2 Adorable Pirates

This morning Oscar came over the hang out with Jude for a bit. I recently won this awesome water table in a blog giveaway which Joe put together last night. So this morning the boys had a blast splashing and laughing.

Welcome to 30

Yesterday was my 30th birthday. And I had some great things planned to do but that all got thrown out the window when Mr. Jude caught a stomach virus. He slept in until 10am which I thought was a wonderful birthday gift until I found him in a crib full of vomit.

I had planned on doing a bit of shopping, maybe lunch out with Joe and then dinner with my parents. But my day turned into a lot of cleaning and eating pizza on the couch by myself for dinner. Ironically, I don't feel bitter or sad about how the day turned out. I did get a lot of great cuddles from a sicky Jude, Joe brought home a delicious lunch and because of multiple naps I had a bit more me time than usual.

I did get to open my presents from Joe and Jude and I absolutely love them. I got two books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I'm sure Joe used a coupon for each of the books which also makes me very happy. Then I got a beautiful Ring from Thailand and a Wrap-Around Dress from Bali. Both the ring and dress didn't cost anything because I had received a gift certificate to use for a Product Review on The B Keeps Us Honest. I love that I received some nice and thoughtful gifts that didn't cost a lot of money, I think that makes it even better.

Joe and I are supposed to go on a date tonight but Jude is still a little under the weather so we'll see how it goes.

Tot School Update and Spiderman

So I haven't been super great with my tot school schedule. We've been busy visiting friend and family and just on the go. We do some fun stuff at home but I usually forget to take pictures. But as you can see above we did have some fun with Spiderman stickers.

Cool Jude

 

Some one has a new facination with sunglasses. 

Luckily I found the sunglasses grandma gave him last summer.

A trip to Charlotte

This week we took a trip to Charlotte for a blog event I was invited to (you can read more about it here.) The event was over around lunch time so Joe, Jude and I had some fun toodling around Charlotte and visiting some friends. We at lunch at Pike's. Visited our friend Mike at a great park in Weddington. We even visited IKEA where we bought Jude a table and chair. (I'm proud to say we were only there for an hour and only spent $30!)

 

 

As usually Jude was a great little traveler. He took a few brief naps in the car but we were all pretty tuckered out when we got home last night. Overall it was a great day!

Tot School

During my blog browsing I came across Toddler Awesome who was participating in Tot School. Since Jude is so active I never thought it would be possible to get Jude to participate in crafts and other learning activities so I never really tried. But with the help of Tot School I think I can find suitable crafts and activities for a kid like Jude. 

Tot School is a focused time each day on the tot in your family. So with the assistance of a few great mommies and their blogs I've decided to give it a try. Toddler Awesome has organized theme weeks for her son and I thought this was a great idea so I did the same.

Here are my theme weeks for the next few months:

Feb 12/ Superheros

Feb 28/ Family

Mar 7/ Day and Night

Mar 14/ St. Patrick's Day

Mar 21/ Spring

Mar 28/ Easter

Apr 4/ Farm Animals

Apr 11/ Space

Apr 18/ Earth (Earth Day Apr 22)

Apr 25/ Water

May 2/ Moms (Mother's Day May 9)

May 9/ Friends

May 16/ Colors

May 23/ Dinosaurs

May 30/ Bodies

June 6/ Faces and Feelings

June 13/ Dads (Father's Day June 20)

June 20/ Birthdays (Jude's B-day June 27)

June 27/ Letters

I hope to incorporate our membership to the Museum of Life and Science for some of these. Now I need to plan out crafts and activities for these weeks. I'm pretty exited that Jude is now getting to an age where we can work on things together.

I plan on documenting some of the activities and crafts we do each week.

My son is such a ham.

Last night we had community group at our friend house and Jude stayed up extra late. Because he was up much later than normal he got a little goofy and demanded he be the center of attention. From butter tubs on his head to giveaway everyone a high five he was "on".

See Andrea's post for pictures and a video of our goofball.

Sunday: Saturday Part 2

With all this crazy weather in NC all of everything was closed on Sunday, including church. To be honest I was a little bit glad to have a day off. I dearly love my church but with Joe working a 12 hour shift all day Saturday and the previously crazy week we had it was comforting to know we had no where to be.

