One Great Big Never-Ending July Post

July came and went so stinking fast that I didn't have two seconds to sit down and blog about it. Here's to hoping you can make it through this lengthy post.

July started out nice and busy with a quick trip to Utah for my cousin's wedding. The weather was HOT, but the bride was gorgeous and there aren't many prettier locations for a wedding than the Salt Lake City Temple.

The reception was at Wheeler Historic Farms, and it was so stinking cute. Hudson loved getting to go see the animals, go on a wagon ride, play on the playground, and eat delicious treats.

What's a wedding without a good family selfie? ;)

Hudson adores his Aunt Bekah

 He kept mooing at the cows

We came back home to celebrate the 4th of July. Hudson loved the parade! He was antsy waiting for the parade to start, but he sat so good the whole time as he watched the floats go by.

We hung out at home afterwards, grilled hot dogs for lunch, took some naps, and played outside. We went out to dinner for hamburgers, and Hudson was smitten about having his own cup.

We tried getting his picture before the parade, and I really love this outtake because he clearly had more important things he wanted to be doing.

His fantastic cup at the restaurant and his 2nd and 3rd 4th of July outfits.
How could I say no to red, white, and blue Mickey Mouse jammies on the 4th of July?
Also, that kneeling picture pose was a random 24 hour thing that he did whenever I tried to take his picture. 

Hudson really loved stomping on poppers and that was pretty much where his love for fireworks ended. We put him to bed at his normal time, woke him up an hour and a half later, and took him to the fireworks by the river. We only stayed about 5 minutes after they started because Hudson couldn't possibly have cared less about them haha. We let him play with a sparkler once we got home, which once again he didn't care much about. So, we put him back to bed and called it a night. 

We took a drive out to the Palisades one afternoon because I had never seen it before. Bekah asked us at one point if we were still in Idaho because it was actually pretty and the Idaho that she's used to isn't pretty hahaha.

Our biggest event in July was refinishing our hardwood floors. I really need to do a post of it's own on the experience, but for now I can say that it was A LOT of hard work. We are absolutely in love with how the floors turned out, but we have vowed to never refinish hardwood floors again :)
Hudson had a sleepover with his Aunt Bekah on the day and night that we did the majority of the work. It broke my heart a little bit to send him off, but we were honestly so busy that I hardly had 2 seconds to miss him.

He had a grumpy morning which made the send off extra heart breaking.

Thank goodness for snapchat to keep me updated on his day with her

Taylor's Grandpa Keith was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer a couple of weeks ago, so one Saturday we made a trip down to see him and his Grandma Ella and spent a few hours talking to them. It was great to hear stories that we hadn't heard before and to get to pick some peas from their huge pea patch. Grandma Ella said multiple times how glad she is that she isn't raising Hudson right now because he is so high energy. Hudson loved playing with the toy cars that she has and he was obsessed with her singing clock. Every time it would stop he would sign more for Taylor to turn it back on. After our visit we headed to the pool in Lava Hot Springs. Hudson was in heaven in the kiddie cove. He went down the slide countless times, and he would have kept going if Taylor and I didn't get tired of catching him haha. We grabbed dinner at a local diner as a small founders day (or something like that) parade was going on and then headed back home.

A quick stop by the combine while we were at the farm

Give me allllll the heart eye emojis 

The last Saturday in July we celebrated Pioneer Day a week late with a ward breakfast. Unfortunately Taylor had to work again this year on the day of the breakfast, but Rebekah and I took Hudson to it. I mean we certainly weren't going to turn down free breakfast that I didn't have to cook just because Taylor wasn't able to come ;)

We ended out the last Saturday of the month with a family movie night. Normally we don't put on a movie until after Hudson goes to bed, so it was kind of a big deal to rent a Hudson friendly movie (The Good Dinosaur) and put it on early enough for him to watch it. We popped some popcorn and let Hudson eat it until it was gone. He loved the popcorn so stinking much that we couldn't have slowed him down or stopped him if we tried. Unfortunately for Hudson, we're big believers in bedtimes, so he missed the second half of the movie, but it was still a hit.

And here is some random pictures from throughout the month

He's obsessed with his rain boots. He constantly asks for them to be put on him.

 &We got a small intex pool, and we have really been enjoying it. Hudson has a love/hate relationship with it.

He LOVES garden fresh peas.

 I gave Taylor a pair of jammies for after he bathed Hudson and said I wasn't sure if they still fit him.
Yeah they definitely didn't fit him anymore.
&Hudson really likes to brush his teeth. He doesn't care whose toothbrush he uses. On this given day I walked in on him using Taylor's toothbrush while I was doing the dishes. This is why the bathroom door is supposed to stay closed haha.

