Happy Anniversary + Happy Bday (to Jeff)

I shouldn't make a habit of combining these 2 extraordinary days in my calendar, but this year that's how it's clearly going down.

1. Happy anniversary (a week ago) to me and Jeff!  4 years have gone by faster than fast.  Our anniversary was on a Thursday, and it's so much more fun to celebrate on a weekend when Jeff doesn't have work the next day, so we saved the real party for Saturday night when my parents watched the kiddie bops.  We had a nice dinner, and walked around The Spectrum, and I discovered in Nordstrom that they make Spanx for men.  :)

While we were driving to dinner we each were in charge of thinking of our 4 favorite memories from our marriage so far.  I have more than 4, but the ones I picked are:

1) The night before we moved into our house/last night in Huntington, we took a break from packing to get some dinner at Claim Jumper (we had a gift card from our wedding).  Their big mistake that night was seating us in a booth, because every time our server came by we were making out.  This also bleeds into us moving, which is a hilarious memory in hindsight because we totally thought it would be cake to do it on our own.  We hadn't been married long enough to accumulate anything.  HA!  It was brutal, and we wished we'd taken people up on their offers to help, and we were so sore the next week.
2) Jude's birth
3) Graham's birth
4) Last Halloween, some friends came in to visit after they trick-or-treated around our neighborhood.  The wife accidentally walked off with my cell phone.  After tearing apart the house looking for it, we realized what had happened.  These friends, though, had just moved several miles away, I had never been to their new house, and had no GPS or way of contacting anyone till I got my phone back the next morning.  While Jeff ate breakfast, I saw him doodling on a piece of paper.  He was actually drawing me a detailed map of how to get to their new house, complete with "Map not to scale" and "This way to Sonic" written on it.  It was just straight up cute.  I kept the map.

So, to the love of my life, I'm so glad we got married, and I'm so glad you were born.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxo

Father's Day

I knew a girl named Courtney who once was talking about her "amazing" brother-in-law.  She hoped to one day find a guy as nice as he is, and to prove just how far his niceness extended, she told a quick story.  "Once we were all sitting playing a board game while their toddler Annie took a nap, and all of a sudden he shakes his head and says, 'Isn't Annie the best?'" And that DID sound awesome!  A dad so whipped he couldn't even take his mind off his little piglet while she took a little siesta.  And I thought to myself, "Sheesh, I hope I can find a guy like that!"

Well folks, I did.

Jeff does not stop talking about how cute our kids are, how much he loves them, and how happy he is that we have them.  While they're sleeping he says he wants to go give them hugs and wants to play with them.  He is completely owned by them.  Jude was asking to "Go go" at like 6:15 yesterday when I was starting to get ready for him to go night night.  But such is the whippedness of Jude's father, Jeff looked at me and asked, "How do you ever say no to this guy?  Look at that face??"  (Jude was, I'll admit, pulling his best puppy eyes and had his ample bottom lip in a barely-there pout.)  I am definitely the bad cop. :)

I will say, though, that when Jeff was on paternity leave I was taking a nap with brand-new Graham up in our room and after a little while I woke up to Jeff saying loudly and sternly downstairs, "NO, Jude, NO NO."  I don't even remember what it was about, but I chuckled to myself and was pleased that Jeff was realizing that our firstborn can, in fact, push buttons and/or be naughty.

Anyway, since Jeff is as loving, affectionate, patient, all-around caring Dad as ever shuffled the Earth, I love Father's Day.  This year it was filled with the staples, breakfast, a good dinner (in LA with my parents and Sarah+Harry), and urging Jeff to put his feet up, etc., but I hope this guy feels appreciated and loved every day, because we do.

Happy Father's Day to a good one.  Here's to the materialization of the husband and father I dreamed of with Courtney back in 2006.

So, tomorrow, huh?

I'm being induced tomorrow.  I've been having somewhat painful contractions today, so maybe Pitocin won't be my lot by tomorrow morning, but I have an appointment to have a baby at 7am.  So modern.  January 31 sounds like a good day to be born!

