Glittery Giggles: 2011

Christmas has an even more exciting feeling this year. We are so delighted to share this magical time of year with Hudson. Although we know he is too young to know or understand what the true meaning of Christmas is, we wanted to expose him to some of our favorite traditions of the holiday season. Growing up I always looked forward to being with my family, decorating the house, putting up lights, buying and wrapping presents, baking, playing games in front of the fire, and watching movies
This year we decided to start a new Christmas tradition that we will celebrate every year. It involves some of our favorite winter treats- presents, movies, pizza, fudge, blankets, family, the tree and sleeping.
We set up the inflatable bed, topped with layers of blankets and pillows, in the middle of the family room. We each opened one present...Christmas PJ's! We changed into them and ate some yummy pizza. We climbed into bed, ate some delicious fudge, cuddled and watched some of our favorite Christmas movies until we fell asleep. We had such a great night. I can't wait to do it again next year!

The bed and presents set up in front of the tree and TV.

Getting ready to open our Christmas PJ's.

Love him!

Pizza dinner

Family picture in our Christmas PJ's.

Mommy and Hudson enjoying the tree.

My two favorite boys sleeping in front of the tree. I just love how they both sleep with their mouths open!

Dear Hudson,

Today is your one month birthday! As I sit here and type, you are sleeping in your little lamb bouncer; it is amazing how much smaller it looks compared to the first time we put you in it. Daddy and I have really fallen in love with you over this past month. We often look at one another in dibelief that you are ours always and forever. We are so greatful to have you in our lives. You have brought us more hapiness than we could have ever imagined. We are so lucky to have you as our little man. We couldn't have asked for a child as special as you.

Daddy and I have really fallen in love with you. We often look at one another in disbelief that you are ours, always and forever. We are so grateful to have you in our lives. You have brought us more happiness than we could have ever imagined. We are so lucky to have you as our little man. We couldn't have asked for a child as special as you. No matter how stressed out we can get, all we have to do is look at you and we quickly see that all is right in our world.

You have turned into such a handsome little devil! I can hardly take my eyes off of you! Your facial features become more defined every day. Since they day you were born you have had incredibly long eyelashes, an adorable little button nose, cute little ears and the most kissable lips. I might be a little biased though.

We have gotten to know you over this past month. Although there are still times when we wondering what you are thinking, we have been able to find ways to sooth you, make you smile, put you to sleep, feed you, take you out on the town, dress you, change you, snuggle you, bathe you, and many more “new” things mommy and daddy never knew how to do until we met you. As Daddy always says, “You keep us on our toes.”

We have been very busy this past month. You have been so wonderful going with the flow (you are definitely your father’s child). Some of our highlights were:

-Giving you a pacifier when you were three days old. When we got home from the hospital mommy was so tired. Daddy took the night shift (love you daddy!). You had a really rough night and cried for most of it. Finally mommy told daddy to give you a pacifier. It calmed you down. The next day mommy looked online and read that breastfed babies shouldn’t get pacifiers until they are at least a month old…WOOPS! It was worth it that night, but we waited until you were 3 weeks until we gave you it again.

-Going to your doctor’s appointments on day 3 and 16. The doctor’s appointment on day 3 was traumatic for all three of us but we made it through. Let’s just say you had to have blood drawn, outfits changed twice, and were fed in the car…not fun! Fortunately, the doctors were impressed with you and how much you had grown. We will go back to see them when you are two months old.

-Going to the factory outlets when you were four days old to get clothes that fit you just right. We had bought you clothes that were a little too big (ie: 0-3 months) . Everyone thought you were going to be a pretty big kid, even though mommy had a little belly, so we didn’t get you any newborn clothes.

-Mommy and daddy’s first adventure by ourselves. We went to Target and Trader Joe’s as Gammie babysat you. You two had a great time singing, dancing, and exercising.

-You tookyour first bath. At first, you weren't a big fan of baths, but I think it's because you didn't enjoy sponge baths. Now that you are able to take a true bath, you enjoy them. I really hope that you are a true water baby!

-Our first family walk when you were one week old. You really enjoyed being outside in our carseat/stroller. You feel asleep in the first few minutes, but it was nice to be out and about in the cool fall air.

-Mommy and Daddy’s first date night. They went out on a romantic dinner at Monti’s as Grandma watched you. The funny thing is we talked about you and stared at pictures of you the whole time.

-Taking your picture for your announcement photos. You did not like being naked. You cried through most of it. Mommy tried to sooth you as daddy took the photos. We put you on your belly and you jumped around like a frog. I think it caused your umbilical cord to come loose. A few days later it fully fell off.

-Having family visitors. You are just so loved little man. You have had multiple visits from your aunts, uncles, and cousins. It is amazing how quite the room goes when you enter it. Everyone just stares at you in awe. We sit around taking turns holding you, kissing you and saying how cute you are.

-Daddy went back to work. We were so lucky to have daddy with us the first two weeks you were born. He just loved being with you and getting to know you. We were all a little sad and worried for him to go back to work, but we survived! We love having him work from home two days a week. The more time he’s around, the better!

-You had your first Thanksgiving! You decided it wasn’t a good idea to sleep from 1:00 to 3:00 the night before (fortunately you’ve only done this twice), so mommy and daddy were pretty tired. Apparently you were too because you slept through most of our Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Judy and Uncle John’s. Everyone took turns holding you and you slept like a baby.

-Putting up Christmas decorations for your first Christmas. Gammie and Alisa helped us. We had a wonderful day listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies.

-Visiting Clayton for the first time. Daddy had to go to a recruiting event at Duke, so mommy decided we should go visit our family. While we were there she had a Sip and See so some of her friends could meet you. You didn’t really enjoy it and cried for most of the party. Auntie Melanie and Gammie were wonderful at soothing you and calming you down. Luckily you were on best behavior at couples cooking club, so everyone was able to see that you are such a loveable little man.

-You met Santa! Grandma, Gammie, Daddy and Mommy took you downtown Walnut Creek and you met Santa! We were not sure how you were going to react to the man in a red suit, but you slept the whole time and were such a good little guy.

-You took your first bottle. Daddy was so excited to give it to you. You took it like a champ. It’s nice to know that you are going to be able to use a bottle as needed to give mommy and daddy their special time if needed.

You are such a sweet, loveable, adorable baby. We feel so truly blessed to be your parents. We look forward to the many years we have ahead. Thank you for being you! We love you with all our hearts.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy