$$Vegas$$

Took a long weekend to Las Vegas this past weekend! We got out before the snow hit last week and got back just in time for it to hit us again today! what fun :)

Hudson stayed with my parents. Hopefully we'll have a few pics to share from that fun soon. Here are a few from our trip..

We just arrived at our hotel and met up with Cory's parents who were there with us for the weekend

Kind of a long story, but there was a shooting right on the strip the morning before we got there so the entire strip in both directions was blocked off for an entire day! So of course we took a picture right in the middle of the road :) 

Dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. Great food, great views!

He loves taking pictures :)

Had fun watching the Kansas Jayhawk basketball game from the Sports Page 

Fun dessert displays!! Huge cake towers in a bakery in Aria Hotel and a 2 level chocolate fountain in the Bellagio! 

Lots and lots of food, fun, walking, food, food, relaxing, and food! Needless to say, we had a blast and love getting back there for a fun weekend when it works!!

Hudson has something to show you!!

He has a new shirt and he's been having a blast showing it to everyone! I don't think he quite understands why everyone gets all excited and starts talking a bunch when they see it, but I think he will soon enough! :) 

( In case you're anything like my dad (ha) - let me just spell it out for you real quick -- WE'RE HAVING A BABY!! )   :) :) :)

A few facts so far: Our due date is September 12, 2013. That makes me 11 weeks 4 days today. I've been very very tired, lots of queasiness  a few sick days, headaches, very achy, etc etc. Thankfully a lot of the 1st trimester symptoms like the sickness have been calming down! 

We're very excited and will keep you posted on progress and maybe a belly photo every now and then! :)

Snow fun

Hudson's first time in the snow!!

Ha! :)

We had a blast pulling him around in his sled. He wasn't quite sure what to think of it at first butended up having a blast!

Catching up .. [Christmas]

{{Inturruption - sickness}}

Had to give Hud meds through a nebulizer! It is a steam medication so he breathes it right in to his lungs. He fought and screamed the entire first treatment, but after that he caught on (and so did we) and he relaxed for us a bit. Poor guy.. 

{ok, back to Christmas!!}

Our tree :)



*Family Christmas*

Here are a few favorite pics from the get togethers .. Like Thanksgiving, I was so busy enjoying everything I forgot to get my camera out sometimes. So, not a ton of pics - but maybe some flashbacks will come later on when I get other pics from family members! :)  

***Merry Christmas!! And a Happy New Year!!***

Catching up.. [Hudson's 1st birthday]

Alright, so I don't even know how to condense this wonderful occasion in to a few photos .. but I'm going to try my best! We had an Alligator themed party with friends and family, a separate party with just mom and dad, a separate party with Grandma Kris and Grand dad Fred, and yet another party with Papa Boat and Grandma Janet! 

On Hudson's birthday, we started out the morning with his first haircut!! I gave him a sugar free sucker thinking he would sit still the entire time .. ha! :)  He kept throwing the sucker in to the cut hair, so I had to rinse it off over and over .. turns out he preferred holding on to my chapstick. Good news is we got it done! 

 And after his first haircut -- His first bubble bath!

He loved it

of course he had to taste them :)

{ok.. back to birthday}

..  12 months  ..  1 year old  ..  crawling to walking  ..  baby to toddler  ..

It's hard to describe how quickly time goes. Watching your child grow up before your eyes. It's amazing! I know my parents, adults in general, always said it to me growing up. But you just never believe it until you experience it yourself! It's such a joy - I've done my best to soak in the moments.. not to rush and just enjoy watching my child. I don't want to forget a thing! Thank goodness for digital cameras! 

Here are a few of my favorites from the parties:

one of his favorites - Goldfish! It shakes :)

Our family smash cup cake - He shoved the entire thing in his mouth! 

Smash cake at his big party .. he was surprisingly timid this time!

He made quite the haul from mom and dad!

