Why is it?????

Tell me...why is it that when a kid gets a sour stomach it HAS to happen in their HIGH CHAIR and CAR SEAT? Couldn't it happen...oh say...as they are walking past the restroom or as they are standing near a trash can? OH NO...it is much more fun for it to go all over their high chair tray and ALLLLLL in their car seat and clothing just as you are dropping the other child off at swim practice. (of course at a time when I did NOT have a change of clothes or any wet wipes in the van!!) Just thought I would share the fun that was had today. The little guy took it all in stride though. He was happy for the most part...just didn't have an appetite. I HOPE he doesn't have a stomach bug...they spread like wild fire.

This is really funny...tonight as I was drying Clark off after his bath, I was talking to him about some dry patches that he keeps on his tummy. I said that next time we go to the doctor I would ask for some good cream for his skin. He looks down and points to his "manly parts" and says "DOCTOR!!!" I laugh and tell him that it is a different doctor...not THAT doctor. He looks down again and shakes his head saying "no doctor." Guess he was having flashbacks of last weeks doctor visit.

The star of the show.....

We are back from Shreveport, and Clark didn't know what to make of being the star of the show. Our joke for the weekend was that he had his own fan club and was being followed by the paparazzi. (everywhere he looked there were flashes!!) Lisa, he will be calling his agent soon...he is wondering where all the photographers went! We had a great time visiting with family for a few days. We had not been there in WAY too long. Clark was able to meet his Uncle Sam finally. I hope to visit there more often. Friday evening there was a get together at my cousin's house. It was so fun for us all to be together and for them to meet Clark. Ali was able to spend time with her cousin, Christopher, and they had a fantastic time together. It really made me appreciate that we are closer to them now that we are in TX. THANKS SHREVEPORT CLAN FOR A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

This evening we took the kids to a Trunk or Treat. We kept wondering what was going through Clark's head. (so you mean I have to dress up...say trick or treat...and I get candy? HUH!)

Well, this is short tonight...I am exhausted from the trip...and have miles to go before I can hit the sack...(bags to unpack...yuck!)

Shreveport trip and Trunk or Treat

3...2...1...Blast Off!!!

The space shuttle Discovery launched a few minutes ago...with T.C.in the "safety" mission control room. He is assigned to this flight...so he will be working 11 days straight with crazy hours. He will be ready for a day off when his 11 days are over. I am packing up the kids and taking them to Shreveport on Thursday while he works mission control. Samuel Clark hasn't met his Uncle Sam whom he was named after as of yet. We are all excited to be going and seeing some of our family there.

Clark did just fine during his surgery yesterday. The hospital is a trauma center, so we knew there was a possibility that his surgery time could be bumped. Well, it was! We arrived at 6am and he wasn't taken back to surgery until 10am. It was a rather long morning in a small hospital room...with a toddler. We were so glad there was a t.v. in the room so that he could watch cartoons. He did such a good job being a brave boy. When it was finally his turn, they gave him some medicine to relax him mixed with some Tylenol. So after he took that, we were able to walk him down to the holding area and we met the nurses and doctors that would be working with him. The medicine had kicked in at that point and even the medical staff was cracking up watching him. One doc said "I looked like that on my 21st birthday." He was just laughing, jabbering, and rolling around. I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my face. I caught a little of it on video...which I am sharing...shame on me...I know!! But, the laughing ended and reality hit...our sweet boy was undergoing surgery. He tolerated the anesthesia well, which was my main concern. He awoke slowly while I was with him in the recovery room. They like for children to wake up on their own as they tend to wake up more happy that way. It was sad, he would wake up for a minute...cry...and drift back off. After several episodes like that...the nurse gave him some morphine for pain. That knocked him out yet again...and we had to wait for him to wake up enough to drink some juice and potty. He did so, and we were able to leave the hospital a little after 2pm. However, the ride home ended up being more than his tummy could handle with the anesthesia. I won't go into detail...but after returning home his WHOLE car seat had to be taken apart and scrubbed...as did the van seat. Poor little fellow. He ended up eating some in the late afternoon and even played with his train set. I asked him when we got home..."do you want to go lie down"...his response "no, Thomas!" Well, ok then! However, the hospital pain meds wore off in the early evening and our little man was miserable! He was in so much pain last night before bed. The Tylenol with codeine helps take the edge off some...but he is definitely fighting getting his ointment applied. He is pretty happy today...already fighting with Ali...so definitely on the mend. Ha! He is still VERY sore and in quite a bit of pain. I hope this intense pain doesn't last long...we hate seeing him like this.

