No Pictures :(

I hate to put up a post without any pictures, but I didn't take any this weekend. If I had, you would have seen Hudson COVERED in a rash--all over his body, from head to toe. We don't know what it is from, but we are assuming it is probably from his antibiotic that he's still on for the ear infection (we aren't giving him any more of it). He has been on it once before, and I don't remember him breaking out in a rash, but that's the only thing that we can think of that might have caused it. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be itching or otherwise bothering him. I just wish it would go away! Seriously, one more time, can the boy catch a break??? It seems to be one thing after another.

We had Hudson's one year pictures made on Friday afternoon (before the rash appeared thank goodness!). I'm so anxious to see them. I think they are going to be good...at least, for the first few shots, Hudson was flirting and showing off and giving his huge toothy smile! It quickly went downhill from there though, and 30 minutes later we were in total meltdown mode and it was time to go. I think they are going to be cute though. I will post them when I get them!

Hudson got to spend a few hours at Joel's parents' house Friday night while Joel and I went to a meet and greet for a new Sunday school class at church. We are so excited about the new class and can't wait to get started in a couple of weeks. I had to work yesterday, so that was a bummer, but I got home in time to spend a little bit of it outside in the driveway with my little man. He loves riding in his car in the driveway. He's a bit obsessed and constantly points to the downstairs all day long so that we will take him to go ride. He even gets mad when we go get in the car to go somewhere because he wants to get in his car! He's got a one track mind for sure!

Today, we spent most of the afternoon outside. We spent a long time at the park and it was the first time that Hudson really enjoyed it. That little pointer finger kept pointing us back and forth from the swing to the slide. On the pointing note, wow, that pointer finger is pretty demanding. I have to admit that I like being able to semi-communicate with him now that he can point, but it's hard to figure out where he wants to go sometimes and he just gets mad if you don't do what he wants!

Hope everyone else enjoyed the wonderful weather this weekend as much as we did. Next post will have pictures!

Mr. Syringe

Mr. Syringe is pretty much a necessity in the Reed household. For the past few months, we've been seeing a lot of it!

Hudson loves to share, even Mr. Syringe.

Hudson has come so accustomed to it that he just LOVES it now! He gets excited when he sees the syringe come out. Tylenol, Motrin, antibiotics...he loves them all. Guess he knows what makes him feel better!

Who knew medicine could be so tasty???

Can you tell we are feeling better???

Why not let Hudson take a stab at feeding himself a little breakfast? He was feeling good and having oh so much fun.

Here's to saying goodbye to Mr. Syringe for a WHILE!

The Man Cave

Below are some overdue pictures of the finished man cave! We are so excited about having an extra room to go to. Joel (and his dad) did such a great job on it. I'm just glad it is finally done. It has been a long few months and a lot of lonely weekends while Joel has been working on it. He got it done in time for Hudson's birthday party (which was the deadline that I gave him because I thought we might could have the party down there--well, we didn't...oops!). It was good to have a deadline though!

We still need something to go over the couch, but mostly we used pictures and furniture that we already had so we wouldn't have to spend much more money decorating. My dad is so talented and has done so many Auburn pictures for us, that we just had to use them and made it an Auburn room. I thought they all worked perfectly. We did have to buy the sectional, and Joel bought the tv months ago when he got me the new camera (you know, it was such a great deal--ha!), but everything else came from stuff we already had and I think it works, especially for a man cave!

One of the best parts about the room is that there are really two rooms down there and so we made the other room Hudson's play room. It is right next to the stairs so we've got to get a gate because Hudson gets sidetracked most of the time and just wants to go climb the stairs, but our hopes are that we can all be down there and have a ton of room for Hudson to play and for us to watch tv, or play with him, whatever the case may be.

On an unrelated note, I spent this morning at the doctor's office with Hudson, and guess what, he has another ear infection. So much for the tubes. I'm so frustrated and I feel really bad for Hudson. He woke up yesterday morning with a fever, so I stayed home with him yesterday for most of the day thinking that it would just go away. It was low grade for most of the day, and Hudson was really not acting sick at all. We played and laughed and had a ball. He does have a tooth coming in, so I thought maybe that was it. Well, then the fever started to go up yesterday afternoon and so I made him an appointment for this morning. I knew by then that it had to be his ears. I thought the purpose of the tubes was to not have this happen anymore, but apparently not! It still can! I think I told someone yesterday that I have the sickliest child on the planet. I know it could be way worse so I do count my lucky stars that it's just ear infections, but can we give the poor boy a break??? I'm home again today with him...say a prayer that I don't get fired with all this time off I'm having to take!

