddaddy watch Luke. I know as Grandparents they eat up the time they have with our children but I eat up the time I have watching them enjoy Luke and Sarah.

A family photo to finish off the night.

My boy, My Girl and some thankfulness

2010-11-27T21:35:00.000-05:00

So I'm catching up with our memories. We got to spend a long weekend with Mimi and Granddaddy while Joel was on call last weekend. Luke's bottom was pretty much GLUED to the "big tractor". He would have slept on it if would have let him. He has really caught on with driving and has even figured out how to adjust the throttle to speed it up. He can show you the brake, the clutch, the lights, and pretty much anything else you would ever want to know about a tractor. Both Mimi and Granddaddy were so wonderfully patient and road many a time around the yard with him.

We also got to spend some time with Grandmama. Sarah was showing off her new skills of reaching for toys.

I love watching our babies grow and develop. For whatever reason I decided that I should try her in the Bumbo. She did great even though she doesn't look like she's having a good time in some of these pictures. She's already mastered the skill of stop smiling when Mommy gets the camera out.
I was ironing the other day and she "helped" by sitting in her bumbo on the dryer and watching.

Thanksgiving morning

My heart just fills to all fullness when I get to walk in her room in the morning and she will smile so big. She has got to be the "smilinest" baby. She also had worked pretty hard on her hair all night in this picture!

(I couldn't get the picture to rotate).

A good morning Baby Sarah and Big Brother Luke moment on Thanksgiving morning...

Happy Birthday Granddaddy

Luke really enjoyed helping Granddaddy open his gifts. Especially when a chocolate turtle was one of the gifts that Granddaddy shared with him at 8:00 in the morning.

Then today we worked on getting our Christmas tree put up. It's still not decorated but with a toddler in the house I'm not sure there will be a whole lot of decorations added. Luke was so excited. He even told Baby Sarah all about the Christmas tree and the lights.

If putting up the Christmas tree wasn't enough excitement for this two year old's little world, we headed to the nearby Air Force Base's Aviation Museum to see a model train exhibit. Luke ran from one train display to the next one. He also briefly got to check out some of the airplane exhibits. He kept calling all of the airplanes "helicopters". He had a great time and both Joel and I just ate up being able to watch him take it all in. It's a place we will definitely go back

A cute brother/sister moment and memory happened on the way down to the museum. Sarah was being fussy in the carseat (not her most favorite place) and we were stuck in traffic on the interstate because of a wreck. Whenever Sarah would fuss Luke, in his most precious big brother voice would look at her and say, "it's ok, Baby Sarah. The choo-choo trains aren't loud." He was very concerned himself that they would be loud and I guess it was his way of comforting her. It was absolutely precious. Love those two!

Judah Life the past week or so...

2010-11-17T15:00:00.000-05:00

Some updates on the Judah family. In pictures, of course.
I bought Luke a choo-choo train gingerbread kit to do for Christmas. We picked it up on one of our Luke and Mommy dates we had last week while Mimi was here taking care of Baby Sarah (yes, we still call her that). We didn't get out of the store before Luke was holding the box like a treasure and talking constantly about the train. I thought once we got home we could put it away and work on it closer to Christmas. Well, Luke was having none of that. So, after nap we decided to tackle it.

The whole time Luke kept asking if he could eat it. He also had a hard time letting go of the "ball"/candy. It's now sitting on top of the frig half decorated because he lost interest. I've decided that cake decorating can not be a hobby for me.

So, we moved onto something we could eat and made cookies!

We also did some vaccuuming. Apparently Luke loves this. His most favorite part is turning the vaccuum cleaner off and on.

Mimi came for a long weekend and Luke and I took the chance to get out some since we've tried to stay home to get Sarah her naps. The two of us acted like we had just gotten out of jail. We went so many places and had a ball looking at all the Christmas decorations.

The Judah's also came for the weekend. Grandmama Judah made Luke a nativity set. She was so thoughtful to make it out of cloth so that he could learn/play with all the parts and we wouldn't have to worry about it breaking. He's slowly learning the characters.

