December Update

Judd just turned two-months-old yesterday. At today's check-up he weighed in at 14 pounds and 8 ounces. What a big boy! He has really changed a lot in the past 30 days. We are beginning to see his personality and he just loves to smile and "coo" at us. (Be sure to check out the photos of him by clicking on the slideshow on the left.)

Our family is preparing for Christmas and for Mommy to go back to work. Cortney officially goes back to work on December 16th. Kyle is staying busy with work and he is still enjoying his new job.

We plan to enjoy a Missouri Christmas and hope to see as many of our family and friends as possible. This will be such a fun Christmas with a second son and John Ross getting into the holiday spirit, especially since we recently visited Santa Claus. Both boys were great with the jolly fellow and John Ross really liked Santa's beard. We're lucky that we have good experiences with Santa - every year we cringe and wonder if this will be the year for a meltdown! We credit the Santa that we have visited for the past three years. He's just wonderful with the kids.

In January we will be admitting John Ross into the Children's Mercy hospital in KC for a video EEG study. We hope to learn more about John Ross' epilepsy. He will be there for a week and we hope the doctors get the information they need. Please say a little prayer for John Ross and his doctors.

We are so thankful for our friends and family, especially this time of year. We feel so blessed to have two beautiful and healthy children. May God bless you this holiday season.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Eventful 30 Days!

Judd is already one-month-old, which is hard to believe. It seems the past 30 days have been a bit of blur. We are still trying to find our daily groove, but we are all doing great. A little sleep-deprived, but doing great!

Despite our adjustments, we really are having a ball with our two little guys. John Ross has particularly been enjoying the flow of company that's been coming through our home over the past few weeks. He likes the extra attention that's for sure! We had a fun evening trick-or-treating. Judd stayed back at the house with Daddy to hand out candy and Mommy took John Ross out and about. John Ross really got into picking out his own candy and putting it in his bag. In addition to trick-or-treating we all attended two Halloween parties, which was a lot of fun. We also went to a wedding reception last weekend. Mommy and Daddy are learning the difference of playing "one-on-one" versus "zone". Just last week we got their portraits taken, so hopefully we'll have some new photos to share soon.

We're off to Missouri for the coming weekend. Judd and John Ross are going to get in some family time while Kyle and Cortney attend the MU/K-State football game. Go Tigers!

Also, be sure to check out the photos to see how much Judd has changed over the past month.

Welcome Judd Bradley Malter!

Judd Bradley Malter was born on October 7, 2008 at 3:06 p.m. He weighed 9 lbs. and 3 oz. and was 20 1/2 in. long.

Judd has a head full of dark hair and appears to have brown eyes. He is such a good baby and seems to be settling in our home.

John Ross is not sure what to think about his new little brother. Sharing mom and dad's attention is something that he's not used to, so we're definitely adjusting!

Happy 2nd Birthday, John Ross!

With the impending birth of a sibling, we decided that we should celebrate John Ross' second birthday a little early this year. On Saturday, September 13th, we turned our backyard into the "Malter Fairgrounds" for a County Fair themed birthday party. Almost all of John Ross' aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents came in for the event. And even a few of John Ross' friends were able to join the fun.

Aunt Daphne set up a table for face paintings, Daddy blew up a bounce house for the children to jump in and Mommy took photos of the party goers' faces poking through a fair backdrop. Later Aunt Bec helped Mommy serve up some yummy fair food that included corn dogs, nachos, jumbo pretzels, popcorn, cupcakes, snow cones and cotton candy. As John Ross likes to say, "num, num"! We're still not sure who had a sugar crash first - the kids or the adults!

Happy Birthday, John Ross! We love you so much.

Baby Malter - 2 Weeks to Go!

Cortney had a final ultrasound on September 11th and everything looked wonderful. Based on the technician's calculations, the baby is already weighing in at 7 lbs. 14 oz. With at least two more weeks to go, we may have another chunky monkey on our hands! During the ultrasound I was trying to keep John Ross entertained from my lying position on the table. I kept pointing to the screen and asked him what he saw... he replied "giraffe". I don't think that is likely, but will be a cute story to tell his little brother or sister one day. Stay tuned...

Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa.

We finally checked off our last item on our list of "Things to do in Iowa" today. We visited the movie site of "Field of Dreams" in Dyersville, Iowa. It's been almost 20 years since the movie was filmed and yet the ball field and house looked very much the same. We were quite surprised to see how many people were there as well. People visit from everywhere and while the location does not allow organized ball games, they do encourage you to grab your glove and bat and play a little all-American baseball.

John Ross enjoyed running around the bases - not to mention standing on them. We think a baseman position is definitely in his future. He also enjoyed running to the outfield to play in the corn.

We didn't run into Shoeless Joe Jackson, but had a great time visiting the Field of Dreams!

Swimmer Boy

John Ross has been a little fish this summer! We visited the Lake of the Ozarks in June and he enjoyed bobbing in the water while wearing his new life jacket.

In July Mommy and John Ross enrolled in a toddler swimming class. John Ross did so good and even got his certificate of completion that we proudly have hanging on the refrigerator door. Towards the end of the week, the children had the opportunity to ride down the water slide with an adult, which thankfully Daddy stepped in to help with. As you can see, John Ross thought that was a blast. We had trouble getting him back into the regular swimming pool!