Spring (for a couple of days!)

We had a couple of sunny days this weekend and we took full advantage of them. We spent all the time that we could outside.

Here is Joel and his little mini-me in their Polos!

Hudson had a little bit of fun in the grass. He's still not very fond of it, but I keep telling him that if he'll just start walking, he won't have to be all in the grass! He ignores me. In fact, we have regressed in the walking department. He has absolutely no interest in it anymore. He used to love going back and forth to Joel and me, but now he just goes straight to his knees. I'm frustrated because I don't know why all of a sudden he is scared of walking! I guess like anything else, he'll do it on his own time when he is ready, and everyone keeps telling me that he needs to crawl for as long as he can because life gets really wild when he starts walking!

This was maybe the cutest time all weekend. Hudson was trying to help Joel put together his new riding toy.

It was a hit too! Hudson loved it!

We did a lot of this!

And believe it or not, snow was in the forecast this morning! Crazy Alabama weather...we were wearing short sleeves on Saturday and were bundled up and freezing Sunday and today. I broke down and finally went to the doctor today. I was not getting any better and my face was hurting like no other, so I knew I probably had a sinus infection that wasn't going to go away on its own. I've only been sick for a week and a half. Two shots in both hips and two different antiobiotics, later (oh and just a 3 hour trip to Med Help--reason #1 that I hate going to the doctor!), I am finally feeling a little better. The 3 hour trip was not in the week's work plans, however, so I will be playing catch up the rest of the week! Oh April 15th, can you get here any faster???

Dinner

This is where dinner ended up tonight. So much for grilled chicken, green beans, and strawberries, a nice well balanced meal. He didn't think too much of it. The dogs, however, loved it! I normally just put the food straight on the high chair and don't use a tray or plate so I tried that after he tossed the tray and in one swoop of the arm, he had knocked off a second dinner onto the floor. It's been a fun night.

Instead, all that Hudson would eat is two fried chicken fingers, a container of yogurt, some goldfish, and two cookies. Healthy. I guess that is the life of a toddler.

I'm just not going to worry about it because he is so darn cute!

The time change has really affected Hudson this week. Well, that and the class move at daycare. He has been so tired and irritable every night, and is impossible to wake up in the mornings! Joel thought I was kidding about having a hard time waking Hudson up, but then he tried yesterday morning and had just as much trouble. I hate having to pick him up to wake him up...I like to wake him up by rubbing his back and talking to him, but that has not done anything this week! Hudson has not been happy about being woken up either. He's had a rough week. I'm anxious to see if he will sleep late in the morning since I don't work tomorrow. It will probably be the one day that he wakes up at 6 am ready to go! Ha! I think the daycare transition is going well. He never went back to the infant room like he was supposed to, so that is a good thing, although they said that he has been fussier than normal and had major fits when I left him every morning this week. I have felt like the worst mother, but I know he's probably fine 5 minutes after I'm gone. At least that's what I keep telling myself!

Check out my teeth! Anyone an orthodontist??? We are going to need you someday with those front two teeth! Just kidding, my family teases me because they always said superman could fit through my front two teeth until I got braces. I guess he gets it from me!

We are looking forward to some good weather tomorrow and Saturday! Here's to having a few days outside!

Weekend in Mentone

We had a much needed weekend away in Mentone this past weekend. Joel had to work a ton last week so we didn't see him very much, so it was nice to have him with us! Hudson got to spend some quality time with my parents too! We went to the Wildflower Cafe on Friday night and had fun rocking out to good music and great food. It is always so much fun. Hudson had a blast too. Hudson decided he didn't want to sleep very well at the cabin, so that was no fun, but we were able to take a great nap Saturday afternoon after spending the morning in Chattanooga hanging out. Hudson went on his very first carousel ride! He loved it at first and then he just got really still so I don't know if he was feeling a little sick from going round and round, or if he was getting sleepy. The carousel went a little fast for all our likings! It was fun though.

