via Keith's Instagram

Good morning Grandma. :-D #JudahHarvey

via Twitter...

All I want for Christmas is an uninterrupted night of sleep. #newmomproblems http://twitter.com/lindsaycorinn/status/415522967305469952

via Keith's Instagram

My view this morning. #thankful #JudahHarvey

via Twitter...

Baby's first Christmas tree. #Jblog http://t.co/EYsdy9CoSR

via Twitter...

#Judah just rolled over for the first time unassisted!!!

via Twitter...

#Judah has discovered how to blow raspberries with his abundant drool and he just. can't. stop. Total drool-foam-stache right now.

Outward in the Moby

Our new favorite. It's a win-win.

Baby Massage

Trying to get Judah's bedtime routine more established. I've been incorporating a little massage. So sweet!

http://youtu.be/FKFEI8q-Ii8

via Instagram...

Beautiful day in Atlanta for the wedding of our cousin Nate to Morgan! #givememoore #JudahHarvey

So much.

How many blog posts I've written in my head! 

So many stories to tell, pictures to post. Lots of catching up to do. 

There is grace for this.

via Instagram...

#JudahHarvey's #FourthTrimester is officially over (bittersweet!). He turned #ThirteenWeeks last Friday and #ThreeMonths last Saturday. He's been having a hard time the last few days; I know it's early but I'm sure he's teething. Also, his hairline keeps receding (as his head outgrows those beautiful locks he was born with) which makes him look even more like his daddy.

Happy Three Month Birthday, Judah!

via Instagram...

Our first visitors from Arkansas! Eric (our work buddy from Ecclesia), Jessica, and baby Arcis spent the night with us on their way to Michigan. #JudahHarvey

via Instagram...

"It's starting to get cold outside, so Dad let me borrow his hat. In other news, I'm mobile - scooting new places on my back!" - #JudahHarvey at #TwelveWeeks

Scooting!

I put Judah's gym over in the "Dining Room" (aka, corner of our living room that has the china cabinet and dining room table) the other day. Today I laid him down in it, came to check on him a few minutes later, and found him with his head and shoulders off the gym mat and on his way under the dining room table. This is what progressed, completely unassisted:

I'm sure it would have continued til he was completely out of sight, but I wanted to pull him out safely. We have entered a new era!

via Instagram...

Getting a little behind on the weekly portraits. Here's #JudahHarvey last week at #ElevenWeeks. We are so crazy about him!

via Instagram...

Giggles now! #JudahHarvey #TenWeeks

via Instagram...

"I'm just shaking my tambourine while wearing an adorable nerd onesie. NBD." -#JudahHarvey #NineWeeks [Onesie Cred: Ali Hess]

Diapers drying

Here's my diaper laundry hung up to dry using the hanging clip dryer I just got. Top row are covers (and my travel wetbag), middle is cloth wipes (mostly homemade cut up t-shirts), and at the bottom are the inserts that go into the covers.

I'm loving our cloth diapering system. It was so overwhelming when I was pregnant and trying to figure out the whole world of cloth diapers, but I'm totally in it now. 

Monkey Pacifier

Thanks, Aunt Stephi!

Happy Two Month Birthday, Judah!

Two months old today. So endlessly thankful for him.

Two Month Doctor Visit

We finally found our new family doctor in Springfield! Today we met Dr. Paul Phillips and Judah had his two month checkup.

Judah's at 13.1 pounds (70th percentile) and 24 inches long (90th percentile). He was a little angel throughout the entire visit. Dr. Philips was very impressed with him. Keith and I were very proud.

I'm so happy to have finally found a doctor. We've had some trouble with it, for a variety of reasons. But we're confident that God was guiding the process, and all three of us are now accepted with Dr. Phillips, who we really like so far. I wanted to find a family doctor we can all three go to and build a long-term relationship with. Hopefully today was the start of that.

via Instagram...

