I am completely in love with this sweet little peanut.  My heart has been so full of love, joy and emotion the last three weeks since we brought him home.  Sadly, due to exhaustion, I am unable to form a cohesive sentance that will truly express the deep joy I find in being his mother...so you will just have to enjoy the pictures and see for yourself how completely lovable he is! 

Laynie adores him just as much as I do and is adjusting superbly to the role of big sister!  It melts my heart when she coos "Hi baby Hudson" while stroking his hair & kissing his baby cheeks.

Don't you just want to eat him up?

He makes the cutest faces and expressions in his sleep! 

He continues to be very laid back.  Hardly ever fusses and we have only heard him really cry a few times.  He likes to power nap and is sleeping in 4-5 hour chunks at night.  When he is awake he just looks around and takes everything in.  I think he already realizes that his sister has enough drama for the both of them. :)

 It has been a huge blessing that he is such an easy baby because truthfully, things have been a little rough for our first couple weeks as a family of four.  Right as I started getting up and around after the c-section, I came down with a horrible fever and have been quite sick (translation = the most sick I have ever been in my life) since Christmas day.  Thankfully, my dr. has pinpointed the problem and I started meds today that should have me feeling much better soon.  Which is great because I have this little punkin' head to take care of....

We still havn't quite decided who he looks like.  There is deffinitely a strong resemblance to Laynie but his features are much more petite than hers.  His nose, lips and cheeks are almost dainty.  I know, not the type of words a little boy wants to hear but it is what everyone has said..not just his mom.  :)

Well, I'm off to bed.  Yes, it is New Years Eve and I am blogging and then headed to bed before midnight... That is the way it goes when you have a three week old apparantly.

Oh! One quick story first...

The other day I left Laynie and Hudson in the living room for a minute to grab something from the kitchen.  As I left I told Laynie that she should show Hudson some of her toys while I was gone.  This is what I came back to...

                 



Guess who is one week old!

Well, one week plus a couple days....

Mr. Hudson, as we like to call him, is seriously, the most precious baby boy.  I could cuddle him up and kiss his little cheeks all day long! He is incredibly easy going and sleeps like a champ! He has been sleeping in 4-5 hour chunks since the day we brought him home...no, I'm not kidding. At first I was worried he wasn't eating enough but when we went to his 48 hour check-up he had put on 7 oz. since we left the hospital two days prior! Jeff and I thought Laynie was an easy baby but Hudson brings a whole new meaning to the word "chill". 

We already cant imagine what it was like to not have him.  He is such a perfect little addition to our family!  Laynie is adjusting really well..I don't think she even remembers that she used to be an only child. :)

He has already changed so much.  How does that happen in just one week?  I am addicted to his newborn smell and all of the little newborn faces and noises he makes.  My favorite is when he purses his lips up into a little "o" and just looks around.  When he is awake (which honestly, is not that often) he is very alert.  It is not uncommon for him to look right at me and just listen to me talk.  He also loves to hear Laynie sing! It tears this mama's heart nearly in two every time she starts sinigng him a lullabye and he calms right down to listen.   

I love the feeling of his tiny little body curled up against me while he sleeps.  I also adore how he makes a slight purring sound when he is in a very deep sleep.  I love when he starts to go just a little bit cross-eyed when he looks at something too long and the way his eyelids start to droop when he gets sleepy.

 

Oh how I wish I could just freeze time and continue to soak up his newborness!



Mr. Wonderful

I know, I know...what kind of a cheeseball nickname is that?  When Jeff and I were dating and I was in the la-la land that people exist in while falling in love, my family (mostly my dad) coined this nickname for Jeff. 

It stuck for a while and then kind of fizzled....not, however, because he stopped being wonderful. 

Jeff turned 26 yesterday.  It was the 8th birthday that we have celebrated together and I love him more each year.  Not only does my love for him continue to grow, my respect and admiration for him continue to increase as well.  Jeff is a man among men.  Never giving himself excuses, he is always seeking ways to improve who he is as a man, husband and father.  And let me tell you, he is one superb father.

This week could have been very tough on our family.  The first few days home from the hospital I was completely down for the count which left Jeff with a toddler, a newborn, an invalid, and a house to take care of.  Since I am not able to lift Hudson from his bassinet or do pretty much anything, Jeff has had to be up with me anytime Hudson is awake during the night.   This means neither of us were getting good sleep.      Monday morning we looked at each other and said "How in the world are we going to make it to Friday?"  But now it is Saturday and I can honestly say that this week has gone so well.  Except for the pain I would even say it has been fun.  This is almost completely thanks to my husband's servant heart.

