Judah at Nine Months

Judah is officially nine months old.  This year is flying by so fast.  The first year has never been my favorite part of having children, but I have to say that at night when I'm nursing him before bed I sit and hold him thinking the whole time, "You are growing up way too fast, and I want you to stay a baby for longer."  Sometimes it absolutely makes my heart hurt.  He is sweet and handsome, funny and engaging.  He is at the point now where I have to peel him off of me like a banana whenever I drop him off somewhere or put him in the car seat or put him to bed or put him on the floor with his toys or put him anywhere, actually.  Oddly, most of the time I don't even mind it.  Maybe because he doesn't really act ugly about it.  He just whimpers and looks at me like, "But I want to be with you!" 

We had a photo session in the grass last night.  He wanted to check out his surroundings before we got serious about pictures.

After every blade was properly tasted, he was willing to smile for a bit.

And then he was done.

Kris and I got a date night this past weekend, and when we got Judah up the next morning the sitter had put him to bed in these jammies.  He was absolutely yummy!

We went back to the foot doctor this week, and we are officially finished with the corrective shoes!  His foot still turns in, but the muscles are flexible and the drift will be able to correct itself with time.  I haven't taken Judah for his nine month check-up yet, but at the foot doctor he weighed a little under 22 pounds.  He is wearing 18 months clothes now!

Judah is crawling all over the place now.  You would think that since he's my third child I would remember important things like making sure the boys haven't dropped pieces of cucumber on the floor or left checkers lying around.  Good times.  I also have to continually remind myself to SHUT THE BATHROOM DOOR!!!  I have found him hanging over the edge of the toilet with toilet paper in his mouth and on his hands more than once.  The toilet paper came off the roll on the wall and not from the toilet, but the sight is a shocker, nonetheless. 

Judah, you are precious to us.  We need you in our family.  You give something to each one of us that no one else can offer.  We love you!

Rock Star

Today was "Rock Star" day at Luke's school in celebration of the letter R. We had fun dressing Luke up, and the hair was even a success. I don't know that he quite understands what a rock star is, exactly. He kept mentioning birthdays and his friend from his tee-ball team named Rox. I asked him if he had fun at his rock star party and he answered, "Yeah, it was fun, but Rox wasn't there." Oh well, he was still the cutest rock star I've ever seen.

Seriously, he kept pulling his sunglasses down and giving me the, "How you doin'?" look. Too funny!

'Cause what good is a muscle tee if you don't show off your muscles?

Homemade Photo Shoot

So I must confess that we have yet to have a family picture made since Judah was born. Actually, we haven't had a family picture made since Eli was six months old. I know, I know. But it's just so painful! I'm working on it, though, I really am. We did have an impromptu photo shoot on our back porch about a month ago with the boys in their undies. We got a few good ones and once it turns a little cooler maybe we'll make a habit out of it.

This is as good as it gets with Eli. Sometimes I think he knows just how photogenic he really is and he's prepping for the catwalk in NYC. He absolutely poses. It's funny, even if a bit frustrating.

Luke liked being the center of attention for a moment, and he worked with us.
Sweetness!

We had a whole lot of this...
Plenty of this...

A little more of this...

But it was worth it for this...

First Day of School

Luke and Eli started school this week. Luke's first day was yesterday. He was absolutely ready and barely noticed when I left. Eli started today since he'll be going Monday, Wednesday, Friday. We got a few pictures.

Eli definitely noticed when I left. He asked me to stay with him and got a little teary. I have to confess that I got a little teary myself. He was sitting in the teacher's helper's lap sucking his thumb when I peaked back in to hand his teacher something. I know he'll have a great time. I know I will be fine too. We'll both just have to adjust.

Double Bug

We've had a double bug around these parts. Kris, Luke and Judah had a cold last week. Judah passed it to me. His ears are infected. I'm counting on my sinuses staying clear this time.

Luke and Kris both were throwing up yesterday. They're back to normal today, thank you, Lord. My hands are absolutely raw from washing like an OCD maniac.

This morning we were sitting at the table doing a puzzle, and Luke started sniffing. He said, "What's that smell?"

Me: "I don't know, what does it smell like?"

L: "I fink it smells like frow up. It smells like frow up in my nose. It's dis-GUSTING!"

Poor fella. He had to get in the shower to get the "frow up" smell out of his nose. I know the feeling.

Prayer of Faith

This morning I was laying in the bed for as long as I was allowed when Luke came in to tell me laying in the bed was no longer allowed. How did these kids get so bossy? I explained to him that I wasn't feeling well because he had given his cold to Judah who had passed it to me. Which, by the way, Judah has another double ear infection and my cold is way worse than Luke's was for the whole two days he suffered with it.

So, I told Luke I didn't feel good and was trying to rest, and after a few seconds he said, "Can I pray to God for you to feel better?" He has many times asked me to pray to God for him to feel better, but he's never been willing to do the praying himself and he has certainly never offered to do the praying. Of course, I said yes.

This is how it went:

"Okay, I'm going to lay my hand on your nose." He put his hand to my nose.

"Thanks, Father. God, would you make Mama's cold well? In Jesus name, Amen."

"Are you better?"

My day could not have started any better than that.

The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. James 5:15

Judah At Eight Months

Judah did some speed learning this month. He has perfected the art of sitting up and is also able to go from laying down to sitting. He pulls up on anything from the couch to his toy basket to my head if I'm laying on the ground. I am training myself to always raise the side of his crib because I nearly had a heart attack the other day when I went in to check on him and found him standing up and leaning over the edge. He can army crawl, or so I've been told by Kris and the nursery workers at church. He won't do it when I'm around. When I'm around and he wants to get somewhere he looks at me and screams, "Get over here, Woman!" I guess that means he has also learned the art of manipulation in this, his eighth month.

We have another big eater on our hands. Lord, help us when these boys are all teenagers! He eats whatever baby food I give him, and he'll eat whatever mashed up table food I give him too. Last night he was the only one of my boys to devour his broccoli. Maybe he'll be a good influence.

He sleeps twelve hours at night and takes a catnap in the morning and a 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon. That's different than what the other two boys did, but it works really well with our schedule.

Sweet Judah! We love you!