3.21

I started my day at 6:00 this morning.  I woke up and could tell it was raining outside, and then I realized what it was that had woken me in the first place.  I heard a soft cooing coming from the side of my bed and my first thought was "Please go back to sleep. Just roll over and go back to sleep".  After a few minutes I knew that wasn't going to happen, so I turned on the light and was greeted by the biggest smiles I have ever seen.  And I was reminded why I get up in the morning.

Today was Jude's Day.  Every day in my life is Jude's day, but today the world recognized it too.  It was World Down Syndrome Day, and I was proud to celebrate.  I may talk about it too much to some, and not enough to others.  It helps me get a grip on things to express how I feel, but it does not define who he is.  My Jude Man is defined by the warm smiles he'll give to strangers that hold him, but especially to his mommy and daddy.  He's defined by the hair that stands straight off his head, that won't go down even when wet, and curls in the back making him look like he's from whoville in The Grinch.  He's defined by the noises and faces he makes, by the fact that he'll fall asleep the moment he's in his car seat.  His smokey blue eyes that I get lost in every day, wondering how he got them from a green eyed dad and brown eyed mom.  The soft giggles he makes when you tickle him under his chin. That, is what defines him.

Today was a day that I wanted to make the world aware.  Instead I held him in my arms all day, cuddled and snuggled.  Kissed and loved.  I know HE is already making so much more of a difference than I ever could.  And I know I have time.

So for now I say goodnight, I am going to cuddle between my two best men.  My world has been changed because of this little man, and I hope you will all open your heart to let yours be changed too.

(I promise he smiles a lot more than what pictures show.  It's amazing that we still haven't been able to capture it in a picture, he's a bit camera shy.  We'll get it someday.)

Sour Face

Erik thought it would be funny to give Jude Man some lemon juice, and this was the result:

So sad yet so funny.

Blessing Day

A few Sundays ago Erik and I blessed our Jude Man.  Well, Erik did more of the blessing (which was beautiful) while I did all of the loving and smooching.

Jude Man looked so handsome in his outfit, everyone just ate him up:

He was so exhausted from being passed around he finally zonked in my arms for hours.

I love this little boy more than anything in the world.  He melts my heart every day and I am so happy that he is all mine.  He makes me strive to be a better person. How can you not love him?

(Please enjoy the bow tie)

Thank you to everyone who came and supported our family on our special day! We really appreciate it and we feel so loved!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Sleepy

I don't have much to say today, except that this picture makes me really happy:

Big Bear

A few weekends ago we went with my family to a cabin in Big Bear, California.  It was Jude's first snow trip! He didn't see too much of the snow himself, but we had a great time.

It snowed so much while we were there, it was crazy! I have never seen snow fall before.  We almost got snowed in one day.

We had to shovel out the driveway anytime we wanted to go anywhere.

Erik and my dad made a snow man together one day, but we forgot to get a picture of it so we had to go back the next day after it snowed again.

We wanted to go sledding so bad, so we all bundled up and jumped in the car looking for a good hill.  We drove around forever but all the good hills were covered with "no trespassing" signs.  After about an hour we found a hill in some random person's front yard that didn't have a sign, so we we decided to see how many times we could go down the hill until someone came outside to tell us to get off their lawn. 

(I don't handle the big hills like Erik does)

We also celebrated this guy's 2 month birthday!

Erik (that's right, Erik) made him this fabulous birthday cake, complete with 2 candles (not for 2 years, but 2 months of course!)

He started smiling at us for the first time while in Big Bear.  Yes he would smile at us before, if he just farted or if he was sleeping.  Now he will make eye contact with you and smile while you talk to him.  He is super ticklish around the mouth and under his chin.  His favorite time to smile is right at bedtime.  He probably knows that if he just gives me a smile then he gets to stay up because I will want to keep playing with him. 

It is crazy that he is already 2 months.  He can definitely focus on Erik and I now, and he'll follow us around the room with his eyes anytime we put him down.  He is even starting to focus in on other people. He is getting so big, he weighed 10 pounds 12 ounces, 23 inches long at his 2 month appointment. He is getting so spoiled, he hates to be put down.  Not only does he have mommy hooked, but he has daddy wrapped so tight around his little finger.  We love our Jude Man!

Valentine's Day

I know this is totally late because Valentine's Day was a few weeks ago, but Erik got me this wonderful necklace for V-day this year.  He actually bought me the "erik and amber" part for Valentine's Day last year, this year he added the Jude charm.  I'm in love.

15 Things

I was recently tagged by my wonderful friend Janell (Read her blog here. She lives in New York and she's amazing). I am supposed to tell you 15 things about myself that you probably didn't know before. Here it goes:

(this actually took me a long time to try and figure out 15 different things about myself!)

1) The movie "Mamma Mia" is what made me decide to marry Erik.  We only dated for 2 months before we got engaged.  That was the same 2 months right after I graduated from high school.  I knew I wanted to marry him, I just wasn't sure if I wanted to right then.  I had a freak moment where one day I told him I needed space to think things over.  Little did I know he had already asked my dad's permission and had the ring in his pocket.  My mom and sister took me out for a girls night which included ice cream, pedicures, and Mamma Mia.  My life was changed.  After seeing that movie I knew I didn't want to end up like Meryl Streep's character, 20 years later and still in love with the same man.  We got engaged the next day.  To this day it is still my #1 favorite movie.

2) I am deathly afraid of heights.  My legs buckle when I'm anywhere high and I think I'm going crashing to the floor.  I usually get dizzy and sometimes I'm close to passing out.  The first and only time I went on the ferris wheel at California Adventure I remember hitting the floor while hyperventilating and my dad had to pick me up and hold me in his arms the rest of the ride while I sobbed in his arms.  I was 15 years old.

3) I am a closet "Lord of the Rings" fan.  Okay, not really much of a closet lover, it's pretty out in the open.  I have the extended edition of all 3 movies and I watch them back to back probably once a month.

4) I pick the meat out of my spaghetti.  I only like meat in certain circumstances: cheesburgers,...and that's about it. 

5) I'm a little OCD about turning in circles.  I feel too wound up and I have to turn back the other way.  It's weird.

6) I once had braces.

7) I hate pumping gas.  Hate it.  Among some other things I hate: shaving my legs, blow drying my hair, doing the dishes, washing my car, and I could keep going.  But I know this isn't "15 things Amber hates doing".

8) I love to read.  I would read all day long if I could.

9)  I will ALWAYS crawl in to my car through my passenger door if I parked next to a van. I have heard too many horror stories about people getting kidnapped that way and I am super paranoid that it is going to happen to me.

10)  I used to play the piano.  I wish I still did.  I got too busy in junior high and had to give something up and that is what I chose.  Sometimes I'll sit down and plunk out a few notes just to remember the good ol' days, but then it just gets depressing.  Someday I'll play again.

11) I have a weird memory.  I can remember what people were wearing, where we were, what the weather was like, if there was music on in the background and other random things about certain occasions in my life.

12) My first "boyfriend" was Blake Chiles in the 7th grade and we went out for 2 whole weeks.

13) I love anything pasta. Well maybe not anything, but mostly everything.  My favorite is either raviolli or tortellini.  Either way they are both stuffed with cheese which I love.

14) I have a tv in my living room, but we don't have cable and we don't watch movies on it.  It's mainly there as a prop.

15) I used to get strep throat about 4-5 times a year, but I never had my tonsils removed.