 

 

We all slept in a bit, I let Joe sleep in even longer since he's been working so hard lately. Then we layered up and headed out for a snowy walk. There's a big hill in our neighborhood where all of the kids and parents congregate to sled. Jude enjoyed watching the crazy kids and dads but mostly wanted to chase around the dogs and stomp in the street slush.

 

  

 

Joe took Jude on the sled twice and I don't think he cared for it much. Mostly because it was noon and he was cold, tired and hungry. After lunch and a long long nap we headed down the road to Krispy Kreme. We had a pile of free donut coupons that were getting ready to expire so we bought 2 dozen donuts and invited the Serozi family to join us. Jude got a balloon and two donuts, which he called faffles. (faffles = waffles)

After gorging ourselves on faffles we went home, ate pizza, put the boy to bed and watched 9. Overall it was an excellent secret Saturday. Joe said it was the best 1 day weekend he's ever had.

Since Joe doesn't get off work for anything he's been working his regularly schedule shifts while schools are closed and businesses are delayed. They weatherman is forecasting snow again this weekend but I'm dreading it a little less this time since Joe doesn't have to work on Saturday.

Snow Day Pt. 1

So it actually snowed. Low and behold the weathermen got something right. We got our bank issue worked out and were able to go to the store last night before the snow started. Joe is at work all day but he said the roads weren't too bad.

Jude and I went out for a bit.

 

 

 

  

  

Snack in a Basket after playing in the snow

 

Toddler Photography

here's a little abstract photography by Jude

light

 

w-2

fat cat pocket

French Truffles

 

 

He was alone for a few minutes while I was in the bathroom.

Guess next time I should make sure my truffles are put away.

Delicious

Assessing the situation

 

Going for broke

Wondering who stole the rest of his cupcake...

My sleepy monkey

The same things are fun even after 30 years

Joe circa 1979 -

Jude 2009 -

Sitting in a Bucket Watching Wow Wow

On cold rainy tuesday morning this is fun.

When Daddy Feeds Me

It's all or nothing.

My little reader

He can't actually read but he does play the part very well.

Boxes and Moccasins

 Building a box tower while wearing red moccasins... how we survive a long rainy week.

Super Jude

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Breastmilk - Never Recalled

One way we saved a ton of money is by breastfeeding. (12 mos of BFing saves approximately $1,433) Jude has been breastfed for 14 months. My initial hope was to BF for 1 year and then consider weaning but now that we're here it makes me sad to think of quitting. I'll admit it was really hard in the beginning with extreme pain, mastitis and latching issues but after 2+ months of struggling we finally hit our stride. I didn't like breastfeeding at first. It hurt. It took a look time. I always had to pee during. It consumed me, literally. But I knew it was best for my son and my only reasons for wanting to quit were selfish. Honestly we couldn't afford formula so I had to tough it out. I'm so glad I did. (It's amazing what you can do when you have no other options)

Jude exclusively breastfed for 6 mo. and then we started introducing solids. He loved him some solids but he also loved some milk. Now at 14 mo we basically only BF before sleeping. (naps and nighttime. occasionally in the morning or if he's grumpy)

I read an article today about recalled formula and then saw someone comment with this list of slogans for breastfeeding and thought they were pretty awesome.

Here are my Top 10 Breastfeeding Slogans:
1. I breastfeed because I couldn't produce enough formula.
2. Breastmilk: Never Been Recalled.
3. I drink until I pass out.
4. If breastfeeding in public disturbs you, please feel free to put a blanket over your
face.
5. My baby does not like to eat in the bathroom, do you?
6. Yes, I am still breastfeeding; get over it.
7. Formula-$10. Paci- $2. Breastfeeding - Priceless.
8. Don't be a weaner. Breastfeeding is for toddler's too!
9. When you feed your children in a bathroom, I will too.
10. Instant Happy Baby: Just add breastmilk.

Plus:
"Breastfeeding: A Moveable Feast".


I will be sad when we end our breastfeeding adventure but who knows when. I have no idea when or how to even start weaning.

At what point did you completely wean your baby if you breastfed?
How did you do it?