AA Circle Scarf as swaddle. #WaysToWearIt #JudahHarvey #EightWeeks

Keith's 31st Birthday: A Family Trip to St. Louis

For Keith's birthday on August 26th, he wanted to go to St. Louis to hang out with friends and eat some Pi Pizza. We also tried to go to the zoo (Keith loves the zoo!), but didn't quite make it in time. So instead of the zoo, we had a nice stroll around Forest Park, then headed to our BFFs, the Hoppings, for Pi and a wonderfully fun night with St. Louis friends: Nate, Mere, Eleanore, Francesca, Paulie, Christin, Natalie, and Steve (wish we would have gotten a group photo there). Keith's birthday was also the debut of Keith and Judah's matching lion shirts. At the end of the night we made a spontaneous decision to sleep over at my sister, Steph's. It was a great trip, and hopefully the first of many to St. Louis, now that we live so close.

Keith's Birthday 2013

Despicable Me blimp
on the drive to StL 

Our stroll through Forest Park

Judah enjoying the park
(Check out that hand usage!)

A view of the art museum in Forest Park

Keith & Judah's matching lion shirts @ the Hoppings

Going to the Gym

Judah is playing more every day! He's really enjoying his baby gym he got as a hand-me-down from Aunt Stephi & family, and also the fabric blocks from Aunt Kristen & family. Such a fun place for him to spend some of his ever-increasing happy awake time!

Father & Son as Newborns

Here's a side by side of Keith and Judah's newborn pictures! Keith is so proud of this, and rightly so. Overall, he's definitely Keith's little Mini-Me, but I think he may have my family's eyes. A side by side with my baby picture still to come.

via Twitter...

I always knew yawns were contagious, but now I know burps totally are, too. #JudahHarvey

via Instagram...

Great Labor Day Weekend at the farm with my parents! More smiles from #JudahHarvey. #SevenWeeks #GrandpaSteve

via Twitter...

Breaking news! Judah just slept from roughly 9 to 5! #ExcitedMom #JudahHarvey

via Instagram...

Baby acne & subtle social smiles. #SixWeeks #JudahHarvey

The Seays

Our good friends Nancy & Chris Seay visited us this evening! They live in Kansas City and they're planting a church there in the northeast part of the city. Their son, Everett, was born just a couple of weeks before Judah. The two babies seemed a little overstimulated by each other - probably the excitement of sensing they're going to be lifelong buddies.

via Instagram...

“Freedom for the oppressed!" (Luke 4:18) #FiveWeeks #JudahHarvey

Judah vs. Swaddle

Judah really does enjoy being swaddled. It has a calming affect on him (the first of the five "S's" - more on that later). But he also loves a good wrestle with the swaddle, while either conscious or unconscious. It's almost like, if the swaddle wins the match - keeps him contained - he concedes, acknowledges the swaddle's victory (like a good sport) and, and falls asleep (or back to sleep). But if he feels any chance of overcoming the swaddle, he will usually work on that until full victory has been achieved. This happens in stages though - at just a few weeks old, you can't defeat a swaddle in an instant. It's the result of hard work, patience, persistence, slyness. And he's getting stronger every day. So watch out, swaddles.

The various stages of this wrestling match can be so entertaining to watch. (I don't get out much these days.) Today's match during his recent nap was especially funny, as he liberated his entire lower half, and kept pulling the swaddle blanket up over his head (don't worry, it's a really light blanket) and I would pull it back down, and he would wiggle it back up. This was all happening in his sleep.

Lion Man

Leaving the Birth Center

For obvious reasons, we get excited when we discover music about Jesus as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. (Jesus is referred to that way Revelation 5.) I came upon one such song a couple of months ago: "Lion Man" by Ghost Ship (a Mars Hill band). I loved it, emailed it to Keith, and he wrote back, "You want this to be the song that's playing as you give birth?" Which made me laugh out loud - you'll understand once you hear it and picture that.

While it didn't make my birth playlist - any song containing the words "torn limb from limb" is kind of missing the vibe I was wanting to create - we wanted this powerful song to mark his entrance into the world in some way, so...we made it his Walkout Song. We played it the morning after he was born as he left the Birth Center.

We listen to it regularly - whether in the mix at home, or for friends when they come visit. This morning before Keith left for work, I was feeding Judah in bed, but he was just being kind of fussy and frantic like he gets sometimes. Keith came into the bedroom with the iPad after his shower and said, "Judah, I know what you're wanting. You're fussing because you just want to here this," and he started playing "Lion Man."

