Hudson's First Day of Preschool

This morning I woke up extra early to make a very special breakfast for a VERY SPECIAL little boy.  Today was a BIG DAY for Hudson!  It was his very first day of preschool!  We ate breakfast, then I cleaned Hud up really well so we could take first day of school pictures.  Hud was not all that interested in getting his picture taken, but was exited about his "very own" new blue back pack.  :)

The ride to preschool was oddly quiet and Hud didn't make any sounds walking into the building either.  When we got to his class room he stayed by my side and watched all the other boys and girls sitting in their seats playing with play-dough.  Some kids were crying and I think it made Hud a little nervous.  He never once cried, and as soon as I got him to his seat with "his stuff" he quickly forgot I was there.  I kissed him and slipped out of the room while he was grabbing for cookie cutters and other utensils to use on his dough.

When I went to pick him up in the afternoon, he was playing cars with other kids.  He saw me and instead of getting excited and running toward me, he said "NO!!! I don't want to go home!  I'm playing".  Nothing feels better than your child NOT wanting to go home with you.  Seriously though, it is wonderful that he wants to be there with his teacher and friends.  It makes me happy that he is independent and confident enough to be away from me.  Hopefully he will always have a love (or at least like) of school.  That would sure make Jr. High School and High school so much better if he actually wanted to go.

All in all, Hudson had a wonderful day.  He got Chocolate milk and apple slices as a special treat after his fun first day of school.  He still refused a nap, but crashed hard at bedtime.

Total SUCCESS and ZERO TEARS!

Alexis rolled over!

Roll Over, Roll Over!

Alexis rolled over for the very first time this afternoon!!!  She is growing so fast!

the prayer

At prayer time before bed, Hudson said his very own prayer all by himself.  It was so sweet and beautiful.

He thanked God for each of his family members (including Sadie and Milo), health, safety, trains....  It was too cute for words.  Hud prayed for 5 minutes strait as tears were streaming down my cheek in the dark.  Every few minutes he would say "dear Lord" and continue talking to God.  After he said all of the "proper prayer content" Hudson started talking to God about how much he loves his trains and how the train cars connect.....  haha it really was funny.  "Jesus is coming to save us"!  Amen to that.

I love that little boy so much.

Alexis Grace is 5 months old!

At this exact moment 5 months ago, Steve and I were at the hospital anxiously awaiting our precious baby girl.  We knew absolutely nothing about her, other than her approximate weight and that she was perfect.

It's so hard to remember life without her.  And there was life before Alexis.... 28 years of life before she came along.  But, some how all those other years have been blurred and the past five months with both Hudson & Alexis have been the best months of my life.

Alexis is growing and changing every day.  She can now sit up for a few seconds and holds her head up really well.  She can almost roll over, but not quite.  She still doesn't enjoy tummy time.  Not that we have gotten to have tummy time much.... Things are a lot more difficult with two.  Instead of tummy time, we put alexis in her bumbo sitter or her jumper so she can look around and see what's going on.  She LOVES her jumper.  I don't know when we first put Hudson in it, but Alexis has been using it for a month now and thinks its just great.

As of now, Alexis is still sleeping in our room.  Hud slept next to our bed until he was 6 months old, but I think Alexis is ready to make the transition.  It will be so weird not having her right there, hearing her cute sleeping sounds.  I don't know that I'M ready to not have a baby in our room anymore.  It's just another phase we are transitioning out of and I don't know that we will ever be in that phase again...  does that make any sense.

We are pretty sure that TWO is our magic number, so every milestone, while exciting, is a little sad because not only is that child growing up, but we will never agin use the newborn clothes or bassinet.

Anyway, At 5 months old our beautiful baby Alexis:

• has 2 teeth
• wears a size 2 diaper, but we are transitioning to size 3
• wears 6-9 month clothes
• sleeps all night long (8:30pm-6:00am)
• takes one long nap and one short nap each day (usually)
• enjoys playing on her activity mat
• laughs and smiles a lot
• can sit up with some assistance (bumbo or pillows)
• loves bath time
• hates being cold (after a bath)
• rarely cries unless she is hungry or tired
• can intentionally grab things with her hands and pull whatever it is to her mouth
• loves Hudson
• likes to know where everyone is and what's going on
• has started trying to copy sounds and facial expressions
• tried rice cereal, but didn't care for it.  We will try again soon.
• sits at the table with us in her special seat while we eat dinner
• goes to the church nursery every sunday
• loves the staff at the YMCA and they adore her
• thinks Hudson is hilarious (and he is)
• drools a lot
• laughs at mommys singing and enjoys being sung to (wheels on the bus, patty cake...)
• is still nursing really well (no biting yet), but will also take a bottle without problems

Our whole family has fallen in love with the newest addition to our family.  Her Grandpa Frank has even given her the nickname "mini mouse".  I can't say I know why, but it's really cute.  Over the past five months, she as filled everyones hearts with such joy and love.  Each day with Alexis is a happy adventure.  We can't wait to see what she discovers next.  Alexis Grace, we love you more than words will ever be able to describe.  You are the most perfect little girl and we are blessed to be your parents.

