i love saving

You may remember that from 29 weeks on, I was put on modified bed rest when I was pregnant with Jude (a little firecracker even in the womb). After watching a ridiculous amount of Gilmore Girls and catching up on every email I'd ever been sent, I set to work putting our family on a strict budget. We had tried to budget before, but had never been able to really flesh it out and stick to it. Dave Ramsey says that most couples have a "nerd" who loves spreadsheets and numbers and a "free spirit" who hates being told what to do. You should see my Excel files for our personal home budget and for my Serwa Chic expenditures and profits. It's a thing of organized beauty. I won't go into the details of describing the piles of random receipts on Shawn's dresser (that I think makes sense to him), but suffice it to say that I am 100% the nerd, and Shawn definitely qualifies as the free spirit. The difference between this time we tried a budget and the last few times were many: 1)I did it all. We had always tried to do it together before, and we always put it off or did it halfway because we were avoiding the inevitable heated discussion. We were trying to do what every marriage counselor says to do and split the financial record keeping, but it turns out that just doesn't work for us. I keep up with the budget, and every couple of days or so when I'm entering in the numbers and seeing where we are with line items, I email or text Shawn to let him know how much money we have in each category 2)The fears of all of the forthcoming pre-term labor bills scared the pants off of both of us - so we had a very tangible reason to save our butts off 3)I suddenly had a ton of time to track every penny we spent, to put all of our bills on automatic withdrawal, to make a spreadsheet for every month of the next year and half, and to not only put us on a budget, but to look at our account every day, track our spending, and keep us on that budget. I obviously have much less time now, but I've found that I did all the hard work in the beginning - now it's just a matter of keeping us on track and running the numbers a couple of times a week.

Our goal since beginning this budget was to get ourselves so that we can live solely off of Shawn's income. This proved to be harder than we thought, so we're still working on that, but we're getting closer. In the meantime, we're using my income to pay down student loan debt, and save. One of our main goals for savings are our many home improvement projects. You see, we bought our house before the market really crashed when young naive couples everywhere were buying well above their actual price range. By the grace of God, we had the wherewithall to buy a house much below the loan amount for which we were approved, and much below what we could afford with our two incomes. We knew I'd eventually want to stay home with whatever kiddos we'd eventually have, and while we didn't know what exactly that would mean for us financially, we knew it would require a modest monthly mortgage payment and a small, fixer-upper home.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I'm excited. After months of doing our best to stick to a budget, we were finally able to build our savings to a place to actually fix up our fixer upper. Don't get me wrong - there's still plenty of work to be done (the bathrooms and landscaping are the next step, I think), but it's been such a great feeling to see such improvement. Even better is knowing that we're able to pay cash for these improvement - knowing that we worked hard to be disciplined and are now able to see the dividends of that.

I'm not bragging - trust me, we have a loooong way to go before we're financially savvy AND before our home is anywhere near where we'd like it to be - I'm just really, genuinely excited and want to share.

I mentioned in a previous post that we were able to replace our old, very unsafe windows this spring, and our next project was to get a patio built off of the back of our home. Here is the only picture I could find of the back of our house pre-patio. Snow is a big deal in North Carolina, so yes - it warranted a photo:


And here's our new patio! This is the view of our backyard from the door (someday that corner in the top left will be a stellar vegetable garden):
Looking left from the back door:

Looking right from the back door:

And our brand new patio in all its glory (without landscaping - which is our goal for the late fall):

We were so excited, we grilled out the first night it was finished:

In case you're bored with this post (I wouldn't blame you), here's our sweet Judeabug at bath time. We use the nasal aspirator as a toy - it's perfect for shooting water under his neck crevices (which hides all manner of pea flavored spit up, lint, milk, and who knows what other grossness), and he loves holding it. It's a tough life having to choose between the ducky and the "squeezy ball" as we call it:

Daddy's getting ready to suction the nose!

Go ahead - try to resist the baby talk. I dare ya.

Okay, so after the patio was finished, we had a little left over in savings to get me this really cool thing from World Market (that was on sale AND for which we were able to use a 10% off coupon). I have to admit that I don't actually know what it's called. Shawn's called it a buffet, a console, and a few other terms that I don't remember. I just know that I do most of my sewing on our kitchen table. Whereas before I had to pile all my junk into the corner when I was finished, I now have the perfect sewing stuff holder that not only looks lovely, but organizes everything perfectly (nerd alert! nerd alert!).

