Jude and his 'tar...

Dear Jude,

There's a new musician in town....

YOU!!

Papa and Mimi bought you your first guitar on the way home from Oklahoma last week, and now your favorite pastime is singing and playing your "tar."  Right now your best song is the ABC Song.  Mom says you're a natural with how well you can already hold your "tar" and strum!

You've taken so quickly to it, that now you're trying to teach me a thing or two.  

And I can't complain.  There's nothing like a super-cute, evening jam session to get Mom to extend the ineveitable...  Bedtime. 



Keep playing your 'tar, big brother, and maybe one day we'll see your name in lights!

Love you like a rock star,

Emily

Oklahoma Greats!

Dear Dad,

Last week Mom, Emme and I drove up to Oklahoma (with Papa Jack and Mimi, of course) to celebrate Pops and Momo's 60th wedding anniversary.  We missed you but had a fantastic time catching up with the family!  (Can you believe 85 family members were there?!  Mom sure has a BIG family!)

Pops and Momo sure did love cuddling Emme and watching me zoom all around their living room. 

We even got to meet Papa's Uncle Buddy and Aunt Melva.  Emily took an instant liking to Uncle Bud.  :)

We also got to see your grandparents, Dad!  Granny and Papaw made a special visit (with presents!) to make sure they could see us. 

Emily was all smiles in Granny's arms.

And can you believe we also got to spend time with Memaw?!  Em and I enjoyed the cuddles, and Mom enjoyed Memaw's delicious coffee.  :)



We had such a fun visit and can't wait to go back soon....although Mom says you need to join in the fun next time!  ;)

Love you like Braum's ice cream,

Jude

Our growing boy!

Hey Jude,

It's tough to believe how fast you're growing up!  Mom says this is the "terrible twos" phase, but I just don't see any of that.  You're such a fun little guy, and I love every minute we get to hang out together!

What seems to be growing the most right now is your VOCABULARY!  Mom and I can understand about 90% of what you're trying to say, and you crack us up all the time with the funny things you say.  Your latest thing is finding as many synonyms for "yes" and "no" as you can (yep, alright, okay, okie-dokie, yeah, oh yeah, mm-hmm, nope, naah).  And the way you call for us makes us laugh, too:  "Oh Daaadddy, Oh Moooommmy, Oh Emmmeee.  Where are yar (you)?"  Your standard "goodbye" is still "Ciao!"  And you remind me to get my "keys" and "foffee" (coffee) as I head off to work each morning.  You are one cute little guy!

You have REALLY gotten into coloring lately.  You'll sit at your table for 30 minutes sometimes working on your colorful masterpieces.  Maybe we have a budding Picasso on our hands?

And you still love to build block towers with the guys, especially when Papa Jack, Papi, and I are around to build with you.

Last week while at the mall you walked over to the AT&T kiosk, where you quickly negotiated your way into taking home one of their old demo phones.  Mom couldn't stop laughing at how you "texted" while walking through the mall, and then declared that Aunt Summer was on "speaker" (speakerphone) once we got into the car.



You sure are growing up fast, little guy!  Can't wait to see what the future holds for the two of us!

Love you like Sooner football,

Dad

Dancin' fool...

Dear Jude,

While I was going through some old videos, I found this one from when you were 18 months old and in the middle of your big-time dancing phase!  It made me laugh, so I'm adding it here tonight in case anyone reading this needs a great laugh today.  :)  I love you, my dancing boy!

Love you like hip hop,

Mommy

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dear Daddy,

Happy Valentine's Day from your jellybean!

While you were at work - slaving away so Mom can redecorate the family room! - Mom, Jude and I went to a Valentine party!

I enjoyed some much needed girl talk with my friends...

...while Jude actually participated in the festivities by decorating a sack for his valentines...

...and then exchanging valentines with his buddies.

I preferred to hang out in the swing with my BFF.

Of course it didn't take long for Jude to come join in the fun!

Then while you and Mom went out on your hot date, Jude and I stayed home and made valentine cookies with Mimi and Papa Jack!



I love you, Daddy, and I love being your valentine every day of the year!

Love you like sprinkles,

Emily

9 months old!

Dear Emme,

You are nine months old and just keep getting cuter and cuter!  Friends and strangers alike comment on your sparkly eyes and adorably chubby cheeks, and though you're growing into your own beautiful look, I think you still look an awful lot like me...

You weigh almost 19 pounds (47th %) and are 28 inches tall (65th %) - such a healthy girl!  We're still waiting to see that first pearly white pop through, but Mom says you're probably just going to take your sweet time with that as with most everything else in your little world.

You're getting more and more fun to play with too, little sis!  And it's a good thing you're not crawling yet because I have a feeling when that starts I'm really going to have to explain the rules about your toys versus my toys.  But we're cool for now.

We had a bit of a cold spell a few weeks ago...a true rarity for Houston...and you, Mom and I were all sick off and on for about two weeks.  But no matter how many doctor's appointments we had to go to, you didn't mind because you finally got to show off your cozy little lamb coat.

And speaking of doctor's appointments, you saw a specialist this month because the fluid around one of your kidneys keeps increasing.  If the pattern continues you'll probably need to have surgery to correct the problem, so we're all praying that God will heal your little body so you don't have to go through surgery.  We know that God will watch over you no matter what happens, though, and are so very thankful for that!

You're all about food these days, as your portion of the pantry shows.  Fruits are still your favorite, but you gobble up meats and veggies, too.  You eat three baby meals a day along with four bottles of formula; (that's right, sis ~ you're fully weaned!)  And with such a full tummy, you're still a fabulous sleeper both during the day and at night, which means I can sleep well, too.  (At least until 6:30am when your precious babbling wakes me up from my deep sleep!)

At nine months you love riding in the shopping cart, sitting in a restaurant highchair, taking baths, playing with me, bouncing, and keeping Mom in your line-of-sight at all times.  And you're still a wonderful cuddler!

I love you, Emme, and am so happy to be your big brother!

Love you like Legos,

Jude

No more amoxicillin, please!

Dear Mom,

Next time someone asks you if I'm allergic to any medication, please keep this image in your mind...

...and this one...



...and kindly say...

"AMOXICILLIN!!!"



Thanks, Mom.  For a friendly guy like myself, it's just no fun scaring all of the parents at the pediatrician's office by walking up and playing with their kids.  If anything like this ever happens again, it'd be nice if you could teach me a simple but very useful phrase: "Don't worry, ma'am.  It's not contagious."

Love you like Benadryl,

Jude