Jude's first Christmas

We celebrated Jude's first Christmas in Dixon, Hennepin, Bloomington, Effingham, and Owaneco. Christmas always calls for lots of traveling and I wasn't sure how Jude would do in the car for such long rides. He did fantastic! He slept mostly and I entertained him when he was awake. Jude saw a lot of new faces and wasn't embarrassed to fart, poop, or spit up while snuggling with whoever happened to be holding him at the time. He even farted in church on Christmas Eve. We tried really hard not to laugh (out loud).

With all of the traveling and all of the "stuff" we had to travel with (clothes, presents, diaper bag, milk, the girls crate, etc.), Chad almost had me convinced that we need a bigger vehicle... notice I said "almost". He wants a Ford F150... I don't want the payments. So I convinced myself that we can get by until we have more children. I guess that means no new vehicle in 2010!

I didn't take any photos at Christmas (except of the girls opening their gift from Marvin). I know... shocker! However, I do have some recent photos to share.

Jude loves his swing. He is so content in the swing and he likes to look around. He eventually falls asleep in it. He slept for 3 hours in the swing one day!

This is an up close photo of our tree. I did green on green this year. I love it! My goal this year is to find a tree skirt with lime green in it. (On clearance of course!)

Julie made our stockings. (Thanks Jules... LOVE THEM).

The girls opened their Christmas gift from Marvin. Once they got the paper off, they were having just as much fun shredding the wrapping paper as they were when they played with the toy that was inside!

Cute, recent photo of Miss Rhyme.


And Miss Tempest...


I also had to post a recent photo of Ajani. He is so tiny (especially compared to my little man)! Leann spend half the day here last week while they replaced her furnace. I can't wait until the boys can play together!

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!!! Happy New Year!
(Can you believe it is 2011 ALREADY!!! well, almost)

Welcome Ajani Liam Steidinger!

My little boy isn't going to be very little for much longer. We measured his length tonight and he is already 23.5 inches long! He is also getting chubby legs! I now have some rolls to clean between... SO CUTE!

The girls are doing great with him. Rhyme has given him plenty of kisses. Tempest is finally warming up to the idea that he is here to stay.



My friend, Leann had her baby on the 10th. Ajani Liam was 7 lbs 6 ozs and 20.5 inches long. He looks SOOO small next to Jude! He is such a cutie! Photos below include her pregnancy, photos of Ajani and a comparison photo of Jude and Ajani! WOW! :)

(Please note: all photos below have NOT been edited yet. I just need more time in the day and it will all get done!)

My Greatest Addition

I am welcoming myself back to the blogging world! I have a lot of excuses for not keeping it up to date but none are worth mentioning. Hopefully, I can do a better job now, especially since I have a better reason to write! Chad and I welcomed our greatest addition, Jude McKirgan Kemp (9 lb. 2 oz., 21 inches), at 4:47 a.m. on Halloween of this year.

After trying for 9 months, we found out we were pregnant on Valentines day. It turned out to be the best Valentines day ever. I was in shock but thrilled. Our due date was October 25th and we decided not to find out the gender. I really enjoyed listening to everyone guess. By the time my due date was approaching, about 90 percent of everyone I talked to guessed a boy. They were right!

I had the best pregnancy ever. No nausea, no sleepiness, no mood swings, no cravings, no swelling. Really, the only reason I even knew I was pregnant was because I had an expanding waistline! :)

I went into labor on October 30th at 10:00 a.m. My labor wasn't as smooth as my pregnancy. I wanted to do everything naturally. However, at 9:00 p.m. I gave in because I was still only 4.5 cm dilated and was not making much progress. After receiving the epidural, we realized quickly that my body doesn't respond well to anesthetic. I will spare you the details. Overall, after a few scares throughout the night and after 3 hours of pushing, Jude arrived - as perfect as could be!

My 6 weeks of maternity leave officially ends this week but I am taking vacation until the new year. I love being a mother and absolutely love spending all of my time with Jude. He is a great baby and doesn't fuss much. Rhyme and Tempest have adjusted well and Chad is an amazing Daddy. I am extremely lucky!


Latest update: Jude took his first bottle! As the new year gets closer and I prepare to go back to work (tear, sniff sniff), we want to make sure he will take a bottle while there. He took it like a champ and didn't think anything of it. Daddy did a great job feeding him as well!