Lumps and Bumps

Monday evening, after being gone Friday-Sunday to Missouri, we noticed a fairly large (golf ball size) lump on Babbs' right side. This seemed strange since there was no outside wound...lump.

Jude has had a boil on his bottom for quite some time now. It just won't go away, but at the same time doesn't seem to cause too much pain or discomfort...bump.

Tuesday we took Jude to the doctor for his regular 15 month well-baby check. Everything was good. He is now in the 50th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight...hmmm they flipped. Oh and off the charts for head of course! But the doctor did prescribe an antibiotic to finally get rid of the bump.

Wednesday I took Babbs (and Jude!) to the vet. They took some fluid out of the lump to try to determine what it might be. That evening I called back and found out they don't really know! They think the lump was caused by trauma (a hemotoma). I informed them that she was acting lethargic again. Today I picked up an antibiotic for her.

One bump, one lump. Two babies on antibiotics. Hope they get well soon:)

Silly Bands

I don't know if you've heard of these, but they are all the rage right now!!! Gil's Buhman and Jensen cousins introduced me to them last weekend in Missouri (I'm sure I would know all about them if I was still in the middle school scene, but thank goodness for young cousins to keep me in the loop!). They call them silly bands. They look like shapes of just about anything you can think of...

But then you wear them around your wrist and they become bracelets!!! (or bands rather!). Here are Megan and Jessica showing off their sweet silly bands.
We had a blast down in Missouri for the weekend. Here are a few of the other fun things we did: Gil giving Jude a ride on the peddle tractor.
He LOVES tractors! Anything that has wheels basically.
Jumping on Grandpa Buhman's new trampoline. Jude loved this too after he got warmed up.
Jude on the trampoline with
Jude looking at his cousin Whitney (only about 2 weeks older, but a little smaller!).
Now for some at home pics. Jude in his swimming pool.
Our weeping willow tree mom and dad gave us for our anniversary.
Our new-to-us (bought on garage sale) wicker patio set. Now we can sit outside:)Our actually new Husqevarna lawn mower. Pretty sweet for a pretty penny!
Our free-range chickens.

"NO JUDE!"

This post is based on the children's book by David Shannon entitled "No, David!" I first learned about this book during grad school in a children's lit class. I thought it was funny and cute. Each page shows David doing something he shouldn't with only the simple words, "No David!" Then about a month ago I noticed something (which I eluded to in a previous post), I was saying, "No, Jude!" A LOT. And suddenly the book took on a whole new and personal meaning for me! Here are a few of the times I've had to say it...

Emptying out the towel closet.

Taking a bite out of his foam football.

Finding and scratching up my CD's.

Chasing after or pulling tails of the cats.

Throwing or putting rocks in his mouth.

Other times I say, "No, Jude!"

*Eating dog food

*Throwing food off his highchair tray

*Touching the TV receiver or VCR/DVD players

*Pulling DVDs or books off of the shelves (although I can hardly discourage his love for books!)

*Going upstairs (especially into mommy and daddy's room which is not entirely baby-proofed!)

*Banging coasters on the coffee table

You get the idea! The list goes on and on. I'm surprised that with all this, "No, Jude!" going on that

he hasn't picked up on the word no himself yet (but he does shake his head and no doubt it will

come all too soon!). We are thus far limited to, "Uh-Oh." He also does a good attempt at chicken

("chk-chk-chk"), kittie, cookie, and cracker which all sound the same ("Kuh-Kuh"), and even tractor

("Tck-ta"). While he doesn't have the most words on his list, he is still VERY vocal and often sounds

slightly dictatorish! He will point his finger and yell something extremely demanding (although only

he knows what it might be). And he is also very social. Yesterday at the pool he walked right up to a

little girl and wanted to see her princess swimsuit. He does like the ladies, but he also spotted a

little boy about his age with some cool toys that he thought he might get to know. He was a little

more interested in being friends than they were though!

Jude???...Jude!!!

