The Daily Jude 2/28/11

Our friends, Kris and Dana, invited us over for special weeknight Asian dinner. We loved it and Jude did, too!

Would you call this a "mosey"?

Dictionary.com describes mosey as "to walk or move in a leisurely manner." Jude's walking certainly doesn't look like casual or easy. My little boy is using all of his brain to keep his balance and put one foot in front of another.

He is up to about 15 steps or so now. But as Mommy and Mama move further apart, he takes a couple of stumbles as he walks across the living room floor. We were so proud to see him get right back up on to his feet to keep trying. Soon, I know that walk will turn into a run.

Snowy Snowy 1st Birthday

One year ago I hadn't eaten in 36 hours, Lindsay was watching season one of Lost on DVD, and Tiger was apologizing for his mistakes. And then, at 9:14 that night, a scrunchy little web-toed being came into our lives.

And now we've planned a party to celebrate one year of crying, giggles, smiles, and poop. And while Jude's name is on the invitations and the party banner, I have to admit that the party is really our way of celebrating the fact that we made it through one year. There were tough times - oh were the times tough - but here we are, with a little guy who is happy, curious, and oh-so-busy. I'm not saying that the rest is going to be a walk in the park, but I've gone from feeling like every second was a decision to a confident, proud, and very happy mama. 523,600 minutes was all it took.

So while the weather had other plans for our party (you can call it "Domebuster II"), that didn't stop us from reveling in the amazement of how our lives have changed for the better.

I love you, Jude!

He looks just like you.

When we were choosing our donor, we chose someone who had brown eyes and brown curly hair, not because we thought we were going to fool anyone into thinking that maybe he was genetically related to both of us.  But it was important to me that Jude looks like a part of "us."  Similarly, we chose someone who was outgoing and extroverted for the same reasons -- so our baby would have a combination of both of our personalities.

Yesterday at our Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) class, we were going around the table sharing how we created our families.  We shared a little bit about our story and Liz's pregnancy.  And then after class, another parent came up to me and shared that she never knew that Liz was the one who had carried Jude.  She said that she always thought that Jude was such a perfect combination of our personalities and appearances that she didn't know who his birth mother was.  

Well done, Heyers.  Well done.

The Daily Jude

Having an iPhone has changed my life in more ways than one, but one of the best parts about it is the ability to take decent pictures and easily email them. I really love taking pictures, but I don't always have my big ol' camera on hand and the thought of pictures languishing in the camera, waiting to be uploaded, kind of makes my head explode (can't. handle. one. more. item. on. the. to-do. list).

So I started taking and emailing a picture of Jude every day. It's the kind of thing that if I'd set out to do, I never would have done it. In fact saying I'm doing it here could potentially be picture suicide.I'll try not to let it turn into that, but just in case, here are a few we've taken so far:

Diving in the toy box

Shaking his maraca (when ISN'T he shaking that maraca?)

Wearing his new Boston Terrier shirt

"Mama, I might be too cool for school."

And he's up the stairs!!!!

Showing off his hammer skills

There's this thing in front of my face, but I can still see you.... weird...

Happy Birthday, Isabelle!

You know I love the stripes!

Oooooh.... a new toy from Mommy....

Mac and cheese?!?! Where have you been all my life?????

I'm a blackbelt in karate!

Looking for a book....

A little skeptical of his buddy, Milo

I bite my spoon at you!

Questioning authority

Blueberries, why are you so good to me?