The Mighty Deans

Mowing

2009-08-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

Hudson helped Daddy mow the yard last night. He thought it was sooo cool to push the mower. Everytime they would pass by me Hudson would look over at me and smile the biggest smile. He even helped rake up the grass and put it in trash bags! Maybe this will last into his teenage years....yeah right.

It's a Boy

2009-07-29T06:16:00.001-07:00

After looking back at previous posts I realized that I had not announced our news. We did find out the gender of our little one. Haleigh and Hudson will be getting a little brother. Everything is looking good and we are right on track for a December delivery. We are so excited.

Wyatt David Dean - expected December 16, 2009

New Haircut

2009-07-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Hudson has a new haircut! If you didn't think he looked like Jim before you should see him now. When we walked into Snipits (the place where Hudson gets his hair cut) Jim looked at the stylist and said "See my hair? I want his cut just like that."

Hudson got a present

2009-07-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hudson got a package in the mail at the end of June from his Great Aunt Carolyn. It's is the cutest tiger back pack. He absolutely loves this "bag". It has wheels on the bottome so he puts all his cars and trucks in it and pulls it around the house. Thank you Aunt Carolyn!!

The Aquarium

2009-07-28T11:50:00.001-07:00

The first weekend in June we went to the Aquarium with our good friends Rod and Amy and their two girls Libby and Annie. We had a really good time! They have a white tiger exhibit which was cool and Hudson and Haleigh really enjoyed all the rides. I think Jim had a good time too. What do you think?

Last gymnastics class

2009-07-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

I'm doing some catching up here from the last month or so. I really am trying to be good about keeping everyone updated.
Here are some photos from Hudson's last gymnastics glass at Little Gym (In June). He had such a good time I think we both hated to see it end. We will definitely have to do another class in the fall.

A Trip to Surfside Beach

2009-06-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we decided to take a trip to Surfside Beach. It was the perfect beach weather. Hudson had a great time. We didn't think he would take to the water but he had a lot of fun splashing around and playing in the sand. We did the typical beach things...built a sandcastle, flew a kite, and splashed around in the Gulf. We had so much fun that I think we are going to try and go as much as possible this summer.

On a separate note, while we were getting Hudson out of the truck for our fun day at the beach we noticed his arm was a bit swollen. As the morning progressed so did the swelling in his arm. By the time we were ready to leave the beach Hudson's left arm looked like it belonged to the Michelin tire man. We gave him some Benedryl and went straight from the beach to the ER. After about a two hour wait the ER doctor told us he was bitten by some sort of insect(really?? I can't believe I paid $100 for that tid bit of information) and was having an allergic reaction (by this time his hand was turning blue). He got a dose of Benedryl and an oral steroid and sent us home with a prescription for some more of the steroid and a cortisone cream to use. Today is Tuesday and his arm looks ten times better than it did Sunday. We think he was bit by a spider sometime in the night.

strawberry pickin'

2009-05-30T19:36:00.001-07:00

Today we went to Froberg Farms and picked our own strawberries. It was a fun experience but boy was it hot. Mommy's mental note "go early in the morning not at 11:00am". Hudson did a great job picking the strawberries. He would lift the plants up to find the strawberries,pick them, and put them in his bucket and when that got boring he would pick them and squish them and when that got boring he picked and then threw the berries. After all was said and done we picked about 3 pounds of strawberries. Not bad for only 30 minutes of picking. We brought our loot to my parents house and made a VERY yummy strawberry pie.

2009-05-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here are some of the pictures from our first Astros game with Hudson. He was overall a good boy at the game but I will say that when you bring a 20 month old to a game you end up watching him more than you watch the game. I wish our Astros would have won on this night but we had no such luck. We did get to experience the Friday night fireworks which Hudson did not care for because of the noise but overall a good night!

The pictures are actually backwards but I'm having trouble with the blogger site and don't feel like switching them right now. The bottom photo was taken right after we got to the game and Hudson was just in awe of the field and the players. He kept pointing and saying "bayball". Apparently we were not the only ones taking pictures of our son that night. The last photo (which is actually the first) is after 4 hours of watching our team loose. That's pretty much how we all looked.

