Saturday, August 1, 2009

30 family members in 7 days--Jude's 1st Month

The three of us travelled to Atlanta for my brother's wedding last week... by car... 18 hours driving. Actually, the trip down was pretty uneventful. Jude slept most of the time peacefully with stops in between to eat. We won't talk about the return trip.
The hard part about travelling with a 4 week old baby is that, well, I just didn't know what in the world I was doing yet. We were still trying to figure each other out, so there were definitely some anxious moments when I wondered if he was going to be alright. He really did amazingly well, and having my Texas family in town to meet him was priceless. He also met his Papa (my dad), his Grandmom (Kevin's mom), and his Grandad (Kevin's dad) for the first time.
The story in photos..

We stayed with Kevin's mom for the first 3 days in town. This was the first time she met Jude. Kevin's two brothers and their wives were in town as well. This was the first time in several years that all three brothers have been together.

Grandmom loved rocking Jude. She introduced the pacifier to him, which has brought sweet peace to our lives.


We went to the Atlanta Aquarium--amazing! Jude slept the whole time in his Magic Sling--this thing has wonderful womb-inducing powers over his little mind.


Cute Pie Everett was so much fun. This is Brian & Noelle's son; they are moving from California to England while Brian attends Cambridge this Fall.



Uncle Scott. Scott & Brooke are missionaries and are in the states for just 6 months. They are coming up to NJ next month to spend a couple weeks with us.


Aunt Brooke



The second half of the week we stayed at my dad's house. This was their first time meeting Jude and we also had a whole bunch of Texas family staying with us. It was such a blessing to introduce Jude to practically the whole Conley family.

Mimi & Papa


Ok, this is for real. There is a facial trait (some may say tick) that the Conley's are prone to--I'll call it the Conley Brow. Dad and Bekah, and who knows who else, have the ability to raise just one eyebrow. This somehow skipped my generation, but that's ok because it has apparently passed to my son. No sooner had my dad taken a first look at his new grandson, did Jude's right eyebrow arch upwards. I mean, we both noticed it at the same time. It was like my dad imbibed his powers down to his grandson at that very moment.


This is the antique bassinet that my dad slept in when he was a baby. He had his engineers refurbish it so that Jude could use it--so sweet.


On Saturday before the wedding we went over to mom's house for a brunch. My Granparents were there as well as my Uncle Dirk. When mom left NJ after Jude was born, she kept telling him not to forget his Oma. I think he definitely remembered her--she was such a good rocker! I'll post pictures from mom's house soon.
We saw Kevin's dad on our way out of Atlanta the last day. Here's Granddad