To Become the Favorite

So far, SOOO good! Brielle is nearly three months old and it feels as if she has been apart of our family for a lifetime. Funny how someone that doesn't talk, walk or eat anything but milk can make their way right into the very dearest parts of your heart. You see what I mean right? That smile is precious.

Brielle has awoken from newborn-dom! She is so alert and no longer enjoys lounging on her back staring at a mindless ceiling. She has made it clear that she prefers to see up and out just like the big kids. She totally gets it.

Uncle Spencer has officially made it into the hearts of these two chillens. Hudson doesn't let just anyone in. Not only did he pose for this picture nestled in Spencer's arm, but he also initiated a hand hold, sitting by him and ultimately giving him a hug goodbye. Wow. Spence has had to spend thousands of dollars to come out multiple times (I believe we counted 5 times in the last 2 years), in which the last two times he was getting his hip injected by a local physiatrist. Was it worth it Spence??? Heck YES!

Scariest Pirate of ALL

Here's a full body shot of our cute little Brielle:) Getting bigger by the minute, she is fitting into some 3 month clothes. I guess that means she's growing quickly even though she is still our petite baby girl. 

As of today, the 29th of October, Brielle is 2 months old. WOW! Time seems to go faster with each passing day. Brielle has brought so much joy to our family since day one. We have loved her happy nature and the love that she exudes in her smiles and looks. She is such a happy girl! Last night she gave Mom 7 hours of sleep. LOVE YOU for showing compassion on your exhausted Mother! Happy 2 month anniversary little missy!!!

Last Saturday, we had a ward Halloween party and Hudson took the "Overall Best Halloween Costume" award. Don't know how that happened...I mean... he is super cute and everything, but there was a lot of great costumes! We take pride in knowing our child is getting real quality awards in life. He managed to pull off the dangerous pirate act once we gave him a sword and showed him how it's done in the pirate movies to get him pumped. Bri looks terrified and Hudson looks like he's in the zone before game time.

It worked! He started running around the house in his pirate getup and got so carried away that he just had to brake his sword right in two pieces and further frighten little ladybug...

Arrrrgggh! Just so you know, Crayola Markers stain skin...even after some VERY vigorous scrubbing. Good thing Hudson pulled off the mustache and goatee look at church the next day. We are such good parents.

How Do You Sleep Like That?!

The other day, I was feeding Brielle in the other room and Hudson was eating a snack at the table. This activity is normally a very loud one, as you can imagine. After a little while, it went silent in the kitchen and that either means one of two things, 1) Hudson is up to trouble or 2) Hudson has fallen dead asleep in the most peculiar position. How this is possible to be sooo asleep and so bent to one side I DO NO KNOW. Love this little guy:)

Hudson has started to use the baby swing as his personal man chair for drinking milk, reading books or just to hang out. He will grab a book and push the button that plays music before he gets in and kicks up his legs in total relaxation. 

Hudson and Brielle enjoying some quality tummy time together. Hudson is obviously cheating. He has figured out how to beat the system.

Brielle is getting so big so fast. We have been loving every minute with her. We don't by any means claim to know what we're doing in the slightest, but our experience with baby #2 has been so much easier. Bri is smiling (melts our hearts), has outgrown most of her newborn clothes and will sometimes give Mom a pretty decent stretch at night between feedings. HOORAY! She is Mom's baby doll that is a true sport to put up with all of the bows and frilly dresses she has no say about wearing.

Don't worry we won't be offering anybody one of our apples! Hudson has enjoyed his growing independence (and let's be honest...Mom's distracted eye). We will find what seems to be little mouse nibbles all over our apples because he will take one out and nibble on it for a bit and then once he's finished he puts it back in the fridge. The problem is he never keeps with just one apple. He moves on to the next one the next time he's interested in an apple---hence, all our VERY appetizing apples in the fridge. NO THANKS, I'll pass on the apple.

The cute little misses. She is slowly accumulating rolls and creases and I love her all the more. Thomas still doesn't understand my obsession with chubby babies. Gosh, she is so much fun!

Family of Four

This is our adorable Brielle during her first week. It's hard to believe that she is now one month old and that September is gone. This month has been spent in complete bliss---even with all the adjusting and sleepless nights. My how time flies with a newborn! Brielle has brought us so much happiness!!! We have loved having her a part of our family. It's crazy how we are becoming more and more attached to this little 9 lb person with every passing day.

Aunt Ash came into town to help after Grandma Lisa left. She was so great to be Hudson's playmate, Sydney's emotional support and to take care of our family. She too had the glamorous stay here on our blowup mattress:) Love you Ash! 

