The gymnast

I am really glad it is the last official day of National Blog Posting Month....wears me out to remember to post everyday! Besides, I just don't think I have the most happening life on a day to day basis. Too much pressure to live up to!! hehe

Hudson is my little gymnast these days. He is trying to crawl by putting his butt in the air and keeping his legs straight. Not going to happen little dude! I try to explain it to him, I even practiced crawling all over to show him how but he just laughed at me. Oh well, one of these days he will get it figured out. Until then, I deal with a frustrated little boy who wants to get across the room. Things are looking up for him though. Tomorrow he is going to see Santa at the Festival of Trees. Not that he will really enjoy it much. I took him to the coolest toy store today and he really didn't seem to notice too much. Just wait til the day he begs me to take him there!

Army Buzz

Here is a little proof of Hudson's army crawl although he does it much better than this. I think he was just preoccupied by me lining up all his toys so he would try and crawl to them. That obviously did not work! The more I try to work with him on it, the less he tries so I guess I will just let him do his thing! Stubborn little guy...he must get that from his dad!!

I tried his coat on him today and had to show off some cute pics of him in it! Its so big but it really is his size!

I also cut Hudson's hair today because its been hanging over his ears lately and he has "patches" of hair and patches of balder spots. I figured it was time for his 2nd cut since its been awhile since the 1st one! Plus he needs a hairdo to match his crawl...the ol' army cut.

Long day

Today was the longest day in the world! Or at least that is how my body feels! I went VT from about 8:45 til 1:15 and then got stuff ready for YW. Had about a 5 minute breather and Hudson woke up. Luckily, Tiff brought me some new CD's from the library to listen to and entertained me for awhile! Then it was dinner and off to YW. We made Christmas cards for an elderly lady in our ward and went to see her. We sang her Christmas carols and it about broke my heart. She was so lonely, you could see it in her face. She started crying when we left and I was so grateful we went and saw her. It was a great day...just very long!

Hudson is still working on the crawling thing, but we are still more in the army crawl mode than the real thing. Its so fun to watch him struggle with it. Maybe I am a bad mom for saying that but I like to see him work at it. Its fun to see him try to figure out what to do with his arms and legs. He is a cutie...I will try and post some pics of the little man tomorrow!

Might as well be decked out in camo...

Hudson has started doing the army crawl. He has been doing it for a few days now but today he was going like crazy! He has gotten pretty good at army crawlin' it all across the floor. Pull and drag...pull and drag. Its almost like he actually only uses one arm and the other one is almost obsolete! Its kind of funny to watch! He is getting pretty good at getting around though. I think its pretty exciting! I am sort of hoping he will hold off on completely crawling til we fly to Boise so I don't have to deal with him on the plane by myself while he is wanting to crawl around! He is getting to be such a big boy, I can't even believe it!

Just the little things....

I went to run a couple of errands today. I had to drop a few things off at the library. I was so excited (I know lame right?!) that I could use the outside book return to drop off my DVD's and CD's because I verified the last time I was there. I guess I was worried about them getting ruined or something well anyway...it is such a pain to run something in real quick with a baby because it is never really quick. So imagine my frustration when the book return automatic door was not opening. I was sitting in my car thinking did I drive all the way down here for nothing or should I take the time to get Hudson out and run everything inside?? As I am contemplating all of this in my head, a sweet lady comes over to my car and says,"Would you like me to run your stuff in for you? I just tried the drop box and it didn't work for me either. That way you don't have to get your baby out." I was a little caught off guard because people are just usually not that thoughtful to complete strangers. It was just a little thing and she probably didn't think twice about it but honestly, it made my day. Guess I need to remember that its the little things that matter most.

Snow

Yesterday it snowed and the snow actually stuck on the ground for a little bit. I thought maybe the town was going to shut down or something since apparently they do that with even the slightest amount of snow!! hehe (True story by the way, a Topeka native told me that!) We meant to take a picture of Hudson in his cute winter coat in the snow but by the time he woke up from his nap, it was all gone. Oh well...I am not a huge snow fan anyway so I wasn't crying myself to sleep over it or anything!!

