Some Pictures of Jude's 2nd Birthday and Halloween for Your Viewing Pleasure

It's Been a Long Time...but We're Back!!

Hi everyone! I bet you wondered if we were ever going to update this thing again, huh? Well, I am going to try and summarize what happened in our lives between July 3rd and now...which will be quite a feat. So, here goes...
First of all, Liam celebrated his first 4th of July and Jude had a ton of fun playing in the water. It is so nice being able to play out in our own yard! (I mean, we are renting but for the time being it is ours, sored of) At this time I was finishing up psychiatry and moving onto ENT and general surgery. Third year was almost done! Liam was growing great, playing with toys, and eating a ton. They are both still loving it at their babysitter's and Jude asks to go there anytime we are in the car. ;)
Skipping a little ways to the end of third year...which was around the first week of September...I was finally in my 4th year of medical school! I made it through the whole time only having to pump for two weeks, the rest of the the time the doctors let me go to Donna's and actually feed Liam. It has been such a blessing. I can't believe how well things have worked out. Jude is talking so much and he cracks me up. I can't even tell you how many times my parents used to tell me that I wouldn't laugh at my kids when they were acting up like I laugh at Christopher but honestly, most of the time I can't contain myself. Even my kids are pretty funny to me. ;) He is starting that terrible two stage I've heard about all ready. It is really funny because since we have wood floors, whenever he wants to throw a tantrum he very slowly lowers himself to the ground and then flails all over the place. I can't help but laugh at that and then he usually laughs too.
Now, jumping ahead to Jude's birthday, we had a party for Jude! It was so fun. We had Dylan and Megin, Christy and Brice, Casey, Kelly, and Kat, and Emily over. Jude was so happy to have friends come over and play with him. He absolutely loved the balloons. They were a big hit with all the kids actually. He was wiped out by the time we opened presents though and his emotions were extremely volatile which was slightly embarrassing when everyone was watching him. But, he had tons of fun and the most classic thing was that once the last people left and we shut the front door Jude said, "Again".
Now for the present time...
Let's focus on Liam for a moment. Liam is now sitting up, going from sitting to crawling and back to sitting on his own, crawling (doing the military crawl), attempting to get on his hands and knees when he crawls, making tons of noises, transitioning out of baby food and into the real stuff, and entertaining himself with all kinds of toys, most notably tupperware. He is such a joy to be around, he is constantly smiling and happy. The funny thing is that he is EXTREMELY attached to me. He cries when I hand him off to Jeremy and everyone else. If he is being held by someone else, he cannot see me otherwise he will start crying again. It is so strange because Jude was not like that at all. Whenever I come to feed him at Donna's he immediately starts crying for me to feed him. Oh, and I have still been able to go feed him there everyday at lunch time. He is only breastfeeding 3-4 times a day now and really he could probably go without the 3rd and 4th feeding if he had to. He has started throwing a serious fit every time I put him in the car seat though. He stops once we are in the car but he tries to get out of there so quick I can hardly get his seatbelt on. Otherwise he is usually an angel. I drove back from Titusville with Liam and he was perfect the whole way. He also sleeps in the car unlike Jude. ;) Whenever we turn music on, Liam will dance, it is too cute!
Ok, so now more about Jude...he is talking away. He repeats everything we say. He has quite a few 3 and 4 word sentences and to us he is pretty understandable. ;) He loves his brother most of the time and he always gives him kisses and hugs. We are working on toy sharing though...
He has a recent love for Finding Nemo and will watch the whole movie if we let him. He also loves Winnie the Pooh. He is starting to get on his tricycle and push himself around although he hasn't figured out the pedals yet. He loves to run around and be tickled. He also really likes to dance. He reads about 1,000 books a day and sometimes it's the same ones over and over which mommy and daddy love. ;) Most of them I can read without looking at the pages but Jude doesn't let me get away with that. Jude is starting to help me clean things up and put his toys back without being told. Somedays are better than others. ;) He has a ritual of sleeping with three blankets, a "papa" (pacifier), and all his stuffed animals. One day we will break the papa thing...he only uses it when he sleeps so I guess that's better than nothing.
Jeremy is busy working on school stuff and finishing up another semester. I am in my 4th year and am currently on an interesting but laid back rotation which is really nice. I have been doing interviews for pediatric residency programs and I am tired of driving so much. I am ready for them to be over. I love this time of year when it is just getting cool and we have so much holiday and family time. We are celebrating Thanksgiving here this year because it is just so much easier with the kids. Well, hopefully I brought everyone up to speed. Love you guys!

