I have an 8 year old

It hardly seems real that my little Carson boy is eight. We didn't have a big party for him this year. He decided that he just wanted to take a few of his friends with him to the movies. It worked out great.  First the kids had pizza for lunch.

 Then, they opened presents. Carson got 10 books! He was pretty excited. 

The kids also ate their cupcakes, topped with their very own "Planes" toy to keep.

 Then it was off to the movies. I have to say that "Planes" wasn't nearly as cute as "Cars" but the kids had a good time, so that was all that mattered to me.

 As soon as all the friends were dropped off, it was off to dinner with Carson's birthday twin- Grandma Brudnicki!

 I had to make Carson take a birthday picture with me. This way, I get to be in at least 1 picture a year with each of my kids!

It's hard to imagine that 8 years ago I was snuggling this precious baby boy. Becoming a mother was a dream come true, and Carson has been a wonderful boy to have in our family. Happy Birthday Carson!

4 months old

It hardly seems right that Hudson is 4 months old now. We had quite a bit to discuss with the pediatrician at his well check this week. It was very apparent that Hudson was allergic to dairy, so the doctor put him on a special hypoallergenic formula called Nutramigen. It is yucky. Really yucky. And expensive. But he is doing better on it. We just have to give him more of it now. He's also been on medication for acid reflux, and that has been helping him as well.

Hudson is still pretty skinny. He didn't gain much weight this month, and he's had a really hard time sleeping, so we've upped the number of ounces he's eating and we got the green light to start him on solids. (So far, he's not a big fan. Sigh.) Right now he weighs 13lbs 8oz, which only puts him in the 12% for his age. But he's plenty long and he's got a good sized melon.

As for his other milestones, he learned to roll during the past month, and he's finally started to laugh. The boys adore him still, and Hudson is clear about showing his affection for them as well. Hudson has also taken a liking to Daddy, which is quite nice for me! He is also proving to be just as big of a talker as the others. Carson is constantly trying to decode what Hudson is saying. :) I actually got a cute picture of my handsome boys the other day- we even got Hudson to flash us a smile! 

I realized on the 21st that I hadn't taken a picture of my 4 month old boy, so I snapped this quick one before he went to bed. Ahhhh, there is nothing quite like snuggling a sleeping baby. (Now lets just hope he does a lot more of this in the months to come!)

Stake Pioneer Day

 We love our Stake Pioneer Day Celebration. Every year it is so much fun. It's usually very warm, but it's worth sweating it out for a few hours to go to this fun activity. 

This year I had to help serve dinner, so Dustin came a little later with the boys. That worked out really well for us. Except that they had run out of hot dogs by the time they showed up. It's not so bad when pulled pork sandwiches are the other option. Then we were off to play. 

They had a bunch of "pioneer" games and activities, like gathering eggs and hanging laundry. Here are the boys milking a cow. It was pretty funny. 

 J also paned for "gold." (Actually they just liked playing in the sand.)

 Mason was the only one who opted for face painting. The other boys played in one of the bounce houses while Mason got balloons on his face. 

They also had an adorable petting zoo. (The people who run this are awesome!!! They are the same company we have seen come to the boys MDO program. They also do things like birthday parties, and they are just super patient and kind to the children.)

We got PLENTY of snow cones to keep us cool throughout the evening. We also enjoyed watching the watermelon and pie eating contests. They did the contests in several age groups, and that was really funny.

One of the new things they had this year was a dunk tank. The bishops took turns being the "dunkees." Here's a video of the big boys taking a shot. If only they could throw a little bit harder!

We all stayed for the fireworks this year. We weren't sure how Hudson would do, but with Dustin and I holding a blanket and burp cloth over his ears, he did really well. The fireworks were great, till they lit the last box. Instead of shooting off pyrotechnics into the sky, the box exploded into a hot fireball. It was pretty crazy. We were really glad they moved everyone back before the show started! The night definitely went out with a bang. :)

Happy Fourth Of July!

How cute is this? Funny thing is that Carson pointed out that although Hudson was made in America, his shirt was made in China. Go figure.

We always have a nice Independence Day. Maybe that's because for years now we have made it a point to invite friends over for a meal and then we watch fireworks. We don't get crazy, but I love to get together with fun people, let the kids run wild (without me getting too upset at them) and have a relaxed celebration. This year we switched it up and had friends over for lunch instead of dinner, because Dustin was playing in a golf tournament in the afternoon.

