Hudson's first trip!

Well we made it! With lots of baby stuff in tow, but we did it! Last week Eric was out of town on business & my brother, Gavin, had been begging me to bring Hudson to see him before I went back to work... So, this was the perfect opportunity since we would have been home without Daddy! Off to Dallas we went!

Loaded Down! Two strollers, pack n plays, etc!

I asked my friend Lindsey if she & her little one wanted to join us & off we went! Lindsey's best friend lives in Dallas so she stayed with her while we stayed with Gavin.
The boys did so great traveling! Even with a stop in Tyler to feed the boys, we made it to downtown Dallas in 4 hours. Pretty good with two babies under the age of 1!!
That night we all went to dinner at a mexican joint in Las Colinas. Who later came in & sat RIGHT beside us? Troy Aikman! Yep, we enjoyed that! :-)

Gavin definitely had Hudson's attention!

Afterwards, Lindsey & I headed to a huge consignment sale in Plano. April was so sweet & helped us get in on the pre-sale night!! We were so excited & extremely grateful to April! I had not seen her in so long and even though it was only for a few minutes, it was great!
Both Lindsey & I ended up with some items that we knew would not have been there the next day had we waited & gone then... Extra car seat & base, another extra base, books, toys, highchair, etc..
The next day Gavin, Hudson & I did a little shopping.. Hudson was the PERFECT shopper. This age is pretty easy for that- he sleeps all the time in the car seat! I know this will get harder! :-)
That night, we were pretty worn out so we ordered in pizza & rented movies on the tv.. Fun, relaxing night! Hudson & I really enjoyed being with Uncle Gavin!! Thanks for entertaining us & chauvering us around the metroplex!

I'd say he had a pretty fun trip, huh?

First time in pack n play!

New pictures &........ a small amount of progress on the yard.

We had a fun day at home yesterday... All three of us. It was a nice start to the week!
Hudson is awake a little more each day... And such a sweetheart. I love that he is focusing on things (me) now! Fun! And it is good to see him responding. Everyday I am surprised by something!
Yesterday he was laying on his Little Einstein mat & he kept tapping the same hanging toy... I was in the kitchen & heard it, so I peeped around the corner only to see him grab the toy he had been tapping! That is progress & good hand/eye coordination! Yea!! :-)
We can tell he is sleeping longer at night.. Still 1 feeding during the night, but it is getting later, so hopefully we are on the right track to a full night!
Here are some pictures I took yesterday.. We had fun playing!


Those of you who read my "Patience" blog the other day...... We waited ALL day for the dirt man to show up... At 5:30 the phone rang. Eric answered & the man said- "Well, I'm not a liar yet. There is still daylight & it is still Monday." His son arrived & dropped off this huge piece of equipment... He then came back with the dump truck & unloaded two loads of dirt & hauled off the MESS that they had left months ago.. Their equipment broke on our lot when they were clearing it & left this huge pile in our back yard... So anyway.. They did arrive about 6- dumped the dirt & removed the trash pile... Now we are waiting on him to come back & smooth everything out.... He said he would be here FIRST thing today.... It is now 9:20 & he's not here yet... If I didn't know this man normally started his day at 6am, I wouldn't be worried....

Hudson's first trip to church!

Hudson & I joined Eric at church today! It was another fun "first" outing! We kept him with us as I am not quite ready to put him in the nursery... I want to stay away from those possible germs for a few more weeks...
He did really well during Sunday School! He showed off for everybody for a few minutes & was awake & alert looking around... He soon after crashed & slept for the rest of class without a peep. We moved on to "big church" & he did great for a while.. I was concerned that the music might wake him up- our praise & worship gets pretty loud sometimes!! But he slept soundly through the music. About half way through Chris' sermon, he started squirming & making "sigh" sounds... I was worried he was about to really crank up so I went ahead & stepped out with him just in case. He needed a dry diaper so I guess that is what the squirming was about!
After church today we had a church wide hamburger picnic! (inside the gym) We headed over there & ate.. We put him back in the carrier & Eric had him pretty much underneath the table... Worked well & nobody got too close! :-) I wish I had a picture as it was pretty funny!

Patience...

I have run out of patience.... With my yard that is.. We have been waiting on the dirt man for 8 weeks now.... RIDICULOUS!! We can't do anything until he comes & smooths the yard... Once that is done & the top soil is spread, we can put in the sprinkler system & get grass!
I can't wait. It looks awful right now.. More than awful! Embarrasing! Seriously I feel so bad for my neighbors having to look at this everyday!
Well, for about the 400th time he has told us he will be at our house on Monday... We'll see!!!!

Show us your life- wedding receptions & honeymoons..

Well I've been following Kelly's friday specials (From Kelly's Korner blog)for several months & kept meaning to participate, but something about being pregnant & then having a newborn stopped me! Well, this morning I've already gotten my walk in & Hudson is down for a nap... So here I am!

I don't have a ton of pictures of the wedding on my computer because they were not shot with a digital camera... Kelly Moore from Kelly Moore Photography shot our wedding & she is fantastic.. I believe she is now using digital images. Anyway.. The few pics I have are ones that I scanned in..
I've always loved this picture above.. This one is on the way to the reception..

