The Next Batman...

This is how Jude "gets the bad guys." We're taking it old school with the punch and the POW! You gotta watch and listen carefully though, because he only whispers the POW. It's his ultrasecretive stealth move so they don't know he's comin' to get 'em.

Christian Bale's got nothing on this kid.

Ode to Coffee

Why is coffee so darn good? I fell in love only a few years ago, but now I am hooked. The smell, the taste....even if I do put tons of flavored creamer in it. People tell me it ruins the flavor of the coffee, but I disagree. I don't fill my coffee cup with lots of creamer to cover up the coffee taste. I do it to add to it. I think it makes it even better. Anyway, I was thinking about this today as I was making myself a warm cup of yummy-ness. I thought that I not only love the taste, I love the little caffeine buzz it gives you. It helps me get my butt in gear and get to work...on whatever that may be. Sometimes my motivation is nonexistent.

Now, here's the sad part. My general physician doctor told me on my last visit a few weeks ago that caffeine is REALLY bad for people who have acid reflux disease. His exact words were "its like throwing gas on an open fire." I've had bad reflux for 6-7 years now, and no one has ever told me that-and yes, I've been to many doctors in that time. Since then, I've mentioned that to several other people (who have all said, "oh yeah, I know! It's HORRIBLE"...How come no one told me?), it felt like I was the last one to know a piece of juicy news or something. So, in light of that piece of information, and because I'm 23 weeks pregnant, I've tried to cut back on the caffeine and just drink decaf. It certainly doesn't give me that little buzz that I like, but it still tastes just as good. Today however, I had a full fledged cup of caffeinated coffee and it was LOVELY. I just had to say.

And coffee dates with my friends are my favorite! When you mix good company, conversation and that hot little (or large) beverage, it makes life so much better!

What was the point in posting this? No particular reason. I guess just to tell you, I love coffee, caffeine and all things related...well, except for soda.

Fair food makes the Fergus family happy!

About a month ago, we decided to enjoy a little fair time at our small fair in town. We used to just go for the food. The Jude came and we thought it would be fun for him...who are we kidding, we still go for the food. But, he did enjoy himself, and so did mom and dad...for we all got to eat the greasy, high-calorie fair food!

Jude enjoying his VERY FIRST taste of funnel cake! Mmmmm

Shoveling it in.
And then he decided to show it to us.
Enjoying some post-funnel cake beverage.

Ross ate some food.
And drank.

I am so loving his fake smile. I think there may have been some corn stuck in his teeth.
Me and my boy. I couldn't get him to smile.
I ate some too, but no one cared enough to take pictures....thankfully. :)

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Jude in the petting zoo...which was really quite funny and sweet. He kept saying hi to all the animals and even got a little bit freaked out when he touched the bull's horn. Watching him experience things is so much fun!

I already can't wait til next year! Could I just make some funnel cake at home??

I don't really have time to say much, so I thought I'd let the pictures say it all. :)

Here are the most recent ones of Jude.

Lookin cute in this outfit! Man, he looks like a big boy!!

Action shot. Always running around!
Here is Jude doing his nightly work-out routine before his bath. He can really crank out those pull-ups! :)

These are from back in August, but I thought they were too sweet not to share.

Jude looooves his sister, Fiona.


And here is Jude with my good friend, Diane, on one of her visits. :)

H.A.R.D. life

No one said life would be easy. I don't even want my life to be easy. If life was easy, then we'd never grow or be challenged to be better, right? But lately, life has been just plain hard. Dealing with frustrations, toddler temper tantrums, time management, child training, being pulled in too many different directions, sometimes my brain just can't handle it. This is just normal life stuff. Thankfully I am not dealing with anything harder than the normal "hard" stuff, but wow. There are days I think I might just have a nervous breakdown if one.more.thing.happens.

Why is anger so hard to control? I can get frustrated about something, and it usually builds until I have a little (or large) freak-out. Which isn't good period, but especially if you're trying to raise a little man---of whom you don't want to get your bad anger habits. I used to be a yeller. I would get so frustrated that all that felt good was to yell it out. And sometimes, I find myself reverting back to that.

I don't want to be a yeller anymore. As Ross and I were at Chick-Fil-A last Friday, Ross was in line (for the second time) getting us delicious milkshakes for desert. Jude and I were taking a walk outside, waiting on daddy to come give us our yummy treats. I saw an employee who had her 3 kids out there. They were getting ready to go, but had not left yet. I'm not sure why. But, the mom was so frustrated at her daughter for not putting on her shoe (yes, it was just a shoe incident, seems like a silly reason to be that mad), and her yelling escalated until she was screaming at her child to "GET YOUR SHOES ON, NOW!!!!!!" I'm sure that was good for business, since I'm sure all of the drive-thru line heard it. An older couple walked by this lady, and the woman said something to her, although I'm not sure what it was. It had to be a reprimand because the yelling mom immediately changed her tone and was a little more patient with her daughter. Yes, I felt bad for that family...really bad for those kids, but what I kept thinking was I so do not want to be that. Lord, please help me to be slow to anger and quick to gentleness.

Since then, I have been a little more patient. I am reminded that when Jude makes me want to pull my hair out, its not personal. He's not trying to make my life miserable (yet:). So, then I can talk to him a calm, loving voice and not yell...like I used to have a tendency of doing.

Life is still hard. But, I am dealing with it easier. I think its that little thing called grace that we are given so freely. Thanks to God for that. :)

With a post titled "Hard Life," there needs to be some cuteness to balance it out. Here's my boy, doing what he loves the most. Playing with the BALL!

This is an older one, but super cute nonetheless. I can't remember how old he was here.