As I polish off this pregnancy, a few fun facts:

• No swollen feet, fingers, or stretch marks (that I can see).  Wahoo to that!  (Although after Jude was born and they pumped me full of fluid, my face and feet quadrupled in size.  And I could feel it happening.  I had packed flats to wear home and I could barely squeeze my puffy dogs into them.  I'll bring flip flops this time in case it's a duplicate experience.
• The heartburn is RAGING.  It's like my body does not want me to forget that it can still do this to me for another 12 hours.  I think I have enough Tums to see me through to tomorrow, but no more.  
• The sleeping is pretty much crap now.  I have my moments of frustration since I've been trying to fill my sleep cantine, as it were, but whatever, exhaustion is inevitable.  
• We have a short list of names, but a few weeks ago we gave up on narrowing it any more than that.  I am crossing my fingers one of them clicks when we cast eyes upon his pink little face.

Today has been water works.  I did not see this coming a month ago.  My heart has been aching for Jude and the end of this era in a big, bad way.  All this week at bedtime, while rocking him and singing Primary songs, I end up sniffling through.  Today, and this was probably made worse by his insistence on laying on the cute behavior eeeextra thick, just looking at him made my eyes well up with tears.  I felt guilty, nostalgic, but also grateful.  Then my mom called and set things right by reminding me that life is not going to change that much for him -- it's Jude!  He'll make SURE life is still full of all the good things even if there's a baby living in the house that I must also give attention to. :)  True.  But it will never be the same again.  I feel like my love for him is growing so fast and so much these last days it just hurts.  Hormones might have a snitch to do with it.  What?

My mom and Sarah will be here with him tomorrow.  Mimi is bringing him trains.  I'm not worried about him having a delicious Thursday.

And as for me, I'm really looking forward to the birth.  I have such epic and cherished memories of Jude's, and hopefully this time I won't have to wait until I'm 70% of the way through labor before I get my precious epidural (being scheduled and all it sounds more easy to secure, right?).  Knowing more of what to expect and how much wonderful there is packed into those moments, I have been excited for another birth experience since 1 week after Jude became a world citizen.  Jeff keeps saying he's excited, and of course I believe it. 

Let's just see if I can sleep tonight.  

Stay tuned.....

34 Years

of Jeff!

Happy birthday, honey.  We love, love, love you!

3 Years

3 years ago (yesterday) we got married!  Before you start judging me for tardy anniversarial blogging, we are really celebrating tomorrow.  I got some pretty roses and sweet things were said, but we (sad) didn't get to see much of each other on our actual anniversary, so we're pretending it's tomorrow.  

One of my favorite things about dating Jeff was that before he dropped the "L-bomb," and while I was waiting (somewhat impatiently) for such a declaration, I remember the first time I realized that even though I hadn't yet heard those 3 lovely words, that I felt loved.  Like, honestly loved.  It was a homey little feeling in my heart, and happy girl am I to say that that hasn't changed.  

Before pregnancy gets me going in a weepy dissertation on marriage, romantic love, the long haul, etc., I will just say that Jeff is my guy, I love him, I want to keep him forever, and since we got married 3 years ago, that's precisely what I'm going to do.  

Happy Anniversary to Us!

This Weekend Plus STUFF

*It should be mentioned that I am listening to 98 Degrees while I write this.  Boy bands -- the depth!

Last week Jeff was checking his email on the couch and said, "Oh! There's a car show this Saturday at 6:30 in the morning that the ward is going to -- Jude would LOVE that.  I should take him!"  I was to be throwing a baby shower for my friend Lisa that morning so I was loving this idea for many reasons and started launching into my whole, "Oh yeah, that's perfect!  Then I can clean and decorate...[blah blah blah]"  I think that's about the time Jeff realized it did indeed start at 6:30 in the unholy hours of the morning, but I'd already voiced such enthusiasm and gratitude, he'd just sealed his fate.  :)

They went and had fun, and I knocked out about 4 times more chores than I would've been able to otherwise.  

The shower was a success, and I'm selfishly so excited for this baby because not only is it a boy, but he'll be just a month younger than my baby, and play dates will continue to be a sinch.

