Winter 2011

Well not everyone enjoys having the "belly pic" taken; but it is scientifically proven (of this I'm sure) that everybody else enjoys looking at them! Actually, this is Jude's first attempt at photography.The birth of the newest addition is rapidly approaching and we are excited!!! Here are a few pics of her nursery. This is the softest bedding ever, lets hope this will entice her to sleep long nights :)

In February we "enjoyed" a little snow. Scott and I both actually ended up with a few days off work. While Scott and I found the weather a little chilly, these two kiddies had a ball. Thanks Aunt Dodo! Jude was having such a great time we had to bribe him back into the house with a big bowl of snow so he could play in the bathtub. He was having a blast.

Look at this cute boy. The past few weeks have been awesome. I don't know if Jude is excited about being a big brother or if he is trying to get as much attention as he can before the new baby arrives, but he has been awesome on all fronts. Eating, sleeping, attitude, etc. everything has just been so easy and fun.
As you can see from the previous picture, Jude has got some hair. I decided he needed a little trim.....

and he ended up with a pretty crazy 'do. Lets just say we had to have a second haircut a few weeks later.

This is clearly a picture taken before the second haircut, but just highlighting Jude and his new love of food. He has seriously been an eating machine. We weren't sure if he would ever show interest in actually eating and feeding himself.
"... mmmm, that's delicious"
The past month Jude has been really interested in dinosaurs. Here he is at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History digging for dinosaurs. Super fun.

Bedtime stories and a little nonsense.

This trio is about to become a quartet. Bring it on, I think we are ready!

A Year in Pictures

Christmas 2010. This was maybe the most fun Christmas with Jude yet. For about 1-2 months leading up to Christmas Jude asked for a "green jersey." Luckily, Santa brought Jude a Boston Celtics - Rondo Jersey. That sneaky Santa even put the Jersey on Jude while he was sleeping, so he woke up in his green jersey. Unfortunately, Jude was bit by the upset stomach bug and he vomited all over his green jersey. Lets just say it is kinda funny/ironic now, but not so much at the time. Although Jude was sick Christmas Day, he was a trooper and still enjoyed the day. Christmas for Jude: ipod touch, Rondo jersey, Ibaka jersey, Reggie Miller jersey, KD3 basketball shoes, new bike, helmet, clothes, movies, plus lots of candy, and other thinks I can't recall. What a lucky little boy.

Jude's Gingerbread House


December 2010. Riding the Polar Express train at the Oklahoma Railway Museum
Decorating Christmas cookies

November 2010
October 2010

Hello Baby Girl Banks! Isn't she cute? About 18 weeks.

October 2010

We celebrated Halloween on the drive back from Austin so Jude didn't actually trick or treat, but he did enjoy dressing up!

Welcome to the Thunder 2010/2011 basketball season. Gotta love those Thunder Cheerleaders
Dallas Cowboy football game
Thunder Basketball
"I'm a robot. Beboot, beboot"
July 2010 South Padre Island.

First professional haircut. We have been cutting Jude's hair at home since about 5 months old, but we finally decided to trust a professional - he did awesome!
Birthday Breakfast: Birthday Cake. Why not?
With Aunt Dodo at the Bob Dylan concert.
Enjoying a day with Thomas the Train
June 2010
April/May 2010
Jude loves a movie.
18 month professional pic - taken around 20 months :)
Meet the Thunder players. They didn't want to wait in line, so this is the closest they got to James Harden.
Blurry pic with Russell Westbrook
March 2010

Waiting for Sesame Street Live
January 2010. Fun times at a friends birthday party
Well, there it is - a year in pictures. Lets see if I can keep up a little better.

1 Year, 30 Months, and 30 Weeks

1 Year

Well, let me just say that I can't believe a WHOLE YEAR has passed and I haven't uploaded one picture. Seeing that I joined the facebook revolution in the past year I think blogging took a bit of a hit. Lets just say this has been quite a year and I am realizing that blogging was the best way for me to document milestones and major events. Maybe I will actually keep this blog maintained in 2011 and beyond. Maybe.

30 Months

I actually stopped counting Jude's age in months quite awhile ago, but it seemed fitting for this title, so I'm going with it. I can't believe he is 2 1/2! He is rapidly growing out of all things "baby" and is for the most part a "big kid." I think our only link to babyhood is diapers, which we are planning an all out potty training session within the next few weeks - I'll keep you posted (maybe). Let me just update on a few major events (remember this is mostly for my benefit so feel free to skip the stroll down memory lane). Before we begin, let me just say that 2's have been AWESOME.

