30/52

"A portrait of Judah once a week, every week, in 2013"

30/52 - Judah is loving Oregon. This picture was taken on Grandma Driver's back porch - he was smelling the flowers and tasting the leaves! I put a stop to the leaf-eating, but it's super adorable when he smells the flowers :)

Joining Project 52 over at Che and Fidel

My favorite portrait from last week is little Penny from Monkey and Squirrel, coloring with the crayon held in her mouth :)

To see all of Judah's portraits so far this year, click on the image below:

29/52

"A portrait of Judah once a week, every week, in 2013"

29/52 - We went to the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead on Thursday, which is such a fun place with playgrounds and lots of animals to look at - cows, goats, horses, pigs, chickens, ducks, bison etc - and plenty of farm activities to do (and it's free Mon - Thurs!). But we picked such a hot day that all we wanted to do was sit on a bench in the shade and eat ice cream. Luckily I got this picture taken before we had ice cream, because you were a mess!

I'm excited to go again in the fall when we get back from our travels - we'll be there all the time!

Linking up with Project 52 over at Che and Fidel

My favorite portrait from last week is this little boy - I felt the same way as his mama about leashes until I had my own rambunctious little guy!

To see all of Judah's portraits so far this year, click on the image below:

currently {07.18.2013}

Loving: When we moved to Kansas City (Overland Park) last month, we moved into a house for the first time since we've been married... we've always lived in apartments so far. I'm loving that it has a patio and yard for Judah to play in, I'm loving the hardwood and tile floors that are so easy to clean (I HATE carpet), and I'm loving the brand new dishwasher. The rest of the built-in-1965-and-never-been-updated house leaves much to be desired, but I'm trying to focus on the good things :) Thankfully we're just renting.

Reading: Well, it's not technically reading, but we got the first two Game of Thrones audio books to listen to during all the travelling we have been (and will be) doing this summer. So far, I've made it through about 2 hours of the 30-hour long first book. I just don't do audio books... I have to have the page in front of me. I've always been a visual learner - if I see something I remember it. If I just hear something it goes in one ear and out the other. The Game of Thrones books are complicated... lots of characters and places and jumping around. I just can't get into them by listening, I need to SEE the names and be able to re-read parts etc. Thomas, on the other hand, is already in the middle of the second book. I want to get the actual paper-and-ink books, because I do want to read them... the 2 hours of the first one that I listened to was really good, if slightly confusing!

Watching: Sesame Street. And some more Sesame Street. Especially Elmo's World. With a little Bob the Builder mixed in there occasionally.

Looking forward to: The next month of travels! Judah and I are headed to Oregon next week. We'll be there for two and a half weeks, for a Congdon family reunion and then Thomas's brother's wedding :) We will miss Thomas - he is only able to come for a few days for the wedding. But we are super excited to hang out with Thomas's parents and five brothers, one of whom Judah hasn't even met yet! (Hi, Uncle Paul!)... And of course, we'll get to see Thomas's numerous and awesome aunts and uncles and cousins :)

Then, three days after we get back home from Oregon, Judah and I are flying to South Africa for two and half weeks to see my family. We'll be in Johannesburg for a few days, and then Cape Town for a week, and then back to Johannesburg for a few more days. Judah is going to meet his great-grandparents for the first time, and get to spend more time with my parents, whom he's seen twice, and my two brothers, whom he's seen once for two days!

Making me happy: We're pretty much travelling until early September, which is going to be crazy and fun at the same time with a 17-18 month old. We are going to miss Thomas, or Papa as Judah calls him. Missing Thomas is not what makes me happy, but rather the fact that Judah talks about his Papa all day long... when he wakes up in the morning it's "Papa? Papa?" and I have to tell him Papa is at work. He doesn't quite understand what that means yet, because then he says "Papa downstairs?"... haha. And we have to go downstairs and he runs around looking for Thomas, and I have to keep telling him "Papa is at work until tonight." Then he'll find one of Thomas's shirts or a shoe, or anything else of his during the day, and we start all over again... "Papa shirt! Papa shirt! Papa??" He likes to drag one of Thomas's shirts around all day like a blankie, too. It's kind of adorable.

And I'll end with two more things that are making me happy... these perfect pictures that Thomas took of Judah on the fourth of July!

28/52

"A portrait of Judah once a week, every week, in 2013"

28/52 - You love to be outside - we go out on the patio and play in your water tub at least once a day. You've been getting your molars recently, which makes you a very sad little buddy... momma is thankful for the great outdoors because it cures your grumpiness for a while! In this picture I had just asked you if you could see any birdies in the tree, and you stood up in your water tub to look for one :)

Joining in with Project 52 over at Che and Fidel.

My favorite portraits from last week are these boys wading in tidal pools - reminds me of my happy childhood by the ocean.

To see all of Judah's portraits so far this year, click on the image below:

27/52

"A portrait of Judah once a week, every week, in 2013"

27/52 - For the fourth of July, we went to the Mahner farm! You were in your element. There were goats to feed, puppies to chase, trucks and tractors to clamber all over, cousins and aunts and uncles to play with... and a little tricycle. You loved pushing it around and being pushed on it, too... your little legs weren't quite long enough to reach the pedals :)

Joining in with Project 52 over at Che and Fidel.

My favorite portraits from last week are little Bo from Inked in Colour, and this little guy from mama case getting water dumped over his head :)

To see all of Judah's portraits so far this year, click on the image below:

26/52

"A portrait of Judah once a week, every week, in 2013"

26/52 - Crazy week. Crazy crazy. Five days after we moved from Dallas, TX to Overland Park, KS we took off on a road trip to Jackson, TN for a dear friend's wedding. We had actually decided not to go, but we were feeling so sad about missing the wedding that we realized we just had to go. SO glad we ended up going - it was such a wonderful time.

This picture is after the wedding, back at the beautiful country mansion we stayed at with some other dear RVA friends. We had a blast swimming, and then had pizza for dinner. Here you are eating your pizza, with a bug flying in your face! The picture is grainy because of the low light, but I just love everything about it... your chubby cheeks, belly, arms and legs, your pouty lips, and the sagging diaper :)
This picture marks half way through the year! I truly cannot believe it.

Joining in with Project 52 over at Che and Fidel

To see all of Judah's portraits so far this year, click on the image below: