Big Day for Harrison

Yesterday was a big day for Harrison! He sat up by himself all day and did great. No falls, nothing. He played with his toys and I think he loves his new view! And, I loving that he's becoming more stable! I am still not to the point of not putting a pillow behind him, but he's definitely doing it on his own!



Then, last night, he got to try rice cereal for the first time with a spoon. He took it like a champ. I am so glad that I waited an extra month to start with him because I really think he was ready.

He definitely knew what to do. He did gag a few times, but I would gag too because that stuff is pretty gross. I'm sure he will like real baby food better!

He got a little distracted by big brother, but overall, big brother was an excellent teacher!

Love this face...

Overall, it was a very happy experience and I can't wait for him to try some other things!

To top it off, after we put him in his crib for the night, Joel and I were watching him on the monitor and he was trying so hard to roll over. He almost did it! I love watching him reach all of these milestones!

The Fire Truck Party

The big party was Saturday morning. Of course, it didn't happen without a little bit of chaos the day and night before! We were expecting terrible storms on Friday--so bad that they closed all the schools at noon. I had been worried all week about it raining at the party, but by Friday, I knew the party would be fine as long as we could all get there!

Of course the weather wasn't the end of it. Friday afternoon, I tried to get Harrison down for a nap several times, and he just wouldn't have it. He was so fussy, and it was just getting worse by the hour. He would not take his bottles either. I knew something was not right because he is always so happy and easy and never turns down a bottle! At about 8 that night, I decided that I needed to take him to the after hours clinic to get his ears checked because we weren't going to be sleeping that night if I didn't go. I did check the weather before I left to make sure everything was ok (and it was, it never got too bad here at all thank goodness!). Sure enough, it was his ears. We got some antibiotics and some numbing drops that would help him sleep Friday night, and thankfully, they worked like a charm! He woke up starving at 2:30, which I had expected, but after a quick bottle, he was back asleep.

Anyway, I was glad we were able to get a few doses of antibiotics in him before the party. He still wasn't himself, but it was a lot more tolerable than it would have been I think. And, thanks to Migi for loving on him the whole time. We could not have put on this party without Migi taking care of Harrison and without Carrie and Andres getting there early and helping us set up, and helping throughout the party too AND with the clean up! We owe them big time.

Now, for the pictures! We started out at the fire station.

The kids had so much fun climbing in the fire trucks.

The fire men gave them hats and they all loved that!

I love this picture...it just makes me happy to see those kids run with those big smiles! They were all giddy and it was too cute!

Come on boys, smile! Ha! The three H's, Hunt, Hudson, and Haines!

There was no way all those kids were going to look at the camera at the same time. There were some that absolutely would not get up there too. So funny! This is just what you get and I love it!

After a little while at the fire station, we headed down to Overton Park to play and then have lunch and cake.

These two boys are like brothers. They love each other one minute, and are fighting the next. They made a big scene towards the end of the party over sharing a ball (imagine that!), and I was absolutely appalled when my child pushed Caleb down in the mud. I was so embarassed and felt so bad. It was awful. But, apparently, that's what they do, and after some tears and some apologies, they were back to playing again with smiles on their faces.

Ellie Belly and Hudson in the swings.

I didn't get a good picture of all of them eating, but I was shocked that they all sat at the table at the same time and ate. They were all so cute. We just did Chick Fil A nuggets, chips, cheese, and fruit, and then of course, cake. It was easy.

Margaret and Lindsay and sweet Sarah, who was born just 11 days before Harrison!

The birthday boy blowing out his candles!

I forgot to take a picture of the cake before we started cutting it, so this is the best I could do. Pops took one, but I can't seem to get it off the IPad right now. Anyway, I had Publix do the cake and they did a great job! I was impressed with the fire truck!

I had to take this picture because Hudson is crying because he fell in the mud. All the boys were out in the grass playing and one by one, they took a dive in the mud. It was funny to watch them all go down and get dirty! Most of them didn't care, but mine was so upset! He did get over it quickly and fell down a few more times after this. I guess I just need to get used to the mud with boys! :)

I realized after the party that I didn't get a single family picture or a picture of both boys in their cute shirts, which was one of my inspirations for even having this party! I saw these shirts last spring and I said back then that I wanted to do a party at the fire station! Everyone was exhausted, so none of these turned out very well.

We quickly got Hudson in the bath after this picture because he was so muddy, and after that, we opened all of his gifts. We didn't do it at the party because I thought it would just be too much for a bunch of 3 year olds. Hudson had a blast opening them and he got some awesome new things! He was so excited about it and I think he really felt special! Migi and Pops came over shortly after that and brought more gifts! Pops made Hudson (or me, rather!) this adorable bookcase! I just love it and it is exactly what we needed to go in his room!

And after all of that, this is what happened...

Zonked out for three hours on the floor! :)

It was such a fun day and Hudson is still singing Happy Birthday to himself. I'm not sure how make him get that it's over! Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with our sweet Hudson! Turning three has been pretty good for this little guy!

5 Months

Harrison is 5 months old today! It is hard to believe that in one month, he will be half a year old! He is still the absolute sweetest baby and is very laid back. We are still able to go out to eat and do as we please with him in tow. He will just sit in his carseat and be happy. I know those days are soon to end!

Not a whole lot has changed between four and five months. He is still showing no signs of rolling over. He's quite the chunker (just like Hudson was!), so I guess it's hard for him to do it? Not sure, but I know he'll do it when he's ready.

