3/29/12

What A Night.

We had quite the evening at the Grave's house last night.  First off, Luke went to change Hudson's diaper, and I hear him yell for back-up.  I go in the nursery to see him holding Hudson up on his changing pad, naked, poop all over the pad, and up Hudson's back.....his face was priceless.  I helped him get him cleaned up, and we gave him a bath.  After his bath he had a bottle and went to bed around 8.  He woke up around 10, Luke went in to give him his paci, and change his diaper.  At that point he put him in the bed with us, I woke up to him kicking me around midnight.  I then realized that his diaper is completely off, awesome.  Of course he has peed all over our bed, himself, and me.  After a diaper, sheet, and PJ change I got him back to bed.....he was up again at 2, 3:30, and 5:30.  Needless to say I am one tired mama today.  I think daddy will start doing a better job of putting diapers on from now on.  I was exhausted and frustrated last night, but thinking about it now, it is pretty funny.  I mean how could you get mad at this face.....



This is random, but our baby monitor literally lights up the whole room, it drives me nuts!  Is this how all monitors are? 

3/26/12

Husbands Beware.

The grand re-opening of Opry Mills is a mere three days away, and I am like a kid at Christmas!  If I had a dime for every time I have said "I cannot wait for Opry Mills to re-open" I would be a rich woman.  There was a period of depression when I thought the beloved mall may not open again, but thank goodness someone (who I would kiss their feet) decided to take a chance on it.  Some may wonder why this is such a huge deal for me, and the reason my excitement is the fact that I could throw a rock and hit the mall from my house.  I would not call myself a huge shopper, but the convenience of having the mall so close to my house really spoiled me, and I didn't realize how often I went until it was gone.  Now that I have a baby that needs to dress to impress I have even more reason to visit, however that could be very dangerous.  Aside from the shopping we enjoy being able to just get out of the house, we would often just go to walk around, and have dinner at one of the restaurants.  There you have it people, my excitement for the week.....it doesn't take much these days.  I think the women of my family are going to make a "girls night" out of it, we may get wild and have dinner/drinks.  Will I be seeing any of you at the grand re-opening?

3/21/12

My New Face

As I mentioned in this post I wanted to treat myself to new makeup for my Birthday.  Since becoming a mom I rarely get to shop, and it is even more rare for me to shop for myself.  I knew I wanted to wait for the perfect time to go shop, I did not want to be rushed, and I wanted to thoroughly enjoy my pampering.  Last Saturday was the perfect day, I had no plans, Luke was golfing, and it was gorgeous out.  I loaded Hudson up, and headed to Sephora with the gift cards my mom and Katie gave me for my birthday.  I walked in the store, and a man asked me if I needed help, I explained that I needed all new makeup, I would like someone to do my makeup, and help me pick out colors.  He quickly told me they were busier than normal, I needed to make an appointment, and they did not have anyone that could help me (keep in mind there were tons of makeup artists walking around), so I walked out feeling completely defeated.  If you have been to Sephora you know how overwhelming that store can be, and I knew there was no way I could pick out all of my own makeup, not to mention I had not idea what I wanted.  I called Katie and told her I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.....I had all this money and nobody to help me HA.  I was furious, why would someone pretty much turn me away when I told them I was buying all new makeup?  I really wanted to say "screw Sephora" and go to MAC.  I knew that would not be smart since I had gift cards for Sephora.  I almost left the mall, but I really wanted new makeup, and who knows when I would make it back to the mall.  I decided to walk off some steam, and I headed back in the store.  I was immediately greeted by two women who were fussing over Hudson.  I explained to them I needed makeup, I knew they didn't have anyone who could do my makeup, but could someone just help me pick out a foundation color.  They were so sweet, and told me absolutely.  Jude was so helpful, did my entire face, explained everything she did, and helped me pick out everything I needed.  I am still kicking myself for not telling her about how the guy treated me when I first walked in there, but I was so happy to be helped I didn't want to ruin the experience. I even made a comment to her about it being so busy, she told me this was nothing, it was actaully a slow day.  I LOVE the way my makeup turned out, and so far  I have been really happy with everything I bought. I had several recommendations for Make Up Forever,  so I decided to give it a try.  I love it so far, it is not too heavy, good coverage, and lasts a long time.  Here is everything I bought for my new look.



