Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Jude's Dedication

This past Sunday, we dedicated Jude to the Lord at our church. The service was really sweet and so many of our family showed up! I was overjoyed that so much of our family came. After the service, we all came back to our house to have our own potluck lunch...except it wasn't really a potluck. It was such a great time, and a very special time for Ross and I.




This is us with our pastor/group leader/friend, Chuck
The whoooole family that was here....minus Brandon

And some pics we got while the family was here...

Even my sweet friend, Emily, came
My sister, Jessie and Shawn stayed a few more nights, which was AWESOME. They just left today. I was so glad they stayed! I even talked them into staying another night.....but I had to make a deal with my sister. If she stayed an extra night, I'd watch The Notebook (which is something I was NOT looking forward to). But, it ended up not being too bad, and at least they stayed, hehe.


Tummy time together

They were looking at each other in this one, so cute!

Yep, they were matching

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Sweet years

This past weekend we went into Memphis to celebrate Ross' grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. Wow! 60 years! That is just amazing to me. We all surprised Granddad and Grandma Fergus by showing up at their church for the Sunday morning worship. Then, at the end of the service (also to their surprise), they again exchanged their vows in front of the congregation, just as they had done 60 years before. It was really sweet. I even got a little teary eyed, watching Grandma Mary choke up while saying her vows. After the service, we all gathered for a reception honoring them and their anniversary. The whole day was sweet and I was so glad to be a part of it. (Sadly I did not take any pictures. I am waiting to get some from my mother-in-law, though!)

60 years is an amazing thing. In a day where all I hear about is divorce, it's so touching to see a couple stay together as God intended it. What a testimony to us younger generations! I also thought about my marriage. It's only been 2 years, but I pray that there will be 60...even more! I thank God that I have married my best friend, and the love of my life. I can't help but picture us as an old couple, hobbling around arm in arm, watching our grandkids and hopefully great grandkids grow up. What a sweet blessing that would be.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Growing up

Lots of people have been asking me what new stuff has Jude been doing lately? Instead of typing it all out 100 different times, I thought I'd just type it here and then refer them to the blog for updates. :)

So lately, the Jude man is...

-Laughing a lot. Refer to the previous blog to hear it, if you care to. :)

-Trying to sit up by himself. He can usually do it with a little support. We usually just prop him up on the couch so he can chill like a big boy.

-Eating rice cereal. It's more like a game of how much cereal we can get on his face, but hey, that's what it's all about, right?

-Pulling my hair. He has a death grip like you wouldn't believe. I'm surprised I still have any hair left.

-Rolling over all the time. He's no longer a blob! He's moving all the time and barely stays on his back anymore. He rolls over to his tummy, stays there awhile and then starts fussing. I always say "son, you did this to yourself, so roll back over!"........he very rarely ever takes my advice (although he CAN, he just won't or doesn't know to).

-Standing up with support. Those legs are strong, boy! Sometimes I wonder if he'll become a wrestler someday or something.

-Loving his bath time. Since we took him out of the hammock in his bathtub (the infant stage), he can actually sit up in his bathtub and splash around. It's too cute.

-A waterbaby. He loves the water! We go to the pool all the time and even went to the lake once. I'm so excited, now I have a permanent pool buddy. That is, at least until he gets older and doesn't want to hang with his mom. Ahh, the joys of the teenage years.

-A foot grabber. Loves those feet....especially when I'm trying to change his diaper. Try changing a diaper when your kid has a hold of his feet. Doesn't really work!

-Blowing raspberries. He is all about blowing spit everywhere! I have to admit, it's rather cute. But then again, us moms think everything our babies do is cute. Mom #1: "My baby has the cutest poop I've ever seen!" Mom #2: "Well, my baby has the cutest spit up I've ever seen."

-Teething...I think. He wants to put everything in his mouth and he's drooling like crazy. I've heard bad, bad things about babies teething, so I'm not looking forward to it!

-Sucking his thumb. He's been doing this for awhile. He usually tries to fit both hands in his mouth, but it's just not big enough.

-Still sleeping through the night. 11 hours to be exact. I am in heaven.