And since I don't have any reception pics, I'm going to share this one of us at the alter during the ceremony... I think it is so cool how the cross is reflecting down behind us... You must know, our wedding took place on the day of Hurricane Rita! September 24, 2005... It was STORMING outside like crazy.. Our wedding was at 10:30am & it was dark & windy!! So where this reflection came from..... Well, I do know! :-) Eric's brother in law performed the ceremony & I can remember him saying- "Although the sun is not shining outside, the SON is shining inside!" I love that & will never forget it!

And for the honeymoon!! It was fabulous! We went to Cabo San Lucas & it was beautiful! We had a great time with lots of relaxing at the pool!! I love looking at these pics! And as Kelly stated on hers, it becomes very obvious how thin & tan I was at this point in life!!

This is at our resort! Esperanza! And let me tell you this place was to die for!!! We were given the wonderful gift of a week there from my best friends parents! This place is the kind of place we were LUCKY to go to.... I mean celebrities go there- that kind of nice! :-) Here is a picture of some of the grounds.. Lush!




And this is the view from our room/balcony! These are not hotel rooms, they are villas... We had a two bedroom two bath will full living area, full kitchen & 2 balconies. Wonderful I tell you!


And this is the pool where we spent most of our days! Infinity edge, looks like it is spilling into the ocean!

We went kayaking in the ocean & that was really fun! Although I'm not sure I'd recomend it for a honeymoon of two highly competitive people like we are!!
;-)
And this was dinner outside at the resort one night...
Oh how I'd love to go back to Cabo! :-)

Kazaammm.... Baby weight be gone! :-)

Wouldn't that be nice? I sure would love it.. But.... we all know that is not the case... Time for me to get moving!! Lindsey & I started walking this morning with Drake & Hudson in tow... Eric & I have taken Hudson out in his stroller around the block but more for a leisurely stroll than for an exercise goal! But today I did it. And I must say having a partner does help! Typically after Hudson's early morning bottle at 6:30, I go back to sleep when he does for a couple of hours... Not today! I knew Lindsey & Drake would be waiting on me at 8am in my driveway. So no back to sleep today.. It is sad how out of shape I've become over the past 11 months! I didn't do any type of exercising while pregnant... Heck, I've got to get in better shape before I can even think about stepping back onto the tennis court! I sure do miss playing.. Hopefully I'll be ready to play in the next couple of months.

So we walked 2.5 miles this morning & it felt good! I feel good after the fact knowing that I sweated & actually did something... Pushing the stroller definitely adds another dimension to walking for me!

On to the eating part.... The part I really hate.. I like good food... Our entertainment is good food... So I must get back on the bandwagon of eating healthy, or at least better than I am currently eating.. I did not overeat while pregnant, but I did eat whatever I want. I would say that is one of the hardest things post pregnancy... Waking up & realizing you are not pregnant anymore & it is not okay to eat anything you want!!!

Anybody have any good tips for losing the baby weight? Send them my way...

Life as parents is good!!!

Where do I start?!?! We are really enjoying our little man! He is so sweet! He is such a good baby & truly a joy to have around our house!! Life as a family of 3 is great! :-)

Hudson was one month old on Thursday. He has grown so much & I am dying to know how much he weighs right now! I think around 10 lbs.. We did measure him & he has grown 2 1/2 inches!!! He measured 23 1/2 in. & he was 21 at birth!

I read the book Babywise when he was about 2 weeks old.. I re-read the chapter on getting them on a schedule again this week & have been trying to implement the scheduling... As many people told me ahead of time, Babywise can be extreme & most people use bits of it, rather than their entire method. I must say I am loving the scheduling! We really turned a corner with our nighttime sleep this week & it has been great!! I put him down about 10:30 or 11 & he is sleeping about 4 hours.. Eric gets up with him around 2-3am & then I get up with him around 6:30-7am. Eric is having to travel some for work so this makes it much easier on 'ole Mom when she's got it by herself! The best part about the past week has been the change in putting him down. Until this week, he could not go to sleep on his own, so we would spend a LONG time rocking & holding him until we "thought" he was asleep & then gently laying him down in hopes that he didn't wake up. All you parents know exactly what I am talking about... Well, let me say this makes for a very tired mommy & daddy. The 30 minute feeding turns into an hour, an hour & 1/2 & so on... Well this week, after implementing the schedule (or maybe just a coincidence), our method goes something like this.... Diaper change, bottle, swaddle, couple of more minutes of loving on him, then down for bed... Love it! Praying this continues! :-)

We've been getting out a bit more & I have really enjoyed that! I am not ready to take him out to a crowd yet, but a few people here & there are good! :-) I am thinking I will take him to church with us within the next couple of weeks... Not ready for the nursery yet, though! He'll just go in his carrier to Sunday School with us & then we may head home while Daddy goes to "big church." I'm afraid Daddy might be getting used to going to church alone! It has been about 6 weeks since I've been able to go! Bedrest at the end of pregnancy & then the little mans arrival has kept me away & I miss it!

Well, I will leave you with a few pictures from our handsome little boys first few weeks of life!


Isn't this swing picture cool? Eric took it & we're not quite sure how he made it do this but we think it is neat!!