A Few Tidbits

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. I just haven't had much to blog about! Here are just a few tidbits of what's going on in the Reed household. There are no pictures either...I guess the lack in blogging has caused me to take less pictures!

• We had Hudson's one year pictures made about a month ago. Go to www.erinnolenphotography.com/reedspring10 to check them out. I think they turned out great!
• Hudson's last day at Bekare is tomorrow! I'm starting to get a little sad and I'm wondering if we are making the right decision. There are a couple of teachers at Bekare that we are REALLY going to miss! I hate goodbyes and change has never been one of my favorite things! I just hate to think about dropping him off on Monday in a new environment and how he is going to react. Please say a little prayer that the transition goes well. He will be going to Mother's Day Out from 8-3:30 Monday through Thursday at a local church. I will get to spend more time with him each day, so that is a huge plus for me, and we have heard great things about the MDO program so I really think it's going to be a good change once we get into the swing of things! His class will be smaller and the teacher to child ratio is much better so he will be getting a lot of attention! I'm really excited about that. I'm also hoping that he won't be as sick either (ears have been draining both this week and last...can't seem to get over these ear infections). Oh and one more positive is that we won't be paying $1,000 a month anymore! Woo hoo for that raise!
• My sister is coming into town on Friday! We can't wait to see her and Andres. We are all headed up to Mentone on Friday to spend some time at the cabin with the whole fam. It's going to be good times! She is leaving on Sunday so it's a short trip, but we'll take what we can get. Maybe one of these days, I'll make it out to Los Angeles to visit!
• As for an update on Hudson's walking, there isn't much of one! He is still taking about 5-6 steps at a time, but definitely not walking full-time. Crawling is still the way to go. He will be 14 months old on Saturday, so I think it's about time that he starts!
• We have officially dropped the morning nap. I was dreading that day, but actually, it's been ok. I feel like we can get out and do things in the mornings, and then he takes a really long (usually 2-3 hours) nap in the afternoon. It has worked out better than I thought.
• One more not so fun thing is that Hudson has decided that Mama is not his #1 for the time being. I feel so left out and it makes me so upset! He cries when I take him from Joel and immediately tries to go right back to him--it's not just every once in a while either, it is EVERY time. I know it is just a stage, but I would much rather it be the other way around with me being his favorite! :) I guess that Joel always gets to be fun...I'm always changing his diaper, wiping his nose, cutting fingernails, cleaning ears, making him eat those veggies that he hates, dropping him off at daycare, and the list goes on and on...all things that he hates. At least that is what I keep telling myself that's why he prefers Joel over me right now! He is also obsessed with his grandparents and pitches a fit when we leave them. It makes their day, but let's just say it is difficult trying to strap Hudson in the carseat when he is arching his back and throwing an all out fit because he would rather stay with them! Our feelings are a little hurt! Guess that means it's time to have weekend stays at the grandparents' houses! Ha!

That's about all that's going on. Not much, huh?!?!

A Little 13 1/2 Month Update

I decided not to continue the monthly pictures on the chair when Hudson turned one (getting way too hard to do!), but now I'm regretting not giving a monthly update on what he's up to (and the baby book has still not been touched!), so here'a a little update!


Hudson is starting to walk! He is still wobbly, but he's got the mummy walk down pat and today, he walked all the way across the kitchen which was the farthest he has gone so far! He is not full blown walking yet (he still prefers to crawl when he wants to get somewhere fast), but he is walking most places in our house. He is gaining more and more confidence every day. Tonight, he got to a standing position from a sitting position. I was a very proud mama!

His pointer finger is the key to everything he wants right now. He is constantly pointing us to where he wants to go. The funniest thing to me is that we have never had any trouble getting Hudson to go to sleep at night, and now is still no exception. As soon as we get in his room at night, or in the middle of reading him a book if we make it that far, he points right to the crib to let us know he is ready. We lay him down and that's all it takes! I do know that we are extremely lucky with this bedtime routine and I'm sure will pay for this with the next baby!

He takes a paci only at nap time and at night. In the morning when I get him out of the crib, I say, "Hudson, what do we do with Mr. Paci?" He immediately takes it out of his mouth and throws it back into the crib, with a huge grin on his face. It's awesome!

