11 Months!

Little buddy turns 11 months old tomorrow! Words cannot express how much fun he is at 11 months old. It just keeps on getting better and better. It is so funny because on my days off with him, and even weekends, he just exhausts me to no end (I don't ever get to sit down now!). I'm usually so ready to get a break when Joel gets home, but then I get a break and 5 minutes later I'm missing him and wanting to play again! He has me wrapped around his little finger and he can definitely do no wrong! We just love him so much.

Here is Hudson's 11 month picture on the chair. Lucky for me, Joel was making all kinds of crazy faces and sounds and it worked like a charm! Otherwise, there would be a picture of a chair and no Hudson because he would have taken a nose dive right off the chair, head first I might add and loving it!


He has a scratch on his eye from our dog, Jack, who stepped on him this morning. Poor thing.



He LOVES bathtime (without the big duck!).

He is obsessed with hats! He loves taking them off people's heads and trying to put it on his. He also plays a mean game of peekabo with a hat!

Here's what Hudson is up to at 11 months:

• He is crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything. He is starting to stand without holding on. He can do it for a few seconds before falling. Sometimes he doesn't even notice that he's doing it. Daycare has said that he has taken a few steps, but I have yet to see that! I don't think he is quite ready for walking, but I know it won't be too long.
• We are working on dropping bottles. He moves up to the next class in daycare in a month and they don't do bottles at all. We dropped his two middle of the day bottles to 4 ounces each last week and he had no problems with it, so this weekend, I eliminated both of them and he hasn't had any problems at all! I have just made sure that he gets a snack and gets juice throughout the day and he has been fine. I tried giving him whole milk tonight and he hated it so we need to work on that. He still has his morning and night bottle and I don't know when we will try to eliminate those. It sort of makes me sad (but then I remember how sick I am of washing bottles!).
• He is a pretty good eater. He is on all table food and he loves to feed himself. He does better if it is something that he can feed to himself as opposed to me feeding him. Today I gave him a pickle and he had a fit over it. He LOVED it and whined for more! I couldn't believe it! He even ate my nasty broccoli casserole last week...he made my day because it was terrible! However, for the most part, he doesn't love veggies so we're working on that! He also doesn't like bananas. I'm thinking it's a texture thing?!?! Oh, and his absolute favorite right now is goldfish. He would eat goldfish for all three meals if we let him. You would think that eating goldfish would be hard with no teeth, but he must be an excellent gummer!
• He is waving bye-bye, giving high fives, and saying "Dada" all the time. I went into his room this morning and he said, "Hey Dada!" I was like, no, not quite right. I'm positive that he knows that Joel is Dada, but he must think I am too? Who knows. He knows how to say Mama, but when I ask him to repeat it, he just says Dada. Makes me so mad!
• That darn tooth is still sitting right below his gum and is taking its sweet little time to come through. I really hope he is not toothless Joe at his first birthday party!
• He loves to dive off the sofa and the bed head first. We hold his legs and he puts his arms out like he knows what to do. He thinks it is so fun. It's a little scary knowing that he might do it when we're not watching, so we've made sure not to let him out of our sights at all!
• He also loves to rough house. He loves to jump on us and is all about getting a reaction out of us when he does it. He is all boy for sure.
• He is wearing 18 month clothes. Can you believe it? He's still my big boy. I thought it was supposed to slow down when he got to moving!

I think that's about it for 11 months. He truly is so fun to be around and we are so blessed to have him. I just can't believe he will be a year old in a month, but that is a different story.
Happy 11 Month Birthday!

Yummy Soap!

This is what I found in Hudson's mouth last night...

He was just sucking away on it and loving it! Good thing he didn't try to swallow it...obvious choking hazard! Hudson was in the bathroom with Joel while he was getting ready to go to dinner and I walked in there and Hudson had the big bar of soap in his hands that he had taken off the tub. I took it out of his hands, and then noticed that his mouth was moving and I knew there was a piece of soap in the soap dish that was now missing, so I stuck my hand in his mouth and there it was! I can't believe he liked it! Gross! He was smelling very Irish Spring fresh! Ha!

