The Bowtie

I asked Steve's Aunt Joni to share the bowtie story in greater detail. It was just too sweet to pass up!

In 1988 Steve’s Uncle Kevin and (soon to be) Aunt Joni were planning their wedding and had asked Steve to be their ring bearer.

Steve & Uncle Kevin

In the midst of all the wedding planning Steve’s younger brother, Michael, announced that he would “take the letter”. No one knew what he was talking about but he was insistent that he would “take the letter”! Finally, while watching tv someone saw the Hallmark card commercial that must have sparked his idea – a groom handed a small blonde haired boy (much like Michael) an envelope (with the Hallmark seal, of course) and he ran through a courtyard and presented this envelope to the bride who read the card and teared up – another Hallmark Moment! Michael must have thought all weddings had a card-carrier and he was the self- appointed card-carrier for his Uncle Kevin’s wedding!

Michael got, perhaps his first , suit and a bowtie for the occasion! Uncle Kevin had written a note including the words to the song he had written to sing to his bride, put them in an envelope and handed it to Michael to deliver. He proudly presented the letter to the bride who read the words and teared up – truly a Hallmark Moment!

Aunt Joni & Mike

In 2011 Mike and Arlene were planning their wedding and his nephew, Jude, was to accompany Arlene’s nephew as the ring bearers. Thanks to Nana Marsha for finding the bowtie so that Jude could wear it in his Uncle Mike’s wedding, who wore it in his Uncle Kevin’s wedding. The Bowtie Tradition has begun!

Uncle Kevin, cranky Jude, & Mike

Real men wear babies...

Here are two pictures that I snapped of Steve today. He didn't know that I was taking them, and forgive me if they aren't very well focused--I was trying to be sneaky. But they do capture the essence of what a truly awesome, hands-on kind of dad Steve is. I'm pretty proud to be his baby mama.

Just building a fence with a baby strapped to his back.

Story time

And here Steve is at Disneyland, carrying Jude in the Beco carrier and riding the carousel with his daughter. Such a sweet thing, seeing a dad wearing his baby.

I love you, Stevie.

8 Months

Jude celebrated turning 8 months old by a trip to the good ol' ER....twice in a 24 hour span. Thanks to sister's delightful germs, Jude got a nasty cough/respiratory thing, and had a difficult time breathing. Steve took him to the ER in the middle of the night after calling the nurse advice hotline. Once at the ER, they gave him a breathing treatment and told us it was just a case of the croup. The next day Jude wasn't getting any better, and we noticed that his chest was sucking in when he was breathing, so back to the ER we went. Thankfully, the pediatrician department was still open and Jude was able to be seen by a graciously kind pediatrician. Because Jude's breathing was so labored, he had to receive a shot of steroids and another breathing treatment. His breathing was finally under control, praise the Lord. We were sent home with oral steroids and instructions to administer breathing treatments every 4-6 hours for the next week. It's been a rough week; it's hard to see your 8 month old all hyped up on steroids. Plus, Jude hasn't really been sleeping great. So here's hoping that the rest of month 8 comes with a bit more sleep and a lot less coughing.

Look familiar?

Now onto the cute pictures...


Stats:
Weight: 18 lbs, 8 oz

Height: 28.25 inches!

In other news, Jude FINALLY has two teeth. And he is pretty much crawling. He's army crawling, and I guess that's as good as it's going to get for now. He gets where he needs to go quite quickly. He was doing really well sleep-wise, and then he got sick. Now it feels like we're back to square one, but hopefully this too will pass.

Work it, Jude!