Those baskets are actually from Matt and Patrice's yard sale and are the PERFECT length to hold the fabric that was randomly piled up in our guest bedroom before:

I'm working on a project right now, so the sewing machine is on the dining room table, but trust me - it fits perfectly right here. And it looks like if we ever wanted to use it as an entertainment stand, we could (that thing at the bottom will eventually be a shelf. The shelf pins were missing in the package, so we're calling to get those sent to us):

And there are three drawers. Perfectly sized to hold: 1)Elastic, Velcro, etc. 2)Microfiber and PUL fabric, and 3)Patterns and thread.

So while the discipline of saying "no" to things is not ever always fun, it's an awesome feeling to be able to finally do some of the bigger projects we've been wanting to do! So please excuse my long winded, picture laden post - I'm just really excited. :)

jude jumps

Just in case you need some more Jude-goodness in your life (and really, don't we all?), feast your eyes on Jude's cuteness jumping in his Johnny jump up. Incidentally, this is about the only time he's been happy jumping in that thing:

Watching this video will be significantly funnier if you sing "Low Rider" to yourself as you're watching:

jude crawls

for evidence that Jude is, in fact, crawling (and that Shawn is the best dad in the world) check it out:

to jude's favorite daddy

I don't know what happened. I turned my back for two minutes, and Jude was typing a blog post on the computer. Crazy kid.

Let me tell you about my Daddy. See, I have the best Daddy in the world. He loves me a whole lot even when I'm being a cranky pants and doesn't ever get mad at me.

This Daddy of mine, we do all sorts of stuff together. He's not a Daddy who is always gone all the time, and I'm really glad for that. He's a Daddy who really likes to take care of me and spend time with me. And you know what? I really like to spend time with him, too. We do lots of stuff together. Daddy likes to read to me:

Sometimes he likes to give me rides on his shoulders, too! Daddy likes to throw me around a lot more than Mommy does, and I love it!




Every once in awhile Daddy will let me watch a game, The Muppet Show, or Yo Gabba Gabba with him! Daddy makes me smile when he gets really excited!

I especially love mornings with my Daddy. I laugh a lot when he peeks out of the covers at me, and we just like to chill together. Mommy is kind of crazy in the mornings, always zipping around and doing stuff. But my Daddy - he gets that sometimes you just gotta chill.

My favorite thing to do is to be held by my Daddy. I love to cuddle with him, and you know what? He makes me feel safe.
My Daddy also really likes to tell me about Jesus. I'm so lucky to have a Daddy who loves God so much.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning, okay? See, before I came along, it was just Mommy and Daddy. They tell me they got a lot of sleep back in those days, but I don't know why they were sleeping when there's so much cool stuff to do in this world! MommyDaddy decided to have me, and they say that they were really excited and a little bit nervous. Mommy tells me she was kind of a basket case (no surprise there), and that Daddy really helped her a lot. That sure does sound like the Daddy I know - strong, steady, and calm. He sure does take great care of Mommy and me.

I remember the first time I saw my Daddy. I knew right then and there that I would be well cared for. I could tell just by looking at him that he loved me a whole lot and would be the best Daddy that he knew how to be.

Yeah, me and Daddy have had a bond since the beginning. Sometimes I get tired of everyone else holding me, and I just want my Daddy. I sure hope I grow up to be like him.

Daddy, you're the best. I know you work hard, and I know you have a lot of expectations on you from other people. I know you are sometimes exhausted, and I'm amazed by how you do everything you do. It means a lot to me that you stay home with me on Mondays and take me into work with you on Fridays. I love spending time with you, Daddy, and I love watching you and learning from you. I love it when you spin me around, when you sing me silly songs, when you teach me stuff, when we have Dancey Dance time, when you make my legs kick back and forth, when you read books to me, and when you give me kisses. You're just about the best Daddy a Judeabug could ever wish for. Thank you, Daddy, for taking care of me and protecting me. I love you so much.

photgraphic memories

So here are a few shots that Jenn from Photographic Memories got a couple of weeks ago. I'm sorry that they're so small - I can't seem to figure out how to resize them. Still, he's a pretty stinkin' cute kid, even in miniature version:

The onesie he's wearing is one of our favorites - it says ADO(RED)

That would be an original single of "Hey Jude" on which he's drooling

...the "this is kind of stupid" face

...the "but i suppose i can grace them with a smile or two" face

...and the "i am so over this" face

the j team

Jonah and Jude, or the "J Team" as Matt called them finally met this past Saturday! They've been each other's presence before, but a certain baby (whose name may or may not rhyme with Schmonah) was asleep. This time, we outwitted Jonah and hung out long enough for him to get in a good nap AND meet his bff (or whatever boys call a bff), Jude.