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I guess we won't be using soap to discipline him in the future! Oh and we will also be keeping a better eye on him. He is trouble!

Happy Birthday Joel!

Happy 31st Birthday Joel! I'm not going to say it to him, but man, that sounds old! He is officially "in his thirties" now. I'm glad I have a couple more years before I get there!

These were the only recent pictures on my computer that I had of Joel and they are from Christmas. They are both so cute though!

We were able to sneak in a walk in the neighborhood before the sun went down (thank goodness for some good weather--we are counting down the days until spring!), and then we had a wonderful dinner with Joel's parent's tonight. And, now, he's doing what he loves most besides Auburn football...watching Auburn basketball (even though our team is terrible). So all in all, I think he's had a pretty good day!

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We are looking forward to a long, relaxing weekend. Joel is taking tomorrow off to work on our downstairs room so I'm not sure what Hudson and I are going to get into, but I feel like I haven't seen Hudson all week and I'm itching to get my hands on that little guy! I can't wait to play! It is supposed to rain all day so I'm not looking forward to that, but we'll find something to do! I have given Joel a deadline to get the downstairs room finished, so he must get to working and I'm trying my best not to bother him. I can't wait to post pictures of the finished product because it looks awesome! I'm so glad my husband is handy! We do have dinner plans with friends tomorrow night so I can't wait for that! I am in some serious need of some friend bonding time. Can you tell it's busy season for me?!?! It is a depressing time of year and although I'm trying to stick to my 28 hours a week schedule (I just can't do the 60 hour weeks anymore with a child!), I haven't exactly had a week yet where it has just been 28 hours. And, it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

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Anyway, back to the purpose of this post! Happy Birthday Joel! I hope you had a wonderful day today. Hudson and I love you very much and can't wait to spend many more birthdays with you!!!

First Birthday Preparation

Seriously, could he be any cuter???


This past weekend I did my best to get some pictures for Hudson's first birthday invitation. The above picture is one of them. I thought it was so sweet. I found an invitation that I just love, but it required me to get some pictures of Hudson digging into a birthday cake. So, this weekend, I went to Publix and got a blue cupcake and let Hudson go to town. It was probably one of the worst ideas I have ever had, but I did get some cute pictures for the invitation that I'm not going to put on here just yet! :) Anyway, I put Hudson on the floor with the cupcake in front of him and he immediately stuck his hand in it, then picked the whole thing up, put it on his face, then spread it all over his tummy, and then sat on it. At this point I was realizing that maybe this wasn't the best idea, but then he decided he wanted to crawl over to me and get a pick up. We went straight to the sink and had a bath! Blue icing is not the easiest to get off of hardwoods either! I'm pretty sure that no cupcake ever went into his mouth. He really missed out.

I have a few other little special ideas in the works for his birthday that I am so excited about. It is hard to believe that he will be one in a month. I'm so sad about it, but I'm really loving this age right now.

Other than doing some planning for the big birthday this weekend, we didn't do much else. Joel has been busy working on the "man cave" and actually asked me to go out of town for the weekend so we wouldn't bother him. How nice. We stayed home, but wished we had taken his advice and gotten out of there! Oh well, we will know for next time. However, Hudson decided to sleep until 8:30 both Saturday AND Sunday this weekend! It was awesome!

I'm so proud of my little man and his eating lately. Just last week, I asked his daycare teacher to help with him on picking his food up. I would try to get him to pick it up, but he wanted to eat straight from my hand like a dog. And, if anyone has been with us when he has done this, you know that he looks like a dog when he does it! I was afraid that we would do his smash cake on his first birthday and he wouldn't know how to feed himself! I know, the worries of a first time mom. It's terrible. The same night that I asked his teacher to help, lo and behold, he ate his whole dinner with his hands. That little stinker. I knew he could do it. I have learned that the trick is that I have to put it on his high chair and just walk away and he will eat every bit of it. If I sit there with him, he won't do it. That was actually very good for me because it gives me some time to prepare dinner or do other things while he eats, so it is a win-win situation for all! Ever since then, he has been doing great and we haven't touched baby food in a week! Yay!

