Neglect...I know

Not neglect from my kids, but from this poor blog.

Halloween was a lot of fun for the kids this year, especially Jude. He was a good helper to Livs too, although I think he took some of the candy as "pay" for helping her :)
Yes, I stay at home usually 3 days/week, however, it seems that I, somehow, have less time to mess with this silly blog. It takes time and effort. I admit, I fail :) Here are some latest pics of the kiddos and a video of Livs...it is funny, she was totally reading, or attempting to read this piece of paper until I got the camera out and then, all she wanted to do was say "cheese". What a stinker she has become! She began climbing out of her crib at age 18months...and therefore we have transferred her to a toddler bed, much to our dismay. She insists on sitting at the table with us. She feeds Charlie (our dog) her food. She tells me "No, no". She can clearly say the words "Juuude, maMA, dadddaaa, NO". She loves fruit snacks. She loves Jude's stuffed dog, named Jax (after Aunt Carrie & Uncle Brett's dog).

Summer is Over

Here was a photo during our "Women's & Kid's night" while our husbands picked their fantasy football teams...They thoroughly enjoyed themselves~

Livey takes herself shopping in the shopping cart...She really cracks herself up!

This video totally caught me off guard while Jude was eating dinner and I was in the kitchen...he began by talking about how he liked God and Jesus and he was going to give them both a kiss and hug when he gets to heaven...I immediately but non-chalantly slid the camera over and started recording...Great idea of Heaven :)
And this video is from Moses and Livey on Wed. They are a week and a half apart and love to play with one another!

Change in Action

Well..This week begins something new to me and to our family. I will begin working just 2 days/week at Methodist. I've been waiting patiently (I think) for quite some time for this to take place and now it's here.

I need share some other updates within the household. We did travel 17 hours to Tx for a week to spend time with the whole Zeller family. We had an amazing time staying in a 5 bedroom palace with a pool/hot tub in the back yard. We were far beyond blessed! We cooked in, layed out, swam, laughed, relaxed, worshipped....rarely faught :) It was all-in-all a great vacation!

Olivia is walking full speed ahead. She is saying a few little phrases and loves reading to herself in her rocking chair. Love to hear the babbling.

Jude is maturing each day with the new phrases he comes up with. The kid cracks us up. He's all about his cousins, especially after our trip to Tx. The other night we picked up kids for church and he said to them "Do you know my cousins?" They all just sort of looked at him, like "no?"....he prays for each of them at night and don't think we would ever leave one out! He's loving Livs and the fact that they can play together a little more each day. He tackles her and she loves it. He has a heart for singing...And I love it!

Jude turns 3!

Jude turned three this past week and along with turning three, he also had to give up the binky. He was well aware that this was going to take place, however talking about it and doing it were two totally different scenerios. He was completely confident in the idea of it all, but when it comes right down to it....it's probably the hardest thing this three-year-old has ever encountered. He doesn't know how to sooth himself now...when he's tired or hurt. It's really kind of sad. Tonight, he just cried uncontrollably for about 1 hour. Nothing I could do or say, would ease his pain. As sad as it sounds, I really, at the time, had no empathy for the kid, rather I wanted to set him in a room and shut the door. Pray for us, seriously! He's not asleep yet!!!

Change is a Good Thing

Within about a six week time period, the Lord has brought about a lot of change within the Zeller household. It all started with Abe and I deciding that I am going to stay at home more with the two kiddos. I came to realize that I was feeling as if I were missing out on them, more than I had ever felt before and we decided just to go ahead and try it out and see how it goes. It may be for just a few years, who knows. I am hoping to continue working for 1-2 days a week if they can allow me to do so, if not, we'll see what other opportunities come my way. About a week after that decision, Abe was approached about being the pool manager for Roanoke's pool for the summer...and following that, he found out that he will be the Athletic Director starting in the fall. It's like, "Wow, God!"...it's so amazing to see how things fall into place when you just let Him be in control. I had struggled for over a year with the decision to stay home, because I knew financially it would be hard on us, but my heart kept telling me otherwise. Lots of prayer and discussion was put in this past time that it was brought up and I believe this is the right decision. And then, I feel with these opportunities for Abe (both of which, he is so excited for) were both confirmation that this was meant to be. He will be gone a ton with all the home games for athletics throughout the year, not to mention Basketball and golf and this will allow there to be a constant at home (and not on the road for an hour+ each day). Anyway, that is where we stand right now as we are awaiting my position to be filled at work. I have been at Methodist for 9 years this August and it will be really hard to leave my family there, but I know my family at home will be thankful. I will try to keep posted!