Love,
Mommy

I should be cleaning....

There are so many things I NEED to be doing right now, but instead I'm hear writing.

Summer is coming to an end.  School has started back up, and it just made me realize how fast days are coming and going.  Hudson is moments away from turning three and Alexis is almost 5 months old!  Life is just moving too fast and I have to stop to think and write things down or I'm afraid I'll forget how beautiful, ugly, chaotic, fun, crazy, joyful and amazing this time is.

We received Hudson's preschool information in the mail this week.  We have instructions as far as parent orientation, visitation, drop off and pick up, his teacher, and classmates.  I keep telling myself Hudson going to preschool isn't a big deal.  He'll only be 3 years old.  It's just like taking him to the gym with me and putting him in child care....  BUT IT IS A BIG DEAL!  My baby, my little boy, my first born is starting preschool!  He will be off with kids his own age, learning and playing.  I am so excited for his new adventure.  I'm also terrified.  A)  I will miss him like crazy.  B)  Kids can be so mean.  I want to protect him and keep him in a bubble, but I can't.  Him going to preschool means that not nice things will more than likely be said and done to him.  It kills me to know that while he will have a lot of fun ( I hope)  he will also experience some hurt.  I don't like that at all.  I know it's necessary for his social development...blah blah blah, but I'm his mommy and I want to keep from all the bad stuff in this world.  Anyway, Hud couldn't be more excited.  He is ready, and asks to go EVERY SINGLE DAY.  He tells me "I will never leave you mommy" all the time.  I only wish that were true.

Alexis' little teeth FINALLY stopped causing her so much pain and popped through.  She now has two tiny bottom teeth at 4 months old!  Holy Cow!  For an entire week my sweet, easy going, princess was a screaming ball of tears!  It was horrible for both mommy and baby.  She cried and screamed pretty constantly all day and all night.  Sleep didn't keep the pain at bay either.  She would whimper and scream/cry in her sleep.  I felt totally and completely helpless and in new territory.  We used ice in a mesh teether, freezer rings, teething tablets, Tylenol, a cold washcloth....  Nothing seemed to help her.  She didn't want to nurse, and she had really bad tummy issues.  Poor baby.  Thankfully that seemed to only last a week.  Now that her teeth have broken through, she is happy again.  All is right with the world and she is sleeping through the night again.

Alexis is napping in her room right now for the very first time.  We got her a little noisemaker fish tank for her crib to keep her entertained and hopefully help her fall asleep.  It worked like a charm.  Now If I could only figure out a way to keep Hudson from wanting to play with it all the time?!?!?!

I am so thankful to have two healthy and happy (most of the time) kids.  This morning as I sat in bed with Hud while nursing Alexis, I thought "this is probably on of the most ordinary moments, but it is one of the happiest of my life.  I never want to forget it".  It is so easy to take life for granted.  It is all to easy to miss all the beautiful moments, because we are all too often looking at the next BIG thing.  Well, I stopped to take it all in this morning.  It was wonderful.  I smelled and played with Alexis' hair.  It's getting so long.  I tickled her neck and watched her eyes sparkle as she laughed.  I showered Hudson with kisses and hugged him tight as he tried to wiggle away laughing.  I watched him get so exited when he thought he did something so funny.  I saw his eyes focus so intently as he played a game on my phone.  He is so smart.  My heart completely melted when my two babies kissed each other and really interacted.  I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband who works so hard for our family.  I am so thankful that I get to stay home and watch these two amazing babies grow up.  I am so thankful to God for choosing me to care for and love my children.  I am so undeserving of it all.

Rice Cereal...take one

This morning Alexis was really showing interesting in eating like a "big person".  She was watching us all eat breakfast and smacking her gums.  haha  The pediatrician mentioned that this would be a sign that she might be ready to start eating food.  I use the term food lightly because it is tasteless runny rice cereal that looks like dry powder mixed in milk.  Nothing to get overly excited about.

Anyway, We decided to give it a try today.  Alexis laughed and had fun pushing the liquid cereal back out of her mouth every time I gave her the spoon.  She really acted like she was going to eat it though.  Every time I put the spoon up to her mouth she would open wide and then clamp her little gums down around the spoon, but as soon as I took the spoon out... she wad start drooling milk.  haha

We will try again tomorrow....or in a few days.