Today we watched parts of Elf and The Christmas Story. Man do Christmas movies bring back memories!! I cannot wait to go home and watch some of the ol' classics with my brothers (well and of course, other family members too). Only 10 days til I get to go home...not that I am counting or anything! :)

Hudson and his turkey

For the most part, Hudson did seem to enjoy his baby food turkey and gravy. Even though it was kind of nasty smelling. We made the mistake of keeping him in his exersaucer to feed him though. But that just made it all the more exciting!! I love the pictures of him! Looks like he is enjoying himself though so that is good!

The moment we have been waiting for...

And at long last, here are the Thanksgiving pictures! There is so much we have to be thankful for! Even though we were far from extended family, we still had a great time with our own family and friends! The morning started off a little rough...I took Hudson's temp, uh um, rectally only to have it come out at me...yep, folks he started pooing during the middle of it with NO warning signs! Then Mike forgot to put the cinnamon rolls in but finally remembered and he was so out of it, he started frosting them before they were cooked! hehe What a fun Thanksgiving morning! We put on some Christmas music and jammed out to Bing, Frank and the others while Mike busted a few moves as the QB at the turkey bowl with the other guys from school. He had a blast and I got some things cleaned and the day was saved!

Me trying to work a little magic in the kitchen

The two turkeys looking...hmmm, sort of appetizing, I guess.

The other fillings like stuffing, potatoes and gravy and rolls.

Hudson wanting to get in on the action in the kitchen!

Mike and Hudson helping me out too!

This is our attempt to keep Hudson warm so his cold doesn't get any worse! hehe

The table looking oh so festive!

Good friends and good eats!

We had our good friends Adam, Tiffany and Jordan over for dinner. It was a lot of fun and Tiff makes a mean Pumpkin pie! The whole meal was great and we had a fun time! We packed up the boys and went over to our other friend's for games. Brian and Alysson helped us whip together a boys vs girls battle in Cranium. It was a lot of fun and Hudson fell fast asleep. We were so grateful they let us put him in their little girl's crib! We had a great time and it was a good ending to a great day!

Last night, Hudson was having a hard time getting to sleep and so we ended up giving him more milk. He usually doesn't have bottles so he doesn't get much chance to hold them. But he did an awesome job the other day and he was strutting his stuff again last night. What a good baby! Hope he starts feeling better soon! Colds are so nasty!

Here I go...

My cousin-in-law (or whatever relation she is exactly)...those family relations get all quirky...tagged me so I guess I better list 6 things you may not know about me.

1. I am a list maker. I have lists EVERYWHERE in our house and I like to check things off. So if the item I completed was not on my list I will actually write it on there just to be able to cross it off. Pure dork? Yep, and dang proud of it!

2. Before I met Mike, I was set on going to law school. I was going to be a career woman and live life in lawyer luxury or whatever kind of life they have!! But with a few unforeseen things and Mike coming into the picture, I just changed my mind and decided law school was not my route to go. Mike still tells me I should have been the one to go and that its totally my thing....I think I will just believe him and not worry about testing those waters out! Two lawyers would just be too much in our little clan!

3. I had my belly button pierced. Yup, it was a thing I did when I was in somewhat of a rebellious stage and I guess I thought it was cool too. My mom was not happy but I did it without her knowing and I just said, I could have gotten a tattoo. So I guess she was fine with a piercing.

4. I love to travel. I don't really like flying in a plane because it kind of freaks me out and I think that planes always smell funny but I figure its a very fast means to an end. I love to go places and flying is usually the best way to get there. I want to go to all 50 states and go to Europe again.

