The Many Faces of Judd

One night recently, Jim and I had the pleasure of spending some alone time with Judd. The other kiddos were asleep so we just played with Judd and of course he wanted to eat. He asked "me strawberries, that's fine?"

As the three of us were sitting at the table Judd starts making all of these funny faces. I ran to get my camera so that I could capture the moment. He was hysterical. Jim and I just laughed at him which made him perform even more. It was a fun night with lots of good memories. Without further ado, here are the many faces of Judd...

Round 2

Where do they find this stuff?





I think I have found all of the baby powder left in my house. If not, I am sure I will be posting a round 3.

40 weeks and counting

This post is long overdue. My poor little third child. No I haven't forgotten about her how could I she is always near me.

My little girl, it is hard to believe you have been apart of our lives for 10 months. For 40 weeks, you have brought us joy unspeakable. You are our sunshine. You are loved. You are precious. You light up our life. You are the sweet calm baby your daddy prayed for, however, I do believe your activity level is increasing daily.

1. You are saying baba, dada, cracker and mama.
2. You love to stick out her tongue
3. You are crawling, pulling up, standing alone, and close to walking although I think it will be a month or two.
4. You think your brothers are very funny and often we find you laughing at them. They think it is really neat when you chuckle at there boyish ways.
5. Playing peek a boo is one of your favorite games. You have now started to enjoy us chasing you as you crawl away.
6. Eating paper and any other small object that can be detected by your microscope eyes
eating paper is also an Anna Kate favorite.
7. You are attached to mommy's hip and nothing would make you happier than for mommy to carry you 24/7 (mommy doesn't mind actually she loves holding you and your brothers too)
8. You weigh 18 lbs and you are approximately 27 inches long.
9. Girl, you have teeth, 8 to be exact with two more trying to break through, and you know how to use them. You love to bite my shoulders when I am holding you.
10. You love to squeal at the cat when you see her through the door.
11. You have started signing "more" and clapping when we say "yay Anna Kate." Both are too cute.
12 Your favorite foods are pizza, blue berries, broccoli, black beans, bananas and pasta. I must say that yogurt is your favorite and tops them all.
13. You love to grab mommy's face and give her big open mouth kisses and rest assured if I am on the floor you are climbing on me and anyone else that may get in your way.
14. You climbed four stairs today without mommies permission.
15. Speaking of climbing, you are constantly being put in "jail" at church, which is a baby bed. This helps protect the other babies from your mobility and climbing skills.
16. You are not a cuddler but nothing will calm you faster than a warm 4oz bottle.

Oh Snow!

Two times in the past few weeks we have woke up to a winter wonderland. The first time the snow was still falling so neither one of the boys really liked being outside. Judd kept saying mommy it told (cold), I told mommy. Needless to say, our time in the snow was very short.

This past week when it snowed our neighbors were home so the boys were able to go outside and ride the four-wheeler and for the first time they were introduced to snow cream and hot chocolate. Oh how my Judd loved snow cream. I just wish I had a picture of him using his hands to get it out of the bowl.

Below are a few pictures from our snow days. The first four were taken a week ago when the first snow fell.





This picture was taken on Wednesday. Doesn't he look like the abominable snowman?

I think the snow made him a little tired.

I just have one question, where is spring?

Dusting

This morning I sent the boys to the playroom to play so that I could take a quick shower. I told them to be sweet and not to argue while they were upstairs. Showering hasn't been the highest on my priority list the last few days.(Yes, I know that you moms have those days when go to bed in the same pj's you woke up in.) Anyway, the boys were playing so nicely together. I didn't hear any fighting and I was just thinking ahhhhh how sweet. BUT, just as soon as those sweet thoughts entered my mind the more realistic ones did also....quiet+boys=mischief

At that moment I heard Jake say, I will get more as he is running down the stairs. I called out "Jake, come here." "Yes, mam." He came running into my room.

And to my surprise my child was covered from head to toe, and I could smell the sweet aroma of baby powder wafting down the stairs.

"Mommy, look I have baby powder all over me. I put it in my hair and we DUSTED Judd's room." Mommy, we made DUST."

I just grabbed my camera and started laughing. What else could I do? After being inside for 5 days, we just needed to laugh! By the way,this is where I found my joy today!

Here is a picture of my dust bunnies. This picture doesn't capture the amount of baby powder Jake really put in his hair. They used three trial size bottles to DUST themselves, Judd's room, and parts of the playroom.