He understands what the word "outside" means. He heads straight to the back door when we mention the word, even if we are just talking to the dogs! He always wants to be outside. He also understands what we mean when we ask him if he's hungry and wants to eat. He will make a beeline straight for the high chair! Then the battle begins. He is a very picky eater and I almost dread meal time every day because I don't know what he will eat and what he won't. You just never know. He has had the most random things to eat because I don't want him to starve and he wouldn't eat anything else offered. Veggies are the worst. He will eat carrots, but that's hit or miss. The thing that I know he will eat every day, and probably would eat every meal, is bananas. He had a fit in the grocery store the other day when we simply walked past the bananas. I thought I might just have to grab one and give it to him while we shopped, but luckily he calmed down when they were out of sight! He is slightly obsessed. At least bananas are healthy! It could be much worse!

One word that he is choosing to ignore is the word "no." I have started giving him a little pinch on his hand because that is all that works! He laughs at me when I say no to him...and this is only about 200 times a day! I am trying to be more firm, but I obviously am lacking in the discipline area!

He still hates being dropped off at daycare and in the church nursery. I hope this phase passes fast because it is awful!

Hudson is saying dada, bah (ball), dah (dog or door, but in the right context each time!), uh oh, and bye bye.

He has 4 teeth now (2 up, 2 down) and I think there is another one about to come through up top. We have started brushing his teeth, which is pretty funny. He's not too thrilled with it.

Hudson is wearing mostly 24 month clothes, with still some 18 month pants. He has really short legs and a long torso, so the 18 month pants are still kind of long, but when he wears one piece jon jons or shortalls, he has to have the 24 month or 2T because his torso is long! He is still in size 4 diapers.

Look at those legs! I could just eat them up!


This was Hudson running away from the camera! He wouldn't stay still!

Hudson is so much fun these days! He really keeps us laughing and we just love him so much. His hugs are the absolute best and that smile, it just melts me every time!

* New post below!

A-Day

We went down to A-Day in Auburn yesterday. It was a madhouse! You would have thought it was a real game day with all the people that were there. I think we're all excited about the upcoming football season and everyone was itching to get a glimpse!

How adorable does this little guy look in his Auburn hat?!?!? Actually, he looks a little frat boy like with the hat and sunglasses around his neck!



My wonderful dad gave us his parking pass which put us right next to the stadium. Otherwise, with kid in tow, and it being a thousand degrees outside, we might have thought twice about going! We got there in time to have a little tailgate with Trey, Shondra, and Morgan, before the game started. I was in such a rush trying to get Hudson to eat something (of course he wouldn't eat anything!) that I didn't take a single picture.



Hudson didn't last very long at the game. With it being at 1, it was right in the middle of Hudson's nap time. I thought we might get lucky and him fall asleep in the stadium, but that was not going to happen. He wanted to walk around and even had a few arch the back fits! Fun times! We didn't get to see much of the game, but what we did see was good! It was fun just being back in the atmosphere though. I miss football season!

The other thing we got to do while we were down there was to tour the new basketball arena. They opened it up to the public and it was so nice! Joel is now talking about buying season basketball tickets. I love basketball, but a. it's not like a new arena is going to turn around our terrible basketball program right away (we are still going to be terrible, new arena or not!) and b. Auburn is 2 hours away and we probably won't be making it for many games for obvious reasons so why waste the money! Hopefully I will win this battle, but who knows!

Overall, while we didn't get to stay long at the game, it was a fun trip to Auburn. I wish we could have stayed in Auburn longer and gotten to walk around a little bit more, but it was so crowded (and really hot too!). We'll have to make another trip soon!

Another One in the Books!

Well, I have survived another busy season...my 7th actually (and for some reason, I keep going back for more!). Luckily for me, this one wasn't near as bad as all the rest due to me being part-time! Don't get me wrong, it was still stressful. Being part-time just means you have less time to get the same stuff done so every minute is important! Being a mom made it harder as well and I realize that it's probably going to be like this every busy season with all the sickness that occurs in the winter! Let's just say that I have earned a whole lot of respect for full-time working mothers, especially accountants, that are required to put in 60-65 hour weeks for 4 months out of the year. I don't know how they do it, and I hope and pray every day that I never have to experience that--I am truly counting my lucky stars to be able to do what I do!

