Mother's Day 2015

Mother's Day 2015 was so special for a number of reasons. First of all, it was my first Mother's Day as a mom of two!! I am so thankful that Weston decided to make an appearance a week before his May 10th due date. Also, I was able to spend Mother's Day with my own mother- something that hasn't happened in a very long time!  Maybe most importantly, we were able to dedicate Weston to The Lord at church. It was so special to be able to do this with my parents here since they weren't able to be at Hudson's dedication.

It really was a great day all around!

So thankful to be their Mommy!

And so thankful she is my mom!

This kid. I cant even...

Mother's Day pictures taken at church

Lazy 5 Ranch

My parents came and stayed with us for a couple weeks after Weston was born to help us get settled. We decided totake  advantage of the extra hands and spend one morning at Lazy 5 Ranch. I'm so glad we did! I can't believe I have lived here for 9 years and have never been there before. Hudson loved it but so did all of us adults! Weston was indifferent ;) Here are some pictures from our morning on the ranch!

Weston's birth story

I want to write this all down while its fresh in my mind. I apologize in advance if its long and detailed but I don't want to forget my second little miracles arrival!

I had my 38 week appointment on Wednesday April 29 and was just one cm dilated and 40% effaced. I was still feeling great and told the doctor I fully expected to be back next week for my 39 week appointment. He laughed and just told me to at least pack my bag and be ready. 

On Thursday we took Hudson to the zoo. Chris had a free day in terms of work and the weather was perfect. We knew it would be our last chance to go as a family of 3. We walked about 5 miles and, although I felt good still, I did have increasing Braxton Hicks-nothing uncomfortable, just knew they were there.

I worked on Friday from 7-5. I had some uncomfortable contractions throughout the day and started showing some other "signs" that labor might be starting soon. I just prayed I would make it through the work day! When I left and got home things settled down a bit so I just attributed the contractions to a busy day and not drinking enough water. False alarm I thought. But the contractions came back that night, not painful but just annoyingly uncomfortable that I didn't get hardly any sleep.

On Saturday the contractions turned a bit more painful but I was only having them every 15-30 minutes. We tried to run some errands but I was just too uncomfortable so we came home. We started to get the feeling that maybe this baby was coming sooner rather than later. We actually had a babysitter lined up for that night so we could go on one last date but I texted her and told her not to worry about it. The contractions stayed far apart all day so while I was pretty uncomfortable, I was beginning to think again maybe this was false labor.

We put Hudson to bed and I was going to try to go to bed myself since I hadn't slept much the night before. I laid down at about 9pm but with every contraction I had to get out of bed because standing was much more comfortable than lying down. We started timing contractions around midnight and they were anywhere from 8-15 minutes apart, closer together if I was standing and farther apart if I let myself lay down. I tried to stand as much as possible but needed relief occasionally. At about 1am I went downstairs so Chris could try to get some sleep. By 3am the contractions were consistently 7-8 minutes apart no matter what position I was in but they were so painful when they came that I couldn't stand up through them anymore. I woke Chris up and told him that I needed to at least go and get checked because the pain was getting more than I wanted to handle by myself at home. He called his mom to come stay with Hudson and we were on the way to the hospital by 3:45am. At that point the contractions were about 5 minutes apart. We parked in the deck and walked in. By the time we got to a triage room it was a little after 4am. The nurse checked me and, to my surprise, I was already dilated to a 7. Looking back, I was probably in active labor a lot of the day on Saturday but just didn't realize. They immediately got me set up in a room and asked if I wanted an epidural. I thought for about .2 seconds trying to go without one but then a contraction would come and all I could think about was how sweet that relief would feel! The anesthesiologist came in about 5am and by about 5:30 I was pain free and able to get some sleep. 

About an hour later Chris asked the nurse if I would be checked anytime soon and she said "well, honestly I haven't seen your doctor here yet this morning". But at 7am he came in and apologized because he had been taking a quick nap in the on call room. He checked me and I was dilated to 8 cm. He decided to break my water and unfortunately there was a trace of meconium. I could tell he wanted to get the baby out sooner rather than later so he immediately checked me again and said I was fully dilated and we should start pushing. So at 7:13am I started pushing and pushed through 2 contractions. Baby was almost out so the doctor just had me keep pushing even without a contraction and at 7:16 Weston Prescott Wrights was born! He came out screaming, Chris cut the umbilical cord, and was immediately taken over to the NICU nurses who had been called to the room. They checked him over for about 30 seconds before saying he was just fine. Weston weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz. He was given back to me for an hour of skin to skin where he immediately latched and I was able to nurse.

