Nathan and Janessa's Wedding

I am SO happy that Nathan and Janessa are finally married (after dating, breaking up, dating, being engaged, etc.)  It is funny, I have actually always been worried--maybe worried isn't the right word--about the person that each of my brothers will end up with.  I am not sure why, but it has always just been something on my mind.  That being said, I could not be any happier that Nathan chose Janessa.  She is perfect for him and perfect for our family.  I am beyond thrilled to have an older sister!

The wedding events were fabulous.  We started the events off with a family dinner in Pomona the night before.  There was mingling, food, speeches and it was all perfect (despite the awful traffic we got stuck in on the way--but that seems to have been a theme that weekend). My family all headed back to LA for the night so we could be close to the temple for the sealing the next morning.  Lindsey, Andrew and Brad's girlfriend Alissa stayed at our apartment and the others got a hotel room.  We all met up at the temple the next morning for the sealing.  The three who stayed at our place stayed outside with Hudson so Colby and I could attend the sealing ceremony.  It was a beautiful ceremony, performed by Nathan's past mission president who is in the LA temple presidency.  That was really neat.  Great words of wisdom were shared that were great for me to hear as well. Photos followed the ceremony and then we went back to our apartment, changed and got ready to head to Hemet for the reception.

We left around 1:40 to help set up for the 6:00 reception, and 6 miles away, 50 minutes after leaving (remember--horrible traffic), Colby realized he left his suit hanging behind the door in our apartment.  I thought, and hoped, he was joking, but that unfortunately wasn't the case.  We slowly drove back in more traffic to get it. We thankfully saw notification that the 60 freeway was closed when we were 1/4 mile from our last real opportunity to take an alternate route.  I told Colby we had to exit NOW and he looked at me like I was crazy, but also saw how serious I was.  I was already so worried that we were going to miss family and bridal party photos.  He crossed the double yellow lines of carpool and went across 4 lanes of traffic (we were only honked at by one car!!) to the 57 interchange and we made it up to the 10.  It was smooth sailing from there.  We arrived at 5:45, about 4 hours after leaving.  We have made that same trip in less than 2 before.  Needless to say, Hudson wasn't a happy camper being in his carseat that whole time.

Back to the wedding. The reception was beautiful!  The details were thought out and everything came together so nicely.  The evening was a little chilly, but not unbearable.  My favorite thing though was seeing how happy Nathan and Janessa were.  They were seriously beaming from the moment they walked out of the temple.  It was a contrast to the night before when there were still visually happy, but probably a little nervous about the biggest decision of their lives they were solidifying the next day.  I think most of us know that feeling.  But, once the ceremony happened, you could tell they both knew they made not only the most important decision, but the best decision! They were both smiling ear to ear.

I didn't take any photos at the reception, but got several at the dinner and after the sealing.  Thankfully Alissa grabbed my camera while the photographer was taking family and bridal party shots, so I have some good ones from there.

Wedding Dinner at Pomona Mining Company:

Mom shares some thoughts--

Michael and Mitch--

Temple Pictures:

Whale Watching

A couple weeks ago, we went whale watching with some of our friends for President's day.  We were talking a stroll around the neighborhood that morning trying to decide what to do on Colby's day off from school.  As we were discussing, we got a text from Nicole inviting us along.  We are so glad we went.  It was a great time.  We took lots of layers, especially for Hudson, and prepared for a good time. We left out of Balboa on the evening cruise, which was great because not only did we get to see wildlife, but we saw the beautiful sunset.  We saw several Fin whales (which I hadn't heard of before, but apparently they are the second largest mammal on earth, second to the blue whale!), dolphins, and sea lions.  It was fun to spend time with the Hagges getting to know them better.

the other boat from our group.  ours only had one deck, which meant less people, less crowds to fight :)

the first evidence of a whale!

Colby and Hudson with Christian, Nicole and Ashtyn

a small portion of the fin whale next to the "footprint"(the really calm/flat spot to the right) of the other one that just went under

the hagges

 Hudson was loving the time with his Dad

 and Colby was loving the time with Hudson--checking out the binoculars

 Sea Lions

Didn't take the time to zoom and crop this one, but I love all the silhouettes of the birds on the jetty during sunset

7 months

What happening with our 7 month old?

Sitting like a champ. Still falls occasionally, but pretty solid for the most part.

3 teeth!!

2 naps a day.  The evening nap os officially gone and I am very sad about that one.

