My child laughs in his sleep!

Never when he is awake, just when he is asleep. He gets these great, low laughs and that grin I love where his tongue sticks out a little. I'm sure awake laughs are coming, since smiles started in his sleep, too.

First Christmas

This is Jeff and my seventh married Christmas, but it is our first Christmas as a trio. Jude's first Christmas. At nine days short of three months, he of course, has no idea what is going on, but it was fun anyway. This morning "he" opened gifts from mommy & daddy, Aunt Ann & Uncle Joe, Great-grandma & Great-grandpa, and Grandma Linda. Respectively he received his first piggy bank (so he will understand the importance of saving earl, a sock monkey & the bouncy seat from mommy & daddy, a great blanket and a TON of clothes from Aunt Ann & Uncle Joe, a great running suit from Great-grandma & Great-grandpa, and a super cool wooden monkey toy from Africa from Grandma Linda.

Here's the photos documenting the morning:

These guys got it right

As I read this passage from Luke 2 today, it struck me that these were the first evangelists! When they realized the good news that Jesus' birth was, they couldn't contain themselves. Imagine what a risk they were taking in first century Asia to be making such lofty claims!

" 15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

Do we share that Good News with as much enthusiasm and conviction as the shepherds?

Salvation will always be the best gift that Jeff and I have received, but here's the next best:

In case you are wondering what his shirt says:















And here's what a 15 pound 11 week old looks like:

The Effectiveness of Prayer

God is so good! I know that He is good all the time, but I just feel it so acutely right now. Here is a video I got of Jude this afternoon. I could tell all day that people were praying for him. We didn't even have a single fussy moment today after four days of all out bawling at feeding times! We had a very sweet day together, which amazes me more because daddy was on duty today, so we were going it alone and I was preparing for a long day. Oh me of little faith:-( Of course, if I really had little faith that he would be better, I wouldn't have asked people to pray, I suppose! Or maybe faith follows the action?

Please Pray for Jude

Please pray for Jude. He has spent the most part of the last 4 afternoons screaming and screaming because at feeding times because his GER medication takes a couple of weeks to reach full effectiveness. Anyone who has met my little boy knows that this is just not his personality. He never cries unless he's hungry.

He seems to do better in the early morning, late evening, and over night feedings. But during the late morning/afternoon/early evening sometimes even being presented with the breast makes him cry. Not just cry; wail.

We see the doctor again on Tuesday. Hopefully his ear infection is gone so we only have to push one medication on him. Unfortunately, it's the one that tastes awful. I plan to ask the doctor about some things that other mothers with GER babies have suggested (I'm a member of a GER online community: momswearingpuke.com) like giving an ounce of Maalox before he nurses. There has to be something I can do to make him more comfortable. I've been giving him Tylenol a few times a day, but even that doesn't seem to help.

Thanks.