Little stinkbug taking a nice snooze. Such precious moments with our sweet new baby girl and her Daddy. 

Mom about had a heart attack as Hudson learns to be a big brother and hold baby sister. We are working on the whole neck support thing... Hudson has been so sweet to Brielle. He is helpful to bring her a binkie or her blankie when she cries and he talks so cute to her. His independent nature has paid off as he has been such a champ instead of jealous about baby sister.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DADDY September 26th! Here we are enjoying a birthday breakfast in Thomas' honor. Hudson is proud to be Dad's best buddy and help make Dad's day a total par-tay.

Such a happy kid! Of late, Hudson's imagination has gone wild. It is fun to see him become so creative with his toys. He is so cute to watch as he crashes everything into everything---sound effects and all. 

Introducing... BRIELLE!

Brielle Wright joined our family on August 29, 2013 at 1:55 pm weighing 7 lbs 2 oz and 20.5 inches long. WELCOME TO OUR CRAZY FAMILY! We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this little peanut. So far, we have adored every minute with her and we are SOOO happy she is finally here safe and sound. 

To briefly debrief on the birth-day...Thomas and I went in for the induction Thursday morning at 7:30 am where Dr. Hartman broke my water at 9 am and the nurse, Nicole, put me on a small amount of pitocin to make sure my body would start the labor process. Apparently my body was ready to do its thing because it took only a minimal dose to get things rolling. Because of our lengthy experience with Hudson, we were planning to be in that hospital labor room for the whole day---even on through the night. GRATEFULLY that was not the case with this labor and delivery! After my water was broken and my body was having regular contractions every 1 1/2 to 2 minutes the intensity began to increase in strength. I was warned beforehand that the contractions would be much more intense/feel different (or stay peaked instead of a gradual rise and fall) with the pitocin and this helped me mentally prepare a little bit better for what was ahead of me. We decided we wanted a better after birth experience with this delivery so I really wanted to go without the epidural. Just when I was about ready to check out entirely, emotions were running high and I told Tom to ask the nurse for an epidural, the doctor came in and told me that we were ready to push and get her here. YEAH!!! What relief to know that we were so close to meeting our little girl.

To cut to the chase... Brielle was born 5 hours and three pushes later after Thomas helped me survive the intense back labor by applying heat pad and counter-pressure during each contraction. It was a team effort for sure. Complete bliss when we were able to experience the arrival of our sweet baby girl---FINALLY holding her in our arms after waiting nearly two weeks past her due date. Thomas even got to cut the cord this time around! His shirt, pants and face were proof of it:)

Here's our little gal day 1 1/2. The cutest dimples in those ever so kissable cheeks. 

Leaving the hospital Saturday morning in her plush pink suit.

Our little sunning mammal. Brielle loves basking in the sunshine that pours through our bedroom window. She's her Mama's girl.

In celebration of MY labor day, we went to the beach and enjoyed a little picnic with my Mom on the legit Labor Day. Yes, it was all apart of my recovery. My Mom was so great to come out and help for a week and a half cooking meals, cleaning, manning Hudson and being amazing emotional support. She and Hudson did some major bonding as Grandma took my place as Hudson's best bud and partner in crime. She definitely earned her room and board in our front room on a luxurious blowup mattress. YOU'RE THE BEST OF TROOPERS MOM!!!

Our peach fuzz covered baby girl. She is sooo much fun with all the cute sounds, looks and miniature features. I feel like I'm playing with my favorite doll all day...except for the nursing side effects, black circles around my eyes and weight gain. I can't remember that being apart of my 4 year old experience.

Brielle's first doctor's appointment and back to her birth weight. Good job girly. I vowed I wouldn't put a satellite dish on my child, but here we are. I guess I forgot how small babies are when they are first born. She'll eventually grow into all the cute bows and headbands we've got for her:)

To Wait Is To Waste

Sydney's due date came and went as of last Friday...we are still awaiting this baby girl! SO! We decided to go camping in Wisconsin with our friends, Jess and Brian Francom. No sense in wasting a great summer weekend around the house:)

Hudson refused to go to sleep until after midnight... That night we also successfully cooked some delicious tinfoil dinners and managed to slam two bags of candy. Party animals? The worst kind.

Nothing like being a kid that absolutely loves trucks and is completely surrounded by rocks, dirt and bugs to load up into his dump truck and run over with his bulldozer. Now we're campin'!