5. I have never broken a bone in my body. Guess I am one of those lucky ones...knock on wood! I also never had a cavity until I was like 21. I kept hoping I wouldn't ever get one but I guess eventually it happens for almost everyone.

6. I want to get my master's degree eventually. I would love to be a career counselor that works with college students helping them choose classes or choose majors in a student success department or something. I love making a plan to help people achieve their goals. My dad always tells me I should be a professional organizer and help people do similar things with their companies but for now, I will stick with the idea of working with the college students.


I now tag....Tiffany, Karolyn, Traci and Erica...only if you want to of course!!

Sickening

Hudson and I have been sick today, so I guess no new Thanksgiving pictures yet! We pretty much celebrated Black Friday hanging out in our pj's and napping all day! Hudson took about 4 1/2 hours of naps and I clocked in about 2. I am feeling better but not 100% yet. And I think he is about the same. I did however get caught up on all of my TV shows by watching them online and am officially onto season 4 of the Gilmore Girls. Yay for me! What an accomplishment!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Yay! Thanksgiving was great. We had a ton of food and a lot of fun! But I am exhausted and so I will post more pictures and fun later! Here is a little preview shot:

Stay far away

Just a little warning to everyone. Stay far away from any of the stores! They are PACKED! I forgot corn and turkey bags and ran "real quick" to the store today. Ended up coming back about an hour and a half later. It was really fun though because I wasn't in a big hurry like everyone else so it didn't bother me that it took so long.

It is "flurrying" snow here in Topeka. I don't think I am ready for winter. I hate the cold! And Hudson has a cold. Poor little dude. His voice sounds all scratchy and rough. Plus he keeps sneezing. I feel for him. I hope he gets over it soon!

Less than 24 hours til the Turkey festivities begin....

Sort of "mini" me

I mentioned that I went shopping for Turkey Day but was in such a hurry that I didn't really elaborate. Did I mention I bought two turkeys?? Most people would think no biggie unless they realize that Mike and I are never going to be able to eat two turkeys!! But I got the mini-me version to the turkey! They were so little and cute, and did I mention boneless. Sounds like a nice easy way to our "First Ever Thanksgiving Dinner Alone". I am very excited to see how this all turns out...don't worry, we will have all the other stuff too. Should be a great day!

I also did NOT want Hudson to feel left out so I picked up a few mini things for him too. Its a little turkey and turkey gravy. Thought he might just want to try them out! They are in the tiniest jars...also very cute!

Last night as we were about to put Hudson down, I realized that Hudson's diaper had been forgotten. I did not want him to be in an already soaked diaper all night and make matters worse so we decided to do the quick diaper change. He was so cute right before that we had to get a few shots of him. I just love his hands!

Gobble, Gobble

Hudson was cuddling with his new turkey. Its so soft and festive! Today, Hudson and I had a fun filled laundry day and shopping for Turkey Day. We got 2 little turkeys that are only like 3 lbs each. I am so excited to cook them! It will be fun...hopefully I do it right since I haven't ever done it before!

Today was a very sunny day (78 degrees!) but its supposed to snow on Wednesday...what is up with that??! How can it go from sunny and beautiful to snowy in a matter of a day? Guess its going to be winter before we know it!

KC

We went to Kansas City today after stake conference to have dinner with some old friends of Mike's family. It was nice to meet them and we had a great time. Hudson was dealing a little with stranger anxiety but he did come around rather quickly and had a good time with the girls. We played their Wii which was fun but not terribly addicting for me. Mike really enjoyed the baseball home run derby.

Hudson did pretty good in the car and slept most of the way both there and back...which was really nice! It was a lot of fun but was an extremely long day and not too much chill time which I love but at least Thanksgiving is coming up!

Beautiful!

It is absolutely beautiful outside today! It is THE perfect weather. I love it! Hudson and I went on a walk with Jordan and Tiffany. Hudson seemed to love to get outside and I was grateful for it too! Sometimes I forget to go outside and just enjoy the beautiful scenery and the changing leaves. I am glad we were able to do that today though. Plus it got me off my butt and out doing some exercise!!