He found his feet this month and I just love seeing him reach for those toesies! He is still grabbing things like crazy and starting to put things in his mouth. Love those days. Ha! I can't really eat meals anymore with him in my lap. He wants to grab everything on my plate. It's definitely time to get the high chair out.

We changed his feeding schedule this month to stretch out his feedings. We tried doing eight ounces every four hours, but he just couldn't handle the eight, so we are doing seven ounces and he can still pretty much make it the four hours. I forgot how much easier it makes things to stretch the feedings out, even by just an hour. That is one less bottle to wash a day too, so that's great for me! We started putting cereal in all of his bottles at the beginning of the month and that really helped with his spitting up, but then I got worried that maybe he was getting too much so I just do cereal in his last bottle of the night. Unfortunately, since doing that, he is now getting up in the middle of the night again (not that he has really ever slept through the night, but he's back to needing a snack again during the night). I think it is time to start doing cereal with the spoon, so hopefully this weekend, I'm going to try it and maybe that will help fill his tummy more! I just feel like we can't get it right with him. Hudson was so easy when it came to sleeping. It's not that it's horrible because we really are used to it and Joel and I are taking turns sleeping in the guest bedroom and doing baby duty, so we're tired, but it's ok. I know it won't last forever.

He is mostly taking a nap in the morning and in the afternoon, and a cat nap when we get home around 4:30 to around 5:30. He's down for the night by 7:30, if we make it that far.

He's doing great with his sitting up. I hope to report by six months that he's doing it on his own!

He loves bath time and splashes like crazy. His legs are always kicking! He also still loves the jumperoo.

He has the sweetest little giggle. He is so ticklish on his chest and on those chunky legs. He will just crack up when you tickle him.

His hair is really starting to come in and it's a lot blonder than I thought it would be. It's definitely not red like Hudson's was! He's still in 6-9 month clothes and is in a size 3 diaper.

Happy 5 months little buddy! We can't wait to see what is in store for us next month!

Happy 3rd Birthday Hudson!

Today is Hudson's 3rd birthday! I can't believe it has been 3 years. It has flown by. This birthday has been so much fun. He woke up this morning and came downstairs singing Happy Birthday to himself. It was hilarious. He immediately wanted to know when we were heading to the fire station. It's hard to explain that today was his birthday, but that his party wasn't until Saturday! He was ready to go today!

I made him take the obligatory 3 year old picture in his birthday shirt. He was cheesing it up (I promise there was not a reward for smiling at all--ha!).

I love this kid!

We have had a fun time celebrating Hudson's special day. We started out the morning with a trip to Krispy Kreme for a donut and chocolate milk.

I know it is Hudson's day, but this little guy was too cute to leave out!

He was sugared up ALL day. I loved seeing him so giddy about it being his birthday!

Hudson went to school for a bit and I sent cupcakes that he helped me put icing and sprinkles on last night. On a side note, after we were done last night, Hudson thanked me for helping him make cupcakes. :) Sweet boy.

Joel came home from work early and Big Mama and Big Daddy came over to bring a few presents for Mr. Hudson. He LOVED this tool bench! We have since put it together and Hudson threw a fit tonight when we told him he had to go to bed. He did not want to stop playing with his tools!

He got a monster truck and also a remote controlled rat, which might be the funniest thing I have ever seen and has already provided lots of entertainment for all of us, including the dogs!

He then got to open his gifts from us! Can you tell he's excited?!?!?

He was so funny unwrapping the presents. He would not look at the present until ALL of the wrapping paper was off it. He doesn't look too happy with the easel that he got below, but trust me, he kept talking about wanting to go paint the whole night. We have not put it together yet, but I have a feeling the paint part might get "misplaced" for a while! :) We're going to have to set some rules with this thing, especially since we already have yellow highlighter all over our white kitchen cabinets, but I think he's really going to love it. He's very into coloring, drawing pictures, and even spelling these days (not that he knows how to write what he spells yet, but he will spell his name out loud and "write" it on the paper).

I ran across a book deal a few weeks ago in which you got 10 classic children's books for $16, which included shipping. I could not pass it up. Hudson LOVES books, so these were a hit too (of course not near as big of a hit as the other toys, but that was to be expected!). Joel and I were excited to get him some new books because we get kind of tired of reading the same books over and over again every night!

He also got a t-ball set and you know I was proud when he was able to hit it off the tee on the first try. I got the biggest kick out of Joel when he was trying to teach Hudson how to hit it off the tee. He said you have to bend your knees, hold the bat back, keep your head down, and when Joel took a swing, he whiffed! I almost fell on the ground I was laughing so hard. Oh and he's a lefty, so it's just different for us righties trying to teach him the way to do things (not that he was really interested in us teaching him anyway--he's all about doing it himself!). I think we'll have fun with this though!

To end the night, we took Hudson to Sol Azteca to eat his favorite, a quesadilla. We even got the mariachi band to sing Happy Birthday to him!

This was his look the entire time that they were singing to him...

Scared? Not sure! He absolutely would not wear the sombrero (which was a-ok with us as who knows who has worn that hat previously!). He did talk to Unkin Stuart after dinner and told him all about the band that sang Happy Birthday to him. He was very proud, so I guess he enjoyed it!

It has been such a fun birthday for Hudson. He totally "gets" it this year, which I just love! Now we are looking forward to celebrating with his little friends at his party on Saturday!

Happy Birthday sweet boy! We love you so so so much!!!