Happy "Birth" Day!!!!

This is Hudson.  He is a little stinker.  His birthday was supposed to be April 25th.  O-kay, that wasn't his due date but I was CERTAIN it was going to be his birthday.  You see......many many years ago on Feb 6 my Aunt Carol was born and then 3 years later on Feb 6 her sister (my mom) was born.  Fast forward a few years and on May 15 my cousin Tracey was born to Aunt Carol and exactly 9 years later on May 15 I was born!  So, Tracey has a little boy named Caden and he was born 2 years ago on April 25, so naturally we all thought they were destined to share a birthday.  But, apparently that wasn't God's plan!  But, it sure was close!  Wouldn't you know that the very next day....April 26 I had a strong contraction at 5 in the morning that woke me up from a solid sleep.  I then proceeded to have contractions all day long.  They were mostly 8-10 minutes apart for most of the day.  I thought for sure I was going to have a baby on April 26, so I snapped this picture of myself to document my last day of being pregnant EVER.

Around dinner time on Friday night my contractions got stronger and slightly closer together.  So, we called our friend, Amanda to come over and hang out with Jack and Tatum while we went to the hospital to get checked out.  Turns out that after having contractions all day I was still only 1 cm dilated.  Talk about frustrating!!!  We called Amanda and told her she probably wasn't going to have to spend the night and we fully expected them to send me home.  A few minutes later my Dr. came in to see me and my blood pressure was pretty high.  It had stayed low my entire pregnancy and was still low just 2 days before at my office visit.  So, it had jumped pretty drastically and he said he was not letting me leave.  He said I was definitely in labor even though it was "early labor" and he just didn't want me to go home because they would not be able to monitor my blood pressure or control my activity.  The next thing I knew I was being admitted and spending the night on the most uncomfortable labor bed ever!  By the next morning I was fully and painfully contracting with the help of some pitocin to speed things up.  I was checked around 10:30 and was only 5 cm dilated.  Then, things got more intense.  I am talking......me holding onto the bed rail crying because I was in so much pain intense.  The pressure became so intense so quickly.  The doctor FINALLY arrived and 3 contractions later.....Hudson Daniel was out of me at 12:33 on April 27!  

It is so amazing how instantly relieved my body was!  I promise you I was NOT smiling like that just a few short moments before that picture was taken.  When Hudson was born he immediately had such a strong cry.  His lungs were (and still are) working perfectly!!

Chris was amazing through my labor.  He was so helpful to me and was just instantly the perfect dad to Hudson.  The 3 of us had about 3 hours together before my parents and Jack and Tatum got to the hospital. Jack was playing a tee ball game that afternoon that Amanda took him to and my parents arrived right at the end of his game.  Then, after Jack got cleaned up from his game they came over to the hospital.  Tatum was initially pretty timid and shy but by the end of their visit she had warmed up to her happy self.  But, I will say that she all of the sudden seemed HUGE to me!!

Jack was so proud of his new baby brother!  He was even more proud that the nurse allowed him to help her give Hudson his first bath.  He is such a great big brother to both Hudson and Tatum.  It's such a joy to watch!

 Here is our first family of 5 picture!  And, I totally give credit to my dad for being very goofy so that Jack and Tatum would be smiling like this.  I love their expressions here...

So, here's the cool thing...........Hudson wasn't supposed to be born on April 25th.  His birthday was set for April 27th.  He's perfect and we love him.  Jack was born on Feb 7; Tatum was born on Dec 17; and Hudson was born on April 27.  Do you see the theme with the 7's?  Cool, huh?

This is not what I imagined for my life just 1 short year ago, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Hudson is such a joy (even if he is a little more high maintenance than our other kids were).  We are all in love with him.  I am so thankful that I get to be a part of his life.  God has big plans for this little guy and I get a front row seat!!  How can it get any better than this??

Oh my...

