Happy Easter

Happy Easter! What started as a crazy end of the work week, ended up being a good Easter weekend. Jude came down with a stomach flu (we think) on Thursday. Poor kid. My parents came in on Thursday as well to celebrate Easter and to get to see Jude. Poor Grandma and Grandpa. We were all a little nervous that the "flu" was contagious, but we seemed to all be okay so far. Knock on wood. Little by little, Jude seemed to be getting better over the weekend. He would still have some stomach problems, but as long as we kept him on a pretty bland diet, he would do better. But poor little guy just wants some good food. And although it was quick (it always is) we got to have a lot of fun with my parents... shopping downtown, eating Olive Garden (yummmmm... breadsticks), eating an Easter dinner (early) (prepared by Mom - thanks, Mom!). The only other bad part was Ryan and his work, work, work. Not the fun acting work either. This was the "day job" - working 12-16 hour days. Poor Ryan. But, the trial is over with so hopefully we can get back to normal now. On Sunday, Jude, Ryan and I went to church (along with all the other residents of Evanston), and then went over to our friends for a fabulous brunch. Scrambled eggs, banana walnut pancakes, bluberry muffins, bisquits and gravy, fresh fruit, ham, and of course, CANDY! Although I did break toward the end (a little stressed lately), I think I did fairly good overall sticking with giving up candy and desert for lent. I didn't think I would make it a day, let alone almost the whole time. Jude hunted for some easter eggs in their backyard, and we even colored a few eggs (although I should mention that Ryan made an egg for Jude and wrote "poop" and "pee" on it... classy - although he just made me feel like I was a kid again and decorating eggs with my brother - he would have done the same thing). Now we are just hoping that Jude is on the mend, and that the weather keeps getting warmer. It sounds like it will be nice by the end of the week, but I am not holding my breath.

Happy Birthday to Garrett and Aislinn!

I hasn't been that long has it? Aislinn just turned 1 and Garrett turned 3!!!! We had a great time in MN two weekends ago helping to celebrate. The weather cooperated for traveling and was even nice enough during the party to get outside and let the kids play around. As you can see from one of the pictures Jude was pretty tuckered out by the time we left. Not only did we get to see Garrett eat his cake(s) (using the licorice broom that was made as a shovel to get the icing in faster), and see Aislinn turn pretty green all over (the bath was green when they tried to "hose" her down), we got to see Malia in her swim class. I can't believe that they are all growing so quickly. But I guess Jude has been growing just as quickly. He knows a few things in sign language (mostly loving "more"), he has gotten pretty good at picking up and throwing a ball (as well as any other toy for that matter), and just continues to melt our hearts. He gives us hugs and kisses now! And that laugh.... I could listen to that all day.
Sorry this is a short update... but at least I got some new pictures on here right?

He is so neat and clean... (unlike his parents)

So Jude not only will go and get his shoes when Daddy tells him to get his shoes in the morning, but he also will put his shoes away if Mommy takes them off of him and leaves them in the middle of the floor! He picked up his shoes the other day, and walked them over to the mat by the door and set them down very neatly.

We have also been trying to work on washing his hands (especially when we get home from daycare). I talk him through every step and ask him to keep showing his hands, etc. Last night, I was going to wash his hands after dinner and asked Jude if he wanted to wash his hands. He then started rubbing his hands together!!! We were so excited! It is really amazing to see what he is catching on to.

I posted a few new pictures- trying out Gymboree classes, sleeping with Mickey, posing with Mom and Dad, trying out mom's slipper/socks, and just being a goofy, silly kid all around!

The ray of sunshine...

So, it is not just me and Ryan and the family and friends that love Jude, it is also EVERY teacher at daycare. They said that he is always so happy, and just a little ray of sunshine in the room. It was really nice to hear. (nice that the teachers like him, and nice to know that he must like it if he is so happy). Jude is definitely a walking machine now. And so far, so good. He was already moving pretty quickly just crawling, so I think we were already pretty good at getting up to chase him around. He is loving his sippy cups (thanks Auntie Shelley for the Ellen one!), and eating away. I swear, the boy can eat more than I do for dinner sometimes. Other than that, we are all just sick of the cold and snow, but hoping that things will start warming up a little... 30s at least!?!? Here are some good pictures that we just took. Ryan submitted him for a cute baby contest with Regis & Kelly (thanks great auntie Kim), and we will let you know if he gets picked! :)

Jude goes walking... after midnight....

