First Easter Egg Hunt and First Tooth!

We have had such a fun weekend! On Saturday we went with our friends Erin, Jarvis, and Ila to their church Easter Egg Hunt and cookout. It was so much fun, and great to be outside in the beautiful weather. Hudson "hunted" eggs with his friend Ila (really he just tried to eat pine straw, leaves, and the grass from his basket). The babies had a great time. Dave and I really enjoyed it too. What a great family event! Thanks, Erin and Jarvis for inviting us.

For the past 3 months, Dave and I have suspected that Hudson may be teething. Well, finally he has his first tooth. Earlier in the week I thought I noticed that his gums on the bottom were more flat and looked a little whiter. I told my mom that I thought a tooth was coming through. Sure enough, as I was feeding him his baby food tonight I noticed that he's got one that's already popped through. He's such a good baby. He hasn't been fussy, sleepy, or ran a fever. I hope teething continues to be this easy for him!

7 months!

Another one bites the dust!

ANOTHER month has flown by and my little man turned 7 months yesterday.

He's had a MAJOR growth spurt this month. He's sitting up independently, eating all of the stage 2 fruits, veggies, and meats, loves to drink water from his sippy cup, holds his own cup/bottle, says "ma ma" and lots of other syllables and sounds, rolls all over the place, pulls himself (still not crawling unless you count the "army man crawl"), stands up holding onto couch/table/etc, holds his arms up when you open your hands to pick him up, gives the best bear hugs and open mouthed kisses, he's smiling all the time and has the cutest chuckle, and his legs have the most adorable rolls. He LOVES Claire and is so excited to see her every morning. They like to hold hands on their daily strolls around the neighborhood....so precious. Here are a few recent pictures and a few more from his 6 month photo shoot with Haley Lamb

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Dr. Donahoe Visit and Kidney Update

Hudson makes me proud everyday, but today I must say that I was super-duper proud of him. We went to CMCG for his checkup with Dr. Donahoe (ped. urologist) and for more tests on his kidney. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and words of encouragement. It comforts us to know that Hudson is being lifted up in prayer.
His ultrasound went well, then we had to wait for Dr. D to review the images. He met with us, examined Hudson, and asked lots of questions. He said that the images show no change. This is good in the fact that his kidney function is stable. He's still refluxing urine, and the blockage is still in the ureter. Today was the first time that Dr. D was really optimistic about the possibility of Hudson NOT requiring surgery. It's a long shot, but he did say that it's possible. He could outgrow his reflux and the blockage could work itself out. SO...that's what we are praying for now...a small miracle so that Hudson may not have to have surgery. He was really pleased at how healthy Hudson is and how well he's growing. His kidney is growing really well too, and that's a blessing! After the meeting with Dr. D, they had to draw blood to test his kreatinin levels (to make sure his kidney is properly filtering out the toxins) and other things that I can't remember. (kreatinin levels are most important and critical at this point) As long as the levels are good, it buys us more time to wait. Waiting is what we need to do. We also have to wait for his bladder to grow. If he has to have surgery, his bladder needs to be bigger, so waiting gives it more time to grow. As long as his levels remain good, and his ultrasound images show no change for the worse, Dr. D will do another VCUG test on his kidney after he's one to find out how much/if he's still refluxing urine and if the blockage is still there. If so, he will have to have a ureter reimplantation. Anyways, back to the blood tests...Nurse Debbie (who LOVES Hudson) came in to take his blood. She hates doing it because it's always dramatic and he cries. Today, she stuck him, he furrowed his brow, then looked at her and chuckled. He laughed! It was so cute and sad at the same time. Is my baby so used to being stuck that it does not even bother him anymore? Nurse Debbie said that she has never had a patient young or old laugh at her when she drew their blood.
We were pleased with the news from today's visit, and still have not heard from Dr. D. If he doesn't call, that's good news...it means good levels from the blood tests. We go back to repeat the tests again in June. We are so thankful to have such a great Dr., and great nurses who love Hudson and want the best for him.
Dave and I say it to each other all time, but I must brag on my sweet boy, He's so good! He really is a good baby and I am so blessed to be his mom. He has the sweetest spirit and is ALWAYS happy. He rarely cries, and will make anyone smile. Here's a picture of him as we were leaving the hospital. He's saying "Hey, look at my Bugs Bunny band-aid I got from Nurse Debbie! I'm gonna eat it as soon as mommy isn't looking because I put everything in my mouth now." Thanks again for all of the prayers, encouragement, and calls about his appointment today.

Happy St. Patty's Day (a day late)

Here are a few pictures of Hudson on St. Patty's Day. Sorry that they are a bit late. I just realized that I didn't get a good picture of his shirt, but it says Mommy Thinks I'm Charming. He is my Lucky Charm. I love that boy to pieces. These are at Claire's house. He has so much fun with her.
He's sitting up all by himself now, and can even go from laying on his back up to a sitting position. He's really taken off in the last few weeks and is doing so many new "big boy" things. Where did my baby go?

Happy Birthday Ella!

This past weekend, we packed the car, (and I mean PACKED the car) and headed to Alabama. Ella turned 3, so we were going to celebrate with her and see our family. We left Friday night after work, and it rained HARD on us for the first 3 hours. Not fun! We finally made it late that night, and Hudson and Ella were so glad to see each other. Ella loves him so much. She's so good with him too. Every time he spotted her, he smiled the biggest smile. They are so cute together. They even exchanged Easter baskets.





The birthday party on Saturday was lots of fun. We enjoyed seeing Ella have fun with her cute little friends. Hudson had fun with Holly and Chris.





It still seems like yesterday that Ella was born. She's such a big, smart, adorable, mature little lady now. We miss her so much and wish we lived closer. It was such a great weekend, and we are so thankful that we got to be with her for her birthday weekend.

I was so proud of my little man. He did SUCH a good job on the long car ride, and being away from home. Even if we have to pack the whole house, we need to take this boy on more weekend getaways.

6 month stats and pictures

Hudson did wonderful at Dr. Nesbit's office yesterday for his 6 month checkup. He was such a trooper when he got his 3 shots! He only cried for a second.
Here are his stats:

weight: 18 lbs 2 oz- 73rd percentile

height: 27 inches- 75th percentile

He's growing great!

We LOVE his 6 month photos by the WONDERFUL, Haley Lamb. Check out her blog at www.haleylambphoto.com/

Here's Hudson's sneak peak:

This is one of my favorites. I love his hand in this one.

This is my absolute favorite!