Gymboree & Play

Hudson had his first Gymboree class yesterday!  I really think Hudson had fun!  Gymboree s basically a gym for babies and small children.  There are lots of small things for them to climb on and everything is covered in foam so that they can't get hurt.  Now that Hudson can crawl it seemed like a good time for him to give it a try.  We went with Huddy Buddy's friend Wyatt and his mommy!  There were 6 babies there total and all the mommies were so nice.

You would think I would have taken millions of pictures, but I didn't.  I don't know what I was thinking!  Next time I will try to remember.  Anyway, It was a very hands on class taught by Ms. Sarah.  She sang lots of songs and lead many mommy/baby activities.  We focused on movement yesterday.  Hudson crawled through a tunnel, slid down slides, chased beach balls, played airplane, played baby soccer (so funny), popped bubbles, and enjoyed the big parachute.  Overall he really had fun!

The class started at 12:30, so I think it threw us off our "routine" a little.  By the time class was over Hudson was hungry and very sleepy.  As soon as we got home Hudson was out cold and slept for over two hours.  haha  Next week we will try to nap and eat lunch before class that way he is less cranky toward the end. 

I absolutely LOVE being able to do this kind of stuff with Hudson.  It is something that he probably won't remember at all, but I really enjoy getting to do it with him and will always remember.  Seeing him discover new things, learn to interact with other babies, and conquer new obstacles was/is amazing.  After this we may try a swim lesson or some other activity. 

If anyone has any suggestions for fun (inexpensive) things to do with or take babies to, PLEASE let me know!  I would love to get some ideas that are baby and budget friendly that would get Hudson and I out of the house.  We go to the park a lot and walk the mall sometimes, but you can only do that so many times before both Hudson and I are over it.  :) 

It's funny because Hudson is at that age where he wants to play and discover, so I feel like I need to keep him entertained, but  he gets distracted easily and at 9 months there isn't much to do.  Again, any suggestions on games or toys that are good for babies his age would be greatly appreciated! 

Hudson's favorite games/songs/Nursery Rhymes

To be very honest, I don't remember a lot of nursery rhymes and songs from when I was a little girl.  Some of them that I do remember I don't have the words 100% right...So, we have made up some of our own words!  haha  At least we have fun right?!?  Well, here are some of the songs Hudson really likes and that I know at least most of the words.

The Wheels on the Bus

The wheels on the bus go round and round
Round and round, round and round
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All through the town.
(Roll hands over each other)

The wipers on the bus go "Swish, swish, swish,
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish"
The wipers on the bus go "Swish, swish, swish"
All through the town.
(Put arms together in front of you and 'swish' like windshield wipers)
  

The children on the bus go up and down

up and down, up and down

the children on the bus go up and down

All through the town

(Lifting child up in the air every time they go up and down)

The door on the bus goes open and shut
Open and shut, open and shut
The door on the bus goes open and shut
All through the town.
(Cover eyes with hands on 'shut' and uncover them on 'open')

The horn on the bus goes "Beep, beep, beep
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep"
The horn on the bus goes "Beep, beep, beep"
All through the town.
(Pretend to honk horn)

The gas on the bus goes "Glug, glug, glug
Glug, glug, glug, glug, glug, glug"
The gas on the bus goes "Glug, glug, glug"
All through the town.
(Pretend to fill tank using pointer finger as gas nozzle)

The money on the bus goes "Clink, clink, clink,
Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink"
The money on the bus goes "Clink, clink, clink"
All through the town.
(Pretend to put money in cash box on bus)

The baby on the bus says, "Wah, wah, wah!
Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah!"
The baby on the bus says, "Wah, wah, wah!"
All through the town.
(Fisted hands in front of eyes and rub them like baby crying)

The people on the bus say, "Shh, shh, shh,
Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh"
The people on the bus say, "Shh, shh, shh"
All through the town.
(Put pointer finger to mouth to 'shhh')

The mommy on the bus says, "I love you,
I love you, I love you"
The daddy on the bus says, "I love you, too"
All through the town.
(Point to self on 'I',right hand over heart on 'love', and point to other on 'you')

Patty Cake

(AKA Pat A Cake)

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man.

Bake me a cake as fast as you can;

Pat it and prick it and mark it with B,

Put it in the oven for baby and me.

Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man.

Bake me a cake as fast as you can;

Roll it up, roll it up;

And throw it in a pan!

Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man.

 BUT...That's not how we do it!

Patty Cake Patty Cake, Baker's Man

Bake me a cake as fast as you can;

First you've got to ROLL it, KNEED it

And mark it with a B,

Put it in the oven for Hudson and Mommy! 

