Whaaaaa….?? How can this be? Strange how time passes. In one way, it seems ages ago that I was pregnant, and at the same time it feels as if I blinked and have a smiley, avocado eating, drooly, upright sitting, into everything 6 month old. I’m simultaneously loving every second of watching Jude grow, and wanting my chubby baby to stop growing and stay small enough to cradle in my arms forever. It’s bittersweet, raising your child. Ryan and I are so proud of every little thing Jude does, still cheering like crazy people when he rolls over (we are reminded we’re crazy when he stares at us confused), and listening to our voices get higher and higher and faces goofier just to bring on a smile. I am still reminded daily: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

It’s his half birthday today, and I am so thankful for this little gift entrusted to us. So beyond what I could have dreamed.

Jude’s personality is really developing, and we love who he is becoming! He’s sweet and silly, gentle and audacious, and very opinionated. We’re teaching him that we’re gentle with girls (mommy), and play hard with daddy. He still gives me the sweetest snuggles, especially when he’s tired. I’m hanging onto all of those moments. He loves grabbing Ryan’s face and pushing him away when he’s being tickled. Jude also has a block that plays music when you press the buttons on all the sides, and he’ll play it and rock back and forth while he listens. The cutest.

We recently returned from our first vacation with Jude, and it’s true that we need another vacation to recover from it. The time we spent in Florida was packed with so much fun! I was worried about Jude adjusting to being off schedule over a long period of time, but he did amazing. Because we are again, crazy, we road-tripped to Orlando and got to spend almost 5 days with my parents. Since Jude has had some anxiety with people he doesn’t see on a regular basis, we were praying that he’d be ok on the trip. To our relief and my parents’ joy, he LOVED Poppy and Gammy.

We even got to go to Disney World, and again, because we are crazy, did the park hopper and were there for 14 hrs, visiting 3 different parks. I was pumped because last year when we went (my first time ever) I was 8 weeks pregnant and couldn’t do anything. Not even the kiddy rides. So this time around we made up for it all and rode all the big roller coasters, finishing with Space Mountain at 1a. Told you we are crazy. On July 4th we headed to Disney Springs and got to watch the most amazing sunset, and then fireworks coming from the Disney parks across the lake.

Jude also tried his first solid food in Orlando: a banana. Not a huge fan of it, but we’ll keep trying. Since then he’s had some avocado, and he liked that much better.

After saying goodbye to Poppy and Gammy, we drove to Destin to meet Ryan’s family where they vacation every July. Jude was ok with the sand, but definitely did not like the waves. I think they scared him a bit, as they were loud and splashed his face. We got some good time in the sun, with breaks every couple of hours to cool down in the a/c.

It was a great trip, but we all (especially Jude) were very glad to be home and back to a normal schedule. I’m so thankful for a slow weekend!

Now, by popular demand, I will leave you with this: the man bun.

It’s tiny, but seriously? Hahaha, ok, I’m gonna go die because of how adorably hilarious by kid is now.