Oh, and the big news is that Hudson is working on a tooth! We can see it, but it hasn't broken through his gum yet. I'm just glad that he is not going to be toothless forever! I was getting worried! Now, if we can just get it to come on through, we will be doing great.


Here is Hudson's favorite spot in the kitchen. He loves looking out onto the back deck, especially when the dogs are out there.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Picture Overload

This post is loaded with pictures so I apologize. There is not a whole lot to blog about, but I figured I needed to post something! I tried to get a good picture of Hudson for his birthday invitation this weekend, and I don't think I got the "one," but I have put all the attempts on the blog!

This picture may be in the running...

"Say CHEESE!"

Mom, I want the camera!!!!

I love this little guy's hugs! They are so sweet! I actually think he was clinging on for dear life...not so sure about the grass!

I think Hudson is starting to look more and more like his Daddy!

This picture could have been so cute if the lighting hadn't been so bad!

The below picture sums up what he does all day. At least the pots and pans are still in the cabinet at this point! His hair is so red in this picture too!

Well, another January weekend is in the books. Just a few highlights and funnies from the weekend:

• We went to La Paz Friday night, Chick Fil A for Saturday lunch, Brio for Saturday night dinner, and Firehouse for lunch today. Yes, we ate it house and home this weekend.
• Due to all the eating, Joel decided that all he wanted for his birthday in a few weeks was a Zero Water filter (as seen on TV!). So, after a trip to Target, we are now the proud owners of the water filter and 2 $10 cups to drink the water from (I guess it tastes better that way?). Hey, at least it's a start. I wanted to get the Jillian Michaels Shred video, but I didn't. That might be too much work! Ha!
• Hudson tee-teed on Joel's shoes Friday night, and my bare feet Saturday night. It was just great. So much for taking the diaper off before the bath is ready. Cold bathroom=can't hold it. Lesson learned.
• While we are on the issue of bodily fluids, Hudson threw up an entire bottle on Joel this morning. It was quite funny. I told Joel that that is what he gets for throwing him up in the air after feeding him his bottle.
• Speaking of this morning, Joel and I have started alternating getting up with Hudson on the weekends so that we each get one day to sleep in. I don't know why we never did this before, but I am most thankful for this new arrangement! However, it was really not cool when Hudson woke up at 6 on my morning, and then slept until 8 am this morning for Joel.
• Hudson has learned to pick noses, and he will gladly stick his finger up your nose at any moment. Oh and I'm not the greatest about making sure his fingernails are cut, so it hurts pretty badly.
• Hudson is waving goodbye now and giving high fives! We are most proud of the high fives. It's pretty cool.
• The highlight of the weekend was planning our anniversary trip to Montana this summer! We are super excited...well, Joel might be a little more excited than I am since it is right up his alley, but I can't wait for some beautiful scenery and some major vacation time with the hubs! More to come on that trip later!

Just another fun weekend at the Reed household! I am absolutely exhausted right now! Hudson just wears us out!

Problem Solved

I mentioned in the last two posts about our sleeping issues over the past week. Well, we have a reason for those sleepless nights...this little buddy has ANOTHER double ear infection.

You wouldn't know it during the day, and he never had a fever, but he would not sleep at night and only took an hour nap at daycare yesterday, and that is finally what tipped me off. He was hurting when we layed him down. He also got a cough and absolutely could not breathe this morning, so I knew it was time to take him in. Poor buddy! I just love daycare. Ha! He went last week for all of 3 days and he already has an ear infection.

We have had a fun day together despite him being sick. We have played ourselves out and he has taken two really great naps! I know he has to be tired...I know I am tired too after about an hour of sleep last night! I told Joel last night that I don't miss the days of no sleep, but we really had it easy when he was a newborn even though there were some sleepless nights. He used to just sit there in his bouncy or swing, or lay on his play mat, and I thought it was SO hard! I just have to laugh at myself! Man, we had it easy then! Now, we have a whole day of chasing him around, going from room to room playing with new toys to keep him occupied (I swear he gets bored easily!), and constantly telling him to stay out of things because of course he is always interested in the things or places he can't go. Not to say all that isn't fun, but it sure is exhausting! However, when he bounces when he gets excited about something, laughs at me, or gives me hugs, it makes every second of the exhaustion worth it!!!