 The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Itsy Bitsy spider went up the water spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
Now Itsy Bitsy spider went up the spout again!

Old McDonald

 Old MacDonald had a farm,
Ee i ee i oh!
And on that farm he had some chickens,
Ee i ee i oh!
With a cluck-cluck here,
And a cluck-cluck there

Here a cluck, there a cluck,
Everywhere a cluck-cluck
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i oh!

Old MacDonald had a farm,
Ee i ee i oh!
And on that farm he had some dogs,
Ee i ee i oh!
With a woof-woof here,

And a woof-woof-woof there
Here a woof, there a woof,
Everywhere a woof-woof
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i oh!

Old MacDonald had a farm,
Ee i ee i oh!
And on that farm he had some turkeys,
Ee i ee i oh!

With a gobble-gobble gobble-gobble here,
And a gobble-gobble gobble-gobble there
Here a gobble-gobble, there a gobble-gobble,
Everywhere a gobble-gobble-gobble
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i oh!

Old MacDonald had a farm,
Ee i ee i oh!
And on that farm he had some cows,
Ee i ee i oh!
With a moo-moo here,
And a moo-moo there
Here a moo, there a moo,
Everywhere a moo-ooo
Old MacDonald had a farm,
Ee i ee i oh!

 

Hudson Crawled for the FIRST Time!

Today, around 11:00am Hudson crawled for the very first time!  He is 9 months and 4 days old!  We were playing on our living room floor and he wanted something that was just out of reach.  So, he got into crawling position and then lowered himself to his elbows and "crawled" on his elbows and knees to his toy.  I thought to myself "WOW, that's getting so close!".  Then something else caught Hudson's eye and he took off, this time on his hands and knees!  I swear my jaw hit the floor!  I called Steve immediately and sent him video so he could witness Hudson's first crawl too!  Steve has been anxiously waiting for this moment for a long time!  I know he is going to go crazy when he get's home and can see Huddy Buddy crawl in person!  It is now just after noon and Hudson just now went down for a nap.  He has been crawling everywhere!  haha  The pictures that I took of him crawling are a little fuzzy but it's the best I could get.  There are also about 30minutes of video footage of him crawling and if I can figure out how to upload it I will!  I am so happy that he has reached this HUGE milestone, and a little sad at the same time.  I'm happy because Hudson is just adorable and so funny!  He is incredibly smart!  Every "NEW" stage is fun!  I'm sad because Hudson is growing up and changing so fast.  I feel like every time I blink he is doing something new. 

This beautiful poem really hit home.  From now on I'm not going to stress about the unimportant things (not that having a clean house and dishes and laundry is unimportant, it just isn't AS important than being there for my family).  I want to do my best to make sure I don't miss a thing! 

Mother, O' Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek - peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

~ Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Celebrating Hudson's first 4th of July

Tuesday afternoon Steve, Hudson, and I hopped in the car and headed back to my hometown to celebrate the 4th of July.  It has become a tradition to go to a concert at the civic center downtown with friends the night before (the 3rd) then to get together with great family friends on the 4th.  Well, before we left, we had a bit of an accident.

Tuesday, before Steve got home, I was running around packing and trying to get last minute things together.  I put Hudson on our bed and put pillows and some packed bags along the edges.  He as never been able to climb over them before... Can you see where this is going?  Well I was chatting and playing with him one minute and then ran into the bathroom to grab my bag and as soon as my back was turned I heard a yell.  When I turned around to see what was going on I saw his feet go over the edge of the bed.  Then I heard the screaming and crying.  I wanted to die.  I ran to him, picked him up, and checked him from head to toe.  Hudson had a busted lip that was bleeding and a bruise on his cheek.  I started crying and called his doctor.  They reassured me over and over again that he was fine.  Hudson only cried for a minute.  I felt like the worlds worst mother.  I spent almost 2 years protecting this precious little baby.  How could I be so stupid and let him get hurt!  After talking things over with some friends, I was reassured that Hudson will never remember this incident, but it is something I will probably never forget. 

That was by far the most eventful thing that happened over our long Holiday, but I wanted to share it because it was Hudson's first accident.  As a little boy, I'm sure there are bound to be many many more bumps and bruises.  I also wanted to include this in here so that maybe someday when Hudson has his own baby and feels like the worst daddy that ever lived, that this will remind him that we are only human.

