Oh, be careful little teeth. . .

See the big boy choppers?

























































Well, these days these little choppers are hearing the phrase, "NO biting!" a LOT. A WHOLE LOT!

List of things he has bitten:
* Mommy's shirt
* The couch cushion
* The clip on mommy's nursing tank
* Mommy's cell phone
* Mommy's digital camera (and scratched the screen)
* Mommy
* Daddy

Thankfully he has NOT bitten the dog. Poor Daisy. She already has to deal with him grabbing handfuls of fur when he passes her.

Sooooo, what did you do to break the biting habit? (I DO NOT want to hear bite back. All that really does is show that you can bite if you are bigger.) To be honestly, I am so shocked that biting begins this early. He's not being malicious. As a matter of fact, you can tell that he just thinks it's plain old funny. Someone told me to pinch by the diaper line as soon as he bites. We shall see. I am going to try a couple more weeks of "NO biting!" first.

"My Husband Rocks!" Friday

Whew! What an October we have had! With Jude's first birthday, our trip to Wisconsin with Jeff's parents, and then having to make an unplanned trip to Chicago when my great grandmother passed away. I think we slept in our own beds a total of 14 times this month. And between that and my switching back and forth between the guest bed and my own (due to its proximity to the boy and Jeff's intermittent snoring) there have been several mornings this week where I have woken up and had no idea where I was.

So, all of that to say that I have been missing from MHR for the last few weeks. But never fear! My husband does still rock! I mean, gee, he rocks simply for turning around 4 days after a 13 hour car tirp home to drive us 11 hours back in the same direction to go to Chicago. He rocks for supporting me through my grandmother's funeral. He rocks because even though my nephew hasn't seen him in 5 years (because they just moved back to the States from a 4 year station in Japan) you can still see how said nephew adores him.















He also rocks for passing along his awesome genes to our little man. Jeff's so laid back and I see that characteristic ALL OVER Jude. Jeff smiles all the time. Jude smiles all the time. Jeff even had Jude laughing less than one minute after his HIB vaccination this morning. Of course, my son rocks because he never acts like shots even phase him. (A HUGE answer to prayer! Mama freaks out about such things.)



















P.S. This is an aviation display at The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. We did NOT fly to Chicago. We both WISH we did, but it was more cost effective to drive. . .

If you want to participate in MHR, see Katy Lin's blog, The Great Adventure, to see how it started and what to do. Happy Friday:-)

If I participated in Wordless Wednesday. . .

. . . which I don't, but if I did, this would totally be the picture for this week!















He just has the most perfect expression. It is so full of what is the norm for this guy. He is always either just peaceful and content, or smiley and laughing up. He makes complete strangers smile all the time. Today at lunch he waved at every single person who left the restaurant (because we were by the door so everyone had to walk by us).
Don't get me wrong. Especially as of late, he has an angry side. Most often it is related to having his diaper or his clothes changed. If it were up to him, I think he would just prefer to run around naked or wear the same clothes for 6 months at a time.
But for the most part, this is our ever happy boy. Makes me fearful to have another kid. How could any baby be as easy as this one?!

OLD!

Wow! My "cousin" posted this picture on Facebook today. (O.k. My cousin's ex-husband, but he was my dad's BFF when they were young, so I still think of him as my cousin.)

First, did you know that it was so easy to steal other people's photos off of FB?

Second, my dad is wearing overalls. White overalls. Niiiiice.

Third, my mom has a 70s perm. Um, probably because it was the 70s.

And fourth, I think that my two cousins that are in this photo are not old enough to be drinking here. But maybe the laws were different in the 70s.

Gotta love vintage.

Chicago: Part 1

What a busy day. It started out at 8:30 (central that is) with breakfast with the family. This is my favorite photo of the day. Now here's four people you don't see together very often, considering two live in Florida, one in Georgia, and one in Nevada (and Japan for the four years before this one). It is always fun hanging out with my uncles and especially nice to see my sister since I haven't seen her since her surgery in 2006!















This was Jude precisely 22 seconds after we left the funeral home.




















That poor boy was wiped out! Probably has nothing to do with going to bed wAAAAAAAAAAy past bed time last night (4 hours past!) getting up at normal time, and then only taking one hour and a half nap instead of two.

Considering all of that, he held it together really well today until daddy let him clunk his head on a chair in the hotel restaurant:-(

Here's another fav from today: All of "my boys!" My husband, my son, and my nephew, Caleb.















Caleb's pretty hot stuff, huh? I haven't seen him since he was 5! A lot has happened in that time. And I am not kidding about hot stuff. He's already done a Honda commercial and modeled for Gap. Pretty impressive resume for a 10 year old! But he hasn't let "fame" go to his head. He is still just as sweet as ever. And boy! Does he love his cousin, Jude. They played together all.day.long! (along with a little play time with 4th cousin, Lauren.) I have to get some pic of that in the next couple of days because I didn't think it would be too cool to start snapping photos in a funeral home.

Speaking of funeral home. . . yep. As I anticipated, I lost it there. I held it together all through the last few days, until I walked in that room. That is always how it goes with me. The mortician did a fantastic job, but that was not the great grandma I remembered. My Great-aunt said that in the last several months she lost more than 30 pounds. She always kept her hair dyed red and it was grey, and since she is with the angels, her face had no expression to it. I'd rather remember her as she was when I last saw her. Consequently, that was her (7th!) wedding day several years ago. But I am so glad that she is not suffering anymore like the way she suffered this last few months with the cancer. If nothing else, today I saw a face at peace.

Coming soon, Chicago: Part 2. . . The Journey

Where's this kid's mom?

