Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Patience is a virtue

and mine sure was tested today! I'll rewind to 1:17am this morning. Hudson wakes up crying, we realize that he has fever, and he never really goes back to sleep for more than an hour at a time. My mom meets me at Dr. Nesbit's office this afternoon with him, and our suspicions are confirmed-Hudson's second ear infection. Hud and I head to the pharmacy to pick up his antibiotic, and over an hour and a half later I am still standing there waiting. The insurance company wouldn't approve the dosage that Dr. N prescribed. Of course by this point it was after office hours and the doc office was closed. The Dr. on call was paged three times and finally after almost an hour she called the pharmacist back. She didn't want to change Dr. N's prescription due to Hudson's kidney issues. She called Dr. N on his cell, and he called the pharmacy and straightened everything out in just a few minutes. By this point Hudson and I had already walked around the whole store twice, he'd had 2 meltdowns, eaten a sucker (which he never gets) from our sweet pharmacists, and my mom has stopped by on her way home to pick him up while I continued to wait. I was so glad to finally get out of there. I must say that I love our pharmacist. She is so sweet and knows my family's needs so well. When I was pregnant, having to take all of my injections, and all the other meds, she was so wonderful, and helpful. She's been great with Hudson and all of his prescription needs too. I hope that my sweet boy gets to feeling better and gets back to his old self soon.


Saturday, March 26, 2011

Yes, I'm "THAT" Mom.

and I'm owning it! Before Hudson was born, I always assumed that I'd be a very laid back mom. After all, I'd had plenty of experience. I started baby sitting before I was 11, and did that all through high school when I started working in a day care after school. I worked in a day care all through college too. I've always loved little kids, and the thought of having my own never made me nervous. I was ready! Bring it on! Everyone always says "It's different when it's YOUR child.", and I realized this to an extent. Yes, I would have deeper feelings for my own child, but I won't be "THAT" mom.
Boy was I wrong! As soon as Hudson was born, I became a huge, paranoid mess about germs. Sure, babies are obviously going to come in contact with germs, and they need to build up their immune system, but I was so worried ALL the time about who he was around, who touched him, etc, etc. Hand sanitizer was always a must, and I wasn't afraid to ask people to use it around him. I've gotten much better about the germ issue, but every now and then the germ-a-phob still rears her appearance. I'm still don't understand why complete strangers think it's ok to come up to my child and touch him in the face or grab his hands. Like I said, I've gotten better. Now, instead of pulling him away quickly, and scrubbing his hands with wipes, I just cringe on the inside a little.
I always said that I would "never let my child get addicted to TV", and while Hudson really enjoys watching certain videos, he's definitely not addicted, but he REALLY loves watching Barney. I'm glad that he has an attention span and that he's also learning in the process. We spend lots of time teaching him things, and the videos that we choose to let him watch often reinforce a lot of the things that we are working on like letters, colors, numbers, skills, and concepts. He really enjoys the music too.
Another thing that I fooled myself into thinking was "I'll never allow my house to be taken over by toys." The picture below of a corner in our den speaks for itself.


All of these things are just part of the joys of being a parent. Until you have experienced parenthood, it's hard to understand. I am enjoying being Hudson's mom because he sure is growing fast, and gives me so much to be thankful for. He's helped me learn to relax, and although I want to protect him from everything in this world, I know that I have to let him live and learn. Instead of focusing my energy on worrying about the little things, I choose to enjoy my sweet boy.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

19 month update (a day early) and Kidney appointment update

Hudson got another good report today from Dr. Donohoe. If you follow my blog, you will remember his last appointment in December showed that he was not refluxing ANY urine. You can read about that here.
Today they did another ultrasound, which he hated, and I don't even want to talk about how awful it was holding him down. We met with Doc afterwards and he was really pleased with how healthy Hud is and how well he continues to grow. His kidney is growing well too, and the inside of the kidney (for lack of the proper term) is not as dialated since he's not refluxing. This is good, and we pray that this awesome progress continues. I thank the Lord for taking care of my sweet boy. Thank you so much for your prayers.

Monthly Update:
age- 19 months

weight- 28lbs 4ozs (today at doc. appt)

Size- clothes- 24 months/2T, shoes- 7 wide

Foods- still pretty picky about veggies, but will eat them sometimes. LOVES to eat corn on the cob. This boy can clean a cob in no time.

