The Bump

Well folks, the countdown is into single digits for Miss Eden's arrival. December 5th is the official due date, and our boy was early, so who knows what the week will bring!

Inquiring minds that don't see me regularly were interested in how the bump was coming along, so I figured I should go ahead and get these photos posted before they are no longer relevant :)

I always feel funny posing alone, so I recruited a couple of models to join me in my "bump" pictures.

Model #1 is ready for his close up!

Then we started getting squirmy and affectionate. Which makes for an interesting combination...

sweet secrets!

and a big 'ole smooch!

and we're done...

The next pictures are from a lovely date night Kam and I were able to have recently thanks to this gal...

Elizabeth is a Lakeview friend who was on our Paris team this summer. She's so great with Haddon and he's a big fan of hers!

Model #2: Not as squirmy, but definitely still affectionate :)

And the grand finale...

 

You're welcome.

I hope you enjoyed your time bumpin' it with the Pughs. I don't think it will be around much longer...

That Boy

Haddon Pugh, you are 15 months old. Can you believe it? Me either...

Thanks for being able to feed yourself meals [sometimes]. This will come in handy when your little sister is around, needing my attention as well. You do pretty well with eating on your own, until you decide it's time to throw your food. Or freak out and realize that everything needs to be swiped off your tray as soon as possible, which equals you viciously flailing your arms, getting every item out of sight. We're working on that...

I'm also glad you're not allergic to peanut butter or eggs. I sometimes lose my creative flair when meal planning for you, so it's good to have those guys to fall back on [even though Dad hates the smell of both...] 

You also really love fruit—I'm thankful for that. Lately, your favorites are kiwis and strawberries. You know you're the healthiest member of our family? Have I also told you that I love the way you cross your little feet when you're sitting in your high chair?

It's pretty cute...

You love books and balls and you get really excited about brushing your teeth. You throw everything. Which makes life a little complicated when trying to teach you what items are appropriate to throw, but I'm confident you'll learn.

You have quite the imagination and can often be found "reading" to yourself or using whatever object you can to "talk on the phone." You also love "eating" and "drinking" imaginary things out of cups and pots and pans you drag out. Because of this, we often call you our little lost boy.

You had your 15 month checkup yesterday and we praise the Lord for how healthy you are. You weighed in at 21 lbs. 6 oz. [lean and mean!] and are 30.75 inches tall. That puts you in the 30th percentile for height and weight. The dome [your head] still has around an 18.25" circumference, but the doctor's computer froze up, so she couldn't tell me what percentile that put you in. You still might be a tad disproportional ;)

You're growing up Haddon, and with that comes lots of changes. You're as cute as can be, but you are a little sinner. We didn't have to teach you to pitch fits or throw yourself on the ground when you don't get your way. We didn't have to show you how to deliberately disobey when we tell you not to do something. It's already in you and it can hurt our feelings and make us sad, but thankfully there is a remedy, my boy! I pray that as you continue to grow and learn to understand things, you will learn that we don't have to be slaves to sin. There is a greater and more loving Master. A Master who gave it all. May you come to know Jesus, Haddon Pugh. May you know Him and love Him and follow Him all the days of your life. He changes everything.

"For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." —Romans 6:5-14

Into Everything

In case you missed the facebook memo, this happened on September 6th...



...and it's been off to the races ever since! Mr. J. Haddon Pugh is into everything. Not that he wasn't already doing this as a speed crawler, but it still never ceases to amaze me all the things our little boy discovers to get into.

into the laundry...

into his shelves...

into the cabinets...

into the pots and pans...

This is how we season our pans around the Pugh home ;) Sweetest thing you've ever tasted!

Oh the places Haddon goes :) I'm blessed to be the one who gets to keep up with him all day. Sometimes that doesn't feel like a blessing now that I'm 34 (almost 35) weeks pregnant, but by God's grace I am reminded to be thankful for it all.

Oh and he also likes to climb. Onto, into, around, and through things!