Here are 3 of us ladies in waiting; Lindsey is 2 days overdue, and I greatly admire her forebearance. :)

While the shower was going on, Jeff and Jude had Round II of "Boys' Club" and got out of the house until Jude was apparently falling asleep early (no doubt his brain was exhausted from reeling over the car show at such an early hour) and they came home for naps.  Since the shower was still drizzling out when Jude's nap ended, I brought him down to hang with the ladies and he immediately groggily marched over to sit on Amber's lap with Monkey.  He has this very loyal crush thing on Amber.

See?  He loves her.

Now for some STUFF: I was drying my hands in the gym bathroom last week and started to laugh (better than cry) when I noticed my reflection in the hand dryer nozzle.  I still have 3 weeks left!

Ah, the obsession with cars, trucks, boats, planes...things that GO.  For Christmas Jude (and I) got annual passes to the museum in Irvine called Pretend City.  Jude goes into stimulation hyperdrive every time we pass through the gates.  It's this great little spot where kids can pretend to do loads of jobs like farming, lifeguarding, grocery shopping, put on a play, drive a AAA Tow Truck (or obviously a fire truck as seen above), mail a letter, and on and on and on.  It's awesome now, but I'm thinking this may be a life saver when the baby comes.

More car obsession: Must.  Hold.  Car.  While.  Swinging.

I really liked this from Pres. Hinkley.  I don't think I expect life to ever be perfect, but while I'm an emotional pregnant wreck, it reminded me to just be grateful for "the ride."  Focusing on that makes everything else seem much simpler.  I'm here, getting to do what I've always wanted to do, and life is good.  

This morning.  Daddy attack!

Last weekend we went to see Les Mis with some friends.  Everyone on earth had been praising it to the skies, so I was trying to keep my expectations even-keeled.  Anne Hathaway usually drives me nuts, but people were not totally off-base (in my opinion) for loving her performance.  And her hair looked cute buzzed -- it's the grow-out that is death for the pixie hair cut.  

I love this kitchen.  Since my brain is less than effective lately, taking phone screen shots of things I like or need to remember to deal with is a very helpful way for it to not get lost forever.

This picture makes me laugh.  Jude woke up from his nap and for his afternoon snack lunged at the grapes in the fridge.  He kept picking up the squishy, overripe ones and I'd try to offer him a better one, but he was insistent on eating the ones he'd picked.  He was so dazed and out of it, munching away on his crap grapes.  Sweetie pie.

Dad's home!

3 weeks until he's a big brother!

Izze drink, sick us, and routines

So once Jude got his tummy coated in antibiotics he was back to his old tricks.  He has been such a love bug this week.  Please enjoy photos taken of him experiencing his first Izze drink tonight.

Back to the health issue: the only thing is, Jeff and I have been sick as dogs since last weekend.  I have a doctor's appointment for this week, and I thought what I have is probably viral anyway, but since the gunk in my chest is actually making it hard to breathe and Jeff came home from the doc's today with antibiotics, I have resigned myself to seeing a professional tomorrow.  I have been reading up on antibiotics during pregnancy and apparently I will most likely have some options.

However, it is because of this illness that I can't sleep, and am here blogging away at 2:51 in the morning.  

Christmas is over, and the only thing that has gotten me through that fact is nesting for this baby boy.  I am so excited to get him here safe and sound, see his little face, pick a name, etc.  I can't remember what life was like before pregnancy.  I regret taking for granted every time I lifted Jude before I had a bulge in my mid-section.  Last time, 2 months after Jude was born I couldn't remember what it was like to be pregnant.  I told my friend and her mother-in-law this one Sabbath while we waited for Sunday School to start, and mother-in-law said, "That's how Heavenly Father gets us to have more babies."  It's got to be true!  

However, I would just like to say that an extraordinary thing has happened.  I'm not wishing away these last 4 weeks of pregnancy.  YES EVEN!  I am looking at my To-Do list, and I need these remaining weeks.  During our Christmas holiday I went to Kneaders/Heaven with some cousins one night, and Kate asked me, "Isn't your heart just breaking for Jude?  Your one on one is coming to an end!"  I instantly said, "No!  I'm giving him a buddy -- that's like the best gift I could give him!"  It's true, and it feels like time to have our family expand.  I don't know how else to say it.  