I seriously cannot believe that I have not posted on this blog in forever.  The thing is.....I really like to "journal" my life here.  But, I guess I've just been too busy living it lately.  My life has felt crazy and chaotic and wonderful all at the same time.  I guess you could call it a "wonderful mess!"  I have been walking around in a sleep deprived fog for the past 7 weeks (more on that later).  I finally have a few minutes to breathe this week and I came to the realization that I better start blogging this season of life or I will forget it! No promises to be super consistent, but maybe.........just maybe.......stick with me (if you're still out there at all)!!!

My husband....

...the blogger!

So, a while back the elders at our church decided it would be a good idea to start a blog where they take turns writing entries each week to share how they are growing spiritually and to share their thoughts about God and life and how that all works together, etc...

This was one of Chris's weeks to write the blog and I just want to say that I think he did a great job!  So, just thought I'd share the link in case anyone might want to read his writings :-)  Oh, and it does include a cute story about our kids too!

growingheartstowardgod.blogspot.com

His article is Mountain out of a Molehill.

Six

On Thursday my baby boy turned SIX!  Seriously, where does time go?  I think birthdays always make me a little sentimental but this one just seems like he is so old.  He's definitely a "school aged kid" now!  He's grown up so much just in the past year.  I cannot imagine our family without him.  When I asked Jack what he wanted to do for his birthday this year........he had a very specific request.  That request is going to be honored this coming weekend.  So, on the actual day of his birthday we just had a quiet yet fun family party! Thursday was a school day, and Jack was excited that he got to wear a birthday crown and sticker all day.  His principal even brought him a card and book to his room to wish him a Happy Day (have I mentioned that I love Jack's school?).  I picked him up from school and we went straight to piano lessons.  Then, when we got home.......the phone calls began....

A special thank you to all our friends and family who called Jack on his special day.  He's still not much for talking on the phone too long, but it did make him feel special.  He especially enjoyed having face time with Gram and Grandaddy while he opened their card and got a Target gift card to spend!  Jack just had to open his presents as soon as he got home.  He was upset that he didn't get to open them BEFORE school.  Oh well!  His big present this year is that he is getting bunk beds!  With the addition of another kid to our family in early May - Jack and Tatum are going to share a room for a while.  Jack has wanted bunk beds since he knew what bunk beds were.....so.........ta da.........Happy Birthday, Jack!!!  Our beds are on order but they haven't come in yet.  But, he is excited about getting them.  

First he was polite and read his card.... 

 Then, he was very surprised with Just Dance Kids for the Wii.  At school, Jack's teacher uses a lot of Just Dance Kids videos with their class during group time to help them burn some energy and work on coordination.  Jack loves it, so when I came across the game for the Wii.........I knew it would be a big hit!  It provided lots of entertainment for our evening and I'm sure it will provide a lot of future entertainment!  Jack even said, "wow....this is good exercise!"

 Chris and I also decided that we wanted Jack to have The Adventure Bible.  He has a regular NIV that was given to him when he was 4 in Bible class but it doesn't have anything extra in it.  I like the Adventure Bible because it reads easily (it's the early reader's version) and it has a lot of extra inserts with practical application type stuff.  Jack is excited about his new Bible and has declared that he wants to read the whole thing before he turns 7!!!  We're working on it already!

Another surprise for Jack was this Batman Cookie Cake!  Several weeks ago we were at the mall and he saw this cake and mentioned in passing that he would love to have a cake like that for his birthday!  I think he had totally forgotten about it, but he was SO EXCITED that I remembered!!!!  He was a little disappointed that he had to wait to eat it until after dinner!

 Dinner on Thursday night was Jack's choice.  This would definitely not have been my choice for a birthday dinner, but he's six and we hardly ever have hot dogs......he wanted hot dogs, baked beans, broccoli, and tater tots.  Healthy?  Um....no!  Happy kids?  Um...yes!  After dinner, it was time for the cookie!!!

