2nd love, 1st born, stealer of my heart, bff {Jude}

When Jude was born he changed our lives.  He stole our hearts.  He was everything we expected and so much more when we saw him for the first time.  I knew in my heart that he would be blonde haired and blue eyed.  He was and is so incredible in every way.  We are in awe of him everyday.  

I was thinking today that poor Jude doesn't have any baby documentation on our family blog because it wasn't created until after Rhett was born.  This post is an album of Jude's beginnings.  Like any new parents, we were completely in awe of our little blessing.  

Our friends are finally having babies and I get so excited for all of them to see their little one for the first time.  That feeling...there is nothing like it and nothing can prepare you for it.  It is truly priceless. 

This is my very favorite picture of us after he was born.  Our very first family picture...and so the tradition began:).  

Jude was born 10 days early (so was Rhett) and I was so happy that I got to experience going into labor. I preferred not to be induced and really prayed for him to come on his own, when he was ready.  

First visit to Illinois.

First taste of rice cereal.

He liked it. 

Jude loved to swing.

 First Halloween.

First visit to the pumpkin patch.

First illness (only illness to date).  This boy is healthy as a horse!  He's never had an ear infection and is very rarely catching things going around.  When he was 10 months old he got MRSA (staff infection) and we were so so worried and terrified.  As you can see it was not pleasant.  To add insult to injury he would not take his medicine and we had to pin him down to try to get it down him (this was our first encounter with an antibiotic).  We would get it in his mouth and think it was all good only to watch it seep out the corners of his mouth.  We finally had it all compounded into suppositories and it was all good!  The huge ice storm of 2007 hit and we were without power for a week while he was sick.  Like I said, we were terrified.  It all worked out:).  

 We swung through Chicago on our way to grandma's for Christmas and stayed on Michigan Avenue.  Jude met Santa for the first time at Navy Pier!  

Cruising around Chi-town.

First family Christmas card, first Christmas ever, first time on Santa's lap and first time to sled and see snow!  

Jude has curls!  This boy had to cutest platinum white curls.  I hated to cut them, but Dallas made me when he was about 18 months old.  He was being mistaken for a girl a bit and Dad wasn't having any part of that.  I wish I would have kept them a bit longer.  

First pony ride at the Farmstead in Kansas City!  

 First MLB game.  We met grandma and granddad in KC and went to a game. 

2nd plane ride...headed to grandma's house!  He flew several weeks earlier to Mexico to see our friend Aja get married.  

 The curls are gone and he looks like such a big boy!

 My boy loved hats as a toddler.  He wanted to wear this one all of the time. 

 2nd Halloween he was John McCain.  The election was right around the corner and Dallas' parents had this old suit from when D was little so it just worked out.  It was funny. 

 2nd B'day.  Oh goodness...so many gifts. 

 3rd plane ride, back to grandma's we flew!  

 This was taken the fall that Rhett was born.  Jude was a big brother! 

Random picture that I love from Easter.  

As a baby and toddler Jude was not a sleeper or an eater.  I prayed those things specifically over Rhett because of our experience with this cutie.  Don't get me wrong, he would nurse all day if I let him, but when when it came time for table food later on he was not a huge fan.  Then the twos hit and forget about food.  He very well may have lived off of cow's milk for some time.  Jude also was not a consistent napper.  He had torticollis as an infant and that disrupted his sleep a lot.  He always had to lay on one side and it wasn't ever a comfortable situation.

He always wanted to be near us...he still does.  He never cared for television and is still not a huge fan.  He loves for Dallas and I to entertain him.  He has just recently played more by himself and with Rhett.  He typically wants one of us playing along too.  He walked days before his first birthday and never looked back. We had to move him to a big boy bed around 18 months because he would climb out of his crib and we thought it was dangerous.  This led to one of us (usually Dallas) laying with him until he fell asleep...this took 2 hours sometimes.  To be completely honest, this didn't really get better until we moved into our latest house when he was 3-1/2.  He goes to sleep wonderfully now.  Jude has lived in 3 houses in his short lifetime.

I am so thankful that God chose me to be his mom and I don't take that responsibility lightly.  We sacrificed a lot for me to be able to stay home with him and I do not regret a single bit of it.  I would not change a thing.  We are so blessed to be his parents.  

On another note...doesn't Jude look like my sister?  We are told most times that he looks like me, but these pictures caught my eye when I saw them a few years ago...

Here I am as a little girl...

(don't mind the boy haircut)

I think he looks more like my sister than me!  It's strange because I have a niece who everyone thinks looks like me.  It is so odd to me how all these genes get divvied up.

Soon my child will be 5 and I will cry myself to sleep.  Sigh.