Yep, lets face it...there are just some days there is not a whole lot to talk about folks. But I swear I am going to show NaBloPoMo some respect by posting everyday! hehe Besides, I could tell you all about Hudson's ability to spit up lately...pretty much every color in the rainbow. Nah, you don't want to know about all of that! Guess I will just stick to the changing leaves and their colors!

Clapping Video

This video is great! He is clapping and he starts making raspberries with his lips. I love that sound!

Side note: I am officially at war with my blow dryer. It no longer blows on the high setting. For awhile you just had to keep it pushed up manually to make it go but now that doesn't even work! Only the low setting does. Who can get their hair dry with that? The thing that really irks me about it all is that this blow dryer is like 3 or 4 months old. What a piece of junk! Not that I spend a whole lot of time beautifying myself anyway but not having a working blow dryer makes things really not attractive around here!

7 months old!

Hudson is officially 7 months old! He has changed so much even in just the last month. He can clap, give high fives and moves around with much more ease. He has started to be more opinionated with which toys he wants when and whether he likes them or not. He is very smart at figuring out how to move around in tight spots and to get toys that are beyond his reach...and of course he won't crawl to them! He has 2 teeth now and I love the sound of them clank against plastic cups! He loves to have drinks of water out of our glass and seems to really enjoy it. Strange that water is like the only thing with no taste that everyone enjoys! I love how this months' bat photos are much more mobile!! hehe I had to fight him to get him to lay here for this one. You can see in the ones above he was all over that bat, literally!

This is a good photo because if you look at it zoomed in, you can see his teeth!!

Sweatshirt Reception

I registered mike for his 2nd semester today. Wow! That flew by! I can't believe the 2nd semester is already coming...ok, its still 2 months til it starts but to register for it and worry about books is just crazy. It seems like we just got going on the 1st! Its pretty exciting though.

Hudson and I had a pretty enjoyable day nothing really noteworthy just good! Mike had a "sweatshirt reception" tonight. I thought that sounded somewhat lame. You get dressed up and eat fancy things like hors d'oeuvres just to get a sweatshirt. Does anyone else see anything weird about this?? I think I am jealous though because I still don't own one Washburn paraphernalia. I must remedy that sitch! Well gotta go get ready for Grey's tonight! Yay, Thursday is my favorite day of the week!

Hysterical!!

Hudson had Mike and I laughing HYSTERICALLY! I jumped up and gave Mike a high five and Hudson thought it was so funny. He was laughing harder than I have ever heard him laugh before. It was so great! Mike and I were rolling. My stomach seriously hurt....I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time! I kept jumping up and high fiving Mike, and Hudson just kept laughing and laughing. So I grabbed the camera and while he is laughing pretty hard...not quite as hard as it was before! I just love his sweet laugh!

Tooth #2

Just wanted to update that the lower left tooth has made its appearance!! Yay! Maybe he won't be so cranky now!

Just Teething!

Tooth #2 is on its way. I can't tell if its cut through all the way yet because they are so small and close together. Plus Hudson barely lets me get my finger in there to check it out! He was a bit whiny last night but still slept really good. He is such a trooper!

This morning he scooted all the way from our front room to our kitchen! I couldn't believe it. I think most of it was done backwards though so no big leaps in the forward crawling mode yet. Not too much else happening today but last night I was telling Mike something and he said "just teething!" Hehe We thought it was funny! (Maybe its just parent humor that you only enjoy if your child is actually teething at the time! Or maybe we are just weird!!)

Tooth #1

Hudson's tooth broke through finally! Yay! Its the bottom right one. It was so exciting to feel for it this morning and actually find it there.

This picture is of Hudson's fat tummy. His jeans usually make his belly go over sitting up but not laying down. I thought this was funny because his tummy is totally bulging out the sides! What a cute baby belly!