HD Invisible Cover Concealer


HD Microperfecting Primer


HD Invivisible Cover Foundation

Too Faced Natural at Night Eyeshadow

HD Microfinish Powder

All Via










I also bought lip gloss, eye liner, and mascara, but I cannot remember the brands or colors.  It may not seem like a big deal to some, but for this mom it was an extra special treat.  I am so happy it ended up turning out well, and I was happy as a lark when I left the mall.

3/20/12

6 Months

Hudson was half a year old yesterday, each month that passes is so bittersweet.  I am sad that my baby is growing up, but he is so fun these days!  He grows, and gets more personality everyday.  We went to see the pediatrician yesterday, and here are his stats:

Weight/Height: You are a whopping 16.2 LBS!!  You are getting to be such a chunky monkey these days.  You are 27 inches long, and still have long skinny legs.  Here you are waiting for the Dr.





Eating:  You love to eat.  You are completely weaned off of the breast, and it actually went a lot smoother than I imagined.  You are hilarious when you see a bottle, you lunge for it, and will not stop until you have it. You are such a big boy, and hold your bottle all by yourself. We started you on baby food a few weeks ago.  It was a little shaky at first, but you get better and better everyday.  We started you out with one veggie at night, you would eat about half a jar.  After a few days we started adding a fruit, you eat 1/2 a jar of each around 6.  Dr. LaLonde said to start you on solids twice a day, so we tried cereal with fruit this morning, you had a few bites.  I think we have tried just about all of the 1st foods, and the only thing we have found you don't like are apples, I think it is the tartness.  We are going to try to introduce them again once you are more acquainted with baby food.  I have some pretty hilarious videos of your first experience with baby food, I have every intention of embarrassing you with it one day.

Sleep: You sleep so much better now that you are off the breast.  You still wake up several times, but I don't feel like you want to nurse all night.  You wake up, eat, and go right back to sleep.  You always go down in your bed between 7 and 8, when you wake up I always put you in bed with us.  I think you would go back to sleep in your bed, but for selfish reasons I put you in bed with us.  If you ever start sleeping through the night, I don't think you will have a problem sleeping all night in your bed.  Last night you just laid there and talked yourself to sleep, it was a nice change from screaming your head off.  You always take a good morning nap, and two cat naps in the afternoon.  I could sit and watch you sleep all day long.

You are sitting up all by yourself now, we determined yesterday that you skipped right over rolling over.  You love to sit up and play, mommy loves it too.  I can actually put you down to play, and get a few things done in between checking on you.  You are really into your toys, and figuring things out.
You love watching TV, and Baby Einstein on the ipad.

You went to visit your aunt Katie for the first time in Charlotte.
You were spoiled by her the entire weekend.


You LOVE bath time now.  Now that you have really started playing with things, you enjoy your bath toys.  You have several rubber ducks, and you will work yourself to death trying to get them all in your hands at once.  I have a really great video, it shows your private parts, so I am not going to post it on here.  No worries, you will see it one day.




You think you are so big, and like to chill on the couch with your Daddy.  I am sure you all were watching some sort of sporting event.



You got really dressed up, and looked so handsome for Mommy's Birthday dinner.  I really appreciate the H you got me for my Pandora bracelet.


You had to go visit Nanny and Papa to show off.


Nana called me one day last week to tell me you were riding in Macy Kate's green car, and it was the cutest thing ever.  You were such a natural holding the steering wheel, and honking the horn.  Lets not get ahead of ourselves, mommy is nowhere near ready to see you driving a car.  You did look pretty darn cute though.




I once thought this swing was going to swallow you whole, now you are about to outgrow it.


Jax is still your protector, he thinks he needs to be near you at all times.  I know you all will be best friends one day.






We celebrated your first St. Patrick's Day.  Daddy played golf, and you spent the day shopping with Mommy. 





Here you are yesterday before we went to the doctor.  You cannot tell by any of these pictures, but you are the happiest baby, and smile all the time.  There is something about the camera that makes you stop smiling, I think it is your curiosity.  The flash always makes you blink, I tried turning it off yesterday, that obviously didn't work.






You have the sweetest little squeal when you get excited.

You still put EVERYTHING in your mouth.

If we have something in our hands, you want it.

You love to blow bubbles, and think it is hilarious.

You get so excited when someone picks you up, you pat their back, and give the biggest hug.  It is enough to make any one's heart explode.

You will grab our face, and give the biggest, sloppy, open mouth kiss.  It is often times accompanied with snot, I will gladly eat your snot to get a kiss.

