Jan 4, 2013

2 week cutie

Our sweet little Hudson will be 3 weeks old tomorrow so this post is a little late but I thought I would still share a photo of him that I took at 2 weeks. I'm trying to capture as many moments as possible on camera because I know how quickly it all goes by! Tear.

Isn't he a doll??? We are still trying to figure out who he looks like - because we both feel he looks different than our other babes! It will be fun to see him grow and change and then maybe we'll see the resemblance of someone more.

Hudson is doing great, and as I mentioned earlier will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. He is a pretty laid back baby, eating, sleeping and pooping and peeing in between and isn't really fussy unless he has a burp or needs a diaper change. I'm enjoying every minute with him and treasuring my 4 healthy babies! What a gift!

Our Christmas was great. I must say, I got a bit spoiled this year - and they were all unexpected surprises! I've been drooling over getting a new(er) Macbook Pro - mainly wanting it for my photography and I got surprised and blessed with one a few weeks before Christmas! It's not brand spankin' new but was barely used so pretty much new. The screen is 17" (so excited!) and the clarity is better - all great tools for when I edit photos. It was such a huge surprise and to be given it was just amazing!

My sister also surprised us Christmas morning by telling us she wanted to take our family (as in us, her, my bro and Kate and my parents) on a family vacation this summer - expenses paid! For anyone that knows me, I LOVE vacations and planning them and we haven't been on one in a couple years so I was excited!! Kris and I started looking online and we decided on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I was trying to plan a cousins trip there last summer but with multiple family members getting married and having honeymoons to go on - it just didn't happen last year. So, late August we will be taking a road trip to Myrtle Beach where we've rented a house just blocks away from the ocean. I cannot wait!! We haven't taken a family vacation with my siblings and parents in over 10 years - so I'm looking forward to all the family time and memories to be made. It should be loads of fun - and will hopefully keep my mind off our sweet Ethan starting kindergarten just a few days after we return! Tear.

Of course my favorite Christmas gift this year was welcoming our brand new baby boy into this world. I felt so blessed Christmas morning to have 4 healthy and gorgeous children and a husband who I love so much and am going on celebrating 10 years of marriage with. I feel so thankful and blessed for the life God has blessed us with - He is so good!

New Years was fun. While we haven't gone "out" for New Years since having children, I've kinda looked forward to and enjoyed getting the kids down for the night and just having quiet time with my hubby - watching a movie, making popcorn and drinking an ice cold Coke. I know I know, such big plans we have on New Years but with 4 little ones, a quiet night at home with your hubbs is actually quite exciting :)

I've never been into making new years resolutions too much but last year I did make one and this year the same. My resolution last year was to find a babysitter so my hubby
and I could spend more quality time together and have date nights out. It may sound like no big deal to you, but let me tell you, it was a big step for me! Until finding a sitter, we had only left our kids with my parents and my sister. For the first few years, leaving Ethan wasn't really easy. He went through separation anxiety until almost age 3 and so leaving him with someone he didn't know wasn't easy. Once he finally got through all that, it made it a little easier for me to think about finding a sitter to leave the kids with.

We finally found a girl from church who we have felt comfortable leaving our kids with. It's been very nice having more time alone together and I must say it is much needed and important in your marriage when raising little ones. We are in the stage of parenting where our kids depend on us for almost everything and with 4 little ones that doesn't leave a lot of time for "us". While our kids needs come first in many ways, it's important to put your marriage first also and the needs of your spouse. Without a healthy marriage, it's impossible to raise little ones as a team. Parenting is the most rewarding job, but also the hardest job - and so having date nights out together has been so good for us. A chance to talk without little ones pulling on our pant legs or saying "I pooped. Change me." So, yay for date nights!!

This year my resolution is quite simple but will help me stay organized. It's to edit my own children's photos and organize them on my computer soon after taking them. Now that I've gotten busy with photography, I spend a lot of time on other people's families photos and mine kinda sit on the back burner, never get edited or organized and put into the right folders, etc. So this year I plan to stay more organized with their photos.

Ethan went back to school this week and was happy to go back. It has been so good for him and he is learning a lot and staying busy doing fun things so we've been really happy with his preschool.

I just started to potty train Gracelyn this week so that's the latest with her. It took Ethan awhile to get it down and that's ok. I'm laid back about it and don't get stressed in the process. I remember getting comments often before Ethan was potty trained (because he wasn't 2.5 years old like their kid when they trained them) and that got old really fast. When kids are ready, they're ready - I'm not gonna be a mom who tries to keep up with the Jones' and compare my kids to others. So with that being said, there's no need to email or text me every few days asking how it's going :) I'll be sure to post the exciting news when she's officially trained :)

Lincoln is doing well. He will be 16 months on Monday and is growing up so much. He plays alongside Ethan and Gracelyn constantly, says "cheese" when I go to take a picture of him, knows where the toaster is when we ask him if he wants a waffle, runs to the coat pantry when I tell him I'm going to vacuum (where I store it) and so much more. I taught him where his nose is this past week and he smiles so big when I react to him showing me where it is :) We are working on where his ears are now ;) He's cutting 3 molars and 2 other teeth so he's been fussy on and off for weeks now. Teething is brutal on the little ones!

And Hudson as I mentioned is doing good. We have his 2nd check up with the doctor later this afternoon - they expect him to be back to birth weight at 2 weeks, and he's almost 3 and feels like he's gaining weight so I'm sure he's passed that up. I'll be sure and update with his stats next time I post.

Enjoy the weekend!
Momma Keri





1 comment:

Claire said...

Always fun to read your posts, Keri :)

Lincoln sounds so grown up now! I can't even believe it!!! Hudson is SO precious. They change so fast these first few weeks... it's like every day they look different!

I teared up reading this post. For some reason looking at your four babies, I just felt as though maybe God is still promising me four. I felt like maybe in a year I'll be where you are. Don't know for sure what God has coming, but I'm open to even dreaming it. I"m thankful to see another momma who has walked a similar road (kids close together and a miscarriage) it reminds me that God is faithful and He restores.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to think I might get to meet you this summer! CHILLS!