Oh, look! Another post!

Earlier this week, I took Leah to play with her friend Ella. Paige had an awesome idea that we should take them to the water fountains to play and the girls loved it.

Ella liked to have the water spray her hair.

Two sweet little girls...

I like this picture because it looks like Ella is telling Leah a secret.

Isaac and Baby Sadie (or ABCD, as Leah calls her) hung out on a blanket nearby. They weren't too happy because it was just so darn hot.

While the girls were playing in the water, I noticed Leah started to pull and yank on her bathing suit. I knew it was only a matter of time until she pulled it off, and sure enough, just a few minutes later, that bathing suit was in a pile on the ground. It didn't take long for Ella to give in to the peer pressure.

Ella kept telling me, "You can take your clothes off and come play in the water too!" I'm pretty sure that would be frowned upon, Ella. :)

Jared was working from home one day, and the little tubby boy was overseeing his progress.

Check out my sweet thigh rolls.

Enjoying a walk on a not-as-awfully-hot-and-humid-as it-has-been night.

Mia, Micah, and Leah waiting for dinner at the little girls' table on Saturday night.

Everybody's favorite thing about Isaac seems to be his hair. Here is a good view of his faux-hawk.

Hey look it's me!! And Isaac! And we're WAY TOO CLOSE!!

I don't have any photos of us out doing fun summer things, because we haven't really been doing any fun summer things. We haven't been doing too much of anything around here mainly because (1) it's pretty stinkin' hot outside, (2) the mosquitoes pretty much try to carry you off as soon as you step out the door, and (3) we are in the midst of a packing extravaganza. Every day I pack a little more, and every day, our house looks less and less like our home. It's kind of depressing.

So, instead of posting pictures of fun activities, I'll post some pictures of cute faces.

For all the smiles and giggles I get from Isaac throughout the day, I really don't do a very good job of capturing it on camera.

Why hello, flash!

What a little ham.

Isaac hasn't been sleeping too well these days, so we figured we'd try him out on some rice cereal to see if he just needs his belly filled up a bit more. He didn't really take to it very well.
Notice how his mouth is closed in both those pictures. That's pretty much how it stayed the whole time. He kept those little lips clamped shut, and we tried our best to squeeze that spoon on in, only to have him push the food back out and let it dribble down his chin.

Post random video of the kids that shows absolutely nothing at all? Don't mind if I do!

A New Adventure

Things have been pretty crazy around, with a lot of changes in the air. The last time I posted in May, I had just been let go and we were sort of at a stand still as to what to do next. Apparently, we shouldn't have stressed too much about it, as God pretty much took control of the situation. See for yourself...


The day I was let go, Jared received an email from a BirdJobs list serve he signed up for back in college. He said a quick prayer before opening the email, asking God for some guidance on what we should do now. He found a listing for a preserve manager position in northern Delaware, and on a whim, sent in his resume. A few days later he had a phone interview, and a few days after that, they requested Jared and I come up for an interview. We had a month between the two interviews, and didn't fly up until the end of June. A month is a long time to hem and haw about a potential huge change in your life, and we thought about it a lot. The interview in June confirmed what we suspected-- the job was essentially Jared's dream job and it was located in a pretty stinkin' nice area. The downside was that they had 75 applicants for the position, and had interviewed 7. Our odds weren't that great.

Oh, and here's the kicker. Remember how we had been praying for me to be able to stay at home with our babies? The job came with a house that sits on a 7 acre tract of forested land. A house that we wouldn't have to pay any mortgage or utilities for.

Within 3 days of his interview, Jared got a phone call, and the job was his. Thank you, God, for providing a way.

And so now we're moving. I'm not going to lie-- when Jared got the phone call that the job was his, I sat down and cried. It's not that I wasn't happy about the opportunities ahead of us, but I was sad to be leaving all that we have been blessed with here in Texas. My parents, our church family and friends that feel more like actual family, our first home together, the list goes on and on. Out of my siblings, I never thought I'd be the one to want to stay near my parents, but the idea of moving away from them and taking their grandkids away is heartbreaking.

