Gardening without a green thumb

So, it may or may not have been said of me that I kill every plant I own.  (Thanks, Leslie.)  Several years ago, upon returning home from a trip to Home Depot to adopt several new plants for my back patio, my friend Leslie saw them and commented, "oh.  poor plants ... they have no idea what fate has befallen them."  Very much unappreciated.  I try very, very hard to keep my plants alive...just usually unsuccessfully.  I typically forget to water them, so when I remember, I just assume that I should make up for lost time and I end up drowning them.  More recently a friend brought me a plant when I had gotten out of the hospital.  She said, "I love these plants.  They are impossible to kill."  Wow - that's great!  Unfortunately, I killed it too.

So needless to say, Greg was a little leery when I mentioned starting an herb garden.  But I assured him it was a good investment as I love to cook and buying fresh herbs every week gets really expensive.  So I ventured to Home Depot during one of Jude's naps, took Jude outside with me and we planted our herb garden together (well, he watched).

It's great because the rain naturally waters them :) and it does a much better job than I ever do.  And Jude and I usually go cut herbs for dinner during the day on one of our walks.  So it has been really fun.  I planted Thai Sweet Basil (makes a huge difference to have this fresh for Thai food), oregano, basil, dill, italian parsley, rosemary, and lavender.  here are the results!

Laughing is my favorite

"I dream of kisses" - Jude

This is by far my favorite video we've captured.  Jude loves kisses - he gets the biggest smiles on his face.  This video was taken late one night after I fed him - he always falls back asleep at the end of the feeding.  He is totally out and we delayed taking him to his crib, because we couldn't resist kissing him and watching his reaction.

Reuniting

Greg and I both have had really great moments of reuniting with good friends recently.  Greg had his 10-year high school reunion while we were in Austin.  He graduated from Anderson High School in Austin in 2000.  It was fun for me to see him with all of his high school buddies and to meet lots of really great new people. We spent some time before the reunion with one of Greg's really close friends, Elizabeth, and her husband and little girl - that was so fun since I love Elizabeth and have gotten to know her better over the past couple of years.  We also got to see Greg's cousin, Kate, and her husband Matt (picture below) and catch up with them at the reunion.  And of course, Greg's good high school buddies are awesome - pictures below.  I didn't go to my high school reunion, so it was fun to be more of an observer at Greg's.

One of my close friends from college, Ashley Wells King, is living in Houston now and so she drove over to Austin with her two little boys to come see us.  Ashley had a huge impact on my life in college as she was the first person to disciple me and teach me about discipleship.  I had not seen Ash in probably seven years!  It was so great to catch up with her, meet her little ones, and for her to meet Greg and Jude. 

  

And then some of my best friends in the world, Ashley and Bryan Johnson, were in New Hampshire for family vacation and stopped by Gordon-Conwell on their way to the airport and we got to have lunch with them and their boys.  I love these two so much - and if you're ever in need of a photographer - Bryan is the best there is.  (You can check his work out here.)

First Laughs

Jude just started laughing when we were in Austin.  Uncle Neal got him to laugh for the first time!  This video is the second time we heard him laugh - he just got out of the bath and was getting ready for bed.  He still doesn't laugh all the time - so when he does, we just think it is the greatest thing in the world!

Next Stop: Austin, Texas

We miss Austin so much when we are gone....our mouths water for Tex-Mex, we dream of running at Town Lake, and of course we love seeing our friends and family!  We went to Hula Hut (my very favorite) our first night in Austin ... I LOVED having my Hula Hut chips & salsa & queso and Hawaiian fajitas....unfortunately, Jude didn't love it as much as I did - I think the jalepeno breastmilk made him throw up the entire next day :(  So much for craving Tex-Mex.  The next stop was Santa Rita's - "can i have the spicy fish tacos without the spice?" what??  Then El Patio... seriously? Greg's favorite, but the only thing I like is their nachos - and mainly because of the jalepenos - and I had to take the jalepenos off.   Why can't Jude be allergic to New England food like roast beef or lobster instead of Tex-Mex??  Sigh. One day my body will be my own again  :)

Jude and Poppie at Hula Hut

Momo feeding Jude at Hula Hut

Finally get to meet "auntie" joana - she has been waiting such a long time!  We had lunch with some of my great friends and former high school students and co-workers at Chipotle

Meeting Pop (Greg's dad) for the first time out at Aunt Betty's farm.  What a fun day!

Greg with our nephew, Andrew, and Jude

Aunt Ann, Cousin Andrew and Jude

... after Jude spit up all over Uncle Neal

Lunch with Nonnie!

Aunt Leslie and Cannon - Les is one of my very closest friends.  We got to spend great time with her and her husband Oliver and their little boy, Cannon.

Aunt Leslie and Jude

Early Betrothal: Jude and Ellie

Our good friends, Caroline and Nick Smith, have a baby girl, Ellie, who is 3 weeks younger than Jude.  We couldn't resist putting them in their matching boy/girl polos and getting some early engagement photos :) - Here are some of my favorites:

Jude's Baptism

Jude was baptized into the covenant community of faith on May 23rd at CityLife Presbyterian Church in Boston.  Our pastor, Stephen Um, baptized him and gave a great explanation on infant baptism - its meaning and purpose.  (You can watch the video below if you would like to hear it.)  It was a really special morning - my Uncle Mike and Aunt Liz as well as my cousin Dawn and her family all drove down from New Hampshire to be a part of it.  Our close friends the Smiths, the Hicks, the Morgans, and Dr. Lints all came as well.  After church, we had a celebration picnic lunch on Gordon-Conwell's campus.  My good friend, Mimi, and her family drove up to GCTS after church to go to the lunch as well.  It was such a great day to share with our family and close friends!

Jude wore the baptism gown that Greg was baptized in as well as several generations of Greg's family. 

Courtney and Rebecca Morgan, Caroline and Ellie Smith, Ginger and Jude O'Brien, Heejei and Nathaniel Wang - we all had our babies within 3 weeks of each other!

Our first trip as a family

We are finally home in Boston after a 3-week trek across the south to see Ginger's family in Alabama and Greg's family in Texas.  Jude grew a lot while we were gone!  We will be posting about our trip over the next several days. 

Jude did great on the plane!  I thought people would see us coming from a mile away and be praying that our seats were not near theirs, but after several flights, as we were getting off the plane, the people around us would say, "I had no idea you had a baby there!"  When we were leaving Boston, the flight attendant brought back a drawing the pilot had done for Jude before the flight took off:

FIRST STOP:  Florence, Alabama

Jude's first taste of humidity - loving being bear naked most of the time :)

Grandpa and Grammy enjoying time with Jude

Aunt Laura, Uncle Rob, Ashley and Ben got to meet Jude for the first time on their trip to AL from Chicago!

Grammy helped Jude push up on his arms!

My good friend from growing up, Brett, got to come over and meet Jude.

We got to eat lots of barbecue, go for a run, spend time with our parents, and enjoy the humidity - i love my small town Alabama!