forgot to mention.

see that great pic of sam and i off to the right? we won a runner-up prize in a nationwide year long mom and baby contest! yep. out of hundreds (maybe more, i don't know) we were one of just a few to get picked! that pic (taken by me) got us a $100 gift card to walmart! pretty cool huh?!! told you we have the most beautiful babies!!!!

boys, boys, boys.

so, being a mom of 2 boys is SO amazing! i love my little guys so much! sam has really warmed up to judah more and more. he loves to take his paci to him if he's fussing and his face lights up when we put judah in his lap. he also loves to rub judah's head and belly....something he has seen us do from time to time. it's the sweetest thing and absolutely melts my heart!

sam is now 16 months old and judah is 1 month old. time is flying already! they are both growing like little weeds. sam had a well baby check this past week and is holding steady at 27lbs. he's also taking a half flinstone gummy vitamin everyday because that child is the pickest eater ever! i don't know where he gets that from either. matt and i will eat pretty much anything. not sam though. his staples are oatmeal, grits, raisins, yogurt, gerber meals pudding, applesauce and mac and cheese. oh, and he likes sandwich meat and cheese. he also likes anything that is considered to be junk food. how do kids know what is junk food and what is healthy?? he won't even *try* most healthy foods. i gave him a banana the other day only to have him hold it in his hand and squish it like he was the incredible hulk. he then proceeded to pound it into the tray of his highchair. ugh. other than that though, he is doing fantastic!

he still sleeps like a teenager. it's unreal how long that child can sleep. i'm not complaining by any means but it really blows my mind! he is now going to bed about 7:30pm. he wakes about 6 or 7 am and talks to himself for about 10-15 minutes then crashes again until 9:30 or 10ish. we are so lucky! haha! we did try to get him to sleep in our bed the other day mostly just because we were feeling very sentimental and judah was in our room (in his bassinet), so we thought it would be fun to bring sam in. um, big mistake. he sleeps like a wild child! i mean, he throws himself all over the place. after thoroughly beating us to death he woke up (due to our laughing) then decided that it was really time to play! needless to say after 5 mintues of playing he wound up back in his room. in his crib. i'm not sure when (if) we'll try that one again!

judah is doing great and growing like a big boy! he weighs 11.5lbs now which is just crazy! sam didn't weigh that until he was like 2 months old! maybe even a little older! he really is a good baby although he does fuss some. i'm not going to act like he's perfect because then you all might get jealous. i mean, we do have beautiful kids so we don't want anyone feeling worse about theirs than they already do! hey, what can i say? i'm a proud momma!!!! and have you seen my kids lately?? anyway, back to judah. now that we are learning more of his likes, dislikes, and little quirks we are getting much better at offsetting any potential dramatic moments! woo hoo!

i'm posting some pics of the boys. the kicking pic is NOT actual kicking. we were all playing together on the bed and sam realized he could touch his foot to judah's head....which he did. literally. what can i say? he's a boy.

our family of 4

we are finally a family of 4! i'm a horrible blogger, i know. sorry to those who actually come on here looking for updates only to find nothing. but, here is an update for you! :)

judah cole was born on march 26, 2009 at 8:08 am. he weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 3oz and was 22 inches long! his apgar scores were 9/9 and we immediately fell in love. i think every parent wonders how they will ever love a new child coming into their home as much as they love the one/s they already have and although it can't be explained, it just happens. everyone had told us about this overwhelming love but until you experience it for yourself you don't really understand how it works. we were so worried about loving judah like we love sam but can now attest to God's amazing glory and His capacity to allow us to love in ways we never imagined.

after a great delivery and FINALLY getting to actually experience the birth of a baby together our world quickly turned upside down. i'm not going to get into all the details but am going to give the gist of what happened.

judah's lungs were not quite developed (although he was 39wks 1day) and he wasn't breathing on his own. so after having this big boy and these amazing apgars our little guy was sent to the nicu. he was never once rolled into my hospital room and we didn't get to hold him until he was 2 days old. i cannot even begin to make you understand just how hard it is to go through something like that. only those who have had little ones in the nicu understand the feeling of absolute helplessness that comes with seeing your baby surrounded by tubes, wires, and monitors. judah was placed on a cpap at 40% oxygen. he finally graduated to a nasal cannula after 2.5 days in the nicu. i was discharged on a monday (after being admitted on thursday) and judah had to stay until wednesday. it is so hard to come home without your baby. when we got home monday i went and hid in my closet and cried. the only people that i wanted around me were matt and sam. and to be honest, a 15 month old boy just won't let you love on him very much unless he's about to go to sleep!

judah has now been home for a week. we've had 2 rough nights (which weren't really that bad.....we were just both sleep deprived from travelling back and forth between the house and the nicu) with him but i think he's finally getting the hang of being out in the real world. the past few nights he has been an excellent baby. we keep waiting for the drama to start. everyone told us that because sam was so good that our next would be a little devil but so far they seem to be wrong. i can only hope that it lasts. i tell judah that he owes us anyway after putting us through all the nicu time.

sam was a little thrown off at first by this new bundle of joy but has really done well. we didn't think he would be quite as aware as he is of his new brother but we were mistaken. he has held him although that didn't last for long. haha! sam is a real busy body since he hit a year old and rarely stops long enough to even look around. oh, and he is ALL BOY! it's crazy just how rough these boys are from such a young age. i can just see the broken bones and black eyes now.

matt and i are so grateful to God for what He did in our lives over the past couple of weeks. we can't wait to watch these 2 boys grow up together and be best friends. thank you all for the prayers!