mohawk hair

A girl at church told me that Jude had the perfect mohawk hair....it was longer on top and already stuck up anyway. So I thought I would try it out during bath time the other night....I must say he does have good mohawk hair.

drummer boy

I'm not sure where Ethan got the "1,2..1,2,3" thing but it was so cute to watch...and I think Ethans got some rhythm.

birthday fun

UPDATE: warning for all those parents that are giving their children sugar for the first time...make sure it's not a half hour before bedtime. Jude stayed up until about 10 last night giggling to himself and squealing in his room. Jason went to go check on him to make sure everything was all right around 9pm (since this had never happened before) and he ended up bringing him out to me because while Jason was trying to calm him down, it seemed to just wind him up more. Jason said Jude would just look at him and laugh. So we had a little play time with Jude around 9 last night....he was giddy with a sugar high. Poor kid. I think we won't load him up with sugar like that again.

he's one today

I can't believe our baby Jude is one. The year has seemed to fly by...and I amazingly have really forgotten those beginning days of Jude's life where I thought I would never sleep again (I think God designs it that way so that we would want more than one child). It's neat to look back at those pictures and see how much he's changed and grown in a year. It's funny to see how different our two boys are and see how well they get along. Jude is our more serious little boy who is very determined on what he's doing and then every once in a while his silly side will come out and he cracks everyone up including himself. He is also figuring out that screaming can get Ethan to do almost anything for him. He is our good sleeper and eater...so much so that he will even clean up the food he drops on the floor...gross I know. Jude is in the beginning stages of walking (which are the pictures below...they're blurry but you can get the idea of the raising the arm thing). For some reason he uses his left arm to balance by raising it in the air. So it looks like he has a question when he walks. He likes to make all sorts of noises with his mouth these days and tries to mimic things that we say...although it's usually the same sound for everything. We love our little boy and pray that his life will bring glory to God and that he will grow up to be a man of God desiring to love and serve Him.

We're going to have a party for him later tonight, so more pictures to come...

our little artist

This is the first time Ethan has had an attention span longer than 20 seconds to sit down and paint. It's been a while since I've gotten the paints out because it took so much time to set up...only to clean up all the mess a minute later because he was all done...yes lazy on my part, I know. Ethan asked this morning if he could paint, so I waited until Jude went down for his morning nap...that way we had more time to set up and clean up. But this time Ethan sat for about an hour and painted a picture "for Jude's birthday"...is what he told me. I love this new stage that Ethan is entering. He seems to be exiting the toddler stage and becoming an independent young child.

i've been tagged

Thanks to my friend Kat, I've been tagged. Well I don't think I have enough blogger friends to tag 3 other people but if you would like to play the game, leave me a comment with your closest book. The rules are:

1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence.
3. Post the text of the following three sentences.
4. Name the author and book title.
5. Tag three other people to do the same.

"We can learn many lessons from Mary and Martha. Most women are basically 'Marys' or 'Marthas' -- relationship-oriented or task-oriented. Marys have a special ability to be sensitive to the needs and feelings of others, whereas Marthas are the ones who recognize what tasks need to be done and do them."
~ Leadership for Women in the Church by Susan Hunt and Peggy Hutcheson

I know this isn't part of the game but I thought it helped wrap up the above text..."The blend of these two temperaments gives balance to our ministry."

We're reading this book in our WIC council. But we're far from getting to p.123...we only meet once a month.

daddy's guitar

Jason started playing his guitar for Ethan before bedtime...and it has become Ethan's request whether Jason is home in time or not. He doesn't understand that I don't know how to play the guitar but he thinks I should be able to pick it up and play like daddy.

Ethan has learned to sing some of the songs with Jason and others Jason will just sing to Ethan. It's so cute to watch them and if Jude is still awake we'll go in and let him climb in with Ethan to listen. He enjoys listening but I think he is more interested in climbing all over the bed.

the big 2-9

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We had a fun day celebrating Jason's birthday. Today was his day off so it worked out well to have the day to relax and be together.



