On the night Jude was born

On Jude’s second birthday, I wanted to share some words from one of my favorite children’s book.  I couldn’t describe the night that Jude came into this world any more eloquently. 

On the night you were born,
The moon smiled with such wonder
That the stars peeked in to see you
And the night wind whispered,
“Life will never be the same.”

………………

Because there had never been anyone like you…ever in the world.
So enchanted with you were the wind and the rain
That they whispered the sound of your wonderful name.

………………

Not once had there been such eyes,
Such a nose,
Such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes.

………………

For never before in story or rhyme
(not even once upon a time)
Has the world ever known a you, my friend,
And it never will, not ever again…

………………

Jude, Heaven blew every trumpet
And played every horn
On the wonderful, marvelous
Night you were born.

Jude Thomas Gardner, I can’t wait for you to truly understand how the whole world changed on the magical night you were born.  There has never been, and never will be anyone in the world quite like you.  Happy second birthday baby.

Christmas Day

Jude peed through his cute Christmas pj's sometime over the night, and whenever that happens, I know he's going to end up in bed with us.  He gets super mad when he has to scream and holler in the middle of the night to have me come take him out of his wet jammies, get him cleaned up, put on a new diaper and pj's, and then try to get him back to sleep - yea right.  He always throws a fit and wanders into our bedroom to sleep with us.  So, that's what happened Christmas Eve, and we all woke up snuggled in our bed....I didn't mind that!  But, Jude was a fussy pants.  He was screaming and holllering all the way down the stairs....and then when he saw all his toys, he gave the slightest little smile, looked at us as if to say, "Is this all MINE??!!!" and then was off exploring his new toys.

I am telling you, this kid is a basketball star.  He got it in his first try!

Playing with his Thomas train set.

Riding his training bike.

Our little Mr. Fix It.

Daddy and Jude working on the grocery cart.

Next we headed over to Kitty's to visit with my family.  Jude settled right in, playing with all of Waller's baby toys.  Then we had a yummy brunch.

Snuggling with Waller in his super cool recliner from Mimi and Pa Pa.

Really, how fun is this?!

Christmas morning family pic!

Our Santas - they still spoil us all rotten, and we love them for it!

Family snuggles.

Jude in his new sleeping bag - he loves this!

After spending most of the morning like this....

we showed up to the Gardners' like this....

And woke up to this...

He loved this - unfortunately, he broke off one of the side drums within an hours -- this kid is crazy!  No worries, Momma D promptly ordered him a replacement.  He was jamming with his drums.  I made sure to thank them for this very quiet, calming toy (kidding, we love our jam sessions at home).

Hanging out with Momma D and Pappa G in his red rocker.

Momma D helping Jude drill some holes.



Man, we had an awesome Christmas, spent with loved ones.  We are so blessed to have this family. 

Christmas Eve!

Since this was Lonnie's first year at UPS, I think we all underestimated how tiring it would be working 13 days straight leading up to Christmas Eve, and clocking in 70 plus hours the last week of it.  So, Christmas Eve was catchup time for Daddy to snooze, but me and Jude got the festivities started early.

Every year on Christmas Eve, the Stremels have a Smörgåsbord, and we try hard to make it part of our Christmas tradition.  This year, I took Jude with me while Daddy slept, and we had a great time hanging out with Rae's dear family and friends. 

Getting some sugary sweets from Rae.

Dr. Stremel was kind enough to dig up some of his childhood toys to let Jude play with.  They were so nicely made, not plastic!, and classic...they don't make them like that anymore.

Me and Jess making the exact same face in reaction to something Jude was doing.

Up close - like his haircut?  I did it!  I was pretty pleased with myself considering he wasn't terribly cooperative, and I've never cut hair before.

We went home after a yummy brunch, and crashed from all the sugar.  When Jude woke up, Daddy was somewhat alive, and we went to Christmas Eve service.

Again, not the greatest family photo, but proof that we were there!

We got Christmas Eve dinner at KFC -- classy, I know.  Then we headed home and started our own Christmas Eve tradition.  We've decided that every Christmas Eve, we'll make our own yummy adult Christmas beverage, get all the toys out, watch a Christmas movie, and stay up late*.  *we didn't follow that rule this year...and passed out right at midnight.  It didn't take nearly as long to get all the toys downstairs and displayed.  I had been a good little elf, and put all the toys together in the days leading up to Christmas.

A shot of our Christmas Eve drink -- something banana, vodka, baileys, concoction -- and it was yummy!

A shot of the goods!  I think Santa got carried away this year.  Also note, the Christmas movie of choice was Forrest Gump -- I know there's a Christmas scene in there somewhere, right?

Lady even helped a little -- and by helped, I mean she didn't sit on any toys or chew them up.

This family was off to bed, and I was so excited to see Jude's reaction to all that was awaiting him!

Christmas Eve Eve with the Stevensons

We had Christmas Eve Eve with the Stevensons, and it's crazy how much our family has exploded with little ones!  We celebrated at my Aunt Carolyn's, and enjoyed our first get together of the weekend.

Of course, we had to get a few snuggles from our nephew.  With Uncle L.

With Auntie M.

Jude enjoying dinner with the big boys (aka my cousins' kids, Micah and Sam).  Jude loves trying to be big like them.

An attempt for a family photo -- little squirmer.

With Mimi.

I remember when these kids were the little ones of the cousin clan.

Testing their patience before gift time.

And the madness began!  Sweet Levi checking out Jude's gift.

Jude got an adorable tiger hat from Sam!  Whenever there's an opportunity to make little boys cute with their attire, I'm all over it.

Precious Kaya got in on the gift action too -- I later heard this little rock star stayed up 4 hours past her bedtime because the party was too good to miss out on!

Not pictured -- adorable Lydia, I must have missed getting a photo of her :(  We had a great start to the Christmas weekend, and it's always great spending time with my extended family.