Spring 2013

After almost three years I thought I was doing pretty good as a mom and that maybe I could handle another one....  If I weren't drowning in laundry, dirty dishes, potty training, and a newborn I would laugh at myself-- or cry. (There is a very fine line between the two emotions right now.)  Needless to say, I am behind on documenting our wonderful but crazy life.  (Is doing a 4 month summary against the rules? Prepare for a long and slightly random post.)

Easter was fun this year because Judd is

old enough to get involved and know what is

going on.  I have to practice relaxing and

not stressing so much about things like

whether or not egg dye comes out of kitchen tables.

 

Judd is at the age where he wants to do

everything by himself. 

We celebrated Easter at the Ranch and it is a little boy's heaven.

There are tractors, old cars, dirt, and more treasures than

anyone could ask for.

 

Judd figured out how to look for eggs this year

and more specifically the plastic ones

because they have candy in them...

We also got to hear some family history and
go see where Great- Grandma Finicum's
homestead use to be.  This car marks
the spot where the dugout was.

Scott was giving Judd a ride on his blanket

so the next morning he had to give his

fire engine one too. 

Not exactly sure why he is licking the window....?

(ignore my laundry hung out to dry)

 

He thinks that Paca's really fine blasting

sand is wonderful to play in.

 

Dads make the best playing buddies.  :)

 

I came home to find to my surprise (and dismay)

that Judd was on the roof helping fix the swamp cooler..

Here Scott is showing Judd how to trim

branches on a tree in our yard. If you

look closely he even has his plastic saw to help.

Checking the bird's nest to see if the

eggs have hatched.

Going to church is a little more enjoyable

if he gets to bring power tools.

(the nursery leaders are probably relieved to

know that the tools have to stay in the car.) 

He saved a little moth that fell in his bath water.

He was so proud of it and was very careful the

rest of his bath so that he could show his Dad

when he got home from work.

 

 
Judd loves to be a cowboy but refuses to wear any cowboy
hat except this bright, fuchsia one. Oh well- I guess it goes
better with the frog jammies....

Tying Otis up to his tractor.

Good thing Judd has Paca to help him with the real thing.

 

Big Personality for Such a Little Boy

It seems like for every inch Judd grows, his

personality grows a foot.  He has very distinct

tastes and doesn't hesitate letting us know what

he does and doesn't like.  Judd loves fishing and

everything he catches is a whale.  He loves whales.

 

He loves hanging out with his Dad.  He likes going

places and his favorite ride is "Dad's truck." Mom's

car is fine but Dad's old, white Toyota is pretty much

the coolest thing ever.

 

He has this special way that he wants Dad to lay

when snuggling and getting ready for bed.  We

can't figure out his system. He pushes Scott's legs

around until they are "just so" and at some

parallel angle to the moon or something.  He

won't rest until it is just right. 

 

If I can't find Judd it usually means he has

crawled out the dog door and escaped to the

backyard or I left the dryer door open and he

has found his very own cave. 

 

On a regular basis Judd will pull out his

pretend "binoculars" and look at something.

 

I have the hardest time getting Judd to eat.

I tell him that little boys can't survive on

just yogurt.  Every now and then he

pulls the most random thing out of the fridge

and insists that is what he wants to eat.

Usually Judd is chasing the dogs around

with his pirate sword but sometimes his

tender heart makes a brief appearance.

Otis cut his foot when he was digging

so Judd found my dish towel all by

himself and was fixing Otis' "owie." 

 

I don't think the Lone Ranger's horse ever

tried to eat the reins but Otis is still a pretty good sport.

 

 
He even let Judd stash his revolver for safe keeping.

He is always rigging up some kind of pulley system.

It's not surprising to find his trucks hoisted up in the air

in some kind of yarn web woven through the kitchen chairs. 

I love this picture! After he climbed the stairs at the Temple he

leaned down and listened at the door.  :)

Judd is a "scoop" man.  He loves tractors and

dump trucks but his favorite are scoops. He

puts many, many miles on his toy scoops

and I always have a hole full of dirt in the process

of being dug or filled back up.

 

We have been trying to explain that he is going

to be a big brother.  The idea he grasped from

all of it is now he has a big Daddy scoop, a Mommy

scoop, and a little baby scoop.

Instead of a teddy bear he sleeps with his baby scoop.

 

He also gives his scoops rides in the stroller

so maybe that is progress. 

Family Pictures 2012

Family pictures are so stressful for me. I seriously agonized for

weeks about what we should all wear. Would we look like we

went together but not too matchy? Then I worried

about where to have them taken, if the weather was going

to be good, if Judd was going to cooperate.

Would I look like I was stressed out....?

But for some reason I love having family pictures.  I take tons
of pictures of Judd (just ask Scott) but I like having ones of
all of us together.  I feel like Judd is growing up so fast and
we will never have this moment together again so I want to
somehow capture it forever.  Too cheesy or dramatic?
Probably, but that is how I feel.

Luckily, Judd was in good spirits for about the

first half of the time so we got these cute ones

of him.  Of course, he somehow managed to

scratch his head a few days before.  The

lady who took the pictures said she could

photo shop it out - but by then I was attached

to how accurate it is of our little boy...

If you look closely, you can see the half-eaten 

Smarties that I was bribing him with..

The fun story behind the photo is that there are 

technically four of us in the picture.  We had just

found out for sure this afternoon that we were expecting again.

Love this little boy.  

Love my little family.