This one is a little better.


Let me know if you would like for my boys to come DUST your house. It is a FREE service. :-)

My Life-This is my season!

In the past three days, I (or Jim and I) have been at the doctor with all three kids.

Sunday- Anna Kate has pneumonia and double ear infections. She was given a shot of Rocephin and 10 days of Augmentin.
Monday-Jake severe ear infection and they can't tell if his tube is still in there.(too much wax) We are praying that it is and is still working properly. If it is still in, right now it is clogged and the ear drops should clear it out so we can have a better look in a few weeks. He also has to take 10 days of Augmentin.
Judd has a sinus infection and pneumonia. He was given two shots of Rocephin and 10 days of Augmentin.

I am praying that the Lord will heal them and that we stay some what healthy the rest of this season. I really don't mind colds and runny noses. I know they are little and they will be sick, but I REALLY don't like putting them on antibiotics all the time.

Here is a picture of my counter. And yes, this is my picture for the day!

Project 365

I have decided to accept this challenge. My second “New Year Resolution.”

Ashley Jansen and Megan Greiner are two girls’ blogs that I like to follow. They both took this challenge last year. It is called Project 366 or Project 365-this year is not a leap year. The rules: take a picture each day of the 365 days of the year. My plan is to take pictures of many different persons, places and things.

I will probably not post them each day, but post them in groups. This will be a huge challenge for me, but I really want to commit to doing this everyday. At the end of 2009, I would like to have 365 pictures to look back on remember what went on each day. This will be my 2009 photo journey-the year I turned 30.:-)

Does anyone want to join me this year?

Word for the Year ~ 2009

I was reading this blog and I thought I would use the idea as a type of "new year resolution." The basic idea is to have a "word for the year."

What you do is pray about the direction God is leading...think about an area of your life that is an especially needed focus, and chose a word based on those things. This would could be something that you want to work on, something that the Lord is nudging you to do, something you want to dedicate yourself to doing.

Some examples of the words are restoration, patience, kindness, devotion, perseverance, reconciliation, fellowship.

I really believe that I am going to choose the word JOY as my "word of the year." My hope is to find joy in everyday. I do believe that I can find 365 places of joy in my life. Even as I find my self overwhelmed and frustrated I want to choose to find joy in every circumstance.

Periodically, I plan to share the different ways in which the Lord has revealed joy to me through the experiences of my daily life.

"Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great." Psalm 126:2

Reflections of 2008...Twitter Style

1. Our year started with sick kids and ear infections.
2. I also had a sick husband with too many sinus infections.
3. Did I mention ear infections and sick kids? Many prayers for my babies and my husband
4. Jake turned three and moved to a big boy bed in February.
5. I turned 29 in March.
6. Anna Kate was born in April.
7. My granddad had surgery in May and is still cancer free.
8. Anna Kate was dedicated at church in May.
9. My mom was saved in May and baptized in November.
10. We started swimming and living in the pool in June.
11. Vacation at Jackson Lake with the Perdue Family.
12. Jake and Judd received tubes in August.
13. A quick visit to Georgia while Jim went to Mexico in September.
14. We had the joy of coming back to Georgia in October for the Georgia State Fair in Perry. All of the Perdue family met at the fair and enjoyed a fun filled day at the fair.
15. Judd is potty trained in November. Jim turns 31.
16. Judd turned two in December.

This has been a great year. Even with all of the ups and downs God has been so great and blessed us in so many ways. I look forward to 2009. I will be 30!!!!! Am I really going to be that young?

Christmas Weekend 2008

Friday
We got up and went to my Grandmother Etheredge's house to celebrate Christmas with my dad's family. We enjoyed seeing all of them. I don't get to see them very often so I enjoyed catching up and having a great time together.

Saturday Morning
This was Christmas at Papa and Mema's House. We spent the morning cooking and getting ready for lunch. Everyone arrived around lunch. Our crowd was a smaller this year since Georges, Leslie, Alex, Avery and Palmer couldn't come. They were taking care of there sweet little boy Palmer who was recovering from RSV. Once again we had way too much food. I do believe that I am leaving Georgia a little bigger than I came and with entirely to many gifts.

Sunday Morning
On Sunday, Jim was given the opportunity to preach at Cross Point Church in Perry, Georgia. It was a pleasure to go to church with my mom, Benny, G-daddy, Peggy, Tripp, Dan and Jessica.