Here's to the sleep issues being resolved! Woo hoo!!!

Work in Progress

I decided this weekend that I would give the sewing/embroidery machine another try. It was a disaster the first time around. I couldn't even get the needle threaded to even be able to do anything! That is sad! You expert sewers are probably cracking up at how terrible I am at this. I got frustrated with it after that first time and haven't touched the thing in a few weeks.

Anyway, take two was much better. I got the needle threaded on the first try and monogrammed my first scrap within a few minutes! I was so proud of myself!

Below is the finished product on my first monogramming. Hey, at least there is something ON the shirt. I guess I need to work on getting the spacing right so that I can get Hudson's WHOLE name on there! Ha! I was just playing around with the border thing. I definitely need some more practice!

Below was my second try. I thought, well, I have mastered this now, and I went out to Target and bought a little turtleneck for Hudson to wear. It was only $2, so I figured if I ruined it, no biggie. Well, I ruined it! I was not ready for that yet! I had such high hopes.

I'm just proud of myself for getting it to work! There is so much that I still have to learn, but I actually got a little addicted to it this weekend! It is fun! My plan is to sew Hudson an outfit and monogram it by this spring. We'll see if that happens!
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On a side note, this is my 100th post! I feel like there should be some kind of celebration post for making it this far! Oh well! We didn't do anything special this weekend, and I really don't want to write 100 things about me or something clever like that...it would take forever and I have laundry to fold and Desperate Housewives to watch! So instead, you get to read about my pitiful embroidery work!

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I will say this though--I'm so glad that I have started this blog and I have enjoyed keeping it up. Sometimes it is hard to come up with things to blog about, and I feel like my mind is constantly thinking about, oh, this would be something good to blog about, but overall, I feel like it has been a good chronicle of our life and how Hudson has changed us in the past year. I'm really hoping that Joel will do a post in 2010! We'll see if that happens! Oh and just to put this out there...I would LOVE to hear from whoever reads this blog! Please leave me a comment from time to time! It means so much to know that people actually read this thing because I know at times these posts are boring and I get in a rut sometimes as well, so it would be nice to know that people are still reading. It gives me the push that I need to keep doing it!

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* However, to the person that keeps leaving comments in all Chinese letters, please do not leave a comment because you will leave us no choice other than to make this blog private if you keep doing that. I have no idea what you are saying...it could be good things, but most likely not, so I would really appreciate it if you would stop.

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Hope everyone has a great week!

All Smiles!

Someone woke up in a good mood this morning!

We have had a rough week, but this boy can always cheer me up!!!

I'm so glad this week is just about over. The first week in January is never a good week for so many reasons, and this year was no exception, but we are almost through it. Two years ago, my brother passed away on January 5th. It was the worst day of my life and not a day goes by that I don't think about it, but this week is always especially hard. Last year, Joel's grandmother passed away almost on the same day that my brother did the year before. Couple that with coming back to work after two weeks of vacation knowing that busy season is upon us again, and then on Monday of this week we had layoffs at work that affected my best friend and another good friend, no sleep from little man ALL week (teething, maybe?), an Alabama National championship, AND the excitement of SNOW coming and then it didn't come, but daycare was closed, but work was open so we had to scramble around for a babysitter (all for NO snow!), we are ready for a better week next week! (I realize the last two are not so important, but still put a damper on an already bad week!)

Anyway, I'm looking forward to a margarita (or two!) tonight at La Paz for Kelli's birthday celebration! And, I am thankful that Hudson was in such a good mood this morning! He is SO much fun!

On another note, I just had to post these sweet pictures of Hudson reading his Elmo book last night. This is his favorite book and he has to "read" it every day AND night!

