Ok! To be quite honest, I am tired of the snow. Isn’t it time for Spring? But, I have to admit that I did get some cute pictures of Jim and I in the snow today. I hope to get some more tomorrow without the snow falling.

Also, for the first time I made snow cream. It was yummy! I must say that I don’t think anyone enjoyed it as much as Judd.

If you would like to try snow cream here is the recipe.

Gather 2 cups of clean snow
Mix the following in a bowl:
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
2 cups of milk
Add snow until you get the consistency of ice cream.

Jake,

Four years ago on this day, my life changed forever and I was given a new name because of you. I was a mommy. I was your mommy. At 8:38 a.m. you entered our lives with a cry to let us all know that you were here and ready to take over. We didn’t sleep much the first night, not because we were nervous as first time parents it was because you felt the need to be awake every 30 minutes to eat and cry. It was from that moment we should have known that our prayers had been answered.

You need people. I must say that this is a blessing and a curse; you never want to be alone. Your love for Judd continues to grow and your bond is tighter with each day. He is your best friend. You don’t always agree but he is the one you want to play with you all the time. He makes you laugh and cry. He is your “dusting” partner, your wrestling partner, he is the one you want to be near.

I am not quite sure you know how to be quiet. Even when you are winding down in your bed at night we hear you talking. “Daddy, does rug rhyme with hug? Does cat start with a C? Duh Duh- D makes the Duh sound. Etc…” Speaking of sleep, oh how I wish you would sleep. Everyday almost without fail you are bouncing through the house saying, “There is a 7 on my clock. I am awake.”

You are very friendly especially when we are in public. You love to speak to people in stores and you don’t understand why they are not talking back to you. But I guess this doesn’t surprise me since the first person you waved to was a man in the Chili’s restaurant when you were 10 months old. You are a very verbal child who isn’t shy and isn’t afraid to speak your mind. People give you energy. Opinion. If there is one thing you have it is an opinion.

The days of long three hour naps are slowly slipping away which are now being replaced with “quiet times.” You are becoming a boy. A real boy. Sniff…Sniff…

You are so close to reading and I am anxious to help you unlock this whole new world. You can write your name and you love to do projects with Mommy and Judd. You do enjoy learning but independent study isn’t your thing. (Remember, you need people.)

As of this week you want oatmeal for breakfast and pb&j for lunch everyday. As of last week, you thought cutting your own hair would be a fun thing to try. Needless to say, you now have a cute little buzz cut.

You can wiggle your ears, which is really cool.

You make me proud. You are the next generation. You have so many questions about God and Jesus. You memory is amazing and your scripture memory would put many adults to shame.

This has been an amazing four years. We have had days where we want to cry and pull our hair out but by God’s grace we are given 8 hours of sleep and a brand new day to build wonderful memories together. Some of our sweetest moments of late are when you randomly say “Hey mommy, I love you.” “Jake I love you the most” “Mommy, I love you to Pluto and back.” Two years ago, I didn’t know if I would ever hear those words come out of your mouth. Thanks for loving me.

I thank God that He chose me to be your mommy and that you, my Jake, are my first-born. I wouldn’t trade being your mommy for anything in the world. Thanks for teaching me love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We are very blessed to have a couple, Judd’s Sunday School teachers, in our church we own a hotel with an indoor pool. This year for Jake’s birthday we asked if we could have a pool party for Jake. He was very excited about being able to swim in February.

Last week one of my really great friends, Jessica Moody and her little boy Sam, came to visit our family. One of the days Jim volunteered to watch all of the little ones during nap time so we could have a few hours of “girl time.”

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…

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.

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.