I can hardly believe Jude is 5 weeks old…on Christmas he’ll be 6 weeks! He is so much more aware of Andrew and I and the world around him. He’s smiling at us alot- especially in the morning when he seems to be the happiest. He’s been smiling at a little stuffed monkey of his and a little chicken and snowman that hang from his playmat too- so cute!

It’s also hard to believe that Christmas is only days away…it sort of snuck up on Andrew and I this year because of Jude’s birth and first weeks of life. It’s funny how the feeling of Christmas is bittersweet- you want to feel that lighthearted happiness and sense of wonder that comes this time of year, and yet it seems to last for such a short time and then the actual day is over and the decorations come down and the ‘feeling’ fades until next year. I have a beautiful little book that was written in 1905 by Henry Van Dyke that talks about keeping Christmas- he says in the book- ‘…there is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas.’ He goes on to say we must ‘look behind people’s faces into their hearts, to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life; to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seed of happiness…’ He continues, ‘Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world- stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death- and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas. And if you keep it for a day, why not always?’
His words shift my focus in a season that can become muddled with all the things to do and gifts to buy…I hope they speak to you as well.

The Latest Pictures:

One Month Old
Well, Hello there!
Smiling at Mommy
Talking to Daddy
Reading with Mommy
Hanging out by the tree