Hudson's first ear infection

Our little guy has his first ear infection and it's a double ear infection. :(

Let me back up a little. Last week Hudson's allergies started bothering him. Not bad at all, but a little snotty, a little cough, some sneezing. Nothing bad at all. So we gave him singulair and he was fine. Friday we took him for his 15 month check up and the doctor noticed one of his ears was a little red but nothing to worry about. Then over the weekend, his fever went up and he was miserable but we linked that to his flu shot that he got on Friday. He has been fever free since Sunday night but still wasn't feeling great. Monday night was a bad night for him. He was clearly in pain and kept crying out and almost grunting in his sleep. We were up with him for a couple of hours and then he woke up around 5:30 Tuesday morning. At this point I was still thinking allergies. John came home from work in the morning after his staff meeting and helped me out on Tuesday. It was wonderful because I was so exhausted from not much sleep Monday night. When Hudson woke up from his nap around 4:30 that day he started pulling at his ears. So I called the doctor first thing Wednesday morning to get him looked at. His cough had also gotten much worse. He had that horrible seal barking cough. 

So we went to the doctor yesterday morning and he has a double ear infection and croup. She told us to keep using the Zyrtec and humidifier to help with the croup and gave us a prescription for amoxicillin for his ears. Not only was this Hudson's first ear infection but it's also his first time taking an antibiotic. I'm so thankful that we made it 15 1/2 months. 

When we went to the doctor yesterday I decided to put him in the stroller which was one of my best ideas as a parent yet. He is a very active (even when he's sick) baby...almost toddler. So the idea of having him by myself in a waiting room being 34 weeks pregnant was not my idea of fun. He was happy and content sitting in his stroller eating his snack and watching the other kids. 

Oh and Hudson loves amoxicillin. He cries when he can't have anymore after we give him his dose. 

He's already doing so much better today. Still incredibly snotty but his ears don't seem to be bothering him at all and his cough is SO much better! Still has it but he doesn't sound like a barking seal anymore. 

weekend with Susu

linking up here for Miscellany Monday!

We had a great time this weekend with John's mom. She came in town for a visit (yes, we've had visitors for 3 weekends in a row...we are about to lose our guest room but we love having family in town!)

Saturday we took a trip to Sam's to get a few things. We are working on Hudson holding our hand while walking. He hates it but he's gotta learn. :)

I am always prepared with Hudson's favorite snacks when we go out. He had half water half lemonade in his sippy cup which made him very happy!

When we got back we ate lunch and put together Emma's crib while Hudson napped. I was SO excited to get it into her room!

this isn't the wall it will go on, but we took the queen bed is out of the room today so it is now in the right spot.

Hudson is getting SO close to dropping his morning nap. On Saturday he napped for 1 1/2 hours in the morning and would not take an afternoon nap. So after we got him up he enjoyed some sherbet with Susu. He loved it of course. :)

He was starting to get fussy so Susan took him on a walk. He fell asleep so we just wheeled him back to his room to nap for a little bit. 

Unfortunately, little man woke up with a fever and feeling horrible. Like, he's never really been sick and he did not want to be put down, would lie his head on our shoulders. It was so so sad. 

So we put him in the bathtub with Yo Gabba Gabba on the iPad and a pedialyte popsicle. 

It helped his fever a little but he was still so fussy and clingy the rest of the night. He would have moments when he would play but they wouldn't last long.

About 6:45 I took him to get ready for bed and he let me rock him for almost 30 minutes. SO UNUSUAL for him!!! I usually have time to sit with him to pray and sing 1 song. Then he is ready to get in bed. He was falling asleep while we rocked. I hated that he felt so bad but loved being able to rock him.

I'm so thankful that he slept all night without waking up. He woke up with a 99.6 fever so we stayed home from church and thankfully he's feeling so much better. I think it was his vaccines and flu shot he got on Friday. 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

last weekend with Lady

My mom came in town last weekend. One last time before she comes when Emma is born!

Hudson kept making these precious faces at her when he was eating dinner Friday night.

For almost my entire pregnancy, I've been craving French macaroons. My mom brought some and I was in heaven!

Story time with Lady.

These pictures are all out of order, but I'm over it. On Friday night Hudson was having too much fun playing that he wouldn't eat dinner too well. So he would eat a few bites here and there and we were ok with that.

Saying bye bye to Lady when she left to go home on Sunday morning.

swingin with Daddy

a few sweet pictures with Lady before she left on Sunday

Thanks so much for visiting Lady! We had the best time!

15 month check up!

We had Hudson's 15 month well check yesterday and he is perfectly healthy and growing and developing as he should be. I am always so thankful after these appointments for a healthy baby!

