Happy Birthday Opa

My Dad's birthday was this past Sunday, the 23rd. I wanted to get a picture of the kids to put on the front of the card. I thought it would be a quick, easy task. I am retarded. (And also not politically correct, apparently.)

The picture was already going to be subpar because Isaac's pinkeye had returned for the second time in 2 weeks. But time was of the essence because I had to get the card in the mail to try and make it relatively close to my Dad's actual birthday. So out came the warm washcloth to wipe up as much of the "eye boodies", as Leah calls them, as possible. Then both kids were dressed in something other than their pajamas, and (here comes the big accomplishment), their hair was brushed. That's right-- this was serious. For some reason, I thought it would be super easy after that. Stand them next to each other, give Leah a sign to hold, and *click*, picture taken. (This is where we go back to paragraph 1-- I am retarded.) It's alarming how near impossible it is to get two people to look in the same direction long enough to take a picture, without having somebody inadvertently giving you the stinkeye. Laurie, I have even further respect for the work that you do.

Take 1: Wait, what are we doing?

Take 2: This is what happened when I asked Leah to smile. I don't even know what that is.

Take 3: Cute picture, but the photographer cut off Leah's head! (Again, back to paragraph 1...)

Take 4: Only smiles from Isaac, with his squinty little eye-boodied eyes...

Take 5: A different tactic...

Take 6: Isaac loses interest.

Take 7: Leah loses interest. Sign lays abandoned on the floor.

Take 8: Isaac comes back for a second look (but only because I strategically placed interesting toys around it).

So there you have it, Dad. Two cute kids, eight attempts, one card. Happy 63rd birthday!

Have you ever had one of those days where things are not going very smoothly at home and you're just not feeling particularly fond of your children at that moment?? Let's be honest, being a [stay at home] mom is awesome. But there are some days where it's just downright tiring, draining, exhausting (yes, I realize I am reiterating myself, but that's part of the point), and well, ... HARD. Usually those days are prefaced with a sleepless night caused by one, or both, of the kids, thus making everybody start off on the wrong foot. Insert temper tantrums, hair pulling (done by Isaac, usually unintentionally), pushing (done by Leah, usually intentionally), dog chasing (done by Leah, definitely intentionally), cat chasing (done by Isaac, also intentionally, albeit slow moving) and gasp!, worst of all, an empty coffeepot.

Then I get the camera out and randomly take some pictures and somehow manage to capture such cute little faces on camera, that the aggravation just sort of melts away. Perhaps it's seeing their sweet little mugs on the camera screen as opposed to while they're clawing at my legs that gives me a different perspective. (Even though they are most likely clawing at my legs while I am looking at the camera screen.) Or perhaps, for that particular day anyway, it's one of the rare moments where they are smiling, laughing, making funny faces, and miraculously, I've caught it on camera. Either way, some how it gives me an opportunity to step back for a second. It's a reminder for me of how sweet, wonderful, and hilarious these two little stinkers really are.

I'm not sure if you remember, but a little over a year ago my heart was captured by Layla Grace. I followed her blog daily and, as Jared would say, probably got a little obsessed, about this girl that we didn't even know. It was just so heartbreaking that, like a train wreck, I couldn't tear myself away. I can clearly remember sitting in the recliner in our living room, holding my then-newborn baby Isaac, and reading that two year old Layla had passed away. It was horrible. Though I felt incredibly sad for this little girl, I couldn't even begin to explain how much sorrow I felt for her family. Having a daughter of similar age, it made me sick to think of being in their shoes. Though it's been almost a year since her passing, I still think of Layla regularly. The reason I bring all of this up is because I owe Layla a big thank you. Her story (and sadly, many others' as well) is what reminds me that not all parents have their sweet little babies around to throw temper tantrums, pull hair, chase dogs, wake them up in the middle of the night, etc... so thank you, Layla. Thank you for the extra patience, compassion, and love for my children that you have instilled in me. And thank you for reminding me of how incredibly blessed I am to be able to spend so much time with them each and every day.

Isaac can move, but certainly not in the traditional crawling sort of way. It's more of a scooting, leg dragging crawl. And if I'm completely honest, I'll admit that he pretty much looks like a lame dog trying to get around. Or a gorilla. Jared thinks he looks like a "foraging gorilla that is moving from one bush to another"...pretty specific, eh?

At any rate, he keeps us on our toes and torments his dear sister, who seems to think that if he moves so much as an inch in his direction that "he's trying to get my stuffffffffff". (Imagine this in the whiniest voice possible.) It's pretty funny (most of the time). I think Leah preferred it when Isaac just sat like a lump on the floor.

Our kids are so entertaining, I love it. :)

Joy to the World, the Lord has come!