I think this shirt says it all for the man that I love. If you read the post that I wrote on his car, then this picture is a lot more funny. I love you husband and friend! Happy Birthday!

portraits

Well they're not professional but we were trying to get some pictures of Jude for his 1 year old party invitations. If I would have looked at the time...I would have tried to take them at a happier time...not right before nap. Jude couldn't take the itchy grass and silly faces we were making to try to get him to smile. Even giving him a stick didn't seem to help because he just tried to eat it. Thankfully we did get a couple of good ones. I don't know why I don't leave this up to the professionals.

president's day

Found some great quotes by former presidents in a prayer book I've been reading lately. I thought it would be appropriate (today being president's day) to share. It's a great reminder for me to pray for our leaders...that they would be given wisdom and that they would find their strength in God, their Savior.

"Direct my thought, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate Blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by Thy Holy Spirit...Daily frame me more and more into the likeness of Thy Son Jesus Christ."
George Washington, 1st U.S. President

"There are a good many problems before the American people today, and before me as President, but I expect to find the solution to those problems just in the proportion that I am faithful in the study of the Word of God."
Woodrow Wilson, 28th U.S. President

"The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America...Our country is in need of and ready for a spiritual renewal."
Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. President

"The men who have guided the destiny of the United States have found the strength for their tasks by going to their knees."
Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th U.S. President

"I pray Heaven bestow the best of blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."
John Adams, 2nd U.S. President

"The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us; so that He may incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways...that all peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other."
George Bush, 41st U.S. President

"We all can pray. We all should pray. We should ask the fulfillment of God's will. We should ask for courage, wisdom, for the quietness of soul which comes alone to them who place their lives in His hands."
Harry S. Truman, 33rd U.S. President

"The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation then its wealth."
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th U.S. President

happy valentines day

Ethan made some valentines so I thought I would share them with everyone. Thought they were pretty cute. Although I cut them out and put the letters on so it actually spelled something...Ethan colored and put the glue and sprinkles on. Ethan keeps asking when he can make one for himself. Happy lovin' day!

11 months

One more month and Jude will be 1. It's hard to believe a year has almost gone by since he was born. Jude has just started taking steps...well it's more like two or three steps and then falls forward...hoping we will catch him. He can stand up and down without holding onto anything but I think he doesn't see the need to learn how to walk since he can crawl rather fast anyway. It gets him where he needs to go. He loves playing with his big brother Ethan and can entertain himself pretty well too. He's really in to climbing things and many times I have found him on top of furniture. He likes to dump boxes of things or dump all of the wooden puzzles so that I can spend the next 15 minutes putting them all back together. And he loves to open and close anything that has a hinge. He loves to take his bath because he can splash and do belly flops into the water....its a rather noisy and wet time. He's still in to eating anything and everything he can find especially if it's on the floor. And he's learned to yell pretty loudly to get our attention...which Ethan usually says "shh" or "be quiet baby" to...maybe I say that a little too much. He keeps us busy but we have enjoyed seeing him grow and learn so many new things. He's got a great little personality and we are so thankful for our little baby Jude.

the little cabooses

Well as some of you know, Jason is out of town for the week visiting some classical schools on the mainland with some staff from the school and church. So it has been Ethan, Jude and I for the week. We've had fun hanging out with friends and have tried to keep busy so the time will go fast for Jason to return. So last night I thought it would be fun to go for a bike ride after dinner and put the two boys in the bike trailor. It made me laugh to see both of them in that little trailor...I think Ethan has outgrown it...but they didn't complain (except for the occasional scream from Jude when Ethan was leaning on him too much) and we had fun riding down to the beach park and back. It definitely gave me a work-out pulling over 50 lbs. behind me. Jason is usually the one that bikes with them and I have my bike to myself, so now I can relate to how much he works to pull them around. Before Jason left we started using a tandem bike (that someone gave us) on the back of my bike for Ethan and Jude was in the trailor behind Jason's bike. It has been great for Ethan to learn how to peddle and balance....although usually I'm weaving back and forth because Ethan isn't paying attention and is turning around to look at everything we are passing. The other night I could hear Jason behind me telling Ethan to sit down. It wasn't until we got home that Jason said Ethan was standing on the peddles (as we were buzzing down the street) and holding on with one hand while he was pulling the wedgy out with the other. Crazy kid.

galoshes

I bought these boots for Ethan for the rainy days we get here....down pours that are usually short but create big puddles...especially at the bottom of our steps outside. I just didn't realize how much he would like them. So he also will wear them on sunny or rainy days but gets very excited when he sees the puddles because he knows he can walk straight through them without getting into "trouble". And I think the muddier they are the better.