Hudson showed Dr. R some of his tricks like pointing out certain body part, trying to jump, and giving high fives. Poor thing had to get 3 shots but thankfully handled them as well as he could have. Thanks to the new iPhone update he held John's iPhone on the way home while watching Yo Gabba Gabba and we didn't have to worry about him messing anything up! Thank you Apple!

It was so eye opening to me when we were finished and I was making his 18 month appointment that we will be there with 2 kids! Whoa! We got Emma put in the "baby book" so that Dr. R can be ready for her arrival too!

Here are his official 15 month stats:

weight: 25 pounds 14 ounces (67th percentile) {he's grown almost 1/2 a pound in 2 weeks. He was weighed right before he turned 15 months at the doctor.}

height: 31 1/2 inches (60th percentile)

head circumference: 19 inches (78th percentile)

lucky girl!

2 posts in 1 day? Yep! I'm excited to share this with y'all!

I never win anything. There are always tons of giveaways on the blogs I read and I always enter them for fun. I never win. Except for the last 2 weeks. I've won 4 giveaways in 2 weeks! Seriously!

First, I won a giveaway that my friend Katy had on her blog. Emma got 2 adorable pairs of baby legs wrapped in the cutest packaging. Check out Pink Pear Tree Gifts. She has such sweet things for babies and they are all ready to go for a shower or hospital gift. Below is what I got for Emma.

The next giveaway I won was to My Favorite Bows hosted by Growing, Laughing and Loving in Life. I won credit to pick out bows for Emma. A little girl can never have too many bows. I love the classic look of the grosgrain bow so I have several colors sitting in my shopping cart on her site. Just trying to make sure I have exactly what I need!

THEN, I won a pair of custom leggings and matching bow from Sweetly Southern Bows and More hosted by I Love You More Than Carrots. I told her I wanted a pair for Christmas and she sent me this picture and it's perfect! The only difference in the pair she is making Emma is the ruffle at the bottom. Emma's will have more of a ruffle instead of the fur. With a sweet matching bow this is going to be adorable!

And today I found out I won The Chirping Moms giveaway for this PRECIOUS candy corn smocked dress from The Little Crane Smocked Shoppe. I absolutely LOVE this dress. I am planning on ordering a size 12 months so she can wear it next year.  

Y'all! Seriously?!?! I still can't believe I've won 4 giveaways for Emma in 2 weeks! And I'm entering all kinds of giveaways too. Things for me, Hudson, etc. but I just keep winning the ones for her. I'm so excited though because she doesn't have much at all compared to Hudson. 

I was not asked to share about these shops. I am just excited and love the things I've won and wanted to share these fun shops and blogs with you! These sweet ladies do giveaways often so follow their blogs!

getting ready

Last week I started going to bible study on Tuesday morning. We have to be there at 9:30 so while John and I were getting ready Hudson hung out in the bathroom with us.

Sundays and Tuesdays are the only days that I wake up before Hudson to shower and begin getting ready. I wish I did that everyday, but the truth is, I need my sleep. Especially when pregnant and chasing a 15 month old around.

Hudson enjoyed his time in the bathroom with us. He ate my makeup brushes and pulled all the cotton pads out of the canister. 

And we even had a little fun with John's hair stuff. We quickly washed it out and decided that 1) Hudson can't pull off this look and 2) he will be getting a haircut in the next month before Emma is born!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Brown Sugar Glaze

My sister shared this recipe with me over the weekend and I knew I had to make them immediately! They are very soft, cake-like cookies that are so delicate and sweet. A perfect pumpkin spice flavor with the brown sugar glaze sends them over the top. Make these soon!

Hudson is a HUGE fan of these cookies. :)

Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Brown Sugar Glaze

adapted from food.com

1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Brown Sugar Glaze
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Mix in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add the flour mixture into butter-sugar mixture. Drop tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes until golden around the edges. Remove warm cookies and transfer to racks. Let them cool completely for a least 30 minutes, then frost with glaze.

For Glaze:

In a medium saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar over medium heat until bubbly. Cook, stirring constantly, for one minute or until slightly thickened. Whisk in the milk, then whisk in the powdered sugar until the glaze is smooth and spreadable. Use a silicone basting brush or a butter knife to spread glaze on the cookies. This glaze will harden fairly quickly so you should keep the saucepan over the stove on the lowest heat possible to prevent it from hardening.

Hanging out with PJ

Last week (Wednesday-Friday) my dad was here for a visit. Hudson got lots of attention and love from his Papa Jim (PJ).

He brought Hudson a fun new toy that he loves. (pardon the bad quality of this photo...iPhone plus movement plus window in background equals poor picture)

We had a yummy lunch on Thursday. Hudson had lemons for an appetizer. :)

We also did a little grocery shopping with PJ. Hudson loved the frozen veggies and kept putting them on his legs.