Memorial Weekend

2009-05-28T11:15:00.001-07:00

It seems like I always start my blog entry out the same way...It's been a really long time since I've posted :-( Anyway, I won't try to catch everyone up on things from January till now. Too much information to post! If you need to be caught up call me and we'll have lunch.

We had a very eventful Memorial day weekend. We took Hudson to his first Baseball game (go Stros!), went to a Luau and indoor playground with our Itty Bitty friends, stopped by our friend Colt's 2nd birthday party, and we hosted our first ever crawfish boil! The crawfish came out great! We were pleasantly surprised. Thanks to our guinea pig friends for trusting us with their Memorial Day lunch plans.

Below are some pictures of Hudson with some of his Itty Bitty playgroup friends at the Stomping Grounds in Sugar Land. We had so much fun! This place was great. I got to have my cup of coffee and Hudson got to play inside, where it was cool, with his best buds!

I'll try and post more pics from the weekend tonight or tomorrow...so stay tuned!

Happy Holidays!

2009-01-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The holidays were very good to us. We went on a Christmas train, did a Winter Festival and of course spent both Christmas and New Years with family and friends.

The week before Christmas we took Haleigh and Hudson and met up with our friends Jerome, Michelle and JG (Hudson's best bud) and we all climbed aboard the Christmas train. Hudson and JG got their photos with Santa. Hudson was not thrilled with Santa, and in all honesty he was quite upset and the picture shows it. Sorry I can't post it here because I don't have a scanner at home.

The first photo here is Hudson and I on the train. The second is of Hudson and JG running around while we waited to get on the train....

Christmas morning we were up bright and early at our house and Jim, Hudson and I all opened presents together. I think Hudson is finally getting this present opening business. Later on that morning Joanna, my mom & dad and Michelle, Jerome and JG all came over to play and eat Christmas dinner.

New years we went over to our friends Rod & Amy's house for a bonfire and fireworks. We had a lot of fun and Hudson really enjoyed his first time around fireworks. He would smile and giggle any time they went off. Oh, and sparklers are really cool too.

Today Hudson, Mimi and I all went to the Winter Festival in Pearland. We had so much fun! Hudson got to see a firetruck up close and personal. I believe they were trying to recruit him before we left but he decided he had better things to do than fight fires today. We then headed to the snow. Come to find out Hudson doesn't really care for snow. The whole time he was in the "snow pin" he kept saying "no" and shaking his head. I guess we will let Tia (Aunt Suzanne) keep the snow up there is Washington state for now. After we left the snow we headed for the bouncer. Hudson enjoyed this so much we had a really hard time getting him to leave so we could go ride the pony's (another thing he really enjoyed). It was a great day!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season! Best Wishes for the new year from the Deans!

2008-12-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

Our outdoor loving little boy really enjoys going to the park. One of his favorite things is the slide. He can't get enough! Jim and Haleigh took him this afternoon and shot quite a few pictures and I wanted to post them so you could see just how much the slide brings him joy.

In other news, Hudson met Santa for the first time this weekend. He was neither scared nor thrilled with the man. Curious would be the best way to describe the encounter.....

First Haircut

2008-12-03T09:46:00.001-08:00

Hudson got his first haircut this past weekend! I'm sure the hairdresser thought Jim and I were nuts because I was snapping pictures like crazy and Jim was video taping the whole thing with his phone. By the way, the pictures that are posted here are not even half of what I took and I won't bore you with the 6 minute video.

He is growing up so fast! In the first picture he still looks like my little BABY but by the last picture he looks more like my little BOY. He did very, very well with the haircut. We were really surprised when he let her use the clippers to trim around his ears and the back of his neck.

As a special treat for exceeding our expectations in the behavior department, we took Hudson out for ice cream. Unfortunately, he did not think this was a treat at all. I'm not sure if it was the temperature or the taste but he really didn't care for it. He even shook his head "no" when Jim and I would take bites and try to finish off what he didn't eat.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T08:02:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving day. Full of food, family and fun. Hudson spent a lot of his day playing outside. We ran around and played ball with Buddy, fed the fish in the pond and he picked kumquats off of the tree in Mimi and Pawpaw's backyard. He wasn't too sure about the taste of the kumquats. He would take a bite and then spit it out. He did this three or four times before it ended up on the ground. I say, "A" for effort. At least he gave it a shot.