Proof that we went camping on my due date! It was fantastic to breathe some fresh air and enjoy the great outdoors. The only problem was that wailing baby in the middle of the night that went on for nearly an hour like a forlorn coyote, all the while, sending me into contractions. Talk about a nightmare as I frantically tried to set a game plan for if things continued down the path they were going. YET---we survived the night! 

Morning came and we went to the lake where we went around the lake on a kayak with Jess and Brian. Hudson was LOVING the whole experience and nearly launched himself out of the boat multiple times. It was also really fun to watch a ski team that was doing their little acrobatics and formations on the lake while we were there. It made me feel like we were in an old movie:) Proof that I need to get out more...

Hudson is crazy about boats and every time we go down to the beach by our house he is the first to spot the motorboats and sailboats that pass by. Actually going around in a little boat of his own made his wildest dreams come true. 

We forgot to bring a swim diaper with us so by the end of our swim around, we had a 10 pound increase in Hudson's body weight. That thing was nasty and soaked as all get out! If not already proven before, we are officially a white trash family.

Oh, What Do You Do In the Summertime?

"Life is good." That company logo tells the truth. Although summer has been rainy, and somewhat chilly here in Chicago, we have managed to enjoy every minute of sun we are allotted. To recount a few important milestones: Hudson continues to prove to be the energetic, enthusiastic, independent two-year-old that we love so much, Tom finished boards part #1!!! YEAH! And we are eager to meet our new little girl in the next few days!!! To stray somewhat from the adored primary song...another few things we have been doing this summer include:

We still go to church...even though we live in Illinois:)

We have delightful naps---some of us more than others.

Mommy makes crib bed skirts (and brakes her sewing machine working on a baby quilt...awesome.) while we wait for the arrival of baby sister---any day now!

We go to Six Flags with our dear Indiana friends, the Navarros...whom we really miss!

We swim in the pool, to keep ourselves cool...*Note: Hudson ate the pavement the day before so he looks like he got sucked by a vampire on his forehead. Love gravity.

We sport our super HOT pink and purple jeep, just like real men do:)

And even spend countless hours at the playground with his best buddies, Carter and Owen.

Play Hard, Sleep Hard

A couple months ago, we tried to get this wild little guy to stay in his crib that we decided to transition into a toddler bed...it turned more into a hangout pad/bouncy house and it was somewhat of a nightmare for Mom and Dad! It was a long two weeks of no naps and several waking episodes in the middle of the night. But, we're no dummies:) Just as quick as we took that front crib bar off, we slapped it back on and decided to wait a titch longer. We weren't ready to give up sleep!
Now (as of last week) we went ahead and got an official "toddler bed" that Hudson completely loves. Amazingly enough, he has taken a whole new approach to this bed. He feels like such a big kid AND he sleeps!!! BAM! Win for all. Hopefully Hudson now won't feel that his little sister is taking over his bed once she starts sleeping in the crib. It was an exciting realization as we raised the crib mattress for our baby girl that is coming next month!

On the 4th, we got together with our ward and had a BBQ and played games. Hudson was absorbed in the bubble station for at least an hour of complete bliss.

In hea-ven...

We forced Dad to take a break from studying from boards part one to have a little relaxation time. Although we were a bad influence on his study habits, we lived it up and were happy to have had the afternoon to play together!

Later in the afternoon, we went down to our beach with our best friends the Tranters. This is Emily and Hudson embracing if you can call it that... Yes, she totally wears the pants in this relationship---nearly having a year on him:) I love these two.

We finally got Dad down to the beach after his strict study/school schedule this year! After this Wednesday we are hoping to be able to get more time with him at the beach. Fingers still crossed!!!

Hudson is crazy about his trucks, along with the water and sand combination that the beach presents. It is a recipe for filthy dirty and it has his name all over it. We can't escape without every inch of his body, hair, face, and every crevice being completely caked with sand. It somehow turns into glue on his skin. Don't ask me how. Our car is quickly becoming a sandy beach of its own, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We are loving the beach weather that has finally hit.

These two were difficult to capture on camera given they were racing, jumping and rolling all over the beach. It was soooo fun to enjoy a beautiful beach day!

Hudson slept hard that night upon returning from fireworks close to 11 o' clock at night. Hudson loved every minute of the firework display to say the least. He was running around, jumping, yelling....the excitement was just too much for one little body to hold in. We had a great time munching on freshly popped popcorn that I popped before we left---something Thomas claims my Dad would have gone to the work to do:) Of course food makes everything a better experience. Even if it is just popcorn. Happy 4th!