The BEST Birthday EVER (and why I haven't been blogging)

This Sunday, Finley will turn 3 and I can't even believe it!  We had her birthday party last weekend and I will be posting about it soon.  As the party neared, I found myself going more and more overboard even though I had vowed to "cut back" this year.  I just couldn't help myself!

The party was GREAT!  But admittedly, Finley became a little overwhelmed for about 20 minutes or so and it broke my heart.  Lesson learned.  The truth is that I go overboard because I truly want my kids to love their birthdays.  To love celebrating the day God brought them into this world...

Because I hate birthdays.  Ask anyone who knows me and they will roll their eyes and say "Yep, she is sooooo annoying about her birthday."  It has nothing to do with getting older.... I just hate being the center of attention and had some particularly awful birthday following my mom's death.

Devin and I had been dating around 9 months when my birthday rolled around for the first time.  I had refused to tell him when it was and surprisingly, even though I know he thought it was odd, he continued to date me.

My birthday that year was on a Thursday and I was getting ready for work when the doorbell rang.  My friend, Kari, was there and Beth had told me Jenn was coming over as well so I went to let Jenn in and yes, there was Devin on my doorstep.  I freaked out and asked him what he was doing there.  He wished me a Happy Birthday and I said "Why aren't you at work?"  And he said "I'm off work today and tomorrow and so are you!"  He had with the help of Beth arranged for me to be off work totally unknown to me and whisked me off to Dallas where he took me for a shopping spree at Anthropologie and out to dinner at Fogo de Chao.  He also bought me the whole series of my favorite tv show on DVD that he had to order from Asia because it hadn't been released in the U.S.  HE IS A KEEPER!!!!!!

That was easily my BEST birthday!  He seriously blew me away.

But this year's birthday gave it a run for its money.

It started out rough.... it was the day that Jude was in and out of consiousness and I had no idea what was wrong with him.  Fortunately, everything was okay.

Later that day, we received the best news EVER with the confirmation that come May, our family would be looking less like this:

and more like this:

or possibly this:

Baby #3 is joining the C family!  WE ARE ECSTATIC!!!!!!!  

(between Finley's party, a baby shower I'm throwing tomorrow, Festifall committments, and throwing up multiple times a day, this blog has been a low priority, but I'm feeling better and hoping to get caught up soon!)

All About Jude: 8 Months Old

Dear Jude,

You are 8 months old!!!!!!  You are all over the place and are such a happy, sweet boy!  Every month, I continue to be amazed at how easy and wonderful you are!  You are making it way toooooo easy on us! I admit that you are causing much more of mess these days now that you can crawl, but we love seeing your new independence!

• You weigh around 18 pounds.  Maybe a bit more.  
• You are in size 3 diaper.
• You are wearing 6-9 month clothes... 6-12 month stuff is too big so I finally found you a ton of stuff at The Children's Place that was 6-9 months.  Believe it or not, you are easier to find cute clothes for right now than your sister!  
• You still have not developed any stranger anxiety.  You always get compliments at BSF and church with how great you do without us around.
• I think your spit up is actually getting better this month!  THANK GOODNESS! 
• You are still the best sleeper ever!  
• You are taking 5 bottles a day.  
• You are getting better at taking solids.  You like your veggies-- peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, etc.  I still haven't gotten you in a good routine with solid foods.  You really should be taking them 3 times a day, but I'm having a hard time getting you up to that!  Bottles are so much easier! Ha!
• You still love eating Mum Mums and puffs!
• You are still taking two naps a day.  Catnaps are more scarce, but some days we still get those in.
• I'm still feeding you at your 10:30 p.m. bottle and I love our time rocking together.  I hold you and pray over you.
• Your eyes are still a mystery.  They aren't blue like your sisters were.  They look kind of grayish.  I still think they'll turn green, but we'll see.
• You have so much hair on the back of your head now!!!!  The hair on the top of your head is still taking awhile to come in.  It's cute and fuzzy right now.
• You are CRAWLING!  And you're all over the place!
• You are very good at sitting up by yourself!
• You still love to stand.
• You've started pulling up on stuff.  We caught you standing up in your crib for the first time this month!
• You've started playing "with" your sister more.  We are learning how to share!  It's been an interesting time now that you can go after what your sister is playing with.
• You love the tv despite the fact that I try not to let you watch it.
• You LOVE paper!!!!!  You want to play and eat it.  You will find paper if it is anywhere near you!  Now that you can crawl you seem to find paper EVERYWHERE!
• You've started using consonant sounds and may have said "Dada" this month.  I'm working on the MaMa with you!
• I call you Bam Bam because you like to bang stuff together!
• You have gotten A LOT better at picking up puffs by yourself!  It is still a bit of a struggle to get them in your mouth, but you're doing really well!
• You like to stand when I put you in your carseat and usually throw a fit when I force you to sit down.
• We are seeing more of your fits now that your sister takes things from you or now that we have to redirect your crawling away from things you want.
• You LOVE the dishwasher!  It's a great height for you to pull up on.
• You are getting SO big!  I can't hardly believe what a big boy you like like these days!  I love you soooooo much!

Love,

Mommy

She Left Proof--October 2011

Me and the kiddos at the pumpkin patch... weird lighting-- check.  wind in the hair-- check.  dirt in Jude's mouth-- check.  real life-- check. =)