Clearly this is not the correct or safe way to use this walker, I was just rather amused to find him perched in it like this.

 He sure is great... We love you, Haddon Pugh!

Summer Snapshots: Our Sweet Sleeper

I'm going to need Kam's help with all the Middle East pictures, but he's rather busy these days, so in order to not procrastinate [again] on blog posts, we'll start with Paris. So you may not see our summer in chronological order, but you will see it in some form or fashion!

Many of you know that a huge prayer of ours when heading to Paris was for Haddon's traveling and schedule. I cannot boast in the Lord enough in this area of our summer. Haddon was amazing on both of our flights, which were 8-9 hours long! I feel like every time I share that, I'm just as blown away. On the way over there, he was awake for the first couple of hours because they didn't dim the cabin lights for a while. The carrier in the picture above was my saving grace! Although they did set up a pretty nifty "bed" for the HadMan on our flight over which he just barely met the requirements for [yet another providential provision].

Clearly, this is not Haddon in the picture to the left. That boy of mine has never slept with a pacifier, nor was he that teeny at the time. There is no pictoral documentation of our flights because I was, well, flying by myself with a 10-month-old. 'Nuff said ;) Just wanted you to get a visual of the nifty contraption...

So not only did the flight go well, but jet lag wasn't much of an issue either. We thought it might be the first night when Haddon woke up around 1:00 a.m. and cried for about an hour... But that was all! By God's amazing grace, after that little episode, he was fine.

Some sweet bedhead for our sweet sleeper!

He kept a great nap schedule while we were over there and was so flexible when our days would not allow for that. He slept like a champ... anywhere :)

I've shared with people numerous times how wonderful Haddon did and how well we all transitioned to the 7 hour difference [or was is 8? It's all such a blur!] and like I said before, I'm still astounded at the Lord's answer to our prayers. Our very particular, detailed prayers! [I even prayed that we would sit by a sweet elderly couple on the flight that would be thrilled to death to be able to sit by Haddon. The Lord was faithful to do just that.]

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge,
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you;
you will find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised
Thou wilt all our burdens bear
May we ever, Lord, be bringing all to
Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded there
will be no need for prayer
Rapture, praise and endless worship
will be our sweet portion there.

Keep it Simple— New Series of Posts to Come!

So I thought I'd be a better blogger once Haddon stopped doing his monthly updates. Wrong. The logic there? It was hard to make sporadic posts throughout the month of Pugh happenings because I knew Haddon would want to include them in his entries. So in attempts not to steal my son's thunder, we'd hold off and load his monthly posts with EVERYTHING. Which [as you noticed] took a while to compile. So I thought lifting the burden of that would free me up to do little posts here and there. Clearly I haven't...

My new approach? Pace myself. I don't have to cram everything in one post. It is okay to only have a few pictures. It is okay to not tell a fanciful story with each entry. It is good to be brief. Hence, my new blog series [drumroll, please]...

SO MUCH happened in the life of the KamPughs this summer and I desperately want to document it all, but it's already October and I've done none of that. Yes, Haddon's covered some highs, but a lot has been left unsaid and unrecognized. I hope that giving you little detailed glimpses of that will remedy the lack thereof. Plus, who doesn't want to reminisce about summer?

Here's a couple teasers to whet your appetite :)

And no, those aren't taken from Google images. They were taken by the one and only, J. Kameron Pugh :)

Mountain Memories

I've had some dear friends get married recently, and it's made me reminisce about those days for Kam and I. [Especially the idea of being able to get away for a week on your own!]

For our honeymoon, we rented a cabin in Sevierville, TN, about 30 minutes from Gatlinburg. This past May, we were able to head back to the Gatlinburg area and enjoy a much needed vacation [Haddon mentioned this trip in his 9 month blog].

A fellow Lakeview intern and his wife, Tim and MaeLee, joined us on this trip, which gave us the added bonus of babysitters! They were gracious to let us go out one night, sans Haddon, and enjoy a nice little date.

