Jude - February

This boy keeps us on our toes and says the funniest things; here are a few that I caught this month!

- When trying to do something, he has started to say, "Can I get a little help here??"

- We were in the car one day and he was very tired because he chose not to take a nap, and he said, "My eyes feel like they need to close, so I'm just going to close them. But I'm not taking nap." I guess this was just so that we were clear on the fact that he DID NOT need a nap!!!

- We were getting in the car downtown one afternoon and there was trash on the ground and he did not like this.  He asked me, "Do strangers think the sidewalk is a flat trash can, and is that why there is trash on the ground?" I love the fact that he was giving people such a benefit of the doubt!!

- "Mommy, did you know that daddy can put this ring in my ear??? It's incredible! He can even put it in my tummy!" I guess daddy was showing Jude his best "magic tricks".

- I asked Jude what he did in Sunday school one day, and in a very disappointed voice he said, "I played swords with a girl, but she wasn't very strong." 

Every homeowner's worst nightmare!

Academy shenanigans! 

Visiting Daddy at work 

Annual Valentine's cookies to the nursing home

This lady's name was Rose and she requested a picture with Jude!

Valentine's party at preschool 

Chocolate covered strawberries from Daddy 

A little winter golf 

The best part of the month was our ski trip to Crested Butte, Colorado with the Sessler Family

Fixing to fly the plane! 

All geared up and ready to hit the slopes for the first time

There was so much snow! Please notice the bus sign and how high it is on the house!

On the "magic carpet" at ski school 

Showing off his skills! I literally had tears in my eyes! I was so proud of how brave he was for going to ski school by himself and rocking it, and then I was so sad at the thought of him being old enough to ski!!! When we showed up at the end of the day and was so excited to show us all that he had learned. The best part is that he kept falling because he wanted to look at us, wave, and give thumbs up!

Day 2...hitting the slopes with the crew

His first lift

He was a rock star and did amazing!!

 After a morning of skiing and getting to the base, he instantly feel to the ground!

Playing in the snow with Uncle Jacob. This was a window on the second story and they are just standing there on the snow! 

Day 3...snowing, cold, and windy!! Catching snow on his tongue! 

At the top braving the cold 

Stopping for hot chocolate 

Done with skiing and on to snowball fights!

Sledding with daddy! 

Sunglasses twins with Uncle Jacob!

Saying good bye at the airport 

Quinn - 21 Months

This little angel girl is getting so BIG!! We are knocking on the door of two years and I can't even fathom that! She is soaking things up like a little sponge, and although doesn't say a lot of "words" she has much to say! She continues to be our brave, little, independent explorer, but is equally a lover and snuggling up and being carried.  She is still obsessed with her paci and I haven't had the heart to try to take it away from her yet. She continues to be the pickiest eater EVER and has become even pickier in the last month.  I am getting down to being able to count on one hand the things that she will touch much less eat! BUT if its a treat of any kind, BRING IT ON! Her new favorite things are playing in mommy's jewelry and wearing all of my necklaces at once, CLIMBING on EVERYTHING, and finding heavy and big things to try to pick up and carry. She continues to be Miss Friendly to everyone that she meets and even loves to wave and say hi to people in her books. She loves to read and is getting really good with finding animals and knowing the sounds to each one. Sadly she thinks that pigs say, "la, la, la" due to a funny part in one book! Her relationship with Jude is growing even stronger and they are playing more and more. He sometimes thinks he is the boss of all things Quinn but she honestly doesn't seem to mind. She too though is starting to get bossy with him and will yell, "Ude (Jude)" when she wants him to do something! She is always asking, "Where'd it go" with her little hands so unsure, knowing that she is super cute while doing it. Quinn can snuggle with the best of them which is my favorite part of every day; I try to soak in every inch of her knowing that these times will not always last.  For now, this squishy, sweet, tender thing is our little baby that we adore! We plan to kiss those cheeks off as long as she will let us!!!

Smiling for PawPa!

Loves playing at the park! 

Can swing all day, climb on everything, but does not love to slide!

Pushing "Baby" all day long

Happy New Year

Where's Quinn???