Time Home with the Boys!

Jude with his "cool dude" sunglasses...he walks around saying cool dude whenever he wears them...

Liam demonstrating his superior head control skills and upper body strength.

Jude putting my breast pump parts over his eyes...he thinks this is hilarious!!

Liam somewhat eating his yummy sweet potatoes

Liam relaxing on the papasan chair...with his curly hair and all.

This week I have been able to stay home with the boys for a few days so I took advantage of it by having another Woltie photo shoot. ;) Liam is now on a good nap schedule so the days go really smoothly. Usually our routine is as follows:

1. Liam wakes up between 6 and 7

2. Jude wakes up around 7 but plays in his crib with all of his stuffed animals for about an hour

3. We all eat breakfast and play and then Liam goes down around 9:30

4. Jude and I play some more and then he goes down at around 12:30

5. Liam wakes up around 12:30, we play and he goes back down around 2:30

6. Jude gets up around 3 and we play some more

7. Liam gets up around 4:30 and we all have dinner, and of course, play some more!

As you can see, our day is pretty structured as far as naps go but that contributes heavily to the maintenance of sanity around here so it's a must. Liam is now eating 2-3 jars of food mixed with cereal a day and he is still breasting 5-7 times per day. I have been so blessed to be able to take my lunch break to go feed him and see Jude. Psychiatry has a good schedule, that's for sure. I have one more week of psych and then I start surgery...my last 3rd year rotation!!! I can't believe how fast it is going. Liam is getting so big, as you can see. Hopefully you can see his crazy hair in these pics. I love it though! Jude is into 2T clothing...where has my baby gone?! He says just about any word we saw which is so fun! He has an amazing amount of understanding about things too. He is really into coloring right now and he wants to color a good 50% of the day. He likes to count but basically only says "8,9" over and over. We are trying to get him to branch out a little bit. ;) He is eating with a fork and spoon now. He basically won't eat without them which is really cute. Liam is getting so big...I cannot believe it. He is in 6 month clothing now. He loves to kick his little chunky legs over and over. He also loves to talk and he is quite boisterous when he wants to be.

Jeremy is doing well...school is busy for him but he is surviving. I am doing fine, third year has been great and continues to be great. I am going to be doing a half marathon in Feb. for breast cancer awareness. I am really excited about it! I have a hard time exercising without a goal so now that I have one, I have a lot more motivation. We are slowly decorating the house still...every time I want to do more I feel guilty for not studying so it has been a slow process. We are in a weird period of our lives where many of our friends have left so we have been feeling that unfortunately. But, we are just enjoying each other and loving the time we have with our family. I know in a year I will be swamped with internship so I need to enjoy the time with Jeremy and the kids while I have it.

Liam: 4 months old

Liam is chunking out nicely. ;) He feels so heavy to me now. About a month ago now he weighed 13 lb 14 oz so he has to be around 15 lbs by now. He actually has rolls which Jude didn't have at this age. He has some long curly hair too which cracks me up. His eyes are still blue and I am kind of wanting them to stay that way. I think he looks a lot like me as a baby but there's been a large majority of people that say he looks like Jude and Jeremy. He is such a happy baby, always smiling and observing. He has found his hands and fist and he will suck on those to soothe himself. He rarely ever cries. He will be starting at Ms. Donna's (the day care) tomorrow morning. I am sad because I haven't been away from him yet. I know that he is in good hands though and he gets to spend time with his big brother so that's good. I will be starting my psychiatry rotation tomorrow. I will be able to go feed Liam during my lunch break every day for atleast the first 3 weeks so that is awesome. He still won't take a bottle and I am not real sure that he ever will. He ate his first solids (rice cereal) on May 24th. He is now eating rice cereal, bananas, apples and carrots now though so I think he will be ok until I can get there at 12 to feed him. He has brought so much joy to our lives...it is amazing how things work out. Such a good, happy baby. He is still getting up 1-2 times a night to eat but it really hasn't seemed to bother me. I know with Jude I had a hard time since I didn't really have the stay-at-home recovery time but this time seems much easier. Enjoy the pics of my little Li-Li Bug!!

Jude will be 20 months old tomorrow!!

