:)

Jude & His Pumpkins.

Jude absolutely LOVES pumpkins & gourds. I have no idea what his obsession is with them, but he can't get enough! Every time he sees one he makes an "OOO" sound, purses his little lips, and stretches out his hands letting us know that he wants to hold it. On Sunday night we headed over to my parents house to carve pumpkins. Jude sat in a swing for most of the time to keep him out of the mess. After Eb & I we're done we wanted to get some pictures of Jude with the pumpkins. Sure enough, he made that cute little face and couldn't get enough of our pumpkins!

{This is his "I WANT THAT" face}

Jude's First Halloween!

I had such a fun time planning Jude's costume as well as mine & Eb's. We decided to go as Peter Pan, Wendy, & Captain Hook (or just a pirate, I guess). I have always LOVED Peter Pan so I thought this would be perfect. I also wanted to see Jude's chunky legs in some cute green tights. I was brave and made the Peter Pan costume all by myself! I was actually really surprised with how well it turned out and that I didn't have to start over a million times. I used a costume that my sister sewed when she was Wendy a couple years back. She did an awesome job on it! 

On Saturday we went to my parent's Trunk-or-Treat. Even though Jude doesn't eat candy, we still took him around! It was really fun and he loved being outside. We also loved seeing all of his cousins dressed up. They all looked so cute! 

On Monday Eb & I decided that we would stick around our new house and pass out candy to any kids that stopped by. To our surprise, we got some trick-or-treaters! Jude loved rushing over to the door every time it rang and looking at all of the kids dressed in their costumes. We dressed him up again even though we weren't going to take him around the neighborhood. I couldn't resist not seeing him in his costume at lease one more time! It was a good night of us relaxing and playing with Jude. All in all, a successful Halloween!

Excitement!

It looks like we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We are finally going to close on our house! I cannot begin to express my excitement. It has taken way more time then was necessary due to the HOA being a pain in the rear end. With the close date getting closer I can't help but think of decorating possibilities! I LOVE decorating and have been looking forward to the day that I can decorate my own home for so long. I recently stumbled upon some pictures of different ways to dress up your windows. I want to try all of these ideas!! Here is what I found from Better Homes and Garden:

{I can't wait to start!}

I Love My Jude Boy.

I have the best job in the world! There is nothing that brings me more joy then spending time with my sweet little Jude boy. He brightens my day and makes me laugh. I never understood how strong a mother's love is for her child until I had my own baby.

It's Nice To Get Out.

Since we are still not in our home, we are currently staying with Eb's parents. We have been staying here for about 2 months and I am so grateful for their generosity! It has been great having so many helpers when it comes to entertaining and watching Jude boy. However, sometimes I feel like I need a break from a full house. Last weekend I had one of those days when I just wanted some alone time with Eb & Jude. Restaurants can be crowded and loud so that didn't seem appealing either. Instead we picked up some Subway sandwiches, a frozen pie, and drinks and then headed over to the church. Eb's mom had given me this idea. She said that sometimes when her & Kent want some alone time they will get food and eat at the church. This was perfect! We set up a little picnic inside the Relief Society room and spent the evening eating, talking, and playing with our little Jude boy. It was really nice to have a night with just the three of us where we didn't have to wrestle Jude down at a restaurant and didn't have the noise of others. This is definitely a date idea that we will try again!

While He Was Sleeping...

Poor Eb. He wakes up at 4:00 am and has to be to work at 5:00am. That, plus a little boy that chooses not to go to bed until 10:30 or 11:00 at night = little sleep for Eb. However, he does an awesome job playing with Jude and letting me have a break when he gets home from work. Sometimes though, he just needs to get some sleep and will pass out wherever he is sitting. This is where I step in. For whatever reason I can't just let this poor guy get a good nap! These are a few examples of things that Eb has to endure while he is trying to get a little extra sleep.

{I know...I'm a horrible person.}

All You Need is... People?

{Mae, Benton, & Emmie...A couple of Jude's favorite playmates!}

All that Jude needs is a couple of people watching him to be happy. He just loooves crowds. Give Jude a few dozen people and that kid is in heaven. He loves to crawl on people, "kiss" their faces (or feet, arms, legs..pretty much wherever), use them to stand up, and just sit and observe them. When it comes to Jude and people, the more the better! He especially loves little kids & babies. He'll sit and watch them run around & then get so excited and want to join in. He can't always keep up since he is only crawling still, but when that day comes that he can walk... that kid will be all over the place. When it comes to little babies he loves to try and grab their faces, sit on their heads, suck on their toes (or face), and sometimes they just act as speed bumps that he has to crawl over. It is so fun to see him interact with people! It will be interesting to see if he keeps this trait as he grows and becomes one of those super outgoing loves to be in front of a crowd kind of person. He definitely didn't get that from me!

13...14...15 seconds!

Jude is growing way too fast. He has recently started to pull himself up on things & then let go & stand there for a couple of seconds. Today seems to be his best day at standing on his own so far. He did it at least 5 times, each time getting a little longer. The longest (& cutest) time was before bedtime in the tub. He pulled his little naked bum out of the water and held on the the side of the tub. He then let go and stood there like a pro for at least 15 seconds! I fear that this only means one thing... We are quickly approaching the day when he will start walking. There will be no rest when this day comes (like we get any in the first place, right?).

8 Months & Counting.

{Jude at 8 months}

I still can't believe how fast my little baby is growing. He amazes me everyday with all the new things that he learns to do. He has become a master at climbing the stairs (still can't come down). He even likes to sing a mixture of "ba", "da", and "ma" while he does his climbing to show how much fun he's having. Puffs & cherrios are no big deal to him either. He eats those little puffs of grain like there is no tomorrow! I love the way that he uses his little pointer finger to snatch up his snacks and then tries to stick his whole fist in his mouth to eat them because they stick to his slobbery hands. Jude has also recently taken up head banging. He will stop playing with his toys for a second and show his excitement by rockin' out with a few bops of his head. I just can't get over how much I love this little boy and how quickly he has grown!

Sick Boy.

Yesterday Jude came down with a fever. I hate to see my little baby sick or unhappy in any way. I decided to take Jude's temperature again right before I got in to bed for the night. EB was already asleep, but I decided to try and wake him up to tell him how Jude was doing. The following is how our conversation went...

Me: Jude's temperature is 100.3

EB: That's good then, right?

Me: No, he has a fever...

EB: Isn't 106 normal?

Me: What? No...98 is normal.

I guess this is why you don't try and talk to EB when he's sleeping...

My Sweet Little Troublemaker.

Jude has just recently started crawling, and lets just say that life has gotten a lot more interesting. The once simple task of changing a diaper has now become a wrestling match. As soon as the diaper is off Jude makes a mad dash in the nude. It is actually really cute to see his little naked bum as he crawls away. He’s pretty happy about it too until he gets pinned to the floor and a new diaper is slapped on. Jude has also recently decided that he wants to start climbing up the stairs. He does pretty well with them and has even made it up a whole 3 steps. The only problem is that he likes to sit on the very edge of the step so someone needs to be there before he topples backwards down the stairs. He has yet to master crawling down the stairs. Instead he’ll just sit, turn around, and try to slide face first down the steps. He definitely keeps us entertained and on our toes at all times. I love my little Jude boy.

Must. Be. Better.

I have felt the need to document the life of our growing family, but have been too occupied (or lazy) to do anything about it. That ends now. I will try my hardest to be a better journal keeper. I want to keep these precious memories of Jude & our little family in writing so I never forget them. Here goes nothing!

Catching Up.