10 Days Until Christmas

It's December, and it certainly feels like it. Currently, in our little town, it is a whopping 1 degree. However, it makes me glad I don't live in Denver (Sorry, Rob & Elan!) where it is -17 degrees. Yes, that is a NEGATIVE! I'm also glad I don't live in Minnesota or the Dakotas where they've gotten FEET of snow!

With 10 days left until Christmas, Jake and I have tried to make sure we have all of the Christmas presents that we need. We also got our Christmas cards ordered and will get those sent out SOON.

Jake and I actually started opening Christmas presents a couple of weeks ago. I got to open a brand new Dell laptop. (it's tangerine!) Also, Jake got the new blackberry touch and has been learning the ins-and-outs of it. Jake also got a brand new camera that is really fancy! We took pictures for our Christmas cards last night.

So, we have had a great Christmas so far. It's been full of joy and laughter and gifts and surprises. We are exicted for this season and the fun that it will be.

I will put pictures of Judah up later. I don't have any of the pictures on my new computer.

Merry Christmas!!

First Haircut

This picture is from a small hailstorm that we had a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't believe how much hail came down!

I realize that I did not complete my entries about our New York trip. Things have been hectic around here, and I'm lucky to have a moment to update this blog.

Today was a special day, and I wanted to make sure and get it documented. Along with it being Halloween, Judah had his first haircut today. The sides of his hair were just getting so long, so I took him to get it trimmed up today. He did so great. He sat well the entire time!!! Here's the pictures:

This is the before. You could not see his ears very well!

He was very watchful the entire time Jennifer was cutting his hair. Besides, she was dressed up in a great Halloween costume (the hair fairy) with wings and everything! He was pretty impressed!

You can see his ear!!!

Our after. He was a little tired and did not quite know what to think of everything. But he really did great.

This is a new toy that we got Judah. It's a tent with a tunnel leading out of it. The tunnel leads into a teepee, but we didn't have room to set it all up, so it's just the tent and tunnel. He loves it!!

He loves crawling through the tunnel to "get me."

Judah loves to play the real piano with us. He knows how to hit the buttons to make different noises and sounds. He really enjoys music.

So, I think you are up-to-date on what's been going on here. Judah has been sick this week but is finally feeling much better. He's been sleeping better and actually running around the house again (without a runny nose!). Have a safe Halloween!

New York, New York Part 2

The Yankees Game

The subway was a little difficult to figure out at first. We found ourselves wandering around trying to find either "uptown" or "downtown" and each train that we needed to find. We did quickly get the hang of it. It was nice that we had to pay $2 no matter how far we were traveling on the subway. At one point, the doors opened and in the "waiting area" we saw two rats just hanging out around a trashcan. You could also tell who the real New Yorkers were just by seeing what they were doing on the subway. The adults had books or crossword puzzles and the kids and teenagers had gameboys and ipods. It seemed oftentimes like we were the only people without an electronic gadget to "play" with on the subway.

When we were unsure of which subway train to get on to get to the Yankee game, we saw a group of men wearing uniform pinstripes, and we decided to follow them. They led us to the right train and to the stadium!

We got off the subway and the stadium was right there! We were a little confused once we got inside, because we were not exactly sure where to go to get to our seats. Finally, we figured out that we needed to go UP. So, up we went. There was the main area called "sections" that were closest to the field, and the top areas were "main", "lodge", and "tier." Our tickets were "Tier 34." So, we just kept climbing up. Finally, we got to our tier, and turned to go up some more. Going up the stairs to get to our seats was literally like climbing a ladder -- it was THAT steep! Jake says, "The tiers felt like they hung over the diamond because it was so steep!" We were almost at the top of the stadium, but we felt like we were close to the field. It was so steep that it didn't matter where you sat, you felt like you were close to the field.

It was amazing to be able to watch a team whose fans were so supportive of them. The fans had a cheer for each player. The bleacher fans (out in the outfield) had a tradition for every game; they would say "Hell-llo" and wave the first time each Yankee would be up to bat. It was cool to see that.

There was a big ceremony before the game of all the "greats" that had passed through that field and played there. It was such a legacy to be proud of, and the fans were all very proud of their players. It was overwhelming to be in the presence of that. There were 53,610 fans in the stadium that night; the game was sold out. The total number of fans that had ever been in the stadium throughout it's 85 year history was just under 152,000,000.