Mom made a fantastic turkey and we had the traditional homemade mac and cheese (Hudson LOVED this dish), green beans, sweet potatoes, rolls and Jim's mashed potatoes.

At the end of the day we were all fat and happy!

Angel

2008-09-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've discovered that I'm just really bad at keeping up with this blog. I do apologize. I'm constantly thinking , "hey, I really need to update the blog tonight"...it just never seems to happen.

Here are a few updates. Hudson is making leaps and bounds these days. His crawling skills are beyond anything I could ever have imagined. I believe he can crawl faster than I can run. He is walking while holding on to the furniture. He thinks this is a really fun game. A couple of days ago he took a couple of steps without holding on to anything but he hasn't done it since then. I'm trying to keep the video camera at the ready just in case. Got to catch those moments while I can! He has also become quite the ham in front of a camera. As soon as the camera comes out he starts making faces. Most of my pictures of him come out fuzzy because I'm laughing so hard I can't keep the camera still. We can see more and more of his personality coming out with each passing day. He is very head strong. He knows what he wants and he goes for it, despite the consequences. On the flip side he is also cautious, always "testing the waters" before jumping in. He is extremely social. He is so happy when he is around a crowd, young or old, doesn't matter to him. He will go to just about anyone. He is very loving, giving out hugs and kisses like they are going out of style! He talks non-stop, mostly baby babble, but he does say a few words. Right now his favorite is Buddeeeee (Buddy is my parents pug).

On a more emotional note, He is the thing Jim and I look forward to the most at the end of the day. He lights up a room with his smile and charm. Some days I just know he was an angel sent to us from above.

As always I've included some pictures....
One of his "funny" faces for the camera
Another funny face
This is Hudson in my old rocking horse. I got this on my first Christmas, at 11 monts old, which is the age Hudson is now.
I think this was a forced smile, probably tired of me taking pictures.
Hudson with his "Fo-Hawk"
Sick baby, tired daddy
He was batting his eyes at me in this picture doing what we call "flirty eyes"
Look at those cheeks!
I think he was watching Jim mow the backyard in this pic.

Vegas Baby

2008-07-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Las Vegas! It was definitely hot (111 degrees!) but we had such a good time! Our good friends Doug and Felis got married and Jim and I feel very blessed to be able to be a part of their special day. They are the main reason for our trip and we wish them all the best now and in the future!

We stayed at the New York New York Hotel. We did some of the typical Las Vegas things...gambled a bit (no we didn't win anything), caught a show (Zumanity - Cirque du Soleil), ate at a few buffets, window shopped the expensive "boutiques", hit downtown Vegas (Fremont St.) and got to witness friends get married in a Vegas wedding chapel...what more could you ask for???!!!

Here are a few photos from our little vacation.....

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2008-06-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hello all! We just got back from the family reunion and we had the best time! Hudson was in his element. Being outdoors, check. Being around family and friends, check. Getting to spend time in the water, check. Getting to play with another baby, check.
I would certainly love to put all the pictures from our little vacation on this page but we took over 100 pics so I'm afraid that just won't be possible. I'm going to put some of the highlights of the trip here but if you would like to see the full album please post a comment here with your email address and I'll send you the link so that you can see all the fun that was had at the Klentzman
reunion 2008!

family vacation

2008-05-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I just had to post this picture of Hudson. He is teething and as a result when he eats he bites on his spoon and sometimes refuses to let go. He gives us a little glare when we try and remove the spoon and I just had to capture that look for all to see. He is our little dude with attitude!

On a separate note, this past Memorial Day weekend Jim, Haleigh, Hudson and I went on a little family vacation to San Antonio.
We set out from our house in Pearland and made a pit stop in League City where we got to see Haleigh earn her green belt in Tae Kwon Do. I wish you could have seen her. She took down a classmate (pretending) to choke her and she broke a board with her foot! It was so cool to watch. She's very talented.

