happy holiday season

This year, for the fourth year in a row, we went to our local mall to take pictures with Santa. It's been the same Santa every time, which is awesome. The first year we went there was no line, and we were in and out. The others have been quite different! So as we waited in line for what seemed like forever, we took a couple pictures and enjoyed the time together. Hudson has made a turn this year with picture taking - he now enjoys having his picture taken, and will sometimes ask you to take one of him doing something he enjoys or thinks is photo worthy. Stella did great hanging out with everyone while we were in line, but when it came time for Santa's lap, that was a differen story. So needless to say (a picture is worth a thousand words for sure on this one), he picture was quick, and the memory great.

Andy and I both agree we have the most amazing, beautiful, loving kids ever (like so many parents do i'm sure), and this holiday I've committed myself to appreciating the time we have together. We have been reading lots of Christmas stories, watching the holiday flicks (especially Rudolph, Frosy, and the Polar Express), and of course enjoying the season's goodies!! Good thing Abbie's wedding is coming to help remind me i can't let loose entirely! Hudson has loved the Christmas music, and regularly sings his favorites throughout the day. It's hilarious to hear the words he chooses, since they're mostly wrong or not even words at all, but his melody is always good!

Didn't even have to ask and he hops up in the "Ice Princess'" lap for a beautiful picture. He's a ham, for sure!

Stella loves music so much, it's wonderful to watch her dance and light up whenever an instrument or tune is played. We will need to get her taking lessons while she's young so she can be the family musician!! maybe take after her great grandpa...

10 months with Stella

Now that stella is crawling everywhere, she and hudson have moments when they actually play well together. Hudson loves having Stella in the train with him, and she loves crawling in and out just as much as he does. The hard part is them crawling over each other to get out the same exit...but it works for most of the time. ;)

Hudson has taken to asking me to take pictures of things these days, when he feels like he does something that needs to be recorded. He and Andy were both sitting with a blanket and a stuffed animal, staged by Hudson himself. Once he sat down he immediately told me to get the camera and take a picture of him and Daddy. So funny!

This is another Hudson orchestrated photo - he was getting out of the bath and stella was prepping to get in, so he suggested I take a picture of both of them naked. Stella currently loves holding on to the bathtub like this, so i just had Hudson stand with her for the pic. Not much padding on either kid, but the buns are my favorite!! This was how we wrapped up our Thanksgiving Day here in Denver. The turkey turned out good, we had beautiful weather, and you can't complain when you "end" a day like this!

Our Stella is 10 months old!! Hard to believe we are two months from having a one year old. Time has definitely gone faster with her than it felt like with Hudson. They both keep us quite busy, and Stella has taken off with her crawling and getting into things! By the end of the work week i'm fully ready for a couple days to relax, clean, and bond with these kiddos!

A few things about our sweet girl:
1. She loves her solid foods! She's still eating between 26-34 ounces of milk a day (usually), and now has three meals a day plus snacks also! She loves any finger food she can feed herself, so i'm always trying to introduce something else. It's funny though because she almost doesn't like the spoon as much because she'd rather feed herself! So far she loves her fruits, green beans for sure, and though she makes a funny face with things like hummus, she still eats it! She still has her days of small eating, and she is by no means a big eater, but she's enjoying all her new options!

2. Crawling - well she was a few months later than Hudson in the crawling department, but she has taken off! She's working on stairs right now, and though she likes crawling she also loves walking! She loves when you hold her hands so she can use those feet - so we are wondering if she will be crawling by her first birthday?? Maybe by Auntie Abbie's wedding in February! Either way, it's fun to watch her get herself around, even though everything needs to be babyproofed again!

3. Stella typically sleeps from about 7/7:30 - 5:30/6:00. She goes to be very easily, but ideally we would love for her to sleep until about 6-6:30! Hudson often wakes up at this time too, so we think we may be doomed to have early risers.

Our little princess is getting better and better at letting us know what she does and doesn't want - and she really only cries when she's hurt, so that's great! She loves to be where brother is, and still likes to look around an observe rather than be part of the show (unlike her brother). She doesn't take great to strangers, but if mommy is holding her she can usually do ok. She is doing great at daycare, and now loves to play peek-a-boo, patty cake, and just loves clapping and dancing in general. I've found her playing the tamborine quite a few times at daycare! So maybe she'll be a little dancing musician?

She is a wonderful balance with our boy, and though she's not the biggest snuggler, she will give you hugs and kisses if you ask, and when she's tired or hurt, mommy is the comfort winner. Which is fine by me!

visit from Sandra, a weekend with the God Daughter and Doctor Hudson

This last weekend we had a visit from my friend Sandra - and we all had a great time with her!

Hudson had a special day going to see Sesame Street Live with Sandra and I - and has been good at getting his doctoring skills refined lately too!

