A Few of Jude's Favorites.

Isn't it amazing how babies find joy in the simplest of things? I think this is one of the greatest lessons that Jude is teaching me right now. There are so many high-tech or expensive toys that you can buy your kids, but I feel like no one really needs that kind of stuff. Some of Jude's favorite things have been as simple as a tootsie roll wrapper. Seriously, a balled-wrapper. He loved it. He carried it around for DAYS clenched tight in his little fist. One morning he woke up, saw it on the floor, & "ooo-ed" until I picked it up and gave it to him.

It's fascinating to watch Jude play. He is such a smart little boy and is learning & growing so much. One of his favorite things to do is now is dump out all of the nerf gun bullets, fill up one bucket with them, and then move them to another one. He will sit on there for the longest time and switch the foam bullets from one bucket to the next, it's the cutest thing!

Then there are the pom-poms. You know, those little fuzzy craft balls that you would glue to paper when you were in kindergarten. Jude adores those. My sister gave him a game where you stick those into a small hole cut out of a little tupperware. He cannot get enough of that game! He push them all into the little hole, and then dump them out & start over. After he's had enough of that, he'll gather as many as he can hold in each hand and carry the little balls around the house. He'll even insist on holding them while he eats.

We really don't need a lot to be happy!

I know this is a lot of rambling! I just don't want to forget these cute things he does. :)

{Some of Jude's favorite things to carry around the house. He doesn't eat them, just holds them!}

Getting Crafty.

Since moving into our home, I have slowly but surely been able to decorate & fix things up to my liking. This has been a LONG process & I am no where near being done, but I love it! I love coming up with ideas, gathering all the materials, & seeing my vision come to life! Eb also likes to add his 2 cents & he has some good ideas! My two latest projects were making throw pillows for our "new" couch (from craigslist) and making a wreath. I absolutely LOVE how both of these projects turned out. Here are the results!

13 Months Old.

I can't believe how fast my little boy is growing up! He amazes me everyday with the things he does & understands. One of my favorite things is asking "can mommy have kisses". Jude then opens his mouth as big as he can, sticks out his tongue, & brings his face to mine for a slobbery baby kiss. I LOVE those kisses and i'll take them as long as he's giving them out. Jude as also mastered the concept of something being "yucky". He likes to stick things in his mouth that he KNOWS is not for eating just to get me to say "No, yucky". He'll then stick out his tongue, make a disgusted face, & say "ugh" (his way of saying yuck). It is the CUTEST thing! The latest things that Jude has learned is when somethings is "all gone". He loves to eat whatever anyone else is eating.. so, once we've finished we'll tell him "all gone". He then lifts his hands and shrugs his shoulders. I love that Jude is starting to communicate & show that he understands things that we say to him. I feel so blessed to have him as my little boy! I can't wait until our newest edition is here to see what a good big brother he is going to be.

{Jude loves getting his picture taken!}

{One of his favorite things to do...brush his teeth.}

:)

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!}