During the 7th inning stretch, they played YMCA. The cameras picked up several fans dancing and showed it on the jumbo-tron. The best part of that was the groundsmen who were grooming the field during that time. They all danced the YMCA as they were grooming the infield. They did turns together and everything. It was hilarious!

The moment the game was over, there were cops on the field, prepared to keep people from trying to take any part of the stadium. They had cops on horses in the outfield and lining the field were cops with long sticks (to keep people in line!). It was crazy after the game was over. These pictures kind of show the cops lining the field. The players are all on the infield grass. Despite the cops obviously waiting on the field, one idiot decided to run out onto the field. He was immediately tackled by several policemen and quickly escorted off the field.

Overall, it was a really good game to watch. There is so much talent there. Johnny Damon hit a 3-run-homerun and the place exploded. 53,000 people screaming and clapping is quite exhilerating!

We sat in a non-alcoholic section and sat next to a man who drank all night. He was very nice and friendly, but just got more and more drunk as the night wore on.

The Yankees did win their final game in their old stadium. It was a fun game to watch. The game didn't end until about midnight. Then, we had to get out of the stadium and on the subway and back to our hotel.

Once we got off the subway near our hotel, we saw a 24-hour convenience-type store, so we picked up some bottles of water and a few snacks. Then, we walked down Times Square just a little bit, since we had not had time to do that before the game. It was amazing that even that late at night, Times Square did not seem to slow down too much. We finally got back to the hotel around 1:00am. We were exhausted after a day of plane travel, figuring out the subway, and watching the game. We were finally in bed at 2:00am.

Still more to come...

New York, New York

Jake surprised me two months ago with tickets to the very last Yankees game in their old stadium in New York. I was more than thrilled to go, although sad to leave Judah behind. (He did GREAT while we were gone.)

So, we took the trip to New York for the final game of the season.

Our trip started out in a rush. We were trying to get out the door to drop of Judah with Grandma & Grandpa Monhollon and get off to the airport in plenty of time. On the drive to the airport, we hoped that the fog would lift before we had to take off for Chicago.

We got news that Chicago had delays due to fog, too, so we were hopeful that no matter what we would be able to make our connecting flight.

Our flight in Kansas City was delayed, but only about 30 minutes, so we waited in the airport to board the plane. Finally, we boarded and were on the runway, ready to go. Then the captain came on and said that we were not able to go due to fog. So, we sat in the plane on the runway for an hour waiting for the fog to lift so we could get going. Finally, the plane took off and we got to Chicago's O'Hare airport. Before we had time to go anywhere in the airport, Jake asked someone at a gate where our flight (that should have left 18 minutes before we arrived) even was. We didn't know where the gate was that it was leaving from. She said it was right down from where we were, but she also said, "You better run." So, we both took off running toward our gate. Strangers were calling, "Good luck!" and "Are you going to make it?" We called over our shoulder, "We hope so!" and "Thanks!" After dashing the 100 yards to our gate, we told the lady there that we needed to board the plane. She didn't even look at us once, but rudely said, "Boarding's done." We were shocked at her rude behavior. We told her we needed to get on the plane. We just held out our boarding passes, waiting. She never once looked at us as she continued to do whatever she was doing. Finally, she took Jake's boarding pass and scanned it, then she took mine. We got to the plane and there were still people waiting to get to their seats. Then, three more people came on behind us.

Once in New Jersey, we got on a shuttle to take us to New York. The driver was insane. Several times, we stopped breathing, just wondering if we were going to crash. We went through the Lincoln Tunnel, which felt so very long! Traffic was pretty crazy and backed up for several miles. We made it to our hotel and were very glad to get out of the shuttle. Our hotel was very nice. We got our room key and found our way to our room on the 44th floor. It was a beautiful view of the city. We were in the heart of Time's Square. Our hotel room: Small but nice.

The view away from Time's Square from our hotel room.

So, that is how we got to New York City. I will update more on the rest of our trip in another entry. Stay tuned...

