Snow day fun

We finally got a "good" snow here in NC on Thursday...it wasn't all ice! So, we tried to take advantage of the fluffy snow. But it looks like Hudson takes after his momma...he does not love the snow (yet). I'm sure as he gets older he will learn to enjoy it but we spent a total of about an hour outside all day. We tried sledding but Hudson only went once and then asked to "go inside and play legos". But of course I had to take some pictures of his first real snow experience anyways!

He named his snowman Olaf, of course

"Carry me Daddy!"

"Hudson, help me shake the tree." Sounded like a good idea to Hudson until he realized what would happen...

I'm thankful we got one nice winter snow but come on spring!

Toddler-hood

Life with a toddler. Wow. I am fairly confident we have entered the "terrible twos" although Hudson is 2 months shy of his second birthday. Temper tantrums are a daily occurrence, mostly over silly things...like Mommy getting the "wrong" sippy cup out of the cupboard. Or, when I don't give into his constant demand for snacks. Don't get me wrong, I feed my child plenty but he wants to snack ALL DAY LONG. I try to keep healthy snacks on hand but if he has his mind set on something (a cookie perhaps?) nothing else will please him. I try my best to distract him and turn his attention to something else. We aren't spanking at this point and time-out hasn't worked so distraction is my best tactic. All this to say, a lot of days are very challenging. 

BUT, can I tell you the other side of toddler-hood? I love Hudson's growing vocabulary and watching how his little mind works. He copies things we say and the things that come out of his mouth are priceless. "Me oh my Mommy." "Oopsie daisy". He says grace for us every night at the dinner table. "Dear God, thank you for the food, Amen." It's funny because this isn't a prayer that we regularly say, it's normally "God is great...". But, one day, we asked him to say grace and that's what came out of his little precious mouth. My other favorite thing he currently says when I ask him what we should name his baby brother- "B-I-N-G-O...cause Bingo was his name-o". Seriously, this little boy is a trip. He often tells me out of the blue "Love you Mommy" (but more often he expresses his love for our dog) or "pretty Mommy". Be still my heart!

I keep reminding myself that although some days might seem so long, the time that he stays this little is so short! I am trying to treasure every second!

"But I want your phone Mommy!"

I have probably told him 100 times not to stand on the chair ;)

He's currently obsessed with his kitchen set

Third trimester!

Third trimester already??  To be honest, I wouldn't even have realized I was in my third trimester but I downloaded a Baby Tracker app last week (better late than never, right??) and it told me.  We had another ultrasound yesterday and thankfully everything looked great.  The hemorrhage they thought that they saw on my placenta was completely gone. Baby was head down and actually measuring 27 weeks 6 days (technically I was 27 weeks 3 days). I'm not getting my hopes up that he will come early but Hudson always measured behind so it's nice to be "right on track". Baby was estimated at weighing 2 lbs 6 oz (52nd percentile). Hudson was 1 lb 14 oz (35th percentile) at 26 weeks so I would not be surprised if this baby ending up being a bit bigger than his big brother.  In Mommy world, I feel good right now! I still have plenty of energy and am perfectly comfortable. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that in LESS than 3 months (well, if he comes by his due date) we will have another baby boy!

Hudson's big boy room

We started Hudson's new room about a month ago. I really wanted this to be a special room that he would love since he is, after all, getting evicted from his nursery. We had a hard time agreeing on a theme (just like we did with the nursery) so we decided we would just find some bedding we liked and go with it. I actually had a really hard time finding bedding that wasn't super "busy"...I just wanted something simple. I also realized just how expensive bedding is. I was able to find something pretty affordable at Target and thankfully had gift cards so I didn't end up paying a penny (did I mention we were on a major budget for this room?). So, our color scheme became navy and red...and, because of a few things I already had laying around that seemed to match the colors, our theme quickly turned "nautical". So, I decided to run with it. My friend Laura makes awesome pallet art and I commissioned her to make something special for Hudson's room. I am in love with how it turned out. I wanted some red shelves for the walls but wasn't able to find anything affordable or that I really liked so I decided to make them myself. I bought two unfinished shelves and some red paint at Michaels and, for less than $20, I had just what I wanted. I also bought an unfinished stool (Hudson can't actually reach the bed yet without a stool!) for $8 and painted it with the same red paint and some navy blue paint I already had on hand. I'm happy with how the room turned out!  Hudson already loves playing in there and often wants to lay on the bed and read books.  I don't think he's quite ready to sleep in there...we will wait a while for that. But, at least, when he is ready, his room will be waiting!

Thanks Laura!

This lamp has been sitting in a closet since I bought it about 10 years ago...finally glad to put it to good use!

Eventually I'll add some pictures to the frame and books to the bookshelf

This definitely is not perfect but I hd fun making it!

25 weeks

Well, only 15 or so more weeks before we become a family of 4! As excited as I am to meet baby boy, I'm not rushing it by any means. I am trying to cherish every second with Hudson knowing he won't be my baby for much longer! I am so incredibly thankful that I get to be a stay at home mom to him for the time being. We have so many precious moments together that I wouldn't trade for any salary.