Jude has a tendency to hit things he likes, so Patrice had to hold him back from giving a Jonah a big fat smack. In baby world, that means, "Hey! You look pretty cool! Wanna stare at each other and kick our legs?"

Both boys behaved much better than either Mamma expected, and we had a total blast hanging out.

With Jude's new found crawling freedom, he's eager to see how he can get into more mischief. In the time it's taken me to write this blog, I've had to pull my pen out of his mouth, stop him from tugging on Cole's tail, stop him from grabbing at Cole's feet, and pull him out from underneath the couch. And I'm fairly certain this is only the beginning!

I've realized recently that I'm actually producing even less milk than I was a couple of weeks ago - it looks like it's maybe 10 ounces a day that Jude is getting via breastfeeding. I think we're going to have to drop our daytime feedings entirely and supplement instead. I'll still nurse for his morning and night feedings. I'm disappointed - severely disappointed - but am ready to end the drama of "is he getting enough?". He's been gaining weight so well and has been so much more happy since we started supplementing, so I think it's time. He'll be okay, right? I'm not the worst Mom in the world?

I know I mentioned a few posts ago that Jenn from Photographic Memories took some pictures, and don't worry - I didn't forget! I'll make sure to get them up in the next day or two!

picture time!

Before we get into looking at the most adorable seven month old ever to be born, I wanted to let ya'll know that I'm giving away two Medium All In One Cloth Diapers. Just leave a comment on the Serwa Chic Blog to win! Don't know what the heck an All In One diaper is? Check it out.

Okay, enough of that - now on to pictures!

Sitting up like a big boy on his changing table. He handled his six month shots like a champ and got some cute football band aids in return!

"Hello. My name is Jude. And I look exactly like my Daddy."

Oh, that smile. Life is good when I see that face.

This would be the face he makes right before he tries to eat the camera. We're still working on learning what is food and what is not food.

A quick update on how my sweet Judeabug is doing :: We now have two...count 'em...two teeth! And boy are they ever sharp! The second tooth seems to be causing slightly more pain than the first, but I'm still super proud of how well he's handled the teething process. Jude has very quickly mastered crawling and getting around - except that it's more like he's doing the worm - but it's fast! He can get from one end of the room to the other in no time flat. Speaking of which... I actually need to go get the child whose head is dangerously close to our brick fireplace. Seesh.

happy birthday, mom!

So today is my Mom's birthday. In the spirit of writing little notes to Jude each month on his birthday, I thought I'd do the same for Mom. Besides, she hasn't gotten nearly the credit she deserves for being the amazing Mom that she is, and I think the whole world (...or all three people who read this blog) need to know the truth.

Dear Mom,

I just wanted to make sure you know how much I love you. I'm told often how much I remind people of you, and I take that as just about the highest compliment I could ever receive. You have strength, dignity, and grace that I can only pray to inherit. When I think back to what your life must've been like when we were little - four kids under the age of six - I'm amazed at how well you held everything together. Without saying a word, you've taught me how to handle issues in life as challenges to be overcome with grace rather than struggles to take passively. You taught me how to rely on God when things look hopeless, and you taught me to give glory to God when things look optimistic. Throughout my life, a steady constant has been your Bible on the end table. I can even picture it now - it was a pink paperback women's study Bible with a cream crocheted bookmark sticking out the top. I don't ever remember you giving the "Jesus loves you and died for your sins," talk. Maybe you did and I forget, but I do clearly remember you living your life in a way that I couldn't help but see Him through you. Through your life, you impressed on me what it means to forgive, to ask for forgiveness with a humble spirit, to be honest, and to be a woman of noble character.