Ethan has also discovered the joy of bugs. Thankfully he hasn't gotten into the torture-the-bug stage but he likes to catch them and have them crawl all over his arm...which gives me the chills just writing about it. So this particular day he found an ant and was proud to show it to me...which I replied that's neat why don't you go put it outside...which he did by shaking his arm really hard and then wiping his arm on the side of the house when it didn't budge. Poor thing, I don't think it made it.

I love having boys!

biter biscuits

I don't think this picture captures just how messy Jude was but thanks to Gerber, Jude was covered in slimy, gushy, gummed up biter biscuits. I thought they would be a nice treat on the way home to keep Jude entertained while we made the long trek back (before nap time) from the other side of the island. Well we were successful in the entertainment part but Gerber needs to put a warning on how messy their biter biscuits are when mixed with saliva. I need to go back out to the car to wash out the car seat and whatever else Jude touched.

day at the farm

Ethan, Jude and I went out to the far west side of the island today to spend the morning at my friend Julie's friends (Koleen) house. She told me her friend had a farm with horses and tractors and a beautiful new house. I knew Ethan would love it and I figured Jude could just take his nap out there while we walked around the pastures and enjoyed the outdoors. Well we had a blast but I should have known a farm in Hawaii is different than a farm on the mainland. It was a 2 acre lot with a chain link fence and houses on either side. It was still incredibly peaceful and had a panoramic view of the mountains. But it made me laugh because I was picturing rolling hills and barb wire fences with miles between the houses. But I guess when you live on an island you can't have that much space.

None the less, Ethan loved playing with his buddy Jed and they got so dirty and ran around so much that Ethan came home and fell right asleep for his nap. He's asked me about 3 times since we've been home if we can go back and see the horses and tractors. It was a boys paradise...dirt, rocks, animals and machines.

womens retreat

My time lately has been spent with WIC activities. I have a refreshed outlook on this ministry since the new year and I am really excited to see the opportunities that God is presenting. One of them being our womens retreat coming up in April. Both of our Bible studies are studying the book Peacemaking Women and my friend Anne told me about the possibility of one of the authors, Tara Barthel, coming to speak at our retreat. So we've been looking at possible dates and other details and it looks like it will work. I have been challenged so much by this book and I have seen how God is changing parts of my life to be more obedient to how he has called me to be. I hope and pray that God will use this retreat to challenge not only myself but other ladies that are going to attend...and above all that God will be glorified.

standing tall

Well we've entered that new stage. Jude is standing on his own more and more. He hasn't taken any steps yet but thinks it's really funny to fall forward and let me catch him.
I don't think he can do two things at once yet so smiling and standing at the same time will probably come later. I think right now he puts all of his concentration into balancing.

the big 1-0

Jude is 10 months old today. I think I say this every time but time is flying by. Jude's new accomplishments have been: moving to chunks of food and feeding himself, standing for a few seconds on his own without holding onto anything, figuring out how to be funny so we will smile and laugh at him, babbling baby talk and screaming when someone is bothering him or won't let him do something.

We took a trip to the park to feed the ducks to celebrate. Jude didn't seem as impressed by it all but sat there quietly and soaked it all in. Ethan on the other hand couldn't stop talking about it. We are still working on the difference between ducks and pigeons. They are always hanging out together so Ethan calls them all ducks.

the wind-up

I'm not sure where Ethan got this from. And maybe my family will only think this is funny because he first did it when they were here. We were at the Pearl Harbor memorial and he stepped out of line and started swinging his arm around. It looked like some sort of disco move.

 

bath time fun

Bath time is so much fun! I am so glad that they enjoy it so much. When I turn on the water Jude crawls to the bathroom as fast as he can and Ethan is usually undressed before I can say "bath time".

mechanic

Ethan and I have been reading a book from the library about auto mechanics. He has been fascinated by them ever since....what is it with boys and their cars? :o) So when Jason was changing out the brakes on the car Ethan couldn't stop talking about being a "chanic". He watched Jason so intently and wanted to help in any way he could.