White Christmas in Alabama

I think this is one of the best Christmases that I have had as an adult. Being a parent during Christmas was a totally new experience for us and I loved it! Watching Jude on Christmas morning was so much fun and getting ready for it was even more so. Although, Jeremy may sing a different tune. It took him over 2 hours to put together one of his gifts from Grandma and Gramps. Thus begins many more years of reading manuals.

We started the morning opening Santa gifts. Jude even played with them and not with boxes! Then we went over to my sister's house and had breakfast and more presents with my parents and sister's family. On the drive up to Trussville, we watched as the rain at our house turned to sleet and then to snow during the drive and by the time we got to my sister's it was sticking to the ground!

My family left to drive back to Dothan and our little Luker family went home to our house. Jude went down for a nap and Jeremy and I relaxed and watched an actual movie on our new blu-ray player (thanks Mom and Dad!). Jude woke up and we had round 2 of presents. It took us 3 times to get all the gifts open.

On Christmas Eve, we went over to BB's house where Santa was visiting. As you can see, Jude wasn't a big fan. Maybe next year!

I think this was his favorite toy. You can only see the bat, but it has a basketball, football goal, and baseball to hit. He almost didn't pay attention to anything else! A rocking golf-cart (instead of a horse). Breeding our next Tiger Woods, minus the cheating and affairs.

I couldn't help myself! Matching shirts for Jude and Daddy.


Kendall, Justin, and Jude

My handsome boys!

No matching shirt for me. I thought that might be a little much.

He was playing with the golf cart and found another toy to play with at the same time. My little multi-tasker.

One Year

Eat your hearts out ladies! That is one handsome boy that we have. We got some family pictures taken to celebrate his first year. We all made it through the year and are a happier, closer family. It has certainly been a wild ride and we have loved every minute of it.

A quick snapshot of Jude at a year old:

He weighs almost 24 pounds and is 31 inches long. That's more than 3 times what he weighed when he was born and 10 inches taller.

His two favorite things are Wrigley and his toy walkers.

His first bonafide word was "light," although it sounds as if he's saying "ice." Of course, he's been saying mama and dada for awhile, but I think he just likes those syllables the best.

He will eat just about anything you put him front of him and has since he was born. He's always been a hungry man.

He is the best sleeper and napper, for which I'm truly grateful. Although, it took many sleepless nights to get to this point.

Separation anxiety has just set in. He's been really great with other people until he hit the one year mark and now it is in full affect.

He does not like to cuddle, nor sit still. Even at bedtime, he wiggles and will push you away if you try to snuggle. No mama's boy here!

I can count 5 teeth that have come in and one that his been right there for at least 4 weeks. He really doesn't like for you to mess with his mouth to try and see teeth.

He smiles and laughs a lot. It truly warms your heart when you achieve a belly laugh out of him.

Don't worry, we were inches away from him while taking this picture. But, boy was I nervous! I was thinking about how cold the water would be if I had to jump in.


Good looking family, if I do say so myself. If you haven't seen Jeremy in awhile, he now shaves his head pretty short. Took some getting used to!






I'm jealous of his eyelashes!




Hanging on to Daddy's legs

Hanging on to Mommy's legs

Photographs courtesy of Carly J Photography. She rocks!

Thanksgiving

I'm officially a grown-up. I hosted my very own Thanksgiving dinner at our house. I managed to cook dinner without making anyone sick. It helped that I had a friend fry our turkey. At least the main course wouldn't be messed up! Thanks, James! I hope everyone had a good time. I know that I did! It helps that I enjoy cooking.

My sister and brother-in-law were very happy with me hosting the meal. It meant they didn't have to drive anywhere but Hoover! Look how happy they are!

We started a new tradition and joined families for the day. Pam, Jim and his son Chase drove up from Mobile for the day. Somehow I didn't get a picture of Jim or Chase. I guess I'll get them next time!
Gramps and his two girls all grown up.

Jude having some fun with his Gigi

Mom passing the torch to her daughter. I never realized what all went into cooking this big meal. Makes me feel bad that I didn't help more in the past!
Feast your eyes on the spread. I cooked some old standards and tried a few new recipes (to my mother's chagrin). All in all, I think it was tasty. Although, I can't take credit for everything. Everyone contributed a dish. We celebrated Jude's birthday again on Thanksgiving with the whole family. We were only missing Mimi, Aunt Hayley, Uncle Mark, and Maddie. But, we'll see them and baby Luke in January 2011!

He had a much better go with the cupcake this time around! We got the mess that everyone wants to see in their pictures.
Justin, Kendall, Jenny and Julie at the end of the day.
Jude getting ready for bed in some new footie pajamas. They are so stinking cute!

Jude's Birthday Party

Jude had his first birthday party and the theme was dogs. If anything can elicit a smile or a belly laugh from Jude it's a puppy dog. I briefly entertained the thought of everyone bringing their pets, too. But, then I thought better of that. Kids alone are enough to chase after without worrying about dogs, too.

When it came time for him to eat his cake, he wasn't too interested. It didn't help that I left it in the fridge and the icing wasn't soft enough to really mash into. So no picture with a huge mess of icing on his face. But, stay tuned. He got a little more into it when we had a cake for him at Thanksgiving.

When it came time to open presents, we made the mistake of giving him Grandma and Gramp's gift first. It was an actual walker; not a laundry basket or equivalent that he's been using as a walker. So he took off with it and showed no interest in any other toys. Which meant that I got to open the presents instead. Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate opening presents in front of people. Oh, well. I hope that I oohed and aaahed appropriately.

Below is a video of Jude on said walker. The road kill that he leaves in the dust is our neighbor Maddy. Sorry Mads! He promises to share in the future!