Our Dr. Rosdil - making sure he has his glasses on before he takes your blood pressure or checks your eyes out! He just may have a future in this...:)

around the house

Our evenings and mornings are pretty routine, but it's becoming more fun with Stella now getting around on her own (at least more fun for us…not always for Hudson now that she's getting to his toys!)

 Our little girl loves her peak-a-boo!

Birthday fun

On Andy's birthday, we didn't have day care, so i took the day off to be with the kids. Andy also happened to have his "topping out" party at work, so we were able to go see him for part of the day and celebrate the highest point of his building being reached! A Boulder birthday!

CRAWLING

OK I know i just wrote an entry saying Stella was almost crying, and it probably took two days from then to finally figure it out - cause we've got a crawler! she is so adorable, she has quickly mastered going from laying down to sitting up to crawling and back! She also loves pulling herself up and standing - and would prefer you hold her hands so she can walk!! So who knows, but i wouldn't be surprised if she is walking before she's 1…just because she wants to motor!! 

Hudson

 our Hudson is growing up so fast!!! He now knows all his letters, is learning to write them, can count to 20 and almost count backward from there, has a wonderfully growing vocabulary, and continues to be challenged by his sister so his learning to share is on a big curve as well. :) He still takes about a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon, sleeps from around 7:30pm to 6(ish)am, and typically sings himself to sleep each night. He has started singing along to any song he knows, which is so awesome to listen to. He has mastered riding his strider bike, and loves throwing the ball and playing in the backyard. He's loving the fall and winter seasons with the holidays, so we talk a lot about halloween, thanksgiving, and Christmas! Still a very happy, social guy, this little extrovert will always jump at the chance to be with other people (wonder where he gets that??) What an amazing person you continue to become Hudson!! We love you very much!~

9 months

Our baby girl is 9 months! She is an AMAZING smiley little thing! Here are the stats:
Weight: 17 lbs 3 oz (25%)
Height: 28 1/4 inches (75%)
Head: 17 3/4 (75%)

SO she is still our tall string bean! Our bean just fills us with so much happiness - she has the sweetest disposition! Laid back and relaxed, until she knows what she wants! She loves to smile and laugh, and still loves her big bro more than anything! Right now she is eating between 26-32 ounces of milk a day, with 3 small meals along with that - she loves peas, peaches, and trying whatever we are eating! Her tummy doesn't love trying new things, but hopefully she will outgrow that! We still deal with her laryngomalacia, but it has certainly gotten better over the months. And it absolutely does not get her down!! She is ALMOST crawling now, and is totally frustrated when she can't get to what she wants quickly. SO, like most babies at this age, she has figured out her own way to get there. She also loves standing, and is pulling herself up any chance she can get - not totally stable yet, but we are thinking she'll be going from 0-60 by thanksgiving! For now i'm relishing the last weeks/days of not having to worry about everything Hudson leaves on the floor...

Fall walks and big changes

 Hudson rides his Strider like a champ these days! I think he'll be more than ready for a regular bike next spring!!

 Stella knows how to read already!! What? The book is UPSIDE DOWN?? oh. OK well at least she's trying!! :) Below you can see she's wearing an adorable little hat one of my students made her - so cute!!

 After spending 10 of it's 17 years in existence with Andy as it's owner, it is finally time to say goodbye to the Impala. About two weeks ago Andy found and bought his next car (seen below) the Pontiac GT G8. It's a 2009, and the guy he bought it from treated it like a trophy - keeping it in almost brand new condition! So it's a great find and I know Andy will likely drive it into the ground, just like the Impala. I do have to say though, i'm glad to see the boat go!! :)

 Our big girl is growing so quick! She's been struggling with her eating again lately, and we were at the doctor twice last week (once for her 9 month check up) just to make sure she was doing ok health wise. She still needs her meds twice a day, and has been eating less than before for some reason. She's still very happy, and sleeps fine, but the food is just a bit of a stinker! She weighs in ok at the doc, so we're not overly worried, but it's not always easy!

 It's been a beautiful fall here in Denver, and we've been loving our weekend walks/bike rides through the neighborhood! One thing's for sure, when Colorado has fall (without going straight to snow and cold from summer) it sure is nice!

halloween

 Well, this halloween costume decision making process did not quite go how expected. We wanted Stella to be a mermaid, since she wakes us up with her legs flapping on the bed like a fish every morning. I wasn't able to find one that would work for her (and was up to my standard), so we ended up going with the lady bug. There were lots of lady bugs (cute as well) around for this holiday, but our bugs were pretty darn adorable! Hudson was a spider…to keep with the bug theme, and this was perfect for him. He loves bugs right now, and this costume was easy to take on and off (which is required for most three year olds…or at least mine). 

 Last year around this time we had just moved into our rental, in expectation of our expanding family. So we met our awesome neighbors then, and they invited us to trick or treat with them. This year we joined them again, and took a photo on the stoop again with all the kids. We have great neighbors - on both sides!