But then, a few days ago I looked at Jude as we were bopping around and I realized this has been all he's known of life, and this has been such a great ride and bond we've had, just we two.  Bringing home a brother for him will change that forever.  I don't know how much and how hard it'll be on him, but it won't be the same, and it'll take strategizing and extra effort to make one-on-one happen.  So I don't know if my heart is quite breaking for the end of this era, but I want to make sure I soaked up each moment I could while it was there.

Also, our routine is about to be flipped upside down a little bit.  For a long time it's been:

Jude wakes up around 7.  One of us gets him and usually brings him back into bed with us for anywhere from 4 seconds to 2 minutes.  He's usually very anxious to get breakfast going.  I take him downstairs while Jeff starts getting ready for work.  Jude eats, and then shares some of Jeff's smoothie with him (no matter what Jude's breakfast has been) before family prayer and waving goodbye to Dad from the doorway as he leaves for the office.

Jude and I go to the gym, which is perfect for both of us.  He runs around getting out some of his limitless wiggles, plays with other kids, and toys that I didn't have to buy for about 50 minutes.  I get to watch the news or Kelly and Michael (or whatever Regis' replacement is named) and exercise.  Since we haven't had cable in a couple of years, TV watching at the gym has revealed something to me: a huge chunk of the ads shown during the 9-10:00 morning hour are targeting seniors.  Mesothelioma law suit commercials, retirement commercials, investing in gold or silver late in the game commercials, etc.  

After the gym we go home and get ready, and while I shower Jude takes it upon himself to terrorize our  poor bedroom and bathroom.  He pulls a lot of shoes out, and brings them to me to put on.  He turns on and off the bath water.  He tries to break into the baby proofed cupboards and drawers.  He tries to reach for the toothpaste on the counter and sometimes gets it, which means I have to make a wet, premature exit and get it back from him before he squirts a glob into his mouth or onto his hands.  This whole thing drives me crazy.  I don't know what else to do with him though; we don't have a TV in our bedroom to distract, and that distraction wouldn't last at this age anyway. I don't want to put him in his crib because that would be added motivation for him to learn to climb out, and/or I don't want his crib to feel like a punishment.  One thing that's really sweet, when I'm all done showering he brings me towel after towel off the hooks with this proud look on his face.  Anyway, an alternative showering MO is something I'm trying to find.

Then the rest of the morning and early afternoon are filled with errands, parks (often more than one a day), books, a play date a few times a week, lunch, and then it's nap time.

Nap time is almost always 90 minutes on the button.  As tired as I've been, I almost never nap because I need Merzy Time.

The afternoon is the witching hour and he's usually cranky.  Why?  I don't know.  It seems to be a common issue -- I just can't believe no one ever told me about it before I had Jude.  It's a bust, but we try to cure the funk with more park time and/or a show, and somewhere in there I try to make dinner. Very little of this happens before he's on my hip or crying and feeling hurt when I put him down because I must have both hands for whatever step of cooking I'm taking.  He loves to watch me cook and be involved in any way he can, which can be the cutest thing on earth or dangerous.

If Jeff makes it home before 7, they rough house and play, and then it's bedtime.  He's very big on this part being fulfilled in its entirety.  We brush teeth (the only part he's not always in love with), read The Going to Bed Book, some of The Book of Mormon (kids' version), family prayer, and then he gets some lullabyes all snuggled up. He must be clutching me (or Jeff) and his monkey, covered in a blanket. When I come to the last lines of a song he'll tighten his grip on me as if to say, "I'm not done here, so let's get another melody going fast."  Then we trade kisses and I put him in his crib.

I crash on the couch.  Jeff will bring up no fewer than 5 times how great Jude is.  

And that is the 2012-early 2013 Mom & Jude Routine.  

Who knows what it'll be in 5 weeks ;).

Merry Christmas

Hello, holiday pregnancy insomnia -- we meet again.

