If I had Written a Christmas Letter, This is What it Would have Said

Showing off his new shoes from his Aunt Essie

This past year has been the busiest, the craziest and, quite simply, the best year to date. God's blessings and provision never fail to amaze me.
2007 started off with a bang - I joined Paul in Georgia (where he'd been activated, in December.) Three weeks after I arrived down here Judah decided to make his appearance five weeks early. He spent his first week in the NICU, and then came home, scrawny and wrinkled - but healthy! - to happy and grateful parents.

Judah adjusted well to us =) He smiled, happily content, when Paul accidentally folded him up in his stroller. He looked on with no cares in the world when I mistakenly grabbed - and generously applied - Icy Hot instead of Diaper Rash Cream while I was changing him.
Judah has a wonderful personality, and if I could bottle up one thing from this year to save and remember throughout life, it would be his laugh. It is contagious, carefree and delightful.
Judah has two teeth that he proudly bares to any and all, and three more that are showing through his tops gums. He loves grinding these puzzling new 'toys' in his mouth.
His favorite game at present is Peek-a-Boo. We play it until I get bored or start going insane. He's also contributed to our home decor. Cheerios can be found everywhere - smashed in the carpet, hidden in shoes, under couch cushions... the hiding places keep getting more creative.

This has been our first complete year in the military as a married couple... while it certainly falls short of winning Job of the Year award, there are no complaints. I am more than proud of Paul serving, and even though he is away from home long hours, and gone many nights with work I am so glad that most nights he sleeps soundly beside me. Paul was promoted to Sgt this summer, and started working on completing his degree by doing online courses. Both of these things have demanded a lot of his time, but he still makes the time to spend with his family. He is Judah's favorite person - Judah chants 'da-da-da' endlessly and claps when Paul gets home from work.

Despite Paul's hectic schedule we were able to do a bit of traveling this year - we spent three days for our anniversary in Helen, GA, we explored Atlanta, spent many days at the beach in SC and in October Paul and I went to Jamaica for a week while my sister stayed with Judah.
Paul did a lot of traveling with work - Alabama, Colorado, Georgia and South Carolina . And I went with just Judah to visit a friend in Tennessee, and then also up to Ontario. We both love traveling and visiting new places, and hope in to be able to go to some new places in 2008.

Our big news at the close of this year is that we are expecting baby #2, due July 2008. We are rather ecstatic and looking forward to adding another bundle of joy and laughter to our home... which hopefully won't be the one we're currently living in as it is getting smaller and smaller as Judah gets bigger and bigger =) We are looking at moving the end of February to someplace nearby.

We enjoyed all the many visitors this past year - at least monthly we had someone(s) for overnight visits. It was quite fun, and we look forward to the continuation of company in '08.