Hudson's Blessing

I have a lot to be thankful for in my life right now. At the top of my list are my two beautiful children, and of course, my wonderful husband.

On Sunday, we blessed Hudson. We were originally going to bless him in Omaha over Christmas, however, due to the bad weather and some other conflicts, we decided to wait and bless him here in Bloomington. John gave Hudsdon a very sweet blessing, which Hudson peacefully and (more importantly) quietly slept through.

The man of the hour:

We were joking beforehand that we needed to hurry up and bless Hudson or else they were going to need a chair for him to sit on. He is only 3 months old, but has been wearing 3-6 and 6 month clothes for about a month, and is now starting to fit in 9 month clothes!!

We were lucky enough to have both sets of parents come to town for the blessing. We are so grateful that they made the effort to come support us. Thank you for making the weekend so special!


John also invited some of his MBA classmates (in addition to the 10 that are in our Ward). They were all so sweet to come, and even gave us a beautiful picture frame engraved with Hudson's name and the date of the blessing. I'm so glad that John has made such great friends at school.

Makenna took this picture of Hudson and me. Not too bad...huh? Maybe I have a future photographer on my hands. (Although I did delete the other 15 pictures she took.)

The story of my (MARRIED) life

should be WHERE ARE WE GOING TO LIVE NEXT??

John and I have been married 5 1/2 years, and have lived in 4 different states. This has been quite the change for me considering the fact that I lived in the same house from the time I was 6 weeks old till I left for college.

John had internship interviews last week, and I am anxiously waiting to find out where we will be living this summer (and potentially after school).

Where did she go?

(WARNING: Sentimental Mommy Post)

Yesterday when Makenna woke up from her nap, she brought me her sippy cup, and asked me to feed her. Confused I said, "You want me to feed you?" "Yes momma, feed me." I was still confused, but Makenna repeated her request, and then climbed into my lap, and laid down. Finally I got it, and held her sippy cup for her (like a bottle) and fed her. I couldn't believe how big she felt cradled in my arms. What happened to my baby??

I remember getting emotional several times while rocking and giving Makenna a bottle when she was a little over a year old, just thinking and knowing that it was going to go too quickly, and she was going to get too big too fast. I was right. I cherished that time together before she went to bed, when I could just hold and snuggle with her. I would sing to her, and remember her taking her bottle out to ask for more songs. She was such a sweet baby.


Makenna is still a sweet little girl, she's just not my baby anymore. I think I'm going to be one of "those" parents who cry at every big milestone. I really do just wish she would stay little for awhile longer. I know what you're thinking; "She's only 2...calm down," and you're probably right, but I can't help it.

While we were in Omaha for Christmas, my dad compared Makenna's personality to that of a dog. I know that probably sounds weird, but in a lot of ways it is true. Makenna is VERY social, and loves to be where the action is. (Is my child the only one who BEGS to go to nursery?) She is sometimes shy when she meets new people, but warms up within a few minutes. She is full of energy, and doesn't often sit still for long. She loves all kinds of physical activity: running, jumping, spinning, dancing, anything.

Makenna is also a very polite child (most of the time). She is good with her pleases and thank yous, but my favorite things to hear her say are, "Blesses Baby Hudson" whenever she hear him sneeze, or "Excuse you (insert name)" whenever she hears someone burp.

Lately Makenna has been saying some funny things too. Yesterday after finding an open can of pop in the fridge, and helping herself, she said, "MMMMM pop juice! Yummy in my Tummy!"

On Sunday she climbed onto the couch with me and John, and pointed to my cheek, and said, "Look Momma, chocolate on your face!" Confused, I asked John if there was chocolate on my face, and he said that Makenna was pointing to one of my freckles.

I pretty much just love my little girl, and want her to stay little forever...is that too much to ask?

Two Months

Hudson is 2 months old today, and although I don't have any stats to report yet (his Dr.'s visit is later this month) I thought I would note a few things for the record about this little guy, and try to post some pictures of him smiling; which he has been doing since he was about a month old, but which has been almost impossible to get on camera because he usually just stares at the camera like this:

I did however get a few shots of him smiling.

Hudson has been such a GOOD baby. While we were in Omaha, I started calling him my "Angel Baby" because he really is such an angel. He is usually only fussy when he is either tired or hungry, and other than that, he seems to have such a calm, sweet disposition. Makenna has a LOT of energy, so it is nice that Hudson is so calm, he even tolerates Makenna's constant love and attention (which isn't always the most gentle) incredibly well.