My oldest baby is getting so big! Jude has an extensive vocabulary...he is saying new words everyday. He is really good at repeating what we say too which is fun. I could never list everything he says but some of them are "all gone, thank you, help, movie, dog, bird, cow, moo, chicken, tiger, animals, eat, night night, nice and yuck." Right now he is taking either 1 or 2 naps a day depending on what time he wakes up in the morning. He loves to give kisses and is figuring out how to blow kisses now. We have told him to be nice to Eli and Liam so many times that he says nice every time he touches Jeremy or I. It is really funny. He still has a pacifier for naps but no other time usually. There have been a few times now that he has told us he pooped his diaper but it has not been consistent so we are definitely not potty training yet. ;) He is starting to run from us and hide when we tell him it is time to get dressed or take a bath. Before he used to run to his room or to the bathroom to get dressed or take a bath but now it is a game and we have to come find him. He has a definite need for routine sleep...you can tell when he needs a nap for sure. He is still going to bed at 7:30 and waking up around 7 or 7:30 the next morning. He is finally over an 8 day upper respiratory infection that he so generously passed on to Liam, Jeremy, and I. Jude is running around everywhere. He is still afraid of steps though and whenever we go to Titusville to see my parents, he is forever asking for help on the steps. He loves to play in his frog pool so I thought I would share a couple pics of that. He is also feeding himself with a spoon sometimes so I thought I would share some of those pics as well. He is getting so big...I can't believe my baby is going to be 2 soon!

The Trip to Titusville

Jude, Liam, and I decided to go down to Titusville to visit my family. It was so much fun and I am so glad we did it. I was a little nervous about driving down there with the two kids by myself but it went really well. We stopped in Gainesville on the way down and saw Kelli and Ricky and ate some delicious Chipotle. ;) We also got to see Terri and Kevin while we were there. Jude loved feeding Zoey pretzels and swinging with Kevin. Liam fell asleep on Terri for basically the whole time we were there which was great...gave me a nice break. ;) Lauren stopped by for a little while too and was able to see both of the boys. We had a birthday celebration for Aunt Janet and my cousin Eric while we were down there. It was so great to see everyone. Grandma Veronica helped me so much while we were down there...what a blessing. It was like Spring Break for me! Jude was sad when we left, he cried in the car for Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Karen. I know that Jude loves Uncle Chris but right now Uncle Chris has a slight aversion to drool and dirty diapers. ;) I wish I would have taken more pictures while I was down there but we were so busy having fun that I kept forgetting. Every time I visit I wish that we lived closer. Hopefully one day that will be a reality...

Liam at 12 weeks

I decided to have a mini photo shoot in honor of my last day home with Liam. It is a bittersweet day but I am trying to stay positive about it. I love what I do I just love my babies more. ;) But, we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and we have been having a blast! God has really answered my prayers regarding going back to school and I am able to start back with Family Medicine with a husband and wife couple that have 8 kids and are the most understanding physicians I have ever met. They both said they would be really flexible with me and even allow me to bring Liam to work since he was premature and they would feel better about him not being in day care. I didn't ask for that of course, they offered it to me. She said she brought her babies to work for awhile and she breast fed all 8 of hers. So, this has really been a blessing. Liam still sleeps a good portion of the day and spends most of the other time eating. He is active in the evenings before bed so as long as his schedule stays the same, things should work out well.

We are working on getting the house organized so that life will run smoothly once we are both in school. The last tenants left the yard a mess and allowed a lot of weeds to take over the grass so I have been slowly uprooting those. The flowers that I planted a few weeks ago are getting huge! Slowly but surely things are coming together. We are trying to get the third bedroom in order since we are going to be transitioning Liam into the crib soon. I can't believe he is getting so big! These first three months have been amazing, so much fun. I am so blessed to have had this time with him. He is smiling and cooing all the time. He is such a happy baby. He only woke up once last night which was awesome!! I remember getting up at 6 and thinking...have I really just slept 4 hours straight?! Today he sat in his bumbo seat for the first time. He likes that a lot better than tummy time. ;) Enjoy the pics!

Video of Jude walking...take part in the glory!

BIG NEWS...Jude is Walking!!...YAY!...and Liam got shots...Boo

On March 12th, Jude started walking! It was really shocking because up until this point he had only taken 1 or 2 steps on his own (I think Jeremy got him to take 3 before he realized he was walking and he immediately sat down.). So, last Thursday he just let go of the couch, turned around, clapped his hands and proceeded to walk across the entire living room. Wow. I guess he wanted to wait until he could really do some serious walking. Yeah, he is 17 months but come on, there is something to be said for walking across the entire living room on your first try. ;) He then continued to walk for basically the rest of the evening. He loves it! He even dances some and claps for himself...no shame. ;) Luckily, we were able to get it on video tape (not the very first walk but the next 20 minutes or so) so we will post a snip it of that hopefully by tomorrow. For now, enjoy the still shots of our little walking man!