The fact that it is 4:51 am and I've been awake for the past 2 hours is probably partially to do with the fact that in just a couple of hours I get to witness first hand Jude's reaction to his remote control car. It's a bit above his age but I am pretty sure he's going to spaz out to unprecedented levels when he sees this big truck rolling all around at the remote controlled hands of his pop. Jeff might have also  been near excitement explosion when we tried it out tonight to make sure it worked. :)

On saturday at 2:45 am I woke up, brushed my little teeth, threw the cooler in th car, woke up my boys, and we departed for Utah. My reasoning behind the nocturnal road tripping was that this way Jude would sleep for 3, maybe 4 hours of the drive as opposed to 1.5 when he took his nap. The plan worked and while it was not 100% without whining, the drive went pretty smoothly. I stayed awake and got us to Primm while Jeff and Jude slept, and then he finished off the drive. I don't think it had occurred to Jude that his parents sleep too (and much more enthusiastically). When my pilot shift was over, I reclined the seat and snoozed like the dead while Jude watched some shows on the iPad strapped to the seat in front of him, and every time I groggily handed him back something he'd dropped or needed, he was looking at me with this curious and slightly bemused expression, like it was half silly and half crazy I was relishing in my rest so much, or even getting it all.

Utah has been fabulous. We have been blanketed in snow, Jude is having a blast with cousins, I've been intrigued by the cousin pecking order and dynamics that have emerged since the last visit, Stevens hot chocolate is the best in the world, and we've got friend and more family visits and outings coming up.  I'm so glad we are here.

And, since insomnia can make for rash decisions, I just ordered myself a DVD of Jane Eyre to help get me through the future all nighters with the baby that is currently kicking my insides. (Thanks to my dad we now get free amazon prime free shipping.)

Last Week

The holidays have been busy!  Just like we like em.  However, this also means I'm wiped clean of energy and have about 12 batches of English Toffee to make now that Jude is down for the night, there is clean laundry waiting to be laid to rest in drawers but has sat in a laundry basket for the last 2 days, I have Thank You notes to write from my baby shower, and the list continues. 

We have had so much fun, though, and as excited as I am for my boys to open their Christmas presents in a week, I will be so sorry to see this season come to an end.

Now for a tiny recap:

We went to a White Elephant party hosted by our friends the Ords.  All the girls you see in this picture are pregnant and uncomfortable.   

I'm wearing a poncho smock that I probably will continue to wear for the next million days.  It's like wearing a blanket.  Can't hurt.

This is our 5th Christmas together; these 5 have been my favorites.

The baby's room is coming together.  This room used to be the precise color of a band-aid, and I hated it with a loathsome hate, strapped on my energy boots, and painted the room "cloud white" by Benjamin Moore all by my bad self.  On Saturday we picked up the crib, since I am leaving Jude in his own crib as long as he wants to be there/is unable to climb out.  This new crib was about 30 times easier and faster to assemble than Jude's.  So nice.  When the room is finished I will post pictures.  We must love our kids because our room is empty except for the bed and a headboard, but we do our best to fill the boys' rooms to make them cozy.

This is one of my favorite Jude pictures to date.  Brainfreeze!  Jude would marry smoothies if he could.

I had a somuchfun shower on Saturday!  I love these ladies that came on the busiest Saturday and so, so generously poured out gifts for me and my little boy.  I felt spoiled and loved.  Please note the blanket I'm wearing in this picture, too.  See?  I live in it.  I'll probably be wearing this in next year's Christmas card picture.

This boy is cracking me up.  He freaks out over every single Christmas lightbulb, every single car on the road, waves at every single person we pass (or that drives by), he squats down, arms up in the air, and war whoops when a delivery or garbage truck is close, gives me hugs and kisses like they're going out of style, comes and tickles me when he knows he's done something naughty and I'm about to begin my intervention/talking to/threatening time-out, feeds me bites of his food, sometimes holds my hand, and is the best pal.  We spend all our time together and while it can be a lot of work, he makes my heart sing a pile of songs an hour.

I'm noting this stuff down, be it interesting or not.