His hair is growing like crazy and lightning up. His bald spot is filling in.

Knows his routine--night time is solids, bath, nurse, and he expects it. If we leave him in his high chair too long while we eat he gets really whiny, but the second he hears his bath water, still while sitting in his chair, he quiets down immediately.

Still loves bath time. He loves laying in his bath. He will not let us have him sit. Seriously, he goes stiff as a board and we can't even get him in a sitting position. He has a new bath companion--his rubber ducky--and loves it!  He will search for it with his hands if it has gotten above his head.

Loves his toys.  He has started to learn what ones make noise and will shake them up and down.

Laughs like crazy, especially when we are laughing.

We have started to play "Where's Hudson?" and he loves it.  We will ask "where's hudson?" and look around past him.  If he wasn't looking at us, he will get this big grin and watch us until we make eye contact with him and "find" him.  We think it's adorable.

No interest in crawling or scooting.  Still seems to have forgotten that he can roll.

Loves when Mom wears necklaces, especially big ones with beads, etc.  He grabs them and shoves them straight in his mouth.

Not a fan of the sippy cup or anything other than formula/breastmilk in a bottle.  We have tried to get him to drink water, apple juice, prune juice--anything to get more liquid in him, and he absolutely refuses it.

Still sleeping like a champ at night.  12 hours at night!  Still working on moving his dream feed up and out, but he still gets one feeding at night.

Loves stories at night, if he's not over tired.  He especially loves trying to grab them and eat them.  I perceive his favorite is "Mr. Brown Can Moo, can You?" when read by Dad.  It is fun to watch him as we read.  He is starting to notice the pictures more and appears to follow along.

Still has super strong legs.  We wonder if he will start walking before crawling.  He can easily stand while holding onto our fingers.

Tooth Number 2

After spending last night and today in San Diego for an internship interview for Colby, we get home and discover Hudson has a second tooth. We thought his waking in the night last night and 40 min then 30 min naps were due to being away from home, but more likely it's from teething. We left San Diego around 4, and I thought Hudson would take a nice evening nap, but he just screamed. A tooth would also help explain that. Poor kid. He's growing up! Two teeth! 

Bananas

Why do we find so much entertainment in him not enjoying his food?

This is his first experience with bananas.  Clearly not a fan.  What kid doesn't like bananas? Apparently ours. 

Half a year!?!?

Half a year...6 months. We reached this milestone back on Feb 21st. Whoa. Time flies, yet at the same time, it seems like forever ago that Hudson was not apart of our lives.  The saying the the days are long but the weeks are short is so true. Part of me felt like I would never make it to 6 months, and a part of me feels like it will be a year in the blink of an eye.

Hudson is truly a joy in my life and I love getting to hang out with my little buddy each day.  It's ridiculous how the smallest, little things make me so happy, like his little cooing, laughing hysterically when we tickle him, the way he pounds his feet rhythmically on his crib mattress, the sounds/grunts he makes when nursing and is apparently bored, or his silly faces he makes when he gets new food. He really is my little buddy.  My BFF (in addition to Colby, of course).

We had his 6 months pediatrician appointment, and on top of 4 shots (which Hudson was a complete trooper for--cried until the nurse handed him to me where he burried his face in my shoulder for 2 seconds then looked up and smiled at me and the world was once again ok), we got his growth standings.

Weight: 17 lbs--just below 50th percentile
Height: 26 3/4"--just above 50th percentile
Head Circumference: 44.9 cm

Since his first check, his percentile has dropped consistently back toward the average.  Apparently this is normal, so I'm not concerned.  He still is eating like a champ.

Here's what our little man has been up to this past month:

• The biggest change is that he is eating solids consistently.  He eats veggies and fruits.  He was not a fan of peas or bananas, but loves everything else we have given him.  He has had peas, carrotts, sweet potatoes, green beans, squash, pears, peaches, bananas, apples and rice and oatmeal.  He eats solids after nursing in the morning, and at dinnertime before nursing.  I feel like he would eat 5 containers if I let him--he loves it so much!  We give him a fruit/veggie and grain each meal.  We started with premade baby food, and I have recently started making my own from fresh/frozen produce and like doing it that way.  He continues to nurse 5 times a day with one of them being a dream feed. 
• He has really discovered his feet, and can often be found with his feet in his mouth.  He also will use his feet as a second set of hands when laying under his toys and is trying to get one in his mouth. 
• He has continued to show a growing interest in toys and will hold onto them and play with them for extended periods of time.  If he drops one or it get away from him, he will reach out and try and retrieve it.
• While not completely sitting on his own yet, he easily sits with support.  I feel that the main reason he isn't sitting fully yet is he is too much of a busy body to sit still.  He wants to constantly be moving his head around, or reaching for toys, and he doesn't quite have enough balance to do these things and sit.  If I get him to focus on one thing, he does a good job at sitting unsupported.
• Hudson has pretty much resigned from rolling over.  I believe he is simply content on his back or stomach, knows he can roll, but has no need to do it, so doesn't much at all anymore.  
• He has continued like a champ with his sleeping.  He sleeps 12 hours straight at night. He still takes 3 naps a day, and they are getting to be consistently longer.  He also goes longer amounts of time between naps, 2.5-3 hrs, which puts his evening nap at 5:30 or 6.  I see that one dissolving in the near future which makes me sad.  It's a great nap for me to make dinner. 
• We had suspicion that Hudson was getting teeth, but he didn't have any sign of them by 6 months.
• He has started making the funniest scrunchy face where he wrinkles his nose.  I wish I could get a picture of it!  He also has picked up on somewhat of a fake laugh. Pretty cute.
• He is reaching for things more, including people.
• He gives what I believe are hugs.  He will actually bury his head in your shoulder for a second, which is a huge improvement for our anti-cuddle guy.
• He no longer has to be held facing out, but will let you carry him with his chest facing yours.  He does enjoy turning his head around to see where we are going if walking, though.
• He is in what I call the "discovery phase." He is noticing so much more around him.  My favorite discovery this month was when I took him out on a towel laid on the grass.  He scooted to the edge and cautiously ran his fingers in the grass.  I couldn't get him to look up at me no matter what I did.  He was so intrigued by that grass.

And, because I'm obsessed with this kid's cuteness, here is an overwhelmingly large amount of photos. :)

{I try and take his monthly picture with this bear, but Hudson was waaaayyy too distracted by the bear. }

good thing my kid loves (tolerates) the camera. 

First Tooth, 6.5 months

Yesterday I was talking to a friend whose baby is 1 week older than Hudson and she mentioned her daughter had her two bottom teeth.  Our pediatrician said Hudson would probably get them by 7 months, and we may notice a change in behavior as he got them.  He was fussy a few weeks ago and we thought he may be teething, but nothing happened.  He has been a pretty happy boy lately, and with the expection of waking in the night 2 nights ago and 2, 2+ hour naps 2 days ago, everything has been normal.  Well, I figured he was maybe going through a growth spurt, but when I checked his gums today, there is a cute little ridged tooth starting to poke through.  It's his lower front left tooth and is the cutest little tooth I've ever seen. :)  Apparently it wasn't too painful for this tough little guy.  Colby was on campus, and I instantly called him up to share the news.  I'm such a dork.  But really, the tooth got me so excited.  I hung up with Colby and called Dad, who I figured would be just as excited as Colby and I, and he didn't dissappoint.  Such fun changes. Another sign our little baby is growing up! I know it's quite ridiculous, but I feel so proud that my little boy has made a tooth, as if it is something he has been working so hard on and has now accomplished. This is just the beginning, I guess.

Love Day

Here at the Heiner's we really had an enjoyable Valentine's Day.  Low key and perfect. We commented on how different our Valentine's day is now with a little one. Not bad, just different.  It was fun to have a new Valentine this year. :) We had discussed dinner plans, and decided that we will keep up with our plan of not going out to eat on Valentine's Day.  It always seems so crowded, so we have normally eaten in and gone out during the following weekend.  Well, Wednesday night we decided we should try to go to Cafe Rio.  It sounded good, but probably wouldn't have the crowds.  Then we realized macaroni grill, my favorite (and we haven't eaten there in probably 4 years as there wasn't one near us in Arkansas), was right across from cafe rio, so we decided to go there.  So much for avoiding restaurants.  Ha.  The 405 was so busy, and we once again questioned why we were trying this.  Hudson slept the 50 minute drive for his evening nap, which was perfect.  We had called ahead, so only had to wait about 10 minutes when we got there.  We fed hudson baby food at the table, then a bottle, so we all got to enjoy eating ay Macaroni Grill--ha! We split a pasta dish and had salads.  It was a good, simple meal, and great to be out with my two loves.

