Birthday Bug!

Charlotte's first birthday was so cute! And I'm sure her favorite part was that first taste of chocolate cake. I had to open all of her presents because she was much more interested in the sugar... (Special thanks to Tootsie, Jude, and Joan for helping me with the cupcakes!)

Thank you to everyone who traveled to New Iberia for her party. It was so nice spending the weekend with you all!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

This video is dark, so it's not just your computer...

Jude assures me that he had a good time and was excited for Charlotte, even though this video seems otherwise. I also had a cute video of everyone pulling the strings of the pinata, but blogger won't load it for some reason... booo...

Enjoying her new Sophie giraffe

This is Ours.

This, our wedding song. (It was hard to decide between putting this one on here or Forever My Friend by Ray LaMontange which has become our song over our married years together. You should still go listen to it because Ray is pretty amazing.)


This, our verse.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God.
1 John 4:7

This, our burden.
3003 Geranium Dr., Bloomington, IL

This, our joke.
"Riddikulus!" "Quidditch!"

This, our show. (Parks and Rec, you're a strong contender.)
The Office

These, our hobbies.
Art, Music, Football, and Film

These, our names.
Judebaker, Alisha Pie, Babers my Neighbors, Jumunji, and Hun

This, our joy.


















This, our life.

Happy 5th Anniversary, Jude. I love you and I'm blessed to share these with you.

We also want to wish Big Poppa a very Happy Birthday today!

Good morning,

and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.

Don't be too disappointed when you check back here and find cobwebs for the next week. Most of you know, Jude and I are headed to Galveston and Houston to celebrate our 5 year anniversary with waterslides, beaches, restaurants, museums, and uninterrupted conversations. Ah.

In the meantime, Charlotte will turn one tomorrow and that ladybug party is gonna be da bomb (just trying to get out any lingering "corny parent-talk" before we start acting like cool 20somethings again. Booyah... ok -done.) and she'll also probably start walking while we're gone...

Joan will celebrate the anniversary of her baptism and maybe learn how to eat in a timely manner. I'm hopeful at least.

And you might just get an ealier update on our vacation because we're toting along my dad's new iPad (thanks Dude! - ok, seriously, that was the last one...)

1 year and 3 year portraits!

Attention: grandparents, aunts, and uncles - let us know which picture(s) you'd like, how many, and what size and we'll get 'em to you!

**** All of the photos with stars under them can be cropped into a vertical photo if you like (just let us know).

We plan to make a ton of wallets of this one to pass around to extended family members

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The strip of wood in the background will be photoshopped out soon

**** (wood will be photoshopped out)

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Verbatim

Sorry, but I just haven't had much to say on the blog lately. I guess I'll let Joan do the talking...

"Joan, why is your hair so wet? Is it sweaty?"
"Well, it's wet because I've just been outside for forty days."

"Sorry, Joan - I'm dripping all over."
"Yeah, you dripped it because you're getting old."

"Joan - isn't Charlotte so mischievous?"
"Momma, what does chi - bus mean?"

"That's a big ol' cookie, Joan has there. It might give her 'the runs' tonight."
Shaking her finger, "No, no, no, Papa. We're not going running tonight."

"Papa, I think I tooted somewhere."
"Where did you toot?"
"In my bottom."

"Joan, you see these Harry Potter books - you're gonna read them all one day. But they have a lot of words."

"Ok, but do they have hairy words?"

Geysers in Philly?

That's right. Those Landry's went to see some geysers in Philadelphia.

Alright, maybe it was just a waterpark in Philadelphia, MS called Geyser Falls, but so what. We went and it was fabulous. It was our family vacation this summer and it was super cheap. Super.

With the discounted tickets from our pepsi cans, eating our picnic lunch and snacks from home, and the cost of gas for only 140 miles roundtrip - this vacation was right for our budget, as long as you exclude the cost of the speeding ticket somebody got 5 miles away from the park... That person shall remain nameless and you will have to speculate for yourselves...

And while this was our family vacation, Jude and I are planning a romantic weekend getaway for our 5 year anniversary in a few weeks. No, it's not as great as last year's 2nd honeymoon trip to NYC, but Galveston, TX can't be all bad, right? I mean, there's a waterpark and it's only 3 hours from generous babysitting grandparents... Thank God for I-10 (except the strip through Baton Rouge).

Verbatim

Usually I save Verbatims until I have a few stored up. But this quote takes the cake and is deserving of its own post. You're welcome.

"Joan, sit back so your pee stays in the pot."
"Hahahaha. The pot. Why did you call it that?"
"Oh, that's what some people call it. We should probably just call it the toilet though."
"... Ok, I'm done. Hey look - it looks like gumbo in that pot!"

My newest creation

Happy Birthday, Tripp!

This is getting out of hand.

I need your help.

Joan's eating habits are really starting to become a problem for me. (And I say for me, because maybe I'm the one that needs the work. Maybe you'll all tell me she's normal and leave it alone. We'll see.)

I understand picky-eaters. I'm kind of one of them. Jude is definitely one of them. We like normal stuff (you know, the stuff that you just made for dinner minus all the veggies and exotic spices).

And so I can deal with that. I puree loads of good vegetables, hide them in our foods and still serve a helping of "normal" veggies with our meal. But fruits - well, they don't get much attention 'round these parts.

