Freedom!

I always take his boots off in the morning so we can do clean socks and make sure they're in the right spot.  He certainly doesn't complain!

I hate these boots and bar.

 I'm quite certain I hate them more than Judah.

 They're inconvenient.  His feet either slip out of position or get marks from the straps, depending how tight they are. His right (casted) foot still swells every day. It's been a journey finding socks that work, after countless nights of either his foot coming out completely or coming partway out- causing obvious discomfort. 

I can't get the blister on the right foot to stay away, so it's a bandaid all the time. And his feet sweat, so I'm changing socks all the time.  Nevermind trying to find ways for him to comfortably sleep, nurse, be held.  

It doesn't work well in his car seat and he generally pulls one partly out, resulting in them being taken off. (I only bought the infant car seat BECAUSE of casting and boots and bar- so that's twice as irritating. I figured it would be harder to carry him for appts and such. And we knew he'd have a lot.) 

Putting him into a carrier IS a pain. And then there's trying to make sure he doesn't pee on them at a diaper change. Oh and of course they have to come off for all doctors appointments and it's just a cumbersome chore.

It's all good.  I just needed to vent.  Fingers crossed only 3 more years and they'll get easier as we go!

Sleepy Baby

Someone had a rough time getting up this morning. He should probably try sleeping better at night to enable us both to get up more easily!

CAP night. Decent weather tonight. 70 degrees but crazy windy. Judah wasn't sure what to think about all these people who kept trying to talk to him..

He was all smiles in the car, though! 

(It's hard to take a picture without putting the phone in his face. I hate to have him looking at this box all the time.)

Of note, very few things were saved for Judah. Just a box of things that were special to me. This hat was  one of those things. And I found a picture of Elijah wearing it. I think maybe 6 months or so. 

Saturn Stories

I came home to this. Asked what was going on. Ensuring conversation-

J- apparently the Saturn doesn't ding when you leave the lights on. I guess back in the day people didn't need it to ding to remember to turn their lights off. 

-Au contaire. People doing this back in the day is WHY they now ding. 

We also had a conversation about how annoying it must have been to not have a GPS to tell you how to get somewhere.  

Feel old yet? I do.

(Also, the only other picture I took today was when Judah's diaper exploded while we were out running errands. I'll spare you. But it almost looked normal, so that was exciting and hopeful!)

Slow Sunday

Lucky for me, I never get tired of staring at this face. 

Elijah came in while I was getting Judah's bath ready. He offered to undress him.  I declined the offer and I think Judah was in agreement, despite Elijah's attempts to convince us he could handle it. 

Also,  some Martins came over to play.  Bryan took the girls to the store.  They bought frozen meals for dinner and this...kit. I don't even know what they made.  Lipgloss or something.  It was actually less messy than I feared.  However,  he also bought them more kinetic sand. No mess is a lie. AND it's smelly kinetic sand- because someone thought that was a good idea and Bryan clearly agreed. It smells horrible.  Good thing I'm not pregnant anymore, it's been banished to the garage nonetheless.

Don't Leave Me!

7:01 am

7:02 am, I sneak out of bed. 

7:03 am.

Someone gets lonely really quickly.   

Brothers

Elijah LOVES being a big brother. Really, truly loves it. He will drop anything to help, especially hold, Judah. Video games, dinner, playing with friends, Judah comes first. 

Judah, on the other hand, may not be quite as fond of Elijah as of yet.

It's not all bad, though.

Until Elijah triea to play peek-a-boo with him.

Then we're back to "Why, mom?!"

You know those memes you see these days- the ones that play on how kids walk past Dad to find mom to ask something silly Dad could have handled? 

Well, that's certainly my life. Every day. Generally when I'm trying to get Judah to sleep and NO ONE can seem to whisper.

 

But other times, I get it. Today, was a grey area. 

S-Mom, do you think you can set Judah down for a minute? 

-not likely to go well, Selah. Is it important enough to wake Judah up?

S- no, I guess not. 

-Dad is right here, maybe he can help you?

B- I can help you? What do you need, Selah?

S-well... I just need Mom to cut my apple for me. 

B- I  can cut an apple for you. Or YOU can.

S-no, I know. I can, it's fine. I just wanted Mom to cut it nice and thin, I can't do it like she does.

B-I can cut it thin for you!

S- well...

She reluctantly handed over her apple. I won't say he cuts thin like Mom. But I will say the baby got to stay asleep and the apple was edible. Compromise is our current lifestyle.  

Hands!