I want to grow up to be just like you, Mom. I want to have your strength, and I even want to have the childlike wonder you've retained. One of my favorite memories is the year we got you Winnie The Pooh slippers for Christmas. You sat on the edge of the couch, put those slippers on, and bounced your feet so that the Winnie The Pooh head bobbled back and forth. And you giggled. If I remember correctly, you giggled every time you put those slippers on. Thank you for being a Mom who got down on the floor and played with us, for being a Mom who took walks with me when I was a frustratingly selfish Jr. High kid, for being a Mom who came and stayed in my dorm with me when I was in college, for being a Mom who cooked me a fatty homemade omelet every morning that you were here after I had Jude, and for being a Mom who prays every single day for her four kids. Can you imagine the trouble we would've gotten into if you hadn't been praying for God's protection over us?! :) Most importantly, thank you for being a Mom who showed me that it's okay to not be a perfect Mom. Thank you for trying your best and then leaving it in God's hands. Thank you for loving me so much and being a clear representation of God's selfless love for His children.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, he praises her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

mattresses and tacks

When I was about ten or eleven, my family lived in this large, beautiful old farmhouse just on the outskirts of our small town. My siblings and I (two brothers, one sister) were all home for the summer. In our short lives, we had already gone through and burned out many a babysitter, and this summer was no different. Our parents hired Jenny and Susie for the summer to tag team babysit on alternating days. Sweet girls. Sweet girls who had no idea what they were in for.

You see, you might think I've always been the demure, sophisticated, sweet, polite girl you see before you. You might think the grace that oozes from my pores (and the sarcasm oozing from my fingertips at the moment) has always been a part of my being. No, in fact, I was as good as raised by a pack of wolves...or my two brothers. Jesse is almost exactly one year older than me and we've often been mistaken for twins, and Jason is almost exactly a year and a half younger than me. I had no choice but to be a ruffian. It is only by the influence of my Mom who IS demure, sweet, graceful, adorable, and Godly that I resemble a female in any form.

This particular summer my siblings and I decided that we wanted to jump off the roof. We had a back patio to our farmhouse, and it just so happened that you could walk right onto the roof of that patio from the second story window - mine and my sister's window. Our only problem? Those blasted babysitters. Never letting us have any fun. We had to figure out a way to drag the mattress from our room, down the stairs, and across the yard to be used as a landing pad without them noticing or hearing. I can't remember who came up with the diversion. Jesse was the brains of the outfit, but Jason and I tended to be the most daring, so it's hard to say. Whoever it was - they're brilliant. It was the perfect plan.

Gum. Plus long tangly hair. Equals babysitter diversion. I mashed it in my hair, twisting my stringy strands of summertime kid hair around that gum until it was good and stuck. Always the actress, I went to the babysitter in tears, sobbing about having to cut my hair and ruin it. Being the great babysitter that she was (I'm so so sorry!) she immediately whipped out the peanut butter and went to work in our downstairs bathroom. My shrieks of pain were timed to coincide with the bumps of the mattresses being drug down the stairs by three pre-Jr. High kids, and I made sure the entire ordeal lasted at least an hour. Long enough for my three siblings to do several rounds of climbing through the window, jumping joyously from the second story, falling in a heap of glee on the mattress, and running back through the house, up the stairs, to the bedroom for some more.

I would like to say we did this once, got our fill of doing something we weren't supposed to be doing, and minded our babysitter well the rest of the summer. Truthfully, Rachael and I took turns entangling gum in our hair and allowing the other the thrill of the jump. Perhaps our babysitter knew, maybe she really was clueless enough to not realize - all I know is - it was a blast. And Mom, if this is the first you're hearing of this...I'm sorry. But I can't lie, it was fun.

When Shawn was just about the same age, he spent much of his time waiting on his Dad at the end of church on Sunday mornings. One day, he noticed a bulletin board. A bulletin board with tacks on it. A bulletin board with tacks on it that was right next to the baptismal. As he waited for his Dad to finish his ministerial duties, Shawn would casually walk by the bulletin board, grab a handful of tacks, and yes, my friends...drop them into the baptismal. For weeks on end. When the time came several months later for a person to be baptized, Shawn's Dad found a baptismal floor filled entirely with tacks and was none too happy about it.

As I've been typing this, Shawn wants me to make it clear that his feat of mischievousness was not nearly as deceptive as mine. So there you go - I'll just say that MY acts of being a rapscallion involved only the possibility of pain to ourselves...Shawn's acts involved potential harm to someone else. You be the judge.

