Dear Babies: Your 1st Birthday

Dear baby boys, you just turned 1 year old. 

Everyday, I can't get over how much you've grown.  From tiny little dancing beans in my belly, to constantly-moving, eating-everything-in-sight, rambunctious little boys.

You have changed so much over the past 12 months, and you've turned into the best little things ever.  I am still in awe, everyday that I get to call you my children.

Around this time last year, we were adjusting to our new lives, centered around 2 newborns who ate, slept, and pooped around the clock.  We were adjusting to nights of sleep with multiple interruptions, learning what you liked and what you didn't, and learning that the little things don't matter anymore.  All that matters is you guys now.

There were plenty of days when you were little where we didn't eat dinner until 900 at night because there was no time to cook (and occasionally that still happens).  There were plenty of days where I didn't get a chance to pee all day long.  There were plenty of days where I had no time to shower, or no time to myself at all.

But that's ok.  

Because it's all been worth it.  I wouldn't change a thing about either of you.  You have both been the best thing that has ever happened to my life.

Judah:
To our little Judah-Bear (how long till you hate that name!?)  You are so much fun.  Your little squeals you do when you get really pumped about something are adorable.  You aren't walking quite yet, but you do stand up on your own for a long time, and get really excited about it.  You know who Ernie is, and can bring your toy Ernie to us on command.  You also love watching your little toy cars roll down the spiral track.  You learned how to crawl up the stairs from watching your brother, and can now do it with ease.  You like to show everyone that you know how to clap.  Whenever you hear the word "good job" you will start clapping and smiling.  Super cute.  You will also repeat the word "batman" which is pretty awesome.  Everyone kinda thinks that you are the calm, sweet, nice kid.  Most the time you are, but you definately have a little spunky side as well.  You're a little sneakier about getting into trouble than your brother is.  When you're doing something you know you're not suppose to be doing, you'll be real quiet and look all around before you do it.  You'll steal your brother's pacifier or toy, just because you want 2.  But then sometimes you're really nice and give it back when you see he's upset.

Foxx:
To our little Foxx boy.  You are hilarious.  You have so much excitement for everything.  Your favorite new thing to do is to find shoes of any sort (your shoes, my shoes, Jeremy's shoes, sandals, tennis shoes), and crawl around with them on your hands.  You just think it's the most fun ever.  You also love to use your stroller toys-you walk and push them around with the biggest smile on your face.  That  is also when your little (big, actually) temper comes out.  When you crash into something or roll over something that makes you stop, you get so angry, start screaming and get really upset that you can't move.  We try not to laugh at you, but sometimes we can't help it.  You're not quite walking yet either, although you'll occasionally take a few steps toward one of us if we urge you to do so.  We think you actually know how to walk (cause your steps are perfectly balanced), but you just don't seem to care to do it much.  Like Judah, you also say "batman".  We're pretty sure that you call milk "mee mee". You're so much fun to be around, and you without fail bring smiles to everyone with whom you share a room.

We love you baby boys! 



Now stop growing up so dang fast!

Dear Babies; 6 Months

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Dear babies; 3 months

Judah and Foxx,

You are now 3 months old.  Time has gone by super fast you and you both change everyday.  You have grown soooo much since you were born!

This is you when you were teeny tiny:

And this is you now:

You are each just a little over 12 lbs.  You have started to develop your own little personalities.  You have lost almost all of the hair you were born with, and are now starting to grow some new fuzz on your little heads.  You both still have blue eyes.  You looked quite different from each other when you were first born, but you are starting to look more and more alike as you grow.

You both sleep in the same crib, and when we lay you down to sleep, we lay you on opposite ends of the crib.  When we go back in your room to check on you, you guys are right next to each other.  I don't know how you scoot over to each other like you do, but it's super cute.  You have liked to sleep close to each other ever since you first came home from the hospital.

(First nap together at home.)

You both also love to sleep on me and your daddy.  You loved to sleep on us when you were little,

And you love to sleep on us now.

I love how you both wake up in the morning with huge smiles on your face.  Your little smiles are totally worth getting up super early for.  You both fight naps during the day.  You fight them  so ridiculously hard.  Most days, the only way you will fall asleep is on me or on your dad, and then when we try to lay you down, you wake up.  It's frustrating, but it's also so dang cute.

Neither of you like cloudy and rainy days.  You get super fussy when the weather is not nice and we can't go for a stroller ride, because you love stroller rides!  I have an awesome jogging stroller and you enjoy looking around and cooing at everything during my runs.

Car rides are another favorite activity of yours.   You usually fall asleep the minute we start driving, and sometimes you are just awake and talking.  If we stop, even for a minute at a red-light, you get upset.  But as soon as we start moving again, you are happy.