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Catching up.. [Thanksgiving]

So, I think that's the title of my post about every other time.. obviously, this isn't exactly "my thing" but I really enjoy doing it when I get a chance. So - please bear with me, and we'll catch up on Thanksgiving, Hudson's first birthday, Christmas, and the New Year so far! :) :)

Thanksgiving was spent relaxing in Kansas with Cory's family this year. It was a nice long weekend hanging out at their home, cooking, eating, talking, and trying to keep Hudson entertained, as always! Honestly, it was so relaxing I hardly remembered to take pictures! So, enjoy the few we have :)

It was so nice that we spent a few afternoons out on the back deck letting Hudson get some fresh air and burn some energy going up and down the steps. He loved it!

As you can see, a few of the ways we entertained Hud was lots and lots of books, and of course - Tupperware :)

On our way home from Kansas Hudson had a hard time with the traveling. He normally does so well - so when we got home I checked his temp to see if he had a "teething fever" or anything - it's the highest it had ever been and turns out he was sick! He spent the month of December touching on a different sickness every week! Makes up for the whole first year with no sickness what so ever! 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, dear family and friends!

What a year! In our home, we have gone from having a precious little baby cradled in our arms to a one year old big boy walking around the house! It’s been such a joy watching Hudson this year – learning, developing new skills, and growing so quickly!

Cory is staying very busy with work. They have had another great year. They hired another attorney and their second associate! They also added another full time legal assistant. Because of these additions to the firm, they are needing to expand. They have a tentative deal to get a new commercial office building and move the firm into that building. Assuming all goes as planned, they will plan on building out the firm space starting in February and moving in sometime this spring! It’s very exciting and great progress for GRL Law.

I have been staying busy with Hudson at home - reading books, having “dance parties”, playing with all of his toys, practicing walking all over the house, going up and down the stairs, etc. Over the summer we enjoyed many walks on the walking trail near our house, going to the park and swinging, and pool time where ever we could find it! We also joined a gym that has child care so Hud and I go there every afternoon so he gets time playing with other kids and seeing other adults and I get a little time to myself! I’ve actually learned to really enjoy and appreciate the opportunity to work out! J We have gotten involved in a MOPS group as well through Valley Church (which is also our church home). It has been such a blessing to make friendships through that. I’m looking forward to more opportunities it provides in coming years.

Most recently Hudson has been transitioning in to eating solid foods! He loves it and doesn’t turn anything down! He’s not as big of a fan of his milk so far, but we’re working on it. He loves to look at books and turn the pages. Anything with buttons that make noise or play music can entertain him for quite a while too! He’s very content to hold on to someone’s finger and walk them all over the house. He also loves to be “chased” all over! On hands and knees, I’d say he’s faster than me! J He has a few favorite cupboards in the kitchen too! Tupperware, pots, and pans seem to be at the top of the list! He has a favorite blankie that he gets during nap and bed time. He’s a good sleeper which we appreciate so much!

Everything we did this year was new and exciting because it was always another 1st for Hudson to experience. He has completely changed our lives and helped us realize what an eventful life we live. There were so many trips to NW Iowa and to central Kansas visiting grandparents, and preparing at home for their weekend visits in Des Moines. We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents who are so active and involved in Hudson’s life and so willing to hang out with him for a few days here and there when Cory and I need a break.

Just a few of the fun things we did this year included a ski trip with friends in Colorado, Las Vegas with the Gourleys, lake house weekends with the Boones, March madness kick off in Lawrence with friends, weekends away for weddings all over Iowa and Kansas, a trip to Arkansas, and so many visits and get togethers from friends and family in Des Moines. Cory and I also celebrated our 1 year anniversary!

We have been so blessed this past year and thank you all for being such a special part of that blessing. But most importantly we celebrate the true giver of blessings, our Heavenly Father. It’s such a special time to celebrate the birth of Jesus and create more memories to carry in to coming years. We pray you all have a very merry Christmas and bring in the New Year with bubbles and joy!

With love,

Cory, Jaclyn, and Hudson Gourley

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 :)