The World Welcomes...

... Xavier Alan Rudkin!

Congratulations to my cousin Ashley and her husband Garrett on their new baby boy!

This little cutie made his debut on March 7, 2012 at 4:46 pm.  He was 8 lbs 10 oz and 20 inches long.

Lucky for them, Ashley's sister-in-law, Angie, is an extremely talented professional photographer.   Check out some of these beautiful photos that were taken just days later:

 

Since Ashley, the sis, and I have been close since childhood (you may or may not be familiar with the NicKayLeys), I pretty much consider myself his Aunt Monica (as opposed to... First Cousin, Once Removed Monica).  So let the cheek-pinching commence!

A few months ago, Ashley had this brilliant idea (that I am totally stealing one day) to ask friends and family members to paint pictures of animals on canvas for Xavier's jungle-themed room.

Being the superb artists that we are, Patrick and I took this task on with great enthusiasm.  I chose to paint a giraffe, which I later named Bernstein.

Patrick painted a crocodile (alligator?)...

and then an ape (gorilla?).  Overachiever.

There appears to be an obvious gap in talent between us.  I will let you form your own opinion on who the true artist in the family is. :)

~

On another note, our Scenic Route to Chicago, which I am now re-dubbing the Summer of Insanity officially starts in two weeks!  (Well, two for me, three for the husb).  I can't wait!

Here is a tentative list of cities we are hoping to visit:

Annapolis, MD

Incheon City, South Korea

Guiyang, China

Jidao Village, China

Guilin, China

Yangshuo, China

Shanghai, China

Philadelphia, PA

Gettysburg, PA

Baltimore, MD

Columbus, OH
South Bend, IN
Chicago, IL

Kansas City, KS

Wichita, KS

South Sioux City, NE
The Black Hills, SD
Los Angeles, CA
Seoul, South Korea
The Hawking Hills in OH
Instanbul, Turkey...?

What can I say?  We love the Midwest and Asia.

oo,