Trippin'.

July first marked the start of Jude's very first road trip.  The first of many, I'm sure.  We have family all over the state, country, and soon-to-be world.  Not to mention his daddy and I have a love for road trips.  We have dreams of one day owning a camper and making it to each of the national parks with our kids.  Forget the fancy resorts and cruises.  Something about hitting the road in the mini-van just feels right.

Jude was a trooper this first go-around!  He spent much of the time sleeping {as we had hoped} and did get a bit sick of the car seat {who can blame him}, but I didn't mind sitting in the back and playing with his baby einstein toy with him one bit.  We broke the trip up into segments - making it to Indy with Macy for the first night, then onward to Tennessee after that.  He couldn't wait to see his Aunt Krista and Uncle Ben for the second time!

Aunt Krista and Uncle Ben will soon be moving to Jamaica, so we will soak up all the time we can with them.  It has been so fun to spend these last couple of days with Krista and see her and Jude play together.  Jude is at such a fun age and demands to be entertained!  Of course nobody complains about playing horsey, blast-off, or reading to our little guy.  Between Krista, Ben, Jordan, and I there is lots of love to go around. 

On Tuesday we had our first dip in the pool!  Jude wasn't so sure about it at first.  He LOVES his bath, so I'm sure he was wondering #1 - why is the water so cold, and #2 - why am I not naked?!  He soon grew to love tolerate it, and I'm thinking of purchasing a little kiddie pool for him to splash in for the rest of the summer.  He obviously can't sit on his own yet, but I'm always looking for new experiences for him and reasons to get him outside of our four walls.

Not so sure...

I've never been a water-lover.  In fact, I clearly remember being in tears during my first swimming lessons because I was afraid to jump off the diving board.  I eventually overcame my fear of the diving board {kind of}, but have always kinda felt like a fish out of water... in the water....  I can swim alright, but it just isn't my fave.  I just can't explain it.  But I hope for Jude to have a love for the water.  Living near the lakes there are too many opportunities to create great family memories at the beach.  I'll be sure to start swimming lessons with him early {maybe even baby-swimming lessons} so that we all can feel a bit more confident and breathe more easily around the water.

Warming up to it...

I love these little firsts with Jude.  And I love that this special first is something that Krista was able to enjoy with us, since I know she'll be missing us from afar in Jamaica before long.  {Whatever did we do before email, facebook, and skype to keep in touch?!}

Safe in Mama's arms.