Fall approaches

September already! I don't know about everyone else, but I am loving the cooler weather. It always makes me feel like I should be buying school supplies and new school clothes. Pretty soon, I will be doing that again!

Here is a recent video of Judah doing his newest thing: Kisses. He doesn't kiss on the face, but he just makes the noise instead. Also, it shows that he is standing on his own.

With these newest pictures of Jake and Judah "wrestling" on the floor, you can see Judah's new teeth. He has two on the bottom, one on top, and another new one coming in on top that you can't quite see yet. (But it is sharp and definitely there!)

This is those lovely bottom teeth that showed up a few months ago!















Judah loves being upside-down!

















Such a beautiful face!!!

July is almost over!

Can you believe it? July is almost over? Crazy, right? I just can't believe how fast time has flown since giving birth to my beautiful baby boy.

Judah is now sitting up by himself very confidentally. He loves his independence (unless he's in the mood to cuddle), and he doesn't like to be left in a room alone (unless it's naptime).

Judah really does love to swim. The only picture I have is of him in our tiny pool from our backyard, but he loves being in his floatie in the big pool. And he loves to play Motorboat.



Here's a great picture of Judah's amazing smile! He really smiles with his eyes!!

I was going to add a very cute little video of Judah dancing. His new favorite thing is to dance anytime he can. When we go grocery shopping, he will dance almost through the entire store. He loves that they play music in the store. It's adorable to watch. So, where's the video? you ask. Well, I can't find it. Jake unloaded the camera to the computer, but I have no idea what he did with everything. As soon as I can find the video, I'll post it. Just not today.








Judah is a complete crack-up. He likes to cuddle but also wants to have independence and stand up. He's just too cute for words. :)









Many people have asked if he ever cries. Normally, he doesn't unless there is something wrong: hungry, tired, or diaper needs changed. This face, however, is his spaced-out-stop-trying-to-make-me-smile-because-I'm-not-going-to face.


This picture just makes me laugh, because he's still so darn cute even though he's not smiling!
This picture is about a month old, too, so now his hair is a lot thicker! He is just growing so fast!!!




That's it for now . . . until I can find some great videos to post! Have a great weekend!

We are jumping and swimming!

For this post, I have a few videos and lots of pictures. My little man is getting big so fast! He is sitting up on his own now. Suddenly, when he is in his walker, he has started "walking" forward. For the longest time, he only went backwards. It was like he flipped a switch and started going forward. I have to start babyproofing SOON!

This is my cuddle-bug at bedtime. He is in pjs and ready for sleep.

This is Jake and Judah watching basketball together.

Judah lounging after sitting up for awhile. He decided to slouch down and chill out for awhile.

We noticed over the past week that Judah really loves to jump. So, Jake went and bought a jumperoo. He LOVES to jump now. He just laughs and laughs.

Video of Judah jumping! You can hear all of the jungle sounds of the jumeroo. It makes noise if he is jumping and stops after he stops.

Lately, he has also started enjoying his bath time. Since he can now sit up mostly on his own, we gave him some ducks to play with in the water. He seems to like that.

Bath Time Video!

It is finally time to get in the pool! The big pool is still too cold, but we filled up the little pool for Judah and it was warm for him. He didn't hate it. He was pretty interested in eating the boat, but he seemed to have a good time.

I think his hair looks pretty red here.

...

Summertime

It is finally nice enough to spend some time outside. Something that both Judah and I enjoy very much is getting outside and enjoying the nice weather, as we hang out on the patio or go for walks around town. Judah doesn't mind wearing hats, and he's so cute wearing them! Judah is a very happy boy!!

Judah is drooling quite a bit lately, too. I think he's working very hard on those teeth. We expect to see a tooth anytime.

Judah loves his walker. He's learned how to scoot backward in it. Our back patio is not level on the backside, so once he hit that.... well, you can watch what happens. (I'm sorry that you have to turn your head to watch the video.)

So, anytime that we want Judah to laugh, we just use a new funny voice and say funny words, like "pipe cleaners" and "pippersnickle." (I know that last one isn't a word at all (yes, I looked it up)-- but it sounds funny.) So, Jake said I sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it made Judah giggle! This is such a cute video; you won't be able to keep from laughing - or at least smiling!!