Well, that is about it for now. I am off to get him some chicken nuggets...his all time favorite food!

lookin' cute and hospital....

Toddlers are just so precious....

Remember when I would go on and on about what an angel Clark was....just so precious....wow...what a difference a week can make. He is testing his boundaries left and right! Here is a glimpse into our daily lives..."Clark, I said not to do that...if you do it again you will go to time-out...what did I just say...(meanwhile he decides he will try it again)...ok, you are going to time-out on the stairs...(then followed by scream, kick the floor, you get my point)" I have said a million times...doesn't he know there are going to be consequences? Human nature I suppose! But, as quickly as the madness comes...it leaves...and he is our sweet boy again. To be expected with toddlerhood, I suppose.

I am posting some recent pictures. We took the kids to the Houston Zoo this morning for the Halloween at the zoo. Clark enjoyed getting a little candy, picking out a mini pumpkin, and coloring a couple of masks. There are a few from a park yesterday evening. A co-worker of T.C.'s has a wedding photography business on the side and he offered to take our first family pictures.
http://sivanov.exposuremanager.com/g/judds&gallery_page=&gallery_all=&view=1&photo_page=1#photo_s

I love the picture of Clark over T.C.'s shoulder. The few I took are funny...if you notice the ones of Clark by the water...he is wet...he decided to pretty much scoop the water out of the pond and put it all over himself.

Pray for our little man on Monday morning. We are to have him at the Children's Hospital in Galveston at 6:00AM for his little surgery. (getting circumcised) I am nervous, but we are just trusting God to guide the doctors. I hate the thought of him being in pain afterwards.

Houston Zoo, park, etc.

Did he just say DINOSAUR?

Yep...Clark was playing (as usual) this morning and low and behold he blurts out "dinosaur"... You see, yesterday Ali had given him a little dinosaur toy that she came across and he remembered the name. It was so cute...such a tough word for a little guy just learning English. T.C. has been a little sad lately because the little mister is loosing his Ukrainian words. He now picks up his cars/trucks and calls them cars and trucks...not "machinas" anymore! Our little fellow is growing up....HA....all 26 1/2 lbs. of him. :)

For those of you that might be interested...I am re-reading the BEST parenting book ever...in our opinion. (and I have read a few...or at least bits and pieces of several) It is "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!! Read it if you haven't! It makes so much sense. It talks about our goal as parents isn't to have "perfect" behaviour from our children, but to train their hearts in God's ways. To help our children see why their actions are wrong, and point them to the cross. It is awesome...

Praise God!

Praise God, I just got a call from the pediatricians office and Clark's blood work was NORMAL!! Yippy!!

Funny........Clark was lying down for a nap today and I went in to check on him....low and behold he had a bed FULL of toys. I put the toys back in the toy basket and told him he couldn't have toys at nap time. I told him to choose ONE baby, but that was it. He was so mad at me...he started crying so loudly. I left the room, went downstairs and we hear "I WANT TOYS!!!!" Ha! Yep, his English is coming right along!

Fall??

I know it is Oct. 14th.....and officially it is FALL, however, it is too stinkin' hot here in TX to feel like fall. I kind of miss that about Kentucky...the cool, crispness of the air in the fall. Oh well, it is what it is...right? So, even though it was 85+ degrees here in TX yesterday...we still did our annual outing to hunt for a pumpkin to carve. Clark just doesn't get why we would go and pick out that funny round orange thing! But I know he will enjoy scooping out those OOEY GOOEY seeds. (what kid doesn't) Oh another thing we REALLY miss is going to Huber's Orchard up in Indiana and picking our own apples and pumpkins!! The closest pumpkin patch I could find around here was like an hour away...how sad is that? Ok, enough about what we miss.....we truly do like it here. It just doesn't quite feel like fall to us.