We had some fun on the couch last night. I just love babies in their footie pajamas! He is so cuddly and sweet!

I think Daddy was about to "get him" in this picture! He loves that game...notice the remote there too. The TWO remotes that he got for Christmas are no replacement for the real thing!

10 Months Old

Little buddy turned 10 months old on Friday. It is hard to believe that I will be planning his first birthday party in 2 months! Actually, I need to start thinking about that pretty soon!

The photo session on the chair lasted about 2 seconds. He was out of there!

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This is what Hudson is up to at 10 months:

• Hudson is all over the place. Let's just say this phase is exhausting, and I know it is only going to get worse! He is crawling everywhere and pulling up on anything and everything. I don't think he is anywhere near walking, but his balance is improving every single day. He can move around on things pretty well and he is starting to let go of one hand and balance on his own, so we are well on our way.
• He is giving hugs now! It is the best thing in the world! He even gives the dogs hugs too. They don't feel quite like we do about them, but it is still cute. Also, if you get on the floor and tell him to come get you, he will come and climb on you and "get you." It is a fun game and he just laughs and laughs!
• He initiates many peekaboo and peep-eye games. He LOVES this!
• He still does not have any teeth, but we are really thinking that one may be coming through soon. He has been so fussy today especially and was up every couple of hours last night crying. He has had his fingers in his mouth all day, and at bathtime tonight, he wanted to bite the side of the tub instead of playing with his toys, so I really think his mouth is bothering him. I hope it is not like this with all the teeth! Gosh, this is a process!
• He has started this thing when he eats baby food where he thinks it is really funny to spit the food back out at you. He "motorboats" it and it goes everywhere, to the point that I have started wearing an apron when I feed him or else I will have carrots, green beans, or whatever he is eating all over me. He laughs when he does it. I have to say, it is pretty cute and I laughed at first, but we are working on getting him to stop that because it makes a mess. He doesn't really listen to me, but when Joel tells him no, that bottom lip comes out and he starts crying so I know he somewhat understands. Or maybe he is just scared of Daddy!
• I love that he laughs at everything we do. Just tonight, Joel was making funny sounds with the gum he was chewing (so not funny, probably a little gross!), and Hudson got so tickled. I was laughing so hard that I had tears in my eyes. He thinks we are so funny no matter what we do, and I love it!
• He has started reaching up towards us, and loves to crawl to us and pull up on our legs when he wants to be held. It is really sweet.
• He still loves to be bounced or thrown up in the air. He also likes being on Joel's shoulders. On the bouncing note, when Hudson gets excited about something, he bounces. He was so funny during Christmas because when he would get excited about a toy that he got, he would just bounce away. It is hilarious.
• He is getting better at eating finger foods. Tonight we had pears and he really liked them. I haven't been the best at starting new things every day (it is so much easier to just do baby food!), but he has had pineapple, bananas, any kind of bread, green beans, cheese, turkey, pancakes, and all sorts of sweets, including an ENTIRE cupcake at his daycare Christmas party. He probably would have eaten a second one if I had let him! He loves using the sippy cup, although we are just putting water or juice in it for now. I need to start putting formula in there at some point to start the process of weaning him off bottles. I might wait another month or so for that! Oh and the puffs...whoever invented puffs was a genius. That is the only way we can get through a dinner out these days!
• He is a talker, and loves to use his outside voice! He is saying mamama, dadada, gagaga, lalala, and bababa. I don't think he knows yet what anything means, but he sure does have some serious conversations with us!
• He is still not sleeping through the night. We have to go his room once or twice a night most nights. It is frustrating, but usually it doesn't take much to get him back to sleep and he still goes down pretty easily, although, he has started to like being rocked to sleep. I don't mind that at all though! He will just put his head on my shoulder and we just cuddle for a while. It is so sweet! He goes down at around 7 and sleeps to around 6:45.
• He is wearing 12 month clothes, and a lot 18 month. Actually, the 12 month clothes are about to be put away. It is a good thing Christmas is over with because he was busting out of all his cute Christmas outfits!

