Hudson is 1 year old!

Our little man is turning one this week.  Time is flying by faster than I ever thought possible.

Here are some of the things that have been going on in our world...

• Hudson is walking constantly.  He is also learning to climb on to furniture and can get over our ottoman "gate" that we have been using to lock him inside of the living room.  He certainly keeps us on our toes.  
• Some of his words include "mama", "dada", "bubba", "Dog", "ball", "elmer", "uh oh", "bye"
• He loves shaking his head no and yes.  It is so adorable and he is so animated. 
• He gives the biggest hugs and HUGE wet kisses on command. 
• Some favorite toys include anything with wheels, balls, stuffed animals and anything that his big brother is playing with. 
• He LOVES to eat.  He is always saying "mmmmm" while he eats.  
• Hudson is absolutely in love with his big brother and they are starting to have so much fun playing together.  I cannot get enough of it and could watch them forever. They have such a special bond.  It is amazing.
• Sleeping is going great! He is usually in bed by 7:30 every night and sleeps until at least 7:00 AM.  On the weekends when we don't have to wake him he easily sleeps until 8. 
• Bath time is still a favorite and now Hudson has realized that it is fun to stick his head under the faucet while it is running.  It isn't relaxing for mom and dad but he is having a blast! 
• Hudson loves music and dances a ton. He is always looking to make sure he has an audience.  
• He is a total mama's boy and I love it.  He thinks his dad is the funniest person alive :)
• He loves blowing kisses and waving "bye" and "hi" to everyone he sees.  
• Hudson smiles more than any baby I have ever seen.  He is just such a ray of sunshine.  

Here are some recent pictures of our guy from his cake smash session.

Our Beach Trip

In June, we were lucky enough to enjoy a week away in the Outer Banks.  Here are some photos from our trip. Both boys absolutely loved the beach.  My family joined us for the first few nights but we finished out the week, just the 4 of us and it was very nice to be able to slow down and savor time just the 4 of us.  It was a blast.  Days full of playing on the beach, eating yummy food, napping and just enjoying the view.

Hudson- 9 Months!

     Weight: 21 lbs, 4 oz. as of September 12 

Clothes: 9-12 month

EATING

Hudson loves feeding himself.  He is quite the little beggar and wants to eat anything that mama, daddy and big bro have on their plates.  Some of his favorite things to feed himself are potatoes (white and sweet), cooked carrots, muffins, graham crackers, bananas and mandarin oranges. He will basically eat anything we give him with a lot of excitement. 

PLAY and MOBILITY
Hudson is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, walking along walls and furniture, standing unassisted and taking a few steps here and there.  I do not think it will be long before he is walking! He loves walking behind push toys. Hudson loves any toys that light up or make noise, he is also a big fan of balls and blocks.  The beagles and his big brother are his favorite jungle gym. 

 TEETHING

6 teeth now!  He went from having one tooth to having  6 in just a few weeks.

Other updates!
Waving "hi" and "bye".
Another new thing Hudson does is shaking his head "no".  In fact, when he is eating and finished, he shakes his head no to tell me when he is done.  

Hudson laughs so much! He loves to be tickled and play peekaboo.   

Sleep has been hit and miss.  Some nights he sleeps great and others he is up several times.  It is a work in progress.
He says "mama", "dada" and "Elma" (elmer).



Time

Every single day I go to bed thinking "I cannot forget the little things that happened today" and 95% of the time I forget to write them down and they get lost in the back of my mind until suddenly something triggers a little memory of a tiny (or big) moment that has happened in my life.  So many of these memories are surrounding my little family.  Photography is one of the ways I can preserve these moments.  I am so thankful that we are able to do this type of thing to have something to look back on in the future and show the boys as they grow up.

The little years are SO fast. Too fast. PAINFULLY fast.  I cannot get enough of these boys, watching them together, with their daddy, with me... playing with them, cuddling with them, loving on them, sitting with them, running with them. All of it.  It is overwhelming and I get choked up whenever I think about how fast time has flown since we decided to start this journey of having children or even since I met Jack in 10th grade. Jack is quickly turning into a little boy and out of the toddler stage and as that is happening Hudson is becoming a toddler faster than I ever thought possible.

Jack and I have been together for almost 15 years and although that seems like forever to some it also feels like just yesterday he was asking me to be his girlfriend while standing in his mom's laundry room when my mom came to pick me up since neither of us were old enough to drive at the time. We have seen so much and done so much together.  All of the experiences are things that I will treasure forever.  Being a parent with him is the best by far.

I have a shirt that says "These are the days", and although cheesy, it is true.  These ARE the days.  Soaking them in and trying to enjoy them as much as possible. Even among the chaos and stress that comes along with life sometimes.

Thankful every second for this life that I have and the ones I get to share it with.