home.: and then there was juboo

You may be all birthday-posted out. I'm a little bit cake-decorated out.

But we celebrated the last of the peas in our pod this week.

Oh man, he had us long before he could say hello.

What a joy he is to watch grow, this child who...

...has chosen to sleep with a framed HS senior picture of me.

...loves singing Take me out to the Ballgame, Hallelujah! All I have is Christ, and Paradise by Coldplay.

...sings "Am I a muppet or am I a man?" at the top of his lungs, and it cracks me up every time!

...likes to play pet store, where he's a lizard and I come choose him and bring him home.

...says his favorite (of many nicknames) is JuBu.

...refers to his brothers as "the Royuh boys."

...loves his "Bucket-filler book," and tells us when we're being bucket-fillers or bucket-dippers.

...wanted swim lessons for his birthday.

...also wanted to go to the dentist for his birthday "weally bad" (after Jack had gotten some cavities filled and got a prize from the dentist).

...started jumping off the diving board this week! (and was so excited to get his "very own can of coca-cola" for trying it!)

...woke up early on his birthday to help me decorate his Jay Ninjago cake.

...and after it was all done, he said Jay needed a smile :)

What do you do when you finish decorating the cake and are leaving it behind to spend the day at the beach? You eat it for breakfast, that's what!

A few weeks ago, I realized I didn't have a single picture printed of Jude. No photo albums, no scrapbooks, nothing! So for his birthday, I put together a baby book of pictures and stories for him to read. Sometimes you don't realize what a whirlwind the last 4 years have been until you sit down and try to think about all that's happened in the last 4 years...

I had forgotten that when we shared with Miles and Jack the news that we were going to have a baby, Miles asked me if I would have a man. Then Jack asked me if I could have a farmer and if he could drive a combine. And that the next day, Jack wondered if I could have a puppy instead of a baby. I also had forgotten that Miles wanted to name him "Ralphy" and Jack wanted to name him "Doodle." But I remembered wondering how a third would ever fit with the personalities of the other two. But, he fits. Oh, so perfectly.
So, we named him Jude, which means "praise God."
We praise and thank Him for such a precious gift.