Saturday night, we went to a surprise party for one of my parents' friends and then went back to the cabin and cooked steaks. Hudson didn't sleep at all Saturday night either, and Sunday morning, Joel and I both woke up with whatever Hudson had all last week! Of course, we couldn't escape it. I felt it coming on Saturday and I really think I had a fever for at least part of the day. Joel had the fever on Sunday, and I just felt horrible, so it was not a good day. We came back to Birmingham early and took it easy all day. Hudson finally felt great, so it was a difficult day because neither Joel nor I had the energy to want to play with him, or take care of him for that matter, but you do what you have to do and we got through it. I hardly have a voice today and can't breathe, but I am feeling better.

Here are some pics from the carousel. They were taken with my phone, so they aren't the best quality.

Today was a big day for Hudson. He is transitioning into his new classroom this week. It's a sad day, but I know he will be happier with more kids his own age and not so many babies in his room! He was supposed to be in there from 9-11 today, but they said he did so well that he never went back to the infant room. I was so relieved. He even took a nap on the floor at naptime (well, I do think they use a cot, but it's practically on the floor)! They use nap mats in this room and I have been wondering how they get them to sleep on the floor during nap time and get them to stay there, but he took a 2 hour nap, which is twice as long as his normal naps at daycare!

In other news, Hudson is starting to say "Uh oh", which is so fun. I find myself intentionally dropping things and saying "uh oh" just so he will repeat it! And he normally does! It is exciting. I also have dropped his morning bottle, so we are down to one a day. It was not bad at all. I'm just not sure how I'm going to drop the night one, but I'm not going to worry about that yet. We still have a ton of formula left and I'm not going to let it go to waste!

That's about all the news from the Reed household. It's another busy work week for us and I'm already looking forward to the weekend!

One Year Checkup

It was back to the doctor for Mr. Hudson today for his one year well checkup. I love Dr. C, but maybe this will be the last time we have to see him for a while. I know my wallet is tired of paying co-pays! Here are his stats:

Weight: 23 pounds, 15 ounces (60th percentile)
Height: 30.5 inches (75th percentile)
HC: 18.5 inches

He got 3 shots and a finger prick. It was a rough one! Everything looked good though and he seems to be hitting all of his important milestones that the doctors are concerned about (talking, clapping, waving, etc.). Dr. C said that his weight will be slowing down over the next year and his appetite will be decreasing, but not to worry. I can already tell that his appetite is decreasing...or maybe he is just picky because he won't eat anything that I give him. I have been hesitant about dropping the last two bottles because he won't eat much other food, but Dr. C said we needed to do it as soon as possible, mainly because the milk sits on his teeth all night long and it is bad for them. He said to give him whole milk at every meal and he should be fine, which we normally do and Hudson takes it just fine from a cup. I'm just afraid to cut out the last one before bed. It is like a nightly routine for us and as soon as we come down the stairs from bathtime, Hudson is pointing and whining for the bottle. I have a feeling that one is going to be torture to cut out! He also said to start brushing Hudson's teeth, which I had already bought a toothbrush before the appointment today so we will be starting that soon! The poor boy just got his first tooth a few weeks ago and now we have three and are working on a fourth! I guess I'm glad they are all coming in at once. We're just getting it all over with fast!

Hudson takes his last bottle in his big boy chair. I'm so glad that he can hold it on his own now because I can work on dinner! He loves sitting in the chair too...well, sitting, standing, bouncing, tumping it over...etc.!

Hudson's new thing this week is that he has started to point to things. I think it is so darn cute. He is always pointing at something he wants. I'm glad to finally see what is going on in that little head of his. At least by his pointing I feel like he is starting to communicate.

He is starting to take steps on his own, but definitely not full blown walking yet. He will stand by himself and then take a few steps forward before either falling or sitting down. He gets so tickled with himself when he takes a few steps. I just love that. Oh and the other day he was walking around the kitchen on the alphabet train (below) only holding on to it with one hand and holding onto another toy with the other hand. It took talent. I was proud of him! We are getting closer for sure!