Judah became instantly calm. Keith and I were shocked! We went with it - the three of us in bed dancing and singing along to Judah's song, Keith and I smiling at each other in surprise from time to time. After it was over, Judah remained calm and resumed feeding.

So that's it - further confirmation that this was indeed meant to be Judah Luecht's official Walkout Song. Watch out, world, Judah says, I'm with the Lion Man.


Lyrics (Written by Cam Huxford):

He could have killed us where we stood,
the Lion's wrath will not be tamed.
Mighty jaws stayed shut,
He fought through gritted teeth and bleeding fangs.

Lion Man of Judah, let Your wrath pass over me.
Lion Man of Judah, will You climb up on that tree.

Bruised and torn, He clawed, He scraped,
He fiercely pushed for Calvary.
And this Man, the Beast,
He climbed the hill and roared in agony.

Lion Man of Judah, let Your wrath pass over me.
Lion Man of Judah, will You climb up on that tree.

And be...
Crushed for the sins that I have transgressed,
Torn limb from limb, now stricken, oppressed.

Lion Man of Judah will You climb up on that tree.
Lion Man of Judah will You die, die for me.

Like a Lamb before His shearers, so He opened not His mouth.
Like a Lion, if He had, then we would all have been devoured.
Like a Man, He tasted death, He drank destruction to the dregs.
Like a King, His will advanced, He marched on like the prophets said.

Lion Man of Judah, let Your wrath pass over me.
Lion Man of Judah, will You climb up on that tree.

Weep no more, the wrath is on the tree.
Weep no more, there's no more left for me.

Cuddling up in the cosleeper

Recently we've noticed Judah will usually wiggle over to the side of his cosleeper bassinet in his sleep, even while tightly swaddled, sometimes to the point of pressing his nose up against it.

It's that fourth trimester idea again, wanting to feel close to something, nestled, secure.

So it begins.

Four Weeks Old

Here it is. The baby blog that so many parents start, and most of them end up letting slide as life happens. If I end up letting it fall by the wayside eventually, no problem, there's grace for that. That's what I have to tell myself when it comes to things like this. There's no pressure, no obligation. It's just here for fun. If it's not fun, then my goodness, don't do it; not worth it.

This will be my outlet for capturing my thoughts and memories from my experience of being Judah's mom. And if friends and family enjoy a peek into that, that is awesome, and you are welcome here. If it's too much for you, no hard feelings. And I mean that, because if I write down even a fraction of what I write daily in my head, it will be a lot. I just need a place to process and express some things from my journey without blowing up the social networks with Judah gushing.

I'm also inspired by reading Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions: A Journal of my Son's First Year, which is a super cool gift I actually got from two of my coolest friends who happen to be moms. Anne Lamott is raw, really raw, so be prepared if you decide to read it. But it's inspiring me to journal/blog more about all of this. At the same time I want to resist having a hoarding mentality about it all. You can get so caught up in trying to remember and hold onto the past that you don't live fully in today - people know that's true about negative past experiences, but I think the same can be true for positive ones, too.

So Judah. I had him a month ago. (I'm working on writing out the birth story. I will post it when it's done. It might be long. And it may not be PG. Don't know yet.) Keith and I still have these little moments where we're like, Oh my gosh, we had a baby - he's lying right over there! He is ours! And I keep reliving the act of pushing him out. It was a little traumatic. But beautiful and deeply spiritual.

So now that he's this great big one-month-old, he and I are interacting a little more, which is so fun. He hasn't voluntarily smiled or laughed yet, but I feel like he gets the urge but just can't quite make it happen, but I can kind of see it in his eyes. It's so exciting when he looks at me and holds my gaze for a moment, or I can tell that he really enjoys certain ways I move him or play with him. Oh, and the little noises. More and more noises that aren't crying - his little voice coming through. I can't wait to hear more of it.

The Moby

I've started using the Moby Wrap quite a bit. He's almost never digging it when I first put him in, so each time I have to remind him that it's awesome, usually with a lot of bouncing up and down until he relaxes and falls asleep. Then he sleeps for a couple hours on me. It's wonderful. This is the fourth trimester. I'm really trying to guard our fourth trimester: lots of rest and closeness, and very little activity or obligation; healing and recovery for my body, growth and nourishment for his.