Happy New Year?

I realize I am failing miserably with keeping up with postings. Who knew two boys would be so time consuming?! The last few months have been quite busy and eventful. First of all, Judd was diagnosed with RSV the day after Christmas, so he spent the holiday on a nebulizer. Other than that, we had a great time seeing family and spending some time together.

In early January, John Ross was admitted into Children's Mercy Hospital (KC) for a 5-day EEG study. His doctor is trying to understand his epilepsy better. While the study did not capture any seizures, his doctor decided to take him off his meds. We were thrilled with that outcome alone. I hope I'm not jinxing him, but he's coming up on 4 months without having a seizure. That's a record for him! Needless to say, John Ross is doing quite well!

Judd was baptized in January. He looked so cute in his white outfit and didn't fuss once during the ceremony. The weather caused for unfavorable road conditions and most of our family couldn't make it. Thank goodness his godparents (Uncle Tyler and Aunt Daphne) were in, so that we could go ahead with the special occasion. Hudson and John Ross had full run of the church after Mass since the four adults were involved with the actual baptism. I think God must have sent a guardian angel to keep those two out of trouble.

John Ross and Judd have a new cousin! Michaela (Brandon and Alesa Ann's first) was born in January. She's going to be one tough cookie with 3 boy cousins all close in age. We have a similar situation on the Malter side, their cousin Molly is outnumbered 4 to 1.

February brought more snow and some new milestones. Judd rolled over, slept through the night for the first time and started eating cereal. He's growing so fast! Judd is really into his jump-a-roo. Santa brought it for him and he loves it! John Ross has a cow obsession - not sure what that's about. He's his father's son, that's for sure. He also loves to sing. Apparently that's his favorite activity at daycare and he continues singing until bed time.

I'll try to do better with the postings - I promise!

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!