Any and every ceiling fan will immediately catch your attention and make you smile.

You both seem to notice me and your dad more and more.  Dad can make you smile and laugh with his yoda voice.  The mobile in your crib will also make you both laugh and smile like crazy.  Neither of you mind getting your diapers changed, and you usually smile while we change you (although that very well may be because of the ceiling fan that is over your changing area).

This is a video of Foxx talking and smiling at dad after his bath.


This is a video of Foxx laughing at the crib mobile



(***I know these videos are both of Foxx, but Judah does laugh and smile also, he's just a little camera shy.  We'll catch him on camera sometime soon hopefully!)

When I have you guys by myself and you won't let me put you down, I put you in my sling or wrap, and I get things done that way.

You both love to be out in nature.  We have taken you to Radnor Lake and Percy Warner Park.  You guys just look around at all the trees and enjoy the walk.

Dear Judah:

You are amazing.  You have the biggest blue eyes that are so cute.  Some people say that you look like your dad.  You have a huge gummy smile that you greet me with every morning, and I absolutely love it.  Every time you smile during the day, it makes me super happy, and I can't think about anything else except trying to make you do it again. You like to talk to us during your diaper changes, and you also like to pee all over everything during them.  (You would think that we would have learned by now to watch out, but no.  You continue to pee on us.)  You are our little observer.  You love to look around at everything and smile at things you like.  You have a colorful toy lion that you like and you also like to sit up in your boppy seat to look around.  You like tummy time and are very good at holding your head up high.  You rolled over just the other day, on accident.  You are a very good snuggler, and you especially like to snuggle with mom in bed early in the morning.  You like to ride around in my sling when we go places.  You love to lay under your play mat and kick your legs like crazy.  You are the one that moves the most during sleep.  You have flipped completely upside down a few time during the night.  You're a tad smaller than your brother still, but you are quickly catching up.  You are pretty chill most of the time, unless you are tired.  You love to fly around the house like an airplane, and you like the bear mobile on your swing.  You smile and laugh at those bears almost as much as the ceiling fan.  I think you are going to be the one who crawls first.  Whenever you are on your tummy, you seem like you are ready to go, you just don't know exactly what to do to get going.

I can't wait to watch you grow and learn new things.  So far I have watched you learn to smile, laugh, play, roll over, and coo at us.  I have loved every single moment I have spent with you, and I can't wait to have many more!

 Dear Foxx:

You are awesome, kid.  You're my wild child.  You have such an excitement in your eyes.  Most people say that you resemble me, with your skin tone and eyes.  You are also my stubborn child, and you are exactly how I was when I was little.  You fight sleep every. single. day.  You get so tired but you want to stay up so that you don't miss anything.  You love to be awake and be loud and talk to everyone.  You have a great appetite, and you will eat a whole lot, anytime it is offered to you.  Your smiles and laughs are huge and so fun to watch.  You get super excited when we change your diaper, during bath time and under your playmat.  You kick your legs and scream like crazy during those things.  It's hilarious!  You love to sit back with dad in his recliner chair and rock, just looking around at everyone, throwing in some coos and screams here and there.  You love the stroller, just like your brother, and you like to go on runs with me.  You love to be facing outward in my carriers/wraps so that you can watch everything going on when we go out places.  Whenever I rock you to sleep, you always have to have a little hand up on my neck that moves back and forth.  It's super cute.  You especially love to ride in the car.  You either immediately fall asleep, or you will sit back there and grunt and talk the entire ride.  And you get really upset when we stop at red lights.  A sure fire way to get you to stop crying is to fly you like an airplane, on your stomach close to us.  You love it.  You love dad's yoda voice, but you're scared of his chewbacca voice. 

You have been so fun to watch grow, and you get bigger everyday.  I can't wait to see what your feisty little personality will develop into!  Every little smile, laugh, and coo from you has made my days awesome.  I look forward to them everyday, and many more to come as you grow.

         

A letter to our babies.

Dear Judah and Foxx,

You two are one of the best things that has ever happened in my life, and I have not even met you yet.  I love you already so much, and absolutely cannot wait until you join your dad and me in this world.  I have loved you ever since I saw the little positive plus sign on a pregnancy test.  I loved you even before I knew there were 2 of you, or knew that you were boys.  I am excited for my life to be no longer be about me, but instead to revolve around you both.

I am so anxious and excited to see what you each look like and to see what kind of personalities you will develop.  Will you get my thin and straight hair or Jeremy's thick and curly?  Will it be dark like both of ours?  Will you have my complexion or his?  Will your eyes stay blue or turn green, or a different color?  What will your little cries and coos and laughs sound like?  Will you look like us?  Will you grow up and like sports?  Cars?  Computers?  Books?  Science?  What will you each be good at in school?  What kind of style will you each have?  What will you dream about being when you grow up?  These are all questions that I wonder about often and cannot wait to find out the answers to.

