Grandma and Grandpa Come to Visit!

Grandma Rita and Grandpa Phil came down to visit us for a week!  Kemper was so excited and couldn't wait for them to get here!

Watching for Grandma's car

Grandma and Grandpa were planning to come visit in December but after we found out that I had to have all 4 wisdom teeth extracted, they moved their trip up so they could help with the boys.  It was so nice to have them here and to have their help!  I was able to rest easy after my surgery knowing that both boys were in good hands!  

Kemper taught Grandma how to play "What Time Is It Mr. Fox?" and we enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather that allowed us to get outside!  Hudson got to ride in the swing and sit outside with Grandpa when he got fussy.  

Grandma and Grandpa even helped get our Christmas decorations out so we could get the trees up!  I always comment that it makes me sad that we don't get to enjoy our decorations for very long because we usually travel for Christmas and leave around mid-December.  We decided this year to put them up early so that we could at least enjoy them for awhile longer!  My house has somewhat of an identity crisis at the moment...the inside is decked out for Christmas but the outside still has fall decorations up!  

Getting ready to go on a walk with Grandma and Grandpa.  

Grandma helping Kemper with a craft project.  

Playing Mr. Fox

We're so glad and appreciative that Grandma and Grandpa could come visit and help out!  We really do appreciate all they do when they visit!  

Hudson is 8 months old!!!

Hudson, you are 8 months old!!  Every month I comment on how I can't believe how fast time is flying but this month feels like it flew by in the blink of an eye! 

At 8 months, you are such a little sweetheart!  We're not sure of how much you weigh but I definitely haven't noticed the fast weight gain that we experienced a few months ago.  You've leveled off but your appetite is far from leveling off!  You still nurse fairly often, every 2.5-3 hours and you're eating lunch and dinner with the occasional breakfast thrown in there.  When you nurse to sleep, you always play with your hair and twirl the hair at the base of your neck around your finger.  It amazes me what you can put away at lunch and dinner.  Usually 3 containers of baby food (if it's food that I have made, they are 2oz each or Gerber containers are 3.5oz each) as well as some puffs, a mum-mum, bread or bites of what we're having.  You enjoy toast cut into strips and even got to taste pancakes for the first time (you were a fan!).  Your pincer grasp is still developing so you get frustrated when we put puffs on your tray and much prefer when we feed them to you.  This month, you also tried steamed broccoli (and LOVED it!), blueberries, raspberries (I was sure you wouldn't like these due to the sourness but you loved them!) and yogurt.  I'm sure you've tried other new foods but I can't remember what they were because we will basically give you tastes of whatever we're having.  There are times that you eat more than Kemper and your Dad and I just shake our heads.  One thing is for sure, if we are at the table, you expect to be fed.  You are not patient and don't eat slowly.  Shoveling as fast as possible is your preferred way to dine.

You are holding steady in 9 month clothes but occasionally wear 12 months.  You haven't been a fan of socks since the weather has begun to cool off.  If you have socks on and we go somewhere in the car, you will immediately pull them off and then suck on them so that when we get to where we're going I have to wrestle with whether or not I should just run inside without socks or put soaking we ones back on you.  

You have 1 tooth and we can see the other tooth ready to poke through!  Your hands stay in your mouth constantly and you've been fussier when teething than your brother was but you are far from being a miserable teether!  

You are my sweet baby boy and love your mama!  Your first word was "mama" - YAY!  I love hearing that come out of your mouth!  All of us are wondering what your second word will be....dada or some version of Kemper?  More?  Food?  It will be exciting to see what comes next!

Sleep...ah sleep.  We're doing better but you're still not able to make it completely through the night without a visit from me!  We've almost phased out middle of the night feedings...you can go from 7pm until around 5:30am.  After a quick snack, you usually go back down until 7am.  You take 2 or 3 naps a day, depending on the day and how well your first 2 naps were.  Your morning nap is typically the best nap.  As soon as we get home from dropping Kemper off at school, you nurse and then go down for about an hour and a half.  You've just started to lengthen the mid-day nap (and push it back a bit) to about an hour and a half.  If you don't get that much then you'll typically take a 30 minute cat nap while I'm fixing dinner.  As long as you have your blanket, paci and your crib, you will go down pretty easily after a few snuggles. You are completely unswaddled now and your preferred way to sleep is on your belly.  It took you a few nights to figure out what to do with all the freedom you have in the crib but now you move all over the crib and really get yourself comfortable!   

You still adore your brother.  If he is in the room, you know where he is and everyone else is chopped liver! He can make you laugh like no other.  It warms my heart to hear him playing with you and to hear the belly laughs that only he can get!  I hope that even though there is a 4-year age difference that you always adore him and he will always look out for you.  