I think that's about it for what he's up to this month!

This picture below makes me think he is teething as well. He is ALWAYS biting on that bottom lip! Maybe I will have tooth news soon!

Oh and a little update on the duck tub.

A friend of mine told me that the beak of the duck makes noise (thanks Ashley, we did not know about that!), and he does like to check that out. We go and look at the duck every night at bathtime. Hudson will hit at the duck and smile at it....

But when you put him in the tub, he is still terrified!

Happy 10 months Hudson! You are such a joy to us and we just love getting to know this little personality that has started to come out!

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Joel and I are back to work tomorrow. I've had 2 weeks off and needless to say, I am so depressed. I have enjoyed every second that Hudson and I have spent together, and I have a feeling there might just be some tears tomorrow at drop off!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I can't believe it is 2010! We had a wonderful time ringing in the New Year last night. Thank goodness for grandparents...best thing ever! Joel and I had a great dinner out and then went to a party close to our house. We never thought we would make it to midnight, but we did! We have paid for it today though.

We had some bubbly at midnight!

Today feels like a new school year. You always want to start the year out right. I made a few resolutions/thoughts about the new year that I will share.

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1. Get back on the couponing! I have gotten inspired from some fellow bloggers and I really think this can be done. First things first though...I've got to get a Sunday paper! That's on the list for next week!

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2. Stop complaining about things so much. Joel has a "no whining" pin that he probably brings out way more than he should, so I need to do better about that. I'm serious about the no whining pin!

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3. This one goes along with #2. I feel like I am constantly nagging Joel to help with Hudson and I really need to stop that. I give him a bad rap sometimes, but he really is a great dad and husband and I don't tell him that enough. So, I'm going to cut him some slack and tell myself that he is a man and doesn't necessarily always know what to do, and I'm going to make sure that I thank him for all that he does do. I really am a lucky girl and Hudson is so blessed to have him as his dad!

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4. I should probably put exercising down, but let's be honest, I know I won't live up to that resolution! Ha!

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5. Get together with friends more. Since having Hudson, we have sort of become anti-social. It's a lot harder going out to restaurants with Hudson. We always get so nervous about it because it always seems like he is in the worst mood when we go, and I don't want to make a scene! Of course, he is always perfect when we get there, but we get so worked up about it that most of the time, we just eat in instead of taking the chance! If it means we need to have some dinner parties at our house, then that's what we will do. I miss our friends and we really need to get together more often!

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6. Cherish every moment with my sweet Hudson. I have realized in these last 10 months that life flies by so fast and I have a feeling that I'm going to blink and he will be 10 years old! That thought just makes me so sad! So, I'm going to do better about not wanting to wish my life, and his, away because this time is so precious! Sorry about this one...it's sappy, but needed to be said. Why can't he just be a baby forever?!?!?

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Well, there's just a few. I have more, but I won't bore anyone with more of that!

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This is sort of not related to New Year's, but below are some pictures of Hudson playing and our constant mess of a house. This boy has no lack of toys, that's for sure! I should have put keeping a cleaner house on my resolutions list as well, but how is that possible with a baby!?!? We do straighten up every night, but I've had to get used to the clutter.

He loves this barn! I know I have said this before, but he has an obsession with doors and loves to open and close them. He will do it for an hour at a time! I'm not kidding! With the barn, he loves to open the door, crawl through, and close it behind him, over and over again! It is so cute!

My parent's got him this bear for Christmas, and he gives it a "bear hug" every time he sees it! It is adorable. More on his "hugs" on a later post! We are loving it!

He got a kitchen too and he loves to open and close the refrigerator door!

I just thought this was funny. This is our den on a good day. Looks like a tornado ran through it! So does the play room for that matter!

Hope everyone had a GREAT New Year! We are excited about what is to come in 2010. I'm not sure that it can top 2009, but we'll see!

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Ten month post to come soon! My baby is 10 months old today! Can't believe it!!! Oh and hooray for an Auburn victory today! Three times at that...we thought the refs were going to give it to Northwestern!