jude-isms, harry is half

its january 2012 and winter is finally here in chicago. no more spring-like picnics in the backyard like last week. its time to cuddle up, pull out the cashmere and spend more playtime on the living room rug with jude. the current hits are Cars2 lego's, tow trucks, and lacing toys, although the laces keep turning into magic ropes apparently.

jude's vocabulary is so cute at three.

hello everybody

when you ask him "how was preschool jude?" the answer usually involves "it's doing good", along with some bit about what he played, drama on the playground, or playing in the loft.

among his favorite phrases at home, "i love you dad. dad i love you." or "M is for mommy".

recently he's added "can i help?" which means...batten down the hatches, jude is climbing up and getting involved, be it cooking or changing harry's diaper.

Today the kitchen counters got a fresh coating of half an inch of water while I fed harry in the other room. it began with him playing with his snowball in the sink, it ended with mom unexpectedly washing down the counter, the stove and a few feet of floor.

Repeat after me, he is THREE, he is still learning what is ok and what is not. yes i never actually said 'don't spray your snowball and the counter with water'. dang. can't kill him yet.

trains in the playroom

thomas and his friends are still popular playtime pals. unfortunately the tracks never stay as neat as this photo.

January 19th is a big day for jude's little brother harry. harry is six months old! we've had a rough few weeks with harry's night sleep, wakes ups due to congestion. but on the whole he is a happy pleasant boy.

happy 1/2 harry

christmas 2012- here's the card

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

santa encounters

ok so now our kids are famous, if you count newspapers and newsletters. it is a fun moment from christmas 2011. it happened after we took jude and harry to a santa breakfast in forest park.

jude excited to meet the big man

we enjoyed and sausage prepared by the local park district board. we cheered santa's arrival and lined up for photos.

breakfast with santa

speaking of santa, this is the first year jude is old enough to understand santa. our 3 year old asked many questions about exactly how santa gets in the house, and how he gets down, and then up the chimney. at one point greg quietly said 'aren't you supposed to ask this stuff when you're like 7?'. we enjoyed a christmas countdown with an advent chain jude made at preschool. it allowed jude to tear off one link each night on the countdown to christmas and jesus' birth.

christmas is exciting

a few days after the santa breakfast, friends in forest park noticed familiar faces on the front page.

look who is on santa's lap

so this was our boy jude at three.

and here is our boy jude at two...

santa scares me!

the photo appeared in the november newsletter of grandma carole's country club to promote their 2011 santa breakfast. fun to have both moments in print this year.

as for our actual christmas, we had a great time celebrating locally with family. early christmas morning we crept down with the boys to see what santa brought.

christmas morning 2011

kara made sure we captured harry's first christmas. he certainly is our best present of the last year, with george's return-to-health a close second.

sometimes the smallest gifts are the best

we close with christmas joy that we found some time to focus on more than just presents or even family. Jesus, Immanuel which means God with Us, changed the world forever when he, the g-o-d-, became a human baby. we find his story compelling and have not been the same since we decided to follow christ. we are grateful for a chance celebrate how he works in our lives.

merry christmas 2011

what are you doing new year's eve?

with a baby under six months...new years is pretty much another day of taking care of the boys, which means waking up sometime in the 5am or 6am hour. so new year's eve is not a big stay up late night this year. but we still made it a festive eve at grandma carole's house.

new years 2011

still in his new year in our family, little harry usually calls it a night by 6:30. so we pulled out the party supplies and got him and jude to pose for photos. they never quite turn out like kodak moments do they?

We held an early 8pm countdown with jude.

happy new year!

kara made homemade chocolate peppermint ice cream sandwiches to go with grandma carole's yummy steak. thanks grandma carole!

an eve treat

it is rare we celebrate new years with extended family as we have often traveled for thanksgiving and christmas. but this year we got to ring in 2012 with uncle todd too.

jude and todd

so jude joins 2012 as a busy three and a half year old...yes he preferred the crown over the hat, that is until the rest of the guys put on their big holiday hats.

little boy blue, blow your horn

harry seemed more interested in simply trying to eat the noise maker. happy new year from the millers!

my first new years eve