Growing Boy

...Jude's 4 month appointment. Jude measured 26 inches long (86%) and weighed just over 13 pounds (38%). Unlike his sister his head is only in the 55th percentile. He is so long and lean. Unfortunately, Jude was sick that day with some kind of virus. Nevertheless, he is doing much better now and talking up a storm. For people as quiet as us, our kids sure do make a lot of noise.




Kate is still doing great with her potty training. She likes to watch football while sitting on the potty! She is also really interested in learning her letters and how to spell certain words. So far she can spell her name and "Boo." She recognizes several other words.

Drum Roll Please!!!!!

...potty training! Kate is finally potty training. We have had a few obstacles to overcome because of the surgery and it's tests. Kate has been afraid of having her pull-up off. Well, this weekend we "ran out of pull-ups" and the Potty Fairy came with a new princess potty. Kate, like always, surprised us by taking to it like a fish out of water. She even was able to wear panties to school, although not completely successful, but her confidence was boosted. Today she has done amazingly. She is totally committed to it now so we are saying farewell to pull-ups.

Jude also had some "firsts" this weekend. He began eating cereal and started to cut his first tooth. To add to the list he also got his first rash. Ugh. I feel like our kids are growing up so fast, but big girl panties was a welcome milestone. We will have an update on our bruiser Jude tomorrow when we go to his 4, yes 4, month appointment.




The end.

Just Because Our Kids Are Cute!

...not posting in a while. I figure those of you who "read" the blog were in need of some pictures. When I say "read" I know you actually only care about pictures of the kids so here you go!
We love going to the park!






Flying baby!


She's a natural.

Labor Day Weekend

...a much needed trip to Oklahoma. We left Friday to spend the long Labor Day weekend at home with friends and family. We have really been missing home since Jude was born. I guess you realize how much your family is missing when you have a baby. Each time they see him it's like he's a different child. The same is true for Kate. They didn't know she had become an opinionated, but still sweet teenager since they last saw her. Alas, we are back in Lubbock, but thought we would look back on a fun weekend.

Of course, we were so excited that is was the kickoff of college football season. Amanda dressed us all in our red and black to cheer on our Red Raiders! Wreck 'Em!



Will my son be taller than me by the time he is 1? At this point I will not be surprised.


Papa and K-Jude watching some football. This boy LOVES to watch television, especially football. Seriously.


Sunday morning we went to church with friends. Amanda's friend Jamie was there with her precious miracle Ian. Jude is only 3.5 weeks older than Ian. We brought him some of the 6 month clothes Jude has already outgrown.


We are pretty sure Jude and Ian will form a band. Their names just seem like they should have a band. Ian's daddy can teach them how to play the guitar and both mommies can teach them how to sing. Well let's be honest, Bennie can teach them to do pretty much anything musical.



We love spending time with Josh and Kristin too. Kate and Reagan play so well together (once Kate adjusts to a new environment). Aren't they cute?

Quick Update

...being busy, busy, busy. School has started now for all of us. Michael had his first class last night and I saw my students for the first time on Monday night. The kids are settling in to their classrooms. Kate is not as crazy about school as usual because it's pretty much an entirely new group of younger kids. However, she still loves it. Jude is completely loving school and his teachers. He's got the girls wrapped around his strangely long fingers.

We are going to Oklahoma tomorrow and couldn't be happier about it. Kate is super excited to see her grandparents, and I'm sure Jude is too, he just doesn't know it. We are also happy about the start of college football. We will be spending a decent amount of time watching the games over the next few days.

Here are some pictures of our recent adventures.

Kate at her friend Lauren's birthday party. I would venture to say that Lauren is one of Kate's best friends. Unfortunately, she switched schools this year. When Kate was looking at the new symbols for her class she looked up and said, "Where's Lauren's symbol?" It was so sad. Kate has good taste. Lauren's entire extended family is from Western Oklahoma.



Jude has now joined us at the table. He is big enough for the high chair. It seems to be going by so much faster this time.



My 3 guys!
If you look closely you can tell just how long Jude is. You can see his toe peeking out and it's on the floor. He is solidly wearing 6-12 month clothes now. We have finally found a formula he can tolerate too so I expect the growth to increase.