 We ate food, the kids played, the adults chatted. All good.

 Then we chilled during the afternoon. After feeding the kids dinner, I let my boys get their swimsuits on and I sprayed them in the backyard with the hose. Perfect way to cool off. Hudson and I chillin' in a chair, and the boys running through the water. But when it got dark, we headed over to a neighbors yard to watch fireworks. We decided to venture a little more off the path than normal and found a great spot for viewing the fireworks this year. 

 And I gotta thank my friend Steph for all the cute photos and of course her fabulous company today.

I'm thankful to live in a choice land. It makes me sad to see people who will trade their freedoms for what they think will be convenience or security, but I know that this is still the finest nation on the planet. I hope and pray that my children will live to see many years of independence still.

Nursing No More

As predicted, it didn't take me long to stop nursing Hudson. We began having problems a few weeks ago before our trip to Wisconsin. He became very fussy during feedings, so I had some friends suggest I cut out dairy. It helped, but, it lead to problem #1- no dairy meant less calories, which made it harder for me to make milk.

Then we noticed toward the end of our vacation that I was getting a type of yeast infection called thrush. Because we were away from home (and a couple of days away from the needed medications) I started nursing Hudson with a nipple shield at every feeding. Problem #2- full time shields meant Hudson wasn't stimulating as much reproduction of milk as before.

At last we made it home and finally got the meds we needed (a liquid for Hudson, a cream for me) but after a week on it, I still had symptoms. So my doc called in the big guns with another med. Unfortunately, it was the last straw, problem #3- taking heavy duty medications has been known to dry up my milk in the past. History repeated.

Last week I was nursing my sweet baby full time and supplementing with one bottle of formula in the evening. Now I am bottle feeding Hudson all day and nursing him once in the night. Sadly, I think last night was the last night of our nursing experience. While it was so difficult to nurse him, and I was starting to look forward to the day I could quit, I never expected it to happen SO soon. With my other boys, I at least made it to 8-9 months before we completely stopped. I find myself mourning the experience already. But I know it's what he needs. I was beginning to starve that poor child. He seriously gained over a pound in a few days as soon as he went on formula. And it was VERY stressful for me, and I feel much more myself since we made the switch. But it's difficult nonetheless.

But fortunately for me I learned this lesson with my first baby. No matter how you feed them, breast or bottle, they will still grow up to be smart, beautiful and wonderful children as long as you love them.

For any of you who didn't already see it...

Hudson is 3 months old and this is how he rolls.

(And the other boys screaming in the background gives you a little glimpse into my glamorous life.)

Wisconsin

We had a really nice trip to Wisconsin last week. The big boys got to drive there with Grandma and Grandpa Brudnicki (and Uncle Jason and Aunt Jen). On the way they stopped in Nauvoo and at Carthage Jail. They really enjoyed this and got to do some neat pioneer things while they were there. These 3 pictures are ones that Carson took on the iPod that we let him take.

 We had the pleasure of staying at the Tundra Lodge in Green Bay. When we first got there we saw all these geese with their babies wandering around the front lawn of the resort. Mason loved them. Every time we drove up he would ask where the "Geeses" were. Sometimes we would find them again, and sometimes we didn't see them. They were very cute.

 We like to stay at the Tundra Lodge because they have a fun water park. We all had fun playing in the pools and on the water slides. Hudson just liked being held.

On Saturday we went to the family reunion that we traveled there for. I don't have any pictures of while we were there (but I know my sister-in-laws took lots of the whole trip- hoping they'll send them to me! hint, hint.)

On Sunday we went to church with Dustin's Grandma. It was a small building and we took up half the chapel. I'm pretty sure my boys were the cutest kids there! :) After church we went to see Dustin's Grandpa who lives in a VA hospital a couple of hours from where we were staying. We had a nice picnic with all the family (all but one of Randy's 8 siblings were there) and we even got to enjoy a parade they were having at the hospital that day. (And can I just say how nice the weather was. Beautiful. Just beautiful.)

And Hudson turned 3 months old yesterday! He's such a doll. He and I didn't necessarily have the best trip. He's really been struggling to nurse for several weeks now. I cut dairy out of my diet (which was so sad while we were in America's Dairy State) and he seems to be doing better. But unfortunately we also have developed a case of thrush, so we're working through that, too. 

Even though this baby has tipped my world completely out of balance, I just love him so much.