Luke and Grandpapa had a great time too. Here's a picture of them hanging out on the floor.

There was big news in the furniture part of our house this week. We brought all of our furniture that we had in Gainesville with us so that we could slowly replace pieces as we saved up. Here's a before picture.

And here's an after picture.

Joel did a fabulous job, I think, of picking out a beautiful piece that goes well with our floors. I have zero decorating talent or taste so he has to take on that role sometimes. Luke had an exciting morning watching the men unload the furniture from the "wreally huge truck" and watching them use a screwdriver to put the table together. He is fascinated with tools.

Finally, some more baby love...
Sarah has fallen in love with this turtle I put on her bouncy seat. She will crack herself and us up smiling at it, batting at with her hands and even laughing sometimes. Here's a short video I took the other morning.

I guess that just about does it for us this week.

A boy and his Granddaddy some rocks and a creek

2010-11-08T06:33:00.000-05:00

What a weekend! Mimi and Granddaddy came for a visit. It was such a wonderful time. Luke was eating up some time with them and Granddaddy braved the cold weather and some rough terrain and spent some time with Luke down at the creek. Here's some video of him and Luke.

A day in my boy's world is never complete unless we've collected some rocks and sticks. Granddaddy, Luke and I headed down some trails behind our house after throwing rocks in the creek. It was beautiful back there. Luke was loving every minute and even though his hands were cold as ice he just couldn't bear coming inside.

Mimi, Sarah and I had another girl's day on Saturday. We headed to a huge craft show in town and spent most of the day just strolling. Sarah was perfect. She napped a bit in the stroller and even let us try some hats and headbands on her. Mimi gave me such a wonderful break. A Mama's heart knows what a Mama needs! Here we are all dressed and ready to go out for our girl's day.

While the girls were having their day, the boys (Luke, Joel and Granddaddy) headed to the flea market. The boys left in such a hurry that they forgot Luke's hat, mittens and coat so Granddaddy had to buy Luke a blanket. Then it was a stop at Lowe's so Luke could ride the tractors and to finish off the day lunch at Golden Corral.

We ate high on the hog all weekend. Lunch at the craft show (a complete Thanksgiving meal), Jim Shaw's seafood on Saturday night and Jeneane's (I can never remember how to spell it!) on Sunday after church (here at the house, of course!). It was a good weekend.

The rest of the story and some baby love

2010-11-01T14:53:00.002-04:00

The rest of the story on the ears and gluteus hurting but the nasal hairs being ok is that everything was fine at Luke’s 2 year check-up. The Pediatrician just laughed and named off some other anatomical parts to see if those hurt but Luke did not see the humor in it. He actually did INCREDIBLY well for the visit (but really he has always done so well). He weighed right at 30lbs and was 34 1/2 inches tall. He got a Hepatitis A shot and the flu mist. Then it was time for the sucker and sticker! He was a happy boy.

Now for some baby love and updates…
~Saturday before last Sarah and I had a girl’s day with Mimi. We met her at Stone Mountain Park for a craft show and a day away (mostly from the house and a certain wonderful but ever so moody/grouchy some days toddler, who needed a day with his daddy and without his Moma!) Sarah and I left that morning and treated ourselves to some Chick-fil-A biscuit and sweet tea for the ride. Sarah slept the whole way there. I beat Mimi to the parking lot so I decided to go ahead and feed Sarah before we went into the craft show. As I was feeding her, she had a HUGE blow-out diaper that totally missed the diaper but was caught by her very cute outfit. So Mimi and I spent most of the next hour in the car cleaning up Sarah, the seat and me. We just laughed that we drove all that way only to see the parking lot. Then I realized I only had enough formula for one more bottle and that I had better be getting my behind home soon after her 1:00pm feeding. Mimi just kept asking me if this was my first trip with a baby!! I’m blaming it on sleep deprivation.

We finally made it in the show and enjoyed a beautiful day walking outside among the venders. I also could not help but enjoy the sounds of other people with toddlers as I knew that my very own was having a wonderful Daddy day and I had a peacefully sleeping 2 month old in the stroller with no complaints. It was a wonderful Girls’ Day. Luke had a great time with Daddy and apparently threw ZERO fits while I was gone. Funny how he saves those all for me!