Mr Judah has found his hands. It just increases his cuteness. 

GI Doc Report

Don't you just love when you actually have a sleeping baby (what feels like for once) and the nurse takes you back to the exam room and tells you to undress him to his diaper. Yeah, me neither. There was a lot of crying after that. 

Nevertheless, his weight with diaper was 13#5oz. (His length was 24.25 but he was screaming and I wasn't impressed with her accuracy in drawing the lines.) Yay for some weight gain! He is even starting to look chunkier. 

The bad news is, the doctor thinks his issues are food allergy related. And since I've already cut gluten and dairy...it could be difficult to pinpoint what it is. He recommended adding no soy, eggs, or corn. I figure it's easiest to just get rid of top 8 plus corn now and see if that works. We could then add things back in. Hoping not to have to go back to the quinoa diet.  

However, the quinoa diet was a great weight loss tool. And i could use that aspect as my favorite 8 year old told me this morning...

E: Mom, you really need to start exercising. I hate to tell you but you look like you're still pregnant. 

-Yes. I do. But I need this sweet baby to give me a break long enough to do so.

E: you can just put him in the stroller and take him with you!

-True. I guess we really could start going for more walks now that the weather has been better.

E: umm, Mom. Walking isn't going to be enough for you. You're going to need to start running!

Well. It's all true. But Judah's too little for the jogging stroller and he's not too happy when I try to leave him with someone to shower! I've been thinking about trying the track so I'm never too far. Nevertheless,  I had a good laugh. So much honesty. You don't see that so much these days. 

Judah did hang out with Jonah while I showered this morning. They were watching the cars go by. 

 

We had our homeschooling group again this morning. Micah was a good babysitter. He was worried about Judah getting hit with a ball because the kids were playing basketball nearby, so he sat watch. 

King Judah during prayer tonight. Sometimes his cuteness really is just too much. 

(Also, Jonah hadn't changed after taekwondo,  hence the white garb. He hasn't taken up house-painting, don't worry.)

Then, there was a pause in prayer for the moth execution.

Selah tried to remove it nicely and safely but it wasn't coming when she called it. 

So Micah got out the salt gun.

He only managed to make the moth mad. Jonah wasn't playing games because he hates moths. Judah was along for the ride. 

Still unsuccessful. But a few more hits and he was out. Selah removed the carcass. We're safe for another day.  It's a good thing they weren't in CO with me when we had the moth invasion. That was insane. They apparently migrate through  CO. It's gross, that's all I can tell you. 

Somedays...

Somedays are just snuggle days. Judah had a pretty decent night's sleep (for him). Which made for a pleasant morning. He was awake and happy for almost 2 hours! I thought we were going to have a great day. 

If by great one means holding the baby all day while he sleep, then that is the one! 

Nap 1

Nap 2- I failed to take a picture but he was in the carrier. The other kids enjoyed Stony Creek's playgrounds. The one that was too crowded on Sunday. 

Umm...that's one little piece of the playground. It's far more fun and exciting (and worthy of being crowded), I promise. 

One thing we have here in MI that we lacked in CO...water. I like water because you can get cool reflections in it (not pictured) but I'd still pick CO. Here's a CO type sky, at least. 

Judah had his next nap in the carrier at Costco while the other kids had their Virtual Taekwondo Class. We came home right at the end. (They're reciting their creed, or whatever it is they say at the end.)

Looks like it was a sparring day.  No blood, so that's is a win. 

We then attempted to get dinner at the food truck in the neighborhood.  It rotates on Wednesdays and today's choice was either really good or really slow because the line was crazy... this was us walking back home still hungry. I'm pretty sure Judah was enjoying the frsh air, despite the look on his face. 

Bryan ended up grabbing Tubby's instead. They actually have gluten free sandwich rolls. In case you wondered how good they are...just get a salad. 

Noah didn't want a sub. So he made himself chocolate crepes with a banana filling. I forgot to ask if they were good, but they were pretty. 

Last nap of the day.  Good thing he's cute.

Judah Wins Again

Today's win was at a staring contest. Judah wins ALL the staring contests because he pretty much never blinks. Babies are so interesting. 

(And yes, everyone but Noah got a haircut today. Maybe tomorrow...)

Selah's first CAP meeting as an official cadet! She was learning  some drill movements here. He parents and brothers have all failed to teach her anything. They should feel ashamed. 

Quick snuggles with Jonah when we got home from  CAP. I don't even know what to say about this photo.

This one is a bit cuter.