• Jeff and I both fell asleep watching The Avengers.  For the past few months I am the one who falls asleep during everything on the screen before us, but there was a disconnect between the widely hailed 2012 movie and Mr. and Mrs. Hayes.
• This phase is slowly drawing to a close, but for a while Jude would answer "No" to any question he was asked, partly because he didn't know how to say anything along the lines of "Yes".  He says "no" in a variety of inflections and intensities, but my favorite is when it comes out slow and calm and a with a little bit of an English accent.  Anyway, we had a lot of fun with the constant "No."  Jude, do you want to go to the park?  No. Jude, do you want some candy? No.  One day we were walking home from the park (or rather I was walking, and carrying Jude).  He, being the ultimate in sweetness, nuzzled his head under my chin and started patting my arm.  I said, "Jude, we definitely love you."  In his tired little English voice that was ready for lunch, "Nooo."  "Oh yes we do!" "Noooo."  I chuckled, and with my little monkey snuggled up and meaning nothing by his responses, I was in heaven. 
• A few weeks ago Jeff and I were watching Violet during Sacrament Meeting while her mom taught a class in another ward/congregation and her dad was out of town on business.  I thought it would be easy enough.  As church started things quickly unraveled.  Jude didn't like seeing Violet on my lap.  Jeff took Violet and Jude came up on my lap (which is almost completely taken up by my son in utero).  Jude didn't like seeing Violet on Jeff's lap and worse: Violet had snacks and Jude wanted them.  I went digging through my purse for Jude's snacks and Jude lunged and bonked his head.  Violet in the meantime was beginning to wonder where her mom had been the last 5 minutes.  In unison both started to wail, and Jeff and I made a clumsy mass exodus from the chapel.  I might mention that as I got up my purse was knocked off its resting place next to me (passive voice) and fell face down.  And it's not awesome picking things up off the ground while holding 30 lb. Jude, and being pregnant, but it's often unavoidable and I'm begrudgingly  used to it.  Anyway, we've got to work out a more smooth method for swiftly leaving a meeting with more than one noisy child, because once Jeff and I reached the foyer we sighed and said to each other, "A preview."  
• Jude's favorite song for the past few months has been Ho Hey by The Lumineers and it can always perk him up.  Behind just a beat, he will grunt out each "Ho" and "Hey". 
• We are loving Christmastime, and every morning Jude requests that I turn on the tree lights.  When I do I get a "Whoa" and it's cute and worth the electricity.  I'm hoping that next year he'll remember some things from this year, like the Christmas songs I sing to him before he sleeps, the Grinch movie, the decorations and the red and green M&Ms.  I am completely enjoying the aspect of parenthood that lets us introduce him to the best time of year.  I feel like I always had perfect Christmases growing up and hope Juju feels the same way.
• I always turn into a law widow this time of year, which is probably the only reason I'm sitting here blogging.
• I'm starting to get nervous about my pre-baby To Do list.  I still need to paint the baby's room (which must unfortunately include the ceiling), but the furniture in there needs to be exiled first.  I can't participate in that, and as previously stated, my heavy lifter is working a lot.  I have 7 more kitchen drawers and 8 more cupboards to magnet-baby-proof during either naps or after Jude goes down for the night.  Usually during either one of those periods of time I want to sit and sip hot chocolate, but slowly it's getting done.  I emptied our junk drawers and am slowly going through it all, weeding out and organizing.  Do you see a theme of slowness here?  It's the way I roll these days.  
• Jeff is the worst with his own Christmas presents.  "Jeff, what do you want for Christmas?" "Nothing...maybe some socks."  Ridiculous.  
• If Kate and William have a daughter, I will spend the next 30 years trying to arrange a marriage between that little princess and one of my boys.  I love the royals, always have, always will.

And the oven timer is beeping at me now, telling me my granola bars are baked.  Pinterest flop or success -- I am about to find out.

Halloween Hangover

Even though Jude is not fully aware of all that is Halloween, I think it might still have been (mostly) one of the best days of his life.  I also learned quite a bit about the world of Holidays with Toddler Jude.

This is the best it's going to get for the complete costume shot (at the ward Trunk or Treat).  Next year I'm planning for him to dress up as someone/something that has blondish curly hair.  It's not worth the battle to keep something on his head.  Maybe he'll have outgrown that....

I strategized and schemed ALL DAY so that he would be rested and ready for Jeff's firm's Trick or Treat, but also a little hungry so that he'd be so excited I was giving him candy, he'd forget about the hat on his little head.  He got a good nap, but the hat was instantly greeted with:

And I'd like to point out that's a split Kit Kat melting in his two little mittens.

