Happy Birthday Jude Robert, My Baby Boy

One year ago today you made me a mommy...

my world to never be the same.

You are every bit of everything we dreamed of...

and more.  

You are strong and courageous.

Full of personality.

Loving, sweet, caring.

We are madly in love with you

and I have a feeling you're madly

in love with us too.

Tonight my sweet boy

I just wanted to hold you a little longer

and thank my sweet Jesus

again for you.

You are our miracle baby

and a blessing from our Jesus.

I have recounted all of our steps

of this day last year

(and March 4th with our water breaking, etc.)

and just remember the excitement

and how much we were eagerly awaiting you....

were you to be a boy or a girl?

The most precious moment was hearing

your Daddy say....

"It's a boy!!!"

A son.

A man of God.

That is who you are.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy...

Here are just a few pictures of

your birthday weekend!

Your 12 month post

and all your birthday party pictures 

are coming soon.

We love you!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

Cake Smashing!

Trip to the Georgia Aquarium

McLendon Family
March 5, 2012

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7. {a giveaway}

**As of 2/29 Giveaway is still OPEN (due to this being a super crazy week....my baby is turning ONE...all that to say, there is still time to enter....go for it!  Info on the bottom!**

Seven.  It's such a fun number isn't it?  I'm a fan!  So take the number seven.....then add the words, "an experimental mutiny against excess."  Yikes!  Part of me wants to run the other direction, the other part of me needs this so desperately.

Let me introduce you to my new friend.  Jen Hatmaker.  I was at the beach celebrating a friends wedding by staying at a beach house with another couple.  We had a great weekend and my friend Katie introduced me to Jen Hatmaker.  I borrowed Katie's copy of "Out of the Spin Cycle" to read in the swing out back our beach house and it spoke so deeply to my new mama heart that I ordered it as fast as I could upon returning home.   I also started following Jen on twitter and immediately became a big fan.

A little while later Jen twittered asking if any of her twitter friends would like to read a copy of her new book, "Seven, an experimental mutiny against excess."  Thankfully my sane side responded with yes, please!

I can not even begin to tell you how good this book is.  Maybe it's the season of life I am in.  Maybe it's I'm tired of the just "too much."  Maybe it's the fact that this is the message that we all need to hear.  I'm going to go with option E and say it's for me and for you.  May our hearts be open to receive this word from Him.

7.  What is this 7 all about.  It is about 7 things.  Things such as....Food. Clothes.  Spending.  Media.  Possessions.  Waste.  Stress.  It's about taking a different thing each month, evaluating it, and letting the Lord stir in your heart what He wants to say to you regarding each area.

I read this book front to cover, but it is definitely a book I now want to go back and actually do.  As in read a chapter a month and actually do it.

So how do we remove the excess in our lives?  We take food for example and we eat 7 foods for one month.  That's right 7.  And only 7.  Do you know how many different kinds of foods we eat each day.  I just put dinner in the oven and the recipe says "mix first 6 ingredients together"  and that was just the beginning! There were 3 more ingredients to go.  If I were doing 7 right now, dinner alone would fail me.

And Food is just the beginning.  Clothes.  Wear 7 clothes for a month.  Spending.  Only spend money at 7 different locations for the month.  So on and so forth until we've let the Lord Jesus work his way through these areas in our life.

7 is good.  7 is for me.  7 is for you.  I highly recommend it.

In the words of Jen in regards to fasting, "It's the means to the harvest.  Jesus, may there be less of me and my junk, and more of you and your kingdom.  Here we go."

You ready to jump in?  Jen and her people have graciously given me a copy of this amazing book to give away.

Want to win?  It's easy!  Just leave a comment telling me which area you especially want Jesus to come and do a work in.  For me, it's the spending.  We have a pretty tight reign on our finances and walk the Dave Ramsey way, but I know there is more we could do.  I want to invite the Lord to come and do His thing and have complete and absolute control of our finances.  And waste....yes, I'd love to become "greener" and plant a garden...that's a dream of mine.  Okay...it might be harder than I thought to tell me just one, but go ahead and try!

Want more ways to win?

Mention this giveaway on twitter mentioning Jen Hatmaker (@JenHatmaker) and myself (@kamclendon)
Follow this blog through google friend connect

Mention this giveaway on facebook 

(if you do any of the things above, be sure to come back and leave a separate comment

telling me what you did!)

This giveaway is open for the weekend....

and I'll pick the winner on Monday!

Ready, set, let's go and let Jesus come and do what He wants to do!

Jude Robert, You are Eleven Months Old

You are one month

away from turning ONE!

You are every bit of precious

and I love every ounce

of your 11 month old being!

This month you added the word...

DADA

to your vocabulary!

We are so proud of you

and love that you now say

Mama and Dada

(amongst lots of other jabberings!)

