[ 6 months ]
[ eight months ]
And we have a winner for the stationery giveaway!
It was so so fun to read all the comments and hear of from every single one of you!
112 comments means there are a lot of people who still like an old fashioned letter. I love it! 
I think almost everyone that commented I thought, “Oooo, I hope SHE wins!”
and then at the end I was feeling bad that there was only one winner!
There were some really neat stories too, I love reading every one!
I used random.org to choose a winning number…
My heart was pounding as I entered the number,
the number 70 popped up,
and the winner is Laura K.!
Congratulations, Laura!
I can’t wait to collect the supplies and send you a package!
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So it’s been a week of being hit with some kind of bug around here. Again.
Some big-time immune boosters are on the way,
something is wrong with the picture when mom gets sick more the kids.
There is nothing that makes me want to cry, “MAAAMA!!!!!”
more then when I’m sick, and especially now that I have kids.
I feel like curling up in a fetal position and shedding some tears about it sometimes.
It. is. rough.
There are many things hard about being many miles and states away from my mother.
Being sick is one of those hard things!
But we’ll be okay.
This is a week of a lot of ibuprofen for me and a lot of cereal-eating for the kids.
Next week they’ll have a balanced diet again!
The house looks like a wind storm blew through.
Next week we’ll clean it.
This week we’re all living in pajamas.
Next week we’ll get dressed.
A few things of gratitude today….
…. my husband arranging work so he can be home a bit this week so I can rest
… a sister-in-law who brought delicious soup and muffins on my sickest day
… a messy house. It shows there is much life here.
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Little Man is passing legal boundaries in growth and cuteness factors.
[I can say that, right? Everyone knows moms are prejudiced anyway.]
It nearly makes me cry when I see him next to a newborn and realize how BIG he is.
I wish the baby stage would last longer! With full sleeping nights, of course.
But he is SO fun right now too, that every stage seems like the best.
These are a few pictures from the last few months,
from 6 months to 8 months.
Stats at 8 months:
… sits alone well
… scoots backwards
… 22 pounds
… sprouted 4 teeth
… has no idea that there is a mode of transportation called “crawling”
… says “da-da”. Yep, he’s a Daddy’s Boy, for sure.
… does his own version of the sign language “please”
… eats, eats, EATS. Seriously, it’s frightening.
He may or may not eat about a quarter of our weekly grocery budget. Not even joking. There is nothing that he doesn’t like.
… is beginning to fight sleep. FIGHT it. He knows he’ll miss action with his sisters.
So even if he hasn’t slept allll day, he sits up in bed, stick a leg out the side and gets stuck and hollaaaaars.
Repeat and repeat. He’s a little stinker.
… starting to have his own little personality shine out of the cracks, er, rolls. It’s really cute.
He is a sweetie with a stubborn streak.
Somehow we missed the memo that babies should be born with hair.
But it’s okay. We love them anyway, bald, hair, however they come. They are loved!
typical Hudson face…
another typical face, without the leaf in the mouth.
His daddy hopes he’ll like football. None of this silly hipster moustache stuff his mommy really likes.
The Olivia Relationship.
This is something that really needs to be addressed, it is a point of grave concern.
The relationship between these two is definitely one of love, much love, yes.
But perhaps love that doesn’t know it’s power?
Perhaps ‘painful love’ would be accurate.
You would think when one loves another, there would be nothing like
ear pinching
arm squeezing
knocking over
neck pulling
arm yanking
stuff going on.
But that’s just it: there is much of it!
Daily we speak of the benefits of gentle love,
for then love will be reciprocated,
instead of the baby turning away with a frightened look on his face when she comes around.
It’s true.
It’s also true there are times he physically tries to restrain her.
It’s further true there are times he seems overjoyed to see her.
Namely, when he doesn’t want to sleep and she sneaks by his bedside.
I say he will grow to be either a very very patient man
or an angry man.
The truth is: Olivia absolutely ADORES him.
Her dramatic personality just has to learn when the other person in the relationship doesn’t quite feel the love.
But she does make him laugh harder than anyone else on the planet can.
Sometimes he will almost be gasping for air, he laughs that hard at her.
I’ve never heard a baby laugh so hard.
What can I say? I laugh at her too. She really is pretty funny.
Take One: the squeeze
Take Two: the fall
Take Three: the evidence that there ARE some very precious moments too.
What a precious life this is!
Have a great weekend, friends!
~clarita
