Hudson is Here!

It's been almost a month, but better late than never! Maybe someday I'll actually write out his whole birth story, but for now, this is what I journaled the morning after he was born:

"Our perfect little boy is here and he's just wonderful! Water broke @ 8am and we checked in at 10:30ish. (he didn't arrive until 10:39pm) He's just right with his chubby cheeks and flat little nose! It was so incredible to hold him skin-to-skin right away and to watch him move his way to my left breast. God's handiwork indeed!  He latched on perfectly. So blessed to be his Mom! Jaye was wonderful and tender as always-I am so lucky! He whispered his words of encouragement with each push and tears filled his eyes as Hudson arrived! My prince charming! So far, Hudson is easy-going and content. I am so excited for Hope to meet him today! We've been blessed with along time since 3pm yesterday and it's been good but I can't wait to be a family of 4 today! This little guy will be so loved and adored by his big sister!!! God is so good and I can't wait to see what He has planned for Hudson!"

He was born 3/25 @ 10:39pm, weighing in at 8.9lbs & 21 1/4 inches long!

Our 1st self-portrait with Hudson! (An hour old maybe)

Getting ready to leave labor & delivery and go to our room. So in awe!

1st family photo all together!

Hope meeting Hudson for the 1st time is probably one of my all-time cherished/favorite moments! She crawled up on the bed with me and just kept giggling and looking at me, full of sheer delight! I've never seen her so excited or overjoyed as she was at that moment! Tears filled my eyes as I looked at my sweet girl admiring her brother! At one point we both just giggled and laughed as there were no words to capture our pure joy! Once we finally stopped giggling over Hudson, she said he was so cute and so tiny! That moment was the beginning of a fierce love and bond that will never be matched!

Hope turns 4!

 This year, Hope got to have 2 birthdays! We celebrated her "pretend birthday" at Disneyland early in March, as she wanted to go before brother came. Hope got her very 1st autograph book and picked a special Minnie pen and our day was all about finding characters and getting autographs! We had a really fun day and it was so fun to watch Hope beam with excitement and eagerly meet all the different characters! Her favorite of the day was Princess Minnie Mouse! She even picked a princess Minnie to take home!

 Birthday treasure box cake! YUM!

 

For her actual birthday we decided to keep things low-key and just do little things together as a family. (we'd only been home 2 days with baby brother by then) Once everyone was up and ready Jaye took Hope to get donuts (her favorite). They took their donuts to the train station and watched the trains together and played on the big bridge that stretches over the tracks. While they were out, Hope decided her new bike (birthday gift) needed a bell so she and Daddy found a bell and rear-view mirror to add to her bike!

 

Hope requested Subway for lunch so my parents and Grandma met us there. We all enjoyed lunch together and then Jaye took Hope home to ride her  bike while I took brother to another Dr. appt. After dinner all the Grandparents and Great Grandma came over for cupcakes. Hope wanted a Tinkerbell party so we decorated the house with Tinkerbell and had cupcakes, pink with sprinkles and Tinkerbell rings...just as she requested. It ended up being a really great day for everyone!!

It's hard to believe it's been 4 years. Being in the hospital with Hudson brought back a lot of memories of when Hope was born. Little did we know 4 years ago how much richer and fuller our lives would be because of 1 sweet little girl who is full of personality! She is full of 4-year old personality and sass and sometimes I can't help but laugh at the things she says or the way she rolls her eyes or the funny moves she makes! We have been so blessed by Hope and are loving watching her as a big sister. She is so gentle and kind and is so absolutely in love with her baby brother! 

Here's some of her favorites: (according to Hope)

Color: pink

Friend: Asher and all my other friends

Toy: hammerhead shark in the  bathtub, I love him

Book: ABC book 

Thing to do with Daddy: play toys, watch movies, eat peanuts & popcorn, star wars

Thing to do with Mommy: read books and play with  my toys

Show to watch: Star Wars

Princess: Ariel

Place to go: the zoo (even though we haven't been in over a year)

When she grows up: a builder

Food: pancakes

Drink: pink lemonade

Something you're really good at: coloring in the lines, connect the dot to dot, school books

Stuffed Animal: Sissy bear, beluga, Hopskotch Bunny 

As I was finishing this, Hope says, "there's one more thing you should know about me: that I'm a good friend and I share and I don't give up"...

Hudson's Room:finished product!

 My Mom putting her gifts and talents to work for this little guy...she made the bumper, valance, & blanket!

 Jaye's old lunch boxes decorate the shelf, his old comic books are hung on the wall & Hope's R2D2 mug is being used as a pacifier holder on his dresser! Jaye found the light-saber light and had to have it!

 Jaye put his letters together & arranged and placed all the ships/stars! Hope made him the Build-A-Bear puppy with Jaye and she picked out the baby Mickey on the day we found out we were having a boy!

 Hope has been so curious about all of Hudson's stuff...she gets excited when we tell her that it used to be hers!

Filling brother's bed with extra love and hugs!

Any Day Now...

