Sprayground!!

We went to the Spray Park today. That I found out is actually called a Sprayground, people had just been calling it by a different name I guess. Anyway we were there right around 10 and there were not many people there. It is a great place, but Judson did not love it. He did not mind going through things if I was holding him, but WOULD NOT go by himself. So I got much wetter than I had planned on, but that is okay.

We took a little water break. Next time I would also bring a snack, but just was not sure of what all to take with us. Any other child that was eating a snack though Judson would go over to and just watch. He really wanted anything to snack on.

I hope that we can go again, but summer is so busy!! And I will make sure that we are there right at 10 because by 11 it was so crazy busy. But it is such a great thing that they open it up for free from 10-12! It was extra nice because Judson did not love it and I did not have to feel like I was wasting money for only staying for an hour or so. :)

The pictures are not great because Judson did not want me to get to far away from him, and I did not want to get to close to the water with the camera.

chenges

Well we have gone to one nap a day with Judson. He could almost do every other day, one nap two naps, at this point. But we are trying it. I think that it will be easier for camp, which is next week. And we are able to involved in more activities around here. We have been able to go to a play date with some people from church, play with a family here in the neighborhood, enjoy story time at the library and I hope to be able to take advantage of the spray park sometime soon. I have heard that it is free from 10-12 everyday, which would have been during nap time. Judson is doing well with the one nap, seems to be getting enough sleep and not getting to tired by bed time.

He has also been cutting so more teeth. They are just through his gums not really in yet, it was a rough couple nights with him crying and fussing. I was very tired, and so was he!! We both took very good naps on Saturday and Sunday. These two new teeth are on the top, so if his bottom teeth do not start breaking through he is going to look pretty silly. That is now six teeth on top and two on bottom. I am sure they are on the way though!

Going for it

We have not been very good at letting Judson use a spoon 100% on his own. So today for breakfast I did, well for awhile at least. He did a pretty well but then he started finger painting on his tray! So I had to step in and help. :)

He does not usually wear a bib, because he just takes it off, but today I put one on him and it helped with the mess and kept his belly from all the cold yogurt spilling on it.

Judson has been using a fork for awhile and does really well with it!! He actually is a better eater if we let him use a fork. But it is not messy, which is why he has not used a spoon much, but we will get better so that he can!!

I love this kid!!

Yesterday Judson and I ventured out to the library. He LOVED it!! We for sure will have to make in a weekly event. We found out that Wednesday mornings is when they do story time and songs, so we are going to try that next week. Judson love to look around at the book, had so much fun watching and playing with the other kids and he made these two crafts too. He is starting to enjoy coloring, though it does not hold his attention long. Judson also liked playing with the train table that was in the children's section of the library. He loves books and we hope that fun trips to the library will encourage that love!

I also took him to get his second hair cut yesterday. I know it is hard to see from the pictures but he got quite a bit cut off. It really changes his look. He is definitely not a baby anymore, in look or in actions. He turned 16 months on July 5th. He is a hilarious little boy and we love watching his personality grow more and more every day. He still is not talking much, not really any full words, but says "dada", "mama", "mo" for more, "ba" for ball and he still uses sign language for please. He does not say much but babbles a lot and is able to communicate most things that he wants to. I love that he can understand so much. Like if he wants to go outside then I tell him to go get his shoes and he does then I tell him to sit down which he does and we put his shoes on and go play. It is also nice that when we come back in I can tell him to sit down and take his shoes off and he does. Judson also loves to throw things away and go get things for us. He is still a super great eater. Love fruit of course, pretty much anything we will let him eat. But he also is still doing great with vegies too. He likes broccoli, carrots and cauliflower the best. We have tried hard to keep sugar out of his diet, but he still has such a sweet tooth. It is funny how he will sneak a bite from anyone that will give it to him. We have given him some sweet treats, but try to really limit them.

This is our neighborhood park. It is so nice to have a park that we can walk to. We were spoiled with that in Lincoln. We were told by a neighbor yesterday that Ankeny actually as 42 parks. It is crazy to think about, because Ankeny is not huge!! Ankeny has also been named one of the USA's "playful cities" so apparently it is a very family friendly town. We have not been to any other parks in town other than the neighborhood one, though it is plenty exciting for Judson so we may not get to many other this summer.

I realize more and more everyday how amazingly blessed I am to have a husband that is supportive of me staying home!! I am so blessed to be able to do all these things and make all these memories with Judson!! Thank you so much Nathan!!!! We love you!!!