Family ice cream trip :)

I got a big bin of hot wheels at a garage sale last summer for 2 dollars. They're a little beat up, but zero regrets buying them because Hudson plays with them all the time. Lately he has been lining them up across the kitchen table.

Just hanging out and patiently waiting for his dad to get home from work.

&I turned around from making dinner to find Hudson had taken over my computer. There wasn't Netflix or anything playing on it, so I have no idea what he was up to.

Who doesn't love snapchat pictures? Haha

Appointments are every 2 weeks now! I really need to do another bumpdate..

&How cute is this dress and accessories?? It was such a sweet and thoughtful gift from a friend at church.

Making pickles from fresh cucumbers from our garden.

Our garden is doing AWESOME this year. Thanks for asking ;)

So many cucumbers, zuccini, lettuce, strawberries, and peas! 

We're still waiting for our carrots, but they are getting bigger and bigger.

 

Baby girl has a name!

I don't know that I want to announce it on social media before she is born this time, but I'm just so excited to have finally decided on a name.

I got a little crafty in July and made this E for her room. 

10 more weeks until baby "E" is here :)

This is totally random to include in this post, but Hudson's language is just starting to develop. I can't get over how cute it is, and I want to be able to remember all the adorable things he is starting to say.

Hudson's language

New words:

moo

woof woof

beep beep

baaaa (like a sheep)

whoooo (like an owl)

roar
choo choo (coo coo)

his cute buh bye has turned into a sassy "biii"

more ("mo" while he signs more)

ball (ba)

uh oh
shoe

Siri

see
boo (as in peek a boo or boo to scare someone)
help me (helmee)
squirrel (He, of course, mispronounces it, but you can definitely tell he's trying to say squirrel)
Mickey (gickey)
baby

night night (ni ni)

hot (not that he knows what it means)
cracker
cookie

When you ask him what does a tractor say he replies "vrroooom"

Same with some animal noises and what does a car say (beep beep)

&I think that wraps up all of July! Bless your heart if you have made it to the end of this marathon post. Now bring on August and all that it has to offer us!

Hudson at 18 Months

I just want time to stand still so he can stay this little forever, but it keeps going and he keeps changing so here I am trying to write down everything I can about him to remember him at this time.

-23 pounds 15 ounces (47th percentile) 31.5 inches (20th percentile) The doctor thinks he is about to grow because Hudson has never been that high in the weight percentile haha.
-Still wearing mostly 12 month clothing. 12 month footie jammies are starting to get too small. Most 18 month shirts are too long on him, but almost all of his summer clothes are 18 months, so we're dealing with it.
-Has 14 teeth. We're just waiting on his bottom two canines to make an appearance and then we are all set until his 2 year molars.

-He really eats just about anything besides pretzels and cucumbers but he LOVES fruit and to dip his food. 

-He loves to eat with utensils and is getting pretty good at using a fork. His spoon abilities could use some serious work still, but I can only tolerate so much messiness.

-Correctly points to his nose, belly button, ears, and feet when you ask him where they are.

-Has a class clown personality. He is constantly trying to make us laugh. When we do laugh at something he does he will do it over and over again. He will roll his eyes into the back of his head, lean his head back and make this strange sound, and give you strange looks to make you laugh.

-He loves to be outside. We typically spend at least 4 hours of our day while Taylor is at work outside. That's a lot when you consider Taylor is gone for 9ish hours and Hudson is only awake for 6-7 of those hours. The boy is turning brown and his hair is turning white from being in the sun so much.
-He has started to softly roar like a lion when he sees one in a book.
-Loves to rough house and be tickled, especially when dad is the one playing with him.
-If you say let's go get dad/mom he will put a finger to his mouth and say "shhh."
-Gives away everything (toys, snacks, anything in sight) to anyone but mom. This includes giving away his beloved blue elephant. He definitely has sharing down haha.
-Is the sweetest with other children. He plays SO well during playdates. He is so mellow and observative that he doesn't really care when other kids take his toys (I'm sure that will change), and he typically just gives toys to other children. He only has an issue if he is being touched by other children and not given his personal space.
-Hates the vacuum! He immediately runs and climbs on the couch when I turn it on. 

-He has a love for snapchat filters and he loves to watch people's snapchat stories. (I follow quite a few bloggers with little ones)

-Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is his favorite TV show. He only ever watches about 5 minutes and then he runs off to go play, which I'm more than fine with because it allows me to get dressed, do the dishes, or whatever else I need to get done without Hudson being in the way. (We're big advocates for no screen time, so we definitely don't mind that he won't just sit in front of a tv for forever.)