Real quick...

Hudson is getting better at clapping and has even started to initiate it on his own. Its so cute! I will try and get a video of it soon to post. I am sure you will all be waiting close by the computer in anticipation!! hehe

It looks like one of his bottom teeth is either cutting in or about to...he really won't hold still to let you look and it must hurt because he freaks out if you try!

Other than that, life is good, especially right now because I am eating a rice crispy treat....mmmm! I love these things and I haven't had one in forever!

Trucks

Hudson loves this truck of Jordan's. It is soft on top but still has harder wheels so it can actually move. He loves to chew on the end of this diving stick and then bang it against the truck. Its pretty funny to watch. I guess he might have to have Santa bring him some trucks for Christmas! Anything that is that soft plastic he loves to chew on and squeak against his gums!

We had some friends over for games and ice cream last night which was a blast! I love playing games and am a very silent competitor. I like to silently try to stomp everyone...hehe and I guess I did that last night too! Some games I am just not good at...like I rarely beat Mike at Boggle or Skipbo but I still love it. I actually just love to play, I don't have to win but when I was little I would cheat whenever I was losing just so I would end up winning. (Guess I was kind of a poor sport!)

Twinners!

Mike and Hudson have the same hats! Mike's brother's family gave Hudson a twin Michigan hat. It is so cute to see Mike and Hudson matching! I thought we needed to capture the moment so I snapped a few shots. The third picture is probably my favorite! I think Hudson just looks super cute next to his dad!

Hudson is doing so good scooting backwards. He can get up on his hands and knees but doesn't usually go anywhere. I think he really wants to though! I am sure he will be soon enough. He has cut himself down to 2 naps a day which was quite the change for me but his naps are actually longer so that is nice. I can actually get a few things done during them. Otherwise, you should see my pile of laundry that builds and builds....and builds!

I am teaching Hudson to high five! It is so cute. He loves it! He will giggle and smile but I still am not sure if he realizes what we are doing. But he loves it anyway so I keep trying to show him how to do it! Its so fun to see him learn things as I teach him. Its amazing how quickly they pick up on things too!

My secret and getting stuck

Secret obsession: Lately I have been obsessed with watching Gilmore Girls online. I know, not the best acting, but its entertaining and its fun to watch something while Hudson is asleep and I just need to veg!

The weather is really nice outside today so I think Hudson and I will go on a walk today...probably time to get out of the house!

YW last night was fun. We made pumpkin pies and wrote questions from the conference talks for our big conference faceoff.

Hudson got stuck trying to go backwards...poor guy! Good thing he has diaper for padding! hehe

Bored!

Hudson and I are just laying around today. Not too much going on worth noting! I have a feeling its going to be a LONG afternoon if Hudson doesn't take a good nap! I took a few pictures of him today just because I was bored. Thought you might want to see what the little dude is up to today:

Hilarious things and another PAT visit

Hudson looks like he totally knows what he is doing with this cup so I had to take a few pictures of him. He did have a few drinks of water out of it and did a great job but he isn't the old pro at it like he would have you believe in these pics!

He was being hilarious yesterday though. He kept laughing at everything...even my feet as you can see in this video!

My PAT lady came today. I just love her! She is so helpful and gives me so many ideas and handouts that have such great information. She gave me a huge handout today on sleeping and it summarizes all the main baby sleep theorists' books out there. They have all of them on hand if I want to read one of them which is great. I am excited to learn more about their points of view and maybe get a few tips of my own to use. Hudson is doing great with sleeping but seems to want to cut out his last nap lately which makes for a very long afternoon of about 5 hours til bedtime...after only having a 1/2 hr to hour nap...that just doesn't seem to cut it for a 6 month old. But no matter what I do, I can't get him to take a 3rd nap! Its frustrating! Maybe her info will help though!