Well Gil finally broke down and agreed to a haircut for Jude. He announced over dinner Thursday night that he wanted to buzz cut it. I hadn't really thought about the buzz cut rout, but by Friday evening it was ALL gone! All those glorious locks...fallen on the ground. But it was a good thing. You can judge for yourself how different you think he looks. I'm still getting used to it:)

Other than that things are good here at the Ranch. My stick shift driving lessons are improving. I drove home the other night and didn't have to ask any questions (questions are my big thing, I'm trying to understand this clutch nonsense!) and I didn't kill it!!! Also my vocabulary seems to be shrinking these days. I pretty much can get by with saying just, "No Jude," "No Babbs," and sometimes even, "No Gil." But more of that on another day!

Ooooohhhh, Ahhhhhhhh!

I forgot to mention in my last post that you should notice the amazing job striping the lawn that I did in our new blog photo of our house. Gil trusts me to mow the front lawn, and I have to say I feel quite proud of it:) Now if I could just remember how to change the font colors of the words in front of the picture so you could read them again...

Dam Party 2010

Jude and Ashtyn on their play area

The fishing wasn't the greatest, but some tried!
The hayrack
Mom and her little red wagon grill! Never had burgers off a little red wagon before!
Some of my siblings and cousins even camped out. I'm so glad my cousins on both sides are friends:)

I have been very lazy about writing lately. I'm going to blame Gil. See he has June and July off so we've been spending ALL this time together which is awesome:) Plus since it is summer we have much more work. Gil helps dad sometimes doing things like shredding, cleaning out bins, and fencing. Then we've got the garden to attempt to keep up with, the mowing, the pets, plus the regular stuff like laundry and dishes (oh, and much more cooking and dishes with Gil being home!). Plus we decided to splurge on Netflix for this month since we actually have time to sit down at nights together and watch something and summer TV isn't any good anyway. We have watched LOTS of stuff including the Anne of Green Gables miniseries!!! Plus Brett let us borrow Super Mario Bros. Wii, so that pretty much took up a good four days of nintendo! I have decided that nintendo is for sure addictive. I would put of eating, showering, and for sure any chores so I could play. When I closed my eyes I saw little Toad jumping up to get a star coin. But this game is seriously the BEST nintendo game EVER! It has all the best parts of every past mario game AND you get to play with up to four players at once, which adds to the fun (and difficulty!) so Gil and I could play TOGETHER. In fact we did just that on our two year anniversary. Awwwwe, how romantic!

I really am enjoying this summer. We work, play, and enjoy it all! And all too soon the "real world" will be back. Gil starts his job up again in August. And I too will be joining the world of higher education. I plan to teach two sections of Succeeding in College at Wayne State this fall. That will take up my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and leave time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for some subbing if I so choose. But for now it's late nights, late mornings, and lots of ice tea!

ShAA

Cousin Ashtyn came for a visit the other morning. We had lots of fun! Jude LOVES having a playmate. Ashtyn likes having a younger playmate because she gets to "help." She helps him drink his milk and gives him bites of toast and throws the ball for him to fetch (catching isn't quite there yet...). It's really cute to see her be so motherly! Jude really tries to keep up with her, his little wobbly legs just aren't as good as hers are for running and climbing yet. He also likes to play cars by vrooming them on her head to which Ashtyn promptly replies, "Owwwwie, Jude!" He's a little rough for her taste! He is also really trying to talk these days and Ashtyn is "ShAA." Which is funny to me because she is also getting really good at saying words and she calls herself "Aaaa" (as in apple). Funny that she chose the first sound and Jude chose the second!

Outside time was also an adventure. Ashtyn wasn't so sure about all those crazy animals we have traipsing all over the Ridenour Ranch. At a distance fine, but come close and she is likely to let out a scream you wouldn't imagine from such a small fry.

The kiddos also got to play in Jude's baby pool (which I still need to get pictures of) and took a trip to Laurel to a real pool with Grammy Lori and Auntie Lissy. Soooo fun:) Oh summer, I like you!

Here is Jude watching TV. He really gets into it sometimes!

Ashtyn in the rockin' chair.
This was as close as I could come to getting them in the same shot!
Jude taking off on the porch.
Ashtyn getting away from me!