My Baby is SIX Months OLD!!!

Wow, half a year already?!?!? Where has the time gone? It is a little bittersweet that he is already 6 months old. I so miss the days that he would just lay in my arms and stare at me as if there was nothing else in the world. It is sad to think that those days are over with him, but on the other hand, 6 months old is so much fun! His sweet personality is definitely starting to come out, and he is FULL of smiles! He especially loves his Daddy right now. I'm feeling a little left out these days, but I am glad to know that his Daddy really makes him happy!

Here is Hudson at 6 months old! I tried to get the stuffed animal to stay next to him, but he wouldn't have it. He just wanted to play with it. Oh well!

I think I say this every month, but I love his smile!

Hudson is finally well again. He started to get sick around July 4th weekend, and then he had the ear infection at the end of July. He was well from that for about two days and then got this horrible cough that lasted almost all of August. After many sleepless nights, I finally took him to the doctor a couple of weeks ago, and we were told that they think he has bad allergies because he was showing no signs of being sick...he just had a cough and had a stuffy nose during the night time. He said worst case scenario, he has asthma. I was totally stressing over this news. I didn't want him to have asthma!

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Anyway, the cough has strangely gone away now and Hudson is back to being a happy camper. Maybe he does have allergies...maybe not. I really think he just had a bad cough that had to get through his system. I'm sure this all has to do with something he picked up in daycare. I'm hoping that is the case anyway!

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We are hoping to see a tooth pop through any day now! This is how he spends most of his days...with a finger feeling around in his mouth.

We are doing really well on the solid food. He has tried cereal, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, applesauce, peaches, and green beans.

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This is how he feels about green beans!

I am still just feeding him solid foods once a day. We go to the pediatrician on Wednesday for his 6 month checkup. We may start doing it more than once a day after this visit. His favorite food by far is applesauce. He can eat a whole container of applesauce in about two seconds! He really likes carrots too. He is not too fond of squash, but he will eat it. The worst has been green beans. He would not even let any go down. He just shook his head no and gagged until it came out. I think we may put that one aside and try it later. I'm going to be in big trouble though if he doesn't like green beans! That is a staple in our house and just about the only veggie that I will eat! Oh and we did cereal to start with, but I tried to give him cereal and a fruit or veggie a few weeks ago, and he would have nothing to do with cereal anymore. He just spits it right back out. I probably wouldn't eat it either...it's pretty gross.

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He also tried ice cream for the first time this month. He has had this fear of my Dad...I mean, he would look at my Dad and start screaming. It just broke my heart, but what can you do? Well, we went to lunch with my Dad one day and he fed him some of the ice cream from our dessert. He LOVED it...and he loves my Dad now too! Haha...my Dad said he would do anything to get him to like him. It worked!!!

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He is loving his feet now. This is new within the past week or so. He loves to grab his feet. I'm pretty sure he can get them in his mouth!

Hudson is still grabbing things like crazy. Anything he can get his hands on is good with him, but preferably the remote control for the TV and my cell phone. We have bought him all these toys for him to play with, but those are unfortunately his favorites. I did find him a toy cell phone and he likes that pretty well!

He still loves his jumperoo too. He is starting to outgrow his play mat, which makes me sad, but at least he loves the jumperoo. It has a weight limit of 25 pounds, and I'm sure we'll be testing that soon!

Hudson is a pro at sitting up by himself now. He has been doing this for a couple of weeks now without plopping back down. He is much happier being able to sit up. He can't pull himself up to a sitting position yet, but he will stay there if you put him that way. He is also really trying to crawl. He kind of swims when you put him on his stomach and he can get his arms and head up really high, but the back end is the tough part! It is funny to watch him try though. He really wants to do it, but he's just not ready yet. He started this little army crawl this past weekend so he can scoot a little bit. Our house is not ready for him to be on the move yet so hopefully he will wait on that a little longer!

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He is on a schedule now too! That was one of the things that I wanted daycare to help me out with, and they got him on a schedule in about a week! He takes 3 naps a day. He wakes up around 6:30, naps for about 30 minutes around 8:45, eats at 10:30, takes a good long nap from 11:30 to 1 or 1:30, eats at 2:30, naps for about 30 minutes around 4, eats solid foods around 5:30, bath at 6:30, bottle at 7 and down for the night around 7:30. He pretty much sticks to this schedule and it has been nice to know when I will have time to get a few things done around the house!

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He is in 9 month clothes now. I have had to pack up all the 6 month stuff...so sad!

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That's about it for his 6 month post. Like I said before, we are going to the doctor on Wednesday so I will be sure to post his stats. I'm sure he will be off the charts in weight and height! His is a big boy!

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Happy 6 months old little buddy!