Once Elizabeth told me I'd think my babies are so cute even when they're crying, and she was right!  He looks at me with these big eyes filled with juicy tears, pleading with me to save him from a completely and utterly harmless situation, and I have to laugh and give him a kiss.  He's got my heart.

This is right after he slurped an entire Reese's into his mouth.  He operated in constant fear that I was going to take every last ounce of candy away.

I just wish Jeff had been able to enjoy himself a bit more :).

HAM.

He concocts a new facial expression daily.

This little alligator said something (don't ask the pregnant girl to remember what) when you opened its mouth for candy.  Jude opened and closed it about 30 times and when we started to walk away doing the fake goodbye, he picked it up to bring with him.  

I had imagined hanging out at Jeff's firm party a little longer.  I imagined hanging out at every Halloween event a little longer.  But my eyes were opened to the fact that a sugared up toddler in a costume that he's feeling funky in is a toddler tippy toeing composure, and it's best to keep moving while he's feeling good.  After a brief-ish stay at Jeff's office we were off to meet friends at the mall.  Jude seems to feel it is his duty to give Violet a hug and kiss every time he sees her.  It is heartwarming as long as he's not too zealous....

Trying to climb.  Nice.

Bringing me a present: the caution sign.

After a quick stop at the mall we took him to a few houses on our street, and put him to bed. He was so wiped out he didn't even wake up when a few herds of trick or treaters either couldn't or didn't read the "Please knock -- baby sleeping" note above the doorbell.  After a few doorbell rings I put a big, blue X in painter tape over the doorbell to make it more clear.  The next batch of kids included a 7ish year old boy who said, "Hey, there's something on your doorbell."

"I know; I put it there.  I have a sleeping baby upstairs so I don't want anyone to ring it."

"But now it's broken."

"No, tomorrow I'll just take the tape off and it'll be fine."

He looked at me like I obviously knew nothing about doorbells and their delicate nature, claimed his prize and was on his way.

There was a kid dressed up as Steve Jobs, New Balance shoes and all.  He wins for my own personal competition I silently hold every year.  Our neighborhood is crawling with kids, so not only were the dark streets sort of funky with the murmur of tons and tons of little voices, dolloped with muffled parent calls and warnings, but we were also out of candy by 8:15.  Jeff and I collapsed on the couch, commented on how it felt like it should be midnight or something, and watched HGTV for a while until heading to bed.

Other Halloween festivities:

We went to an intensely awesome party thrown by some friends from church, and it was the first time I was asked to dress up in costume in years.  I thought that chapter of my life was over.  We stuck Smarties to our jeans and went as Smarty Pants.  I wish we had a picture, but alas.  Just trust me, the costume wasn't amazing but the party planner was.  It was loads of fun.

Last Saturday we tried out one of those Carnival-esque Pumpkin Patches with some friends.  Smelled like horses (poop), full of sketchy rides that we didn't let Jude go on, etc. etc. etc.  We didn't even buy a pumpkin there.  It's always great to experiment, however, and maybe next year Jude will get to try a pony ride.  Please note in the picture, Jude is holding up 2 cars like he's just won the lottery, and Shelby on the far right is pulling her Mama's hair with a look of delight.

 Jude's constant fizzing-over enthusiasm is an infectious hoot.

Halloween is so much fun with kids (or kid)!  Even as exhausted and uncomfortable and emotionally off-kilter as I've been, I loved this holiday this year with Jude.  Now just wait till Christmas and I might pop a blood vessel.

2 Forces to be Reckoned With

I love them both (in different ways).

iPhone Photo Dump

Time for a purging of my phone's blurry pictures.  Does my life revolve around my boys or does my life revolve around my boys?  Speaking of my 2-almost-3 boys, it occurred to me the other day that I am going to be very outnumbered over here.  I'll be living with 3 other people and not a one of them is going to be a girl.  As much as I am looking forward to having another squishy boy, I quickly whipped into the phase of "DON'T FORGET, I MAY LOVE YOU A LOT BUT I'M STILL A GIRL", and attempting to preclude myself from becoming a tenant in a world of excessive boogers/toots/bathroom-and-bodily-waste TMI.  Some mothers of plural boys have told me it's not possible.  I'm still going to try.