We made these paper plate puppets today. Hudson absolutely loved them! He chose the alligator and bee from a whole bunch of plates. Hudson just giggled and laughed at them and the noises we had them make! Then the sock is filled with all sorts of crumbled noisy papers...Hudson just loved it. He kept chewing on it and banging it against things. The last thing in the picture is a peekaboo game! It just has a picture of a baby but I think it would be fun to do pictures of him or another family member on there. He really enjoyed it. The blue is a really soft felt that he loved touching. I need to remember to play peekaboo and pat a cake with him more. I sometimes forget about those but she also gave me a list of a bunch of other games too! I am excited to try them out. Hudson finally was used to her enough and was giggling hysterically. She loved his little laugh and was saying how contagious it is. I love it too! He is doing great developmentally and she commented on what a good sitter he is, just with a lot of body control and being able to keep himself balanced. I had been noticing that a lot lately too. Halfway through, he did barf all over the peek a boo game...thought that was kind of funny, kind of embarrassing but she didn't even seem to notice much. Such a fun time!

After nap hair!

Hudson's hair is crazy after his naps. It sticks up and its everywhere! I love it! I thought I would take a picture of it...these don't really do it justice since his hair is pretty light in color, its hard to see all the parts that are sticking up. But I thought these were funny too because he was eating carrots and peaches mixed and they are all over his face!! I must add that peaches are probably the worst smelling baby food to me...and I even like peaches! They are so nasty! I cannot stand the smell of them! Hudson is in such a good mood today! Its so fun when he just laughs at everything in sight! It makes me feel like I must be hilarious!! hehe What a sweet baby!

Time change

It is so hard to get used to the time change...I think its great to get an extra hour of sleep and all but with a baby sort of on a schedule, it makes life a little rough. Hudson was extremely tired last night so he fell asleep about 6:20, which with the time change was really 5:20 and then to try and get him on his regular "schedule" we tried to let him (aka get him) to sleep in later so he would be back on "normal" time. WAHH! Its all so confusing when I try and explain it! Anyway, our mantra is: things are good, we will adjust! Hehe

Just wanted to show that we are NOT all about football and baseball. We like other sports like basketball and soccer too! This is the first time Hudson has worn this outfit and I thought it was pretty cute! Mike and I want to start him in soccer when he is little because we think its fun to watch the little ones not know what to do...they just run up and down the field and go the wrong way! Its so cute!! (Plus it teaches team sports and all that other stuff too!)

Trying it out

Hudson is trying out being on his hands and knees. No movement yet but he really likes it when you help him rock back and forth! He gets a big grin and laughs!

He has figured out how to scoot himself backwards over the last week or so but no major movement forward. He can turn himself around in a circle but I am not sure this is entirely intentional. Its fun to watch him as he tries to figure this whole moving thing out. Still could be awhile before he actually "crawls" but its fun to watch him experiment with it all!

NaBloPoMo

November is national blog posting month (hence the acronym NaBloPoMo). Hmmm, what is this supposed to mean exactly? I guess that we should try and blog everyday! Not sure I will make that happen but I will try! Hudson and I are doing laundry and playing with the bowl of toys today. So exciting huh?!

Maybe we will do something fun tonight when Mike gets home! We got luggage the other night for our trip back to Boise. We are so excited to go home for the holidays!! We can't wait to see everyone!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a really fun! We had a TON of trick or treaters...more than we have ever had before. So we were excited about that. Mike really loves to give out candy so that was cool. We also gave Hudson his pumpkin to play with and I think that poor thing got clobbered!!

This ear tastes pretty good!

Mmmm, his nose his yummy too!

Poor pumpkin...he has been Hudsonized!!

Had to get one of Hudson and all the pumpkins! (This was of course, after I repaired Hudson's little pumpkin...Mike and I think it looks like Dobby from Harry Potter!)

We had Tiff, Adam and Jordan over for dinner. We watched So I Married an Axe Murderer...love that show! So we got a few pics of us and the boys in their cute costumes!