Lake Fun

We had such a fun time this past weekend. The weather was incredible! It is so hard to believe that it is August. We spent Friday at home and then headed to the lake Saturday morning. Joel and I had a wedding to go to in Gadsden Saturday night, so Joel's parents were going to keep Hudson at the lake since it is near Gadsden.

Wouldn't you like to wake up every morning with this view???

We did a lot of rocking on the porch with Migi!

And swinging on the swing! This is Hudson's favorite thing to do!

As you can see, he loves his grandmother! He got a lot of quality time with her this weekend!

The wedding we went to was for my co-worker Ashleigh, and it was beautiful! She looked gorgeous. They are enjoying a great week in St. Lucia this week, and I am SO jealous!!! I know I had a honeymoon once too, but for some reason I always get this jealous feeling when other people get married and go on their honeymoons! I think I need a vacation, right?!?!? We were supposed to head down to the beach this coming up weekend, but we have decided not to go. It is so hard to pack for the beach for just a weekend. Next year, we are going for a week at a time I think. I always thought it was nice to go down for several long weekends instead of just one long week, but with a child things are different!

Waaarrrr Eagle, Hey!

Thanks Big Daddy for my new jersey and good lookin' kicks! I love them!

P.S. The shoes are pretty big, but I'll grow into them!

We Need Cesar!

We need Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, to come pay us a visit and talk some Dog 101. We are having some serious issues around our house with this little guy...

You see, Jack has never really been right. He has always had anxiety issues, and getting hit in the head by a golf ball by Joel a year ago didn't help things any either! After being knocked out, and then paralyzed for several days, he recovered from that injury. Then, we add Hudson to the mix and things REALLY aren't right. I personally think that he needs to have two little things cut off, but Joel doesn't want to take his manhood away! We aren't planning on breeding him, so why do they need to stay??? Anyway, regardless of that, we really need some assistance here. We have him gated in the kitchen while we are at work, and he has learned that he can jump the gate and spray all over our house. I know he is just doing it to make us mad...he is housebroken, I promise. We tried making the gate taller, and he still jumps over it. I wish I had a picture to post of the poor gate...it is such an eyesore in our kitchen, but we don't know what to do. I was so mad yesterday that I left him outside for the whole afternoon. I worried all afternoon about him. Of course, it stormed really bad and since he is so small, I know he could easily get out of our fence if he tried a little bit. He was fine though so maybe that should be our solution. We have thought about crating him, but can we really start that now if we have never done it before? Any suggestions would be helpful!!! We are not giving him away either...he can sure make us mad, but he's still a great dog. I feel like my life resembles the movie Marley and Me on a daily basis!

This dog, on the other hand, LOVES Hudson and unfortunately takes a lot of beating from him! She takes it like a champ though and loves to keep "kissing" him! I think he's trying to hug (strangle) her here!

Oh and in other news (great news for me!), we have gotten a maid. I hate cleaning...if there was a word worse than hate, that would be it in regards to cleaning. Plus, I'm working part-time to be able to spend that time with Hudson...not spend that time with Hudson in his jumperoo while I clean the house. That completely defeats the purpose of me working part-time. And, on the weekends, I want us to be able to have time as a family...not having to worry about cleaning the house because it takes a good day to do! So, not that I have to justify having a maid here, I just feel very strongly about the need to have one! She is here this morning and I am so pleased! I have always felt that no one can clean your house better than you can, but that feeling is going away right now! She is even cleaning the blinds! Yay! (I know, most of you probably think that should be done every time, but I will be the first to admit that it doesn't happen at our house!)

This picture above in no way has anything to do with this post, but I thought it was sweet and was taken by my talented sister while she was here! Happy Thursday everyone!

And in a Flash She was GONE!

This PRETTY girl...

finally graced us with her presence and met little Hudson for the FIRST time last weekend. It was SO much FUN!!!

Hudson was in love with Carrie...I think it was her hair that he loved the most!!! Lots of grabbing potential!

I really don't know why I take pictures with Carrie. I look like Casper next to her! Seriously, I need a tan in the worst way!

I love this picture of Carrie, my mom, and Hudson.

We had a little fun with the new camera this weekend too!

I love my happy buddy!

Carrie came in town for a friend's wedding this weekend. It had been since Christmas that we saw her! We had a lot of fun hanging out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I was so sad when she had to leave on Sunday, but she'll be back in 6 weeks for another wedding! Thank goodness for weddings, huh?!?!