We went home Monday afternoon and started our life as a family of 4! We know the transition may be difficult but we are excited for the journey ahead! I feel so blessed to have two healthy sons and pray they grow up to be the best of friends!

He's here!

Weston Prescott made his grand entrance into this world on Sunday morning, May 3rd, at 7:16am. He weighed 7 lbs 4 oz and was 20.25 inches long. We are so in love and happy to be a family of 4!

Glimpses of TWO

Just a few pictures of our TWO year old (it still sounds funny to say that!)...

He already loves to take a selfie ;)

Storytime shakers!

Soaking up our last moments as a family of three

His very first nap in his big boy bed! I may or may no have cried...

A donut after his very traumatic two year well check

The only picture I took on his actual birthday! (both Chris and I had a stomach bug...yuck)

We had a small get-together for his birthday and he requested a "zoo" cake

I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Hudson A to Z: 2 years old edition!

It's hard to believe my sweet boy is 2 and there's so much I don't want to forget about this stage. So, this is a long post mainly so I can look back and remember all the little details!  If you don't stick with reading it I won't be surprised or offended whatesoever ;)

Age: Well 2, of course!
Books: Hudson LOVES books. He even has a few memorized and it's so fun to have him "help" me read them! Some of his favorites are his books about Thomas the Train and Elmo, Goodnight Moon,The Little School Bus, all Dr Seuss books, and Berenstain Bears. But, his very favorites are any type of Bible story book (Jonah and the whale being his favorite story)!
Colors:  He can identify most all colors- blue, green, yellow, red, pink, purple, gray, black, white, brown.
Dislikes: Like most toddlers, he doesn't like being told "no", especially when it comes to food!  If he's really having fun playing, he hates to have to be redirected to something else. Often I feel like diaper changes and putting his clothes on is a wrestling match, he just doesn't like it! Oh, and broccoli, he doesn't like broccoli.
Eats: Everything and anything...except broccoli. Seriously, there is very little that Hudson won't eat. For breakfast he generally eats either oatmeal with fruit or scrambled eggs. Turkey and cheese or chicken nuggets are his lunch favorites. He never cater to him for dinner so he eats whatever we eat. He loves carrot sticks, raisins, pretzels with peanut butter, or fruit for snacks. And, oh my, does my little man love dessert!
Fears: Just recently Hudson has started showing a little bit of fear towards things. He didn't like getting too close to the Chick-fil-a cow or Lennie the Lifeguard (a giant frog that showed up at storytime). He's also not a fan of being too close to his Daddy's weedeater or leaf blower...I think it's the loud noise.Yesterday, a man was running a chain saw right outside Hudson's window and he refused to nap because it was scaring him. As soon as the chain saw stopped (an hour and a half later) he fell fast asleep.
Going to: Preschool in the fall! We decided to do preschool for a lot of reasons. He is very attached to Mommy and the socialization will certainly be good for him. Since I have started working PRN, it will give me a chance to work on a semi-regular basis. On the days I don't work, I'll get to spend quality time at home just with baby brother while Hudson is in school. So, I think those 3 mornings a week will be very good for both of us.
Height: 34" as of 4/23/15. This puts him in the 47th percentile which I am thrilled about!  He had been holding steady down near 10% so this is good news :)
Interests: Like all little boys, he loves tractors, dump trucks, fire trucks, etc. But he also love animals, especially ones you find at the zoo. He doesn't watch a ton of TV but does like Curious George, Daniel Tiger, and Jay Jay the Jet Plane. I try not to make it a habit to use screen time as a "babysitter" but he has been coming to all of my doctor's appointments with me so I need it to occupy him for a few minutes.
Junk food: Like all kids, Hudson loves it. I really try not to give him too much but I have a hard time telling him no if I'm eating it. And, if I do say no, it causes a major meltdown! I would say that about 90% of his tantrums are food related...he wants something and I won't let him have it.
Kid friends: I am so thankful that Hudson has lots of friends to play with and I have lots of Mommy friends to spend time with. Hudson has lots of play dates with his friend Noah. He loves the times he gets to play with his buddy Gray and often asks about his cousins Blakely and Logan.
Left or right handed: Right now he predominantly uses his left hand. But, we will see if that sticks!
Milestones: Hudson consistently counts to 10 and actually counts items now. He can spell his name (although he only actually recognizes the H in his name). And he no longer cries when we drop him off at the church nursery...I consider this a major milestone!