I wanted to get some "fall" pictures of the kids this weekend. It takes me about 50 pictures to get even a few good ones of Clark. Ha! He either just stares at me with a blank look on his face...or moves RIGHT as I am snapping the picture. But, some came out cute. The ones of him with our pumpkin were so funny. He just kept saying "oh pretty."

Fall pics

You know you have a preteen when.....

You know you have a preteen in the house when she looses her LAST baby tooth and when T.C. jokingly asked her where her tooth fairy pillow was she replied, "I don't know, maybe Santa Clause took it."!!! Ha...gotta love it!

On a more serious note...please pray for some blood test results on Clark to come back totally normal. He had a doctors appointment this morning for some blood tests and he has lost a few ounces. He was below 27 lbs. this time around. The doctor would just really like to see some weight gain by now. Just pray all is normal and he is healthy, just small. THANK YOU!!

Clark the puppy....what is going on?

I thought I would share a little humor from our lives and then get on to something a little more serious. Clark has discovered that it is totally fun to pretend he is a dog. Yes, he is continually all out canine! When he gets into his "puppy mode" he won't even speak...he crawls around, follows Timmy, rubs his head up against things, rolls over on his back, when we ask for kisses he rubs noses, etc. It sort of freaks me out a bit, but T.C. thinks it is hilarious. Ummmm, the jury is still out on that one. He will, however, snap out of it if he knows MOM is serious...I can only take so much puppy business! (he even crawls up/down the stairs) A friend of mine assured me that her son did the same thing and even went as far as barking at people when they asked him a question. Thanks, Suzanne, for letting me know we didn't have the only puppy boy out there!!! Ok, and to clarify the pictures of Clark pushing the vacuum...NO, we don't really put the kids to work...he was having a fit when he saw me vacuuming...so I had to let him push it a little! He kept telling me "me, me, me".

On to other things....
I still smile every time I say the word "kids"...it hits me again and again and I tell myself "it is plural..KIDS...it is finally plural." I waited so long for this. I truly believe I was put on this earth to be T.C.'s wife and my children's mother. That is what I live and breathe for. I can't imagine my life any other way. However, there were days I doubted everything. Most of you know that we suffered several miscarriages when Ali was a toddler. It was devastating. That is all I ever wanted to be was a mother...and I felt like I was being held back. I questioned God every single time it happened. Why me, God...why? I never understood, but trusted in God's sovereignty over our lives. I knew he loved us and had a plan for our lives. Now, we fast forward 7 years and God is allowing us to catch a glimmer of his plan. Had we carried another child/children, we would have never considered adoption. Oh, what we would have missed! He sent us a little angel..so full of life and love and so ready to BE loved. We would have missed so much. We would have missed watching our son enjoy an ice cream cone...chase frogs with his big sister...play at a park for the first time...eat his first chicken nugget (and oh how he loves them!!)...meet his grandparents...and anticipate watching him discover who God is!

I have always LOVED this song by Mercy Me (one of my favorite Christian groups) called "Jesus, Bring the Rain"

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that
I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings
You glory And I know there will
be days When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to
praise You Jesus, bring the rain

I am yours regardless of the clouds that may
loom above because you are much greater than
my pain you who made a way for me suffering
your destiny so tell me whats a little rain

Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy
is the lord God almighty
is the lord God almighty
I'm forever singing

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings
You glory And I know there'll
be days When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to
praise You Jesus, bring the rain
- Mercy Me "Jesus, Bring the Rain"

How true it is! We are here to bring God glory regardless of our circumstances. Though that is so easy to do when things are going well, isn't it? We have all been there...then things turn dark and we question God...but God is still God and STILL the ONE in control. I think we have to go through difficult times to truly appreciate God's amazing power. He is the only one that can sustain us.

Enjoy our blessings from heaven...

Ali and Clark

A day in the life of Rachel.....

Well, there isn't anything new going on in the Judd house really...just trying to keep up with school work, a toddler, and swim team. (that in itself doesn't allow for much else!)

However, my sister in law, Sarah, wrote the funniest blog entry this week on her blog and I am going to copy some of it here. Sorry Sarah...but stealing yours is MUCH easier than coming up with my own! Not to mention the entire time I was reading yours I was going "uh huh...yep...no kidding!!" Ok, here it goes....