 Tatum even tried to help Jack blow out his candles!  I think she was thinking, "come on.....let's hurry this thing up so we can eat!"

 Here they are with their messy faces........

 Happy Birthday, Jack!!!!

Well.....I decided to come back!!

If you ever check my blog (or are still checking.....) you probably think I gave it up!  Well, I haven't.  But, let's have a short little recap - since my last post in August.......I found out I was pregnant with baby #3, Jack started Kindergarten, Tatum started preschool, we traveled to the south for fall break to visit family, we traveled south again at Thanksgiving, we spent lots of time doing many fun things in our city, and every single one of those days I threw up each and every morning!  Oh yes.....still throwing up at 24 weeks pregnant!  We found out we're having another BOY!  And, we are just loving each other more and more and enjoying lots of great time together as a family of 4!  So, needless to say - by evening time (after the kids are in bed.....my usual time to blog) I just haven't felt like it!  So, tonight I was trying to organize all my Christmas pictures and decided that I kind of felt like blogging.  Warning: there are lots of pictures but they barely skim the surface of our fun Christmas!  But, I will try.....

One of our traditions each Christmas is going to see Santa at our Children's Museum.  I really love this Santa and so do the kids.  They also love sliding on the big Yule Slide at the Museum and participating in all their Christmas activities such as ice fishing and ice "sock" skating!  This year Gram and Grandaddy happened to be here because it was also the day we celebrated Tatum's 2nd birthday!  My baby is TWO!

The next weekend Gigi and Papa came to visit so they could see us for Christmas (this was the weekend right before Christmas).  We took them with us to the Indiana State Museum.  It's a pretty impressive museum with quite a bit to it, but the highlight is their Santa Express each Christmas.  This is a little train that used to run in an Indianapolis department store.  I was very proud of Gigi for riding the small train with the kids, especially since I'm pregnant and all :-)

While they were here we opened presents from Gigi and Papa and presents that had come from Uncle Ken, Aunt Victoria, Uncle Greg, and Aunt Kim.  Jack and Tatum also opened their presents to each other.  We were trying to take as little as possible with us on our Christmas trip!!!  Jack really liked his Angry Birds game from Tatum and Tatum really liked her new baby and baby carrier from Uncle Greg, Aunt Kim, Luke, and Anna.  Jack also got a telescope from Gigi and Papa and Tatum got more food for her kitchen that she had gotten for her birthday.  The kids had been wanting to open presents forever, so this night satisfied them a little bit until Christmas Day!

 Gigi and Papa went to church with us on Sunday and left to go visit Luke and Anna for Christmas.  We spent Sunday afternoon trying to finish laundry, clean up the house from all our visitors, and pack because Monday morning (Christmas Eve) we left for Knoxville to go to Gram and Grandaddy's house.  In the past when we have been out of town on Christmas.....we have still had Santa come to our house before we left.  However, we asked Jack what he wanted to do this year and he said that he liked the idea of Santa coming to Gram and Grandaddy's house and he was right.......it was fun!  We got there in time for dinner Monday evening and then did all our normal Christmas traditions but Gram and Grandaddy were included!  We attempted to get a picture of the kids in their pajamas in front of the fireplace, but......

as you can see they were too busy looking up the chimney for Santa!  Ha!  I actually did get a few cute ones but I already have enough pictures on this one post, huh?  And, here we are reading the Night Before Christmas and then we read the story of Jesus's birth from the Bible.

Jack and Tatum both went to sleep surprisingly easy after Jack made notes for Santa to lead him from the fireplace downstairs to the tree in the upstairs playroom at Gram and Grandaddy's.  He included arrows and everything.  The best part of his note was the one at the end that said to Santa, "Merry Christmas and You're a Stinker!"  Ha!  That just made me laugh a lot!  We didn't have too much to set up for Santa this year which was nice.  We weren't up that late either!  Jack got a keyboard with a stand and bench that we found for a great deal on Craig's List.  He has become really interested in the piano so part of his gift is that he is going to start taking piano lessons next week!  His music teacher at school sent us a note telling us that Jack showed real talent for the keyboard and we really should get him started with lessons!  Tatum was going to get a kitchen for Christmas but since we knew we were going to be traveling we swapped her b-day and Christmas gifts.  So, for Christmas she got a doll stroller and some more clothes for her Bitty Baby that she already had.  The set up...