We had a big April 15th party last night at Rogue Tavern to celebrate the end. I'm not a tax accountant so April 15th really means nothing to me, but the auditors still have just as rough of a busy season as the tax people...it just starts earlier in January and is supposed to end a little earlier than April 15th if all goes well. I've had some years where we couldn't even celebrate on the 15th since we weren't done, but this year, I started to slow down about a week ago and enjoyed my night out last night! It was so nice to have a few drinks and catch up with everyone that I had not seen in a while. Being an auditor means being out of the office a ton, so we don't get to see everyone on a daily basis. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of last night's party. I'm sure it went well into the night, but this mama had to get home and to bed at a reasonable time so I wouldn't feel awful today! My little alarm clock (aka Hudson) woke up at 6:45 this morning!

This little guy got to hang out with his Daddy and Migi and Pops! He had a great time and probably didn't miss me a bit!

Hudson has really turned into such a show-off these days. I just love it!

Today, Hudson and I went and visited with Mama Jean, met Joel for lunch, went on a wagon ride, and went to the park! It was a fun day, just the two of us. Joel was busy doing yard work all afternoon. We are looking forward to a fun family day tomorrow in AUBURN! We are going to A-Day and can't wait to be there!

Have I mentioned how out of control Hudson's hair is???

This was mid-outfit change today...he was being such a ham! Excuse the drool...I think we are majorly teething these days! I'm hoping to see some progress in the tooth department soon!

You would think that I would doing something other than posting on my blog on a Friday night, but I wouldn't trade a Friday night at home for anything right now! We put Hudson down at 7, cooked out, and are just chilling right now! Doesn't get much better! Oh and just to sound even more nerdier, we'll probably be in bed by 9 too! Yay for sleep!

The Walking Department

Here is a video showing Hudson's walking progress. This was filmed last weekend and he has taken steps like this almost every day since. I think we are getting close! As you can see, we had to entice him with a door. That seems to work almost every time! He is slightly obsessed with opening and closing doors and the one to the outside is his ultimate favorite! Poor kid, once wasn't good enough for us...we made him do it twice (actually, this was probably the fifth or sixth time we made him do it--just didn't think to get the camera out until later!).

MDO Help and Weekend Pictures

It has been one stressful week, but this weekend made up for it! The weather was beautiful and we are all so thankful that spring has arrived.

Rewinding back to last week, Hudson had another ear infection last Tuesday. I called the doctor just to let them know so that they can keep track of them (with tubes, all you are supposed to do is to put ear drops in when he gets an infection and let the doctor know by phone--you aren't supposed to have to go to the doctor anymore), however, since he had had another one only 10 days prior, they wanted to see him. Just a side note, Hudson took his last dose of the antibiotic from the previous infection last Sunday night! It is ridiculous! So, we are armed with another set of antibiotics and hoping that this one will do the trick.

We are very close to Hudson's pediatrician. He was Joel's pediatrician and he thinks of Hudson as his own. He has done so much for us and I am so thankful that he is Hudson's doctor. I wouldn't trust anyone else! I had a long conversation with Dr. C while we were there, and he recommended that we take him out of full-time daycare to let his immune system take a break. I guess Joel and I have been thinking about this for a while for various reasons, but to have the doctor tell me this, I really felt like I needed to do something about it immediately. He recommended that if I couldn't stay home (which I can't in the immediate future), that I put him in a Mother's Day Out. All day Tuesday I researched and called places around town in hopes that there might be a spot available. It is so hard to get in the good places around here without being on a waiting list for 2 years! And, it seems like all the registration dates for MDO's around here have passed and they are full. It has been so stressful trying to figure out what to do. I don't want to send him just anywhere, and I needed somewhere that I could still work my 28 hours a week (or something close to that). I worried about it all last week. Luckily, things got better on Friday, and I think we have found something for him at a church and I am happy with it--I have just never been good with change and when it affects my child, I am even more scared about it! The place is not convenient at all, but it would work with my hours and we have a friend there so that makes me feel so much better about it. There is one spot left so I feel like it was maybe meant to be, but for whatever reason I just haven't pulled the trigger and signed him up! If anyone that reads this has any recommendations, we are open!

