MAD Face

Yesterday started out GREAT! Hudson was in a good mood and I decided to stay in for the day since it was so yucky outside and have a cozy mommy/ son day. This plan rocked on until about 10:00. Hudson fought his nap for 2 entire hours. I tried everything in my bag of tricks, most of them twice. When he finally went to sleep at 12:15 I had to lay down, too. I was limp like a jellyfish. I have really surprised myself as a mom with how patient I am with Hudson. Yesterday pushed me to the absolute limit. He woke up screaming and kept up his fit throughout the rest of the afternoon. Now, don't think that I don't have sympathy for the little guy: I do. But this was not the typical teething or tummy pain cry. This was an "I'm bored, take me somewhere, let's do something" FIT! Jimmy came home and promptly decided to do some yard work. I felt like that commercial "Don't leave me with the baby!" By dinner time, I was FED UP. Hudson didn't want the particular dish that I served up and started to whine before I even got the spoon into it good. I am the ONLY person that makes him eat things he doesn't want, so it was one more round of me being the bad guy. I decided then and there he WAS going to eat his food. It took 30 minutes, but he ate every bite. I would have thought he just wasn't hungry, but interestingly, he wolfed down the puffs that I put in front of him before turning on his MAD face again. This is not a pitiful cry, folks. This is the face of fury, and I laughed the whole time. The second picture is blurry because he was a moving target, thrashing his head around.
After the HORRIBLE dining experience, I decided we had to get out of the house and took him on a stroller ride. I don't know how long we were gone, but I had a stitch in my side and we talked to everyone in the neighborhood we could find. After that, he was an angel baby the rest of the night. We let him stay up until after 10:00 because he was so much fun to be with. (And we were hoping he'd sleep in today- No dice, still 6am.) Hopefully I've shown him who's boss- yeah right! Here's to a better day today.

Stuck!

Hudson's new thing is trying to fit himself into small spaces. Instead of going the long way around, he will try to squeeze between and object and the wall and worm his way through. The dining room table provides an excellent opportunity for practicing his houdini- ness. Yesterday, he got himself into a position he couldn't get out of.

He's puzzling it out in the picture. I try not to pick him up every time he wants help, thinking it's better to let him problem solve, but this time the was truly STUCK! However he bent to get under the chair, he couldn't unbend to get out. I heard him murmuring about it and went to check out the situation. He worked on it for about 5 minutes, but eventually I had to pull the chair out a little so he could worm free. He's really a neat kid. Hey, and don't judge us because he's crawling around in nothing but a diaper: There's a story behind that, too.

Wordless Wednesday- Chillin

First Steps

Yesterday when I went to pick Hudson up from his Nana's, he took his first step. He has been cruising for a while now and getting increasingly bold. When I came in the room, he was standing propped up against his Nana. He was so excited to see me that he just took off trying to walk. He made it a step and a half before crashing. Pat and I were just stunned! I've tried to get him to do it again with no success. It may be days, or even another month, but I'll soon have a toddler! sniff sniff

Glad to be Home

I am always glad to be home after travelling, but this time was more intense. The whole ride from the airport, I was worried that Hudson wouldn't remember us, or wouldn't be happy to see us. Well, we got there to pick him up and he was asleep. What an anticlimax! When he woke up, I rushed in to pick him up and he was just his normal self. Not excited, not confused, no reaction whatsoever! It was as if we had never been gone. I'm glad he did so well for his Nana and Grandaddy, but a smile would have been welcome! He achieved a lot of milestones while we were gone: He cut a tooth (E,) He mastered the mmmm sound and is saying mamamama, he slept late for them every morning, he got his first boo- boo from trying to walk between props, and he finally figured out how to feed himself those Gerber puffs. It seemed like we had been gone a month instead of just a few days! He even looked different! (Jimmy says he didn't.) I'm relieved that he did so well and that all my preparations for disaster were in vain, but mostly, I'm just glad to be home with him again!

Studs

Here's my two good looking fellas all ready for church. Please especially note that Hudson has on shoes in the first picture, cause they are gone by the second one. It's like wrestling a goldfish to get them on, and then he immediately kicks them off when he crawls. I don't know what we're going to do this winter.