They each got one more gift from us and for Jack it was this....

He wanted that lego Monster Fighters castle like crazy.  And, since that was his first lego choice I really wanted to make it happen despite the fact that I don't really care for the whole Vampire thing.  But, after lots of searching I got the LAST one in Indianapolis.  So, I now officially feel like a great mom!  He was very happy and got the whole things finished that day with a little bit of help!  Tatum was very happy with her stroller!  She instantly became a little Mama!  It was adorable to watch her!

She was also excited about the new sunglasses in her stocking and wore them most of the morning.  And, in case you are wondering.....that is Chocolate on her face (she had 1 piece in her whole stocking and it was gone before Breakfast)!

Jack was definitely excited about the keyboard and he and Grandaddy were very excited about something else too........I have no clue what they are doing here but I love that the moment was captured!

Christmas Day was nice and relaxing.  Chris and I even got to sneak away for a little while to go see a movie!  Then, the next day Uncle Brian, Aunt Kym, Addie Grace, Sawyer, and Landry arrived at my parents' house.  This meant we opened more presents!!!  This was when the kids got all their presents from Gram and Grandaddy.  Every year my mom says she is going to scale back, but we have yet to see that year!  It always starts out pretty calm but then quickly becomes very chaotic! 

I wasn't sitting close to Jack so didn't really get a lot of pictures of him and his gifts.  But, he was very happy with the Spy Gear he received!  I guess if you had to give Tatum a theme for Christmas it would be baby dolls.  My mom refinished the baby doll bed and high chair that I played with as a little girl and gave them to Tatum along with one of my old dolls.  What a special gift!

Oh, and that hat she is wearing.....my mom made that too!  Tatum was also happy to receive her own Doc McStuffins doll.  Have you seen that show?  Well, Tatum has.....about a million times and she loves it!  Perfect gift!

 Actually my mom made all of these hats....

 The cousins all played pretty well together as they were together from Wednesday until Sunday morning.  Chris and I left on Friday to go to a wedding of a former youth group kid in Alabama and then met back up with the family on Saturday in Chattanooga for more Christmas.  As a side note we really enjoyed our mini getaway just the 2 of us for 1 night!

Jack and Addie Grace (I love this picture of them together)...

An attempt at a cousin picture....

And, a picture with Gram and Grandaddy (this was the silly one)........I love how Tatum is looking at everyone wondering what in the world they are doing! 

Tatum and Landry also had fun together.  These 2 are only 4 days a part and I really hope and pray that they grow up to be good friends.  I think they are started on the right track!  What do you think?

Looks like they are getting in trouble here... 

In Chattanooga we had more excellent cousin time with a whole lot more kids!  After a full afternoon the youngest ones were ready to just chill out and watch a show on Tracey's laptop.

On Sunday morning we had church together as a family at my Aunt and Uncle's house.  It was such a special time as we didn't really have much of a plan but it turned in to the kids leading our worship service.  They each led a prayer and a song and told about their favorite story from the Bible.  It totally melted my heart.  We shared communion together.  It was a great way to end our family time.  For lunch on Sunday we were with my dad's side of the family and all those cousins.  I didn't get a lot of pictures but I did get this one of Jack and my Nana.  I love it!  I love her so much and I'm so happy that my kids get to know her too.  She is my last living grandparent and to that....I will cling. 

 So, there you have it..........a jumbled mess of pictures!  And, a jumbled picture of our Christmas!

Happy New Year!  And, here's to possibly more blogging from me in the months to come!!

Peace!
Jill