-He gets mad whenever we talk on the phone because he wants to be talking on it. Phone conversations with our parents or each other typically end by us handing the phone to Hudson and telling our parents to just hang up whenever they want to because he will talk forever. 

-Gets his shoes whenever we tell him to and puts his shoes away (by the front door) whenever he notices them laying around. He also likes to make sure that Taylor's work boots always go on the boot dryer.
-In the last few weeks he has started to grab our hand and pull us to where ever it is that he wants to go. Usually he pulls us to the front door to go outside or it's to get our help to do something.
-Randomly gives kisses. He is bound and determined to kiss your lips and not your cheeks. Lately though, he has kissed my nose which is just fine by me.

Language:
He babbles and makes noise all day long, but the only words he says are
 bye bye (buh buh biii or bii biiiii)
ya/yes (yeshh)
yay-He says this after he throws something into the back of the grocery cart. It's always accompanied with clapping
occasionally hi

Language is currently our biggest area of concern with Hudson as he is borderline being far enough behind to start speech therapy. We decided with his doctor at his appointment today that we will wait 2-3 months and if he hasn't made much of any progress, then we will start the referral process then. We know that he will talk in his own time, but, of course, if we can help him then we want to make sure we are doing everything we can.

One big thing that has happened is that he is now in a big boy bed. We found a great deal on a toddler bed on Facebook and figured we were going to have to switch him eventually, so he switched at 16.5 months. I promise I'm not bragging when I say he has been a ROCKSTAR with it. He has acted as if nothing ever changed. He stays in his bed when he wakes up until we go into his room (against all of our efforts to continuously tell him he can get out and play with toys when he wakes up so we can stay in bed for 10 more minutes haha), and then he climbs out of bed and hands us his elephant. Let me just say how much I love not having to lift him up into his crib. There was 2 days that he got out of his bed at naptime right in the beginning and other than that we haven't had any issues (knock on wood). Is there any chance that all of our children will transition this easy?.. haha

Hudson loves to sleep with his little blue elephant. Whenever we put him to bed we have to find it. Hudson climbs into bed and then to keep him there as we find the elephant we walk around the house saying, "Elephant! Oh elephant where are you??" until we find it. Hudson thinks it's absolutely hilarious every time, and he always stays in his bed until we return with it. And I know that we are real original with names around here haha.

One day I was busy putting away groceries when I gave Hudson his lunch, so I didn't bother putting him in his high chair I just put the bowl on the floor. After a minute or two I look over and see Hudson in his high chair with the bowl of food. He had put the bowl of food on the table, climbed onto the table himself, and then put himself in his high chair. I guess he didn't appreciate eating like a dog haha.

One of Hudson's favorite things to do is say "om om om" when actually eating or pretending to eat. (Videoed below) He thinks it's super funny to pretend to eat us as he says om (most of the time sounds like a mix of um and om). It gets a little scary when he goes for you face with his mouth open while saying om.

Hudson has been doing this lately when he gets excited as he sees Taylor get home from work.

He looked so big when I took him to the library on this day.

& His first night in his big boy bed!

We typically sit across from this sweet family at church. They have two little boys one who is a couple months younger than Hudson and one that is 4 years old and is in a wheelchair. Well, one Sunday the mother had to take Trenton out in his chair and Hudson looked over and reacted so fast at the opportunity to sneak across the aisle to hang out with his buddy, Nixon. They were too cute playing together for a few minutes not to take a picture. 

& Here Hudson is in his sweet bounce house I scored for 5 dollars at a garage sale. He loves the thing. On this given day I looked over to find him randomly checking out his belly.

We have too much fun with snapchat filters

& A lady at Taylor's work ordered some new Case clothes, so naturally we had to bring Hudson in to try some on and buy a couple of things :)

I definitely don't regret getting these boots from a yard sale.

& He can often be found with a book in his hands.

Both of these pictures are absolutely terrible quality, but they both make me laugh too hard.

The first picture was a Saturday morning when he climbed in bed with us after waking up.

One Saturday morning as I was cleaning Hudson was running around in just a diaper. 

He kept undoing one side of the diaper, but I would do it back up and send him on his way.

Well in the middle of my vacuuming he got the diaper off and proceeded to sit on the couch, drink his juice, and avoid the vacuum.

He loves bath time! 

& A picture from our trip to the zoo trip a few weeks ago.

Camping last weekend. Notice pillow pet and where he is sleeping. He's completely taking over my pillow :)

More details from our adventure can be found here.

Snapshots from his appointment today. He really wasn't a fan of it, but I just really like his doctor. I think him tagging along to all of my doctor appointments have ruined him. 

I can't believe our little baby is now closer to being two than he is one..

We sure love having you in our lives, Hudson!