It was as I was watching my son scoot across the floor for the first time that these thoughts came to mind. He was now capable of reaching for the toy he saw, grabbing the dog's tail, and scooting towards our brick fireplace - despite our repeatedly picking up and putting him eight feet away. As I watched him take his first steps toward independence, I was reminded of how his father and I expressed that independence when we were young, and I was scared. Oh boy.

We're in for it now.

a letter to jude

Dear Jude,

You were seven months old yesterday, sweetness. Seven whole months. Sheesh. Perhaps the most notable thing to happen to you lately is that you are a crawling expert. Well, it's kind of an army crawl, but it gets you to where you want to go. I'm proud of you, Jude. You have such a determined spirit and you work hard for what you want to do. You've had that personality trait (determined-ness...or some might say stubbornness) since you were born, and it looks like it'll be with you for awhile. I pray that God uses your strength of mind and will, and I know that He has a plan for it. Daddy and I have absolutely loved getting to know you better. You make us laugh - both with your infectious smile and your look of complete boredom at our antics - and our life is so full with you in it, sweet child. I love watching you grow and seeing you work things out in your head. I love to see you learning, son, and pray that never stops.

Because your personality is emerging and MommyDaddy can more easily tell your likes and dislikes, I'd love to share with you some of the things you seem to really love right now, at seven months old:

1. MommyDaddy, of course. You recognize us, laugh at us, and miss us when we leave. You especially seem to enjoy when Daddy comes home. Your little head follows him around while he says hello to me, puts down his stuff, and walks over to you...and you wait the entire time for him to make eye contact with you. When he does, your little body spazzes with joy and a grin overtakes your face.

2. Coletrane. You're actually laughing at his weird antics, and you love petting him - especially his ears. You're not so much of a fan of his kisses yet, but I think one day you will be.

3. Food. By this, I mean table food. Oh man, you love you some food. I'm pretty sure if you could developmentally move on to a completely solid food diet right now, you totally would. You especially love sweet potatoes and pears, but after the first initial looks of disdain, you'll eat pretty much anything.

4. Quacking. I know, but you're the one who likes it. Grampy started quacking at you when we were in Indiana, and you haven't stopped laughing at it since. It's my go-to trick to get you calmed down. I have no idea why it's so funny, but I've found no end to the humiliation I'll endure to make you smile.

5. Sleeping through the night. Oh wait, that's me who loves that. Still, you don't seem to mind!

6. Your medicine. We used to have to fight you to take the reflux med from a syringe, but you seem to look forward to it now. I know this will sound stupid, but you're really sweet when we give it to you. For whatever reason, I'm struck by how much you trust us when I see those big blue eyes looking at me.

I know there are more things that you love, but I'm expecting you to wake up any minute now, so I can't go on forever.

Jude, this month has been a wonderful month with you - maybe even my favorite. I love your kisses, I love your smile, I love holding you, and I love watching you grow in independence. You are a sweet, sweet boy who loves being smothered in kisses even though you already know how to pretend like you hate it. ;) You're a strong, brave little boy with a determined spirit and a strong will. Jude, God can use those two qualities in amazing ways if you allow Him. As much as Daddy and I love you (which is a LOT!), He loves you more perfectly and more completely than we ever could.

Happy Seven Months, baby boy.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

wait, they grow up?!

I've been hit right smack in the face this week with the stunning realization that Jude is growing up. I suppose this won't be a new revelation to me over the years - to suddenly realize that he's gotten older, but it seems to have happened almost without me realizing it.

For instance, we have a tooth! A tooth! Only grown up babies get teeth. Holy cow. You know what this means, right? This means that eventually he'll be eating. That crevices of our house will be filled with bits of slobbery biter biscuits, and I'll become one of those Moms who whips out Cheerios from the mysterious recesses of the diaper bag. His little tooth is sweet, though. It's just the tiniest little sharp white thing poking through.

Jude has also started sitting up on his own - much to the surprise of Shawn and I. We've been working with him a lot to teach him to crawl, and quite honestly - forgot all about sitting up. I mean, he sits up a lot, but we always make sure he has something behind him to help prop him up. We went to Jenn's on Saturday to take photos, and she asked if he was able to sit up and have some pictures taken with props. I figured we'd try, but hovered close by in case he took a spill after a few seconds. Do you know that this kid sat up - by himself - for like ten minutes?!

