Yeah Huddie!

He did it! Hudson took his first step tonight. It was actually 5 steps (2 days before his birthday). As Raleigh, Bryan and I cheered him on, he got so proud of himself and kept trying over and over. I am so excited for him, although, I realize that it will be a lot more work for me trying to contain him. He wants so much to be like his big brother and this just makes him one step closer.


He is already into everything! Don't you love the shoes and diaper. What style...


The boys in my life have so much fun together. I think Bryan spends more time on his knees than on his feet.



This was a shot from his bath tonight. I love it when they are all wet and drippy!

Way to go Huddie! Momma is so proud...

An action packed day...

Christmas was a lot of fun this year! Christmas Eve, Bryan and I gave Raleigh the Disney train we bought him. We set it up on our unfinished 3rd floor and we all went up there to enjoy a little time together before Santa came!





Huddie turned out to be like Godzilla, so he and I went downstairs and left the men to play with the train.





I love the matching jammies. Christmas morning was fun and Raleigh was so excited. This is the first year that he really understood everything. The morning was short lived, we had to quickly get ready to make it to Aunt Cindi's house by noon.


P.J. and Pappy got Raleigh a doctors kit and he looked too cute in the doctor's glasses.




Cindi bought all the kids silly string, but Raleigh didn't like it because it was messy, so Bryan volunteered to take his place in the Silly String War!


By 3:00, both boys were pooped!

It is the best time to get a cuddle in...Then, it was off to YaYa and Papa's!

Papa helped the boys get ready for dinner...

Drew set in to dominate my boys. He is so much fun to watch. My boys are so timid compared to him. Hopefully he will rough them up a little bit.

I'm not quite sure why, but Drew kept putting his tush in Huddie's face... Brad calls it a "Fruit Bowl". If you don't get it, ask Brad next time you see him.

Bryan and Raleigh enjoyed some quiet time out side together doing guy talk on the swings.

And this is Raleigh with his new scooter, helmet and knee pads that YaYa got him. He looks like a professional.

I think the boys had a great day! Raleigh was so full of excitement and Hudson couldn't wait to get his hands on more wrapping paper. I'm sure next year will be even better! Happy Holidays !

Time to leave this joint

That is what Dad was saying yesterday. If you haven't read Jen's post yet, yes, Dad had his surgery and is doing great. He came home yesterday evening and is enjoying time sitting in his favorite chair. This surgery was much better than the last. Hopefully, he will be feeling like a new man soon. Here are some pics from the hospital. He handles everything so well. You can tell by the pics. The last one is of all of his drainage tubes and collectors. He calls them his "balls". Gotta love him...
During the surgery Mom was sharing with me just how wonderful she thinks my Dad is (like she has to tell me). She was telling me how he has always taken care of her, from day one and telling me some stories about their early days. And really, that's what my Dad always does, takes care of people. I hope that after 35 years of marriage, Bryan and I still feel about each other the way Mom and Dad do. They are truly best friends and are still in love after all this time. Dad saved her and she did him as well. What a pair.

Cinderella, Dumbo and Staph, OH MY!

Saturday we went to Disney. Huddie enjoyed
being held, ALOT.

He met his first Disney character. Raleigh
was there but was being shy.


Raleigh watches Cinderella almost every night
before bed and was so excited to meet her.
For some reason, he froze and wouldn't speak
to her. Maybe she was just too beautiful. She
was really sweet with him.


Papa rode Dumbo with Raleigh. He is so great
with him.


After lunch, Raleigh came down with a fever
and really did not enjoy much of the rest of the
day. Poor baby.

Huddie was feeling better than he had been

feeling, but was awful tired.

Bryan and I were thinking as we were hardly

able to walk down the side walk because of

all of the people, "What the heck are we doing

here?"

Oh, did I mention, Hudson came down with a

Staph infection this week. Brave Bryan had to

take him to the Doctor to get it lanced. It is on

his belly, so we had to wrap it in gauze and a

bandage to keep him from messing with it.

Needless to say he was a little sore. Truly

pitiful.

Well, that about wraps up our weekend. Could

have been better, could have been worse, but

it sure was nice spending time with the family!

Dude loves the bottle...

Before I turn to the bottle, I just want to brag on my Raleigh. He helped mom and dad a few weeks ago put up their outside Christmas decorations and loved it. He and Bryan decorated our downstairs porch Saturday and he was so proud. He wanted to put lights anywhere there was a plug. This is a picture of him with the leftovers...



I have always been one of those people that believes that babies should be done with their bottles by 1 year, no binky past 1 year, basically, nothing that they hold dear by the time they turn 1 year and 1 day. I followed this philosophy with Raleigh and it seemed to work really well. Well, I now realize that not all babies are made equal. My Huddie is in love with his bottle. Maybe it is because we had to go through 6 different models just to get one he would drink from. Maybe it is because I still take him a bottle in the middle of the night when he wakes up (which, by the way, I am totally against). Whatever it is, the boy loves it. He carries it around between his teeth. All day if you let him. So, needless to say, I am not sure that I will be able to wean him in the next 24 days. Heck, I don't know if I really care. It is true that you are much more lax with your second. Here are some pictures of him playing today with his BFF, "The Bottle"








Below is a little video I shot to show you just how into the bottle he is.