You are crawling full speed ahead....

you are so fast and

into everything!

You pull up on everything

and "walk" around the living

room holding onto the furniture!

You gained about a pound this month 

rounding at at about 19 pounds....

and you've grown an inch and a half...

putting you at 30 inches tall!

It's time to install that big boy car seat!!!!

You're our little eater...

eating everything and anything

that we give you.

There isn't anything you don't like.

Your a tall, skinny little man.

For anything that has legs...

you're wearing 12 month clothing.

You can still fit in some 9 month shirts,

but we've mainly moved onto the 12 month category.

Our washing machine broke over

the course of this month, so you were in

disposable diapers more than we would have liked!

While you were in the disposables,

you were in a size 3.

Still trying to figure out the night time

sleeping/diaper arrangement.

Think we're just going to have to give in

to disposables at night (boo!)

You held onto 5 teeth during your 11th month...

tooth number 6 looks to be making an appearance soon!

You completely dropped your morning nap

during your 11th month.

It's been quite interesting getting on a new schedule...

but we are persevering!

We had a very healthy 11th month!

Whoohoo!

It was much needed!

During this month you nursed 2-3 times a day

and we supplemented the rest with a bottle

(some breast milk, some formula).

You eat a huge breakfast and a huge dinner.

Lunch can be tricky bc you

can become toast before we can get you home

(since you've dropped that morning nap!)

but we do our best to get it in you!

And of course there are lots of snacks throughout the day!

You are full of energy....

full of life...

and so much fun!

You still love your Murphy....

and you sleep with 3 lovies and 1 elmo.

You have to have them all 

and it is precious to

see you love your little people.

And these cheeks.

I could just eat them up.

Thank you for a beautiful 11 months.

It's been a beautiful ride and I'm 

excited for all that the Lord has

for this little McLendon family...

party of three!

InstaFRIDAY

Has it already been a week since I posted last?

I have full intentions of making 2012

a year of taking the blog to the next level!

But I've been lingering in this cold month of January.

I've been trying to be intentional with my son.

When he's awake. 

I'm paying attention to him.

Youth Ministry is in full swing.

And did I mention I started P90X?

For real this time.
{I'm on week #2!)

And that's an hour of my day.

And I have a dear friend

holding me accountable

(or I would have quit by now!)

So all that to say..

I do have big plans

big dreams

for this little space

and my little shop.

It's slowly coming, 

but will come I promise!

Meanwhile...

here are my men...

contemplating life.

And the basset hound became a horse.  No biggie.  

She was thrilled...can't you tell?

A little bit of lingering.  A hot cup of tea in one of my favorite mugs.

Youth Ministry.  I'm in my 9th year (can you believe that) and I am still in love with what the Lord lets me do.  This...this right here...seeing our young men surround and pray for one of our Associate Pastors. Yes, this is beautiful.

And then we had boot camp led by Pastor Terry.  

Quite possibly my favorite youth group I've ever been too.

And this man.  His smile melts my heart.

The lingering time....I've been finishing this book. And. I. Love. It.  

Still working on a post to share with you.....and give you a chance to win your own copy!!!

Our dear friends adopted a precious baby girl.  Jude was finally healthy this week and able to meet Ava.  Love it. {she's beautiful! and a miracle!}

Jude became too cool for school this week.  He found his beach toys in his closet and pulled them all out {including the sunglasses!}  Looks like baby is yearning for the beach just as much as his mama is!

Mail. I have a slight addiction to it.  I love to check the mail every day.  And yesterday?  It did not disappoint.  Southern Living.  Check in the mail. Package.  Delightful!  And the package?  My new kindle snuggie I ordered from Rags to Stitches!  Go check her out and tell her hello!

My favorite accessory these days?  This little man.  He's pulling up on everything...and that includes me.  You can usually find him going 90 to nothing....or attached to my legs.  I am not complaining!

My little man loves to drink from our cups and drink from a straw.  He's talented I tell ya.

That's our week in a nut shell. How was yours?
Linking up!

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InstaFRIDAY & an Update!

I'm still here, I promise!

I've been enjoying a little down time

with my family!

I'm linking up for InstaFriday!

A fun way to share our mobile pictures from the week

(do you have the app?  If so, follow me there:  kamclendon)

I also thought it'd be a fun way to

catch you up on our little family!

Christmas was spent

in Richmond Hill/Savannah 

with my family and went by

way too fast!

Baby's first Christmas was everything I'd dreamed it would be!

Lots of snuggles with Nana and Grand Dad.  

Lots of playing with cousin Aniston.

Lots & lots of new toys!

Road trip for the day down to St. Simons Island with Nana and baby Jude!

The ocean air is good for the heart!

Caught up with old friends and 

had coffee dates into the wee hours of the night!