And then there's crawling. Oh, that boy is working hard! He grunts and scoots and pushes and shimmies and grunts some more, all for the prize of reaching either the puppy or an elusive toy - which he reaches more often than not nowadays. We keep thinking he'll be crawling any day now, but he seems to have stalled a little in progress now that he can shimmy his way around to get what he wants. He'll get there. We've definitely entered into the "I just left the room for two minutes - how the heck did you manage to get under the bed??" phase.

Not that I'd ever do that. :)

And my favorite part of Jude getting older (drumroll, please) - he is actually sleeping through the night!!! He goes down around 8:30pm and stays down! Yes, folks, Shawn and I are going on about two weeks of sweet, sweet slumber. Of course we've both managed to get sick in the middle of this, so we wake up feeling like we took a good beating - but that's okay! We're sleeping, Jude's sleeping, Coletrane's sleeping, and we are all very, very happy about this new arrangement. The teething has made Jude a little bit more fussy during the day, but so far the only changes at night are that he wakes up around 6:00am instead of 7:30am. What, you ask, do I do with my newly acquired baby-free time from 8:30 until we go to bed around 10:30 (if I have my way) or 11:30 (if Shawn has his way)? Shawn and I talk (and no, "talk" isn't a euphemism for "kiss." But we do that too), I pump and answer emails, sometimes I sew if I'm trying to get a project done, we do the dishes and/or laundry (yes, "we" does mean both of us. I prettymuch have the best husband in the world, it's true), we watch Ace of Cakes or Good Eats, we do some cuddling, and we basically just enjoy having some time to ourselves. I need to get better about working less during that time and spending it more with Shawn, but it's great to have it nonetheless.

So my friends, Judeabug is growing up. Not so much that I'll stop calling him Judeabug, though. I plan on doing that...loudly...in front of his friends...maybe with some kissey faces...and definitely in a singsong voice...for a long, long time.

I finally had a chance to pump for each of Jude's feedings, and realized that he's not getting nearly enough. I pumped about a total of 15 ounces a day. While it's hard to gauge how much he's actually getting, I know three things: 1) He is getting more than 15 ounces. The pump is never as effective at removing the milk as the baby. 2) He needs at least 24 ounces a day, and 3)Even with assuming that he gets a generous amount more than the pump gets - he's not getting enough. We've started mixing in 2 oz of formula (I have no frozen breast milk left) with his solid food three times a day, so he's getting an extra 6-7 oz a day. Because I'm a total spaz, I cried - and cried hard - the day that we had to give him formula. I wrestled with all kinds of stupid Mommy guilt thoughts like feeling like I wasn't enough, like no matter how hard I tried I couldn't provide a basic necessity for my son, like I wasn't doing the best thing for him, like I was giving up and quitting on him, and like I was being selfish and having to add another item to our budget in needing to pay for formula. Then I dried my tears, said "Jen, suck it up. Stop this. This is crazy. Seriously. Babies have formula ALL the time and are healthy as can be. For real. You're being ridiculous and overly dramatizing something that is not that big of a deal. So stop letting the breastfeeding nazis of the world dictate your self worth and feed your child what he needs. "

So I stopped my pity party and we're all good. Shawn actually came up with the idea to mix the formula in with his feedings, and I think that really made a difference. I was thinking that I'd have to pump each feeding, see how much I got vs. how much he should be getting, and mix in the difference with formula. I knew that if I needed to pump at each feeding, I'd start giving up and just feeding him a bottle of entirely formula. Silly as it may be, I feel much better knowing that I can still actually breastfeed him. If we see that I'm getting more or less milk when I have the chance to pump, we'll adjust the amount of formula we give him with his solids accordingly. I'm looking into getting a prescription from my OB for something like Reglan to help increase my supply. I've run the gamut of trying Fenugreek, eating oatmeal, pumping more often, increasing my water intake, stopping caffeine, drinking Mother's Milk Tea - and while I do still do all those things, just in case they make a difference - they're not working enough to give Jude what he needs. So I'll try whatever they prescribe me, and if it works - terrific! If not - we'll just keep doing whatever we need to do to fatten him up, and I'll lay my ridiculous breastfeeding pride aside and take care of my son.

Do you like I just casually slipped it in earlier that Jenn took some more pictures of Jude? They're cute. Super duper cute. And they're coming to a blog post near you...soon! :)