After Haleigh got her green belt we hopped in the car for the drive to San Antonio. Along the way Haleigh taught Hudson how to hold his own bottle. I think he likes trying to impress his big sister.

When we arrived in San Antonio we met up with our friends Amanda and Andy and hit the riverwalk, which I quickly learned is not very stroller friendly. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then headed to the riverboats for a night time boat ride. Here is a picture of Hudson on his first boat ride. He was a little tired by the end of boat ride and ended up falling asleep on Jim's shoulder.

The next morning Hudson and Haleigh had some brother sister time before we headed to the Alamo.

The Alamo was nice but very hot! As you'll notice in all of the pictures Hudson is not wearing his helmet. It was just too hot for him to wear it during the day so we made the executive decision to just have him wear it at night, in the cool hotel room.

After the Alamo we all went back to the hotel room and took a nap. After we were all well rested we took the bus down to the Market and spent the rest of the evening down there at a really nice Mexican food restaurant.

We took it easy on Monday and did a little shopping, then we grabbed a bite to eat and hit the road for the very tedious drive back to Houston.

Been Awhile

2008-04-28T18:34:00.001-07:00

Well it's been a really long time since my last post but I'll try and give you the updates in as condensed a way as possible. So much has happened since January. Hudson is growing by leaps and bounds!
In February my mom (Mimi), Hudson and I all flew to Seattle to see Suzanne, Aaron and my best friend Rita. He did amazingly well on the plane ride (which was 4 hours long). So well in fact that when we landed the guy in front of us stood up to get off the plane and said he didn't even know there was a baby on board! Here are a few pictures from that trip...
The first is of Hudson and Auntie Reet. He just loved getting kisses from her.
Next is Hudson and Aunt Suzanne playing in the living room.

And finally Hudson and Uncle Aaron. Uncle Aaron taught Hudson how to make "the angry face", which he still does to this day.

We had such a good time with everyone and it really made me miss everyone so much!

Easter came quick this year and the Easter bunny was really good to Hudson. He got an Easter basket with all kinds of cool stuff. His favorite toy is a stuffed duck hand puppet. When you put your hand in it, it makes an awful quacking noise that he just thinks is fabulous! He smiles every time he sees it! Easter Sunday also marked a small milestone in his life. He finally rolled over from his back to his tummy. He has been non-stop ever since. Now when we put him to bed at night that's the first thing he does.

This is a picture from the weekend after Easter. These are the beautiful flowers that are in the flower bed in front of our house.

Now for Hudson's medical update. He was born with what they call torticollis which basically means that the ligament on one side of his neck was considerably shorter than the other side. In Hudson's case it was his left side that was the problem. For months we could not figure out why he won't look left. Now we know. Because of his torticollis he developed plagiocephaly. This means that the back of his head was REALLY flat, mostly on the right side, and this has caused malalignment of his ears, eyes and jaw. To correct the problem and so he won't have serious problems in the future, like lock jaw, the specialist we saw recommended the use of a helmet. He wears the helmet 23 hours a day only taking it off for baths and wardrobe changes. He doesn't seem to mind it at all and it has not disrupted his sleep habits (thank goodness). He's had the helmet now for about 3 weeks and we can already see a big difference. We were told that he will need to wear the helmet for 3 to 5 months. Here is a picture of Hudson in his super cool helmet.

Hudson is now sitting up on his own, and rolling like a little mad man. He gets up on all fours as if to crawl but for now he just ends up going backwards. Occasionally if he rocks himself hard enough while on all fours he will launch himself forward. He does sleep through night occasionally waking up between 4 & 5 to take a bottle and then he goes right back to sleep. He LOVES spending time outside. We try and spend as much time outdoors with him as possible. He is eating rice cereal, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, bananas, pears and carrots. He despises peas. Jim and I decided to make his food which has been a real money saver for us. I buy everything fresh, puree it, put it in ice cube trays and freeze. So far the butternut squash is his favorite!

Occasionally we will get a call on Saturday or Sunday from my parents requesting that he come spend the night with them. If he goes over on Sunday night he and Gramps (my dad) get to spend the day together on Monday. Gramps has taught him how to pick kumquats and he is currently in the process of teaching him how to drive the tractor...