BUT, I know this move is the best thing for our family. I am excited to be at home with our kids permanently as opposed to commuting into Houston every day. I am happy that Jared will travel less and be at a job that he really enjoys. And on top of that, we will be more financially secure than we have been up to this point.

We plan on visiting here plenty, so that Texas won't forget about the Judys. I will be on facebook harassing my favorite Texas folks and will update the blog more frequently than every 2 months (I hope!).

Our anticipated leave date is August 24th. A mere 5 weeks away. If you know of anyone who is looking for a house with a little bit of land, send them our way, because we could use a buyer to help the process along. And in the next few weeks, please, PLEASE hang out with us before we become Yankees again. :)


Our first home. Full of memories of little babies.

Our new house in a little town called Centreville, DE, just shy of the PA state line. We have lots of extra space, so we expect some Texan visitors. :)

Finally! An update!

Wow. So you know what happens when you have a second child? You stop blogging on a weekly basis, or even a monthly basis, for that matter. (This is where my ever so organized sister-in-law, Kim, will prove me wrong in about 8 weeks.) On the days when nap times happen to be coordinated, I don't really want to spend my time sitting here, updating the world as to what's going on. Instead, I choose to clean, or cook, or on extremely lucky days (or just days that follow extremely long nights), I sleep too. So here we are, nearly two months from my last post. Let's see if I can catch you up on what we've been doing...

During my last week of maternity leave back in May, we went to the Sea Center with my friend Adde and her two little girls, Zia and Zoe.

Whenever the guy at the touch tank asked if Leah wanted to touch anything, she declined. She preferred dipping her fingers in the water and watching the creatures from a safe distance.

Then we went to a end of school year party at my friend Laurie's beach house.

Leah got to play with all of her little girl friends (Zia on the left, and Ella on the right) there...

...and even played on this cool bouncy, water slide thingy. Except by play, I mean stand there and feel the misty water hit your face. :)

Then I went back to work, and you all know that story.

Once back at home, we watched some Elmo...

... and happily took some mid-day naps. (Darn picture wouldn't rotate for me, so just tilt your head slightly to the left.)

Sibling love. Look at Isaac giving me the stink-eye.

We had our friends Susanna and Jack visit us for a few days in June. (Sunanna, as Leah says.)

And naturally there was some joint tub time, accompanied by some sweet shampoo horn/mohawk action.

Puts another meaning to the phrase "cheek to cheek", doesn't it?

We've spent lots of time at Oma and Opa's house, where Leah coaxes Oma to come in the pool with her every time.

I just love the absolute joy on her face in these photos.

Don't be fooled by all these sleeping shots...

he doesn't sleep near as much as he should. But he sure does look sweet and peaceful when he's sleeping, doesn't he?

Some more Oma love. I believe right before I took this picture my mom said something along the lines of, "I just love this" while hugging both children. It melted and broke my heart all at the same time (more on that in the next post).

Ha! This picture makes me laugh whenever I see it.

Can you find the naked little girl in the photo?

Some mimi love.

Hmmm...

... somebody doesn't look too pleased with this situation. Overstimulation, perhaps? The fact that he wasn't entirely good at holding his head up and I forced him into a chair where he had no choice but to do so? Probably.

Another play date with some friends, Mia and Micah.

I think Mia was really the only one who enjoyed my "collage time" activity. Leah just liked the glue sticks and Micah just wanted to put stickers all over herself.

We also decided that it was high time for a hair cut. At 4 months old, I'm pretty sure he was the youngest person ever to have a professional cut his wild locks off. He actually didn't get his hairs chopped for a few weeks *after* this picture was taken. Imagine the craziness.

After weeks (months?) of dryness, we finally got some rain. And boy did it rain.

Naturally, I taught Leah the joy in puddle-splashing.

Being a good big sister, Leah read Isaac some books. She is so sweet to him, and he just adores her.

On the 4th on Main event this year, Leah got to stand up there with all the big kids and wave her little flag while they sang songs.