Highlights and a hair cut!  

Flying (appropriately) with Grand Dad!

Christmas break can be exhausting!

Visit with Granny!

Four generations strong!

Back in Marietta to bring in the new year.  

The hubs was playing football, so Jude and I took a stroll in the park!

We quietly welcomed in 2012....

then on January 2nd I headed to the Georgia Dome 

for the Passion Conference with my High School Seniors!

45,000 18-25 year olds.....incredible.

{Not to mention I got to see some of my favorite people...

Heidi Ho & the Sheehan Family!}

And did you know that there are currently 27 million people enslaved in the world?

That's more than ever before.  This generation took a stand and raised over 3 million dollars during the conference to go towards stopping modern day slavery.

{take a moment and read!}

Here's my baby.  He turned 10 months old while I was at the conference.  G-Nan spent the week with him and they got lots of snuggles!  I drove back and forth each day and got about 15 minutes each morning with my little man (not to mention about 3 hours of sleep each night).  I was grateful I was still the first face he saw in the morning...even if it was just for a moment!

We got new couches for Christmas!  

Here they are on delivery day (and not a happy baby!)

We LOVE them!

Hubs bought me a Kindle for Christmas.  I've spent every little extra moment I could find reading!  I'm currently reading "7" by Jen Hatmaker.  More on this over the weekend (and a giveaway, so stay tuned!)

Baby got sick (AGAIN) while I was at the conference.  Thankfully he's better---but now the hubs is sick!  Can. not. win.

Here's our pretty living room.  We completely moved things around and I love it!  We took out the coffee table and there's LOTS of play room for Master Jude!

So there's our update via Instagrams!I hope to have the shop back up in the next week.Lots of new things coming and I'm excited!
Do you have big plans for the weekend?We're excited to have absolutely nothing planned.We've had snow flurries already this morning,so we are staying in and staying warm!
Happy Friday Friends!

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Jude Robert, You Are Ten Months Old!

Ten Months old already and we're already

discussing your first birthday!

How in the world did that happen 

my little man???

So much happened during your tenth month!

For starters you 

had your very first Christmas!

So much fun!

You LOVED opening

presents!

Another big milestone for the month

YOU STARTED CRAWLING!!!

The week before Christmas you officially

went from Army Crawl Master

to Speedy Gonzalez on all fours!

It made Christmas even more fun!

We finally had your 9 month well visit when you

turned 10 months old!

You weigh 18 pounds, 11 ounces

(only in the 10th percentile)

And you are 28.5 inches tall

(40th percentile)

(only 1.5 inches away from having to get a new car seat!!!!)

You are super active now,

so we're blaming your low weight on that...

because you sure do love to eat!

You'll eat just about everything we give you.

I'd say you do have favorites though

and that's sweet potatoes and 

a banana/pear/apple mixture I make for you!

We continue to introduce you to new things

like zucchini, lentils, and wheat just to name a few!

We've figured out that if we mix

your chicken in with your applesauce, 

you will eat it!

You can still fit in some of your 9 month clothes,

but for the most part we've 

moved into 12 month clothing.

When in disposables,

you wear a size 3 diaper.

You're still holding on strong with 5 teeth.

No new ones for month number 10!

You started to sway a little from your

normal schedule.

Your morning nap is not always a guarantee.

Mama's not ready for you to give that up completely!

You still take a solid afternoon nap

and sleep 12 hours at night.

You love to pull up on everything. 

One of your favorite things to do is crawl over to your walker

stand up, then push your walker around

the kitchen.  It is the cutest thing!

We're debating about what your first word is..

as you started saying something to the resemblance of

HEY early on...

but officially on December 10th you said...

MAMA!

(and continue to say it over and over....melt.my.heart.)

Also on this same day you started shaking your head

back and forth.

Not sure what that means that both of these

came on the same day!

You LOVE to read!

We read your favorite book,

Daddy Hugs 123

each night while you are in the bath tub.

You got sick again during this month. BLEH.

Mommy was driving back and forth each

day going to the Passion Conference.

GNan and Daddy took good care of you

while you were sick.

The doctor said it was some type of viral infection

that your body was fighting off.

You had puss on your tonsils,

but thankfully tonsillitis was ruled out!

You are still a breastfed baby!

(One year is our goal!)

You nurse 4 times a day

and eat 3 solid food meals a day.

We had a few milk flow issues, 

where you had to be supplemented a little bit

while we worked on things.

Thankfully with help from the doctor

and the lactation specialists we are back on track!

Even had enough milk back in the freezer 

for Mama to go to the Passion Conference!

You are a joy in our life.

We thank Jesus everyday for you

and can hardly believe you are already 10 months old!

Thank you for being the sweet, cuddly,

calm natured baby that you are!