Although Hudson had an ear infection, he wasn't feeling all that terrible on Tuesday so we went to the park and were outside for much of the day. I tried to put his sunglasses on him, but he didn't want them on his face at all! Luckily, he was feeling better by Wednesday and I sent him back to daycare.


By Friday, Hudson was all better. Saturday, we went to Blaine's soccer game in Trussville, ate lunch at Chick-fil-A, which Hudson LOVES, and then headed to Morgan's 7th birthday party (and watched a little of the Master's in between!). I love having things to do on the weekends, and when the weather is as pretty as it was this weekend, it's even better!



Hudson had so much fun playing in their backyard!

He also enjoyed a hot dog and some cake. He threw a major fit when we took the cake away!

The best part about Saturday was that my parent's offered to keep Hudson Saturday night so that Joel and I could go to dinner! It was awesome! We haven't been out to dinner just the two of us since New Year's and it was a much needed adult night out. We were only gone about an hour and a half, but it was so nice. My parent's took Hudson to the park and had a fun time too!

We went to our new Sunday school class this morning and it was great! It is at Vestavia Methodist and it is for parents with young children. If anyone is interested in going with us, let me know! We are very excited about it and feel like it is a class that the church has needed for a while. We had over 40 people there today so it is a big class. Hudson was not happy about being put in the nursery, so we didn't stay for the service, but I'm already looking forward to next Sunday!

We all had a fun time in the yard this afternoon. Hudson is so much happier when he is outside. He is saying "ball" and "dog" now, so it's pretty exciting! Well, it's more like "ba" and "da", but he's saying it at the appropriate times so we know that's what he's talking about!

He loves to mow the lawn and help his Daddy with the yard work!

I was unloading groceries in the kitchen earlier tonight and looked over at Hudson and he was IN the trash can! I know, gross, but it was hilarious. He would crawl in and then quickly crawl back out and look at us to make sure we were watching. Joel and I got so tickled that Hudson just kept on doing it! He was definitely putting on a show!

How can you get mad at this little guy (even if he did knock the trash can over and crawl in it and get his Sunday clothes all dirty!)?!?!?

I'm trying to upload a video of Hudson taking a few steps, but it is not working tonight. Be sure to check back soon! We are oh so close to having a walking little fella! Finally, because he sure is getting heavy!!!

Easter Fun

The Easter bunny made a stop by our house on Easter morning...

Hudson was pretty excited to see all his goodies!

This picture cracks me up. The book says, "Touch the cow. Do it now." It's very demanding.

Hudson thinks it's pretty funny too!

We went to church yesterday morning with the Reed's. It was one of the best sermons we've heard! I remember back to last year when Easter was Hudson's first time to church. We were too scared to put him in the nursery since he was only 5 or so weeks old, so he went to the service with us and slept through the whole thing! There is no way we could do that this year! There is absolutely no quiet time with this little guy. In fact, Joel and I were riding home last night after all the festivities and I told Joel that my ears needed a break. Hudson's new thing is to squeal as loud as he can for the entire car ride. It's wonderful!

I love this picture of Hudson and Pops (Joel's Dad).

Here is the Reed clan at the cross.

Here is our sweet little family.

From church, we went to my parent's house for an Easter egg hunt and lunch. Hudson started off strong in the egg hunt, but then decided he would rather chase the dogs around. I guess we had one too many egg hunts this weekend! Ha! The Easter bunny brought Hudson a big stuffed animal and a book. Thanks Big Mama and Big Daddy and Mama Jean!

Here's a picture of my parents with their grandchildren. Blaine wasn't able to make it, but we missed him dearly!