We still don't know who he takes after more. He looks a lot like Jim but my dad says he looks like my uncle Charlie when he was a baby, and my mom says he looks a little like my grandfather. All really good qualities to have in my opinion.

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures I took of Hudson tonight. These were taken just after his bath (hence, no helmet).

2008-01-26T06:11:00.000-08:00

It has really been a long time since my last post! I thought I'd take some time this morning and try and give everyone a few quick updates.

I went back to work the week before Christmas. It was not as hard as I thought it would be, because I was leaving Hudson with my mom & dad for the first two weeks that I had started back. He loved spending the time with my parents and that first week I think he really got spoiled because my grandma was also there and he got to visit with her all week.

Christmas was very nice. We spent the day at Mom and Dad's and Suzanne and Aaron came over and we all hung out for the day. Santa was good to everyone this year and it was fun watching Hudson's expressions when we would rip the wrapping paper off the gifts...I think that was his favorite part of the day.

The next weekend we moved out little family out of our apartment and into a house in Pearland. We are LOVING all the extra space we have now! I still can't believe we filled a four bedroom home with the stuff we had in our little two bedroom apartment!

Hudson is now staying with a wonderful woman named Rosa during the day. It was really hard leaving him that first day. I cried all the way to work and called her twice that day. It has gotten a lot easier since then. He sings all the way to her house in the mornings and he smiles when we drop him off and pick him up. Oh, and I think he is learning Spanish; his cries sound a little more "Mexican" now...haha.

I'm putting a little video of Hudson so everyone can see just how big he is getting! This video is of Jim and Hudson playing the choo choo game :-)

Louisiana

2007-12-03T06:58:00.000-08:00

Well Hudson has had a busy week. We had a very nice Thanksgiving over at my mom and dad's place on Thursday. My Aunt Donna, Uncle Clay and cousins Mason and Morgan came over for the feast and a little baseball in the backyard. Suzanne and Aaron came a little later and visited for a while. Saturday we went over to cousin Penny's for a second T-day feast, which was very nice. Although we didn't stay long, we sure did enjoy seeing everyone!

Monday, Hudson received his first injections, which he handled quite well! He's a tough kid. On Wednesday we packed up the car and drove over to Louisiana to visit our relatives. Our fist stop was Great Grandma Derouen's house. Grandma got to hold and feed him and luckily Hudson let her sleep at night! Here is a picture from Grandma's house.
She sure did enjoy feeding him! He also got to meet his great uncle Booga and his great aunt Sandy! I think one day Uncle Booga will have to take him for a ride on his motorcycle.

Next stop was to see his great grandma Klentzman. She was SOOOO excited to see him. She sang to him while he slept. It was very sweet!

Here is a photo of Hudson with his great aunt Carolyn. He loved meeting the family!

After visiting with the family in New Iberia we then set off to Breaux Bridge for some quality time with the Mitchell's. We did stop off first in Avery Island to see the Tabasco factory and shop the store for some goodies :-)

Logan with Hudson

Playing with cousins Logan and Callie

Cousin Ali feeding Hudson dinner

Hudson with Great Aunt Sheri

to see more pics from this trip feel free to visit the photo album at the following link:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=sz1xkcj.27layei7&x=0&y=hxl724

Time

2007-11-09T16:32:00.000-08:00

Well we are now heading into week six with our newborn. Time is really going by fast!! We are all doing well. Jim has been working really hard lately. He is the only sales rep now for the Houston office so even when he is home he is taking calls from builders and clients. Thank goodness for weekends! Haleigh is also doing well. She is currently in Tae Kwon Do and she loves it! She has a birthday coming up at the end of the month. She will be 15 years old!! I am also doing well. I'm enjoying motherhood. Everyone tells you that it is hard work being a mom, but I honestly don't think you can truly grasp that until you are actually a mom. It is definitely one of the most rewarding things I've ever done though!

Hudson is now cooing more than ever! He started smiling at us last weekend. I got so excited I called my mom and dad to let them know. I get so excited over the smallest things. I've discovered that if you say "I Love You" in a sing songy voice he responds by smiling. It's the cutest thing ever! He went to his first barbecue last weekend where he got to meet his first friends. We have two friends who had babies a couple weeks before Hudson was born and we all got together at my parents place to eat, drink and socialize.