~BIG NEWS on the sleeping front. Sarah has slept through the night the last four nights. She’s done so well. She will “talk” about 3:00am but gets herself back to sleep until about 6:30. Can I tell you how excited I am??? And how much I’m dreading this whole time change!!! Joel had been giving her a bottle about 10:00 each night but she would only take about 1/2 of it and then wake around 1:30/2:00am. She started cutting the 1:00 feeding in half too and I finally wized up and decided she could probably go without it. It took one night of stretching that 1:00/2:00 feeding until 4:30 and then she only took 1/2 a feeding and I was convinced. She’s not hungry. The next night, Joel was on call and it had been a pretty long day since I had only catnapped from 1:30 until 5:00am that morning and I decided that I was not going to stay up to feed her at 10:00 but that I would see how long she went. She went until 3:00 and then just “talked” and got herself back to sleep. I was ELATED!!! Mimi came last weekend and took Sarah’s monitor for the night. It was truly a wonderful gift to get to sleep in my bed with my husband (we’d been playing musical beds in this house for 2 months now to try and get the other one a good night of sleep). Thank you, Mimi!!!

Each night I go to bed wondering how the night will go. This morning I heard Sarah around 5:00 and just knew it was the middle of the night. When I saw that it was 5:00 I was excited that she hadn't woken up all night. However, while Joel was getting ready for work this morning he casually mentioned that he heard her crying about 3:00 but just rolled over and thought to himself "Oh, Katie's got her". Well, I didn't even hear her and she got herself right back to sleep. It helps when you don't use a baby monitor at night!!

~Sarah’s all about some babbling now. She will smile so big anytime someone talks to her. Here’s a little video of her Joel took one night when he was supposed to be “dreamfeeding” her (you know, low lights, no talking/interacting, try to keep the baby asleep or mostly asleep!)

~Here’s some after bath baby love…

And don’t be hatin’ the cheeks! It’s what is getting her through the night without eating!
She goes this week for her 2 month check-up and shots. We’re slowly getting back to some sense of normalcy around here with people sleeping where they are supposed to sleep!! Joel’s job is going really really well. He’s staying really busy but has weekends off except about every other month he has to take call all weekend.

We are looking toward and forward to the holidays. We’ve already started to make plans for our family to come visit us for a change! No more long marathon drives with young children and trying to see everyone in just a few days.

Life is full around here. We’re eating it up!

Does your gluteus hurt?

2010-10-27T16:04:00.000-04:00

Today at church, (an adventure now a days with two children, both in the getting out the door and making it through the services) Joel was paged to come get Luke just as I had stepped out of the service because Sarah was wiggling in the carrier. He looked but couldn’t find me so he went on to see about Luke. They told Joel they called because Luke told them that his ear hurt. (Now there will be an interesting end to this story after tomorrow when Luke has his 2 year doctor’s appt.) Anyway, Joel commented that Luke’s never had an ear infection but the service was almost over and so he and Luke left to come and find me. When they found me Joel told me what had happened and then proceeded to ask Luke if his ear did hurt. The conversation went something like this:

Joel: “Luke, does your ear hurt?”

Luke: “yeah”.

Joel: “Luke, does your gluteus hurt?”

Luke: “yeah”

Joel: “Luke, do you know how to get out of Sunday School early?”

Luke: “yeah”

Joel: “Does your nasal hairs hurt?”

Luke: “no”

Me: “Ok, so tomorrow when I take him to the Pediatrician’s office I’ll be sure to tell them that he’s complaining about his ears and gluteus but his nose hairs are not hurting him.”

We left and headed home for our new tradition on Sundays. We’ve always gone out to eat after church on Sunday but decided after the last 3/4 Sundays of meals eaten between tantrums and meltdowns that it wasn’t worth it. It was a glorious Sunday afternoon. To children down for a nap, Joel and I eating peacefully at the table and then I got to take a nap as well.

