T-Shirt Time!

So we FINALLY have the shirts worked out for our team "THE JUDE LOVERS".  They will look a little something like this:

You are probably wondering what took us so long because its a pretty basic shirt.  Yeah well we are wondering the same thing.  A lot of things also had to be worked out behind the scenes.  But we are so excited! So buy it dang it! We are selling them for $10 each and ALL of the proceeds will go towards "THE JUDE LOVERS" team.  Please please please let me know if you want one, we need to know by this Thursday, September 1st! Did you hear me? This Thursday!

If you would like to just donate towards Jude's team, you can click on this link and it will take you directly to his team page.  Just click the big red button that reads "Donate" and it will walk you through it. We are so close to meeting our goal, just a little more!

***Also, if you would like to come join us for the walk on Saturday, September 10, you have to register! Click on this link to register for Jude's team and click the blue button that says "Register".  If you are wanting to purchase a shirt like the one above, DO NOT order a shirt from the website.  Those are the basic shirts put out by Sharing Down Syndrome Arizona.  Buy ours instead!

We are so excited for the walk coming up and we hope all of you can join us! If you would like to order a shirt for $10 please leave a comment with the shirt size and how many you want.  Or you can email me at
ae{dot}payne{at}hotmail{dot}com..  Even if you can't come to the walk we would love it if you bought a shirt!

If you have any questions please let me know!

My Replacement

I have always prided myself in the fact that Jude loves me most.  I let others believe that he loves them more, but really I know that him and I have a special connection.  I mean, I'm his mom.  I carried him in my womb.  I pushed him out for a long and grueling 20 minutes (just kidding. he really wasn't that hard to get out.  that was the easiest part of the whole labor-and-delivery experience).

But recently I have noticed a change in his behavior.  He has found a new best friend.  Someone he thinks is better than me.  I didn't think this day would come so soon.  But alas, it has.  I must get past my hatred for this new best friend and realize it is for the better of my child.  Under my breath I curse the name of my replacement, but I know I have to hold my tongue in front of Jude because I do not want to hurt him.  Jude's new best friend is named.....Daddy.


*Jude seems to think that Daddy is a better nap partner than I am (We don't take naps as much as it seems.  Well of course Jude does.  And Erik does sometimes because he leaves for work at 3:30 in the morning).  They even sleep the same:

Jude likes watching movies with Daddy more than me.  I think he has realized that no matter the chick flick, they are always going to end up together.

Jude even enjoys watching fireworks more with Daddy than he would with me.

Sigh.  I may have to pull out the big guns to get my Jude Man back.  Erik may have won this battle, but he will not win this war.

Jude is a Funny Guy

As of late, Jude has been really funny.  And really happy.  Well he's always been happy, except when he's hungry, tired, or my dad talks to loud.  That scares the bajeebies out of him.  Otherwise he is pretty much the happiest kid on the planet.

A few weeks ago Erik's parents bought Jude Man an excersaucer, and it is pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to him.  He spins around and around in it, putting his mouth on everything and pressing every button all at once. He is so happy when he is in that thing, it's as if Christmas is every day.

He gets so giddy every time he goes in there and he usually doesn't want to come out.

Jude had a wild night the night before, and he looks as if I just walked in on him with his pants down.

He has also learned how to blow raspberries, and now he is in the process of one:
(I'm so diggin' the bed head look)

And most of all, he has the most infectious laugh and smile

***Don't forget to go here to register and donate for THE JUDE LOVERS team!***

Go D-Backs!

Friday night Erik, Jude and I went to the Diamondbacks game with my family.  My dad's company had a work party there so all of his employees were there too.  It was a lot of fun!

Of course, we had to stop by Carolina's before the game to get the best tortillas in town.

(Sorry about the chewing face honey)

Of course you have to have a family photo. By that time Jude was fed up with all the Mets fans and didn't want to look at the camera.

Surprisingly enough he really enjoyed the fireworks.  We thought he would have cried through them, he is so sensitive to loud noises but he was so enthralled.

We beat the Mets 4-2 and we are still in first place! Go Diamondbacks!

Peek-A-Boo

Jude hasn't exactly caught on to the concept of peek-a-boo yet.  But a few weeks ago when I went to get him out of bed in the morning, I felt like he was doing his own version of it when I found this:

At first I didn't see his hair so I was really confused.  I knew I heard him in there and I knew no one else would be in there to get him up, and then I noticed the blanket move and saw this:

How he was able to manage to get the blanket on top of him I have no idea.  It's just like the time I put him on a blanket on the living room floor, ran downstairs for a minute, came back up and he was gone.  Literally gone.  Nowhere to be found. Out of sight.  I panicked for a moment and it wasn't until I heard a noise under the couch that I realized he has almost mastered the art of scooting backwards instead of forwards.  He went so fast he scooted himself under the couch, and was nice and cozy. He is definitely going to give me a run for my money.

Listen up Ya'll

(Ya'll? I don't know where that came from.  I guess I'm digging down to my Texas roots.  Or maybe it was Alabama?)

The time has come and we are so excited for it! We have been preparing for a while now, and I am ready to extend the invitation for all of you to join us.  To what you may ask?....

To the Walk for Down Syndrome! Yay!
Saturday September 10
Tempe Diablo Stadium (2200 West Alameda Dr Tempe AZ 85282)

It is basically going to be just about the coolest thing you will do all of September.  I'm serious.  Registration along with a continental breakfast starts at 7:30 am (Yikes!), but guess what? If you register online for our team you won't have to be there until the walk starts at 9:30! Woohoo! I have made this really easy for you so there is no reason at all why you shouldn't join our team! Follow these easy steps:

1. Go here.

2. Fill in your information and click "I'm registering with an existing team"

3. Click on our team name which is..."THE JUDE LOVERS"!!!!!! (We tossed and turned for a while about a team name and we finally found this one.  We figured everyone who knows Jude loves him and we are all there to support him, thus The Jude Lovers was born.)

4. The End.

If that wasn't as easy as pie then there are some more serious issues we have to deal with.  While you're floating around on the website, if you would like to donate (hint hint) please click on the big red button that reads "Donate". It should be really easy to find, and it is really fast and easy to donate online.

We are also making shirts that will have our team name on it.  We will be charging a small fee and all of the proceeds will go to Sharing Down Syndrome Arizona.  We still don't know how much we are going to charge (still working out the details) but if you would like a shirt please email me at ae{dot}payne{at}hotmail{dot}com.  I will let you know the price as soon as we do!

Even if you guys can not make it, we would still appreciate donations.  You can donate directly to The Jude Lovers team by clicking here.

This truly means so much to Erik and I.  This year has been a whirlwind of emotions for the both of us and we finally feel like our feet are back on the ground.  We want to thank all of you out there who have supported us through all of this and most importantly supported Jude.  We will forever be grateful for the love he has received by family and friends.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.  Thank you!

And of course, I can't end without a picture:

I love my Jude Man.