Brady's Boo Boo

Yesterday I took Brady to the vet for his annual shots. It was so stoked that Jimmy was off so I didn't have to manage both my "babies" at the same time. Brady is NOT a fan of the vet. Well, the shots and blood work, temp in the hinee, and stool sample (yuck) went better than ever before. At the end, we were talking about this little spot on Brady's side that I had just assumed was the equivalent of a dog skin tag. He ended up having to stay at the vet and get put to sleep and have it cut out. It was some kind of growth. When the tech was giving me his post - op instructions later that day, she mentioned that he can't go up and down steps for a week! They must have noticed my panic, because our friend Becky said just to use my common sense and TRY to limit him. I thought from the way Brady acted when I picked him up that he was just fine and I didn't check out his surgical site very closely. When we got going, I noticed there was blood on my shirt where I had carried him out. I looked and OH MY GOSH! He has this 1 1/2 inch long incision with staples and stitches! That may not sound big, but when you're only about 5 inches tall in that spot, it's quite a chunk! Another problem is keeping Brady from licking the area. Anyone who knows Brady knows he is a LICKER! We put these pajamas on him to try to keep it covered up and to distract him. Why does he have pajamas, you ask? That's another story for another day. He is doing well, but is going to have a gnarly scar. I feel so badly about leaving him alone, but i'm hitting the consignment sales today for some bargains. He'll probably welcome the rest!

wordless wednesday

Hudson vs. Brady

I've spent my day refereeing between the dog and the baby. I'm not sure who is currently winning, but I'm losing....my mind.








Exhibit A: With all the toys in this house you'd think Hudson would stay out of the dog bowls! (I'm pretty sure there was no food left in his dish.) He chose to pull Brady's bowls across the floor then puddle around in the water. Also, I have caught him chewing on one of Brady's squeaky toys.

Exhibit B: Hudson's new ball. Last night our neighbor brought by this ball for Hudson to play with. Brady promptly took over and boxed with it around and around the first floor. Today I decided to be firm and take it from Brady, but he's really fast. Look at Hudson's face as Brady swoops in to take his toy. Is this sibling rivalry?

Cabinet fun

I took someone's advice and devoted a cabinet just to things that Hudson can play with. I tried to put things that could make noise near the front thinking that he wouldn't go very far back into the cabinet.

Wrong! Half the fun was pulling everything OUT, which made room for him to get IN.
Hm, what does this do?

When I gave him the plastic spoon and showed him how to beat on the bowls, his fun was complete!

Fun with everyday things

Today, we had the most fun doing the laundry! Hudson chased the baskets across the floor for about 30 minutes!Mom wanted a photo op

He likes to see his reflection in the trash can- Yuck!

Eating my words

I try to be careful not to say "I will never..." but this is one instance where it has come back to bite me: TV. I read up on all the studies before Hudson was born and decided not to introduce TV until he was 2 years old. Hahahahahahaha!

Now that I live in the REAL world, I'm eating those words! It gets absolutely too quiet sitting all day in the house with no background noise. I have learned that Hudson loves music. He is absolutely mesmerized by the Backyardigans theme song and will stop whatever he's doing to watch and laugh. When it's over, he goes back to whatever he was doing before. As a last resort, I'll turn it on just to calm him. I try not to overuse this, as I really don't have anything else in my bag of tricks! My mom reminds me consistently that I once said I would never do this. Oh well, its only one little thing, and if it makes our lives easier....... Too bad I won't be getting mom of the year now!

Going Bananas!

Hudson loves bananas out of a jar, so today at the grocery store I picked up a nice, ripe, fresh banana for him. I like to give him fresh and homemade food, and when I can, I like organic. I mushed it all up and gave it to him
and these are some of the faces I got! He was literally gagging! I even gave him some water from a straw to help it go down, but he never seemed to like the taste or texture. Finally I relented and let him quit choking it down. I think we'll have to stick to the jar stuff.