As soon as the service was over we left to go to celebrate Christmas with the Perdue Family. It was so good to see all of Jim's family and all of the cousins. Boy, ten kids are a house full. It is music to everyone's ears. I must say that one of the highlights of my Christmas was seeing the Watkins Family.

The Watkins are a dear family that have been friends with Jim's parents for years upon years. Jim and I were given the opportunity to connect with them when we lived in North Carolina. I do miss you all. Thanks for making the trip and staying long enough to see us all.

Jake finally got one of the gifts that was list here. Nana and Big Buddy gave us a Wii Fit. Our trip home has been full of travel, seeing family and friends.

We close out 2008 in Georgia. This has been a blessed year!

Christmas Day 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas. We have been blessed with way more "gifts" than we deserve. This year we decided to stay in Tennessee until Christmas Day. We started our new tradition of getting a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve and waking up with them on Christmas morning.

Christmas morning Jake woke up at 7:05 and was ready to lay on the couch. Jim had to explain to him that it was Christmas morning. BUT he only had to say it once before he was ready to tear into his presents. We had to tell him to wait until we got Judd and Anna Kate out of the bed. At 7:25 the present opening commenced.

Jake was so happy to get a new bike and Judd loves his Shake N Go Racetrack. Anna Kate just loved opening the presents so that she could eat the paper.

Once all of the presents were open, we had a cupcake for breakfast to celebrate Jesus' Birthday. Jim and I then began taking down all of our Christmas decorations. I know that I sound like a scrooge, but I knew that we were leaving for a week. The last thing I wanted after returning home from a week in Georgia was to take down all of my Christmas decorations. After cleaning, packing and napping we finally left home at 4:45.

We arrived at my mom's at 1:00 in the morning. It was a LONG drive down. We were all tired. The kids did a great job, but we were tired and since we were traveling on Christmas day there wasn't very many places open to eat or get gas. When we arrived at Mema's we were tired and hungry, but so thankful to be in Georgia!

Is it really true...My baby boy turned two!

Two weeks ago, my sweet little Judd turned two. As I began typing this post I just smiled because being around Judd will bring a smile to anyone's face. It is hard to believe that two years have come and gone so quickly.

Here is a peek at my pregnancy journal written for Judd.

"We found in April that we were expecting you. We went to see the Dr and he confirmed that you would be due in Dec. we are thinking approximately 21 or 23. Although we would love for you to come a little earlier in the month so that your birthday wouldn’t be so close to Christmas, but we will take whatever blessing God gives us."

"So May 12 your daddy and I went to see Dr. Cox for our first ultrasound. We were able to hear your heartbeat, which were 170. Since I found out I was pregnant with you I thought that you were a girl and I have always heard that high heartbeats could mean a girl. I guess we will wait and see what God has in store for us in December."

"We pray for you often. We pray that no matter your gender that you will be a healthy baby that loves the Lord will all your heart. I want you to know Him and love Him unashamedly with a passion that will never stop."

"Your daddy and I then mentioned to Regina that I think you are a girl and he thinks you are a boy. She then said oh I already know! Which could mean it was so obvious that you are a boy, but what is crazy is your daddy and I looked at the screen the whole time and didn’t see anything. How Fun! We got to see you kick mommy a lot. You are so much more active than your brother, which is really funny since I thought he was really active."

"This morning at breakfast he (Jake) started saying “Baby Judd” maybe he knows something we don’t."

"You entered the world 6 minutes after I started pushing at 4:42 p.m. It’s a boy! We just looked at you and smiled. Your daddy had been right the whole time."

I enjoyed that stroll down memory lane. Judd has been and continues to bring so much joy to our lives and our family. There is never a dull moment when he is around.

Here are a few of Judd's favorites things:
1. Mommy says "Judd you need to finish eating your lunch" and Judd says "only two bites"
2. Yay Facons (Falcons)
3. He LOVES to repeat everything Jake says or does. We call him Jake's Parrot.
4. Very Recently Judd has started telling us "Me preach Bible."
5. Pizza: The boy thinks pizza should be his only source of nutrition.


Here are a few pictures from his party:

Thanksgiving 2008

This year was some what difficult. Once, again we decided to stay in TN for Thanksgiving. Driving for 8 hours just to spend 2 1/2 days in Georgia didn't really to appeal to Jim and me.