There were so many people there to see the concert. 7-3-12

Anyway, we arrived just in time to go to the concert!  The Wright Brothers were (and have been) the main act for the 4th of July celebration and have been for as long as I can remember!  They sing everything from Dixie Chicks to John Lennon. We always have a lot of fun!  We get together with Bob, Carol, Colleen, and my parents.  Hudson was the main attraction though.  :)

Steve and I at the Wright Brother's Concert 7-3-12

The Farmer Family 4th of July picture

Us with my parents

Me giving Hudson a bottle.

Colleen and Hudson

Dad and Steve

My handsome husband, Stevie G

My adorable parents (Grandma and Grandpa Smith)

Colleen and I, Friends for over 20 years!

Hudson with his earplugs in is oblivious to the loud music

On the 4th of July it was over 100 degrees outside, so our festivities were all indoors.  No, we did not try to brave the heat to watch the fireworks this year.  It was just way to hot for a baby and us.  So, we went over to the Erath's house for dinner.  Colleen and Carol are always so creative and have the cutesiest decorations.  This year they used brown paper to cover the table an island then gave everyone crayons to color and draw with.  It was so adorable!  Thy even had daisy centerpieces.  It was beautiful!  The food was delicious!  We had stuffed mushrooms (they were fantastic) pulled pork, homemade sauce, grilled green beans, a wonderful salad,   homemade macaroni and cheese, a veggie tray, and a yummy American Flag cake (that was made by my mommy). After dinner we played a game (we always play games) and watched the fireworks on TV.  It was cool inside, so there were no complains from anyone about the TV fireworks. Hudson passed out around 9:00 and slept until morning.

Carol and Collen the Hostesses

Some of the fruit and the adorable decor.

We each had crayons to color with on the dining room table

Hudson LOVED playing with Bob!

Steve and I on the 4th of July 2012

Father and Son playing on the floor.

On the 5th, mom and I did a lot of running around.  In the morning we met my mom's good friend at the nail place where we all got Manicures and Pedicures.  That is always a treat!  Then we went out to lunch at Steak N'Shake.  I haven't been there in years, and it really hit the spot!  We also took my parents cat Emmer to the vet and then headed to the mall for some light shopping!  Steve watched Hudson while we ran our errands and they really seemed to have fun together.

On the 6th, we mostly just hung out during the day.  That afternoon I met Colleen and we went to see a movie and get a drink.  It was so nice catching up.  I can't remember the last time just the two of us got together...  It is funny thought how we are able to pick right back up where we left off.  When I got home we had dinner and watched The Descendents.

Mom found Jessica's and My old Sit and Spin!  Hudson loved it!  7-6-12

On the 7th my dad and I ran to the farmer's market and picked up some sweetcorn and tomatoes.  There is a family there that has the best corn I have ever eaten.  It is called MY Dad's Sweet Corn.  AMAZING!  So for lunch we had corn and BLT's.  Then we drove home and spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday cleaning and organizing.

It was a wonderful trip home (it always is).  I am so thankful for such awesome family and friends.  Hudson had a great first 4th of July and can't wait until next year when he can hopefully go see the parade and fireworks.

9 Months Old Today

Hudson Michael Farmer on July 7, 2012

Well, it's that time again.  Yes, another month has passed.  My little Huddy Buddy is 9 months old today!  Today has been bitter sweet.  It is your last monthly birthday in the single digits....  For some reason this has really gotten to me.  It isn't that I'm not looking forward to all of your stages. It's just that I love you so much and so hard to imagine being able to love you anymore than I do today.  That might not make any sense to you but maybe when you have kids of your own you will understand the overwhelming love I feel in my heart and desire to make time just stand still (even if only for a moment). 

Hudson you are surprising me every day and changing right before my eyes.  I looked back over your monthly pictures and can't believe how different you look and how much stronger you are!  Where did my little round faced baby with chubby cheeks go?  I will say that I think you are the most adorable baby and that I have never seen a more beautiful baby!  You are such a sweet little boy and being your mommy is such a blessing.

At 9 Months:

• You are eating three meals a day (fruit in the morning, veggies for lunch, and cereal at night).
• You can crawl backwards and scoot into a sitting position but still won't go forward.
• You WILL NOT drink formula or eat anything mixed with it.  
• You are still mostly sleeping in our room in your pack n' play.
• You have been sleeping through the night again for a little over a week now!  
• You can say MAMA
• I really think you understand Yes and No and some other things we say to you.
• You still don't have a single tooth...I was so wrong.
• You love to play games (peek a boo, pat-a-cake...)
• When I read to you, you turn the pages for me and do a really good job (usually).
• You reach for everything
• You can feed yourself your bottle
• You can sit up on your own from the laying down position.  In the mornings or when you wake up from your nap, you don't cry anymore.  You get into a sitting position and play quietly by yourself until someone comes to get you.  It is the sweetest thing ever.  
• You laugh all of the time.
• You LOVE bath time and pool time.
• You roll everywhere!  It's time to baby-proof the house. 
• You like playing with kitchen utensils and Tupperware. 
• You have started pulling yourself up into the standing position on your own using furniture to help you balance.