We love you sweet Hudson and can't wait to see how you grow and change over the months and years!  

Pumpkin carving, Trunk or Treat and Halloween!

Kemper was very excited to carve pumpkins this year and even more excited when Mommy came home with 3 HUGE pumpkins!!  Daddy wasn't so happy when we started carving and found that the pumpkin walls were incredibly thick!

Hudson even got in on the action!

Scooping out the guts.

Happy Hudson!  He enjoyed watching the process.

Kemper designed his pumpkin this year all by himself.  He was VERY particular about it and wanted to make sure that I drew it on the pumpkin EXACTLY as he had sketched out for me.

Trying REALLY hard to carve it himself!

The finished product (thanks to Daddy's help!) - Batman symbols for the ears, circles for the eyes and a SCARY mouth!

That afternoon, James's Squadron hosted a Trunk or Treat so we packed up our Dynamic Duo and headed out despite the chilly start!

Kemper had a blast!  There were lots of fun activities and plenty of trunks full of candy!

Robin hitched a ride with me after the location proved too difficult for the Batmobile to navigate.  

Daddy with Batman and Robin

Kemper played pin the mouth on the jack o lantern...

Dart balloon toss....

Cornhole...

And a cake walk!  (He won cupcakes!) 

Family photo at the Squadron Trunk or Treat

Daddy and Robin

Isn't he a cutie!?

On Halloween, the Schmidts and Liesens came over to trick or treat with us!  We had a motor cross racer, 2 Batmans, a Robin, a cowboy and a giraffe!  Ever since we moved to Tennessee, we've had Casey and Joey come over to trick or treat and then have dinner while we hand out candy.  We sure did miss the Hitchcocks this Halloween but were happy to continue our tradition with friends!  

I made sure to take photos of Hudson in the lion costume Kemper wore for his first Halloween but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a Robin with Kemper's Batman!

Hudson and his girlfriend, Harper

Ready to trick or treat....we had to convince Hudson not to eat the Batmobile.

So, I thought maybe carrying him would be easier.

But, a fussy, hungry baby on a chilly night ends up eating dinner at the front door while Daddy hands out candy and big brother trick or treats!

All in all, I'd say he had a pretty great first Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

We headed out to RiverView Mounds Century Farm for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch!  

Our friends Lynse, Gavin and Trenton joined us.  

You may remember Lynse and Gavin from back when we were in Germany.  We met the Schmidts right before James deployed to Iraq in 2007.  Lynse and I were pregnant at the same time and unbeknownst to us were in labor at the same time (she was in Germany while I was in Virginia!).  Kemper and Gavin share a birthday and were good buddies until we moved back to the States.  As we have learned, it's a small world within the Army and the Schmidts recently relocated to Ft. Campbell!  Kemper and Gavin are in the same pre-k class and the live just a few streets away - the buddies have picked up where they left off but with the addition of Gavin's little brother, Trenton!

It's so sweet and fun to see these guys all grown up (ha, at the ripe old age of 4!)!  

RiverView Mounds has so many fun things for the kiddos to play with!  The log swing was fun as was the tube slide!  We knew the boys would sleep well after this trip as many times as they ran up the hill for the slide!  

It was so nice because we got there right as they opened and basically had the place to ourselves!  The boys ran from one thing to another and it was a beautiful day!

Hudson hung out in the Ergo while we walked around.  We had our Ergo carrier when Kemper was little but didn't use it much unless we were traveling.  With Hudson, I have LOVED using different carriers and wraps with him.  It's so nice to have 2 free hands for when Kemper needs something and I don't have to worry about lugging the stroller everywhere.  

Hudson got to go on his first hayride at RiverView Mounds.  

Our little pumpkin wasn't quite sure what to think of the hayride.  He sat very still, just taking it all in.  Once he discovered the hay, his main goal was to get it to his mouth.  Kemper, Gavin and Trenton LOVED the hayride....they were perched on their knees the entire time.  

Cute little pumpkin on a log!

Trenton is such a sweetheart and loves Hudson.   

Hudson seems to be enjoying his first trip to the pumpkin patch!

Kemper conquering the mound of hay.  

Little pumpkin all tuckered out.  

What a little stinker!

Gavin and Kemper found the pumpkin they wanted...it was just a bit too heavy for them to carry!

We had a wonderful time at RiverView Mounds.  We discovered this little gem of a farm our first year in Tennessee for an Easter festival.  They do Easter festivals, Fall festivals and even Winter/Christmas festivals. It's a good size - not too big and not too small.  Plenty to do and they're adding more and more every year!  Kemper and Hudson took great naps when we got home and we have lots of great memories from this years trip to the pumpkin patch!