Gainesville Guys

2010-10-24T15:50:00.000-04:00

We had a special treat last week with a visit from some precious Gainesville friends. Luke was so excited to get to see them. Nicolae, Gabriel and their parents Amy and Micah stopped by on their way to visit family. We were so excited to see them and catch up. The boys played so hard. We then went to Sonic for a little outside picnic and milkshakes.

They ended up spending the night and it was so cute to see three little boys in the bathtub and watch Luke’s reaction to sharing his tub that he usually has all to himself. He woke up the next morning asking about the boys first thing. Here’s some pictures from their visit.

The Angel said...

2010-10-22T05:30:00.000-04:00

Each night Luke’s bedtime routine is the same. A bath, brush his teeth, get dressed, pray with Daddy, Moma, and now Baby Sarah and then Luke and Moma curl up in the bed and read the same books. We go through his Toddler Bible and discuss the different stories and then we look through a picture book that he calls the “Baby Book”. I’ve had to get a little creative on “reading” the “Baby Book” because looking at the same pictures each night can really be a little mundane. Anyway, onto what the angel says. The last story in his Toddler Bible is of the Angel announcing that Jesus is alive and risen from the dead. Luke has the cutest way of saying it and I just had to get it on video. Here’s what he’s saying in case you can’t quite understand him.
Mommy: “The angel says…”
Luke: “Jesus is alive…
Mommy: “He is…”
Luke: “risen from the dead”
Mommy: “and He will live in your…”
Luke: “heart forever and ever.”

4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks

2010-10-19T14:31:00.001-04:00

Could it be that you are already 6 weeks old, Baby Sarah?

Here you are at 4 weeks old. It was your first road trip. We went to Mimi’s to stay the week while Daddy went to a meeting in Miami. You were a great traveler and got to spend some wonderful time with not only Mimi and Grandaddy but Great Grandmama, Aunt Cynthia, Aunt Paula, and Cheryl and Allison.

As all of Mimi’s grandchildren (you and Luke), you got to take a bath in her sink! You loved it. You and I slept in the pool room together and had many a late night meeting in the rocking chair with some milk.

This is you at five weeks old. You started smiling and watching us so intently. You began to follow voices and watch your older brother. He loves to hold you but not for long. When he’s finished he’ll say that you are “too big”, which I think he means “too heavy”.

Luke loved this outfit because it had little shoes on it.

At six weeks you are staying awake a little longer. You are working on getting your naps a little organized and have discovered the mobile above your swing. You aren’t a huge fan of the car seat but will sleep so snuggly in the sling or baby k’tan carrier. We still call you “Baby Sarah”, mostly because that’s what Luke calls you. Most people say you look like your Dad and I agree. You are giving me the biggest smiles and what sounds like a little laugh.

What joy fills my heart watching you grow and seeing Luke love on you. You are so very precious to us. We’re so glad you’re here.

South Georgia Disney World

2010-10-12T14:31:00.001-04:00

We headed south on I-75 to the small town of Perry to check out the Georgia National Fair. When we arrived at the exit and looked over to the left it wasn’t a fair that we saw but a South Georgia Disney World. To say it was “huge” is a understatement. The interstate was backed up and exit ramps were full as State troopers directed traffic. This is the view from our car.

But, that was only maybe a 1/4 view. So here’s another shot.

The first thing on the list to see was of course, some tractors. Disney World doesn’t have anything on this fair in the realm of tractor exhibits and I know one 2 year old little boy who was so excited. Here’s a picture taken on a Kubota tractor just for our friends the Borges. Joel stopped by their tent and picked up some brochures for Luke to peruse. We’ve decided we don’t have to buy him books anymore just get tractor brochures.

This is how Baby Sarah experienced the fair. A cozy (but hot) ride in the cadillac stroller Joel let me get.

She later left the fair in the buff because of a very large poop and because it was so very hot.

We didn’t have to buy any tickets to ride any rides (probably the last time this is the case) because there were so many different tractor exhibits.

We ate some good ol’ fair food and splurged on some peach cobbler and peach ice cream. It was a great little escape and the first time we’ve done something as our little family.

