Movie Night

Friday morning started off in a rush. I had an hour to get the down stairs "clean". that means finding hiding places for all of my kids toys and finally bring up the basket of clothes that I've been trying to forget about.  We were getting a visitor. Little Collette needed a babysitter and she was coming over to hang out with me and my boys. Jude also had a hearing test that morning so Jeff was left with Noah and Collette for a little, while Jude and I did that.

Princess Collette!

Jude welcomed her with kisses

Jude and I headed to the hospital for his hearing test. if I would have been allowed to bring my camera I would have! it was so cool how they tested him. they put us in a soundproof box. inside it had a little table with blocks in the center and a little chair for Jude to sit on. the chair was positioned in between two speakers, one on the left and one on the right. and each speaker had a light above it to get the kids attention if needed.

The doctor that helped us was so friendly and answered every question that i had and was so kind to Jude. when we were in the box or room whatever you want to call it. the doctor would start making sounds in either of the speakers and then Jude would start to mock him it was too funny. the doctor would go babababa and then Jude would do it right back. 

after we were done in the box. he put something in jude's ear and what it did was it sent a sound to the cochlea and if the cochlea could hear normally it was send the sound back. the doctor said that he is not concerned about his hearing. Jude's ear looked and heard like normal!

 When we got home i relieved Jeff of his baby sitting duties and it was was me and the 3 kiddos. i must say it wasn't as hard as everyone makes it seem to be! but then again Collette was an angel.

 Noah was happy to have someone his own size to play with

I got a little smirk out of her

 Noah and Collette having a baby talk

 At this point my boys were starting to get bored and started doing thing that were bad so it was time to bring out the fun. i took out all of tents that we got as gifts and the kids loved them! Collette was crawling in and out of tunnel the whole time it was adorable

Noah liked it too!

 So we were suppose to go to Becky's drive in but Jeff was concerned that he was going to be tired for work in the morning. so we had a movie night at home with the works. we had popcorn, Jones soda, and some candy. 

 but before the fun could begin Jeff helped his friend Irving with his mac. Jude thought it would be fun to try on his helmet.

 After Irving left, i laid out our outside blanket and some pillows and we were all set. we all laid on the floor of or living room and watched a movie 

About half way through the movie, the kids stopped watching got a little hyper from the soda and treats and we needed to get up and turn on something they liked. it was fun while it lasted!

at the end of the day i am feeling so blessed. I know that things could have been more bumpy for Jude. he could have had heart, thyroid, hearing problems but he is a happy healthy little boy. I thank my lucky stars for his health. I can only imagine what other families are going through. the only things that we have to worry about in the future is Jude's eye surgery and his sleep study. but wow that's it that's all we have to be concerned about we are so blessed.

Cloudy Day

Grey clouds filled the sky through out the day and the boys and I were getting cabin fever. 

When Jude and Noah get bored they cling to me for entertainment...mostly because I'm the only one that can control the tv remote to turn on Yo Gabba Gabba or Curious George.

one of my favorite things about kids is that they can never get to close watch their favorite shows

once they had enough of the music and the noise they get grumpy and out of control. this means Jude pulling food off of our shelves because he wants to eat because he is bored (mommy does the same thing at times too) and Noah crying to either be held or for his binkie. 

when the grumpiness kicks in this momma needs to get off of facebook and needs to get on their level to play a little more. so then we spend some time reading books, dancing, or chasing after each other in the living room with my camera in hand.

look at my big guys...i adore having almost matching outfits

i love chasing them around with my camera and they seem to love it as well. in order to get a great picture you should see me. i make weird faces and noises to try to get a smile. or i will make up games with Juju like "On your mark, get set, GOOOOOO!" and right before go Jude will smile and i get an awesome picture. with Noah its more simple he will smile at just his brother running around and spinning in circles.

But Nap time is an awesome time. Jude hardly takes naps anymore. when they nap together i finally get on opportunity to catch up on my dvr and reading my book. 

When the boys nap together its magical! even though i totally staged this it still pulls at my heart strings.  

kids sleep in random places...Jude passed out on the floor 

but in all I am glad today was a slower day. a day where I could truly relax and enjoy my children without extra responsibilities. the next couple of weeks are going to be stressful job interviews and doctor appointments. for now i will spend the rest of the night enjoying my family.

Easter

As my kids get older, I'm trying to make the holidays more magical! I remember Easter when I was younger, my mom would write us a note from the Easter bunny. the note would give use directions on what we would need to do or go to get our Easter baskets. It was so exciting as a child and I hope I could live up to what my mother use to do. So this year I found on Pinterest how to make bunny prints with baby power.

And this is what we came up with! Jeff the artist that he is, helped me draw and cut out the prints. he brought the kids up to bed and I did my magic. I couldn't wait for the boys to wake up and see what the bunny was up too.

and when we woke up in the morning that one little finger point made my heart race! they were so excited

the first couple of minutes they didn't even see what they got for Easter they were just enjoying and investigating the prints. i was a happy momma.

We didn't go over board with Easter gifts. some candy bubbles and a book for each of my boys. Jude got a 8 silly monkey book. let me tell you something we have replaced this book 3 times so far. he just really enjoys the boo boos the monkeys get from jumping on the bed

 Another reason why I loved holidays as a kid, I loved being able to eat a ton of candy. So that's what we did Chocolate covered peeps before breakfast...why not! After Jeff got done with work my parents set up an Easter egg hunt for us!

Noah was not thrilled at first!

Aunt Kaitlin was a huge help! one thing I love about Kaitlin is every day has to be a fashion show and she was a sight to see her walking in the field in her 6 inch heel-less heals and mini dress following Jude around collecting the eggs. she looked fabulous like she always does.

there it is again that little finger pointing in excitement!

it doesn't matter what holiday i need to make sure i have a photo taken with them

the Easter egg hunt was successful! I hope that this will be a tradition in our family, not only with my kids but with my future nieces and nephews.

Uncle Guck and Aunt Wess (that is what Jude calls them) got silly sting for the boys but they had more fun spraying Erik (he is also known as Guck)

Homemade Manicotti and meatballs! A reason why i love being Italian...thank you mom

Quality time coloring on the computer

Not only did we celebrate Easter but we had also celebrated Dirk's birthday, which was the day before, and Erik's Birthday, which was the same day as Easter

I love being together for the holidays. the only thing that would have made the day complete was to have Dannielle home. I truly wish that she lived closer. it makes me sad to think she misses the holidays and seeing my boys grow up. and when she has kids i don't want to miss them growing up. i hope that the future will bring her closer to home.

once we got home we spent some time relaxing as a family. read a couple of stories to my boys. i love how quiet and calm they become once i hope the book and start to read. and i never knew that Jude looked at me when i read i love that little face. but in all Easter was a great day filled with magic, family and food! 

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter!