Hallie-1 month

I can hardly believe it has already been 1 month since we had Hallie.  It really has just flown by.  I had to double check the date when I realized she could already be 1 month!  We love little Hallie, and already can't imagine life without her.

Here is a bit of what she's been up to:

Hallie is a perfect second child.

She goes to sleep around 9 and I try and feed her once around 11 before I get into bed.  Other than that, she wakes up one time around 3-4am and then wakes up for the day around 8:00.  Some mornings I still feel exhausted, but hey, waking up once in the night is awesome!!

She is a very chill baby.  She enjoys just sitting and looking around.

Unlike Hudson, she is a pacifier lover.  I think I am finally adjusted to this phenomenon.  I was not used to being able to give a baby a pacifier and that solve so many problems, but now that I'm used to it, I love it.  We have about 4 pacifiers lying around the house at all times.  Unfortunately Hudson seems to find them and I am quite sure he has had more time with a pacifier in his mouth this past month than his whole life prior to it.  Whoops!

Hallie loves a good, tight, swaddle, often with two swaddle blankets wrapped around her.

She has perfect {read: awful} timing with filling her diapers, and usually does so right after I get her clothes all put back on from a change.  Oh, Hallie…

She attended church for her first time on Sunday and we stayed all three hours!  It was good to get back to church.

Hallie has had many visitors and is looking forward to more this month.  She had Kellen and Courtney visit her here the day she came home from the hospital, Grandma and Grandpa Jergensen stay here for a week after she was born, and Brad and Alissa visit for a long weekend when she was 3 weeks old.  This upcoming weekend is her blessing, and Grandma Heiner will be here the week leading up to that. Grandma and Grandpa Jergensen will come up for the weekend, along with Lindsey and Mitch and they will get to meet her for the first time too.  Kellen and Courtney will also come back over for the blessing.  It is great having so many family members who adore her.

Hallie nurses much quicker than hudson--thankfully, because it took him1-1.5 hours a feeding.  Hallie takes about 20-30 minutes to eat and has about 8 feedings each day (8am, 10:30, 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 3:30am).

She still has her newborn sleepiness and is only awake for small portions at a time.  But when she is awake, she is very aware and observant.

she is still wearing newborn sized diapers and can barely fit into newborn sized clothing (but has grown out of newborn one-piece items like PJs) but is wearing a lot of 0-3 month items.  Some fit great while she still doesn't quite fill others out.

I love Hallie to pieces and absolutely adore dressing her each day.  Dressing a boy was fun as well, but with a girl I feel like I have a little doll to dress each day (ok, the days I have energy to change her out of her PJs! ha!)  Today I headed back to the fabric store to buy fabrics for more headbands.  I love this!

The second child is a much different experience than the first.  I felt like I spend 24 hours a day with Hudson, for better or worse, and was able to just soak it all in. With Hallie though, I feel as if I feed her and change her, than lay her down and go about my day.  In a way it breaks my heart that I can't just sit and cuddle her, but the reality is that I truly can't most of the time. I have a busy, rambunctious toddler that requires attention.  The quiet moments I have to just sit and stare at her are few and far between, but the most special moments to me.

Hudson love Hallie so much and sometimes doesn't quite understand the boundaries.  He loves to kiss her all over, especially on her little lips, which we try to avoid.  He constantly asks to hold her, often while covered with food in his highchair.  He now will say "hold her. no, hands dirty." Haha! He loves running in to see her in the morning and when she spits her pacifier out, he does his best to put it back in, regardless if she wants it or not.  I am sure she will adjust quickly to having an older brother. :)

Day 1 with two

It has been so great having help ever since Hallie's birth.  Colby has been home since her birth and both my parents were here for the first week.  My mom cooked for the first week, and the ward has been bringing wonderful meals since. I really have been able to take it easy and focus on taking care of Hallie and myself.  Well that all changes today.  Colby headed back to work and left me alone with the kids.  What?! KIDS? This is so weird to me.  But, I woke up today knowing I could do this.  To be honest, having 2 has actually been easier on me than I anticipated, and I think that is a combination of me having horribly low expectations, and having so much help.  So with the help gone, I knew things could change quick! That being said, I have to be able to do this, and I better start off with a good attitude.