• Eating: Jude is still not too interested in eating - weird, huh? He typically eats a good breakfast, nibbles around at lunch, and maybe eats a good dinner. For this reason, we have done the unthinkable: we play movies on an ipod while he eats. I'm not kidding, he has very little interest in sitting to eat a meal - we must keep this boy distracted to keep his belly full. Oh well, whatever works!
• Sleeping: Since last February, Jude has been sleeping like a rock star. Up until that point he would join us in bed in the middle of the night - not the best sleeping for anyone. He now goes to bed around 9 and will sleep until 9 or 10, or sometimes later. This is a very flexible bedtime and he has been known to keep some pretty late hours on the weekend. He will still occasionally take a nap, but this is by no means a daily routine. We have found that nap time for Jude usually means a bedtime of 11 pm or later.
• Talking/Communication: Well Jude may cause us some concerns and struggles with his eating, but his verbal skills are unbelievable. At 2 1/2 he is carrying on conversations, answering in complete sentences, and pretty accurate with grammer - kinda strange but kinda awesome. He will repeat everything, I mean EVERYTHING. To the point where we are all a little confused until we see the movie, commercial, etc that has his interest at the time. Maybe a little too much tv, but at this time it appears to actually be working for us (see eating bullet above). He is a very smart little boy, very observant, and a total joy. I know I have more on this subject, but I just can't seem to recall everything. He sees a babysitter 2x/month that speaks Japanese and he is picking up new words everytime they see each other. He loves books and loves to be read to and can pretty well recite most of his favorites with a little prompting. Lets just say he amazes me daily with this skill.
• Potty Training: Pretty sure he is ready, I just need to bite the bullet and put forth the effort.
• Likes: Currently, Jude loves Toy Story, Cars, Thomas the Train. His love for basketball is still alive and well - this year for Christmas he received new basketball shoes (KD 3's), and 3 basketball jerseys. He wears a basketball jersey nearly everyday. He still enjoys playing basketball, and is currently working on slam dunks and jump shots - he's got skillz. Like father, like son. He is also really enjoying social time/playing with other kids
• Dislikes: Not much. He is a very easy going, yet energetic little guy that loves to do and be with people he loves. He is least happy when left with strangers - so we keep that to a minimum :).
• Heart Murmur: We returned to the pediatric cardiologist in early December for Jude's check up (he was born with a VSD). Thankfully, all the holes have closed and all is well. No further follow up is necessary - prayers were answered!

30 Weeks

In case you haven't heard, we are expecting #2 in March. This time we will welcome a baby girl, and we are beyond excited. As I am approaching the end of this pregnancy the crazy dreams are beginning. The last dream was that they changed their minds and decided we are welcoming a boy, not a girl. We discover this after decorating a nursery and stocking a closet with dresses and bows. I'm pretty sure its still a girl, but I guess we won't know officially for a couple more months.

We feel very blessed to be expecting this baby as I had an ectopic pregnancy in Feb 2010. It was a pretty traumatic event and kinda shook us to the core and left us a little concerned about future pregnancies. However, after sharing the news with our family, my mom told me that about 2 -3 weeks before we knew we were pregnant, she and Jude were throwing pennies in a fountain and wishing for a baby sister - "be careful what you wish for; wishful thinking; answered prayers." Whatever it is, we are truly thankful and so excited to meet this little girl and welcome her to our home. Also, thanks to all our friends and family for the prayers and support during those tough months.

Scott

Well, I don't really have any catchy title for this - unless I include that this is the year he turns 30 :). Scott continues to be an awesome husband and an amazing father. As Jude gets older, I am realizing just how similar their personalities are. Its kinda freaky, but really cool. He and Jude definitely make the most of their time together. Scott is the primary bath giver and has become something that Jude not only enjoys, but expects.

Seeing as this post has turned into an extremely long post I will add pictures in a separate post.

Long Time, No Post

Wow, its been so long Jude has grown a mustache. Or as Jude says "stache." Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hopefully more pictures soon (before the full beard appears).

All things Jude

So its been a while, lets catch up!

Jude is now 16 months old.  He is walking, talking, and sharing his opinion on all things.  He loves to play at the park, visit the zoo, watch football and basketball.  At the moment, he is obsessed with Rumble - the Thunder mascot.  Jude's vocabulary is quite impressive.  He will repeat most anything we say which means we must be very careful.  And if you know anything about Jude you know he is unbelievably ornery - not sure WHERE that comes from.  

He just looks ornery.  We traveled to Austin to watch Aunt Chloe row - the weather was beautiful.   

Such a sweet father/son moment...
...a not so sweet mother-son moment.  No matter how hard I try I just cannot get a decent pic of me and Jude.
A few of my favorite pics.

We have had several fun events over the past couple months, and Jude doesn't miss a beat.  

Check out my cheesy boys.  Those grins are due to the Thunder game - these guys LOVE basketball.  When Jude finds a new love he quickly finds the words to express it.  He loves Ba-Ball (basketball), Kay-Deeeeeee (K.D. aka Kevin Durant), and Mumble (Rumble - Thunder mascot).  Anytime he sees the Thunder play - live or on t.v. - you are sure to hear all three of these being screamed at the top of his lungs.    He also likes Put-Ba (football), Romo (Tony Romo - throwing hands in air to show touch-down) but he has yet to attend a Dallas Cowboy game.

Just a light snack - pizza anyone?  Jude loves pizza or shall we say Pee-Zaaaaaa.

Can you guess where we are now?  If you guessed U2/Black Eyed Peas concert you would be correct.  When not listening to children's music, Jude can often be found groovin to Boom Boom Pow.  
One of Jude's favorite books is "That's Not My Dragon" and favorite song (other than Boom Boom Pow) is "Puff the Magic Dragon."  Hence Jude the Dragon.  He was not terribly excited to wear his costume, but we snapped a couple pics before he yanked it off.

In honor of Halloween Jude learned a few new words: tick teet (trick or treat), pum-pih-kin (pumpkin), bat, boo, can-deeee (candy), just to name a few.

So after we ditched the dragon costume, we decided to get comfy.  Nice bling, huh?  He wore this skull and cross bone necklace for 3 days straight - he still wears it whenever he gets a chance - just don't tell him Halloween has passed.

That's all for now - Happy Holidays