It's been awhile

I know it has been awhile since I've posted on here. It seems like every time I want to post something, Jake has hijacked the camera with all of the newest pictures and video of Judah. So, without those, I can't show you how adorable he is and how much he's growing.

He simply laughs at EVERYTHING. I am sitting here typing, and I just happened to sneeze. Judah just broke out into laughter because of a sneeze. When he pulls my hair and I say, "Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!!" he just laughs and laughs. He has the cutest laugh! When I can get the camera back, I'll post a video.

Until then, you just have to take my word for it. He's adorable.

All About the Boy

I thought I'd update everyone on Judah and how he's doing.

First, we have to yell, "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, Go KU!"

The championship game was so great! Judah was supporting his team in great fashion! He slept through the ending of the game and overtime (as did his daddy!). I'm surprised he (and Jake) slept through it with all of our hollering and yelling. I still can't believe they pulled it off and won! What an exciting game!

This is Judah after his shots in March with his little bandaids on his legs. So cute.

With this pic, I was hoping you could see the single slash of brown in his blue eyes. If you look close, you can see the slash of brown in his right eye.

He is such a happy little boy! He loves to giggle now when we make faces and talk to him. He's actually trying to sit up on his own. If he's laying down on his back, he tries to do a full sit-up and get up on his own. He can't do it yet, but he sure tries! He's so strong.

Okay, so this week I actually started trying to incorporate vegetables into Judah's meals. I started with peas, because of a recommendation from the doctor.
So, this is his face after a couple of bites of peas. He didn't think they were AWFUL, but he wasn't really sure what to think. There is also video below of his first bites.

He ate peas again today, and he did much better with them. I snapped a quick picture of his green face after he was done. While I was feeding him, he actually put his hand on mine and pulled the spoon to his mouth when he was ready for another bite. When he was done, he pushed my hand away.

Growing Boy

Jake and Judah both have been enjoying watching all of the basketball games that have been on TV with the NCAA tournament. Our TV has been constantly tuned to basketball for over a week now. We are excited to see how far our Jayhawks go this year! Judah has been sporting his KU gear for almost every game in support of the team.

Last week, Judah had his four month appointment with the doctor, where he was weighed, measured, and given shots again. It is always hard to watch him get shots, but he did pretty well.

We now have updated stats on our growing boy. He is 26 inches tall and in the 90th percentile for height. He is 17 pounds and in the 75th percentile for weight. The doctor said he looks great and seems to be progressing very well physically and with all of his motor skills.

After the shots, poor Judah was pretty upset. For about three days afterwards, he was extremely cuddly and did not like to be alone or put down at all. Needless to say, I didn't get much done around the house during that time, but I got to cuddle with my little boy, so that was good.

Jake and I have settled into a new schedule in our days. When he comes home from work, he plays with Judah and talks with him while I get dinner ready. Jake also did this on the Saturday before Easter so I could bake a cheesecake and rolls for Easter dinner the next day. While at dinner Jake tried to take full credit for baking these items, I definitely could not have done it as easily if he hadn't been helping with Judah. (Thanks, Jake!)

I hope that everyone had a good Easter and remembered the reason we celebrate.

Reunited

We took Judah on his first road-trip this past weekend. I was pretty nervous about having him in a car for 10-12 hours at a time, but I was pleasantly surprised.

We left Saturday morning for a trip to ski in Colorado. Of course, Judah was not planning on skiing, but it was his first trip to the Rocky Mountains. It was his first trip out of Kansas.

For the first few hours of the trip, Judah was great -- he slept. I was worried that he would not sleep at night if he slept all day, so I sat in the backseat with him to play and talk. He did so great. He didn't seem at all bothered by the increased altitude at all.

The first night, he was awake until midnight and up at 3:00am. So was I. Neither one of us slept well that first night in Colorado, and I was supposed to ski on Sunday. I was exhausted when everyone else was awake and (well-rested) ready to hit the slopes.

.

So, Sunday we (Jake & myself, Josh & Bethany, and Tanner & Tonya) decided to ski in Beaver Creek. We got there with very little trouble, and we were ready to be on the mountains with our skis.

<--This is what we found upon getting off the first ski lift. It's Old Man Winter. It was really cool. (Dad: This pun's for you! Yes, two in one!)