I'm officially 1 week away from my due date and I am ready to meet this little man already!!! His room is mostly ready (with the exception of some decals and frames for the wall), his clothes are washed, the diapers are arranged, and all of our bags are packed. While I know he'll come when HE is ready, I find myself each day hoping that today will be the day. Sure there are things we should still do: set up co-sleeper, clean some more, set up swing, get out pump, pillow, etc. but those can be done when once he's here!

Physically, I am ready to be done with this pregnancy stuff. I am so fortunate in that I am not as big as most, but I am still uncomfortable and feel HUGE!!! I don't love not being able to walk fast and keep up with Hope and bend over and pick things up without it being akward. It's been hot this week and I have discovered that I own 1 maternity skirt and very few short-sleeved shirts. I know, silly stuff that doesn't really matter.

The goal was anytime after last Sunday and now that Sunday has come and gone, he can join us whenever! We were able to take Hope to Disneyland on Sunday for her "pretend birthday" and I am so thankful for the day together! I wanted to be sure she had a day that was just for her before her brother came. She dressed like a princess, ate lunch with the princesses, and pretty much was in charge of the day! I so enjoyed watching her excitement and enthusiasm as she collected autographs from the characters and took pictures with them...she was so excited to try something new! We didn't go on many rides at all, but we sure had a fun day!

I've been thinking over the past few months about how thankful I am for the almost 4 year age-gap between these 2 kids. It has been soooo fun watching Hope grow and understand what lies ahead. She is so sweet and tender, coming up and hugging and kissing my belly throughout the day. She'll come up and put her lips on my stomach and tell Hudson ,"I love you brother" or "sweet dreams brother". She is going to be such an amazing big sister and I am so excited for the relationship they will have with each other. I have a hard time imagining life at the beginning, but can easily picture him being 2 and her being 6 and going on adventures and trips together! I am so thankful for her sweet spirit and kind heart and I can't wait to see how that will play out as a big sister!

We have been so blessed with hand-me-downs for Hudson and wonderful gifts from friends and family. We started out this journey of #2 with zero boy clothes, zero boy blankets, bedding, etc. and now when I walk into his room I am overwhelmed with how perfect it is and how we have exactly what we need for this sweet boy! Once his room is finished I'll have to get some pictures up as I am so happy with how it turned out!

So many random thoughts....had to at least "write" a few down...

The Blessed Life

Our church has been studying/going through The Blessed Life, by Robert Morris over the past month. Our pastor said it would be life-impacting and it has been. The whole book is centered upon giving and blessing others, mainly in ways of finances. If you know me well, you know that money is not my thing. I am not good at budgeting, not good at saving, and I am very much an impulse buyer. Thanks to this book, I have been reminded of what it means to live within my means, to be a good steward, and to be diligent with what God has given us.

4 years ago Jaye and I enrolled in FPU (Financial Peace University), a 12 week class about how to "live like no-one else (now) so you can LIVE like no-one else (later)". We were convinced about this class so we switched to using only cash, made ourselves a budget, and were all set to be debt-free in 2 years. Fast forward to today...we have not been using cash, we've only increased our debt, and I have definitely not been living by our budget. Why is it so easy to loose sight of that end goal? Why do I find it so easy to spend what we do not have? YUCK!

So...thanks to The Blessed Life I have been reminded of what it really means to be content with what God has blessed us with. HE has given us all we need and promises to provide.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  

This verse is always a conviction point for me as I think about how I spend my $$ and it doesn't say much about what should truly matter and about heavenly treasures as I am quick to spend on earthly/material things. I have seriously thought about writing this verse in sharpie across my debit card so that every time I pull my card out, I am reminded of this truth. 

So, here I am...wanting to be different, desiring to be wise. I've cut up my credit cards, have been working on a budget for our family, and have actually done REALLY well the past 2-3 weeks and haven't bought anything we don't need, no extras. As I've been thinking through all this, God has placed opportunities before us to give to others who have very real and tangible needs. To be honest, it does scare me a bit to think about giving what I feel He is calling me to give as it means less money in savings and less to fall back on...but I feel the tugging and I want to be obedient. I want to allow God to use us to bless others and that means being diligent with what we have and living within our means. Debt free is no longer 2 years away, but many more...but it is possible.

Goodbye Girl, Hello Boy

Last week I spent a whole morning sorting through Hope's closet and her room. As she has outgrown her clothes, I've put them in boxes and then labeled them with the size. We've been doing this for 3 1/2 years with the thought that maybe someday we'd have another little girl to pass them down to. Our garage rafters are full of these boxes, carefully packed and labeled. When we thought about adding to our family, Jaye and I both pictured our family consisting of two little girls. We have enjoyed Hope so much and know of so many families who have two little girls and just love their family dynamics. I personally love the relationship the little girls have with their Daddy. I always just pictured 2 girls in our family.

Going into our ultrasound last month I had tried to be sure to look at lots of boy stuff and think about having a boy, just in case... As much as I wanted another little girl, I wanted to be prepared for a boy and didn't want to be disappointed. I will admit there was a few seconds where I was a little bit bummed that we wouldn't be getting our 2nd girl, but ultimately, I knew that God had chosen a precious baby boy to join our family and I was happy he was healthy and well! I will be the 1st to admit that I am not a fan of boy stuff so far...it all has balls or monkeys on it...not my thing. But, there's gotta be some cute stuff out there!!