I told my brother Trey that I would give him a shout out on the blog since he took our family picture. He is such a great photographer (and an excellent tax preparer too if you need some tax help!)!!! Trey, you can thank me later. We are all laughing pretty hard because my Mom is behind the camera doing jumping jacks and making crazy faces. Oh the things we do to get a one year old to smile! Thanks Mom!

This picture is on here for blackmail purposes. Wouldn't you smile at that face too?!?!?

That was the end of the picture taking for the day, but after we left my parent's house, we went home so Hudson could take a much needed nap. We had a little bird incident at the house which woke Hudson up early. A bird flew in our house and we could not get it to go out! It flew up onto our chandelier in our foyer, which is a two story foyer, and it wouldn't move. I asked Joel if it would be good if I got some socks to throw at the bird and he said it would be fine. I started throwing them, and after a few times Joel told me to stop because he was afraid the socks would land in the lights. He went outside for a second and I decided to throw just one more pair, and wouldn't you know my basketball skills came back and I not only hit the bird, but the socks fell in the lights so now we can't turn our chandelier on anymore until we get them out! Anyone have a big two story ladder we can borrow??? Needless to say, Joel was so mad at me and Hudson woke up in the process...oh, and the bird was still in the house. We were finally able to get it out, but not before it went to the bathroom all over our house. Gross.

After that drama, we headed back over to the Reed's to play for the afternoon and had dinner. The Easter bunny had made a stop at the Reed's house too and Hudson got some great beach toys, some sunglasses, a big stuffed rabbit, and most importantly, teddy grahams and goldfish! Thanks Migi and Pops! Hudson was such a trooper all day. He just loves people. He only had an hour and a half nap all day and he was still smiling last night at 7! We just love our little buddy.

Hope everyone had a great Easter too!

VCC Egg Hunt

Our good friends Megan and Reese invited us to an Easter egg hunt at Vestavia Country Club this afternoon. We had such a great time!

This was the best picture we could do with two mobile toddlers. Hunt is a lot more mobile than Hudson so I'm suprised he's actually sitting in this picture! Hudson was obsessed with his Easter basket.


The weather was actually pretty by the time we got there, but they had already decided to move the Easter egg hunt inside since it was a little wet and muddy outside. They had a separate hunt for kids ages 1-2. It was total chaos! I was not prepared for the madness. You have to get your eggs fast because they get gone in a hurry! Oh and you also have to watch your basket because there were a lot of thieves out there! Ha! Hudson was a little timid at first (there was a lot going on!) and then he got the hang of it. We only walked away with about 4 eggs, but we were proud of our little man for figuring it out! The hunt lasted about 3 minutes by the way...there were so many people there!

The eggs were filled with jelly beans. I'm not sure how smart that was based on the fact that 1-2 year olds were picking these up. Naturally, while we were in the car ride home, I noticed that Hudson had gotten into one of the eggs and had a jelly bean in his mouth! I was able to get it before he tried to swallow it, but it scared me to death.

I think this is so sweet of Hudson and Hunt! They were helping each other!

Sweet boys...

The Easter bunny was there too. I knew Hudson was going to be terrified (heck, I think I was a little terrified myself--look at that thing!), but we wanted to get him up close anyway...you know, for the photo op! I was going to take him to the mall yesterday to have his picture taken with him, but decided that it would probably be more torture than anything else and a definite waste of money! I'm sure glad I decided that! He didn't want to have anything to do with the Easter bunny. Every time we got close, he started crying! He was definitely clinging to his Daddy!

They also had a train ride so we took Hudson on it. You can't tell in this picture, but he loved it!

Thanks for inviting us Megan and Reese! We had a ton of fun!

Egg Hunting Practice

Hudson practiced his egg hunting skills this morning in the back yard. We had a basket full of eggs and put them around the yard. He is still not walking, but he is doing really well holding on with one hand. He even took one successful step by himself this morning without falling. Of course, then he decided he wasn't sure about that and dropped to his knees, but progress is progress!

He really liked holding the eggs and banging them together.

I tried to teach him to put the eggs IN the basket, but all he wanted to do was to take the eggs OUT!

He wouldn't look at the camera of course.

We can't wait for Easter Sunday!

Hope everyone has a great Good Friday and remembers what Easter is all about!