Here are some pictures from the BBQ:

This first is of all three boys. From right to left...Hudson, J.G., and Curt

Hudson and Curt. They both look a little scared in this picture.

Hudson "talking" to J.G. (FYI...Hudson loves to talk)

Hudson and J.G. holding hands. Aren't they cute??

J.G. and his mommy Michelle.

Curt and his mommy Michelle and Hudson and me

We all had a good time and it was really nice to talk to other mom's who are going through the same trials and tribulations that I am.

So Cute

2007-11-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

I wanted to put up some of our recent pics...
This is one with his Aunt Suzanne

This is Hudson's first Halloween pumpkin, carved by his daddy. Didn't Jim do a good job?

This is Hudson's second pumpkin. He was not as happy with this one.

Hudson with Mimi. This picture was taken right after the pumpkin picture, so he was a little worn out and needed some comforting from his Mimi.

All dressed up to go see Great Aunt Cindi and Great Uncle Jimmie

I had to take this picture. We call these his little old man pajamas. haha

Leaps and Bounds

2007-10-29T12:06:00.001-07:00

It seems like time is going by so fast! Yesterday was Hudson's four week birthday. Hudson, as of last week, weighed in at 7lbs 1oz. He is still our little runt...hahaha. He has started cooing at us and we look forward to hearing those sounds...it really is music to our ears! It seems like he gets more and more attentive with each passing day.

This past weekend was our first time to leave him. My mom & dad watched him for a couple of hours so that Jim and I could go socialize and get some much needed adult time. I did really well I think. We left him at 5:30pm and got home at 9:00pm and I only called twice to check on him. Hudson didn't even know we were gone because he slept the entire time we were at the party. I really did miss him while we were gone, I'm not looking forward the day I go back to work and I have to leave him for a full eight hours. I'll try not to think about that now.

Here are a few pictures from last week. http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=sz1xkcj.6wro78iv&x=0&y=-shxqwl

I'll try and send out another post later this week...if Hudson decides to take a nap during the day...we are still working on that one, hahaha

Pictures pictures pictures

2007-10-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

This first link is to the hospital pictures from Hudson's first couple days of life/

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=sz1xkcj.8864yvt3&x=0&y=-480gsy

This second link is the first week home :-)

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=sz1xkcj.9urzw0yv&x=0&y=-snh20n

This is from the second week both at our apt and his first overnight stay at my parents place (Mimi and Gramps house)

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=sz1xkcj.3kisxjmf&x=0&y=-veaga6

I sure hope the links work. Enjoy the pictures!!!

Pictures!

2007-10-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

I have had many requests for pictures of our little angel...so here you go...

Hudson just a minute after birth

Proud sister with her new brother

mommy and Hudson

Grandma (Mimi) and Grandson

That's all for now, but I promise there will be more to come later.

Birth Story

2007-10-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post my birth story here first before I posted some of our pictures...

Short story: Hudson Charles Dean was born on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 12:04AM. He weighed 6lbs and 3.8oz and was 20 inches long.

