Haddon Lately

A post with some updates on our favorite little boy is long overdue...

For starters, his vocabulary is expanding rapidly! He may say things in his own special way, but they're consistent and contextually accurate. A few in the Haddon vocab repertoire include:

• ball [boh, or buh-boh when football or basketball are on TV!]
• bath [bah]
• nose [no-wuh]
• dad [loud exclamations of DA!]
• hi, hey, bye [often accompanied by a chubby-fingered wave]
• teeth [deee! This kid loves brushing his teeth]
• uh-oh [used a lot, even if something wasn't any accident a.k.a. I just threw my cup, how on earth did it get over there?!]

Recently, after a visit with Nana, he's added "bite" [bi-yuh] and "cup" [bup]. He's still our little French baby, saying "deux" and excitedly pointing at everything, but we're trying to crack down a little harder in the language department and not letting him get away with calling everything "deux" ;)

Thank you to the lovely Lynn Pugh for capturing this Mama/son love. Made me tear up the first time I saw them!

He's also gotten really good at repeating things when you introduce them, but I won't claim those as words just yet. We'll make sure he really know what he's talking about first!

Oh, did I mention that he can say no? He says it all day, everyday. In and out of context. Seriously, y'all... he's been known to wake up saying "no" [and that is not an exaggeration]

Food is often a battle. Don't get me wrong, he loves food. Just not when it's on his plate. If anyone else in the room is eating, he walks up excitedly saying "Mmmmm," but opinions change when something is set in front of him. This doesn't happen at every meal, but close— we're working on squashing that autonomy ;)

He still loves balls and books. T and Big Daddy got him a basketball goal for Christmas and that has just increased the joy he finds in balls. Another sweet thing is how much he is entertained when we're watching basketball or football on TV. He's quite the fan...

His celebratory face after a made basket. Priceless. Oh and that hair...

Other creative uses of the Christmas present.

This was how we got him in a good mood for the photo shoot— playing ball.

He's sweet to sister about 95% of the time. He's gotten really good at kissing her and will go to great lengths to do so. I even think he's started saying "Eeee" when she's around, so maybe he's learning her name! I think he's going to be an entertaining older brother.

Haddon and his girls.

The entertainer.

He's learned where to find his eyes, nose, and mouth. Ears give him a little trouble, but I think he gets the general idea. Nose is his favorite. He likes to find everyone/thing's nose. This puts Eden's face in danger a lot...

So serious.

He has two more teeth coming in [to add to his current 6]. I believe they are molars—one on the top left and bottom left. It doesn't seem to be bothering him—he's taking it like a champ.

2.5.14. update :: all 4 molars are actually coming in! I seemed to miss the two on the right side— top and bottom. 

Those teeth...

I'll end this update with his first adventure in the snow this past week. He sure is cute all bundled up. [Kam is, too!]

EAP: One Month!

Well, we had a baby! And we just celebrated one month with her...

It's been a busy time in the Pugh home over the past month and I'm sure that won't change anytime soon, so I knew if I didn't take the plunge back into blogging, I'd keep putting it off. It has now become more for me than the other folks that follow our blog [I know there are thousands of you]. I want to take note. To remember. To be able to have a tangible record of what's happening in our lives—because it's happening fast!

So here are some highlights of our first month with Eden. I'd love to write down her birth story soon as well, but that will just have to wait! [Along with the other hundred blog posts I have floating around in my head...]

-Eden Anastasis came into this world at 3:32 a.m. on Tuesday, December 3rd.
-She was 20 inches long [just like her brother!] and 6 lbs. 8 oz.
-She has the Pugh chin ;)

-She has big hands like her brother, but her fingers are definitely more feminine. No man hands for my girl :) 

-She has her mother's feet—long, skinny toes. [poor girl]
-She has a sweet little swirl in her hair at the top of her forehead. 
-What little hair she has started off a lighter brown, but these days it's looking more and more blonde.
-She's already traveled around the state. We spent the 22-25th in Decatur with my side of the family and the rest of the week in Tuscaloosa with Kam's. Hooray for baby's first Christmas :)
-She's already met all aunts/uncles and cousins except for one set. [We're looking forward to MLK weekend, Batrich family!]
-She sleeps in a cradle made by her great-grandfather.

-She gets lots of kisses and pets from her brother. [with the occasional poke or slap in the face...]

-They swallowed her initially, but she's almost outgrown her newborn clothes. We're about to experiment with 0-3 months. [Praise the Lord for all the hand-me-downs we've been given!]
-Unlike her brother, she takes a pacifier. WHOA! Game. Changer. [I had actually forgotten those things existed]
-Aunt Lynn came on day 9 and took some fabulous pictures [surprise, surprise]. 

-Her daddy is smitten :) Her mama is a basket case...

-She's beautiful! [And yes, we're partial.]

We love you so much, Eden. Thanks for making us a family of four!

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 :)