We headed to a lovely little restaurant in downtown Gatlinburg that we were rather familiar with— The Peddler Steakhouse. Kam took me here on our honeymoon and there were too many memories [and some really good food] that we couldn't resist going back! I even wore the same dress for old times' sake :)

The view from our table. We liked to think that we even sat at the same table :)

So there we were— 3 years, one kid [and one on the way], and lots of growth later...

Still happy and very much in love :) Sitting at this table as newlyweds, we couldn't imagine what was ahead of us. I'm thankful for every bit of goodness [and not so good!] the Lord has brought our way since May 22, 2010. A lot has changed, but there's one thing that I pray never will... in the wise words of Kameron's dear grandparents, "Honeymoon for life!"

1 year!

Well folks, the milestone has come and gone. I, Joshua Haddon Pugh, am officially a one-year-old! I know moms like to still use months when chatting about the age of their kiddos, even after a year or two has passed, but if you ask me, my answer will always be in years. It just sounds more legit, in my opinion. I think Mom and I have come to a compromise on this one.

So what all has this one-year-old been up to, you might ask? A LOT. As usual, I have much to share, so stick with me. I'll throw in lots of pictures to keep your interest :)

My twelfth month was another one for the books when it came to traveling. Dad was off for the month of July, so we took advantage of that and made the rounds to family. Look who all we saw!

Claire and I got really close.

Well hey there, Karis. It's nice to be older than someone! I tried to teach her how to crawl.

To my Mother's [and everyone else's in the house] horror, I actually took a tumble down these stairs while I was there. Though it was traumatic at first, 10 minutes later I was scrambling up them again. Under fierce supervision, of course...

If you're wondering why the video above of us in the pool got cut off rather abruptly, Mom was getting sprayed by one of the sprinklers, so she was trying to spare the camera. Good times :)

It was so fun to be able to spend a week with the Kizziahs in South Carolina. There was lots of good cousin time and I got to have my first zoo experience!

Though I enjoy animals, I'm rather skeptical about getting to close to them.

Maybe one day I'll be as cool as John David, geared up and ready to go. I had to settle for the stroller...

Which actually isn't too bad when you can engage in stroller sparring with your younger cousin.

You can see more zoo pictures here.

Needless to say, I was worn out after this eventful week. Maybe that's why I'm such a good traveler. Mom and Dad just wear me out and then throw me in the car again. Sometimes it works...

Next on the agenda was good ole Decatur. I got some more good time in the pool with my awesome new float [that I sometimes face plant in, giving grown-ups watching the urge to dive in at a moment's notice to scoop me up].

It's serious business navigating around in this thing.

But it's pretty fun, too!

 

Just floating around, enjoying my mullet.

I love my Nana!

As if the pool wasn't enough, Nana and Papa added a new contraption of fun to their backyard for the grandkids to enjoy.

MY FIRST TRAMPOLINE, Y'ALL!!!

She's so pretty.

Coming after Mom and her camera...

HEY MA!!!!!!

Well the fun [and traveling] doesn't stop there, my friends. Next thing you know, we were T-town bound!!

Big Daddy let me share a birthday party with him and it was a big hit. A little early, but I wasn't complaining :)

Mom made a healthy cake for me...

And decorated it with cheerios. I do love cheerios!

Before the cake presentation, we had an awesome photo shoot with Aunt Lynn.

That was lots of fun. You can see more of those pictures here.

Then came the cake...


I'm sure you're disappointed that I didn't dive in, but the cold whippy frosting was just throwing me off. It tasted good, but I couldn't get it off my hands. Looking back on this event, I wish I would have responded differently. Then I may have escaped my Father's antics to make some magic happen...

Yep, Dad put me belly down on that cold cake. I was very offended. Happy birthday to me. I forgave him, but I can't say I'm not scarred from the whole experience.

