Christmas 2010

Our most precious Christmas gift this year...

Daddy reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas"... Anna acted too old for this tradition this year, but she better just get used to it. My Dad read it to us until we were grown (I think the last time he read it off a laptop on a ski vacation when Tom & I were engaged!).

Opening craft boxes for one on one project time with Mommy, this was the first thing that they wanted to do when they got back from a week at my moms. These girls love to craft & love undivided attention!

These Breyer's stuffed horses from Dingdaddy had been requested for months!

All of our babies have gotten their first Bible with their name engraved for their first Christmas... Judah slept through the morning, but his sisters helped him open his gifts

Christmas Surprise!

On Christmas Eve as we drove to service at our church, it occured to me how well that I felt. The recovery from this c-section has been so much better than with the girls, and Judah has been a great car rider so far. I never expected to feel well enough to travel for Christmas, so we planned on staying home, but I began to get the insane idea that we could show up at my parents house a day early & surprise everyone (Tom was supposed to meet my mom with the girls the day after Christmas). Many family members were going to be there, and it felt like a great opportunity to introduce Judah. We realized about 5 minutes from the church building that we left the diaper bag & camera on the kitchen table & had to run into walmart for an emergency pack of diapers. Judah's first visit to church was with a pink purse of Mae's filled with two preemie diapers (Tom grabbed the wrong size), kleenex, and wipes from the van stash. This made the prospect of packing for a trip for 5 people including a 10 day old newborn plus a dog seem ridiculous, but it just sounded too fun to let the idea go! Tom agreed to do almost all of the packing if I made a list & my brother was brought in on it so I could make sure that no one was sick at my mom's house. Amazingly we pulled it off. We were on the road by 9am the next morning! I wish I had a video of everyone's faces when we showed up. I know that spending Christmas with their newest grandbaby was a great gift to my parents, and seeing him held by his greatgrandparents & relatives was priceless to me.

Nanny with her first great-grandson

We were so excited that Angela & Ray brought little Ava for the day also, she is just 10 days older than Judah. What fun these little cousins will have growing up together! Here are Mamaw & Papaw with their newest great-grandbabies.

Our first family picture of all 5 of us!

The sisters with their grandbabies - Mom & Aunt Veda

Posing with Ava on the beautiful quilts that Mamaw made...

Being passed around all day is tiring, and so is Daddy's new job of taking care of mommy plus three!

Anna & Ruthie modeling their new outfits made by Mamaw for Christmas

Snuggle Bug

Judah's first days at home consisted of a lot of sleeping, snuggling (he was almost never put down), being posed for many pictures, and of course, the round the clock nursing! I'm sure he thinks that the world is a place full of flashing lights since the camera is always going off, but we can't resist. They are only this tiny once, and it goes way too fast!

Mae helping give him his first bath.

Our most precious gift this year - posed under the tree!

Dingdaddy has always drawn Snoopy on everything for us kids (we hope that Judah never has a cast with Dingdaddy's signiture Snoopy on it like my brothers did many times). When Grammie made Judah several sets of baby legs, she had to make these...

He looks so tiny, but at the same time it is amazing to think that he fit in my tummy! In this picture, he wasn't even back up to his birthweight, but it's neat to see how he probably looked all pretzeled inside!

Judah comes home!

Now the fun really begins! All three blessings at home. Our hospital stay was such a good experience. I tried to really soak in the time with Judah, knowing that life at home would not be as calm! We had our challenges... on the second day of life Judah decided he was STARVING & did not want to patiently wait for my milk to come in (give me a break little guy... I just had surgery yesterday!). Since nursing is so important to me, we got creative & used a tiny dropper to supplement with formula while he nursed. It made him happier, but he still lost a full 10% of his birthweight so we had to supplement at home as well. On his two day follow up at the pediatrician he still hadn't gained weight, so we began an every two hour schedule of nursing, pumping, and offering breastmilk in a bottle. Another post on that to follow!

In Daddy's arms ready to go home. It was a traumatic day - Judah had his circumcision in the morning & we were free to go once he had a wet diaper. Changing him was nerve wracking & he was in a lot of pain, so I was suddenly ready to get out of there to the safety of home. Tom was so incredibly helpful during the whole hospital stay. We saw several lactation consultants because of our nursing difficulties, and one even said she should video us because Tom was being such a team player, helping me with the dropper as I nursed. Such a good daddy!

The sisters were thrilled to get their baby brother home!

Grammy helped the girls make signs & a welcome Judah cake for our homecoming.

Thanks for the outfit Monica! I hope that Judah's personality is pretty calm, not so much "rock n roll", but this was too cute!

Judah's visitors

We are thankful to have so many people who prayed for another child for our family, who continued to pray once they knew Judah was on his way, and who I know will keep praying for him now that he's arrived! Our hospital room stayed busy with visitors, and friends & neighbors have continued to come by the house now that he's home (although I don't remember to get the camera out anymore!). We are excited to share & pass around this little reminder of God's faithfulness & goodness!

Becky

Molly, Abby, & Emma

Bonki

Lana & Katie

Charley

Katie & Kylee

Kristen & Kevin

Emiley, Caroline, & Savannah

Emma

Addie

Lila

Corey & Julia

Addison

Clint & Alyssa

Michelle

Chantelle & Brian