Check out these curls! He has crazy hair and I'm really not sure how to tame it. It is constant frizz all the time. He needs a haircut too, but the grandparents keep telling me that I shouldn't dare cut the curls. I just don't know what to do with them? All these years I have been wanting curly hair...not anymore! Although, it is pretty cute on Hudson!

Birthday Party

We had Hudson's birthday party at our house this afternoon. It was SO much fun and Hudson did great! He was a little unsure of all the people at first, but he warmed up after a while. We were so lucky to have so many family members and close friends come celebrate with us. Thank you to all who came! You really made the day special!

On a side note, Hudson seems to finally be over the fever virus. His fever got all the way up to 103 (on Motrin and Tylenol) on Friday night before it finally broke and he woke up Saturday morning feeling better. It was a little scary because we couldn't get the fever down, but luckily he got over it fast! We were worried that we might have to cancel the party, but he seemed like he felt fine yesterday and today, he was even better.

Here are a few pictures pre-party. I used the brown and blue and polka dots theme again. You will not see me doing any more brown and blue, but I figured I needed to do it one more time to round out the year. It turned out cute, but I'm so done with those colors! Talk about overkill!



The food spread. We just did cake and ice cream, and a few dips. Nothing too much for a 3 pm party!

I put up his monthly chair pictures for everyone to see how much he changed each month.

This next picture is a bit out of order, but Joel's Dad MADE THIS ROCKING HORSE! Seriously, he made it. Isn't it AMAZING?!?! It is so special to us. I know that Hudson is just going to love it!

I made a book using Snapfish of Hudson's first year. I have been working on it for months and almost decided to just not do it because it was so time consuming, but I'm so glad I did. It turned out really great!

Cake time! Look at him eying that cake!

Wait a minute...we need to put the hat on him first!

Ok, NO HAT PLEASE! (For the record, I knew he hated the hat, but someone told Joel to put it on him and he absolutely threw a fit!)

All better now! Now, what is this stuff???

Ooohhhh yummy!

I'm having SO MUCH FUN!

Hudson made up for a week's worth of not eating with his smash cake! He couldn't get enough!

We decided it was time to call it quits before he made himself sick! This was the only family shot we got of the day.

After the smash cake mess, we got Hudson all cleaned up, opened presents (which, by the way, Hudson got a TON of great new things--thank you all so much!), and then we played and visited with everyone. It was so good to have all our friends and family in one place. It had been a while since we had seen everyone, and all the kids played so well together. The weather today made it all the better. We were outside for a good part of the party, and I'm pretty sure all the kids were out there the whole time! They loved it!

At one point during the party, I looked over at Hudson and he had decided to go find some more cake in his high chair! It was too funny! He ate all the crumbs that had spilled out!

My eater is back!

We got Hudson the wagon and a Pottery Barn chair for his birthday. We can't wait to use the wagon in this good weather! We did a little riding around the house tonight and he loved it.

Happy Birthday Hudson! What a fun day it was!

Home

Hudson officially has tubes now, but not without another hurdle! He had a bad night last night and woke up this morning with 101 degree temperature. Seriously, what else could go on this week?!?! Joel and I decided to go on down to Children's South at 6 am and find out whether or not they would still do it. We were up anyway! Luckily, they said his chest was clear and decided to go ahead and do it because he obviously needed it. We were told by the ENT (about 10 minutes after they took him back--it was so quick!), and this is his exact words, that, "Hudson's ears were the worst he has seen in a really long time. They were gross." Poor buddy. They think the fever is a virus and totally unrelated to his ears since he had a shot on Wednesday and seemed to be fine yesterday. He even got rechecked by the pediatrician yesterday and everything was looking better. We kept him out of daycare yesterday too so that he wouldn't pick up anything. Guess that didn't work so well either! Oh well, the important thing is that hopefully he will be feeling a lot better really soon and we are thankful to have this past us. He is very groggy and is napping now, but I'm hoping that when he wakes up that he will be feeling like a new little boy!

Bragging on Myself!

I've come so far with this embroidery machine stuff that I had to brag about my last two things that I did. I'm very proud. I know these are very novice things, but I'm not very crafty and these were SUCH a challenge for me. I'm gaining some confidence though and it is starting to become fun! At least I can say that I have a "hobby" now!

