Happy Halloween!

Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween! We had a blast! Here's a quick recap of the weekend of fun ...

Dancing with Grandma at a Halloween party

Friend, April at the Halloween party

Trick or treating with buddy Blake!

Rode around in his wagon holding on tightly to his bucket of candy for half an hour! (brrrr!)

Our little Jayhawk family! Basketball player, mascot, and cheerleader!

Our family trick or treating - a fun tradition to start! :)

Hooow big is Hudson??

 Sooo Big!!

Last week he would only put his left arm up, this week - he's got it. He even does it when no one asks how big he is :) I guess he just feels like being a big boy sometimes!  (..just like his father!)

Hudson really is becoming such a big boy.. He's over 10 months old!

-His 2nd tooth just came through last week - it's been a slow process.. He's trying new foods all the time, always wanting whats on my plate instead of his!
-He's very content playing and exploring (most of the time).
-He likes to stand, walk along all the furniture, he dances (bounces up and down in place and waves one arm up and down) every time he hears fun music playing :)
-he's always happy to play with dad, but gets bored with mom very quickly..
-when he's playing and happy, his constant babble sounds like "da dada da da" and when he's crying or whining it sounds like "ma ma waaa"  ..

    

-- I find this very fitting. I read somewhere that it's actually a compliment and reassurance to you when your baby is fussy around you and everyone else says they're just great and content all the time because it means they are most comfortable and familiar with you that they let you see their bad side. So.. I'll let him cry "ma ma" for now :) 

-He takes one really good nap in the morning (usually) and has been skipping an afternoon nap all together already! 

-He does not like to go to sleep. He fights it as long as we'll let him, but he is getting better about going to sleep when we put him down instead of crying. That's a nice change.

-- I know there are different opinions out there about letting babies "cry it out" or not .. we did a lot of contemplating and decided to try it. It worked for us! But wasn't easy.. and isn't easy to stick to in the middle of the night when he decides to wake up for no apparent reason at 4:00am! (which he did last night.. we kept going in and out of his room until about 5:45.. that's not easy) 

-Anyway, that's about it - he continues to grow and be a joy of a little boy! 

A few weeks ago we went up to SC for a weekend.. we went to the pumpkin patch, saw lots of family, and even had a bon fire! 

Ok, so we didn't actually "Master" the corn maze.. 

but it was only because we had to leave before we had time to finish! 

It took us 45 minutes to find 4 of the 6 mailboxes in there! 

We had a blast though, so we took the picture anyway :)

Thank you Grandma Janet for the exceptional picture taking! 

Did I mention Hudson helped Papa mow the lawn?! 

It's been a fun month so far! And it's only half way through! Hope you're all enjoying this wonderful fall weather :)

Pumpkin. Spice. Latte. Chai. Cinnamon. Fall. FALL. FALL!!! :)

Ok.. So I get a little carried away when the first hint of Fall comes around. I - Love - It !!

         The smell of it, the taste of it, the touch of it. I love how the crisp and fresh the air feels. I love cuddling in blankets. I love decorating my home in fall stuff - the colors are perfect. I love wearing sweat shirts and jeans and walking outside dragging my feet through the crunchy leaves on the ground. I love that the next thing to come are Thanksgiving and Christmas :) 

Alright, we get the picture! 

Speaking of pictures.. I have some new ones! 

Hud's latest face :)

We spent Labor Day weekend in Arkansas at Cory's grandparent's house. This collage summarizes our fun! 

Oh yea - and Hudson is 9 months old! Time flies when you're having fun!!

Hudson has been taking a good morning nap recently. He is crawling everywhere! Getting in to everything, playing with all of his toys, and the tubber ware, wooden kitchen spoons, coasters, and everything else he can get his hands on! Still no teeth or words, but lots of smiles which is all we need right now :) He's growing like crazy - weighing in at 21 pounds! He loves is food and is ready to start trying some different things - aka anything I'm eating! we'll get started on that right away as soon as he has some teeth to chew with! 

That's about all I have for now - Thanks for catching up and enjoy the "cooler" weather! :)  Until next time..

PS - if anyone knows how to make the picture at the top of my blog page smaller, please fill me in! I'm lost :)

More of a photo blogger than words blogger..