Long story: I got up Saturday morning at 5:00am feeling some of what I though were just bad cramps about 11 minutes apart. I didn't really think anything of them until they started coming a little closer together. I woke Jim up at about 7:00am and told him we may need to start getting all our stuff together to go to the hospital. We left the apartment at 9:00am and at that point I was having contractions between 4 to 7 minutes apart and they were varying in intensity. We got to the hospital and they put us in an observation room and after observing and making me walk about 5 miles around the hospital, my doctor came in and said that it was either all or nothing, they could admit me and start me on pitocin to get my contractions coming at a consistent rate or they could send me home and see me in a couple hours....I decided on the pitocin. Everything after that point is a little bit of a blur, it all seemed to happen so fast to me...I was put in a room, hooked up to an IV and we waited. It only took about an hour or so before the contractions got really intense and I requested the epidural. Unfortunately, the epidural only completely numbed one side, but at that point I was willing to take what I could get. The doctors came in a couple times and tried to get the epi working on the right but to no avail. Once the epidural was administered they took me off the pitocin because my body decided that it would progress pretty well on it's own. I went from 2.5cm dilated to 5cm dilated in about an hour and a half. That's about when my doctor came in a broke my water and attached a monitor to the top of Hudson's head. I then went from 5cm to 9cm in about another hour, and they were closely monitoring Hudson at this point because his heart rate would drop with each contraction. They had me lay on my left side and put me on oxygen to help the situation. A little while later the nurse told me it was time to push, so like the trooper I am I pushed for about 20min and was told to stop, due to the heart rate of the baby dropping so low with each push. I was told not to push for the next hour so that he could descend on his own without any drastic dips in his heart rate. For those of you who have been through the birth of a child you know how excruciating it is not to push when the urge hits....and I was told to hold off for an HOUR! Luckily the doctor came in after about 45min and said that the baby had crowned already and that I could go ahead and push. I started pushing yet again and yet again Hudson's heart rate would drop to a rather scary level, so the doctor decided he needed to come NOW, so she helped us out by using a little vacuum extractor and at exactly 12:04am little Hudson was born. Jim and I are very proud parents, Hudson is all we could have asked for and more.

I'm off to take a little nap now but I will try to post some pictures within the next day or two.

Not So Lazy Sunday

2007-09-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

So today is Sunday and we've decided to spend a nice relaxing day at home watching football (go Texans!). Aside from football, I've also decided to repack my suitcase for the hospital, and fill out the baby book we got about two months ago. Can you tell I'm anxious for this little one to arrive. I told Jim yesterday that I feel like I'm going to be pregnant forever!

I've also decided that today is the day that I will try and tackle a sewing project for the nursery. I will attempt to make a diaper stacker. If I'm successful I will post a picture of it on this site.

Well, I was successful! Here is a picture of the diaper stacker.

There are some minor imperfections but I have to say that I was pretty darn proud of myself for getting it accomplished in one day. As soon as it was finished we found a place for it in the room and took some more pictures. This is the room so far...This is the diaper stacker in its new home, already filled with diapers. I would like to get a shelf to put above the dresser, but that may just have to wait for now.
This will be baby Dean's sleeping quarters and although you can't tell so much from this picture, the crib skirt matches the diaper stacker.
And last, but definitely not least, is Haleigh's bed. We just picked it up about a month ago and we've all tried it out and so far the verdict is that the bed is extremely comfortable but the mattress sits down to low. We'll have to remedy that soon.

That's the tour so far. Hope you all enjoyed. We'll keep the updates coming. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before we have baby pictures posted for everyone.

Another Week

2007-09-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we went to the doctor yesterday and found out that I have made no progress since last week in regards to having this baby. Needless to say both Jim and I were a little dissapointed. We were kind of hoping the doctor would say that we were really close and it could be any day now. But, alas, it looks like it could be at least another week if not two before baby Dean makes his grand entrance.

Our next appointment is on September the 27th and we will get to have another ultrasound done to get an approximate size. Keep your fingers crossed that he will be under 9lbs.

Summer Showers

2007-09-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

The gals here at my work threw me a very nice shower last thursday and I thought I'd post a few of the pictures from that little shindig. The shower was a lot of fun and we got a lot of stuff that we really needed. I think we are almost ready for this little man to arrive!

I'm inspired

2007-09-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I've officially been inspired by my cousin Lindsay to give this blog thing a try so that we can keep our friends and family updated. I'm not much of a writer so bear with me.

Well as you all know Jim and I are expecting our first child together on October 1st (or sooner). We are having a little boy and no we are still not revealing the name. He is baby Dean until further notice. I must say that a few of you have come up with some pretty ingenious names, Hector and Hogarth are among the most popular.

Our nursery is coming together. Jim's mom came over last weekend and put the crib skirt together for us. She was surprised to see the "surfin' Elvis" material, but I think she was pleasantly surprised at the finished outcome. For those that don't know the nursery theme is the beach. I will take pictures and post them as soon as the nursery is all put together.

I think that's all for now. I will try and post at least once a week. I hope everyone has a great weekend!