One More

Hopefully this will be the last post about Hudson being sick! He has still not been acting like himself and not eating (almost a week now with no solid foods), and this morning he threw up again. Luckily, I already had scheduled him an appointment for this morning because this has gone on WAY too long for it to be a stomach bug, and Joel and I have not gotten it yet. Normally, we would have had it by now, so I knew it had to be something else. We went to the doctor and of course, he has yet another double ear infection. It was different than any other one that he had, but the doctor said that sometimes it causes them to throw up and have bad diapers and mimic that of a stomach bug. Who knew? I had a feeling it was his ears, but the stomach virus symptoms threw me this time so I quickly tossed that aside. And, he had been sleeping fine (well, better than usual) and him waking up crying in the night was usually a tell tale sign that his ears were bothering him. It's a good thing I'm not a doctor! Anyway, Hudson got a shot this time since we are scheduled for tubes on Friday, and we are hoping that it will kick in faster. Poor buddy screamed like I have never seen him scream. It was terrible. I thought that would be the end of the tubes appointment, but the doctor said as long as his chest is clear and no fever, that it was ok. We do have to go back tomorrow to get him checked again, and then we will decide for sure if the tubes is a go for Friday. If not Friday, it will be early next week because we obviously need to get them as soon as possible!

Happy Birthday Hudson!

Here is Hudson exactly one year ago today...

And here he is now...he is such a grown up boy!

Happy 1st Birthday little buddy!

I know I have said this every month, but I am in absolute shock that I have a one year old! It feels like just yesterday that he came into our lives. We have had such a great year. While it has been so hard at times, that little smile, that belly laugh, those sweet sweet hugs, and getting to see him hit all those major milestones make everything so worth it! He is just perfect in every single way and there isn't anything that we wouldn't do for him. We can't imagine life without him.

It's a shame his birthday fell on a Monday AND he still has a bit of the stomach bug! He is still not eating much at all, but he hasn't gotten sick or had any bad diapers in two days, so I know he is on the mend. Why do stomach bugs last 24 hours for everyone else, and they last a week for Hudson?!? It is not fair!

.

Joel and I were able to take cupcakes to him this afternoon at daycare, and then he got to spend the rest of the day with me!

We sat him in his little chair at daycare to eat his cupcake and he got up and tried to walk away! You can tell he is having tummy issues when he turns down a cupcake!

Daddy came to the rescue though and gave him a little piece, and then it wasn't so bad! Look at him standing!

It was too tough to keep standing and eating, so he decided to eat it on the floor!

Look who is finally facing forward! He hit the weight limit about 6 months ago (seriously!), but he had to be a year before we could turn him around. He was completely out of room facing backwards, so I know he is much happier now.

And, just for kicks, here are all his monthly chair pictures. I love to see how much he has grown!

I know this is a long post already, but just for my records, here is what Hudson is up to at one year:

• He is starting to take a step forward before either falling or going to his knees. He really wants to walk, but is still a little unsure and not quite confident enough in himself. I think he can do it, but I guess he will do it when he is ready!
• He has two teeth, a top tooth and a bottom one, and there is another top tooth about to break through.
• He is his Daddy's little shadow. Whenever Joel is around, he is right there with him. It is so cute.
• He claps at everything.
• He is still only saying Dada, but he "talks" all the time. His new favorite thing is to look like an Indian (cupping his hand over his mouth while making noise). He thinks he is so funny!
• He loves going outside. He will go to the glass door or the window to our back porch and just bang on it until we go outside. I think we will be enjoying the outdoors a lot in a few months!
• He loves all things sweet, and doesn't love veggies. We are working on this. I'm giving him baby food veggies so I know he is getting them, but as far as the real thing goes, he hates it!
• He loves his sippy cup. I'm still giving him 2 bottles a day, morning and night, but I think I might be able to cut those out soon. He will drink whole milk, so I will probably just replace the formula bottles with sippy cups with whole milk. I don't think it's going to be as much as an issue as I once thought! He still goes nuts when he sees a bottle though.

Happy Birthday sweet boy. We love you so much.