Pulling Up

So, the newest game at the Amos household is pulling up on anything you can reach. It does not have to support your weight. You just pull REALLY hard and it either falls over and makes you cry or you're standing up and can proceed to move around.

This game works with furniture......

or with toys. Sometimes it even works with legs. It does NOT work with Brady! What will we be into next. He is crawling so fast that we really have to stay on top of things these days!

Super Dad

Today, Jimmy stayed home with Hudson while I went to work. This is a first for us- usually it's the reverse. On one hand, I hoped they had a great day. On the other hand, I selfishly wanted Jimmy to come to an appreciation of how hard it is to be a stay- at- home mom. Well, he managed not only to take care of the baby, but also cleaned the house. When I say cleaned, I mean he did all the remaining laundry, vacuumed, dusted, cleaned the hardwoods, cleaned cobwebs from all those out of the way places, cleaned the kitchen (including refrigerator,) and straightened up everything out of place. I didn't know whether to be tickled or to think he was trying to show me what he expects! I decided just to be grateful to come home to a clean house! On top of all this cleanliness's, he had to deal with diarrhea diapers. I guess we're getting more teeth! I jokingly asked if he wanted to stay home and let me work since he's so good at it! In all seriousness I hereby award him Dad of the Year! You're the best dad ever, Jimmy!

Back from the beach

Phew! We're back from the beach and had an absolutely fabulous time! I know these are way too many pictures to post, but I couldn't weed out any of them. I was so excited to see Hudson's response when he saw the ocean for the first time, but he acted like it was totally no big deal. It was like he'd been sitting in waves his whole life. His first time in the water. Notice I have a death grip on his arm!Mommy and Hudson both nap after a long morning of playing on the beach.

It was a challenge chasing Hudson all over the condo. He learned that he could just fit into this nightstand and tried it out over and over.

Jimmy and Hudson on our balcony. We were on the 11th floor and it made me a nervous wreck. most of the time we kept the door shut and locked. Hudson would crawl to it and get up on his knees and press his face to the glass to look out at the ocean.

Hudson like to eat as much sand and lick as much salt water as he could get away with. That might be why we awoke to a poopie explosion this morning!

We always end up with pictures of just one of us with the baby, but a sweet girl on the beach came up and offered to get some of the three of us.

The Mega Toy

It took me forever to put this dumb- I mean fabulous- toy together, but it was totally worth it. It was easier when Jimmy got home and I didn't have a dog and baby crawling all over me trying to eat the parts. I hit the mother load of toy sales this weekend at K- mart and stocked up for now, birthday, and Christmas. This thingy is supposed to promote motor skills, crawling, etc., but all I can say is that it's a lot of fun. There's just something hilarious about a monkey or hippo noise! We are already missing one of the balls- I suspect Brady as the culprit. The look on Hudson's face says that it was a good investment. He is really following the balls on their course through the tunnels and slides until they come out and he can eat them. I love making this little guy smile!

Time Well Spent

One of the great things about an infant is that they don't know to be ashamed of their parents. (Or in this case, their mommy!) I missed Hudson while I was at work today, and he was is a sweet mood when I picked him up from his Nana's. We had the best ride home. I turned up the radio and we jammed out to Tom Petty's "Free Fallin" at the top of our lungs. OK, I sang and he just laughed. Then came Bon Jovi (my favorite) singing "Living on a Prayer." I love riding around singing and it appears that Hudson does, too. Sometimes it's just those special moments that make a day seem so great. I try so hard to entertain him, but just being myself totally cracks him up. Go figure! Now we're off for dinner with friends- What a great day!

Aquarium

Today Jimmy lowered the rails in Hudson's crib since he has been pulling up so much. We were afraid he would topple right over! I put him in to gauge the height and the first thing he did was crawl over to his aquarium and turn it on. It's this little fish aquarium with water and bubbles and music or nature sounds. He absolutely loves it! He was balanced precariously, and sure enough he planted his face on the rails right after I took this picture. This on top of the bruise on his forehead that I put there trying to get him into our friends' van last night! Oh well, I'm sure it's the first ouchies of many to come. After the initial shock, they don't seem to hurt him. He gets more mad than anything!

