befores and afters

how time flies...almost as fast as that cliche came out of my mouth and onto the screen. here are several sets of pictures to prove my point. we didnt really try to take the pictures for comparisons sake, they just kind of happened (except the pregnant ones) but they serve as great illustrations of how far we've come.

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2 little tribesmen

judah and benj looking terrified ..................the bf's at 12 weeks
at almost 6 weeks

jesse and i were both in the wedding of one our BF couples, robert and natalie, last june, and lickety split, they got pregnant last august around the same time we did. in fact, they were due exactly 2 weeks before us. we both found out we were having boys and knew they would be BF's. benjamin william braden was born exactly 47 hours after judah (i was a week early and nat was 9 days overdue) in birmingham, england. we were very excited that they both had names of the 12 tribes of Isreal/sons of Jacob from the bible and we like to joke that we will eventually have all 12 (we call "naphtali!").

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despite starting out at 7 lbs 14 to judahs 7 lbs 5, benjamin wasnt gaining weight as fast as he needed to be. at the time the first pic was taken i think they had just started him on a formula/breastfeeding plan to bulk the little cutie up. the little buddies were about 2 lbs apart...6 weeks and several bottles later benj got huge! we are thrilled that the little guy is gaining weight like he should, but he went rocketing past judah like whoa. these pictures are hilarious to me, because i felt so bad for the little skinny muffin benj in july and then when we hung out again in august it was judah who looked like a little baby-rexic next to mr. healthy chunk. luckily both boys are totally in their correct weight ranges and will surely be BF's when the bradens move back to the US in a few years.

playing catch up

tiff is 38 weeks w/madison here............... maddie at almost 4 months

i am 20 weeks with judah ..........................me @ 38 weeks w/ judah

we are at the exact same olive garden in these pics (which helps partly explain our little chunk babies!). i remember being so jealous of how obviously pregnant tiff was in the first pic and by the time the second one was taken i was so over the novelty of being big and about 20 million times more jealous of her having her adorable baby out of her uterus and in her arms instead. exactly one week after that picture was taken, jesse and i were in the hospital eating club sandwiches and staring at our little 4 hour old miracle. and here they both are recently on a restaurant table being bewildered. our double dates are now triple dates! what was life like before these little babes showed up?

judah at 2.5 months, maddie at 6.5 months (not at olive garden!)

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mirror images

...........judah at 3 days old.................................judah at 2 1/2 months

not much has changed here except size. it looks like daddy absorbed all of judahs tan but really judah just got over his mild jaundice and daddy went to florida. same pose of the classic kissy face, same affinity for green clothing. geez he's gotten bigger. excuse me while i sob for the little tiny guy that he will never be again and fall in love with the new version that i wake up to every day.