Change

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately, but like always life with a baby is busy and there has been a lot on my heart and mind lately.

I've just been mostly needing a little break. I hate to be Negative Nancy, but I've been a little sad to see that people use my blog as a substitute for actually talking to me. And no I'm not talking to the majority of you. My few faithful followers and family, I appreciate you and am happy to have a blog where I can share my baby boy, life, and thoughts. But do you ever get hurt by people that you think are friends but come to find out maybe they were just using you? And they aren't really a friend at all...I'm just praying that God gives me peace and understanding.

I've also been thinking a lot about change. It's amazing how much things have changed recently in our lives. From jobs to living situations, relationships, and a growing baby. And everything inbetween seems to be changing too. It's not bad and a lot of it is good, but mostly it's just all different. And it's taking a lot of adjusting for all of us. Everyone goes through seasons of change, and it's just life. I think it's God's way of testing our faith a lot of times. And it's not always easy, but I know it's right. And I think God has this great plan playing out in ahead of us, we just can't see it all. We only see it in pieces and someday we will see the whole picture and realize how the pieces fit together. Like when you finally finish a puzzle and that last piece falls into place. So I'm praying for people going through change right now, because I completely understand that it's not always easy but the best is yet to come. I'm praying for God's guidance. That's the only way to find His will, just asking to be fully and completely in it and making decisions with Him. I'm sorry that most of you probably are bored by this, but I just really needed to share my heart.

P.S. These are a few of Hudson's 6 month pictures that his Grandma took him to do. I'll share more later!

Visiting

We've done a lot of visiting this week. From Stillwater and Pawnee to visiting Ryan at work then having visitors at our house! But it's nice to see people you haven't seen in a while!

Ryan worked a different shift that wasn't so late so we took a trip down to see him! This is such a bad picture, I cut off his head, but it's the only one I have. I know I say this all the time, but I am so thankful that he works so hard for us!

Hudson was half asleep most of the time, but finally woke up to talk to his dad.

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit too!

Hudson just eats up their attention and he had a great time! We hung out at home mostly, but it was so good to see them!

Happy Visiting! Hope everyone takes time to visit with friends, family, and loved ones!

Cousin Swim Party

Hudson and I invited a few of his cousins over to swim and eat Chick-Fil-A!

Hudson had a good time splashing in the pool!

Check out that belly!

I think the girls enjoyed jumping off the diving board the most. I'm glad he has a few cousins that live close and we get to see them more now. It's also a bonus that they are great with him and he just eats up their attention. Hopefully we will get in more cousin time before they get back to school! Thanks for coming over girls!

Stillwater/Pawnee Visit

Today Hudson and I took a trip to Stillwater for our last appointment with our favorite pediatrician. We had to go say goodbye because we just love her and are going to miss not getting her see her every few months.

Here are his measurements at six months:

weight: 16lbs 2oz

height: 26 in

head circumference: 17 3/4

He had one oral vaccine and 3 shots and thankfully we wasn't too fussy until late this evening. We are also going back to regular formula!

After our appointment we stopped by the house, visited with Cassie and then picked up lunch and headed to Pawnee for a playdate!

This picture cracks me up! Something was hilarious to Ayden, but Hudson is just giving Aunt Candace the, "You've got to be kidding me look."

We call them Mutt and Jeff because of their size difference. Hudson is 6 months and Ayden is 8 1/2 months.

Look at that cute boy! And all the drool too! Dr Colbi said she can see the beginnings of the teeth so she thinks they are coming soon! He did so good today with the long day of traveling, shots, the heat, etc. But we had a great time visiting friends and I can't wait for them to come visit us soon! We sure do miss them!

Hair Trim and Yummy Pasta Salad

Yesterday, in honor of his six month birthday, Hudson got his hair trimmed. Okay, maybe the timing was just coincidence. It was really just time. He had a few stray hairs on the top that were dangling on his forehead and the mullet in the back just needed a little fixing.

He did this most of the time. So we were trying to find things to keep his attention so he wasn't moving all over the place.

Hopefully he won't need another haircut for a while, but if he's anything like his dad it will be next week. Help us. We are going to be paying for a lot of haircuts in this child's life. I guess it's time I learn...

This picture is unrelated, but we have gotten to do some more swimming lately and he is splashing and playing alot more so I thought I would share a cute picture :) Isn't he cute with his crooked hat?!

Anyway, one of the best things about summer is grilling! We grilled bratwurst the other night and I made this pasta salad as a side. I've had it before and have been wanting to make it, so I googled the recipe and it was a success. Delicious! Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 (12 ounce) package uncooked tri-color rotini pasta
10 slices bacon
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons dry ranch salad dressing mix
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup milk, or as needed
1 large tomato, chopped
1 (4.25 ounce) can sliced black olives
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions
1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Stir in rotini pasta and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2.Place bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook until evenly brown. Drain and chop.
3.In a large bowl, mix mayonnaise, ranch dressing mix, garlic powder, and garlic pepper. Stir in milk until smooth. Place bacon, tomato, black olives and cheese in bowl and toss to coat with dressing. Cover and chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. Toss with additional milk if the salad seems a little dry.