Peaceful

After a long morning of playing, Hudson sacks out on Daddy for a nap!

He's A Dandy

Yesterday Hudson and I tooled around town for a few hours and I must say that out of all the compliments he got, this is my favorite. "He's a dandy!" Usually you here this from

older people or people from the country. Once I get over the initial ick factor of total strangers touching his face and hands, I am so proud of all the attention he gets. Everyone thinks that their child is beautiful, but to have it confirmed feels great! He grins and laughs at the old ladies and smiles and flirts with pretty girls. With men, he's pretty much ambivalent, or even uninterested. Another compliment I like to here is "He's a fine boy." This is the outfit he was wearing yesterday in honor of gearing up to go to the beach and he looks SOOOO big! Where did my little fella go?

pajamas

Here's a picture of Hudson in his very first pair of pajamas! Now that we no longer have to swaddle him (Yah!) I thought that a onesie might not be warm enough with the air running at night. These pjs were passed down by my SIL and were worn by both my nephews. Thanks Aunt Kelly! Today I'm going to see if I can find some more since we only have about 3 that fit. Doesn't he look so cute?

Wordless Wednesday

Goodbye Lemmings

All in all this has shaped up to be a rough day. Our sweet friends, the Lemming family are leaving our church and today was their last day. You always know when you have friends in the ministry that they will eventually get called to another place, but it's never fun. John and Missy have been such a big part of Hudson's life. They prayed for us to be able to get pregnant and were so joyful when we did. They were a constant source of encouragement during my pregnancy and were there for us with meals and support after he was born.

The kids are all three just fabulous and make such a big deal over Hudson. If you love my kid, you're pretty much on my good list!

Jada is great with all kids, but makes a huge deal over Hudson and he LOVES her!

Mary Grace tries to be a little mommy to Hudson even though she just turned 4. As soon as I finished taking the picture she said" He's hurting my legs, he's hurting my legs!" She even picked out and bought outfits for he and Reese to wear this summer.Somehow we missed getting a picture of Jake, but we love him too. Jimmy especially will miss having someone to play and talk sports with. We love these guys and wish them the best as they move on!

Death Stinks

Well, my grandad passed away last night. It was a difficult decision for my mom and her brother. At the last minute, my uncle asked for one more EEG, just to make sure. It took a long time with it being a holiday, but I'm glad they did it because it showed without a doubt that there was zero brain activity. Now mom and David can know they made the right decision. Today I went to the funeral home with them to make arrangements which I've never had to do. You would not believe the things they wanted to know for the death certificate. Things like the correct spelling of my great- grandparents names and dates that were totally irrelevant. I told mom that if they can get a death certificate for a John Doe then they can get one for us even without all that useless info! It really stressed her out that she didn't know some of this stuff. For the most part, everyone is doing well, but it will be a rough couple of days. Please keep us in your prayers.

July 4

Jimmy and I talked it over and decided that it would not be disrespectful for us to take Hudson to the parade and to the park. You just can't keep a baby at the hospital all day long. I have been checking in by phone every hour or so, but nothing has changed. Early this morning I took him outside to take a couple of pictures while he was fresh. He looks so cute in his red, white, and blue!

I had to be quick with the flag pictures, because they are definitely not made for a little teether.

Here's my two best fellas chilling out at the parade. I didn't know how Hudson would react to all the loud noises, but he was very laid back. Several times he had an almost bored look on his face! Go figure! He got really excited about one old car in the parade, but it was plain dark green with no bells or whistles. I don't know what attracted him, but he was leaning almost out of his stroller and chattering to it. After the parade, we went by the park. Jimmy had never been to the park on the 4th! We saw tons of people and ate some really greasy food and went home fat and happy.

Hudson was pooped out after all the festivities and took a good nap. Hopefully he'll be rested up for more fun tonight!