Hudson has also been a great sleeper in most ways. He has been great in that he can put himself to sleep (with the aid of his binki) and doesn't need me to hold or rock him to sleep. I do sometimes just because I want to, but I often will just lay him down when he starts acting tired, and he will go to sleep on his own. He also has done really well with his days and nights. He has never been wide awake for any extended amount of time during the middle of the night, but instead just wakes up to eat, and then goes right back to sleep.

This brings me to the one area of sleep that we are still working on...the waking up to eat part. For the most part, Hudson still wakes up every 3 hours to eat at night. He will sometimes give me a 4 hour stretch, and a few times has done a 5 or 6 hour stretch, but usually he is up every 3 hours. I know he is little still, so I am not expecting him to sleep 12 hours every night, but it would be nice to have a 5 or 6 hour stretch on a more regular basis.

My friend just loaned me the miracle blanket tonight, which she said helped her baby sleep longer at night, and although I felt like I was putting him in a straight jacket, I used it when I put him to bed tonight, so we'll see how that goes.

I was a little worried about Hudson being born during the middle of John's first semester of school, but since he has been such a great baby, it really hasn't been too bad, and I am so happy to have this little guy in our family!

Christmas in Omaha

This year we spent Christmas in Omaha with my side of the family. We had a great time, and are so glad that we were able to make the trip. Our visit was filled with family, food, shopping, wrapping presents, movies, opening presents, parties, lots and lots of snow, more food, a little basketball, crafts, game nights, and 3 new babies. I didn't do a very good job taking pictures (I guess I was too busy having fun), but here are just a few.

My parents have tall ceilings in their house, which made for a very large beautiful tree.

(Notice Kate going after the presents. Makenna and Kate had a lot of fun moving the presents all over the house.)

We got a HUGE snow storm on Christmas Eve, had some "fun" adventures with cars being stuck in snow drifts, and were completely snowed in on Christmas day. Here is a picture of the frozen lake and big drifts out my parents back windows.

Christmas morning was pretty low key with just our little family at my parent's house. My sister and her family flew in after Chrismas. So Makena was really the only one to open up her Santa presents on Christmas morning. We did our big Christmas party with everyone in the family a few days later.

Makenna and Grandpa playing with her fishing puzzle.
Hudson and Grandma on Christmas morning.

My sister's family flew into town on Saturday night after having their Friday flights cancelled due to the weather. Makenna was pretty excited to wake up Sunday morning to find Kate there.

My parents had 3 new grandbabies added to the family this fall. My sister had a baby girl at the end of September, my sister-in-law had a baby boy in the middle of October, and I had Hudson at the beginning of November. Hudson (on the left) is the youngest, but also the biggest!!

Here is our 4 generation family photo, with my Grandma and Grandpa Bailey, Dad, siblings, and babies.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

The Kitchen

Christmas came early for Makenna in the form of a very large box that arrived on our doorstep this week from Grandma Cece and Grand-Da. The box arrived while Makenna was napping, so I brought it in and covered it with a blanket. Once awake, Makenna quickly discovered what was under the blanket, and was SO, SO excited. We decided to go ahead and set it up for her, and I am so glad that we did...it has already provided HOURS of entertainment.

These pictures were taken the morning after her kitchen arrived. All she wanted to do when she woke up was play with her kitchen...hence the pajamas and bed head.
She loves pretending to cook up all kinds of yummy meals for Mommy, Daddy, and baby Hudson.

And what did we have for breakfast that first morning? Ice Cream of course.

Thanks Grandma CeCe and Grand-Da...your present has been a HUGE hit!

Chunky Monkey

Well...I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Hudson is already turning into quite the chunk.

At just 3 days, Hudson was back to his birth weight (8 lb. 10 oz.), and at his two week appointment (which was actually when he was 16 days old) he weighed in at 10 lb. 5 oz. He is basically gaining 2 ounces a day instead of the standard ounce a day.

I've affectionately nicknamed Hudson my

Chunky Monkey.

(My sister sent me this cute little outfit, which is quite appropriate.)

As I received many questions and comments regarding Makenna's physique, I'll go ahead and set a few things straight.

Here is a reminder of just how chunky Makenna was:

No, I do not feed my babies steak and potatoes.

Yes, I produce normal breast milk. Although I admit that it could potentially be cream instead of milk as I have never tried it and therefore can't be certain. I do eat a lot of ice cream...so maybe :)

Yes, Hudson is currently on the chart...although if he follows in Makenna's footsteps, he will likely be in the 99th percentile (in other words off the chart) by 2 months.

And finally, No, my babies never fit in the recommended size clothing for their age. Hudson was out of his newborn clothes within a week, and is already starting to outgrow some of his 0-3 month clothes.

What can I say?? Apparently I have big, chunky babies, and I LOVE it!!