Our move, and our first couple weeks!

This was our first home, and our last day in it....some of you may think I am crazy, (780 sq ft with a family of five!) but I love this home! A house is what you make it, and I learned that through living here, I think back to when we first moved in, oh how things have changed! We came with zero kids, one on the way, and a puppy full of energy, I came with a terrible attitude, very depressed, and not wanting anything to do with Des Moines, and Dan came to go to school! It is so funny looking at those circumstances and seeing how the Lord worked through us while we were here! We were blessed living in Des Moines. I would say it a thousand times over, WE WERE BLESSED! I thank the Lord everyday for bringing us there!
I remember the third epicenter we went to at the Downtown Church, I realized after listening to the message, that we were not here just for Dan's education, but for something far greater, we were there to grow in our walk with the Lord and to grow closer to him, and that is just what we did, I got baptized there, I became a mother there, Dan became a father, we met some of the most incredible people, I could go on and on about the women who I got to walk into motherhood with, I cry everytime I think of how thankful I am for each one of them! So needless to say my last day in Des Moines was bittersweet, I am thankful, but sad, I am hopeful, but nervous, I am excited, but with that excitement I have a pit in my stomach, the kind you get after to hear bad news..........but with that being said, it is an opportunity for me to cling even closer to God, and to lean on him all the more, my faith is in him, and I know that he will provide great things! Praise you Lord for you are good, your faithful love endures FOREVER!!!!
Our first home....so many memories!

Landry and Eliza waiting for us to load everything up!

Poor Dan.....had to drive this thing.....

On a lighter note, we are close to a ton of lakes, and our kids love the beach!

My sister, Molly, and her kids came up on Thursday for her and Eli's birthday, we went to the museum downtown, which is FREE, and was pretty nice the kids had fun, here is Eliza doing the news

Landry started crawling about a week or so ago, he also loves to bear crawl, which he is showing off right here!

Landry and Lydia playing at the museum Eliza was supposed to be smiling at the camera, but was too focused on her cone, so instead it just looks like Isaac is strangling her!

All in all, the Judd family is blessed, changes are hard, but God is good, and we are thankful for that! We love and miss everyone in Des Moines very much and cannot wait to get back for a visit!

Yay for warmer days!

We have had some really warm weather here in Des Moines! Although it has been hit or miss, when it hits, we take advantage! Eliza LOVES the sprinkler, although she loves it a whole lot more if mommy runs through it with her! Adeline on the other hand wants nothing to do with it, and Landry loves just sitting in the grass watching it all take place! The girls also know that warmer days bring more park days, which is always a big hit! We have been so blessed to have such wonderful parks, I think Des Moines parks are amazing, I love them! I am hopeful that Kalamazoo will have some, but I am going to try not to compare! I hope you all are enjoying the weather as much as we are!
Landry loves Adeline's birthday gift just as much as the girls, and it helps that he has two personal chauffers to push him wherever he wants to go! He is spoiled by his sisters!

Addylou, we love you, but we see this face far too much around here these days! Have a wonderful day!

Hyvee Kids Fishing Derby!!!!

This past Saturday, Dan and I took the kids to the annual Hyvee Fishing Derby! It was so much fun! We had been planning it all week, and then the weather turned out to be cold and rainy, but we decided to give it a try anyways! I would recommend it, they load the water with a ton of fish, and some of them are tagged, well a lot of them are tagged, if you get a tagged fish, you get to go pick out a prize! We were not catching much the first half hour or so, then we caught a few, but none tagged, the kids were still having fun, but it was looking like we maybe should pack it up, when there were bites left and right! The girls both got to pick out a prize, and this is what they chose! It is so funny, b/c they went from being muddy, cold, wet, and dirty, to this, playing with their new vanitys! They though it was pretty cool, although like Dan said, they are never going to want to go regular fishing again! I on the other hand see my little girls' faces light up anytime their daddy asks them to go fishing, I know they will still love it!
They are definatly girls!

Eliza had a fish on her line here, she had just reeled it all the way in!

Look at Adeline's face in this picture!

Adeline is 2!!!!!!

Adeline turned 2 on friday! I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around this! It just seems like time flies faster and faster with each child! Sometimes I wish I had a pause button! We feel so blessed that the Lord has chosen us to be Adeline's mommy and daddy! She brings so much joy to our lives, and I cannot imagine life without her! Happy belated birthday Addy Lou! We love you soooo much!

Adeline's new smile!

Adeline was so proud to be this flamingo! She wore it well!

This brings tears to my eyes, she was the baby for 17 short months, but I know that she now could not imagine life without her baby brother!

Her first cupcake!

Our new home!

A lot of you guys have been asking about our new house, and wanting to see it, I didn't think I could show anyone b/c they took it off of the realty website right away, but I googled our new address the other day and discovered that prudential has not taken it off, sooo, here it is!
http://www.pprmi.com/11013568SR
I am sure it will be taken off soon, so if you go to it, and it is not there, sorry!
Also, I am going to try to blog everyday this week! Crazy, I know!

Lots of changing....

Change #1-Since my last post, we found out that we will be spending the next 3 years in Kalamazoo, Michigan! We feel blessed to have matched somewhere, and excited for what the Lord has in store for us, but also very sad to leave Des Moines! I know what we have here is incredible and will be hard to find! Change #2-So, since we found out we matched, we have gone to Michigan house hunting b/c clearly we need a place to live. My mom and Molly(my sister) were kind enough to keep our children while Dan and I looked at approximatly 40 homes! It was an interesting couple of days, but I think we have one, not official yet, but we are hopeful that it will be soon! Change #3-We might become landlords! I am trying to be excited about this one, but it is not by choice! Our home has been on the market for a little over 6 months, but as many of you know, the market isn't great! soooo, that means we will be renting out our "first home" which I am secretly excited about b/c I think it will give me a chance to get back to Des Moines more, plus as tiny and crazy as this place is, Dan and I had a lot of "firsts" here! It will be kind of sad to sell it! Pray for good tenants please! Change #4-This is a constant change...our children, it is so amazing to me how fast this happens, and unlike most changes, you often times don't even see it happening! For me, it often times takes me going back and looking at pictures to see how big and fast these changes occur! Here are a couple of pics Landry and the girls in February, and Landry and the girls from November...only 4 months! If you are a mom out there you know how much of a bittersweet feeling this is, so happy for the next step, but so sad to leave the last one! Children are such an incredible blessing, It amazes me everyday how wonderful motherhood is!

Where will we be?

As a lot of you know, match day is coming ! This means that in one week from today we will know where we will be living for the next 3 years! This is both an exciting and sad time! I am trying to look ahead, but can't help my aching heart when I think about leaving Des Moines! I have been so blessed to have met the girls I met here, and to have entered motherhood with them, I will never forget this time! My eyes are FILLED with tears just writing about them!
Onto topic number two, my sister and I decided to start a little side business....I am so excited about it, and I can't wait to show everyone what we have been working on! For those of you in Des Moines I will be having a little home show/ open house sometime soon, and I will keep you posted on a date!
Our children....Eliza is a little over 3 and doing wonderful, she is full of energy, and growing like a weed! This is something we are not used to, in fact at her 3 year check she was on the charts (her first time since she was born) she was in the 4th percentile! Adeline is really showing us more of her fiesty personality everyday, it is quite funny, but can also be quite trying! We love both of them to pieces and are so blessed to have them! Landry, despite being sick for the last month, is also doing wonderful! He is loving life more and more as he learns new things and figures this world out! I will hopefully be posting some new pics soon, once our internet gets a little quicker! As for now, just a quick update!