But my issue tonight is not, "how to trick your family into eating healthy." It's that I cannot get Joan to eat the very normal, easy food at a normal rate. The kid literally needs to be reminded to continue eating pizza. Pizza. Left to her own devises, she took over an hour to finish half of a turkey sandwich.

Tonight I made chicken and black bean quesadillas and it took everything within her to chew those bites - even though I know she doesn't despise chicken, or beans, or cheese, or tortillas. She's eaten all of these before and a long while ago, she would have eaten this with little or no help.

I can't tell if she's bored, full, or just not liking the taste. She mostly seems willing to take the bites but she will keep chewing food indefinitely. We just can't get her to focus and finish. We give her dessert incentives, time limits, and the occasional food game (i.e. "I'll drop this bean from up high and you catch it and eat it."). But this is exhausting and doesn't really even seem to speed things along.

So, how do you approach your slow eater? Have you heard of something someone else has done?

If not, I'll have to seek out Dear, Abby. Is she still around?

Verbatim

"Hey Joan, do you want to try one of these candy popsicles?"
"Oooo, yeah... [chew, chew] Yummm... [chew, chew] Wait, but these taste like berries! Eww!"
"Ok, just go throw it in the trash can. Here's a small blue one with icy stuff inside. You might like it better."
"Ok.... Ugh, no - it's the same!"
(I guess this 3 year old can't be tricked into eating frozen grapes or blueberries)

"Oh, Joan. Who made you so beautiful?"
"I just did it by myself. I learned it, you know."

"Aw, man. I got egg on my face."

Pointing to her k-nine tooth,
"I have knives in my teeth."

"Joan, are you ever going to leave me?"
"Yes."
"You are? When?
"Tuesday."

"And Joan, do you remember Isabel? She's going to be there."
"Oh yeah... but what's her face look like."

Running into the kitchen,
"Momma!!! You love God!! You remember that?"

"Momma, how long is it to Tootsie's?"
"It's pretty far, but we're not going there. We're going to Stephanie's."
"Oh. Haha. I just made a mistake."

"Momma, I like these watermelons in the granola bar."
"No, Joan. That's a marshmallow."

"We don't have a lot of money, Joan."

"Why?"

"Because Mom doesn't have a job."

"But I have a job!"

"You do? What is it?"

"To play and take care of Charlotte."

I hope this won't make you mad.

If putting your child to bed takes a ton of work, or your child wakes constantly during the night, or maybe you dread the nighttime routine, you may not want to read this. It may make you envious or a bit resentful, and I don't want you to feel that way at all... I'm not trying to rub anything in your face - I only hope to encourage you. There is light at the end - something will eventually work for you and your family. Yep, it might take a loooong time - but it could be next week. So here's how ours is going. I pray it only brings you hope.

Old Routine:
I was in charge of Charlotte. Jude had Joan.
I change the diaper, put on the pjs and rock Charlotte in the dark while nursing to sleep or almost asleep.
I very carefully put Charlotte in the crib and roll her to the side, strategically giving her a blanket to hold.
She quickly falls asleep. Hopefully.
Meanwhile, Jude is putting pjs on Joan, brushing her teeth, and taking her to the bathroom. Then he reads her a story in the guest bed and says prayers with her there.
Once we are sure Charlotte is asleep, he carefully brings Joan to bed in the dark and tip-toes out.
I then creep back into the room right before my bedtime and "top Charlotte off" with a quick nursing. This was to hopefully tied her over until morning.

This routine made us feel like less of a family. Everything was scattered. Charlotte never got a book, nor did she get her teeth brushed (Do you brush your infants teeth? I'm honestly curious.). And I never got to say prayers with Joan. As soon as Jude got home, we both wanted something more out of our bedtime routine.

New Routine:
I change Charlotte and Jude changes Joan and takes care of the hygiene stuff.
While I'm feeding Charlotte in the girls' room with the lights on, Jude is reading Joan a big girl story in the guest bed.
After Charlotte's done, I brush her teeth (with the recommended stuff for her age) and then I bring her into the guest room.
Joan's book is just about done and then we read a board book as a family for Charlotte (who actually dislikes books at the moment).
Then we all go into the girls' room, kneel beside Joan's bed and say prayers as a family.
We turn out the light, rock Charlotte a little while as Jude lies beside Joan and we sing a song of her choice.
Charlotte is placed in the bed, almost always awake, And we continue singing as we creep out of the room.
I no longer go in at my bedtime to feed Charlotte, and she hasn't woken up for a feeding until morning. (That's kind of a miracle.)

This has a few more steps, but makes us feel like an intact family. And sometimes Charlotte stands up and whines a few moments, but she soon settles down, maybe because having Joan right next to her is comforting.

And sometimes I hear laughter and squealing from both of them for a good while (like almost an hour). But this warms my heart and I like knowing that they fall asleep together, as little girls should, sharing their memories and their room.

Good luck to you and your littles tonight, and sleep tight.

July 1, 2011

Today we did laundry. One load consisted of cloth diapers.

Today we cooked. We ate grilled pork fingers, peas, and roasted potatoes.

Today we ran. The girls sat beside one another in the jogging stroller.

Today we watched Netflix. We laughed at a stand-up comedian.

Today might seem like a normal day to you, but to us, it was a big deal.
Today, Jude was home.