This was another favorite toy that Jude received from Casey and Jennifer. As you can see, the whole family was enjoying the fun!

We were really touched at the friends and family that were able to join us for Jude's big day. I hope everyone had as much fun as we did! Thanks for being a part of Jude's first year!

Just because he's cute...

Took some pictures and videos of Jude and thought I'd go ahead and post for absolutely no reason other than his cuteness! That and hearing of my friends impending babies has me truly excited for them and appreciating my own. Congratulations Chasity! This is what you have to look forward to!

Feeding himself Cheerios. Some independence for Jude and for mommy!

(Jessica, if you are reading this, sorry for referring to myself in the third person. It's just something that happens with motherhood, I guess.)

Jude has learned that he doesn't need a walker when he has the laundry basket. He loves pushing it around the house. See the bottom for a video of this activity.

He will make a jungle gym out of any piece of furniture. He likes to crawl under and over his highchair, dining chair, barstool, etc. The other day I had to stop him from crawling right over Wrigley!

This is how Jude typically looks in the morning. He has some crazy bedhead! I love his hair and will be sad the day I have to cut it. I guess when someone mistakes him for a girl, I will know that it is time.


One of Jude's new favorite activities is to lay on Wrigley's bed in the dining room. Below, Wrigley is being nice enough to share with Jude.

In his Sunday clothes. No john-john's for this boy!
(Does anyone else think he looks a bit like Justin in this picture?)

The promised video. Please disregard my talking through it. I can't help myself but to narrate. Hearing my voice on video is embarrassing.

11 Months

Jude turned 11 months on October 27. Eleven months seems like a noteworthy birthday. It's like your 29th birthday before the big 30. I can't believe he will be a year old in a couple weeks. This year has flown by. And I still feel like a brand new mom. Shouldn't I have more figured out by now? I feel like he's really started a new phase in the past week. He's becoming less of my baby and more of a little boy. I'm sad and happy all at the same time.

In the past two weeks, Jude has cut two more teeth, with two more on the way. He loves any kind of animal, cats and dogs. They always make him laugh out loud. He has learned how to use a walker. Good thing he's getting one for his birthday. He's finally figured out how to feed himself. Grilled cheese and cheerios were the break thru foods. He weighs in at 23.5 pounds. All in all, he's a pretty happy baby. Please enjoy the following videos of our happy, baby boy!

He loves playing with Wrigley. And Wrigley is a good sport about it.

Here he is feeding himself grilled cheese. He keeps looking up because he's trying to see me over the camera.

His new thing is playing with Wrigley's bed. He lays on it like he's going to sleep. He also does this with any soft surface in the house, bath mats, kitchen mats, etc. I don't know where he learned it from, but it's pretty funny!

This was taken on Halloween. We didn't do much trick or treating, but he enjoyed greeting the kids that came to our house!

Gigi and Mimi

The whole family went to Mobile over the Halloween weekend for a bonafide Big Fat Greek Wedding. It was nice to have Jeremy make the trip with us. The past few trips I've made to Mobile and Dothan have been just me and Jude.

My friend, Maggie, that I used to work with, got married this weekend in a traditional Greek Orthodox wedding. The ceremony and bride were beautiful, not that we understood much of the wedding. To quote "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," it was all Greek to us! But, I'm so glad that we got to be a part of her day.

Gigi and Mimi got to have quality time with Jude on Saturday as Jeremy and I made a quick trip around town to catch up with some friends. They took him to Wintzell's Oyster House and he enjoyed crackers on the deck while Gigi and Mimi enjoyed some Mobile seafood. I thank them both for watching Jude for his all day! I think a fun time was had by all!

Jude having fun with Gigi and Mimi.

(Poor guy always seems to be coming out of his costume in really inappropriate ways.)

Jude and Mimi

Hopefully, this will be the one and only time he will be on a motorcycle. This was the first time we got to see Poppy's motorcycle. Jude liked his faux ride!

Julie, Maggie, and Jeremy

Shana and the Julie's

Let's play a game of Where's Wrigley?

Bayfest

When we decided to move to Birmingham, I promised myself that I would get back to Mobile for my favorite events, Bayfest and Mardi Gras. Jeremy always said that Bayfest was like my Spring Break. I always stayed out a bit too late and had a bit too much fun that weekend. I went down for a quick trip, but well worth the drive. It was nice to spend time with good friends and have a night out on the town. Shana is the Executive Director of Bayfest and has always gotten me involved in the event as a volunteer. This year, she let me just ride around with her in the golf cart and enjoy backstage of the concerts. We saw Earth, Wind, and Fire and Nelly. I could care less about the acts. I was happy just hanging out with friends.

I got to stay with Jessica for the night. In all the time that we spent together in Mobile, I never once spent the night at her place. We did have many sleepovers at my house, though. Our nearness to Dauphin Street had a bit to do with that.

Shana, Julie, and Jessica

Julie and Jessica

Jude's First Halloween

After a fun weekend in Mobile (another blog to follow), we headed back to Birmingham and made it in the nick of time for trick or treating. Our neighbor had a party and we barely had enough time to unpack the car, whip up chili and pizza dip, put on a costume, feed Jude dinner, and get out in time for the fun. Jude enjoyed his first Halloween, no nap and all.

Getting pumped for Halloween at Gigi's house

Me and Mickey Mouse

Couldn't forget our firstborn. Good thing she is so easygoing when it comes to costumes.

Our neighbor Allison and her daughter Maddy. Maddy is only 2 months older than Jude. They are great neighbors and are always having us over.

We didn't know that he could walk with a walker. He surprises us every day!

Now he's just showing off!

By the end of the night, he was coming out of his costume. Not necessarily the most appropriate look...