mom's lil

I thought I would just post some cute pictures of Jude. Notice the great drool marks. I think the teeth are coming...between the drool and the old man look where he rubs his gums together, which kind of resembles an old man without his teeth...although I still haven't seen the bumps on the gums yet.

He's definitely a busy little guy.

birthday pics

the big 3-0

Well today was my birthday. I have now entered a new decade. I don't feel any older...which I guess is a good thing. And everyone tells me I will appreciate my young looking face when I am older.

My wonderful husband made sure that my 'turning a new decade birthday' was very special by making sure it was a whole day of relaxing. He did everything from feeding and taking care of the kids to doing the dishes and cleaning up the house.

We started off the day by going out to breakfast at Cinnamons. I got their very delicious carrot pancakes. We had a great time and the kiddo's were very well behaved. It was so enjoyable that we thought about possibly going out to breakfast more often.

I then did a little birthday shopping with the some of the money I got for my birthday. I had quite a fun time...not that I don't love being with my family but it was really nice to be on my own for a little bit. We then had sushi for lunch (California roll...not real sushi) which is what I requested. It's funny how my birthday kind of revolved around what food I wanted to eat but I guess the whole point was that I didn't have to make one single meal all day...not even a pb&j sandwich.

And then for dinner Jason grilled some salmon and other tasty things. A friend of ours made a cake for me which all of us enjoyed very much (as you can see in the picture). We then took a walk after dinner. It was nice to end the day being together as a family and enjoying the not so hot later evening breeze. I think what topped my birthday off was when Ethan was making Jude giggle so hard that I had tears rolling down my face from laughing right along with him. It's one of those times I wish I had the video camera because it was Jude's first big belly laugh and the first time Ethan realized that his little brother thinks he's pretty funny. Ethan was laughing just as hard which made it all the more funny.

So I must say turning 30 is not so bad. I have a lot to be thankful for and I feel blessed that at 30 God has given me two great kids, a very loving husband and a chance to live in a unique and beautiful place that challenges me every day to rely on God more and more. It's neat to look back and see how God has worked in our lives and how he lead us to where we are today.

crazy bag baby 2

cute stuff

crazy bag baby

Usually Jude crawls through the house pretty quickly and pretty quietly. But once we hear the crinkling of grocery bags we know exactly where to find him. The only other time he gets this crazy is when he is in the pool. He loves to splash everywhere.

Ethan is laughing in the background. He loves to play with his baby brother and he thinks he is hilarious.

not such a good idea

Ethan and I were having some fun with the alphabet stamp set. I wasn't too worried about Ethan getting ink on his fingers (since that was kind of hard to avoid anyway...unless he wore gloves maybe). I turned my head for a second to do something and saw Ethan putting his hands on the ink pad. I was about to tell him not to do that until I had this great idea that it might be fun to make hand prints on the paper. They get foot prints when they're born, why not do hand prints...it said it was kid safe. Well I found out later that kid safe does not mean washable. So after we made a great hand print we went over to the sink to wash it off. After many washings with soap there wasn't much change. So Ethan just laid his hand on the table, palm side up, and stared at it as if it were diseased. I think he was afraid to touch anything, thinking that he might make ink marks on everything. It's all fun to get dirty if it washes off later.



So anyway I had to take a picture of this so we could all laugh later at it.

who is that baby?

Jude has always liked mirrors or just watching people. I don't think he has yet realized that the baby he's looking at in the mirror is himself...which is fine because he can entertain himself pretty well by just staring at himself.

So I caught him today looking at his reflection in the oven door and thought it was a pretty cute moment. He stayed there for quite a while probably wondering how he can get to the other side where that other baby is.

6 months

Well our little baby Jude is 6 months today. I can't believe half a year has flown by already. It's funny how at times it seems that time has stood still when they are first born and you think that they will always be that little...and then before you know it, months have gone by and they aren't as little.

These pictures I thought were true to what Jude is up to these days. He loves to crawl around and sit up. And he chews on anything he can get his hands on. And lately he likes pulling himself up on anything that he can reach...coffee table, chairs, crib, coat tree, me, etc. I think he wants to be like everyone else around him because he gets so excited when he does pull up on something. And he loves the fact that he can explore the whole house on his own by crawling from room to room...which makes me nervous because he's very quiet and quick. But Ethan has enjoyed Jude moving and loves getting on the floor to crawl with him or he will run around the room and make Jude laugh.

laughing 2

giggle box

This is Ethan watching home videos of himself when he was about 1 1/2. He is actually laughing on the video and Ethan is laughing at himself laughing. It is so funny to watch and it was hard for me to keep the video camera still while I was trying to film it because I was laughing myself. We love Ethan's laugh and it is so contagious.

Just click on the play button twice to see the video.

air-conditioning

I thought this was funny last night while me and the fam were going on our nightly walk. As you have seen in a previous post we sometimes go and feed the ducks (which is right down the street) or we'll go to the beach and let Ethan run around. Well our other fun evening tradition is to go down the street to our local Safeway grocery store. I know that sounds weird and I didn't think it sounded weird until last night. One of our reasons for going is because it's air-conditioned and sometimes we may need an item or two (but mainly we just go for the cool air). Well for those that live here, they know that there is nothing on this side of the island that is air-conditioned and kid friendly. We do have a small mall but it's not worth it to go to and then fight evening traffic.