I feel pretty good at this point other than some hip/pelvis discomfort. I had this with Hudson too but I don't think it started this early. I feel much bigger at this point too than I felt with Hudson but in comparing pictures, I'm not sure there's much difference. Thankfully I have gotten into a good exercise routine. On warm-ish days I will still do some running (or slow jogging!) although it's getting more difficult due to the hip pain. We "splurged" and bought a (used) elliptical a few weeks ago and it's been nice to be able to exercise during Hudson's nap time. I definitely miss challenging, exhausting workouts (I was doing Insanity until I got pregnant) but I'm thankful I feel well enough and have plenty of energy for my 45 minutes a day on the elliptical. I haven't had many food cravings although there are definitely things that taste really good to me right now. I have been eating yogurt and granola for lunch pretty much everyday and it's funny how much I look forward to it all morning!

We finally picked out a double stroller that we like although it's not a jogging stroller. We just couldn't stomach the price of the jogger that we wanted and decided it wasn't a good use of our money right now. So, we are going to go with a sit and stand stroller that will be very practical for things like the zoo and maybe down the road we will invest in the jogger. People keep asking what we need for baby #2 and honestly the answer is nothing!  There are certainly things that I wouldn't mind having but I'm pretty confident we could have a baby with what we have and be good to go!

We have another ultrasound in a few weeks as I had what they thought was a small tear in my placenta at 19 weeks. So, we look forward to another glimpse of you soon, baby boy!

19 weeks vs 25 weeks

24 weeks with Hudson vs 25 weeks with baby boy #2

One and three-quarters

How is it that in just 3 short months, my baby will turn 2?? I feel like he was just born yesterday and now he's 21 months old with a baby brother on the way. Life has way of sneaking up on us, doesn't it? Well, here's a little about my little man right now.

Measurements: We had to take Hudson to the doctor right before Christmas because of another wheezing episode and he weighed 24 lbs and was 31 inches tall. But, that has been a few weeks so I'm not sure now! He is still wearing mostly 18 month pants but fits into some 2T shirts!

Eats: Oh my goodness, my boy must be going through a growth spurt.  I think he eats more than I do!  And, he's not picky at all so I'm so thankful. He loves eggs, oatmeal, Cheerios, ALL fruit, most vegetables, all types of crackers...and MEAT. This kid LOVES meat. He can't get enough of it!  He is finally completely weaned...yes, I nursed my son until he was 20 months old. I got a lot of strange reactions but it worked for us and it was part of our bedtime routine. But, when we went to my parents house for Christmas he got totally off routine and never really asked for it. When we got home, there were a few nights he still wanted to be nursed but really just gave it up on his own.

Sleeps: Something strange happened to Hudson a few months ago...he started waking up in the middle of the night and needing Mommy to put him back to sleep.  We thought it was teething so for weeks we would be up at least once a night with him. But, I slowly begin to realize that it had just become a habit for him to wake up and we had to re-sleep train him. It only took one night of crying it out for him to go back to sleeping well thankfully! Now, he is in bed between 7 and 7:30 and usually sleeps 12 hours. He naps around noon and will sleep anywhere from 1-2 hrs.

Milestones: Hudson talks NON-STOP. I love his little chatter. He has started playing very creatively...his favorite thing is "going to the grocery store" and "making dinner". He can sing a ton of songs including his ABCs (although he always misses at least a few). He can count to 10 but usually skips "2" and "7" is for some reason always "11". We are working on colors and they are hit or miss...he generally recognizes blue, pink, and purple but the rest get jumbled. I feel like he is learning new things everyday and it's so fun to watch!

Likes: Hudson's new favorite toys are anything he can pull out of my kitchen cabinets. Like I said, he loves to "cook" so he will gather his ingredients and "make me dinner"....it's almost always some kind of "soup" ;)  He loves our dog and the feeling is mutual. She sleeps right outside his door at night and is very protective. Hudson loves animals of all kinds and gets so excited anytime we drive by somewhere with horses. And, like all little boys, he loves tractors!

Dislikes: I am thankful that Hudson has a very happy disposition!  He is generally in a good mood. But, if he sees something he wants (usually food) and is told NO, he can have a major meltdown tantrum. I'm learning to ignore the tantrums and Hudson usually gets over it pretty quickly.  

We love our sweet boy SO SO much!  I am so thankful to be his Mommy.  It's hard to believe that the next time I post, he will be TWO!

Changes

There have been a lot of changes around our household recently but maybe the biggest change came last Monday.  We officially became a family of three again(at least for 4 more months!). The two girls that we had been fostering for the past 6 months went back to biological family. I had a lot of mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, we know that's always the goal with foster care...to reunite children with bio families. So, in that sense, I was happy for the girls. But, another part of me will always worry about them. I am thankful that we had an opportunity to introduce them to Jesus. I was always encouraged at night when they said their prayers. One of the last nights they were here the older girl thanked Jesus for dying on the cross for her. I honestly don't think we will have any further contact with the girls but I pray that God places people in their paths who will continue to point them to Jesus. It was a tough six months for a lot of reasons but I do pray that both girls learned lessons they can carry with them for the rest of their lives!