I really felt that the best things for me to do today was get out of the house.  I figured it would seem like a long day for Hudson and I if we were here all day alone.  Hallie still sleeps a lot, so running an errand in the morning seemed like the perfect thing.  Colby helped get hudson breakfast and I took care of Hallie and getting things ready.  Colby left for work, and by 9:30 I was in the car ready to go with both kids.  We ran to a few stores at the Westfield mall, with the idea of finding a blessing dress for Hallie and new shoes for Hudson's growing feet.  I am happy to say we found both and both kids were angels the whole time.  Hallie slept and Hudson was such a joy.  It was my first time with both kids in the new double stroller and Hudson was quite satisfied to stay in it.  I think I had angels with me today! Hallie started crying on the drive home, which actually was perfect, because I could then nurse her once we got home while Hudson played, then get lunch for Hudson and me.  We ate lunch together and chatted about our day and sang fun little songs.  We sang "if you're happy and you know it…," "Ants go Marching" and "Old MacDonald."  Hudson thought I was a pretty cool Mom.  I must admit, now that I have Hallie, I find myself trying to make an extra effort to make life fun for Hudson.  It really has been a good thing.

I was nervous about Hudson's nap time because he hasn't been going down for me, but with a few extra songs, he settled down and is now asleep.  Hallelujah! I know the day isn't over and it's only day 1, but I am writing this down now because it has been good.  I may need to be able to read this in 2 hours, 2 weeks or 2 years to know I CAN DO THIS!

Well, at least one of them was happy. :)

2 years old

You always hear parents say, "where has the time gone?" and I think I have to join them in this questioning.  It seems I blinked and my little baby turned two.  Somedays I really wish time would just stand still and he would be this cute, curious bundle of joy forever, but then I realize how much happiness I get from seeing him grow up, learn new things, and progress.

We had a low key celebration at home with the three of us and it was perfect.  We woke hudson up in the morning so he could open gifts before dad headed for work.  We dragged him out to the living room and he was in heaven--there were 5 blown up balloons!!  We should have known he would love those and we could have called it a day.  But, of course being the first child and first grandchild, there were plenty of presents for him.  It was so fun to watch him open the gifts.  He understood it so much more than last year.  He would want to tear the paper off all on his own, and would hand each piece to us saying "trash." if he couldn't get a piece off, he would repeat, "push, push" trying to get it off and away.  He was excited about each toy and would play for a minute before Colby coaxed him onto the next gift.  We ate german pancakes or "cake" for breakfast, and stuck a candle in it for Hudson to blow out.  He loved it and kept asking for "more [f]ire" so of course he got more and blew out that silly candle 5 times for breakfast.  He spent the morning playing with all his new toys, and watching all 3 garbage/recycling/green trucks come by--couldn't have planned that better!  I had plans to take him to a nearby park with a train in it or possibly the zoo, but after seeing how content he was to sit and play, I realized he was more happy here.  He wouldn't feel neglected that I didn't take him somewhere special for his birthday, because he was in heaven as it was.  I brushed the plans off and decided to do those things in the days and weeks to come.  We got a FaceTime call from Grandma and Grandpa Jergensen, and they seemed to enjoy Hudson showing off his new things--and playing with the balloons--just as much as he enjoyed showing them.  