I tried to dress them the same, but Jimmy didn't want to roll up his sleeves and wrinkle his shirt. If it's not one of them giving me sass, it's the other!

Nakedy

Hudson loves to be nakedy as we call it, so it was a big thrill for him to get to stand around and watch the bath fill up with water.

Look at me, wild and free!

Ducks and Fish (AKA Park Day)

Yesterday, Hudson and I met our Friends Amy and Cameron at the park for a little play time. Obviously, this consisted mainly of Hudson watching Cameron (who just turned 3) play. Surprisingly, he finds this very enjoyable. After some play time, we walked over with some stale buns to feed the ducks and fish.Up close and a little too personal with a BIG duck.
Hudson wasn't sure what he thought. Sometimes when he looks bored like this I think he's just processing and maybe a little overwhelmed.

Cameron throwing out some more bread. The fish were huge and prehistoric looking. I especially hated the white ones- Ugh!. They would come out of the water and fight with the ducks. The long whiskers were disgusting looking. We pegged the little turtles as underdogs and tried to give them the most food. They were actually pretty cute.

I was afraid to let Hudson out of his stroller in case we had to make a quick getaway- some of those ducks were pretty aggressive! Also, you can see all the poop laying around everywhere. Salmonella City! We rolled though it and had it all gooped up on his stroller wheels. It got hot, so we went back under the trees and ate some lunch where it was nice and cool. I think Hudson enjoyed his first time at the park, but who can tell?

Mixed Emotions

Next week, Jimmy and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Just saying it makes me feel old. On one hand I'm proud not to have become a "statistic" of divorce, but on the other, I'm kind of sad to be "Old married." I can honestly say that I'm more in love with him now than I was 10 years ago, but it's a different, stronger emotion. The trials of infertility really drew us closer and made us rely on each other and God more than ever. When we became parents, my heart swelled to the bursting point with pride for the dad he is and will be for our son. We are taking the plunge and leaving the baby for the first time to go NYC (my favorite place in the world) for a long weekend. I am slightly nervous, but not panicky. My main concern is that the plane will crash and we'll both die, leaving Hudson an orphan. Crazy, right? I have really thought and prayed about it and realize that to be good parents, we need to keep cultivating our love for one another. We have only been on ONE date since he was born 8 1/2 months ago! NOT GOOD! So, while it will probably be a difficult separation, I'm excited to be spending a little couple time with the man of my dreams! Hudson is very lucky to have a mommy and daddy who love one another. Sadly, one day he will be grown and gone, and we need to not be so consumed with him that we can't properly care for one another.

Waking up Happy

Today Auntie Am came to stay with Hudson while I went to work. What a sweet face when he woke up!
He LOVES Auntie Am!

Sharing toys with Brady.

Vanity

This is one of the things Hudson got up to this morning while we were getting ready for church. Sundays are so hectic around here!

Since Daddy was sick the better part of the week, we enjoyed a relaxing weekend at home. Hudson decided to spice things up by playing peek- a- boo with himself. What can I say, he knows he's cute!

Bathtime Fun!

WARNING: These pictures contain images of an absolutely adorable, naked baby!

We love bath time at our house and have recently upgraded Hudson to the big tub.

He's so slippery that he wipes out when he tries to crawl around and get his bath toys. I really have to watch him!

I have been waiting forever for him to have enough hair to spike up in the tub! We're not there yet, but were getting closer.

He's always absorbed in what he's doing. Life's simple pleasures! It doesn't get any better than this!

Hudson is 8 months old

In all the chaos with the wedding this weekend, I didn't get to take any pictures on Hudson's actual 8 month birthday so yesterday I took him outside for a photo shoot. I think this is the first time I've ever put him in the grass with no blanket and he did NOT like it.
This face says it all. Doesn't he look like a fat, angry little buddha sitting there?

I tried for about 5 minutes to get a good shot, but it wasn't happening. Now I know how to get him to be still! I sat him down in the grass and he just froze!I took him back inside and that's when the action started. In about 2 minutes he hit all his favorite hot spots:

The door stopper...

Pulling up on the door...

The vent....

and playing under the coffee table! It's fun to be Hudson!