She mostly just stood there, nervously sucking on her fingers. I think it's safe to say we don't have a little pageant girl on our hands.

Then I attempted to defend my title as watermelon eating champ.

And I got my tuckus handed to me by the lady in the foreground of the picture. She'd eaten 4 or 5 slices before I even made it through 2. Well played, watermelon lady... well played.

I think the flash freaked him out.

Leah is pretty good about sharing her toys with Isaac, except she tends to go on overload when she does it. For instance...

have some more blocks, Isaac.

And some more...

And some more! Until he eventually starts crying.

Looking pretty sweet in his cute little overalls.

Ahhh, there it is! The new 'do! Not a great picture, but at least you can see that Isaac's hair is *slightly* tamed now. *Slightly.*

Whew! And there you have it!

This is the first day of the rest of your life

This past week has been kind of crazy. Monday was my first day back at work after my amazing, wonderful, I wish it never had to end maternity leave. I had been dreading that day for 10.5 weeks and had prayed that somehow we would find a way for me to be home longer. Work was slow and quiet, but never the less I made it through the day unscathed, and Isaac and Leah were great for my mom. (Leah was so excited to be going to Oma's house that she couldn't fall asleep the night before.) As per a pre-arranged agreement with my managers, I had off on Tuesday and Wednesday (I was only set to work a 3-day work week). On Wednesday, I spoke with a friend from work and heard rumors were going around that there would be another round of layoffs on the following day. On Thursday, I was laid off, along with 18 other individuals. Those who weren't let go, were forced to cut back to a 24-hour work week. The company is obviously not doing well.

On Friday, I went in to the office to pack up my stuff, turn in my computer, etc. When I drove out of the parking garage for the last time, I turned on the radio and heard the following lyrics,

This is the first day of the rest of your life

'Cause even in the dark you can still see the light

It's gonna be alright, It's gonna be alright

Can you blame me for getting teary-eyed?

It's a little nerve-wracking, being let go. Before I went back to work, Jared and I joked about how it would be nice if I was laid off, but now that it's actually happened, it's a bit scary to not know what's going to happen. As a result, we are being forced to rely completely on God and His guidance. It's something we've never done before, because we've never been forced to. And I trust that God does have a plan for us, we just don't know what it is yet.

And in the mean time? That amazing, wonderful, I wish it never had to end maternity leave gets to keep going. For how much longer, I don't know. But I am going to enjoy every extra second I can get because I know it's gonna be alright.

Happy Mother's Day!

This morning on the radio, I heard a dj refer to Moms as those who are at war every day. What a ridiculous statement. I feel completely blessed to be a mom to these two little munchkins. It is by far the greatest, most important, most fun, and most rewarding thing I could ever do with my life. I love every minute of it.

Thank you, Jared, Leah, and Isaac for spending the day with me today. And Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Leah had her first popsicle a few weeks ago. She looks intense, doesn't she? Or maybe just fiercely protective of it.

Playing in her "sandbox", which is really our horseshoe pit.

One of the things I love about little miss is that she's small enough for me to recycle most of her dresses from last summer and use them as shirts for this summer.

Mommmyyyyyy, stop taking so many pictures of me.

Awww. It took 6 weeks, 3 medications, and a daily probiotic for me to finally see this cuteness.

My mom and I took the kids up to Hermann Park in Houston for a ride on the train and to play on the playground. Leah LOVED it. Isaac was nonplussed and slept the entire time.

Naturally, Leah didn't last for ten minutes in the car ride home.

She quickly revived once we got back to my parents' house and spent some time "making music", as she calls it.

Leah drew Jared a picture for his birthday. She got super excited when her scribbles made an oval and kept saying "An oval! An oval!" as if she did it on purpose. :)

I loooooove this picture. (I know, the bangs need to be trimmed.) But just look at how he's looking at his big sister and how she's looking at her little brother. It makes my heart melt.

It's also funny to see that he's not much smaller than her in size. The size difference in their feet however, is a completely different story.