PJ shared his eggs with Hudson on Friday morning. 

And we had another yummy lunch on Friday. Hudson loved Olive Garden!

He ate most of his salad and pretty much all of his pasta!

Thanks so much for coming to visit PJ! We had a wonderful time. :)

Husband Hack

Ten Things I Love About My Wife, Lindsay:

1. She is an amazing mother. Every time I see her with Hudson, I'm that much more happy that we're having another child.  
2. She's super sexy. Particularly in the morning. With no make-up on. 
3. She is constant and steady. No drama. Of all the people in my life, she's the one I know I can count on. 
4. She gives great advice. Most of the time, she doesn't think I'm listening, but her advice is some of the best, and it always gives me a better perspective on the world. 
5. She follows Christ in a way that makes me want to go deeper. In a real marriage, one season might find the husband nudging the wife along in faith, and in another season, the wife nudging along the husband. That is what it means to be equal, submitting to one another. 
6. She dances really poorly. Then again, so do I. Even so, we dance around the house with Hudson all the time. It's sweet, but still really bad. 
7. She has an unhealthy love of shoes. It's a sickness. 
8. She keeps this amazing blog, which will be a gift to our children someday. And yes, it will also be a source of embarrassment. That's also part of the plan. 
9. She keeps the monograming economy going. I'm pretty sure that every piece of children's clothing we own has a name or initial on it. And I'm not kidding. Really. Not kidding. 
10. She loves me. It's a huge gamble, but she keeps betting on me. And the best part is, we both win. 

Love you, Lobster. 

Hudson {15 months}

giving kisses running in place climbing playing basketball puzzles 12 teeth all fruit 25 1/2 pounds jumping playing chase 32 inches

{words}

nigh nigh, Mama, Dada, ba (ball), ba ba (basketball), all dah (all done), doh (dog), diada (diaper), momey (monkey), namen (amen - after we say prayers...the sweetest thing ever!), bot (boat), ma (milk and more), cheese, buh buh (bye bye)

WILW

It's been a long time since I've linked up with WILW. So, here are some things I'm loving today!

I'm LOVING that this little guy has been using his left hand so much. He sat and played with this toy for about 15 minutes with his left hand. My mom and brother are both left handed so he might take after them. I'm not sure when it is determined what hand they will use. He switches back and forth between both when he's eating though.

I'm LOVING our new stroller! Although we don't technically have it yet, it will be here tonight. Ever since we found out we were pregnant with #2, I knew I wanted a Baby Jogger City Select stroller. These things are expensive though. I started looking on Craigslist at the beginning of June to find one for a good price. I looked at Houston, Austin, and Dallas because I knew the chances of finding one in Victoria were slim. I found one last week in Dallas and my dad got it for us! He is coming to visit tonight and is bring it with him. We can go ahead and start using it too because one of the seats can be removed to make it a single. Oh and the one we got is practically new...used less than 5 times!

I'm LOVING my {ideas} for Emma's room. We are still waiting on furniture to arrive before we can start putting it all together, but here are my ideas! 

And of course, I'm LOVING my 2 sweet guys!

Happy Wednesday!

Mommy & Hudson Weekend

We had a VERY low key weekend. John was out of town from Saturday morning until Monday afternoon for The Collective (youth choir) retreat. So it was just me and Hudson hanging out at home.

We've been trying to get Hudson to do better with a spoon and bowl/plate. Saturday I gave him some refried beans with lunch and he loved them which made him do a much better job with the spoon.

He also did a puzzle for the first time on Saturday. He got this one for his birthday and it is a great first puzzle. It kept him entertained for 20 minutes!

My sweet boy making his chair more comfortable. 

Sundays are always interesting for us. Sunday morning with John out of town wasn't really any different than any other Sunday. He usually leaves around 7:45 so I'm used to getting us ready and out the door on my own. But after a weekend of doing it all on my own, I needed a break. So Hudson played in his room alone for 30 minutes allowing me to get ready for church. I am SO thankful for the video monitor! 

Baylor had their first game last night (and WON!) so Hudson wore his green and gold plaid shirt to church. Unfortunately, this is the only green and gold he can wear right now. He had so many Baylor things last year, but they are all too small now. 

Last night we went over to our pastor and his wife's house for dinner. We had ribs (which I had been craving) and Hudson loved them. Judith gave Hudson a scoop of Cool Whip after dinner which he loved.

Hudson and Judith playing on the floor. :)

Today we stayed home all day and got a few things done around the house. Hudson was so sweet all day. 

The best part of our weekend...when John got home this afternoon! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!