Happy 8 months, Hudson

Dear little man,
I can't believe you are already 8 months old!  (8 months and a week as of right now)  The time has flown by.  According to our scales, you are weighing about 19-20 pounds already!  I know why!  You LOVE to eat.  If anyone in the room with you is eating, you think you have to be eating also!  You love all sorts of foods!  You pretty much eat with us and love meat already!  You haven't gotten the hang of feeding yourself yet but you are well on your way!  You can feed yourself a mum mum and  you love them =)  You are still nursing well!  I should have known that when all you wanted to do the first 4 hours of your life was nurse!  Your sleeping is still very random.  Some nights you will sleep all night....8-9ish, to about 5ish....and then nights like last night you are up all night!  Naps are still touchy go...somedays are great, others are not =(  Two weekends ago we had to buy you new jammies and we had to buy you 12 month...thinking you'd have PLENTY of room to grow....welp, they fit, and you have a tiny bit of room to grow... it almost made me cry...I realize just how big yo uihave goten at night when Im in your dark room nurisng nad rockign you to sleep...when you were just born, even weighing in at 8lbs and 2oz...you were soooo small...now you litterlly wrap all the way around my side while you are nursing.  I know this season is coming to an end beofre I know it and I'm just tryint to soak it all in while I can! 

You have just learned to sit up all by  yourself in the last several weeks.  You still fall over a good bit but you are getting better and better by the day!  You love Elmo toys.  And, when we go to Busch Gardens, you love to see Elmo =)  You are definitely going to be a talker... You love to talk and just today your daddy had food in his hand and was walking away from you and you started yelling at him...not crying or whining, but yelling at him...if only you had words =)  You can say dada when you want to.....I dont know how meaningful it is yet but you definitely know who your daddy is and your face lights up when he gets home from being at works for two days straight.  You love your sisters still and smile at them often.  Darbie is now sitting in between you adn Brylee in the van and you love that she is right there beside  you! 

You are going to be a fiesty little one.  You are already starting to stand your ground with Brylee by hitting and scratching and pulling her hair.  When she has something you want, or when she takes something away from you, you try your best to ge it back from her.  You are a biter and that may get you in a lot of trouble, especially when you do get teeth!

Mommy and daddy love you so much!  We have loved watching you grow and turn into a little man!  You are changing every day and looking more like a little boy instead of a baby.  You are so handsome and so loving!  Even though sometimes I'd love to stop the clocks, I can't wait to continue to watch you grow and grow!

Love,
mommy and daddy

Rock City

After being in Alabama from June 16th to July 19, it was finally time to come home to Virginia.  My parents wanted to take the kids somewhere before we left so we all went to Rock City and enjoyed a day and night there before we got up and drove home the next day.  Here are a few pictures from the last trip I took to Chattanooga as a child and a few from this trip, which was my childrens' first visit!


My sisters, my brother, and me in 1997 or 1998... I can't remember... We're at Rock city!

Zach and two of the girls!

Papa and my girls!

Me and the kids

On the swinging bridge... Nana was too scared to go on it =)

My wonderful parents

My silly kids!

Hudson had decided he'd seen enough of Rock City!

My family back in 97 or 98

My sisters and me in from the the train at the Chattanooga Choo Choo

My kids in front of the same train!

I am sooo happy that we took them to Rock City and the Chattanooga Choo Choo.  this is where we vacationed when I was growing up and to get to share some of my favorite childhood memories with my children was amazing!  We even ate at the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel that evening and walked around!  The kids loved it!  Getting to spend this time with my parents was extra special too!

Bed Time!!!

Are we the only family that has issues with bedtime???  I mean....we have had the same bedtime routine since Brylee was a baby....and at least 3-4 nights a week, we have a problem putting her to bed... As I type, she is upstairs in her room, screaming at the top of her lungs.  She's already woken Hudson up twice, so now he's in his bed screaming at the top of his lungs.... can I scream at the top of mine?????    sshheeessshhhhh  After putting Brylee in bed tonight, she came down the stairs multiple times.  After warning her if she came down again I was going to shut her door.....she did...si I took her back upstairs, kicking and screaming, put her in her bed..kissed her forhead, and shut the door.... I don't know what else to do to make bedtime a more pleasant experience in our household.  We let her play in her room if she wants to.  The only restrictions she has is once she's in bed, she can't come out of her room.... I dont know what else to do! 

the first part of the day went by great.... Had a busy morning at home and then got everyone ready for the dentist...the girls had their 6 month cleanings... Darbie did great and Brylee is good.  She only cried once, and she had no clue why she was crying.  (there was a little girl in the room pitching a fit and I think it just made her uncomfortable.)  Then from there it went downhill.  We've been potty training Brylee for over a year now and she still has accidents, somtimes on a daily basis.  I've tried everythin gunder the sun and have no clue what to do to make it finally stick in her head.  After being asked several times if she had to potty, she said no... somewhere between the dentist and the commissary, she peed in her car seat... I am tried of washing carseat covers!  She's actually in a spare carseat right now because hers is taken apart getting washed!  If we put her in pull ups, she just pees in them.... so that reverse psychology doesn't work on her.  then in the commissary, she's all over the place or she and Darbie are getting in trouble.  We got finished grocery shopping and there was a mile long line to check out!  Reason number 50 to not go grocery shopping the day after pay day!  It's just been one of those days that I have felt like I didn't have enough patience to go around to all three children... But, on a good night, Hudson had an amazing day!  Although his new thing is to slap your hand down when he doesn't want the food you are feeding him... hhmmm, that's not good!  So happy I am about to go to bed and tomorrow will be a new day....and I won't be a single mom!