One Month Old!

Wow! How time has flown by....I can't believe my Little Man is already one month old! Maybe it's the total chaos in our house, the lack of sleep or just his sweet little face. We are still adjusting to a family of four, the evenings are the most chaotic with dinner, baths, and everyone's fussiness, but it is getting easier each day.

Hudson was diagnosed with acid reflux (like Avery Reese), but Brad and I recognized the signs much faster with him. He is so much happier now that he's not in pain (he is on Prevacid). Hudson is definitely a boy, unlike his sister he eats ALL the time! If he had it his way he would eat every two hours.

His one month stats:

weight: 9 lbs 1 oz

height: 20 3/4 inches

head circumference: 14 inches

All of his stats are in the 25 percentile which is typical for a Miles baby....they just aren't big babies.

Introducing Hudson Parker

God blessed us with a beautiful, healthy baby boy.......2 weeks early! Hudson Parker decided that the womb was too constricting so I started having contractions Wednesday evening. They were about 5-7 minutes apart so we were advised to come to Labor and Delivery, where we were quickly sent home because my contractions were not 'strong enough'. So Thursday Brad and I spent the day resting and continuing to have contractions which progressively got worse. Early Thursday morning we were again advised to go back to the hospital (with much more intense contractions).

Hudson Parker was born at 6:54 Friday morning October 14. He weighed 7 lbs and was 20 inches long. He is perfect! We have been home for a few days now and are getting well adjusted as a family of four.

Hudson Parker

Proud Big Sister

I like the bubbles, Mommy!

As you know from my previous post we moved recently and with the move came new and exciting things, like a jacuzzi bathtub! We promised Avery Reese that she would get to take baths in there on special occasions or when she has been exceptionally well behaved (well both applied tonight). At first she was skeptical, but as you can see by her facial expressions she learned to love those bubbles.

Our New Home

Like Brad and I don't have enough going on; we decided to move two weeks ago. We were quickly outgrowing our first home and the drive to work for me was getting longer and longer. Brad and I had discussed putting our house on the market in the Spring, but we decided to wait and just stay put until after Hudson came and life settled down some. By mid-summer I was feeling very cramped and was worried that adding another person in our home would literally make it explode! So we began searching for houses and found a few that would work for us. Brad and I made a deal that we would give our house 60 days to sell and if it didn't sell then we would wait until the Spring.

Our house sold in 27 days!!! We found a wonderful home that was larger and closer to my job, but it also meant that we would have to pack and move 3 weeks before Hudson's due date......eeek! We have unpacked most of the boxes and still have some decorating to do, but we are beginning to feel at home in our new house.

Here's a tour......

Fall wreath I made for our new home

Guest bedroom

Pumpkin Patch Days

Cooler weather, shorter days, football and pumpkins. Oh, how I love Fall!!

Avery Reese's class got the opportunity to go to the Pumpkin Patch this week. Since I will be taking maternity leave in 2 weeks I have to conserve my vacation days, so Brad was the lucky parent to join Avery Reese in her adventure. Based on the photos and her stories, she had an amazing time. The pumpkin patch offers a small petting zoo, a corn pit, a hay ride, a hay maze, and of course the pumpkin patch itself. She came home exhausted and carrying 3 pumpkins; I'd say it was a successful field trip.

Getting her feet 'wet' in the corn pit

Triple threat

At the top of the hay stack

Attempting a class photo....this explains so much

Making friends with the donkey

Following the leader in the maze

Searching for the perfect pumpkin

The Mitchell Ranch

This weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to meet some of our very best friends in Texas at their family ranch. Brad and I were excited for the visit for two reasons: first was to meet Alyssa and Spencer's 4 month old daughter Vivian, second was to introduce Avery Reese to the 'ranch lifestyle'. But realistically Brad and I had a third agenda for this trip.....seeing how well Avery Reese would cope around a new baby for longer than an hour.

It was a 4 hour drive from Little Rock and for 4 hours all Avery Reese said was 'I want to see the cows'. (It was a looooong 4 hours). Once we arrived on the ranch, she immediately saw the cows from a distance and in 10 seconds was quickly over the cows and had moved on to her next obsession, baby Vivian. Avery Reese was so excited once baby Vivian finally arrived; she didn't waste any time jumping into 'big sister' mode to help feed Vivian her bottle.

Saturday morning we all got a lesson in Texas Ranching. We feed the calves, the horses, and the big herd of cattle. Avery Reese even got to drive the John Deere tractor (all by herself). It was a great experience for all three of us.

Helping Mr. Chris feed the calves

Giving the horses a treat

'Mooing" at the cows

Driving the tractor with Daddy

The rest of the morning was spent playing with sweet Vivian. And after everyone got a nap we went fishing....which lasted approximately 2 minutes.

Overall we had an amazing weekend at the Mitchell Ranch!!!!

Labor Day Weekend

Awww.......a long weekend! I love these types of weekends. This weekend marked the beginning of Razorback Football, which means traveling, eating, drinking, friends and family. The weekend started off a little rocky with Avery Reese running a 102 fever Thursday evening, so I stayed home with her on Friday and we both did a lot of much needed napping. She woke up from a 3 hour nap fever free so we went ahead with our plans to head to Fayetteville, with Children's Motrin in tow.

Friday evening I got some much needed girl time with two of my best friends! Saturday we geared up for the first Razorback game. We decided to bring Avery Reese as this was probably going to be our first and final live football game this season, due to the arrival of baby Hudson in October. She was so excited!!!! She spent most of the game sitting with Brad cheering on the Cheerleaders.

Sunday my parents hosted a cookout with our family. It was a great time. Avery Reese has been very shy around her cousins in the past, but that shyness vanished this weekend. My sister, Stephanie, made her daughter Sadie and Avery Reese matching dresses, so of course they had to wear them! The weather was so nice yesterday, the kids played outside most of the day. It was fabulous.

I love my family and Razorback football!!

Hudson Parker

Yesterday, Brad, Avery Reese, Mama Judy, and I went to see Hudson's sweet face via 4D ultrasound. We did this ultrasound with Avery Reese and were so excited to do it again with Hudson Parker. He was not very cooperative during the first ultrasound, he was face down, so we didn't get any profile pictures of his face. Brad and I were just so ready to see our son's face, finally.

Well, we should have known better especially since Hudson Parker hasn't really been cooperative throughout this entire pregnancy....so why would he decide to behave now. He didn't! I don't know if it was truly all his fault, with Brad's genes it is just so dang hard to stay still and that was one of the main issues yesterday. The umbilical cord was also blocking our view of his face, as well as a foot and a hand, so we had several different obstacles to overcome. The one thing he was willing to show was that he indeed is still a boy!

Here are a few photos of our little man's face:

Hudson Parker and his hand

Sweet face

one foot and a hand