Or Jude's boots are made for walking... or because Jude's mine, he walked the line.... (Okay, Ryan and I have to sing a song everytime Jude walks) But, as you can see... JUDE IS WALKING!!! The best is when he walks up to me (or Ryan) with his arms stretched open and gives us a hug and crawls in our lap. Just melts our hearts. I can't wait (sarcastic) until he really gets comfortable and is running and can grab anything and everything. We already are having a hard time with all of the baby proof stuff. I think I finally have the door under the sink down (that I don't rip off my finger tips when I go to open it, and it shuts back on me because of the lock). Daycare is going really well- they are always doing projects, working on sign language, and even doing baby yoga! Show us a downward facing dog Jude! He is loving his squeaky shoes from China, but we take out the squeakers as not to annoy the teachers (we just let him squeak at home). We are going to have to look for some tie shoes, because Jude the Dude has mastered kicking those things off. In addition to the walking, Jude could climb and climb. I looked into padded blocks online and those things are expensive!!! If anyone has an idea of what I can get him to climb on, let me know.
I got a couple pictures of him walking and will try to post those soon.

Oh yeah....... GO OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had as great of a Christmas as I did. We were able to go to my parent's house in Minnesota and see all of my family! It had been a while since I had seen my nieces and nephews -oh yeah- and Jeff, Amy and Shelley :). And of course, they were all excited to see Jude (and me and Ryan). The kids are all getting so big. Jude LOVES walking around with his Tonka Truck or moving along any piece of furniture he can get ahold of. He would probably walk on his own if he could muster up the courage. Jude is also starting to become much more vocal. Which is good and bad.... He was trying to say "Stitch" the other day which was cute, but he also knows how to scream REALLY LOUD! That little stinker! I have a feeling the word "NO" will become quite popular in our house. He has always loved monkeys- and now is definitely becoming a Curious George of his own. The other three little stinkers we got to see during Christmas are amazing as well- Aislinn (who is only 9 months) is already standing by herself, Garrett made my day when he loved the giant chocolate Pee Wee the Penguin I gave him as an extra present on Malia's birthday party day, and Malia (who turned 3 Christmas day) lit up the room with her smile. She had a Mickey and Minnie Birthday Party the day after Christmas and loved the singing, cakes, and presents. Although she asked for a football at the last minute, the big hit was the real camera and real cell phone (old ones that aren't being used/hooked up). She cracked us up when she put the timer on her camera (not really) and would run to the other side of the room to take a pictue with her mom and say "Cheese!" after she saw Grandpa doing that to take the big family picture. She just didn't understand why her camera wouldn't flash.
Oh- one last good Jude story- I answered the phone the other night and said hello- I looked down at Jude and he put his hand up to his ear and said "Mmmmhhh?" (hello- with a pacifier in his mouth). Definitely the son of two actors...

Jude is 1, and Christmas is only two weeks away- time is flying!!!

Sorry I haven't written much lately. Been pretty busy at work, and with Jude all over the place, the computer doesn't get out much at home. Jude is really starting to look like a big boy now- he has 4 teeth, with pretty much ALL of the other teeth coming in at the same time (yeah!?!?), he is standing and walking with the furniture like crazy (if Stitch is on the couch- he will be next to her in no time- he LOVES grabbing on to her tail- makes him giggle (side note: Stitch gets him back by eating all of the Cheerios he drops on the floor)), and eating, eating, eating. If the kid likes the food at that particular moment, you can't give him enough. A whole grilled cheese (with corn and pineapple afterwords).... half of mommy's Maggiano's ravioli (Mommy doesn't like sharing that much)... He has moved up to the "Turtle" room at daycare. It was a tough transition for the first week, but yesterday he did really well the whole day. I think he is starting to really like the bigger kids, and getting to move around and play more. I am sure he will be walking and talking in no time. I have to admit, as well, that I gave him a little haircut last night. His bangs were in his eyes, his ears were covered, and he had quite a fine duck tail working in the back. I should've tried to get a picture of the half-way haircut - short in the front and party in the back kind of mullett - HILARIOUS!!!! But now, as Ryan says, he looks like a 13 year old boy. It is really cute.
I will try to post more pictures soon. We just did a mini portrait studio in the Hall house the other day and have some really good shots. The family in matching "Ho Ho Ho" t-shirts. (we wanted to do matching sweaters and make it look like a family from the 50s - mom serving dad and child cookies and milk, etc, but we didn't quite make it that far this year), and we even got Jude in his outfit cousin Malia brought back from China for him. Good thing we put it on now, because in another month or so his "budda" belly would have kept it from closing! :)
Quick note on me and Ryan- we shot a commercial for a local carpet company - Luna. I will try to post that on here as well. It is quite funny- if you understand that a Luna commerical is supposed to be really big and over the top, of course.
All I can say is, I am really thankful that I have Ryan and Jude in my life!