6 Months

Hudson, you are half a year already!

Here is your life at 6 months.

You weigh about 16 lbs and we think you are about 25 inches long. We go to the doctor this week so we will get more accurate measurements then.

You eat every 2-4 hours and eat 4 or 6oz at a time. You are still eating your special formula.

You also eat oatmeal every night before bath and bed. You have also been introduced to carrots and green beans. You finally got used to the carrots, but are still not sure about the green beans.

You had the best sleeping routine, but since we have moved it hasn't been the same. Right now you are up ALL the time during the night. It's not consistent at all. The only things that are consistent right now is that you go to bed by 9pm and are awake and ready for the day by 8am.

You wear 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers.

Your hair has been growing back. It is really thick again, but a lot lighter. You still have that terrible mullet of hair that never fell out in the back, but mommy is going to take care of that soon.

You still love bathtime and really like to sit up on your own in your tub. You also want to play with the washcloth the whole time!

You love your exersaucer and spend a lot of time there each day.

You still hate being on your tummy! You immediately start fussing or try to roll over when you get put on your belly.

You roll from your belly to your back and from your back to your side. But you won't let yourself go all the way onto your tummy, because you know how much you don't like being there.

You are sitting up on your own for at least 30 seconds at a time. Sometimes shorter or longer depending on when you decide to start kicking those legs and make yourself fall over.

You also love to stand all the time and stomp your feet!

You laugh all the time! Everything is funny to you.

You LOVE the dogs! You laugh and coo at them and try to get their attention. You reach out to pet them when they walk by and you especially like Marley (probably because she will get the closest to you).

You love to touch EVERYTHING in your reach. You rub your hand on the pillows, blankets, etc to feel them. You reach for everything when you sit at the counter while I cook dinner.

The biggest change that has happened in your life the past month is that you moved to a new city and a new house. You are still adjusting (mostly in the sleep department) and love that there are a lot more people around all the time.

Mommy is loving spending the summer days with you and will sure miss you when she goes back to work. We love you so much and love watching you change each day. It's amazing how different you are than the day you were born! We love you more today than we did that day too; I don't even know how that is possible though.

Ha! It's getting harder to take your picture everyday because you are so active!

But you are so much fun!

Hudson, you are one loved, playful, fun, and delightful baby!
We love you!

My Cute Boy

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Birthday Celebrations

We've had a great relaxing weekend here and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

Friday we had to go to Stillwater, so on our way back we stopped at Click's for my birthday dinner!

Most of my family got to come which was fun! They hadn't gotten to experience the great Click's yet!

We ate way too much food! Ryan and I split this steak, but didn't even make a dent in it so we ended up passing it around the table for everyone else to enjoy too! That's 24oz in case you were wondering. YIKES!

And after dinner we had Chocolate Pie and Nestle Tollhouse Pie! We were so stuffed!

Saturday was awesome, just hung out most of the day and didn't do much. It was nice just to be home with no agenda.

My sweet mother-in-law brought me flowers and for dinner we made my favorite salad followed by banana splits. Talk about food overload for the weekend. I'm going to have to start walking further to get all of it worked off. And I still haven't had my birthday cheesecake yet! Yikes! I better get walking!

Anyway, more important than what I did or the presents I got, I'm just thankful for a birthday each year. It's a reminder that I'm so blessed to be healthy and have luxuries like clean water, good food and a comfortable place to live. Not everyone gets to experience that and I don't want to take it for granted.

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday special. I'm blessed to have wonderful friends and family who care so much.

Cow Appreciation Day

Hudson here. I have to tell you what my mom did to me today. You won't believe it.

First, she marked all over my shirt and made it look like a cow.

Then, she dressed me in it with cow ears.

Next, she took me to Chick-Fil-A for Cow Appreciation Day.

And after all of that, she didn't even share the free chicken she got because I was dressed like a cow. That mom of mine is so silly.

Someone Didn't Eat His Carrots...

We'll try again tomorrow!

Fun & Fourth of July

We've had a fun weekend! We got to spend lots of time with friends and family, eat lots of good food and watch fireworks!

We went to Los Cabos with Cody and Colleen. Hudson and Julian were cracking us up. They were staring each other down, talking and Hudson pulled his hair (sorry Julian). I think they got over it pretty quick and continued their conversation.

Since all of Ryan's family was in for the weekend, Jean and Cassie had a baby shower for Alicia. She is having a baby girl in October.

Hudson didn't seem to mind the fireworks too much and we had fun dressing him in red, white and blue all weekend. Take that back, I had fun. Ryan could care less. He would be dressing him in orange everyday if I let him.

Anyway, he was a ham like usual. He thinks everything is funny these days!

We had a pinic at church and cooked burgers on Sunday.

Afterwards, Ryan and a few of the teens put on a fireworks show for some of us that were still there. These are some of the spectators.

Yesterday, we hung out as a family, did some shopping, finished a few projects and made a crab boil for dinner. Except without the crab. Dad is allergic. It was delicious! And nothing can be easier to make-you just throw it all together in a pot and boil it! Hate to say it, but we almost devoured all of the food on that table. Oh well, it was worth it!