Now that the weather is so nice we have been taking family walks everyday.  You love being outside.  You enjoy your big boy stroller more than the stroller your car seat sits in.  You prefer being able to see everything, another sign you are getting too big for your britches.  We have a park in walking distance, we will probably take you there soon to see how you like swinging.

It is so sweet to see you and Maddie together.  Now that you are older the two of you really interact with each other.  When I dropped you off this morning you gave her the biggest hug when you saw her.

Hudson,
So much happened this past month.  You went from being a baby to this little person.  You have so much personality.  You are such a sweet little boy, and have the kindest heart.  I feel like you change so much day to day.  You are such a blessed little boy, and are loved by so many people.  You love everyone just as much as we all love you.  I love watching you grow into this little independent person, I would not trade any amount of sleep or stress for it.  If you want to slow down a little bit that would be OK.  We are so excited for all of the fun things we are going to do this summer.  I see lots of walks, picnics, swimming, visits to the park, zoo, and the farm.  We love you so much, and do not even remember what life was like without you. 

3/12/12

The end of a love/hate relationship.

I have decided it is time for me to stop breastfeeding, and it is so bittersweet.  The hate part mainly refers to when I first started breastfeeding.  I am not going to lie, it is one of the hardest things I have ever done.  It tested my patience more than ever, but it didn't take long for me to love it.  Even though the beginning started out very rough, I will cherish the special moments and bond of nursing forever.  I always thought it would be such a liberating feeling when I decided to stop breastfeeding, but I am really sad about it. We always joke that Hudson is going to be a "boob man", because that child LOVES to nurse.  I think he is going to have just as hard of a time weaning as his mama.  I told myself when I started if I could make it six months I would feel like I was successful at it, we are a week shy of him being six months old.  A lot of my friends and family probably think I am crazy because I have been so torn up about when to quit, if you are/have been a nursing mom you probably completely understand.  The final straw came last week as we hit a warm spell, and everything that spring has to offer came to life, along with my allergies.  I have really bad allergies, and have been feeling bad for a few weeks now.  I cannot take my allergy meds while nursing, because my milk will dry up.  I tried to tough it out, but mother nature is relentless, and it was taking a toll on me.  I am going to continue to nurse first thing in the morning, and in the afternoon as long as my milk lasts, but I am no longer going to nurse at night or pump during the day.  I am hoping one positive thing will be his sleeping habits, he is so attached to nursing at night a lot of times he used it as a pacifier.  Once I get him weaned at night I hope he will start sleeping through the night, or go longer stretches, wishful thinking right? If any of you have any advice/suggestions about weaning I would greatly appreciate it.

3/7/12

Out with the old.

My birthday is coming up (Sunday to be exact) and I have decided to treat myself to new makeup.  Now that I am a mom I rarely do things for myself, to some it may not mean much, but to me new makeup is very exciting.  I have never been one to wear much makeup, so when I do buy new it lasts me a very long time.  I also tend to feel justified buying good quality makeup since I will have it for a long time.  Just to give you an idea of how long, I think the last time I bought new makeup was over a year ago.  With that being said I need suggestions for new makeup.  I have been using mineral makeup, I really like it, but I am not sure if I want to stick with that kind or change it up.  I think I will just go to Sephora and tell them to have a field day.  I would appreciate any suggestions/advice you all would like to give me!

3/6/12

Another First

We experienced another first last night, baby food.  Hudson's pediatrician said we could start baby food when we went for his 4 month visit, or we could wait.  To be honest I think baby food is kind of a pain, so I have been putting it off.  He has had such a big appetite lately I thought would we should start on something more solid in hopes of filling him up.  We tried oatmeal last week, but he was not having any part of it.  She told me to start with a veggie and give him the same flavor for a week, and then move on to the next for a week.  This process will help determine if he has any food allergies.  We started out with green beans, I figured why not start out with what most babies think is the worst.  He did OK, of course he made funny faces, and didn't like it at first.  He only had a few bites, and was done with it, we are going to give it another try tonight.  Here are a few pictures I snapped during the feeding.





Interesting fact: My sister's pediatrician told her that breastfed babies are more likely to have more of a variety in their diet.  Formula consistently stays the same, but your breast milk varies in taste depending on what you eat, therefore breastfed babies are more willing to try a different things.  Not sure how true it is, but it makes sense to me.
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