Family Camping

Over the weekend we went camping with my side of the family. We were at a park in Palo, Iowa. We got there Friday evening and stayed until Sunday afternoon. On Saturday after lunch we went swimming. It was a great little beach and lake. It was not very deep but that made it great for the kids and more relaxing for all of us.

Judson LOVED the sand, and playing with his cousins in the sand. I did actually get him in the water too. The first time I slipped in a whole in the ground so I splashed us both pretty good and he did not like that at all!! But later I took him out again and he was splashing people and having a great time. It was so fun to have him out in the water and enjoying himself. But he did not last to long, he really wanted to play in the sand again. :)

After swimming we went back to our camp site and had a little snack.

Here are some pictures of all of the family.

My brother in law Bill got a hold of my camera and these are some of the pictures that he took.

Maddy eating some chips.

Ryan, probably not even knowing that his picture was being taken.

Bill so proud of himself for taking the camera and getting all these pictures!

Judson's make shift highchair. It actually worked pretty well for the weekend.

The boys, Cole and Will, had a great time riding their bikes all over the park. They road around our campsite a lot and then road on many trails with Grandpa and their dad too. In these pictures Cole got the bike stuck in a hole, he thought it was pretty funny!

Judson loves all of his cousins but especially Will and Cole. These pictures were taken right before we left. He was so funny when it was time to say bye. He would give everyone hugs because he was asked too, but kept wanting to give Will and Cole hugs and was so excited every time!

Judson and I looked through these pictures today and when we got to these he got SO excited!! It is so cute how much he loves these boys!

It was a great weekend, though I am very tired now. It was a lot of work to chase a 16 month old around a camp ground!! He is worn out too though from his late nights, early mornings and lack of naps. I am so glad that he is sleeping well today!!

Flooring

Well they finally came to work on the floor!!

They delivered the wood last Tuesday, but in needed to just be in the house to acclimate for a week. So for that week it just sat in the hallway and Judson climbed on it. He loved having it there, thought it was so much fun to that "high" off the ground!

Here is what it looked like before they started. It had been buckled when we moved in, then service master came to check for water damage and tore out a bunch of it. We had been keeping this area covered in rugs so that we would not stub our toes.

They came Tuesday to get started. We had to move every thing out so they could tear out the old flooring. It was a bit annoying to have everything in the living room. We were finally getting settled and then had to live in a mess again. Luckily our living room is big so we still had room to live! Judson and I also spent a lot of time in the basement. So happy that we have a lot of his toys down there and Nate figured out how to get a T.V. hooked up down there. (there are not many outlets and is not a cable hook up)

Wednesday they came and started to lay the new flooring but did not get as far as they thought because they did not have the board that they needed to help move the fridge without scratching the floor.

They did get the entry and closet done though!! Just not all the bathroom or kitchen.

Today the guy came back and was able to finish the kitchen!!! It is so great to have a fixed floor!! It is so great to not have to worry about tripping on it too!

See doesn't it look so great now!!

The bathroom is not done though because they ran out of wood. The guy that measured and ordered the wood thought there might be enough but knew it would be close, well he was right it was close but there was not enough. I am just so glad that the guy that laid it decided to get the kitchen done! We can just shut the bathroom door and not have to look at in or deal with it for now. The wood under the toilet is the old stuff and has to be taken out and redone, but new wood has to be ordered first. It is sad because each box does 40 square feet and only about 9 needs to be done, but a whole box has to be ordered. I am just glad that the main part of the house is done!! SO SO SO HAPPY!!

4th of July weekend

We spent our weekend in Clear Lake with the Burleson family. All day Saturday there was a MTG (Magic the Gathering) booster draft that Nate played in. It is a card game that I know little about but Nate and many of the Burleson family, mainly the guys and Callie, enjoy playing. So Judson and I went shopping and hung out with girls and Gerry for the day.

These are pictures of the Burleson grandgirls, in their cute matching shirts!

Judson thought he should get in on the action. It was so cute to watch him just wiggle in on the girls and make a space for himself. They liked having him there even if their faces do not quite show it!

He was way excited to have all the girls to play with!

Sunday night we went to go see the fireworks on the beach. It was a GREAT show. We were so close to them, we were a little nervous how Judson would do. But he did great!! He loved them. We tried to have him wear ear plugs because it was so loud but he would only last so long and then pull them out.

So we would end up covering his ears when it was really loud. Especially the finally, it was so super loud and bright. Judson just turned around and didn't even watch. I even closed my eyes because there were so many flashes of light.

Monday there was a parade that we went to. Many of the Burleson family walked in it with this float. It is in support of LUV Iowa, trying to keep marriage between a man and a woman.

It was a very busy weekend and we were very tired when we got home on Monday night, but it was a lot of fun!