A sweet moment between Kate a Jude


Of course he needs to know how to get his Guns Up!
**Take note of the short pj's he's wearing. They are size 9 months.

First Day of School

Before school. Fresh and ready for the day.

...an early morning. Getting 2 kids ready is definitely more involved than getting 1 ready, especially when an infant is involved. We woke up early, made lunch for Kate and bottles for Jude, then woke the kids up to get them fed and dressed. Well, actually Jude was awake and smiling at us while we got ready. He likes to do that. I like it too.

Dropping off Kate was a breeze, mainly because I knew how much she wanted to be there. She went in and immediately started playing. Then I took Jude to his room. I didn't want to leave at all. However, his sweet teachers and student assistants were so attentive to him that I felt a peace about leaving him. Sarah also sent me an email later in the morning with a picture of him smiling. That always relaxes a mommy.

I stopped in at lunch time to drop off an emergency supply of formula and to get a quick cuddle. He was so happy and had eaten pretty good for them, which was a huge relief. His reflux is still terrible. Ugh. I peeked in on Kate from behind the one-way mirror since it was nap time. She was clearly not napping, but was at least on her nap mat. Lately she wants to rest, but sings for about 2.5 hours. It's a joy to listen to her sing "Jesus Loves Me" over the monitor.

It was finally time to pick up the babies so Michael and I hurried over to the CDRC. Let me just say, Jude has the ladies wrapped around his fingers. He's the man. I was so happy to cuddle him. Kate was on the playground. We met her outside. She was a sweaty mess, but filled with joy. Her teachers reported she had a great day but wanted to know who "Sam" was. I had to inform them that she was actually saying "Sham."

"Who is Sham?" you ask. Well, he is the horse who challenged Secretariat in the race for the Triple Crown. I guess today she decided to be Sham, although on her way home she became "Super-tariat" again. AND then we watched it...AGAIN. We should start saving for her to go to the University of Kentucky and study equine science. Tonight she told Michael she wanted horses when she grew up. She said she wanted "big ones" and to "help them run fast." He then asked her if she wanted to help them feel better to which she replied, "no, just run fast." We have a future Bob Baffert on our hands.

After school...not so fresh. Poor Jude was wiped out and covered his own face with his blanket.

A Brand New Year!

...a new "school" year starts tomorrow! Kate is so excited to go to school tomorrow she was asking if it was time to go to bed starting at about 5:30. Amanda is not so sure she is as excited as Kate for school to begin. She is really not sure she is ready to let Jude out of her sight yet, so I know tomorrow will be a rough one for her.



The kids' school had an open house on Friday, which is where we they got to meet their teachers and see their classrooms. These are Jude's teachers, Sarah (on the left) and Layton (right). They are really sweet teachers and completely smitten with Jude. Of course, who wouldn't be smitten with Jude, am I right? He also likes to turn on the smile when there are ladies around, so he had them eating out of his jolly-green-giant baby hands in just a few minutes. (Seriously the kid is wearing 9 month pajamas because his spindly arms and legs are so long that his 3 month old body can't squeeze into them.) He also likes to turn on the smile with his mommy, which makes her melt, and like I already mentioned, consider never letting him out of her house.





This is Kate with one of her teachers, who is also named Sarah. Sarah told us that she decided to decorate the classroom for the beginning of school with barns, farm toys, and animals because she knew Kate would love it. Well, it took Kate about 10 minutes to find the barns, and Sarah's plans already started to pay off.



Kate's other love, after horses and barns, is dress up princess/dancing clothes. Apparently she doesn't spend much time at school in her real clothes, but instead spends most of her day in princess dresses and plastic high heels. Well, we were in her room for about 30 minutes, and after playing with the horse barns she quickly found the princess dresses and became "Princess horsey Supertariat (Secretariat) Kate." Nobody can accuse her of not having an imagination.



Amanda and I are praying for a terrific school year for our kiddos full of good things. Good things like crayon art, glue and popsicle sticks, finding new ways to use cotton balls, and making new friends. We hope our kids have fun at school which will help them learn to love learning. Happy New (school) Year!



"Princess horsey Supertariat (Secretariat) Kate" will see YOU on the playground!