Apples and Oranges

I hear that comparing your children is a no no but I think it's acceptable when you are trying to show how much they don't look alike. Here are some photos of Carter and Jude that are comparable so you can see for yourselves.

Carter:

Jude:

Carter (flipping off the camera):

Jude:

Carter:

Jude:

There you have Carter=miniature Dave and Jude=miniature Brook. Your thoughts welcome.

Good morning world!

A brand new start

Ok so this is a great way to start off 2011, with my 1000th post!!! Hooray!!! So here's what this post includes: Top 10 of 2010 and 11 predictions for 2011. Here goes...

TOP 10 of 2010:

#10- Carter has been learning to write letters

#9- Dave and I saw Wicked in San Francisco

#8- Carter got a big boy bed and a new cool bedroom

#7- Dave took a painting class and did lots of awesome paintings

#6- We celebrated our 5th anniversary

#5- Dave turned 30 (he does not consider this as a top event of the year but I do)

#4- Both of my siblings got married prompting 2 trips to California to spend time with family

#3- Carter started daycare with my friend Erin and has been better at making friends and playing with other kids

#2-Dave quit his job at Blockbuster giving him more time to spend with the family

#1- I bet you couldn't guess... JUDE COSTA MANN!!!!! Jude being born was the icing on the cake of a great year!

Predictions for 2011:

• Carter will be potty trained
• Dave will pass second semester physics with flying colors
• Dave and I will get back in shape (once my doctor gives US the ok to workout again)
• Our little family will make a trip to California so Jude can meet the family
• Brook will finish *fingers crossed* typing up all our mission letters and get a book made (something she's been working on for 5+ years)
• Carter and Jude will have at least 1 new cousin born this year
• Dave will get in to the Architecture program (and do great!!!)
• Carter will go to preschool and learn to write at least his name
• Jude will do all the normal baby stuff (sit up, crawl, babble, etc) and get even cuter than he already is
• We will sell a lot of baby stuff and make lots of room in our storage
• Life will be great and we will enjoy being together as a happy little family

We hope 2011 is a great year for everyone. We have high hopes for this one and expect great things. Here's to another fantastic year and another 1000 posts!

Hey Jude (here comes the "son")

Hello everybody! Dave here to tell the tale of Jude's arrival into our family. The date for the induction was set for December 16th, after my finals and with enough time before Christmas. We became a little nervous when Brook began to have contractions, albeit irregular and pretty spaced out, a few days before my finals. Lucky for me, the contractions didn't become regular until the day after my finals, December 15th. Brook and I began to write down the times of her contractions, waiting to see if they would begin to get closer together, thus requiring an earlier trip to the hospital. Finally, around 10:30 pm, we decided to go to the hospital to see if Brook was progressing enough for her to stay the night since she was scheduled for induction the next morning. Side note: the room was huge and had a pretty comfortable fold-out bed. Brook was checked by the nurse and was told she was only at a 1+ and would probably be sent back home. We waited around for an hour, watching old tv shows, and then the nurse came back to see how Brook was doing. She said she had been experiencing stronger contractions, prompting the nurse to check her again. The result: 3+ and a reservation to stay the night.

Brook had decided a week before to go through labor without an epidural. Many thought she was crazy and would eventually get one when labor became more painful. Brook's reasoning was that the epidural didn't work for her when Carter was born and was one of the more stressful parts of labor, due to her fear of needles. She also didn't want to pay for a procedure that didn't work. Brook's water was broken at 8:00 am, as planned, and we knew that the fun was about to begin. As the day progressed, so did her contractions. They still weren't close together, but they were still effective. By the late morning Brook was at a 7 but no further. Enter the evil PITOCIN!! Labor then went from tolerable to overpowering in a matter of minutes. Even with the increased pain, Brook still refused to get the epidural. After what seemed like an hour, the nurse said the time was drawing close and she would call the doctor. The doctor came, checked, and disappointed us with her findings: still a 7! Dr. Robinson predicted another 30-45 min before pushing could commence, but Brook wasn't having that. After a few more contractions she was at a 9 and then, without waiting for permission, Brook pushed Jude out and that was that. I was so proud of Brook and the courage and strength she showed during the whole ordeal. The stats: 7 lbs. 11 oz. and 20" long, healthy and completely adorable. Now begins our journey down the long and winding road.