Strawberries before bed on his favorite destination of late: a countertop.  Dad, the fun one, had to stop letting Jude up there because it was very frustrating for the small boy when Mom, the rude one, wouldn't ever let him up there during the day.

One of my favorite people of all time, Alyson Allen (or I guess her last name is Pete now), is in San Clemente for a little while so we went to see them.  Her son Maddox is a few months younger than Jude and they are SO SIMILAR!  Jude has a few guy friends but none of them are as...hmmm....in love with growling, throwing things, scavenging, making a louder noise than the noise your buddy made last, etc.  I just need Aly's husband to get a job in the area so they can be terrors together ALL THE TIME.  Jude loved it and so did I.

Finding new seats in the house.  I closed the cupboard door and he thought it was hilarious and horrible, all rolled into one.  Crazy times.

While doing some home improvement projects in our room I needed Jude to stay still and happy.  For about 15 minutes he sat in all his glory on our bed, flanked by fruit snacks, milk, toys, and Tangled on the iPad.  He got bored with his lot and curious about our room and then it was over, but I do appreciate the time I got. 

Finding places to hide.  My mom was over last week and he deposited himself under this chair again, and waited patiently with a silly grin for us to notice him "hiding".  When my mom spotted him he dissolved into hysterical giggles.  Be still my heart!

Let the domesticity warsh over you.  My friend and I made 21 jars of raspberry jam a couple of weeks ago, and I'm hooked (I just need my own set of canning tools and then I will wipe CA clean of all fruit).

He's coming to get me!

He loves to look at this book, point at all the dogs (and cats) and say, "Dog!  Woowoo!"

Swim diaper head.  I am SO DONE with the pool until next year.  I've overdosed in the most extensive way.

Dad had to work late so we met up for dinner.  They gave us a free sourdough in the shape of a turtle.  It was rock hard and inedible at that point in the day (hence the freebie?), but Jeff turned it into a toy that had Jude laughing his head off.  

Being nutso at the doctor's office.  Nutso.

I found this $50 mirror at Target on clearance for $12.  Now it's a chalkboard.

"Fall Mix" is a McOmber thing that has spread its sugary roots to the homes of many cousins.  Just 2 ingredients, a million tastebud explosions.  This will sit on my counter (requiring many refills) until Thanksgiving Day. 

Trying Acai bowls; "Woot woot!" goes the Jude Monster.

You know how you always envision yourself standing at your child's bedside, watching them sweetly dream?  I almost never get to do this, because Jude is a very light sleeper. (This is actually causing some anxiety on my part for Baby #2's arrival; will the 4 or 5am feedings wake up Jude and decide 9 hours of sleep is sufficient and he's ready to start the day??)  Anyway, sometimes it works out, and is he not the cutest sleeper??

Continued craziness at the doctor's office (same appt as above).  He's giving me a hyper-charm face in hopes I'll give him the fruit snacks.

German pancake for breakfast.  My boys gobble it up.

2 thumbs up!  

Jude's first carousel ride -- am I rude for waiting this long to expose him to this childhood delight?  See the thrill written across his flushed face?

Pants and shirts are overrated, hats are not.

Pushing buttons is fun to do, fun to do, to do, to do....
I love that he's small enough to sit in the center console.   

Jeff was planting a box hedge in 100 degree heat and Jude needed to be a part of the splendor.  I lathered Jude up with sunscreen, gave him some fluids, and they sweat buckets together.  

Christy Moe's wedding; Jude has lovergirls there.

Thanks for the offer to FULL FILL my cleaning needs!  (Found on my doorstep this morn.)

While at the LDS Women's Conference broadcast on Saturday (such a treat with my mom and Sarah), Jude and Jeff had "Boys' Club".  I get this picture texted to me during the broadcast.  Uh-oh, someone got to go shopping with Dad.  It's maybe the sweetest thing because Jeff, who is a natural saver, can hardly help himself when he sees anything his little boy might like to play with or look cute in.  Too bad it was sized 3T and won't fit him for eons.  But the whole scenario was a big dollop of swoon.