We came home, and put Hudson to bed (we thought he would fall to sleep on the way home, but since it was about 15 minutes back, he was still wide awake) around 9:30, the latest he's gone down in a long time, and enjoyed our evening at home.

Colby was the sweetest and hid little "love notes" around the apartment for me...under my hard drive, in the silverware drawer, on the changing table. It made for a happy wife.  It's amazing the simple, yet meaningful things that can be done even on a tight budget.  In years past, gifting has been about going and buying something nice, yet as we were discussing past years, we could hardly remember gifts we had given or received.  I think the no spending money on gifts things is a great way to go, regardless of budget! Much more sentimental and memorable.

Hope you each had a great Valentine's Day.  Here's a little lovin' from our newest Valentine!

Pears and Peas

We started Hudson on solids, again, last week.  We had tried over Christmas, and while he loved them, I think it messed with his plumbing a bit, so we gave it a break.  So far we have given him rice cereal, pears, and peas.  He loves (LOVES!) the new food, for the most part.  He couldn't get enough of the cereal or pears.  Once he would see a spoon, he would open his mouth, even if it was two feet from his mouth still.  If given the opportunity, he grabs the bowl.

Well, it is a different story with the peas.  Not a fan. At all.  Really, at all.  Is it sad that it kind of makes me laugh.  We recorded his first time eating veggies, and I think it's priceless.  Take a look for yourself.

Oh, and while you're at it, those of you with kids, were there certain vegetables that you found your kids preferring over others.  We want him to eat vegetables, and haven't given up on peas, but want it to be a little more of a pleasant experience for him.

5 months

What a fun month this has been.  Hudson has been growing like a weed, and learning so many new things.  He had his first Christmas, which we were in Hemet for, and has been carted all over LA.

I think the most notable thing for this month is he is SLEEP TRAINED!! Honestly, I wish I would have done this sooner, but it didn't happen and I won't hold a grudge on myself about it.  He was sleeping well at nights, but I was looking for a more consistent nap schedule and a longer stretch of sleep at night (he was at 9-10 hours).  I used several things from the "Baby Whisperer" along with my own instincts, and after 2 weeks, I would say we are definitely there.  He has slept multiple nights 12 hours straight with us ending up waking him in the morning, goes down for naps with zero to a few minutes crying, and eats on a consistent 4 hour schedule.  It was a rough couple days at the beginning, but oh so worth it in the end.

So besides being absolutely adorable every day, what is Hudson doing?

• Napping! One at 9:30 (1-2 hrs), one at 1:00 (2 hrs) and a catnap (45 min) around 5
• Is taking an interest in toys and loves holding rattles.  If he is fussy, a toy with actually calm him down--new this month.  
• Still sucks on his hands, and now loves sucking on his new-found toys.  He has just recently found his thumb, specifically, and enjoys sucking on that as opposed to it always being multiple fingers or his fist. I have completely given up on a pacifier, as I think at this point he will just let it turn into a habit.  I guess I won't have to go throw weaning him from that.  The thumb will be another story though, I'm sure.
• He is wearing jeans!  Not that this is a big accomplishment for him, but for me I feel like jeans make him less of a baby, and more a big boy!  Silly how simple things can do that.
• If we help him out, he can sit for a short period.  He totally has the strength, just working on balance.  If I spread his legs out in a V, he seems to be able to sit longer.  I think he will master this in no time.
• As of last Friday, he rolls both ways.  Out determined little guy apparently got this idea in his head he could roll and spent probably 20 minutes trying to do it.  Once he rolled from his back to stomach, he was satisfied.  He actually hasn't done it since. Too funny. 
• spends time "talking" to himself.  Its usually around noon I can count on a little personal conversation happening with our little man.  
• Not eating solids.  We started him on rice cereal over Christmas break, but when he appeared to be getting constipated (probably because I thickened it up too quickly), we took him off.  With day trips around LA, and sleep training, I decided to wait to get him back on it until he had a more normal routine.  I didn't want to throw too many changes in at once.  My plan is to start back on solids this week.  When he ate them for a few days, he loved it.

Here is a photo overload of our little man. I had been doing a newborn photoshoot during Hudson's nap, and when he woke up, I guess I still had the itch to take photos, and Hudson was the lucky subject.  Perfect timing for his 5 month pics. After taking pictures of the newborn.  I all of the sudden felt like I had a big boy!  I think that's why I had him sitting in these pics. :)

 always with the hands in his mouth

 he definitely got his dad's long eyelashes

I think Hudson was done. Ha.