What's a Life Book?

There's a new venture on the move, inspired by Jude! Adoption facilitators encourage adoptive families to create life books for their children. It's similar in concept to a baby book; it captures the child's story in a keepsake format. However, when we looked into this...we didn't find much. There were a couple of options that were pretty anemic...few pages, black and white. Then there were the "guides" we found that encouraged families to either write the child's story (novel style!) or to scrapbook a life book.

As it turns out, there are a few books I'd like to write...but this isn't one of them (yet), and I am NOT a scrapper - and I have no aspirations to be!

So, we decided to publish a life book. Check it out! www.celebratelifeincolor.com

Tell everyone you know in the adoption community! This is full-color, high-quality, fill-in style life book with 55 pages that you can insert in the order of your choosing. Our need prompted us to solve a problem...the adoption community has very few truly quality life book resources.

Thanks to Jude, we're trying to change that.

Car Wash!

So here's a funny one: Jude LOVES the car wash. By that I mean that he gets positively giddy at the very thought of going through one. We always pick an automatic one because it's those that he seems to love the most, and we try to pick a nice long one. Tonight we spent the evening just the three of us: Papa, Mama, and Jude, and we found ourselves at a car wash. Take a look...

Growing in the Lord

I was pointedly reminded the other day that I had not made a post for some time, so I thought a video might be good. Jude attends the Wednesday evening kids club at our church and his teacher extraordinaire is Mrs. Rose Lybrink. Here's a little of what he's learning...this one's for you, Mrs. Lybrink (or just plain Brink as Jude sometimes calls you - as in, "Mama, are we going to church to see Brink now?"). Enjoy, and thanks for pouring out into the lives of so many little ones.

Laughin' time

From time to time Jude says to me, "Mama, is it laughin' time?" It's cute, and I think it's because sometimes we say things like "dinner time", "church time", and "sleeping time". My response to that question is, without exception, this: "Son, it's always laughin' time!" Life is just too short for any other response. The video's grainy, but well worth a listen. Enjoy!:

We love our Chiro!

So...we switched chiropractors some time ago. As you know, sometimes you have to makes these kinds of switches in life when your philosophies don't line up. Anyhow, we're now with Dr. Grigg at Chiropractic Unlimited in Grand Rapids and we love him. He is SO good with Jude. Check it out:

Mama's Graduation

In addition to raising Jude this last year and nine months, I've also finished my master's degree. Jude got to see his mama in a graduation ceremony, and in another year or so, he'll get to see his papa in one also. What better way to send the message that education is important than to value it ourselves? Jude was great - the morning of the ceremony we had to leave for Big Rapids by 6am and we didn't get home until the afternoon. He was very well behaved, and it was such a joy to look up into the stands and see my family, including my two guys - the most important family I have.

Babe's First Trip to the Barber Shop!

We haven't had Jude's hair cut since he's been home for a couple of reasons:

1. I love his fantastically coiled curls, and everyone I've talked with wants to cut, cut, cut them off - not cool. God made them, we love them, and we're keeping them as long as we can!
2. We wanted to find someone who knew what he was doing and who would walk with us to care for Jude's hair well.

Well, we've found him! Today I took Jude to see Paul Frazier at International Profyle Barbershop in Kalamazoo. Paul came highly recommended, and we are well on our way to becoming fiercely loyal! He is clearly accustomed to trimming up little guys, as he was great with Jude (very patient with those three-year-old wiggles). He was also patient and kind with my sometimes ignorant questions, which I deeply appreciated (seriously, Paul, if you're reading this...more than you can imagine), and Jude's looking as darling as ever.

I have to say, Jude wasn't too sure about climbing up in that big chair and he wanted me to stay very close...but Paul won him over in no time. Take a look:

After Jude's appointment, we went to see his Papa at work, and Matthew, of course, told him he was looking good. Then, he called his Grandma LaLa and left her a message that said (in "Judanese" of course), "Gamma, I dot a hurcut. It went gate. Uhm lookin' good. Bye!"