A Birthday Celebration

2010-10-02T20:23:00.001-04:00

Luke, you are 2 years old. We have loved every minute of the last two years.

Here you are the morning of your second birthday. You wanted to outside first thing.

You were into your sandbox early as well and worked so hard filling a bucket of sand. You were so proud. You also thought we needed some inside.

That afternoon you, Mimi and I made cupcakes. Every time we asked you what you wanted for your birthday you told us “birthday cake and ice cream”. So here you are sweet fellow.

We even let you get into the icing.

On Saturday we had a little birthday celebration. Great Grandmama, Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Bryan, Grandpapa, Grandmama, Grandaddy and Mimi all came to celebrate.

One of your many gifts, here you are on your new tractor.

Some good ol’ southern bar-b-que for lunch and more cupcakes for desert.

This was your birthday cake. It was cupcakes with a fire truck, ambulance, police car and helicopter. You were so fascinated with these that you talked about them for days. We had to put the cake on top of the china cabinet to keep you out of it and kept telling you that we would get them down when Grandaddy came.

What a precious son are you. You fill our days with laughter, smiles and new words/sentences. You are learning so quickly now. You can say your “ABC’s”, sing “Jesus loves me”, and so many other songs. You know your name, age and your Moma and Daddy’s names. You are loving on your baby sister so sweetly. You are all about sitting in a big boy chair, doing things yourself (you say “Luke do it”), and making us laugh. When you say something funny and we laugh you will say it again and again. You are such a joy to everyone.

Tractors, trucks, and rescue vehicles are all very fascinating to you. While riding in the car you point out every one that you see. You can tell me all about the stories in your toddler Bible and even told me that Moses had a cell phone (there’s a picture of him holding the tablets of the 10 commandments). The other day when I rolled down your window in the car you turned your head to it and said “I want french fries. And a sandwich.” We haven’t really gone through the drive-thru that much, have we??

Each night we pray and read your Toddler Bible Book and what you call “The Baby Book”. You still take a nap each day and some days you ask for it. You go to bed without a fuss and have recently started sleeping with a pillow over your head. I go in each night and pull it off. You sleep about 12 hours and wake up talking, usually about tractors.

We are so very thankful for you and pray that as you grow you come to know, love and serve our Great God who knit you together and loves you beyond measure.

We love you, Luke.

Big Brother Luke

2010-09-18T14:07:00.001-04:00

Here’s Big Brother Luke waiting at the hospital for Baby Sarah to arrive. Mimi made sure he was dressed for the occasion.

Welcoming Baby Sarah proved to be pretty exhausting since Grandaddy woke him up early that morning to have breakfast and be at the hospital not long after Joel and I arrived that morning.

He has taken on the big brother role like a champ. It’s fun to watch him react to her. He’s tried to give her a bottle a couple of times. He still calls her “baby Sarah”. When you ask him what she says he will reply, “waahh, waahh”. He’s tried out her pacifier a couple of times, too.

This is also one of the various duties of a big brother (sort of). He loves to “weed eat” just like Daddy and that means he also has to wear his glasses just like Daddy.Safety first!

It’s a Sarah and Luke kind of thing…

2010-09-11T18:43:00.001-04:00

Here’s a proud Daddy, Granddaddy and Big Brother watching Sarah get her first bath in the nursery.A quick picture before we change out of our pajamas and get all dressed up for the ride home.

We’re putting on our first dress. It was hand smocked by Great Grandmama.

What a doll!

In Moma’s arms getting ready to leave the hospital.

This is what we saw when we pulled up in the driveway.

Here we are getting out of the car.

Now for the bonnet.

Big Brother Luke welcoming us on the front porch.

Sitting with Grandmama Judah in my dress.

Luke and Mommy making cookies one afternoon.

One morning at breakfast Luke ate his toast, jelly first.

Oh, but we did play dress-up with the cute hat Mimi found. Sarah wasn’t too excited about it.

But, it grew on her…

Another nap…

Trying out the couch. It makes for a good napping place when my Big Brother isn’t too near.