I really liked skiing at Beaver Creek. It's a nice place with good runs. What I found out about Beaver Creek is that the Black Diamond runs are not too difficult. We all ended up on a Black without really being prepared for it. Jake said, "A woman skiied by with her 6 year old kid and said this Black run is the easiest she's ever been on." So, we all followed, and the start of the run was pretty great. It got a little more steep and difficult in the middle. I was struggling with my ski boots, so I kept stopping to try and gain some control over them. It was terrible. My boots were too loose, so I didn't feel like I had control over my skis. I was having to work extra hard to control where I was going. My feet and legs were wearing out fast! I was pretty frustrated by the time I was almost at the end of the run. Okay, to be honest "frustrated" is kind of an under-statement. To hear Jake tell it, I was livid. In his words, he got "scolded" pretty harshly.

After we were finished with the first Black Diamond of the day, we went on . . . with the hot steam cooling off in the falling snow as we skiied. We had fresh powder to ski in all afternoon. It was beautiful. We were very happy to find that Beaver Creek was not busy at all, and we had several runs where it was just the six of us.

To the right is a picture of me skiing on a Black Diamond. I have terrible form, but I didn't fall!

The day went on, and we were all rushing to different ski lifts, trying to make the most of our time before the lifts closed. We went up one lift and found a couple of Blue runs. We were all game for that. Unfortunately, halfway down, the Blues all turned to Blacks. No way down except down a Black Diamond. Well, we'd already tackled one, so we forged ahead. It was not bad at all. My legs were burning, and my feet hurt . . . but there was only one way out -- down.

So, I skiied several Black Diamonds and did not fall once. NOT ONCE. I was so proud of myself for that, especially since I was having so much trouble with my boots and ski-control.

By the end of the day, it was snowing pretty hard at the base of the mountain, and we were all cold and wet. We'd been skiing in the snow most of the day. It was a challenge because we would ski down the mountain, sweat, then catch a lift up and freeze because we were wet with sweat. Even so, we all had fun.

That night, we got back to the condo -- tired and hungry. We went to eat at a Mexican restaurant. It was voted number one in 2006. Jake commented after dinner, "I would not vote that place the best in 2008." The food was not great at all, and we were all pretty disappointed.

Lucky for me, Judah and I both got to sleep very hard and fast that night. I was so exhasusted from having 3 hours of sleep the night before and the skiing all afternoon. My legs were sore, and my boots had rubbed blisters on my shins.

The next day, I stayed at the condo with Judah, so Dave and Jan could join the group and ski. Jake woke up to have stabbing pain from his kidney stone, so he decided to stay back as well. Bethany also was exhausted and not feeling good, so she stayed to rest. We had a good day just lounging around and playing with Judah. That night, we played cards and watched a movie. It was really fun.

Tuesday, everyone awoke with very little motivation to go skiing. Jake said he couldn't do it because of his kidney stone. He was in quite a bit of pain. So, we left for home.

Judah did so great in the car on the way home. He slept a lot, but when he was awake, he wanted to be sitting up and out of his carseat. He kept doing situps, trying so hard to get out of the seat. But, he did relax, and we got home with very little fussiness.

On our way home, we stopped in Denver to say hello to Elan. She had not met Judah yet, so I wanted her to see him. He was in SUCH a great mood at her house. He was just talking and smiling a lot! He really seemed to like Elan! He doesn't always do that great with someone he doesn't know, so I was excited to see him happy with her.

We made it back late Tuesday night, and when I tried to put Judah in bed while he was asleep, he woke up. So, I fed him and rocked him back to sleep. He slept until 7:00am, which was so great!

We had such a great time on our trip, but it is always nice to be home. We're glad that Judah did so great with traveling. We asked quite a bit of him to be in his carseat for such a long time, but he did so good. He's such a mellow and easy-going kid. He was pretty much in awe of the house when we got home. He kept looking around, seeming to recognize that this place is familiar to him. He seemed glad to be back in his home, playing with his toys in the living room this morning.

I'm glad to be home, too.

Here is a little more of Judah from the week before the trip.

<---This is our family on my birthday.

This is Judah just chilling in his chair, watching me cook. ...