So, you'll never believe this, but I think my camera was so full of pictures it wouldn't connect to the computer! I had to go through my camera and manually delete over 500 photos so I could get the latest 200 uploaded to the computer! It finally worked after 2 months of experimenting! So guess what - I have more photos to share with you! Like this post title says, I'm more of a photo blogger than a words blogger - it's just how I'm more comfortable sharing our experiences! :) So, enjoy the experiences of our summer!

Hud's 7 and 8 month pictures!

Hud's moving more than sitting still these days - so these pictures were not easy to get! In the past month especially, he had started crawling everywhere - mainly to something he can pull himself up on so he's standing, then he tries walking from one piece of furniture to the next. Won't be long and I'll be chasing a walking baby instead of a crawling baby I'm afraid! :) Still no teeth though, so at least we're not worrying about him chewing in to all of that furniture he's climbing on! 

July 15, 2012 - Our first anniversary! :) :)

We had the opportunity of going out on our own for our anniversary because Cory's parents were in town to watch Hudson! Cory planned quite the special evening for us to enjoy :)  We started the night off at a Jazz concert held at the Art Center where we had our rehearsal dinner, then went to dinner at Cafe Di Scala, then we got our frozen wedding cake from home and took it to Flemings and had cake and coffee on the patio overlooking the pond on a beautiful evening .. ahh, the memories .. it was such a treat to have that time for the two of us to look back on the past year and how our lives have grown and changed so much. We are so very blessed and happy!

Family Anniversary Pic

Babies!

We've been busy visiting babies this summer! The first girl born in to the family since I was born arrived on July 20 - Sophia Lynne (left, and bottom right)! She's absolutely precious! :)  We also got to visit a new cousin - Bowen Jon was born on July 19! Hudson was curious for a minute, but then forgot there were little babies around and went about his business playing :)

- Kansas trip in a nutshell -

We spent a long weekend down in Kansas with Cory's family celebrating his birthday. Lots of fun with lots of family and friends!

Hudson :)

Just a few fun pics to share for kicks and giggles :)  We have lots of those.. Hud's not quite as serious as he use to be - he laughs and smiles at everyone now!

Even though the heat has kept us in more than we would have liked this summer, we've had a blast! Hudson is growing and changing every day, and our family is just enjoying every second of it! We're spending time with friends as well, grill outs, dinner out with kids :) always an experience! Now that it's cooled down a bit, we've been walking outside, attending free music at the Jordan Creek pond, and going to the park.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and few words to go along with them :) Take care and stay cool!

6 months!

My baby is  6.  months.  old.  already !!

Isn't he handsome?!

It's been such a joy this first half year getting to know my constantly growing little man! He's so active, always wants to be moving around (which he can't do on his own yet, so I'm constantly moving around with him!) :) He loves going for walks in the stroller, eating his fruits and veggies, and bottles and grapes in a mesh net (see pic below), and any and everything else he can get to his mouth! He loves his binky, and for, now that's ok :)  He likes reading books for about 5 minutes at a time, then he gets bored. He looves music! Which his daddy and I love too, so that works out! He's a very serious baby, and only gives out smiles when its well earned - which makes them even more precious! Same goes for his giggles. And as I watch him on the floor by me right now, I can officially say he can scoot. Backwards. ha :) He also balances on his hands and knees in crawling position - but moving consists of flopping to the ground and starting all over again! He will spin in circles all day long if he has something to go after too! He likes his sleep (usually). He sleeps through the night about 2/3rds of the time. He's only had 3 nights ever where he decided he didn't need to sleep. I consider us very fortunate for that! He loves activity, always wants to be "part of the mix"! I think that's why he has such a hard time falling asleep - he doesn't want to miss anything!

Mesh net - he can suck on fruit and get the juices

The past months have been a blast - seeing all the changes and progress - and being able to share it with family! Hudson's grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins have been so good at sharing in his life.

Tulip Time in Pella, IA 2012

5 month pic

Fire pit night with Papa and Grandma Janet

Mother's Day! :) :)

Fun in the sun! 

As you can see, the last few months have been full of fun and activities! Life never slows down, just how Hudson likes it! :)

Catching up: March (and some February, and some April) :)

Ok, so I honestly think about posting on here every single day! The days just go by faster and faster and so today I decided to skip doing the dishes, preparing for dinner, making the bed, or putting on any makeup to update! :) Hope it's worth it.