Amazing…

Pictures of Sarah Elizabeth Judah

2010-09-01T19:51:00.000-04:00

Luke loves his baby sister.

Baby Sarah was 7 lb. 9 oz and 20 inches long.

Baby Sarah right after delivery.

Baby Sarah

2010-08-31T14:35:00.000-04:00

She's here and pictures will soon follow. She was born at 7:51 this morning via c/section. Weighing in at 7lbs 9.5oz with lots of dark hair, she and I have been snuggling and cuddling all morning. She came out screaming, had 8/9 APGARS, and got to come back to the Recovery Room with me not long after her bath. Nursing is going well so far. We're so very thankful for an amazing Creator God (I mean who could deny His existence after being a part of this!) who's given us this gift. She's rocked with the grandparents, met her big brother, and even had a huge sticky poo poo~way to go, big Girl! I believe she already has her Daddy's heart wrapped around her little finger. Mimi changed the first poo poo diaper. I can't wait to dress her up. Big plans for the rest of the day are more snuggling/cuddling/nursing and I'm loving/soaking up every sweet minute.

Our Week

2010-08-21T14:43:00.001-04:00

It’s staying pretty steady around the Judah household. Just when I think I can’t think of anything else to do before baby Sarah arrives, I come up with something. If I go to Target one more time getting “baby supplies” Joel’s going to take away my credit card!

Monday

The first part of the week we were busy with playing outside some, riding the golf cart and cleaning the ant infestation out of my car!!! It was quite the sight Monday morning of me, 9 months pregnant, crying about ants all over the inside of my car, Luke’s car seat, etc…with the contents of the car emptied out onto the front lawn as I try to clean (in 154 degree temps!) and watch a toddler at the same time. I called my Moma and Joel to whine. I know they will both be glad when these pregnancy hormones subside.

Tuesday

I really can’t seem to remember what we did on Tuesday. Call it pregnancy brain!

Wednesday

It was Luke’s first day of Mother’s Morning Out here in Macon. (I mean, I have really missed this little treat!!!) Here’s a picture of him as we are getting ready to walk out of the door. The day came complete with new shoes, shirt, and shorts for him. I couldn’t get him to stand still so I had him hold onto the post.

He did really good. I try to talk about times when we are going to be separated (like for church) before we leave the house. So, all morning I kept saying, “Luke’s going to go play with the children at church.” He would immediately respond with “bye-bye, pick you up. Snacks. Cookies.” He understands that I’m going to say “bye-bye” and will be back to pick him up. It melts my heart.

Thursday

I had another doctor’s appointment. Yet again, no changes still fingertip (according to the Dr. this week) or 1cm (according to the doctor last week). My c/section is now scheduled for August 31st. Either I go into rip roaring labor and just about drop off a baby or we’ll be checking into the hospital on that Tuesday morning.

I had a college girl come stay with Luke for the morning while I went to the doctor. It was the first time I’ve had a for profit babysitter (we’ve been so blessed to have all these not-for-profit ones~i.e.family/friends). I think the two of them did pretty good. My only concern is that Luke may be too much of a little boy for her. But, everyone was fine when I arrived home and I have her coming next week for my next Dr.’s appt.

Friday

Another Mother’s Morning Out treat and the start of MOPS! I was incredibly excited. As I was walking in a girl I had met at church was walking in at the same time. Then I saw four others who I had met just recently. Macon really is a small town.

I had a funny thought as I was leaving MOPS and heading to pick up Luke. I looked in my car and realized that even though I’m so very pregnant and my water broke early with Luke all I had with me that I thought was absolutely necessary if I went into labor while out and about was my digital camera and a hair rubber band around my wrist. It would be a complete travesty to have to go straight to the hospital for the birth of our baby and have no camera or rubber band for my hair!!! Can we say second baby??? I don’t even have the car seat in the car! With Luke I was riding around with my bag packed from 36 weeks on.

We continue to wait. Praying for her arrival, the delivery, nursing, as I really struggled with this with Luke and our transition into a family of four. Would you pray with us?

Now, I’m off to do some laundry.