Here are the things that I know about you now:

Foxx:

You are more active than your brother.  You often kick and punch all over the place inside my belly, and you are not a fan of hiccups.  Whenever you get them, you go crazy after each hiccup.  You sometimes get your little foot (or hand, or knee, whatever it may be)  caught up underneath my ribcage.  It does not feel nice, but it's ok.  I saw a little bit of hair on your head at my last ultrasound!  Whenever we tell people your name, we get different reactions.  Some people love that you have a unique name, and some people do not like it, but they are nice by saying "oh that's a different name".  But it's ok.  We like your name, and we hope that you like it too.  Your middle name, Thomas, was your dad's grandpa's name (your great grandpa).  He was a grumpy old man most of the time, but your dad was his favorite and could always make him smile and laugh.  Oddly enough (and we did not know this until just recently) the name Thomas is Aramaic and means "twin".  We're so excited to meet you baby Foxx!

Judah:


I've decided that you are just ready to be out of my belly.  You are not quite as active as your brother, but I believe you do wrestle and punch him every now and then.  You often try and stretch out, pushing your head really far down onto my bladder and your legs all the way up against my diaphragm.  You and your kidney issue gave us quite the little scare a while ago, but we have been reassured by a specialist that you will be just fine.  You may have to have surgery a few months after you are born, but I hope that your kidney will fix itself after you are born and that you will not have to go through it.  Your name has been one that we decided on way before we even thought about having kids.  We both love the name Judah, and were very excited to give the name to you.  Your name is Hebrew, and it looks like this in its original language:  יְהוּדָה  Read in Hebrew, it is pronounced "ya-hew-dah".  Your middle name is Samuel.  We cannot wait until you arrive little Judah!


Don't think that I am the one who you guys kick all the time.  You also kick your dad!  We will be lying in bed with my belly touching either his belly or his back and you will kick or punch and he will feel it!  Last night you kept kicking him in the kidneys.  You guys also stick out some sort of appendage and leave it there so that we can see it from the outside of my belly.  Your dad and I always feel it, and we have fun trying to figure out if its a little foot, or hand, or knee, or elbow, or butt.  You kick most when I am sitting down or sitting still.  When I walk around, it rocks you to sleep.  You both are quite shy when I try to show other people your little movements.  You will be going crazy, and I will try and have someone watch or feel, and then you will stop.  Every week since we have known that you were in my belly growing, we have compared your size to whatever food fits appropriately.  You started out as a tiny poppy seed, and are currently the size of 4 navel oranges.  I talk to you often when I am by myself, and your dad talks to you too.  I'm sure it only sounds like loud rumbles to you, but we do it anyway.    

I cannot stop thinking about the excitement that will be the day you both enter this world.  I am excited to help with your grand entrance and cannot wait until you are finally out of my belly and into my arms.  I want to hold you immediately and kiss your little heads.  I want to see all your little fingers and toes.  I can't wait to see the look on your dad's face, and more than likely also the tears in his eyes.  I am excited to see him hold you for the first time.

As I sit here in your nursery I can't help but want you sleeping here in your crib next to me so that I can watch you sleep and be amazed at the little human beings that your dad and I created.  Your room is almost complete.  We just have a few things left to get for you.  You will be sharing a crib until you are too big to no longer do so.  I'm sure you will be ok with that, since you have been sharing the same cramped space for the past 8 months (you will have a little bit more room out here, I promise).

My hopes and wants for you both:

I hope that you both will grow up to be strong, smart and handsome.  I hope that you will grow up to love God and to show his love to everyone you meet.  I hope that you will find what you enjoy the most and follow it for as long and as far as it will take you.  I hope that you will be happy and content in all areas of your life.  I hope that you will love growing up with a brother, and that you will always remember to love each other.        


I want us to go outside together all the time and enjoy the beautiful nature that we live amongst.  I want to teach you how to garden and how to eat and cook the things we grow together.  I want to play sports with you, particularly soccer, but if you do not like soccer, I will play whatever you wish.  I want to watch you excel in whatever your favorite activity is.  I want us to have backyard cookouts, blow bubbles, climb trees, catch fireflies, play in the sprinkler (and maybe even a slip-and-slide one day!) and find cool bugs.  I want to take you to the park.  I want to have picnics and make popsicles.  I want to feed you spaghetti and watch you get it all over your little heads.  I want to plan for your birthdays and give you lots of presents.  I want all of these things, and much much more.  I want to give you the best life possible.  I want you to enjoy your life everyday and love being yourselves.


We love you Judah and Foxx!