So anyway, as I was packing up clothes last week and preparing a trashbag full of clothes to give to friends, I found myself coming to terms with the end of saving clothes that I had hoped to see and use again. I am so glad we can bless others with the clothes that Hope has been given, it was just bittersweet to really realize that we are moving on! So now I have LOTS of boxes to sort through...saving a few favorites to someday give to Hope, and then making up bags to pass along to friends with little girls at different ages. Time to say goodbye to girl and hello to boy!

As I think towards our sweet Hudson, I've been hit with the responsibility of raising a little boy. Not that raising a girl isn't responsibility, but I feel like there is a bigger need to really raise our little boy to be a man of God and a leader. I want Hudson to be a spiritual leader, to be kind and compassionate, to someday lead a family of his own.

At church we've been going through "The Story". A few weeks back we read about Rahab and the role she played in helping Joshua and Caleb in the capturing of Jericho. 2 weeks ago we read about Ruth and Naomi and how Boaz redeemed them. Both are stories that I love and have known, but something I didn't know is that Rahab was Boaz's mother. I was struck with the thought that Rahab must have set a Godly example for her son and he must have seen the ways she served the Lord. Rahab raised her son to be a man of honor and integrity, compassion and kindness. Who Boaz turned out to be is  result of who Rahab was and how she raised him.

So...bring on the BOY and Lord give me wisdom!!!

Almost 4 months later...

It's been a REALLY long time since I've done anything with this blog. I thought my computer had crashed so I have only been checking e-mail when at work and checking facebook from my phone...the blog fell to the wayside. Let's see....what have the last 4 months held for our family?!?!

JULY: 

We did our 1st run together as a family. We did the Aquarium of the Pacific 5k and it was an adventure! I was so proud of Jaye as he finished his 1st race...he ran the whole thing!! He has been so great about being disciplined to run! I completed the race pushing Hope in the stroller...not sure I'll every do that again! It is quite complicated pushing a stroller around lots of people, trying to find a spot to get into the groove. Anyway, we all finished it, got medals and then enjoyed a really fun family day at the Aquarium!

We enjoyed our 2nd annual Howard family camping trip! It was in the 90s but we had fun anyway! Jaye took Hope fishing (with her Barbie pole) and it was such a fun and relaxing weekend, just the 3 of us! We definitely LOVE camping together and will continue to do so for years to come!

AUGUST:

I honestly have no idea what we did in August. Guess I could go back and look at pictures, but no big trips or adventures stand out right now. 

The biggest piece of excitement for August was my 1st Dr.'s appt. We found out in July we were expecting baby Howard #2 and our Dr. confirmed it in August! We are due around March 22nd! We told our families after that appt. and everyone was so excited!

SEPTEMBER:

Jaye and I ran our 1st 10k together. It was an 80's themed run and it was HOT and I was miserable! The race started late in the day, it was in the 90s, there was only 1 water stop, and it was a lame course...BUT our costumes were GREAT!!! It was a fun adventure together!

I was blessed with the opportunity to head to Key West, FL for 5 days in September to visit my best friend and her family. It was such a relaxing and refreshing trip for me! We spent our days on the water, exploring town, finding great places for lunch, and just enjoying being together! I must admit, the time away (ALONE) was much needed!! 

September brought opportunities for leadership. I stepped up and started co-leading a table at our Mom's Group at church. This is the 1st time I've really gotten involved in anything since leaving my job at a church 5 years ago. God was calling and I answered. We've been blessed with a great table of ladies! Also in September, Jaye and I were asked to pray about leading a table at our Wednesday night couples ministry. 

OCTOBER:

October started with a 1/2 marathon for me...one that I did NOT train for. Between the HEAT of summer and being pregnant/exhausted, I only got out maybe once or twice a week and mostly walked when we did get out. Thankfully, my wonderful friend Heather was/is also pregnant and we agreed to walk the 13.1 miles together. I don't know why I thought it would be a walk in the park, but it was TOUGH! I'd rather run a race ANYDAY!!! But, we finished and the company was WONDERFUL!

Jaye and I began leading our couples table group and it's been going great! We have a wonderful table and its been really fun to begin to truly connect with everyone! I've really enjoyed seeing Jaye lead and I am proud to sit by his side and help out when needed! 

Last week, on the 26th we had our "big" ultrasound. To be honest, we were all hoping for another girl...but God had other plans for our family! We are happy to have a little boy, Hudson, join our family in March! We are all excited about the prospect of a fun Star Wars room for him and all the new adventures that lie ahead with a little boy! Mom is still a bit overwhelmed at starting over with the stuff and clothes, but God will provide what he needs. 

I have begun actually running again. This is week 3 of trying to be disciplined and get back into the groove of things! We have a 5k this Saturday, I have a 10k in 2 weeks and then a 1/2 coming up in December in Vegas! Gotta get going so I'll be ready for that race in Vegas!! I refuse to walk it! 

SO...that is where we are at. Hopefully I can get back into the habit of updating this thing again!!!