The other news is that Liam got his first set of shots yesterday. It was a sad day. So, this was kind of frustrating, I read a medical study, published in JAMA so pretty legitimate, that said babies who breastfeed while getting shots experienced a lot less pain. So, I asked the doc if I could do that and he said yeah but of course he didn't tell the nurse so when she came in, she was like no. And, being the chicken that I am, I didn't push the issue. But, next time I will. I'll let you know how that goes...;) I made the huge mistake of not giving Jude Tylenol before his first shots and the poor little guy was miserable. His legs were red and swollen and he wouldn't let me put him down for the entire night. So, needless to say, I gave Liam Tylenol. These went a lot better than Jude's first shots. He was a tiny bit fussy but really he's just been more sleepy than usual. That has allowed me to get the house clean though so I'm not complaining. ;) Liam's weight was 10 lbs 8 oz and his height was 21.75 in! He is in the 25th percentile for weight and the 10th percentile for length. I think the difference between the weight that Liam gained and the weight that Jude gained (or should I say did not gain) was due to my ability to stay home this time, which has been amazing by the way. It is so much easier when you don't have to go back to school in 2 weeks...imagine that. ;) Well, I put some more pics of Liam up along with Jude. Enjoy!

More pictures of Jude and Liam

Liam's photo shoot-March 11th, 2009

What a cutie smile! March 8th, 2009

Jude was cute, he tried to get into his rocking chair by himself but it wasn't working out too well. He then kept pointing to the hat and saying, "hat, hat" so that I would put it on his head. So, he just sat there and rocked with his hat on...ADORABLE!

March 8th, 2009

Liam playing on his play mat-March 2nd, 2009

He now watches the animals when I put them relatively close. He likes to watch them and listen to them rattle.

Jude eating out of a bowl without immediately turning it over and throwing it on the ground! This is a big step...come on, get excited!

February 16th, 2009

A Catch-Up Blog of Jude and Liam

Liam drying off and recuperating from his first bath...it was traumatic!

Jude's first bath in the big boy tub! January 31st, 2009

Liam's first bath-January 27th, 2009

More of the first bath...

January 25th, 2009


Sorry it's been so long since the last post...things have been busy around here! I have been having so much fun with Liam and it has been such an amazing privilege to be able to stay home with him during this crucial time in his life. He has been gaining weight like crazy and I feel it is because I have been able to stay home with him and nurse him on demand. My milk supply had a hard time keeping up with Jude since I left him at such an early age so he was slow to gain weight. But, he did have Jeremy to stay with him so that was a blessing. This time, it's my turn! Liam has been such a blessing to our lives...it is so much easier the second time around! I don't second guess everything I am doing like I did with Jude and I am a lot less stressed...not because Jude wasn't good because he was a great baby but mostly because I am not in school right now. I don't get so mad during those times when Liam just wants to wake up and hang out with me for 2 hours at 4 am. ;) How can you be mad at a face like that??

We officially moved out of our apartment on the 21st of Feb. It was bittersweet because we loved our apartment and especially our neighbors and dear friends Brent and Ginger. It is so sad to not have them right next door anymore. But, we did really need the space and we love our new home. We have a lake right across the street from us with Canadian geese and mallard ducks. It is so much fun to bring the boys over there to see the ducks. Aunt Janet funded a double jogging stroller so we go for walks atleast once a day. I have also been taking it jogging and it is great for that. The kids love it. Everyone looks at us and says how cute the boys are...I think they are really wondering what kind of psychiatric illness I have that would cause me to have two boys that close together. ;) I am loving having this time to just be a wife and a mom though so I really haven't felt overwhelmed with the whole thing. Being in our new house helps too so that we aren't so cramped. I know my dad would not believe this but I have really enjoyed being able to do yard work again! All those years of helping dad must have paid off. ;) Whenever Liam sleeps I run out and do a little something until he wakes up. I can't wait to plant flowers. Our new house has a deck out back too that will be perfect for grilling out and just spending time outdoors.