We ate a quick lunch, complete with more "[f]ire" and Hudson went down for his nap.  We played more in the afternoon and were excited when Dad got home.  Dinner consisted of Pepperoni pizza twist which hudson could dip in pizza sauce--because at this point in his life everything is better when dipped in sauce--and salad with ranch.  apparently Hudson became a salad lover over the past month.  We took the party outside in our nice little backyard and sang happy birthday, blew out candles, and ate ice cream an d a pretty awesome train cake.  My amazing Mother always threw together awesome "shaped" birthday cakes for us growing up, and the train cake made an appearance many-a-birthday.  With Hudson's love for trains, and my itching to work on something creative, I went to town creating a train cake for Hudson, which turned into a Thomas cake.  I spend way too much time on it, but had so much fun.  My day was made when I revealed it to Hudson after his nap and he smiled and said "train!" "Thomas!" "Cake!"  Over the next few days the leftover cake was on our counter, and he requested it at least at every meal.  

We stayed outside until dark, just visiting and enjoying the weather, and then it was bath, stories and bed for our birthday boy.  It was a fun day and we are excited to have a rambunctious 2 year old in our family.

here is MAJOR picture overload, but I want these for my records, and I'm pretty sure there are some grandparents who will enjoy seeing these. :)

Some notable things Hudson does at this age are:

• Sleeps in a "big bed" since he crawled out of his crib the beginning of July.  It's been a rough transition getting him to stay in there, but we are making progress.  When he wakes from bed/nap, he is so excited to show us that he slept in his "big bed."
• He is super tender-hearted.  If he sees Colby or I are upset or sad, and especially if I'm crying, he drops whatever he is doing and comes and gives the biggest hug without being asked.  
• He LOVES water, swimming, the pool and all things related.  He got a blow-up pool for his birthday and requests it daily.
• After a really bad experience at the car wash, we have since been back and it somehow is his new favorite thing, or at least he thinks it is…we haven't been back yet.  But, he says "Car wash" clear as a bell and will mention it or ask to go at the most random times.
• His vocabulary is growing tremendously and he is beginning to put words together.  He can pretty much repeat anything we say, and can identify most objects on his own, such as if we point to a dog and say "what's that?" he will say "dog." He interacts more with his stories now and remembers parts from different pages and will repeat them occasionally.  
• He still loves eating Dad's cereal in the morning, and we have even given him his own bowl of it a few times--which he loves!  If we ask what he wants for breakfast, he usually says "cakes" meaning pancakes.  He downs them, eating 3 or so with a side of fruit.  This kid is an eater!
• He is full of energy and seems to never tire.  On the days he refuses his naps, which unfortunately has become more frequent with the twin bed, he just keeps going like the energizer bunny past bedtime.  You would think he would be more tired, but the lack of sleep just fuels him.
• Colby got him a little strider bike a few months ago, and now that we have a cement patio in the backyard, he has taken off on it.  We go on walks around the neighborhood at night and Hudson takes his bike and does so well.  Its amazing to see the things these little kids are capable of. Oh, we also have my old razor scooter he, and he loves having Colby follow him on the "shoo-ver." If we are in the backyard sitting while he rides his bike, he will come pull on our hand and beg us to ride behind him.
• He is 6 months into nursery and loves it.  He now requests nursery right when we get into church and happily starts packing up his things at the end of sacrament meeting, because he knows nursery is next. 
• he's obsessed with Thomas the train and will constantly ask for the "touch" (couch) "tv," "show," or "Thomas," all in an effort to watch an episode or 7 of Thomas and Friends.  These days it's become all too easy to give in, but I do try to limit how often he watches. He also will entertain himself for quite some time building train tracks in his room and driving his trains all over them.  Often he will come grab either mine or Colby's hand, and while dragging us into his room saying "Track" and then "ground, " meaning he wants us to sit on the floor with him and build tracks. 
• He calls himself Hud Huds. It melts my heart.  We correct him and sometimes we get a Hud Hudson, back, but it's pretty consistent with Hud Huds.  I know he will get it one day, so I'm just enjoying his cute little name for himself right now. 

Fourth of July--a perfect day for Hudson's first popsicle

We had a low key and fun fourth of July holiday.  We had a brunch and carnival with friends in the UCLA pavilion, took quick family pics and attempted (and failed) a photo of Hudson, let Hudson take his nap, then gave Hudson his first popsicle and finished up with some tasty grilling.  Perfect day? I'd say yes.