You know there is a toddler in your house when:
…it takes 5 minutes to open a door or cabinet.

…you don’t remember what it was like to go to the bathroom by yourself.

…you clean out your car and find a petrified goldfish cracker.

…you realize that puppies are not the only creatures who will eat paper, shoes, and food on the floor.

…you find yourself answering the same question 10,000 times.

…the most “popular” song you sing is “Old MacDonald had a Farm.”

…you find yourself eating mini corn dogs for lunch.

…you find yourself secretly laughing because someone (under the age of 4!) has passed gas during a meal…and has NO IDEA that it is funny or inappropriate.

….you can discipline a hysterical, yet inappropriate behavior (such as passing gas at the dinner table) with a stern and serious face while your spouse is across the table secretly laughing into his napkin.

…you find yourself driving in the car saying (w/ MUCH enthusiasm) things like “yes that IS a cherry picker.” “yes that IS a cornfield.” “yes that IS WalMart.”

… you aren’t embarrassed to wear stickers on your shirt (even in public).

Good job, Sarah! Now for a few of my own...

-to add to the going to the bathroom alone thing..I find it funny that Clark will open the bathroom door and want to talk to me..acting like he doesn't even realize where I am sitting. Meanwhile I am thinking "can't we talk about this in a second?"

-(this happened last night) I wanted some juice and grabbed a plastic kids cup off of the drying rack in the sink and T.C. asks me why I was drinking out of a kids cup when we have nice glasses? (Ummm, because that was easier!!!)

-we used to pride ourselves in a very neat house...now neat to us is when all the cars, trucks, trains, and Army men make it back to the baskets before bedtime...who cares if they are ALL over the floor the rest of the day!

-my purse now consists of fruit chews, sippy cups, disposable bibs, wet wipes, Hot Wheels...

Ok, I could go on...but this is probably getting a little boring. I will, however, share with you a day in the life of Rachel. This week Russie Clark had an appointment with the surgeon that will preform his circumcision on the 22nd. His appointment was at 10am in Galveston (about 20 minutes away). Well, we leave early so that we can stop by the social security office to apply for his social security card...along with ALL OF GALVESTON!!! We waited a few minutes, our number wasn't called...so we leave to head to the hospital to see the surgeon. We get called back rather quickly..I get a little full of myself thinking "wow, that wasn't bad at all"...we meet the doctor, hear the scoop...learn that if we want to go ahead with the surgery we need to go to 2 other visits while we are there. Ok...no problem...we get walked down to registration...enter the waiting room and HOLY COW...are there REALLY that many people waiting to register. I am seriously thinking of paying off some people, but decide I must wait my turn. It is now around 11:30...we finally get called back to the registration/finance office and find out how much this is going to set us back...OUCH...then when I regain consciousness...I find out we have to meet with the anesthesiologist...yep, you guessed it BACK to the waiting room. We again finally get called back...yada yada yada. Keep in mind that we are dragging our school books around, missed lunch, and have now missed nap! Ummm...he was finally lying on the floor with his cars and trucks. My first instinct was to shiver with the reality that he is LYING on the floor of a hospital...GROSS...then my mother side took over and thought "heck he's quiet for the most part." I heard an older lady tell another lady..."he is lying on the floor." I bit my tongue from saying "hey lady...I can pick him up off of this floor and hand him to you...could you do better?" Heehee...but I didn't! So...we finally leave the hospital around 2:15...grab some fast food and head back over to the social security office. Shew, I was tired when all of that was done!! For those mothers with 4 and 5 children...I quote Wayne's World in saying "I am not worthy!"

Clark is still doing great. He finally starting saying "yes" today. He had been saying "da" which is Russian. He also said "oopsy daisy" and "looka here." He surprises us all the time with a new English word. He is still jabbering his heart out and we usually just say "oh yes"...He also said "careful" the other night in the bath. It is funny knowing he is listening and hearing all that we say...even just the little sayings. We went to story time at the library this week. He loved it and did so well. However, it was rather funny as we were walking out to the car...Ali was going to have him jump off this thing and she was counting...1..2..3 and we both look down and at the say time say "oh my goodness"...his shorts were around his ankles. OOPS! Told you he was small...and those were 2T!

Just a few random pictures from this week....

pictures