Teeth- 17- It seems like there are more coming in on both sides in the back the way he puts his fingers back there and chews.

Favorite music- ALL- The boy LOVES to dance, and has some serious rhythm. He's always dancing in the car seat, high chair, walking around, in his crib, today at the doc. office, etc, etc

Favorite video- Barney is still his fave, but he also loves ELmo, Curious George, and Thomas

New Vocabulary- repeats EVERYTHING, These are just a small sample of new words and phrases this month. He's saying so much everyday that I can't keep track... hoe (Dr. Donohoe), straw, oink, home, whoa, There it is., Peyton, tiger, flamingo, mine, dinosaur, panda, lizard, arm, leg, belly, empty, up there, bubbles, feel-feel (his lovey), amen, tractor, bunny, I don't know., noodle, sticky, airplane, croc's, Clifford, Hold on., man, Chick-fil-A, owl, kite, BJ, towel, truck, movie, nice, kiss, phone, lion, thumb, potty, apple, Lynda, LD, Holly, Josh, toot, teeth, face, hug, pear, back, green, red, yellow, blue, white, purple, orange, beeds, beans, Yee-Haw, train, thanks, do, drink, snack, jacket, shirt, pants, arm, leg, drawer, May (our cat Macie), Chip (our cat Chipper), bite, why, go, Scout, outside, butterfly, round-and-round, flower, boat

News and Updates- Hudson enjoys playing outside more than anything, and always wants to play with some sort of ball. His Papa taught him how to throw a ball the correct way, and he's not too bad for a 1 year old. He likes his golf set, and somehow has the concept of chasing the little white ball around with his club. With a little more practice, a few more years, and some fine tuning of his skills, he'll be ready for the Masters in no time. I stumbled across a great find at a local consignment sale a few weeks ago. I found a Little Tykes work bench with lots of tools included ( for only $7!!). My intentions were to put it out on the patio for Hud to play with, but it hasn't made it out of our living room yet! He loves "working" on his stuff. He also loves climbing on it, as well as everything else in the house. The child is part monkey. He's at the stage where he's super independent, and does not want any help. He wants to take his clothes out of the drawer, wipe his hands/face/nose, climb in his highchair, get out of his carseat/highchair, take his cup out of the fridge, and feed himself with no help from mom or dad. He's growing up so fast. He's finally folding his hands and bowing his head for the blessing, and instead of saying "horray" when everyone else says "amen", he's saying amen too.
He's still doing a good job learning his letters and is becoming more aware of print in the environment, not just in books or on the side of the tub at bathtime with foam letters. When he sees writing on our t-shirts, a bag, sign, etc, he will come up, point to the letters and name them.

He's ALL BOY, and keeps us on our toes all the time. There is never a dull moment, but I wouldn't change it for anything. When time out is mentioned, or if you ask him "Do you need to go to time out?", he will say "no", and most of the time just the mention of it will redirect his behavior.

I am really enjoying the stage that he's in now. I can't wait for this summer when I get to be off with him. We are going to have so much fun swimming, and having lunch dates and play dates. Only 7 more weeks! Yay!

They are trying to catch a lizard. Aren't they so cute? I am so thankful that he gets to have so much fun while I'm at work.
My handsome big boy. I love him.







































See? I told you he was part monkey!













The last three are from his 18 month photo session with Haley. I'll post more of those later. They are fabulous!






















Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Please join me in praying



Please keep Hudson in your prayers as we prepare for his next follow up appointment with Dr. D. It's been three months since his last appointment., and it's time for another ultrasound to look and make sure his kidney, ureter, and bladder are alright. We go to CMCG on Thursday. Thank you for your prayers.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patty's Day

March 17, 2010

WOW! What a difference a year makes!
March 17, 2011







I love these babies!!!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Happy Birthday Ella!!!

Even though you are only turning 4, you are very wise beyond your years. We are so glad that you love Hudson so much, and as you can tell, he loves you a lot too. You take such good care of him and call him "my baby". I hope that you two continue to love each other as you grow up.
We had such a good time at your party and visiting with you over the weekend. We love you, and hope you have a great birthday!!!














































































Tuesday, March 8, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANA!!

This is a great big ole HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout out to the best Nana in the whole world!

This picture is over a year old, but it's one of my faves.