WE DID IT

So Saturday was the BIG day.
The Grand Island Half Marathon.
It was a success.
We finished!

John's mother MaryAnne came out from Gilbert Arizona and joined us on race day. Although we each finished at different times we all had a blast and are very glad we did it! John and I finished much faster than we thought, John running 8:40 min miles and me 9 min miles! It was a beautiful day, perfect for a nice run. And Jude had his first experience with a babysitter, and did so wonderful! (at least that's what she said.)

Here we are before the race! Trying to get pumped up!

Here is John about to cross the finish line! The first one out of the group!

Here we are after the race reunited with little Jude!

Here is the group.
Garth (another fellow dental student from AZ), John, myself and Maryanne!

Showing off our medals after crossing the finish line!Today I am feeling every single muscle in my body, but it is a great feeling! We are anxious to find more runs to do in the future, and a marathon someday too!

Gordito

Yes, I must admit that we commonly call Jude our little Gordito. Thanks to John for starting it, I hope it does not give him a complex. Although I must say he is the cutest little fat boy ever! Yes, at his four month appointment he was 95% for weight and 90% for height! So the name definitely makes sense.
Anyway, our little Gordito is five months today! Wow, does time fly! I remember as if it was yesterday just being pregnant with him, and now he is turning into a little boy!
Here are a few of our favorite pictures we took the other day!


Jude loves to be the statue of liberty with daddy. He has been doing this for a long time and is getting so strong!

I love this picture because of the drool. This is a common look for Jude.

I don't know what this face is, but it cracks me up!


He loves to play in his exersaucer, he loves to ride on daddy's shoulders. He loves the phone and the remote control, he will grab it if you are using it. He loves to sit up, even though he tends to fall over eventually. He is constantly rolling over, and tries to crawl and move, he gets frustrated because he wants to move but just can't quite figure it out. He puts everything into his mouth. He loves the shower, and loves to let the water hit his head. I can't wait for the summer, he will LOVE the pool. He is always happy, and gets really hyper and excited sometimes! ( is this a sign for his future life, will he be a crazy boy!)

We are so lucky to have him in our lives! We are also very excited because Grandma Taylor comes tomorrow to play for a few days, and then next week Grandma and Grandpa Jones come to play! We can't wait!

A night of Firsts

Last night we had a lovely Family night at the ball game. We headed down to a Buffalo Bison's game with some friends and had a great time. This was Jude's first baseball game. He loved it.

Notice his little hat, which is a little snug on his large round head!

Last night also marked his first taste of chocolate ice cream thanks to daddy! His new favorite thing is to lick everything we are eating, needless to say he LOVED the ice cream!

More Babies!

My great friend Briste is expecting, (along with Rachel, Sarah and Erica), and we decided to surprise her with a shower. I swear one of us is always pregnant out here!
We all gathered up and carpooled out to her parent's house near Buffalo and spent the night enjoying yummy food, presents and great conversation! It is always so fun to be together, and I can't wait to meet her little girl in June!
Here are a few great pics Kristen took.

Briste looks so cute, I swear when I was seven months I did not look like this!
Opening presents!!
Little (naked) Jude enjoying the shower!



Jude and his friend Trey playing together, they were having so much fun, holding hands and trying to steal each others toy.

Also, Jude is getting more fun every single day. I love it! Here are a few pics that I love.

Every time after his naps, he loves to stay swaddled for a little while and just hang out. Once he is ready to play he starts to move around and I unswaddle him. This is him just relaxing on the love sac.

This might be the only time this is cute! But I could not resist.

Easter Sunday

Here is our little family enjoying Easter. We had a wonderful day spending the day together, and thinking about our beautiful Savior.






Saturday we took Jude to see the Easter bunny. I am trying to figure out how to scan the picture in to post it. And yes, I had to talk John into letting me put our son on some strange "bunny's" lap, but it is his first Easter!

General Conference Weekend

We love to watch conference, especially on mommy or daddy's shoulders!

Our 4 month old!