Enjoy the pics of the boys!! I will post some of the new house as soon as things are in order enough for me to take pictures. ;)

Jude and Liam - the First Weekend Home

It is our first weekend home with both of our boys! It is so great to be home. Liam has been doing great...mostly eating and sleeping of course. He slept a ton last night which was great. And nope, I did not wake him up to eat every 3 hours...I slept as well. ;) Just don't tell my pediatrician that. Jude discovered Liam's pacifier so for the past hour he has been crawling around the house with it in his mouth. He finally stopped sucking on it about 5 minutes ago. I think it was just a fun thing to find for him, I don't think it will stick. He never took a pacifier before so I doubt he will start now. Liam likes his baby papasan and he likes the vibrating feature on it. He sat in there for about 20 minutes today just looking around. He is such a good baby. Jude has been really good this weekend too...the past week was a little rough though for some unknown reason. I don't know if child care was just wearing him out or what. My classmates have been bringing us dinner for the past week which has been awesome! Now, starting tonight, our church's care team is bringing us dinners. I am not going to remember how to cook or grocery shop. ;) It has seriously been such a blessing to us though...we are so grateful for the wonderful friends that we have.

Jude's First Time at the Zoo-December 26, 2008

I just realized I never put the pictures of Jude at the Brevard Zoo up. He absolutely loved it! He loved the girafftes and the aviary. He keep swatting at the giraffes because that is his way of petting them. They didn't seem to mind as long as we continued to give them food. He was laughing at them; it was so cute. We went with Grandpa Gary, Uncle Chris, Aunt Karen, Mommy and Daddy. Here are a few pictures...

Welcome Home Liam!! - January 18, 2009

We are home! Liam's bili was 10.4 which was still ok to let him go with. Our nurse was so awesome, she was a major advocate for us and she really helped the nurse practitioner see that we could handle going home. The drive home was funny because Liam was the most awake I had ever seen him. He kept his eyes wide open the whole time and he didn't make a peep. Maybe we will have one kid who likes the car. ;) When we got home, I fed Liam and then put him down in his bassinet. Of course, he is a night baby so he woke up basically every hour to an hour and a half to eat but I was just happy to be able to hold him in my arms in our own home! Since bringing him home, he continues to sleep most of the day and is up a lot of the night but I am working on correcting that. Hopefully he will learn soon. ;) We went to the pediatrician today and they made us get another bili drawn. This one was 13.6 which is still ok so they didn't make us get anymore phototherapy. We have to get it rechecked Thurs though. He is 5 lb 15 ounces which means his feedings are going well. He is just so tiny. I know Jude was that small but it is hard for me to remember that for some reason. Every time I go to pick up his car seat with him in it I about throw it up to the ceiling because I am expecting it to be as heavy as Jude is now. Jude absolutely loves Liam, he just cracks up at him the whole time. He gets mad when we won't let him poke or pet Liam hard though. So, we are working on that. ;) I think he is going to be a great big brother though. Tonight is my first night alone with Liam and Jude so we will see how it goes. Liam sleeps so much that it should be fine though. Thanks so much for all of your help and prayers!

Day 7 of Life Outside the Womb-Liam

Baby Liam heading home from the hospital!!

Today is Sunday. I was woken up at 7 am to the sound of the nurse bringing Liam to me! He is in an open crib now and his bili was down to 8 so he doesn't have to be under lights anymore. He is able to stay in here with me now. It is so great to see him in a normal environment. He has a scalp IV though for his antibiotics but the last dose is at 9 pm tonight. They said they wanted to keep him for another night so that they can check his bili in the morning but I asked the nurse practitioner if I can just follow up at the doctor's office because 8 is really low. She said they will just recheck it tonight and if it is ok, they are going to discharge us after his last dose of antibiotics at 9 pm. I am so ready to be home!!! This has been the best day. Having Liam in the room with me makes all the difference in the world. I just keep holding him and feeding him, it is great! Jude and Jeremy came and visited and Jude was laughing at the baby. He kept trying to poke him though and pet him like Eli. It was really funny. It seems like he likes him as of now. ;) The great thing is that tomorrow is a holiday for Jeremy and Jude so we will all be home together for a day. Tuesday though I will have both boys all night until around 11 pm...I am a little nervous about that but I guess I better get used to it. Liam sleeps so much right now that it probably won't matter. I am just so thankful that I have 8 weeks off! It feels so great to know that. So, it looks like we should be heading home tonight as long as the bili is stable. Thanks so much for all of your support and prayers!