Hudson was so sleepy after a long day in the car.

On Monday, you have your 9 month checkup.  We will find out your height and weight then.  At my parents house this past weekend we found my old baby book.  You were bigger at 6 months than I was at 9 months!  haha You are just my perfectly healthy loveable baby boy!

*************Updated on 7-9-12************

Hudson is in the 98% for height an the 50-75% for weight.  He is perfectly happy and healthy!  Dr. Mack said Hudson looked great and unless he gets sick we don't need to go back for another 3 months.  That means that he won't have another appointment until he is a year old!  CRAZY!  We absolutely love his doctor and the nurses are so nice! 

***************************************

My favorite picture of Hudson to date!  7-7-12

Hudson, you are the apple of your daddy's and my eye.  We just adore you.  You have brought more joy to our little family than we could have ever imagined.  It is such a pleasure watching you grow from a tiny helpless infant into a courageous and  curious little boy.  It's hard to believe that all of your first holidays are almost over and we can't wait to celebrate many many many more with you.  You are a joy and we love you more than you will ever know or understand.  Happy 9 Month Birthday!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Family, friends, fireworks!

So, it's been a while again...  I know I only have one little guy, but the older he gets the more attention he needs/wants.  This mama isn't complaining though!  8 months is a fun age!  Hudson will actively play with Steve and I interacting with out expressions and reactions.  He is just so adorable!  His latest trick is gargling.  At first it really freaked me out, I thought he was choking... but he just giggled and continued doing it.  Ahhh to be a kid again!  He recently started sitting up on his own from a laying down position.  It is the funniest thing to watch.  He will start out on his back, roll to his front then push himself back with his arms until he is sitting up!  hahahah  I laugh so hard at his heavy breathing while he does this.  He is still not crawling but has mastered the military crawl and can even pull himself into the standing position in his crib... GUESS WHAT WE DID THIS PAST WEEKEND?  That's right!  We lowered his crib (tear)!  It still amazes me how much I love this little guy! 

Once again, I have tonz of pictures that I need to post... Enjoy!  haha

About a week and a half ago we were back at home with my parents.  :)  We were there again because my sweet cousin is getting married and she was having a bridal shower in Northern Indiana on Sunday.  It was a nice visit (as always) full of festivals, fun, swimming, shopping, s'mores, and good food!  Can't wait to go back!

Hudson and Steve at Carmel Farmer's Market 6-23-12

Me and Hudson at Fisher's Freedom Fest 6-23-12

Playing at Grandma & Grandpa's House

I just LOVE my pool!

Hudson getting a mohawk from daddy

He wants in the water so bad

Great Grandma Smith & Hudson at my cousin's bridal shower 6-24-12

Hudson playing with his 2nd cousin Landon and another little girl

Last week Steve had to do some overnight traveling.  I absolutely hate it when he has to go out of town, but Hudson and I made the best of it and even managed to have a lot of FUN!  It was soooo hot! We got his baby pool out and went swimming in our back yard, played at the park, went to the mall, and had a few play dates! 

Hudson LOVES the water!

This is what happens to our house when daddy leaves...

Swinging at the park with mommy!

I hate my hat so I took it off... but I LOVE to swing!

On Saturday (Steve was home by then) we had a cookout at a friends house!  There were lots of kiddos to play with and even some amazing fireworks!  Again, it was crazy hot (I'm talking around 100)... So the babies got to play in a pool!   I love this pool and may need to get one!  The following pictures were not taken by me.  I'm an idiot and couldn't find my phone (it was in my bag) to take pictures.  So these were taken by Wyatt's mommy!  All the baby boys were born within two months of each other!  They are so adorable!  I was worried that Hudson would freak out at the fireworks, but he did great!  In fact, after the first few went off, Hudson fell fast asleep and didn't wake up the rest of the night!  haha  So Steve and I watched the amazing fireworks (better than most towns) while Hudson and I cuddled!  :)  It couldn't have been a more perfect night! 

Wyatt, Ty, and Hudson 6-30-12

They are all looking at the camera! 

My little love bug! 6-30-12