We both woke up Thanksgiving morning homesick and wishing that we would have gone to see family and then the kiddos didn't have the best day. As lunch approached Jim and I looked at each other and just wished the day would hurry up and end. Yes, we were very thankful but we wanted to be in Georgia with family.

To sum up the rest of the day I will make a list:

1. No Judd don't touch me
2. Jake, No mine
3. Dry Ham
4. Runny Macaroni
5. I'm not hungry mommy.
6. I am thankful for Mommy, Jake, Daddy, Anna Kate, Judd, Bible and Jesus.
7. Mommy, watch Anna Kate smile at me.
8. Will you read to me?

8:30- Kiddos in bed and the day is done.

Before going to bed, Jim and I did thank the Lord for our family and His faithfulness. We also decided that we will be driving to Georgia next year. Once every three years isn't too bad.
One bright spot in our day was when we took the boys on the back of our property raked leaves and let them play. Here are a few things pictures to capture of Thanksgiving week. The first picture is our Thankful tree that we started a few weeks before Thanksgiving.

6th Anniversary

I know this post is almost a month late, but I have been trying to scan some pictures so that I could post them as you can tell I still haven't been able to get them to scan. Oh well. Here goes:

November 23, 2008 Jim and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. Where in the world has the time gone?

We have started a anniversary tradition. We go to a restaurant that we wouldn't typically choose any other time of the year. For example, we have gone to Emerils, Ruth Chris Steakhouse, and this year we decided to go the Texas de Brazil. It always helps when we have gift cards :-) We enjoyed our meal, but I don't think I want any type of steak for quite awhile.

While we were out we spent some time discussing our lives over the past 6 years. What an amazing journey it has been! Over the past six years, we've lived in 3 different states, had three beautiful children, served at four churches, and been through lots of ups and some downs along our journey together. God is and continues to bless us in amazing ways.

Jim, we have reached another year and we are experiencing such a busy and blessed season of our lives. Thanks for your love, encouragement and support. I look forward to the next 6, 16 and 60 years....

Judd Turns Two

It was a very eventful weekend around the Perdue house. We had a birthday party Friday night, Dan, Jessica and Rabun came up on Saturday and Judd turned two on Sunday. Judd's party went great on Friday night, we've had a blast with my brother, sister-in-law and niece and Sunday was another great day at Crosspointe.

Then, Sunday night, Judd came down with the vicious stomach virus. He got sick while we were at church (sorry Jody and Stacy), and then again in my office, again on the way home and a few times again at home.

I think he had a good birthday, but not a very good birthnight. Poor kid...who wants to be sick on their birthday!!!

Here he is with his hand over his face. Cute as he can be!

So much to update....

I have so much to update and so little time...

I need to tell you about my anniversary, Thanksgiving, Jim's Birthday, and Judd's birthday. How did I let everything get so far behind. Maybe I will be able to update this week.....or maybe not!

Blessed Day

In May, my mom was visiting us to for Mother's Day. To make a long story short she went to church Sunday, May 18, 2008, and woman unsure of her salvation to a sinner saved by grace and guaranteed a home in heaven with Jesus.

This day was an answer to many prayers for her. I am just so thankful that she said yes to the Lord and asked Jim and I to pray with her.

It has been 6 months since that day and she has been waiting to get baptized because she wanted Jim to be able to do the baptism. Plane flights were low enough and she was able to make a special trip up to baptized on Nov. 9.




It was so great to see my mom be baptized. I think the only thing more special will be seeing each of my precious babies become believers in Jesus and watching their Daddy baptize them.

So, let me ask you readers/lurkers? Have you ever accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Has there ever been a time that He changed you from the inside out? If you don't know Him, why not? Do you have religion or do you have a relationship?

My date was December 10, 2000.

What about you? Leave a comment. Tell me your about your salvation experience. If you have questions email me.