This is what happens when Daddy is out getting a hair cut and Mommy thinks that they boy is o.k. playing on the side of the couch because she can hear him. . .







































Note to self. . . don't leave the candy pumpkins in the boy's reach and then assume he is o.k. just because he sounds happy. Then, when I went in to retrieve said pumpkin, that little rascal had two stuffed in there!

P.S. My husband rocks because when he came home, he thought this was as funny as I did. I WILL get back to MHR posts on Fridays after things settle down here. Right now we just got home from Wisconsin, which took 13 hours each way only to find that we need to go to Chicago this week, a 10 hour trip each way. Pray for my family during this time as we mourn the loss of my great grandmother to lung cancer.

Heroes and Monsters and Skillet

Yes, my favorite band is named after a frying pan. I am pretty sure that I heard John Cooper say once that he hates the name. I have been following them since college when I saw them play for a "back to school" event. They have really changed a lot over the course of those 12 years and 7 albums. As a matter of fact, they started out as a 3 person band of college guys and now they are a four person band with two girls and John is the only original member. But the change has always brought better things for the band.

The latest video out is Hero. The first time I heard this song, I wasn't sure I liked it. But since seeing the video, it is growing on me. I really like the concept with the soldier, the surgeon, and the cop (fire fighter?). And that one line is the song, "A hero lives inside of me," while it took me off guard, really moves me. I have really never thought of Jesus as a hero, but if you look at the definition of a hero, Jesus is the ultimate Hero.

I am especially impressed with the new drummer, Jenn (well, new since Jan '08). She really holds her own. I can't believe she is only 19. That voice is awesome! But, I really hope that it doesn't mean that Kory won't sing with her husband as much. Her voice is different, not as strong, but I like it.

I am also liking their new video for Monster, but it's a lot heavier, so I won't post it here. (You can click to it if you want.) But I must confess that I have no idea what either the song or the video is getting at. I do love the last scene where John takes Kory's hand. I think it is awesome for a husband and wife to work together so much and have such awesome chemistry. I was really excited to hear this on a VERY secular station last week. They could easily reach people who listen to that genre of hard rock music. Sort of like Stryper in the late 80s. (Mmmmm. Spandex. . .)

Soooooo sad that I have to miss the concert this year because it falls on the same day as my Bradley instructor training.

Wisconsin

Less than 24 hours after a successful first birthday party, Jude loaded us all up into the van to take a looooong trip to meet his daddy's extended family for the first time. First we picked up Grandma Karen and Grandpa Phil in Chattanooga, then we drove and drove. And drove and drove and drove! 13 hours to be precise. And Jude didn't fuss once.

Well, o.k. He fussed once, about 40 miles from our destination of Ooostburg, WI. But I was ready to fuss after that long in the car, too! But really, mostly this is what we saw:















He had fun hanging out with Grandma at a rest stop. . .




















We hung out at Lake Michigan (but not for too long because it was COLD!). . .















Jude hung out with Grandpa's brothers and their wives.
Uncle Wayne and Aunt Char:















Uncle Jim and Aunt Renee:















And once again, we had the cutest pumpkin in the patch!






























We also traveled to Sun Prairie and Madison to visit with Grandma's brother and sister in law and their girls for a couple of days. It was the coldest then, even snowing for about an hour and a half. We didn't care for that cold too much. Then it was time to hit the road again to come home to our own beds, where Jude slept the whole night through - 12 hours. What else would you expect from such a busy boy?!

One

***This post was delayed because we jet setted to Cheeseland the day after the party. Posts about that visit to come in the next few days.***

One year ago, I posted our birth story here. I still think back quite fondly on our home birth, and can NOT believe that a year has slipped by so quickly.

A fun time was had by all at the birthday party, except for maybe not by the Fagans who spent most of the party searching the park for Jenn's glasses (which they found at the end of the party at the rec's lost and found).

We were blessed by my dear, long time friend Emily with this great cake.















Another blessing was that Jude's grandparents and great-grandparents drove all the way up from Florida! Between my parents' 31 years of marriage, Jeff's parents' 40 years of marriage, and my grandparents' 50 years of marriage, there was over 120 collective years of marriage experience present.

Here's Jude having fun with his great grandma.















And here he is, not really getting that we wanted him to do something with this cake, despite all of Aunt Vickie's best coaching!















O.k. Maybe he is getting it now?















And here's Jude's favorite part. Playing with the gift bags, that is!

Vacationing

Vacationing by family in a very coooold location. Frost warnings for tonight. Never thought I would do this willingly. 1st birthday post and vacation pics to come in a few days when we return home. Right now, lets enjoy Lake Michigan!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Where are this kid's parents? Certainly they wouldn't be the ones taking photos of such a pitiful little monkey!













































Maybe we wouldn't have found these pictures so funny last night if we had known what was going to happen this morning when he threw up for the first time. I don't know who was more traumatized, him or me! But he was back to himself by lunch time.

I realized it's been a while since I've posted any good Jude pics, so lets see what he's been up to. Jude has been a very busy boy!

Demolishing the DVDs















Bye bye DVDs. Enjoy your temporary new home.















Reading















Um, guess he doesn't like to be disturbed when he is reading!
















Drinking from a sippy cup on his own
















Drinking from a straw with mommy or daddy's help















Doing yoga















Balancing on the stability ball















Poking his fingers in the VCR




















Playing with his big toys!















Spending time deep in thought















Cruising




















And did I mention reading?















Who is this big kid?

TBA

I have something I REALLY want to blog about, but I can not find my cord to up load the photos of the camera! It is like that more and more these days since the boy has been cruising the furniture: missing remotes, missing cell phones, missing Visa card. . .

So, I'll be back when I find the cord!