Christmas seemed to come in a flash this year. I don't know how it's already over, but it is. I really tried to make a conscious effort not to get caught up in the frenzy that the holidays can bring, but instead to cherish the reason that we celebrate. Somebody had recommended reading the birth of Jesus in the bible every day until Christmas, and while I did miss a few days, I read it more in the past month than I ever have in my entire life. And while I obviously felt the extreme appreciation and joy over the gift that God gave us in Jesus, the passage that stuck with me the most was Luke 2:19. Maybe it's because I'm a mother myself, but in the past few years, my heart has been touched by Mary.
17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Merry Christmas everyone. May you all treasure the gift in Jesus, the gift of God with us.

Our house looks beautiful, don't you think?

Christmas Eve in their brand new Christmas jammies. I don't need anything other than these two under my tree to fill my heart with joy. (Ok, maybe I'd like to have Jared thrown in there as well.) :)

Christmas morning... Leah is anxious to open those presents!

Look at our new wagon!! We bought this wagon in pretty used condition, and Jared refurbished it. I think it looks great, don't you?

The new wagon in use! Poor Kate got squished in the back behind our two.

The 2010 Judy Family Christmas photo

Three little cheesers. They're so cute, I might burst!

December!

When December arrived this year, it arrived. It seemed like fall disappeared quickly, and suddenly it was cold, cold, cold outside! We welcomed it at first, until it got well below the
average temperature and was regularly in the 20s with extremely high winds. Jared still enjoyed it, but it was a bit much for me.
Isaac and Heidi helped Jared put up our Christmas lights this year. He did a great job and put them up on some bitterly cold days. I just stayed in the warm house and gave him a pat on the back whenever he came in. :)

I don't think I've ever seen a cuter little bear, have you?

Leah is showing Isaac how to build a proper train track.

Ta da!! I found the little potty! And a whole roll of toilet paper!

After dinner play time with Daddy :)

Mmmmm, snow!! After our first light snow, I took Leah outside to play and showed her how to eat the snow. Big mistake. She didn't want to do anything else. (And yes, those are my socks on her hand. We didn't have mittens yet.)

Isaac and his baby cousin Ryan wore matching outfits and we just had to capture the moment.

Isaac is so proud of himself now that he can stand. And he doesn't want to do anything that involves sitting anymore.

We spent a night at Longwood Gardens last week to see their Christmas display. It was pretty and Leah really liked the trains and the fountains that played to the music.

You'd be surprised how often people ask what I do all day. Aside from boring household chores, we do fun things like this! Building towers out of empty Christmas light boxes and knocking them down! And yes, Isaac is pulling up and beginning to cruise a bit. And no, he is not crawling yet. Go figure.

Leah was UBER-excited to decorate the Christmas tree. She pretty much did this the entire time that she was not holding an ornament in her hand.

Glass ornaments, wood floors, and a hyperactive two year old? With that combination, I'm surprised only two ornaments were broken in the process! Now that the tree is done, she likes to sit on the rug and look at it before she goes to bed every night, pointing out which ornaments she put up herself (Little does she know, we re-distributed most of hers. Sorry Leah, but I like my Christmas trees to have ornaments on more than two branches.)

November

I've started weeding out the things in my life that I thought of more as obligations than enjoyment (aside from the tasks that are obviously necessary to keep life going). Blogging, naturally, is one of those things. It somehow became more of a chore I dreaded doing than something fun... which it used to be. Then there would be this ridiculous backlog of photos and attempted posts that just seemed too daunting to tackle. Finally, I came to the realization that I didn't HAVE to blog about every event. I didn't have to blog every week, and I certainly didn't have to feel guilty about not blogging. So there you have it. Your updates may be sporadic, but know that I'm not dragging my feet to post them.

UD Homecoming weekend was Jared's first opportunity to use his last Texas purchase-- a giant smoker and grill. The results were plentiful and delicious!

Jared's first deer of the season, shot pretty much from our own backyard. Leah kept asking if she could pet it.

Isaac helped Jess eat some birthday cake when she came over to babysit... and by eat, I mean he grabbed a handful of it off her plate and smeared it all over the table.

My little baker, happily stirring the cupcakes.

We took a trip to Texas over Thanksgiving, and I literally took 4 pictures the entire time. I guess we were just enjoying our visits with friends and family too much to get out the camera. We're looking forward to going again, whenever that may be, and to having some Texas folks come visit us up here. (Ahem. Mom, Dad, Davenports [too many of y'all to list], Adde, and Laurie.)

My mom got Leah and I matching aprons, and it only seemed fitting to wear them while helping with Thanksgiving dinner.

And naturally, while the women-folk were in the kitchen, the boys in the house did typical Thanksgiving day activities.

Like take naps.

And watch football.

Leah fixed my dad a pre-Thanksgiving dinner snack.