Cheese and standing

Looks innocent enough....

A little more daring with only one hand

!!!!!!!!!

My baby thinks he's old enough to stand all by himself! I can't believe how fast he's growing up. He's accomplishing all of these milestones faster than Carter did so it seems Jude is growing up extra fast.

While I was taking pictures of Jude, Carter jumped in front of the camera and told me, "Carter! Carter! Cheeeeeeeeese!"

I love Jude in the background. "Hey, I thought you were taking pictures of ME!"

brothers

potty training

We started potty training Carter last week. He's been doing really great so far - better than I expected. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision after he'd watched "Elmo's Potty Time" for the 20th time and I stumbled across this article. So it has begun. Up until today, I've been using diapers when we go out and at nap and bed times. Today was extra good. He stayed dry while we were out for a walk (about 45 minutes) AND he stayed dry during his nap and told me he needed to use the potty when he woke up AND he used the toilet at Wal-mart later! And my favorite: he went #2 on the potty today! The past week, he's just waited until I put a diaper on him for nap or bed time, but today, he did it. I have to laugh at myself when things like this make me excited. Anyways, I wanted to share the article with any and all who are interested. The method has worked great so far. At home, he doesn't wear pants or underwear and when we go out, he only wears pants. The idea is that underwear feels too similar to a diaper so it can get confusing. I don't know much about the subject, but this approach is working for us!

oh boy...

Two days after he started crawling, I looked over and saw this

Which quickly turned into this

And ended like this. He pulls himself up all the time now.

my Jude baby

Last night, JUDE was the answer to a jeopardy question!! I was so excited! It was referring to the Jude in the Bible, not my son, but still it was pretty cool. That's where we got the name, after all (not from the Beatles song, sorry). So here's a tribute to my baby Jude.

we call this "grandpa gums" because it looks like he forgot to put in his dentures. not that either of HIS grandpas wears dentures :)

He's a crawler!!!

And a laugher

How life is different as a mom

>Gross things don't phase me like they used to.
>Instead of planning around a work schedule, I plan around a nap schedule.
>I stub my toe at least once a day on baby toys. Perhaps it's because my feet got bigger during pregnancy.
>I truly understand the value of a fenced backyard.
>8 consecutive hours of sleep is like a gift straight from heaven. Even just 6 is pretty great. I'll even take 4, as long as I can go back to bed afterwards.
>9 times out of 10, I'd rather buy little boy clothes instead of Robin clothes.
> Whenever I watch nature shows and the baby animals get eaten by predators (they always do because they're slower/smaller/confused/etc), I have to fight back the tears as I see the sad/mad mom animal.
>Unconditional love has a whole new meaning.
>Watching the evening news on any given day can make me cry.
>Not many things CAN'T make me cry.
>I've become much more extroverted as an attempt to have adult conversations during the day.
>I have realized how amazing my own mother is. I always knew she was great, but wow.

How is your life different as a mom?

Mother's Day

The holiest words my tongue can frame,

The noblest thoughts my soul can claim,
Unworthy are to praise the name
More precious than all other.
An infant, when her love first came,
A man, I find it still the same,
Reverently I breathe her name,
The blessed name of mother
-George Griffith Fether


My mother-in-law is such a sweetheart. She raised such a great son (all of her kids are pretty great, but Dennison's my favorite). She has such a kind heart and she's always laughing. She has a wonderful spirit about her and we wish we could see her more often! We love you, Mom!

I couldn't have asked for a better Mom. She's always been such a great example to me of how a mother should be. I can only hope to be as good as her someday. And what a Grandma! Whenever Carter sees the computer he wants to see Grandma (we've been skype-ing). One day this past week he wouldn't stop crying until he got to see Grandma on the screen. My boys sure do get spoiled by their Grandma! We all love you, Mom!

Life and Times of Carter

If you can't see, he's got the tiny keys to our filing cabinet with which he's trying to start his car.

He has recently started walking around with his hands in his pocket.

Maybe we got a little too excited about the swimming pool. It was still April, after all. We had a couple days of beautiful weather so we couldn't resist. The water was of course freezing but Carter didn't seem to care. He kept on sliding and splashing.

Carter kept this bear with him all day one day. He gave him rides on his cars, sat with him while coloring, took his nap with him, ate lunch with him, and many other super fun activities.

Bubble beard

Jude gets food..... and stuck

I know, he's super cute

Now that he can move around pretty well, Jude finds himself in quite the tight spot ever now and then.

Legs stuck under the couch

GIVE ME FOOD!

Carter loses some weight

Perhaps you recall this crazy head of hair.....

Half-way done - with a mouth full of jelly beans (his prize for sitting still)

Ta Da!!