One month old/4th of July

Two celebrations were in order over the weekend...America's birthday, and Jude's completion of one month of life! I'm posting a picture of him in his "Little Firecracker" onesie and his patriotic socks (which stayed on the entire evening!)

Our friends Dan and Bethan came up from Louisville and we were excited to see them! They came over to grill out and meet Jude......unfortunately, having a baby is a double edged sword: you want to take more pictures than you've ever taken in your life, but your hands are too full most of the time to grab the camera or take advantage of the opportunity! Sadly, I have no pictures of Dan and Bethan's visit:(

I've been feeling better and better, and more like myself after 9 months of an altered state! I've been taking advantage of the weather (what a perfect time of year to pop out a baby) and we've been on lots of long walks. I'm trying to take Jude strolling on the Monon 2 or 3 times a week, sometimes by ourselves and sometimes with another mom/baby combo. I'm getting a little more proficient at running errands with him...the first week I ventured out I made a million rookie mistakes...forgetting extra diapers or even my wallet, trouble opening and closing the (extremely heavy) stroller, problems fitting his carseat into shopping carts, timing errands wrong which resulted in very public and inappropriate meltdowns...I think I'm through the worst of my "Mommy Initiation" now, thank goodness. I can get us places in one piece and am beginning to be able to enjoy myself a little now:) I'm also learning his personality more every day, and can distinguish a few different cries now. Babies are like these awesome toys that come with a manual, only the manual is in Japanese, so you have to figure everything out for yourself for the most part, and all the accessories are really expensive too!

I mentioned strolling...there's an adorable shot above of Ted and our friend Sam pushing the babies last week, while us wives got a break and trailed behind. We're lucky to have such hands-on daddies! I'm going back to Pilates, starting today. I've really missed it the last few months, and I'm really excited to be able to move and stretch again, and lay on my stomach!! I'm sure I'll be extremely sore tomorrow....if only Jude were old enough to give massages;)