Nicknames: We feel pretty strongly about no actual nicknames (since we named him Hudson, we would like him called Hudson!). But, of course we call him all sorts of things- little man, pumpkin, babycakes, booger...all that good stuff :)
Overall disposition: Hudson has such a sweet and funny personality. I find myself laughing at things he says/does all the time. It takes him a while to come out of his shell around new people but once he's comfortable, he wants to be your best friend! I am so thankful that he's such a happy toddler. He does throw his share of tantrums although we generally just ignore them and they are very short-lived.
Potty training: Not yet. We have a potty and he loves to sit on it but he has actually only peed a few times on it. I'm going to wait until he's good and ready to even start.
Quirks: Hudson is funny about his clothes. He's very particular about what he wears and doesn't like things to be "wrong" with his clothes like if one pant leg is slightly pulled up, his shirt sleeves are too long, or the seams on his socks aren't in just the right place.
Repeats:  Everything. We have to be very careful what we say around Hudson because he's a little sponge. The other day I called him "Mr Particular" (see the "quirks" section) and he walked around for a good hour after sing-songing "I'm Mr Particular". 
Sleep habits: Hudson has never been the greatest sleeper. He still wakes sometimes at night and there's no getting him back to sleep in his crib so once in a while he sleeps right in between Mommy and Daddy. But, 9 out of 10 nights he sleeps 7:30pm-6:30 or 7am. Thankfully he's a great napper. He takes one afternoon nap, usually around noon that lasts anywhere between 1-2.5 hours. He started napping in his big boy bed on April 19th, just a few days after he turned 2. I was afraid it might be a struggle to get him to stay in bed but he did great!  Although, I cried because he looked so little in that big bed (ok, it's a twin so it's not that big...but he's growing up too fast!). I guess after a few days of successful naps we may try him overnight in it.
Talks: NON-STOP. Hudson wasn't necessarily an early talker but once he started he didn't stop. It amazes me the things he says, he sounds just like a little man sometimes.  I get a lot of comments like "he talks so much!" or "he's so smart!" and while I'm grateful for the comments, I really do think it all comes from his love of books and not so much anything I have done!
Understands: Pretty much everything we say to him. He's very good at following directions and likes to "help" Mommy when I ask. I think he's going to be helpful when baby brother is born!
Vacations: Hudson has proved to be a champion traveler. He has been to Boston several times by car and many more times by plane without any trouble. He took his first beach trip last August and I cannot wait to get back this summer/fall.
Weight: 25 lb 7.5 oz at his well check on 4/23/15. This puts him in the 19th percentile.
X-rays: (Obviously I struggled with an "x" category!). Actually yes, he had to have a chest x-ray right around his first birthday during our trip to Brenners when we thought he might have pneumonia. But, we found out that he actually has asthma (but his pediatrician thinks he will grow out of it).
Zoo animals: Ok, I got a little desperate for the letter "z" too but it seems fitting as Hudson does absolutely love the zoo. His favorites are the zebras, giraffes, and baboons (which make him giggle because of their red bottoms)!

Full term!

Oh my goodness, how do we already have a full term baby?!? At 37 weeks I feel great! No real complaints other than having to pee every ten minutes and Braxton Hicks constantly. My hip and pelvic pain has subsided for the most part which I'm thankful for because it has allowed me to keep exercising as normal. I do occasionally have trouble sleeping and look forward to sleeping fully on my stomach again soon! As of my last appointment, I have gained as much weight as I did total with Hudson so hopefully I won't gain too much more!  But, I do have a strong feeling this little guy is going to be a bigger baby than his big brother.  I guess we will see in a few weeks!

I packed little man's hospital bag this weekend and have at least started thinking about mine! With Hudson, I didn't pack a thing until I was actually in labor but I know second labors tend to move quicker so I may not have quite as much time. At a recent doctor's appointment, the nurse said she fully expects this baby to just "fall out" of me.  Haha, I have my doubts about that but I sure hope this labor is at least shorter than the last one! I am going to try and install the carseat in the next couple of days and then I think we will be ready!  But, take your time sweet boy...you can cook in there as long as you need ;)