For a week straight Jeff has kept our home neat, our clothes clean and our tummies full (with lots of help from friends bringing meals of course :)...but these things all seem minor compared to the REAL work he has been doing.  In the midst of major change he has been a rock for Laynie.  They play ALL day long and I have heard almost constant giggles as she hangs with her daddy for the week.  Every morning she asks "You go work today dad?" and when he tells her no she responds with "Yay! So excited!".  From sun up till sun down she is his little shadow and he excels at making her feel needed and wanted no matter what he is in the middle of doing.  The only part of fathering a little girl that he hasn't quite mastered...pigtails :)

Jeff has been my rock as well.  No one could have nursed me back to health as quickly as he has! Whether it be more pain meds, juice, ice packs or even just my laptop so I can do a little "pinning" he is quick to accomadate my every request without a hint of impatience.  He has hugged me when I've cried, re-assured me when mother's guilt over how little I have seen Laynie overwhelms me, chastised me when I try to do anything and made me laugh till I had to slug him because it hurt my stomach so badly!  Last night after both kids were asleep we sat and talked about all kinds of things and I was overwhelmed with gratitude for a husband who is so caring, thoughtful and willing to just sit and chat with his wife and the end of the day. 

Hudson doesn't know it yet but God has blessed him greatly in giving him Jeff as a dad.  One of my favorite memories from the c-section was right after Hudson had been born.  He was screaming, of course, and Jeff was over with him while he was on the warmer.  I heard the Dr. say to one of her assistants, "He is singing to him..that is so sweet".  Sure enough, I strained my head around to get one of my first peeks at Hudson and there was his daddy, right there in the operating room, leaning over the warmer and singing to calm him down.  It is my prayer that Hudson won't only look like his daddy but grow up to be like him as well.    

Happy Birthday Babe! I love you!



And Then There Were Two.....

Two.  I have two healthy, beautiful children.  Laynie has a little buddy now and boy does she love him.

Unfortunately Laynie was not feeling well the morning she came to meet her baby brother and wasn't quite herself.  Even so, I will never forget the look on her face when she walked in the room.

Or the way she hesitantly looked at him that very first time. 

She kept asking if it was "Baby Honey" and if he was out of mommy's tummy.  She also commented on Mommy's "funny jammies". :) She was intrigued but a little unsure. 

Slowly, she began to warm up to him and eventually asked

to hold him.  It lasted about 12 seconds... but it was priceless while it lasted.  



Now that we are home Laynie is much more interested in him.  She loves to sing and talk to him as well as help with all of his things.  I never could have imagined how facsinated she would be by his diapers, paci and all the other little baby things that are now lying around our house.  My favorite is when she sits next to his bouncy seat and coos "It's ok, It's ok baby honey". Like I said....they are buds. :)

The First Few Days...

Hudson and I spent our first few days together tucked away in a hospital room doing this...

                            I have taken to calling him my angel baby. 

For as stubborn as he was about making his appearance, he has turned out to be incredibly sweet tempered and easy going.  It is true what they say about big babies...they sleep really well.  This of course, isnt the reason I am madly in love with him.  I am madly in love with him because he has the most kissable cheeks I have ever seen, bright blue eyes that are almost unsettling on a newborn, and tiny little ears that are always bright red from being pressed up against someones arm or chest as he is cuddled.  He has impossibly long fingers that curl perfectly around anything you set in his palm and toes that you just want to nibble on.

The first few days post c-section were very rough.  The exhaustion and pain were overwhelming but in the midst of it I had this little man to cuddle and kiss to my hearts content.         

               

Of course we didn't just sleep and cuddle the whole time! Hudson has LOTS of people who love him so much already and were so anxious to meet him...his daddy and I were happy to show him off!

At the last minute my sister Audrey was able to drive in for Hudson's arrival!  Aud spent most of my labor up at the hospital with us....it was so awesome to have her there! Towards the end when I was exhausted and starting to get nervous about my little peanut she distracted me by talking about every little detail of the Hunger Games! 

A few hours later the grandparents came up to meet Hudson.  They were smitten, naturally.

The next morning Laynie came up to meet her baby brother! I am saving these pics for a seperate post however because I have a million things to say about her reaction, my amazing husband and how proud I am of our little family!

Here is the rest of my family coming to see the little guy..

       

In closing, everyone keeps asking me if Hudson looks like Laynie.  Here are pics of each of them at one day old. Give me your vote! Do you think they look alike? :)

                    



He is Here!

The long awaited Baby Honey has finally arrived!!

Jeff and I checked in to the hospital Wednesday evening around 8 p.m. and after a somewhat rough 24 hours ended up in a c-section Thursday evening around 11.  The labor and delivery definitely went differently than we had planned but he is here, healthy and beautiful and that is what matters most.  We are overjoyed and can not get enough of him! He has stolen our hearts and we feel so incredibly blessed.  The Lord is good!

Hudson Jeffery

December 8th, 2011 born at 11:11

9lbs. 7 oz.  -  22.5 inches.