Now that Jude is 4 months, he is totally not a little baby anymore, he is just a little big person. He is so smart. He loves to play, and be outside. Here are a few pics of stuff he loves:

His new ExerSaucer. He is in heaven with so many toys. Thanks grandma and grandpa Jones.

He loves being outside. A few days last week were very nice, so we took walks, and played on a blanket outside!

His new bedtime routine includes a bath, a story and a song. He does so well, at sitting still, looking at the pictures, and listening to the story.


We go to the doctor on Monday, I am excited to see how BIG he really is!

Sarah and Jude's Spring Break

Jude and I were lucky enough to travel back to my home, old 'ol Arizona. Its weird to think that Jude's first home will be back here in Buffalo NY. John left us to do some amazing service work across the country in Ghana Africa so we took a trip too. An update of John's trip to Ghana will be coming soon!!

We were able to stay in Arizona for 12 days. It was a nice trip. We were there long enough to really enjoy the WARM weather and family. My sister and her family were also able to come down, so it was great being all together. Jude and I were also able to spend a few days with Grandma Taylor and Uncle Jordan while we were there.

Jude enjoyed playing with his cousins, going to the pool for the first time, swinging on the patio swing with grandma and grandpa, taking walks to the park and getting used to the bright sunshine. Jude is growing so much and can now grab his toys, suck on his fingers, and ROLL OVER. He is such a big boy, and we LOVE him more than ever!!

Here are a few pictures that document our trip to Arizona:

Jacob and Jude are just 2 1/2 months apart and are going to be best buds! They already love playing with each other.

Even though Jacob can be a little rough. He was just so intrigued by his new friend Jude and his nice round head!
Here we are at Hamilton pool! It was open during spring break. Jude and I spent a few minutes in the sun soaking up some much needed Vitamin D.
The cute boys at In-N-Out. They are getting so big, and so fun. We enjoyed many great meals while we were there. I had to get my Mexican fix a few times.

Here is Jude catching some ZZZZZZ's. He fell asleep with those very cute sunglasses!!
Here is my sister sporting her CRAZY wrap sling thing. We enjoyed a sabbath afternoon at the neighborhood park enjoying the weather and relaxing with family!


And of course I did a little shopping. . . . (and not just for me, Jude too.)
There goes Jude riding the pony, riding around that big fat pony. . . . That is a line from the little song I sing when anyone rides the horsey!! This was Jude's first ride!


Here is Jude with a few of his Girlfriends, Brielle and Leah. He is so BIG compared to them! I had a few of my friends over and we enjoyed some YUMMY freshly baked warm cookies right out of the oven topped with vanilla ice cream!Here is Jude doing his new trick. Rolling from his tummy to his back. Here he is enjoying tummy time, and then. . . .

here he is! On his back. Nice roll Jude!
Here are a few pictures taken before we left. I thought they were pretty cute!

Here is Jude showing off his cute sweater vest after church!




We had a great time away, but it was great to see John again.

P.S.- After our return trip home to Buffalo, we made the transfer of Jude in bed with mommy into his BIG boy crib for night nights! He is doing great, putting himself to sleep(with a few tears), and sleeping for 7 hours straight without eating! YEAH!! We are so proud of him. He really needed this, there is no way he would be doing this if he was still in bed with me!!

Look Alike

Everyone always asks who we think Jude looks like. Well, I personally think that Jude has John's eyes, and my nose, and chin. It is hard to tell, I am sure as he grows we will continue to see John and myself in Jude. I think as he has gotten bigger I can see a little bit of me in him too. But what do you think?

Here is John:

Here is me:

Here are a few of Jude:

PolarBear Swim

Buffalo New York

March 1st
Outside
20 degrees. . . with windchill 5 degrees
Windy
Dental Students
Frozen Lake Ontario, 34 degree water
Swimsuits

What does this mean?
This means John along with several other dental students in his clinic tier experienced the Polar Bear Swim. Yes, they dove in the frozen lake along with hundreds of others!


And this is Jude trying so hard to roll over, he stretches, and kicks up on his side. Before long, he will be moving all over the place!