I know some of you may not care about any of this, especially if you single...or a guy. If no one else does, then my mom and mother-in-law will. :) I freaking love our baby Jude so much. He'll be 5 months on Monday and time is flying by too fast! I wish I could bottle this age up and never forget it.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The sound that makes my insides hurt (in a good way)

Here are some videos we've taken recently of Jude and his sweet laugh. The first one is pretty poor quality and dark, but you can still hear him laughing! :)


More of my baby laughing!



Smiley boy...double chin and all

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

4th of July at the lake

Our Pickwick lake trip last weekend was AWESOME. It's always nice to get away for a long weekend and get out of the norm of everyday life. We had such a good time! The Tillmans graciously let us borrow their house for the weekend, which by the way, was N-I-C-E. Some of the fun things we did this weekend included going out on the boat, watching fireworks, sitting around the fire pit and talking, eating, watching movies and tv in the nice media room, celebrating a birthday, watching the girls (and Ross) tube, relaxing and spending time together. Jude did so well this weekend, I think he's a lake kinda guy. :) Here are some pics from our weekend...

My favorite picture



Pictures on the boat...Jude LOVED being on the boat! He got a little hot the second day, but he loved it when the boat was going.


My sister holding a sleeping Shawn

Ross actually tubed! It was too funny...

Mo and Jessie tubing

Ross in the old school life jacket

Me and my Sissy


Jude fell asleep on his daddy like this! It was so cute.

But later, he got hot. So, we stripped him to a diaper and cooled him off with some of the water. (he did not get in, but I could tell he wanted to, hehe)

Me and my sister with our babies---note the matching 4th of July outfits the babies are wearing

Jude and I

Sissy and Jude

Some pics we took inside


Family pic

Jessie and Jude


Jude and Shawn. Shawn is just about as big as Jude!
All good things must come to an end. We came home and I was sad. But, my 26th was a good one this year. Thanks to Ross, Jude, Sissy, Shawn, Jessie, Monica and Jamie. They even got me a cake and everything. (no candles...someone forgot them).

Oh! Quotes from the weekend---
"We were at the sports bra..."
"Diapes and wipes, poo poo in the diap"
"Home skillet"
"Excuse me....or should I say excuse YOU"
"Brandie, please tear the club up"
"In the ayer , ay , ayer , ayer , ay , ayer"

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Ross' List

This is Ross (obviously, if you've read the post title), and here's my list of things I love that really get me going, or bring me joy. (in no particular order)

  1. My Wife: Quite frankly, she's freakin awesome and i'm really glad I married someone that's as goofy as i am and has a similar sense of humor and can tolerate me when I'm being a butthead. Not to mention how hardcore she is, and how into Jesus she is and how willing she is to submit her whole being to Him and allow Him to change her...I don't do that as willingly as she does and it's just awesome. And i love her dances!
  2. My Son Jude: I can't wait til he's running around causing trouble...sure I'll probably be going out of my mind, but I'll enjoy it! Til then i'll make due with him being immobile but still super-baby, lol. That smile is priceless, not to mention his laugh!
  3. Music: Music is so awesome, I love all types, but i have phases I go through. One month will be a metal month, the next might be drum'n'bass month then the next might be hip hop month. Right now it's drum'n'bass time...it's self-explanatory: drums and bass. For a drummer music doesn't get any better, it's music completely based on the rhythm section! i also love making music, even though I'm really not so good at it. And of course playing my drums.
  4. Science: It's what I do. I've been into science probably since I started school. It's awesome for me when an experiment goes smoothly and i don't screw anything up, lol. Or when I get the results I expect, that's always a plus (but in science it's also a rarity) I love when I get a lot of good experiments done during a week...makes me feel like I've accomplished a lot.
  5. Truth: I love it when I'm reading my Bible and a new truth is revealed to me. It's like God giving a little snippet of himself to me! It blows my mind how we live in a culture where science and logic and intelligence are so dominant, but truth is ill-regarded. Science and logic are all about truth! ...anyway, dI won't get myself started on that track. Truth is good.

I'm sure there's more, but i can't think of them right now...I'll add'em later