We capped off our summer travels with a trip back to Brooklyn. Some of you may remember that Mom made her debut in the blogging world right before our trip there last summer. You can read the one about what brought the Pugh family to Brooklyn here. She was pregnant with me then, so I like to claim this as my second trip. Dad was helping lead volunteer teams and Mom and I were along for the ride. I just so happened to have my official birthday while we were there [doin' it big, I know]. Here's a glimpse of how that celebration went.

Just rockin' my Brooklyn tee IN BROOKLYN.

Lunch at LaMela in Little Italy.

You know I had to get grubbin' on some bread, y'all.

Kicked back, waiting on the Staten Island Ferry to take off.

Front row view.

How many licks does it take?

While on the ferry, Mom got a little crazy and decided it was okay if I tried some of Dad's tootsie pop. I kind of didn't give her a choice because I totally jacked it from his mouth to put it in mine. What can I say? He was eating it right in front of me. You can't do that to a kid on his first birthday...


I dominated that thing. Then came the sugar crash... [not really, it was just way past my afternoon nap time]

So tired...

Surrendered to sleep.

It was a long, full day in the city that ended at the local park in Bay Ridge where we'd spent so much time in earlier in the week doing VBS and clean-up.

Being the bread man that I am, you know I had to get a taste of an authentic New York bagel while I was there.

 

Then they did that whole singing thing again...

Undecided.

Glamor shot of the cupcake before I did a little damage.

It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day. Not many kids in the nursery where I roam can say they spent their first birthday in New York. Thanks for the street cred, NYC.

In other news, I'm weaned!

Check out my big, bad, whole milk self! Actually, this was probably still from my month of formula while Mom was cutting back the feedings, but NOW I'm am definitely a milk man.

I'm trying to think of some other milestones that may interest you... I now point at things and ask you "Deux?" Yes, that's two in French and that's exactly what I'm saying. At least, that's what Mom thinks it sounds like. I'll let her keep guessing for a while until I really communicate my thoughts.

In terms of communication, anyone and anything is "Da-Da," "Daddy," or "Dat." Sometimes I get this one contextually when it comes to Dad, but I just really like saying it to everything.

Everyone wants to know if I'm walking yet, but I'm not. Bear with me, friends. I'll stand on my own for a bit and I've kind of taken a few steps from that position, but I'm not ready to make the definitive claim of "first steps" just yet. For Mom's sake, I'm going to try to have it down by the time Eden makes her entry into the Pugh home.

I can officially wave now [in context]. I really enjoy it and like to predict when people are about to leave so that I can start waving. I may have been a late bloomer in this milestone, but I am definitely making up for lost time.

I definitely still love food, but am becoming rather fickle. I just like to keep my parents on their toes when it comes to the food I decide to eat that day. Mom occasionally lets me feed myself, but this usually ends with her taking the spoon away from me because I'm making a mess, therefore I pitch a rather emotional fit.

This is one of my finer "feeding myself" moments...


At my one year check up [8.14.13], here were the stats...
>20 lbs. [10-25th percentile]
>29.25 inches long [25th percentile]
>Head circumference of 18.25" [50th percentile]

Compare those to my last list of numbers and you'll see that I've been a growing man!
9 month check-up stats—[5.14.13]
> 18 lbs. [25th percentile]
> 28 inches long [25th percentile]
> Head circumference of 18" [50th percentile]

Still a little top heavy, but I can't complain.

Well that about wraps it up, folks. Speaking of which, I need to officially announce that I will no longer be making monthly posts. Mom will still keep you updated on how I'm doing and I'll make an occasional guest post on here every now and then, but I'm a busy man these days. There are cabinets to get into, books to read, and things to be destroyed. I must heed that calling first. Don't be sad, there will still be plenty of Haddon to go around. I'll make sure Ma keeps here camera on hand.

It's been a delightful year, my dear followers. Thanks for cheering me on every step of the way. I'm so thankful for each and every one of you.

grace to ya,
Haddon