7 Random Things

I have been tagged by my friend Angie to come up with 7 random things about myself that you may not know. Here it goes....
1. I don't like to eat things that are on a wooden stick (i.e. a corn dog or a popsicle). I can't stand to feel the wood in my mouth or in my fingers.
2. I have naturally curly hair, however, it didn't start curling until I had my first child.
3. I don't like to be tickled. I think that it is a form of torture.
4. I am afraid of heights, but I went cliff jumping when I was in high school.
5. I don't say words that describe bodily functions.
6. I have always struggled with weight. I am 40 lbs lighter than I was in high school and college.
7. I don't like email forwards and I am not a big fan of tags, but I do participate because I am a good friend:-)
So here are the rules:
*Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
*Tell seven random facts about yourself on your blog
* Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
*Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
Ok - tag, you're it:

I'm not tagging anyone--Ha!

edit*** I just read someone's Tag and I must say that I LOVE to get the MAIL. I love mail. It is great!
now I am going to Tag my hubby! He loves Tags!

Potty Training Update

It has been a week and a half and Judd is doing great. He has experienced a few more issues than Jake, but he is also three months younger than Jake was when I potty-trained him. Considering, he has had a stomach virus, a sinus and a ear infection during this time I think he is doing mmmaaarrvvveellllllous!!!

We did have a incident on Monday. He decided that my stairs would be a great place to leave me a present. Needless to say, that hasn't happened since. Mommy very quickly reminded him that we sit on the POTTY to do those sorts of things.....

It is hard to believe that my baby boy is out of diapers. Two down and one to go.....

Here is a picture my mom took of him while she was visiting us last week. He will probably die when he sees this picture as a teenager. BUT this mommy needs memories. They are growing way to fast. I just need to hold on and cherish every moment. Ok I must stop rambling before my eyes start leaking that liquid stuff.

Feather Head

I have so much to update, but I couldn't wait to post these pictures.

I bought this hat a couple of weeks ago and she wore it to church on Sunday. I think it is adorable!

Brothers

Guess Who?

Potty Training Judd

For several months now I have been debating when to start potty training Judd. He has sat on the potty and does well going tinkle and #2.(many of you know that I don't call it any of the normal names.) I just couldn't figure out when to make it official. When do we move ahead and never turn back....

Early this week, Judd brought me a diaper in the morning so that I could change his wet diaper. So I changed him and then he went to the other side of the room and filled it up. He then came back and wanted me to change him again. It was at that moment I knew it was time. My window of opportunity was open and I better not miss it.

Yesterday morning, I went to change Judd and realized I was out of diapers so instead of getting a new pack I decided that we would start training right then. We went immediately to the potty and we have never looked back.

Once again I am following the modified version of the 7 days and $75 method. The general idea is parents stay at home with the child for several days and allow the child to walk around the house naked all day long. The potty is put out so it is constantly available to the child. Parents regularly remind the child to use the potty when necessary. Rosemond argues that children won't tolerate urine and feces running down their legs, and will quickly learn to go to the potty to avoid accidents. The $75 is for carpet cleaning.

Judd's first trip to the potty he didn't go. I set the timer on the microwave for 20 minutes. When it beeped we ran to the bathroom. He sat and went just a little. Set the timer again...it went his pants....timer beeped. Set timer....HE WENT! He smiled so BIG! It was great..This went on for three hours. He would tinkle a little and then he would have an accident. So his reward is to flush the toliet and wash his hands. He was pumped!

I guess you are wondering if he went #2. Well here is that story: right after dinner we sat on the potty. I knew that he would have to go #2 because he ALWAYS does after he puts food in his mouth. so we tried. NO luck! So we sat and read books. Finally, I realized what we were missing.....rewards!!! Jake was allowed to blow out candles for going on the potty and I hadn't determined what Judd's reward would be before starting. I thought for a second and I knew my Judd would LOVE candy. He never gets candy so I knew this would be the greatest reward. I grabbed some SMARTIES. I sat on the stool in front of him and said, "Do you want some candy?" His face lit up and he said YES! I told him to push it out of his bottom and he could have some, low and be hold, he shot a rocket out of there, and looked at me and said "candy, candy." A few seconds later, I said "do you have anymore". He said "no", I said "do you want more candy?" another rocket :-) as you can see I figured out Judd's secret to success...smarties! When he was finished going #2 in the potty and he is off looking in the toilet to see what just happened. I did the potty dance and everybody joined us to see what Judd had accomplished.

I am not quite sure if I would declare this day a "success," but it was a great start!

10 Predictions

Top 10 Predictions

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.

6. There will still be singing of praise and worship to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His poeple.

8. There will still be room at the cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will stil save the lost when they come to Him.

Isn’t it great to know the ONE who is really in control?

*I saw this on this blog and thought it very appropriate to share today.

Yes, I cling to my religion....