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On that note, I have had a lot of people ask me if I was upset that she didn't come home for Hudson's birth, but yet she came home for a friend's wedding, and honestly, I understand. I would have loved for her to have been there, but I know there are a lot of other factors involved when you live all the way across the country! I put myself in her shoes and at that age, I had no idea that the birth of a child was something that was such a miracle! She will never know until she experiences it herself, and I hope that she does some day (after she gets a husband of course!). I will most certainly be there when it does happen though! I remember when Morgan was born while I was in college, and it didn't even occur to me that I should go home. I wish I had now, but at the time, I just didn't understand. I remember talking to Trey that day and I didn't realize until later just how happy Trey was when I talked to him that day, and I wish that I could have been a part of that wonderful day. I just had no idea...so I know that Carrie is the same way and that is ok (and the fact that she has no money and no vacation!). I am just so grateful to have her as a sister and I was so glad to get to see her this weekend, even if it was only for a few days. When Carrie moved to Los Angeles, and then Vann passed away, it was so hard on all of us. I sometimes feel like I have lost two siblings instead of one, so everytime I get to spend with Carrie, I cherish every minute of it. I love how our family comes together while she is here. It really feels like old times and I so miss that! We have all been through such a hard time and Carrie has always been able to brighten everyone up. We used to call her Carrie "Sunshine" Whitt! Haha! Anyway, she'll be back in 6 weeks, and then again at Christmas so I'm super excited about the next few months! After Christmas, I'm going to plan a trip out there because I don't think I could do another 8 month stretch like we have done this year! That is terrible!

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I just love this picture of Carrie and Morgan...if I could figure out how to crop Hudson out, I will! He was loving Morgan's braids!
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So sweet!

Carrie, Mama Jean (my grandmother), and I all have August birthdays (4th - Carrie, 5th - mine, and 7th - Mama Jean), so we all got together and celebrated the August birthdays at Old Overton on Saturday. I know the family just hates buying 3 gifts all at once, but we always have fun celebrating this time of year!

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Blaine and Joel were twins. Blaine loves to play with Joel and I'm so happy that Joel can be that father figure to Blaine! I just wish we could see him more often! They had on the same color Polo, but Joel had a pink horse on his, and Blaine had a blue horse. Blaine kept saying that Joel's shirt was a girl shirt because of the pink horse! It was so funny!

Here are the August birthday girls and all the kids! Blaine didn't really want to be in a picture with all the girls!

We had dinner with Carrie on Thursday night, and then Friday night Joel and I went out with some friends to dinner. We took Hudson, but Joel's parents came and got him halfway through! Hudson doesn't do too well staying up much past 7 these days, so he was extra cranky. We had a fun time hanging out with Hunter and Lauren and Allan and Shelley. I should have taken my camera, but I didn't. I can't wait to hang out with all of them again!

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Saturday, we had lunch with the family and then wedding season began Saturday night! I have 5 co-workers that are getting married in the next 4 months, and one ex co-worker getting married. It is going to be a busy few months coupled with football season! Joel stayed home with Hudson and I enjoyed a fun night out! We also took some more pictures of Hudson on Saturday afternoon. I'm sure everyone is thinking that we probably take way too many pictures of Hudson, but we don't want to miss anything!

Still lovin' the footsies!!!

We think his hair is looking a little RED!!!

I told Joel that I never am in any pictures with Hudson because I am always the one taking the pictures, so he grabbed the camera and took one of us. I look terrible and Hudson is still dressed from church (although this is usually the case anyway--I dress Hudson so cute and don't bother with myself!), so this is not the greatest, but at least I will have one picture of me with my child for him to show at his rehearsal dinner someday! Haha!

Happy buddy!

We had a SUPER busy weekend, but it was worth it! It went by WAY TOO FAST!!! Can't wait to see Care-Bear again soon!

Mom, I'm Gonna Need a Little Help Here...

My thunder thighs have me STUCK!

Anyone Lost a Shoe...or a Jetta???

Size 7 1/2, Naturalizer...

Nasty, stinky, flip flop...

Both found in our backyard this morning.

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And this...

was found 10 feet from our fence in the backyard.

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We had an eventful night last night! This is the FOURTH car that has gone rolling off Sicard Hollow Road and ended up right behind our fence. I'm so worried that one day a car is going to keep rolling into our backyard and possibly into our house! In addition to the four cars, we have had a 18 wheeler lose its trailer in the same spot, and two motorcycles that have gone flying. It is apparently not a very safe curve!

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Anyway, back to last night. Joel woke up at 1 am and heard some voices. He got up and looked out all the windows, but couldn't determine where they were coming from. He then heard a car drive off, but never saw anything. Then, at about 2 am (while Hudson was making his nightly wake up call!), there were two cop cars behind our house shining flashlights. We couldn't see the car at that point, but we knew something was happening.

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Then, fast forward to this morning when we found our gate to our backyard wide open, and then saw the car that had rolled off the road. And then, we found the shoes! Only one of each though. We can only assume how messed up/drunk the people were last night. They must have jumped our fence and lost some shoes in the process, run down our yard and out our fence, where someone picked them up. Those were obviously the voices that Joel heard. We are shocked that we didn't hear the car come down off the road. Normally, it is so loud! We actually had to go back there one time and make sure the guy was ok because his car landed upside down. I guess everyone was ok. So, if anyone knows who these shoes belong to, let us know because their car is still behind our house!!!