Livey = O-N-E!

Where did the time go? This past Saturday my little Livey girl turned one year old! It was extremely hard to believe but so much fun to celebrate. She loved the cake, as you can see... She was not quite sure if she should dig in at first, but after a few minutes of swirling the icing around with her fingers and that first taste of pure sugar, she went for it with no hesitation! We had her check-up on Monday and her weight was 75% (21lb 14oz ) and height 55% (29 1/4 inches). She's following in her brother's footsteps :) Speaking of footsteps, she is not walking on her own yet. Is definately fond of pulling up on things and walking around them, but not so keen on taking off by herself. It will come, soon enough!

Abe's Birthday & Driving Miss Livey

Abe finally joined me this past week, in turning 30! Very exciting (as you can see)! He decided to purchase a real mountain bike for his big birthday gift...taking up a new sport (yippee!!)


Livey is getting closer and closer to walking on her own. Occasionally she'll stand alone for 30 seconds or so. And she's making use of all her "push toys", including the car... She thinks it's fun to push Jude around...and tickle him every once in a while. This Saturday she turns 1! Crazy to believe!

Rainman?

Ok...this kid just continues to crack us up, daily at the things he says/does. I apologize for the glare in this video...but he is very adimate about the number 2006....not sure why but he was...I just had to capture it on video.

And here's little Miss Olivia...2 weeks prior to her first birthday!!! She was celebrating cousin Moses' first birthday here below! (loved the balloons as you can see)

Spring is Here

I came home from work on Tuesday to find my kids playing outside and Livey--in just a onesie (Love it!!!) She reminded me so much of Jude when I saw her, I had to snap a photo! And, not to mention, she thinks she can drive this 4-wheeler!!! Crack me up!

Jude did a nice job sharing with her while he rode on his own car! The Lord has blessed me with two darling children. Thank you God!

Livs speaks out

Livey is definately on the move. She is crawling everywhere, as well as pulling up on anything and everything (including her brother). She's pretty proud of herself!She absolutely loves bath-time! She and Jude have a blast in there together splishin' and a splashin'. It's kind of a nice break to just put them in there and let them go at it...meanwhile I can catch up on my Real Simple (from January, and yes, I know it's March!) sitting on the floor in the bathroom!Recently, Roanoke had quite the snow...it was nice and dense--perfect for a snowman! Jude and I headed out and worked on the guy for 45 minutes. Jude was an awesome worker. I was so proud of him! Basketball season has come to an end and it was kind of bittersweet. I am thrilled to have my husband back, but I just adore watching him coach. He's so passionate and I love to see that in him. It makes me so proud of him!
These were his seniors from the season. He's gonna miss them!

The story of Eve...Jude's rendition

I had quite a time trying to upload this video...so I ended up loading it on youtube.com and here is the link for it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcrqQUx4fcM

Seriously!?!

Abe's cousin Scott, carried this one specific picture (I'm sure you can guess which one doesn't belong here) around to all the kids at the New Year's Eve party, asking them each, if they knew who the photo was and each response was..."Jude, of course!!"

My Babes

It seems the older Livey gets, the more Jude likes her. Now, I know this could all change or just be a coincidence, but whatever the case may be...I'm goin' with it! Little Miss Livey started crawling full force this weekend. She started out with a few moves and by today it turned into a clear-across-the-room move! Pretty impressive...she's just trying to keep up with Jude--who am I kidding? Check out the rolls on this babe!!They have so much fun together in the bath...Jude kind of does what he wants and she just cracks up at him! It's a win-win situation :)