Christmas Day 2013

Of course, every single one of the pictures I took was of Judah... ha.

Actually, this was Christmas Eve... we showed him how to open a present, so he would be all excited to open the rest in the morning!

He loved the chunky animal puzzle pieces :)

The next morning he was indeed excited, but he only wanted to open one present at a time and then play with it for a long while! We spent a good portion of the day Skyping with our families and just hanging  out. I didn't take pictures of everything but I got the camera out a few times during the day. It took until bedtime for Judah to open all of his presents!

His very own watch (he has been obsessed with clocks/watches since he was a baby)

An airplane from Uncle James!

First glance at his big present (train table)...

... and he was completely absorbed!

"choo choo!"

Oh look! I did take a picture that didn't involve Judah. Our Christmas roast lamb feast, with perfectly roasted potatoes (if I do say so myself), roasted butternut squash with red onions and garlic, roasted brussel sprouts, and steamed broccoli, with plenty of gravy and fresh mint sauce for the lamb.

And back to the train table.

Underneath the Christmas tree...

Christmas is magical all over again when you have kids!

life with a little Jude...

I can't believe my little newborn is almost 6 weeks old... and not so little anymore at 11lbs 11oz! The pediatrician took one look at him and said to me "What do you put in your milk?!"... haha. He is 100% healthy and growing and we are so thankful for that.

When Judah was 3 weeks old, two of his uncles came to visit... Thomas's brothers Robert and Stephen.

We all went out for Ethiopian food... with Stephen Whitson too!

The food was amazing... we ate every last bit!

Hanging out with Uncle Stephen.

And Uncle Robert.

Some Congdon men!

Last day with Nana :(

Jude decided to wear a super cute outfit just for her.

Saying goodbye at the airport.

Sad day :(

Candid shots of the past few weeks:

Staring up at daddy.

Jude loves his bouncy seat. We call it the "magic chair" because it puts him right to sleep. 

Resting on mommy.

Super baby! Look at that squishy face... adorableness.

Outing to Target. We go there a lot just to wander around.

(OK, and for mom to get Starbucks!)

My little snuggle bug.

We like to go for walks around the country club of our apartment complex.

Daddy says Jude looks like a little prison inmate in his jumpsuit.

... and mommy is bananas over Judah!

Looking grown up in big boy pajamas, hanging out in his crib with Gentle Giraffe (which makes sleeping sounds!)

Talking to momma.

I can honestly say I've loved every minute of Judah's 5 and 1/2 weeks of life. The only hard part is keeping up with things like laundry and dishes and trying to keep the house presentable, when all I want to do is snuggle and stare at him. It helps that he's such an easy baby - he eats well and sleeps well. He usually only wakes once a night to eat and stays awake for about an hour. I thought I would be way more sleep deprived... but I feel quite rested most of the time. Thomas gets a little more sleep deprived because he has to get up and go to work early, and he doesn't get to nap during the day when Jude naps like I do.

Motherhood is definitely my favorite stage of life so far!

Life is getting back to normal... well a "new" normal anyways. I still love cooking and coming up with new things. The other day I made a mushroom-asparagus-proscuitto saute with yummy things like garlic and red wine. I ate it on toast with some feta cheese and fresh basil... it would have been even better with goat's cheese, I think.

We also had a delicious fondue dinner with Andrew and Janelle!

So life with a little Jude, in short, is wonderful :)