Sweetest little sleeper ever

We walked into the birthday party, she walked right over to the table and helped herself to a cupcake before I could even get my jacket off! Little stinker!

"Ava, I'm just loving your outfit today!"

Love our one-on-one time

Building blocks 

Mom...what have you done to my hair???

Go Cowboys

I don't think this is how this toy works!

One morning I look down and she has helped herself to the ipad, turned it on, and navigated to PBS Kids! What???

"working" on her car

Could swing all day long!

 

Daddy take me with you!

Just like brother 

Yes...I showed them the goodness of Braum's sundaes!

Coloring daddy a picture

Got my purses! 

Stats:
- Quinn is wearing mainly 24 month/2T clothes, although we are staying in some 18 month clothes to get us through winter.
- She is still wearing size 5 diapers, but will soon be earning bigger ones!
- She has too many teeth to count and is currently cutting some new ones that seem to be causing her a lot of pain.

Jude - January

We had a great start to a great new year!!! Our boy is crazy as ever and becoming the biggest of boys lately! I love it so much, but I also miss my baby boy!! Here are some of the moments I caught from this month:

-Weight: 35.8 pounds (50%), Height: 42 1/2 inches (90%), Height prediction 6'2", BMI: 3% (aka: skinny & tall!)
- When we were at his 4 year old check up his doctor asked him his favorite fruits and veggies and he responded with, "Cinnamon rolls and corn dogs." Awesome, now the doctor thinks I am a horrible mom! For the record we had not had either of those things anywhere close this time!!!
- Jude and Grancy were playing swords one day and Jude said to her, "Grancy I'll take it easy on you because I know you're old."
- Jude has been helping me cook more and more lately, one day while something was cooking in the oven he said, "If I were food, I would want to be cooked in there,"
- I can't remember the exact situation, but when we were in the car one day he was telling me about a story from school and said, "In my heart I was sad, but my face was happy like this (showing a big smile."
- One day Jude was thinking about Meme (Sam's grandmother who passed away last year) and said, "I bet Meme misses me." I agreed and then we both got quiet. A few minutes later he said, "Did Jesus give her a shirt, and some pants & undies?" I was very confused why he would ask this question and then he continued, "Because Jesus only had on undies on the cross." He was referring to all of the pictures that he see of Jesus on the cross and the fact that he only has the cloths wrapped around him. The things children take in that we don't even realize!
- One day after being gone I was telling Jude how much I missed him and he said the same to me.  He then followed up by saying, "I pretend that my babysitter is you watching me have fun." HEART BREAKER!
-The same evening Jude asked me, "Do you always wear your hair down at work so they don't think you are a toy worker." Hahaha!
-Jude seems to think that all baptisms take place in a bath tub because he calls them bathmetisms!!
-I was talking to Jude about starting to think about the idea of taking off his training wheels on his bike and he asked, "Am I going to go to training bike school." I wish...might be easier on mom and dad!!
-Sam was traveling for work one day and I had put on some lip gloss to go somewhere, and Jude tells me, "Wear that tomorrow for daddy so he can see how pretty it is; he likes shiny."
-I "home school" Jude every morning that he doesn't go to pre-school; one day after our lesson we went on a walk with Sissy.  He started teaching her all about what we had learned and I got a bit excited and wanted to see how much he could really tell her. Well I guess I pushed it too far because he said, "Mommy, I don't want to talk any more right now; can you stop please."
-Every day at nap time Jude sits in the rocking chair with me while I read and rock Sissy.  Lately, he has been "reading" her a book every day and it just melts my heart. Although he has simply memorized the book, he is so proud and so sweet as he shows her the pages and helps her touch all of the pictures. He can be pretty "bossy" and rough with her at times, but its times like this I know how much he loves & cares for her.

It "snowed"

He thought this was AMAZING!!

Ringing in the New Year

Getting our ski equipment to go skiing

He is constantly in his "uniforms" 

Celebrating his BFF, Ethan's birthday at the fire station 

Checking out the fire truck 

First time bowing! 

His first creation out of his Kiwi Create box from Grancy 

Helping mommy cook

We have spent more time at the park this "winter"; so crazy! 

Disney day at school 

Donuts with Dad (or with Mom standing in) - he really just cared about the donuts!