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I couldn't do a post without putting up pictures of Hudson, so here are a couple of recent ones. We are SO enjoying having Carrie in town this weekend. I will do a post later about that! Hope everyone has a great weekend!
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Cookout

Joel and I had a cookout last night with some of our friends. We planned it last minute, so we were so glad we had such a good turnout! Hopefully, we can do something fun for the kiddos next year if we do it again! We ate SO much. We had bacon swiss dip, buffalo chicken dip, and mason dixon dip for appetizers. Then, we ate hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, and baked beans for the main dish. And then, as if we had not eaten enough already, we had symphony brownies, regular brownies, snickers and peanut butter cookies, AND sopapilla cheesecake for dessert. Oh and I must mention the fabulous margaritas. They were delicious!!! We all had tummy aches! Ha! It was so good though and the best part was the company. We don't do as much socially as we used to so when we do get to hang out with our friends, we treasure every minute of it! Thanks to everyone who came and let's do it again soon! Here are some pictures from the cookout.

Cooper, Hudson, and Ashlynn hanging out. This was the best group picture we could do!

Aunt Cameron and Hudson.

Cameron, Jennifer, me, and Kristen all having fun! I look pretty rough in the picture...I need to do something with my hair, and that outfit is hideous and unflattering! Oh well, everyone else looked really cute! Notice the skinny arm that Kristen is showing. This is apparently the new "sorority pose!" So funny!

Cooper and Hudson fighting over a toy. I think Cooper won most of the time. Hudson didn't really have a clue what was going on! He wasn't too thrilled when she took his passy though. But, you can see below that he got it back!

Most of the girls...missing a few here, but it is still cute! Notice the skinny arm again! Haha, Kristen will probably be mad at me for calling her out!

Hunter and Hudson. Hunter is so cute with Hudson. Before he even got all the way in the door, he was holding Hudson. Most guys aren't like that! It was so sweet! We can't wait for Hunter and Lauren to have a little one!

The next few pictures are ones of Cooper (and me playing with the new camera!). She was so fun to take pictures of because she is SO photogenic! I think we have about 50 pictures on the camera of just Cooper! We will get those to you, Jenn!

Look at my two teefies!!!

It's pretty sad that I didn't get any pictures of the guys. They probably didn't want their pictures taken anyway, but I promise they were there! Thanks to Joel for grilling up some fabulous hamburgers and hotdogs and for everyone else that contributed with the dips and desserts. It was SOOO GOOD!!!

* New post below!

Another Year Older

My birthday was last Wednesday, August 5th, so I'm a little behind on updating the blog! We have had a busy week and weekend. My sweet co-workers took me to lunch that day at the Tavern, my favorite. We had so much fun! Then, Joel and I celebrated the night by going to dinner with my parents. Hudson was TERRIBLE! Joel and I had to take turns being outside with him. We could not get him calmed down. Finally, Joel took him home. I don't know what was wrong with him. I think it was probably a combination of teething and being sleepy, but who knows. I'm about ready for these teeth to appear! I feel like we have had a rough past week and that's the only thing I can think of that is the cause!

Anyway, back to my birthday! Ever since Hudson was born, I realized that our camera, which has been wonderful for the past 4 years, was not going to cut it! I had the hardest time catching Hudson's smiles on camera because it took so long for the camera to take...by the time it took, the smile was gone! So, we bit the bullet and got a new camera for our anniversary/my birthday gift. It has been WONDERFUL so far! It will even take in black and white, which is my favorite.

I must tell a funny story about my husband. He called me up on my birthday and said that he had just gotten a great deal on the camera and couldn't wait to give it to me. I am the money worry wart in our family and I knew the camera we wanted was pricey, so I asked him what kind of deal he got on it because this was great news to me! He kind of paused a bit, and then said, well, I had to buy a new TV to get the deal. Great. I told him that I hoped we got the camera for free with that purchase, and he said that he saved $50 on the camera. Really, $50. That's all. But, now we have a brand new TV for the MAN ROOM. Because that is what is important, right? It's my birthday and Joel gets a new TV for his room that is not even finished yet. Nice.

Oh well, here's some fun that I have had with the new camera!

Mama Jean's birthday was on Friday, so we went and visited with her. We had a great time! Hudson loves Mama Jean.

Hudson LOVES bath time!

As you can see, I'm having SO much fun with the new camera! I'm still trying to figure out all it has to it. I'm not used to this kind of camera that has all the works! It is fun though...and I have a pretty good subject to practice on! Happy Birthday to me! And to my sister, whose birthday is the day before mine on August 4th, and to Mama Jean, whose birthday is on August 7th! Our family just loves this week in August. HA!