Busy, busy!

I've been working hard to get caught up on my scrapbooking lately and just ordered 10 pages! Now that I have 2 to work on it gets a bit confusing and I actually had to make the same page twice so I could have it in both albums. Here are some of my recent pages. You can always click on the links to the left to see each boy's full album.

For Carter's album

For both boy's albums

For Jude's album

Complete.

Dave and I have had many discussions about the size of our family. We started out wanting 4 kids but we've hit a few road blocks, had some health concerns and been told "no" so many times by doctors that we've been forced to sit down and have even more discussions about it. While we were pregnant with Jude we had a scare that basically made us decide what our plans were for kids in the future and we decided that we were grateful for what we have been given and we are a happy complete family. We know it is ultimately up to Heavenly Father and if we are supposed to have another one he will find a way but we are so happy knowing that we are done with the stress of "trying" for another. No more hormones. No more wanting, praying and hoping for something that seems impossible. No more spending loads of money on procedures that don't work or doctor's visits that just give us bad news. We are so happy with our 2 boys and are excited to see what is in store for our little family of 4 in the future. I know this means I won't get the little dresses or ballet classes or any of the fun, cute things that come along with having a little girl but I am completely ok with that. I have nieces and friends with little girls. I get baseball games and mama's boys. Missions and video games. Honestly the only thing that makes me sad about not having a girl is that I won't get to use the totally perfect girl's names I picked out years ago. Other than that I am happy with my fellas. I am happy having only 2 kids. I am happy with my complete family of 4 and wouldn't want it any other way. We are excited to be done with that phase of life and move on to raising our boys. And we will be empty nesters at about 46 and 50 years old. Not bad at all. We are grateful for what we have been blessed with and know we have been given 2 miracles. Who could ask for more than that.

Christmas fun!

As I near my 1000th post (I know... Yikes!) I realize my blogging has slowed down a ton in the past few months. Now that I am on maternity leave I have decided to get back into the blogging habit. Here are some pictures from Christmas and I apologize for them being out of order.

One of our favorite presents this year is a toy called Crazy Forts. It is so much fun for Daddy and Carter to build them together!!!

The igloo

Carter's secret igloo fort

Carter, Uncle Dustin and all his new toys in the fort

Carter reading to Jude and Daddy

Tia and Jude

Stocking time

In their Chritmas PJs

Merry Christmas from the Manns!

Stinkin' cute.

Pictures!

They are completely out of order and I left a bunch out (see facebook for more) but here are some pictures of little Jude. Enjoy!

Holding his Grover

Going home from the hospital

My favorite!!!

"Carter, where is Jude's nose?"

The nurse gave Dave a tatoo! (Don't worry it's almost washed off)

Jude Costa Mann

Jude Costa Mann born today, 12/16/2010, at 1:47PM. 7 lbs 11 oz and 20 inches long. More pictures to come or check facebook. We are all doing well and trying to catch up on sleep. Thank you everyone for all your love and support!

Carter's day!

Since we are being induced this Thursday this was Carter's last weekend as an only child. We decided to spend yesterday doing a bunch of fun things with Carter. Since I am lazy below is the scrapbook page so you can read all about it and see the best pictures from the day! Hopefully our next post will be from the hospital with picture's of little Jude! He'll be here before we know it.

Just a little fun...

Jude in Utero

Since he could come at any time I finally had to bite the bullet and have pictures taken of me to prove that I actually was pregnant. A big thank you to Noelle who not only took my pictures super short notice but also supplied the blocks and did my hair. I think she did a great job!

35 weeks

Our family

Daddy's red, Mommy's orange, Carter is black and Jude is green and has 2 heads. He even traced his name.

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Carter drew a face all by himself!