Kathryn as Mom

This is my first time "blogging", but I have wanted to blog about Kathryn and the incredible mother she is to our son.  Very few people get to see this, but more should.  She is not only a natural mother, but she is extremely patient, positive, and loving to this little boy.  From the minute we found out she was pregnant she has made this motherly transformation that has been incredible to witness.  Not that she needed to improve anything, but before she was my best friend, my life partner, my wife, a great sister, daughter and friend.  Now she is a MOM!  There were times where we sat and wondered how we would handle or react to certain things.  We even discussed what we were supposed to do when we got home from the hospital, where I replied "all we have to do is keep him alive".  We wondered how we would deal with certain situations, and what it would be like to truly be sleep deprived.  Since that little man was born and she held him for the first time, there have been no questions for her.  She has totally become Mom and as we all know.....Mom's don't get sick, they know everything, and they can ALWAYS make you feel better.  That's the truth, because she is the ONE person that can always calm him down and make him feel better.

I have shared our birthing story with many of you, and some haven't heard it.  I will spare Kathryn and not post it on the internet, but if you really want to hear it, give me a call because it was the most heroic, bravest things I have ever witnessed.  That woman pushed for 1.5 hours before she started to give up, but that is when it happened.  She morphed into this warrior and powered through it.  The amount of respect that I now have for her, and all other mothers is insurmountable.  Then sitting there watching her (and scrambling to take pictures because the ONE job I had, I screwed up) hold him for the first time made me so happy.  I never knew that a tiny 8 lb. human could make you feel that way.  Hudson will read this post one day and will already know how incredible his mom is, but just in case he doesn't he will now!  The sacrifices and pain (along with 1,000 other side effects, symptoms, and after birth care) that go along with having a child is something I didn't appreciate until now. 

Now that we are watching him grow up it fascinates me how much of a part of his life she truly is.  She is with him 24/7 and has made him the happiest baby that I have ever met.  Every time Hudson sees her, he immediately locks onto her and starts smiling.  He knows who she is and he already feels unconditional love from her.  Sure he laughs and smiles at me, but it is different with her.  She is his momma and she is ALWAYS there for him.

Below are some pictures I have taken with/without her knowing.  Growing up, it was drilled into my head that it wasn't important what I was doing when everyone was looking, but what I was doing when no one was looking.  Seeing her in action when she thinks no one is looking is truly amazing.

Disclaimer!

So I am officially the absolute worst 'Thank You' card writer there ever was. Cliff's office  is moving buildings today so he's at home today and I've planned for today to be the day I got caught up on thank you cards. As I've just sat down to write them I am embarrassed at how many I have to write. For those of you that have been thinking 'gosh, Kathryn is so rude' I feel ya and agree! So, if you get a thank you card in the next week or so I'll go ahead and apologize for being 3-6 months behind. (Yeah, it's that bad!) 

This face can be somewhat distracting! (Still unacceptable though!)

2 months..a week late!

The 24th was actually the 2 month marker for Hudson..oops! We took him to his 2 month dr's visit last Tuesday. He weighs 12 lbs and is 24 1/4 inches long. The doctor said he was really pleased with his growth and that he's a happy healthy boy! 

It's amazing how much he has changed just in the last month. He's so alert and really seems to know who Cliff and I are. He smiles all the time and tries hard to get giggles out every now and then! We keep being afraid we'll jinx ourselves but he really is such a good baby. I'm a pretty laid back person, some (Cliff) might say a little too laid back in some ways! But because of that super strict schedules just don't work out for us. I wanted him to be in a routine but not a strict schedule he has to abide by. So far it seems to be working for all of us. He's sleeping 12-13 hours every night. He usually wakes up between 7AM-8, eats, goes back to sleep for about 30 minutes and then stays awake for about 2 hours. I've started putting him down for a 2-3 hour nap in the early afternoon (instead of holding him). He's done really well with that, most of the time I have to wake him up after 3 hrs. I guess he's like me and loves to nap! Most days he's awake the rest of the afternoon until about 5 then he sleeps for an hour, eats and goes to sleep for the night around 730-8pm. I have been nursing him again around 930 but I'm probably going to cut that out soon and see how he does. 

He's still doing amazingly well with a bottle. I usually give him one every other day sometimes more just depending on what we're doing.  I've found when I'm out and about it's almost harder to rely on a bottle and easier just to park in the back of the parking lot and feed him!

We made it through his first Thanksgiving(s) pretty well! Wednesday night we went to Cliff's parents house for round 1. We had my mom, sister & Robert over to our house on Thursday for our first 'pot luck Thanksgiving' which turned out well! We had Friday off and last night went to my dad's for the last of the eating fest. My grandparents were in town so Hudson got to meet them too! 

Missi turned 3 since I last blogged! One would think that by 3 she would have calmed down significantly. Think again! We tell everyone that comes over 'I promise she'll calm down...eventually!' Our walks have helped a little bit with her want to bolt out the door every time it opens but every once and a while she still feels the need to run around the neighborhood. She always comes back. But, she just marches to the beat of her own drum and goes where ever she feels like. We haven't met every one who has moved in on our street, but she sure has! We will be much better human parents than dog parents..we've definitely failed at that! 

I'll try to keep better updated through the holidays. We've got a lot going on this next month so I'll try to do better! Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! 

2 month picture. He stayed face up this time! 

Thanksgiving at Gram and Poppa's house 

Thanksgiving at our house. Passed out on Cici

He fell asleep on Mimi without even making a peep 

4 generations

Sweet baby didn't even make it a block before passing out on the way home last night. He's definitely pooped today! 

Now Cliff and I are about to start decorating for Christmas! :)