17 months - Summer Update

Summer is finally here in Western Washington - although it hasn't been all that hot or sunny most days - even in August :( We are still enjoying our summer and trying to get Hudson outside as much as possible when it's nice. Since the last update Hudson has finally reached some milestones - the biggest being WALKING! Although he's still not a full fledged walker and primarily crawls where he needs to go (especially if he's in a hurry), he's making progress and has been walking across the room/down the hall, etc. - but generally when he falls he crawls the rest of the way still :)

The end of July and beginning of August were a busy time for us with my best friend Katie's Bridal Shower that I hosted and then her wedding rehearsal and wedding the following week. Us girls stayed the night at the venue for a last 'slumber party' before the big day. We had a good night and fun getting ready in the morning all together. Saturday Katie and Phil said "I do" at The beautiful Edgewater House in Olalla (near Gig Harbor). Katie was a stunning bride and I was so proud to stand by her side as the Matron of Honor. I know they were meant to be and will have a long life together filled with fun adventures and happiness!

Since the wedding things have slowed down around here - we've decided to start some small-ish home projects since we will be staying at our current house longer than we originally planned due to the housing market. So one of the first things on our agenda is getting a new kitchen floor put in. Hopefully this will happen in the next couple months and we can move on to a few other things we'd like to get done. We also rearranged our room and got rid of our dresser/nightstands - so we are going to paint and buy a new dresser here ASAP too (I can only live out of my laundry basket for so long ..) Also in progress is re-decorating/organizing the play room - I am going to have Hudson paint some canvases for art work and we will be moving the desk into the closet soon to make more room for Hudson's toys :) I'm looking forward to getting some of these changes done and making the house more organized!

Last exciting news for this post - I ended up being able to get a day shift at work for next rotation!! I bid the "Flex" shift - which means I cover any vacations/sick leave/maternity leave etc. that they need covered. Only down side of it is that I "may" have to change shifts up to once a month. But I got my schedule for Sept and had the option of several good shifts - some even with Fri/Sat/Sun off!! I ended up taking the 8 am - 6 pm with Thurs/Fri/Sat off. This works best for us so we won't have to pay any more for our current daycare and we won't need a sitter on Saturdays when Andy is at work. I'm really excited to have weekends off and also that I won't have to go to bed at 7:30pm every night - but I'm bummed that I will have less time with Hudson on the days that I work since he goes to bed around 7:30 :( Hopefully he will start staying up a little later soon.

Mariners, Wedding and Graduation!!

Wednesday afternoon we took Hudson to his first Mariners game!! Although I'm sure he probably had no idea where we were or what was going on, he seemed to have a good time! He loved walking around the stadium taking in all his surroundings. And once we sat down in our seats he even sat on our laps watching some of the game (or at least looking around). After about an hour of sitting there and having a bottle he was already exhausted and spent the rest of the game asleep...including meeting the Mariner's moose for the first time!! Even though it was a lot of work for us to pack everything up and take Hudson up to Seattle, we had a lot of fun taking him to his first game and look forward to more when he's older and knows what is going on!

We had a very busy Memorial Day weekend. We started it early by heading over to Spokane Thursday. We arrived Thursday afternoon and had a relaxing evening with Andy's parents and siblings who came over for dinner. We enjoyed catching up and they all loved seeing how much Hudson has grown since they saw him last.

Friday the festivities started with Andy heading out to the Spokane Country Club for a round of golf with his friend Joe who was getting married Saturday. While the boys golfed I met Andy's mom downtown to get Hudson's hand and footprints imprinted in clay. From there we went down to her office so she could show off her grandson :) Friday evening Andy and I left Hudson with his grandma and grandpa so we could attend the rehearsal dinner for the wedding. We had a good time and ate a delicious meal at the country club.

Saturday morning we woke up and pretty much started getting ready for the wedding. Andy had to be at the venue for pictures by 12:30, so Hudson and I took him there and we hung out with Katie and Kyle until the wedding started. Joe and Samantha had a beautiful ceremony, it was great to see them both and see how happy they were! After the wedding and reception we headed back over to Katie and Kyle's where we hung out for a while until it was time to take Hudson home to bed.

Sunday was yet another jam-packed day. We had brunch at 11 am for Andy's cousin Andrea who was graduating from high school that afternoon. Between brunch and the graduation we made the trip up to Andy's grandparent's house so they could meet their great grandson for the first time! It was very obvious that they were thrilled to meet him! Andy's grandma was able to hold Hudson for a long time while he looked at her smiling and giggling! Andy's grandpa held him too but unfortunately by then he was getting hungry so wasn't too happy :) After the visit with the grandparents we headed back downtown for Andrea's graduation. Hudson was such a good boy through most of the ceremony only crying for a couple seconds in the middle of it and he was awake through the whole thing!! After the graduation we went to Andy's aunt and uncle's house for a BBQ then finally home to get some MUCH needed rest!!

Monday we got on the road as soon as we were up and about but unfortunately still hit the nasty holiday traffic which turned the normal 4 1/2 hour drive into about a 6 hour drive :( Luckily both Maverick and Hudson spent most of the car ride asleep in the back seat, which made it a bit easier on us!!

Overall it was a crazy and busy weekend, but we were glad to spend some time with Andy's family again since we aren't able to do that very often!!

2 month update!

Showing off his gorgeous blue eyes!

Family Photo :)

Patrick and Nikki's Wedding

He hates his sunglasses!

Saturday was Hudson's '2 month birthday'! I can't believe how fast time is going and how quickly our little one is growing up. He has definitely turned from the newborn stage to the infant stage now. He is awake for longer periods during the daytime, smiles and giggles when we talk to him or when he's playing on his activity mat, is slowly getting into a daily and night time routine and is sleeping much better at night!

We are having so much fun with both Andy and I being on leave. I am sooo not excited or ready to go back to work :( I'm so glad that I'm able to take almost 4 months off though, so I won't be going back until July 7th!!

The last few weeks we have continued to stay busy. We've taken Hudson on several shopping trips, went to Bothell to see the Smith's and baby Hayden, visited with Grandma and Grandpa Thompson several times and even took Hudson to his first wedding (of many we have this summer!) last Saturday. My cousin Patrick got married Saturday at the home of his new wife's grandparents. It was a very quaint and intimate ceremony with just their close friends and family. It was nice to be able to celebrate with them and we are excited that they are also expecting their first child this coming November. So Hudson will have a 2nd cousin very close in age!

Today was Hudson's 2 month well baby visit at the pediatrician. They took his measurements and he's growing great! His stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 5.5 oz (15th percentile)

Height/Length: 23 inches (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16 inches (60th percentile)

He also had to have 2 vaccines and the oral Rotavirus vaccine. I feel so bad seeing him get the shots but he did great and only cried for a minute. He was a little more sleepy and fussy today but overall no bad reaction from the shots which is a relief!