Since last post, we've had so much fun! Hudson spent a weekend with Grandad Fred and Grandma Kris in Kansas while Cory and I watched the kick off weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament with friends. He came back a spoiled boy! Got used to being held all day long and the attention was always on him! (just how it should be at gma and gpa's) It took a little bit to get him out of that :)  (ok.. let's face it, I still spoil him!)


Hudson is all ready to watch the Kansas Jayhawks play in the championship game of the NCAA tourny!!

We've had a beautiful spring! It has allowed many walks to a park near our home. Cory even took a day off (a day of mourning after Kansas lost the championship basketball game) so we all went to the park together! Cory brought a nerf football, just in case Hud felt like playing "catch".  :) :) We did roll it back and forth on the blanket for a bit! Hudson really enjoyed exploring in the grass! As you can see in the pictures, he had a hard time looking up in to the bright sunlight!

All in all, Hudson is just growing so quickly! He's an adorable little boy who lives to eat, drool, eat, squeal in delight, eat, be held, eat, and did I mention.. eat? (ha!) He's a good sleeper for the most part and has loads of energy all day long! One of his favorite things to do is "stand".

What a big boy!! :)                                                

For Easter we went to Sioux Center to visit my family. Another fun filled weekend with family and friends!

Gma Janet helped take some 4 month photos!

Great Grandma Donna made Hud laugh and laugh!

Cousin time

The whole Boone family on Easter Sunday

Our family on Easter :)

credit for all photos of SC goes to Grandma Janet! :)  (thanks Mom!)

Last but not least, we started trying to feed Hudson some rice cereal! :) 

Good work, Dad!

Thanks for catching up with us! Hope it's not another month before I decide to do this again! It's really fun to go back and re-live what we've been up to! 

Thanks for naps and technology!

Seriously - I am so thankful today for nap time and technology! (Everything in moderation, of course - but when nap time comes around, I'm ready! And when I'm ready for a few mindless minutes, checking my e-mail or scrolling through Facebook updates does the trick!)

What I love about nap time:

 - 2 hours to do whatever I please at home

 - 2 free hands!

 - Kitchen time (you're thinking, please explain!) I don't like a messy kitchen. So kitchen time allows me to wash the dishes, wipe the counter tops, etc. I don't necessarily like those activities, but I love the result! I also love cooking/baking - so most of my kitchen time is spent doing that, and I finish up with the "chore" of cleaning it.

 - If I haven't had the opportunity to shower yet, I'll do that. Or just brush my teeth and pull my hair back :)

 - When so inspired, the opportunity to use the treadmill in the basement 

 - Devotion time. I recently started a Beth Moore Bible study - love them! There's a lot of "homework" though. I enjoy it, but I need quiet time to focus and really take it all in. My goal for this study is to start every nap time with 20-30 minutes of quiet time. 

sneaking in on nap time :)

What I love about technology:

 - It entertains me when I am sitting at home and can't leave because I have a baby :)

 - DVR: I can record any show on TV that I want to and watch it whenever I want to (like every 45 minutes when I have to sit down to nurse Hudson, again.)

 - iPad: We got one for Christmas :) I spend hours on that while sitting/standing with Hudson - browsing the web, checking e-mail and Facebook, and playing solitaire :)

 - Android cell phone: texting anyone and everyone I can think of, calling my mom, and finding random apps I can download and mess with (including a baby app that allows me to track Hudson's eating, sleeping, diapers, activities, and moods all in one place!)

 - Computer: It's pretty rare that I actually make time to sit at the computer with two free hands to do as I please (like type = blog) but when it happens I cherish every (oops, got to go! crying baby) So, I'm back.. 2 weeks later! :) Forgot I was even writing this post .. guess that happens too!

As I read over what I typed 2 weeks ago, I see how much it has changed again! These are all still good things, but I'm realizing nothing will ever stay the same for a "long" period of time again! Which is ok.

Lately I am enjoying things like MOPS, having mom visit a few days, and celebrating Hudson being around for 2 months already! Time flies!!

He's always so serious!

Enjoying tummy time with a little help from his boppy pillow

Play time

He loooves his binky!

Until next time! Hopefully it's not another month before I get another post completed!! :)