So as we were walking last night, and Ethan knows all the great stops along the way (looking over the bridge to see if he can see crabs or ducks, jumping off the man-hole, pushing the button at the traffic light for the cross-walk, and asking to stop for a milkshake at Burger King which is on our way to Safeway), I thought it was kind of funny that Ethan will have this crazy memory of walking to the grocery store in the evenings just to "hang-out". Jason and I were talking about this on our walk and he was laughing that when he takes Ethan to the grocery store, they always have to stop by the bakery to look at the birthday cakes first. And then he runs over to the display of 'real fruit' fruit roll-ups and as Ethan says "buy it, daddy?". It's almost like a zoo to Ethan. He's probably the only 3 year old that knows his way around the grocery store.

So anyway, I thought I would share our adventures living here in "paradise".

Happy Labor Day!

Well we did anything but labor today...well we did do laundry. We had a great day as a family and just hung out and relaxed. It was great. Later in the day we went to the church's salt water swimming pool...which was Jude's first pool experience...which he seemed to really like. It helped that the pool was heated...yes I know that seems really weird to have a heated pool in Hawaii, but the school seems to think that the kids are too cold...?? So anyway it was like taking a bath...which is why Jude probably liked it so much. And Ethan had his first experience with putting his head under water with his goggles on. He wasn't too sure about it at first but once he did it we couldn't get him out of the pool. I'm sure he will be asking to wear his goggles in the bath tub now...he had such a blast. Now we just have to work on the swimming kick. He kicks but it just spins him in circles or doesn't propel him at all.

sitting up

Well this has been a busy week for Jude. He's accomplished a lot. Great for him...his explorer side enjoys his new freedom. Not so great for me sometimes...a lot more supervision, cleaning floors, putting up gates, picking up small toys, keeping doors closed, and potty lids closed (so he doesn't try to climb up on it or suck on the side of it).

He can now sit up on his own and can even go from the crawling to sitting position all on his own.

pulling up already

Well Jude has discovered how to pull up on things. He either sits on his knees or tip toes...so walking won't be in the near future because he tends to tip over pretty easily. But the crib is where he learned to pull himself up because it has those nice bars to pull up on and it's sturdy enough that it doesn't fall over. Now when he pulls himself up, he then likes to "yell" for us until we come to get him. It was really surprising to walk into his room the first time he did this. I'm not quite ready for that stage yet.

pulling up already - part 2

wrestling with daddy

Jude is learning how to wrestle with daddy from watching Ethan. I guess it's not so much wrestling as it is jump on dad when he's not looking. So now Jason will be out-numbered...as soon as Jude can walk.

our paper eater

Jude seems to seek out paper now that he can scoot around. He especially likes to go after the paper and magazines under our coffee table (which needs to be cleaned out anyway). I'm not sure if he needs more fiber in his diet or if he just likes the crinkly sound. But he's very good at finding it.

orange is the new black

Orange has become my favorite color lately... and orange scented things. Anything from shampoo to cleaners to air freshener... and clothes. Anyway, we all happened to wear orange shirts on the same day (not planned) so I thought it would be a great photo opportunity.

our little swimmer

Ethan has been very adventuresome lately and runs out into the ocean to play in the waves. He hasn't even minded having the waves crash over his head a few times. Thankfully he doesn't go too far and our beach is pretty shallow for a little ways. So his new trick is to wait for a wave to come and then fall forward and kind of crawl forward on his hands (he calls it swimming). It's so funny to watch and he has a blast.

This is Ethan's 'I have sand in my eyes' face. He's finally remembered not to try to wipe the sand out of his eyes with his sandy hands. As you can imagine that only causes more problems.

Since we don't have snow here, Ethan learned how to make sand angels. Almost the same thing.

boys and machines

Our neighbor let us use their mini-motor scooter because it was just sitting and collecting dust. Jason was so excited about it and rides it at least twice a day...and even tried riding it to work one day...which he ended up walking it to work about half way there because it ran out of juice. It's electric so it's definitely cheaper than gasoline powered machines but has just enough power to move you a little faster than walking speed. So one day he let Ethan ride on it with him and now Ethan jumps at the chance to ride the "bicycle" with daddy. Poor Jason...it's probably the closest he'll ever get to a motorcycle.


I rode it to the grocery store the other day just to pick up a few items. It was fun to ride but I definitely felt like I was an old lady riding on a hover-round. So I don't think anyone will be seeing me buzzing around town any time soon...yes I probably care too much what people think.

stuck!

I think Jude has out-grown his bouncy seat. He can't just sit there and relax, he has to be grabbing for the toys in front or leaning over to chew on the sides. He is way more happy scooting on the floor or sitting in his exersaucer. So this day I walked into the room to find him turned side ways and still trying to find something to chew on. He didn't seem mad about it just annoyed that he still couldn't reach the floating fish and toys on the front of it.

sweet moment

Ethan asked to hold Jude, so I laid him in his lap (he wanted to use the Boppy pillow like mommy does). They cuddled a little bit and then Ethan was all done. Just needed a quick snuggle with his little brother.

strike a pose

This is Jude's new little move. I'm not sure if he does it to rest a minute or so he can reach for something. But it sure is funny to watch him. As soon as he can sit on his own I'm sure it will be helpful to go from crawling to sitting...but right now it just looks like he's posing for a picture.