Happy Birthday Hudson!

Our first baby turned two today! I can't believe that it was two years ago today that this little man came into the world.

As cliche as it sounds, it does seem like just yesterday. At this time two years ago we were actually all at the hospital anxiously awaiting his arrival. He is officially two at 11:23 pm!

Just one year ago...




I'm not exactly sure of his stats, but we go to see the doctor on Monday for his two year old check up. I will update the blog again then! The party is the fun part anyway...right? Here are the many pictures from today's special event.

The decor...We (I say we...my mom planned most of this as I wasn't sure how much I would be able to do with a brand new baby. I just help set up) went with the baseball theme.

The spread

All the yummy snacks...

Baseball pops (white chocolate covered oreos)

Cracker jacks

Sunflower seeds

Popcorn

The cake (cupcakes)...made by Teresa (Cody's mom)
We also had baseball favorites: hot dogs and nachos (not pictured!) Thanks to Dada for grilling them up!

The guests...Having a newborn we decided to have a "family only" party, but I think it was just the right size.

Danica (Matt's girlfriend) and Matt (Cody's brother)

Lala (Cody's mom) and Poppy (Cody's dad)

Gramps (Hudson's great grandpa) and Nanny (Hudson's great-grandma)
Mimi (Hudson' great aunt, my mom's sister)
Karen...she needs a fun name! (Hudson's other great aunt, my mom's other sister)
Shelby (my cousin, Karen's daughter)
Papa (my step-dad) and Nanna (my mom)
Barret (my cousin's son, Karen's grandson)
Our new family of four!

The gifts...He got so many cool gifts! A "Little People" dump truck, a "Little People" airplane, some smaller airplanes and helicopters, some cool tools that make sounds and work (safety goggles included!), an iTunes gift card, a new pair of shoes

Hudson LOVED us all singing Happy Birthday to him. He loves to be the center of attention and this was just perfect for him! Especially since we have had a little girl sneak in that has been the center of attention here lately.

He also loved the Twizzlers! So much that he didn't even want to try the cupcake. I hate to tell him that he missed out there. They were yummy!

Poppy trying to convince him how good the cupcakes are.
Hudson telling him Twizzlers are better!
You never can be too safe with Twizzlers!
Outdoor fun...

We love our little boy SO much and can't wait to see what this next year will bring!

Baby Shower

This post is a little late being that Miss Emma is already here, but I did want to share pictures! On January 7th my mom hosted a baby shower for me at our house. It was so fun to get together with friends and family and prepare for our baby girl. It was also fun having so much pink!!!

Here is the spread...

Much was inspired from Pinterest. My mom and I are both addicts now! The theme was based off of Emma's room which is a pink/green/cream vintage/shabby chic theme. We had a yummy fruit salsa with cinnammon pita chips, quiche, cream cheese tortilla roll ups, cream puffs, pink chocolate covered pretzels, and cute pink cupcakes.


To drink we had delicious Sonic-inspired cherry limeades in these precious mason jars. (Sonic ice to add!)


Some Pinterest inspired decor...



We played a really fun game displayed here...


Each guest was told ahead of time to bring a onesie that represented their personality. All of the onesies were hung on the mantle. It was my job then to guess who brought each onesie. This was so fun!

We also had a "Wishes for Emma" table set up.


This listed phrases for guests to fill in..
My mom is going to arrange them in a scrapbook for Emma to read when she is older. This is so sweet and such a good idea! I recommend it for anyone with an upcoming shower!

Here are some of the party girls...

Marcie, Kimberly, Abbie, Me, Amanda

Dez, Me, Missy

Sheree, Me, DanicaMe, April, Baby Peyton

I somehow missed getting a picture with my mom and my mother-in-law. Two very important people!

Thank you to my mom for hosting and to Abbie for supplying some decorations and helping set up! Also thanks to all the family members and friends for the wonderful fellowship and gifts!

One week old

My how fast a week has gone by! Emma is enjoying her time at home and doing great! Here she is at one week old...

It has been fun seeing the difference in Emma and Hudson in this stage. Emma is a much better eater than Hudson was! She is eating every 2 1/2- 3 1/2 hours. When she eats, she has between 70-90 mL. At this age Hudson was eating about 30-50 mL. We have a hungry girl on our hands! However, she is not as good of a sleeper as Hudson was. We had to wake him up to feed him. She lets us know right away when she is hungry. She also wants to be extra cuddled up to sleep. Hudson didn't really like being swaddled all too much and would sleep anywhere! Emma likes to be held most of all and when she sleeps at night she likes to be double swaddled.


She is able to wear most all of her newborn clothes. She was never able to fit into preemie clothes like Hudson could. She is wearing a newborn diaper still and I imagine will be for a few more weeks at least. She has had two baths at home and does not care for them at this point. I will say the second one was much better than the first! We are still waiting for her umbilical cord to fall off before we can completely submerge her little body.

She is enjoying having her big brother at home. Hudson stayed with my parents for the first week to let us adjust. He just spent his first night back at home last night. He is trying to help feed her, burp her, and give her a paci. He likes to watch her swing and he says "sis night night" when she is sleeping. He gives her lots of kisses and is sweet to her. He still has a little bit of a hard time being easy, but I think he's trying his best!


Emma saw Dr. Rylie on Friday to check her weight and jaundice level. She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz which is 1 1/2 ounces heavier than the day before at the hospital. Her jaundice levels were also normal. So we will see Dr. Rylie again on January 31st at her 2 week appointment.

She has arrived!

Emma MacKenzie Johns was born at 9:59 pm on January 17, 2012. She weighed 6 lbs 14oz and was 19 inches long.


The delivery was wonderful! I had a routine appointment Tuesday at 4:30. My doctor told me to come prepared just in case there were any issues with my blood pressure or platelets. (These were both an issue with my first pregnancy) So the bag was in the car just in case. And it's a good thing it was! My blood pressure was slightly high and I was dilated to a 4 already, so my doctor said it's time to have a baby.

We headed straight to the hospital from her office. It's only about a ten minute drive. I was checked in by about 5:15. The doctor broke my water at about 5:45. The pitocin was started shortly after that. I felt just a few contractions for thirty minutes or so. Since my water was broken the doctor said I could have the epidural whenever I would like. So the epidural was in by about 6:45. The nurse came in to check on me at about 9:00 and I told her that my contractions were stronger or the epidural wasn't working as well. She checked me out and said that's because you are about to have a baby! The doctor arrived by about 9:30 and then at 9:59 (and 59 seconds) Emma was welcomed into the world. She came out with even more hair than Hudson (which is hard to believe!) and she is just beautiful.

She has been eating like a champ! She hasn't had a hard time taking her bottles at all. She is eating every 3 hours and has gone from taking about 20-25 mL to her last two bottles being 40-50mL. We were released today at about 1:00 to come home.


We see our pediatrician first thing in the morning for a weight check and jaundice check. Both were perfect at the hospital, but the pediatrician wanted to double check her since she went home at only 36 hours and the weekend is upon us!


Hudson is doing great as a big brother as well! He came up twice yesterday to see his baby sister. At first he was trying to figure her out.


He gets very concerned when she is crying. He is staying with my parents for a few days while I get back up to speed. He saw Emma at home today, but I'm still not sure if he understands she is staying with us. Overall, he has been very sweet with her!


Last night before he left the hospital he covered her up with her blanket and gave her his teddy bear.

We are now a big happy family of 4 and I can wait to see us all grow together

Family Pictures

One of my teammates, Jon, does photography on the side. In early December he took some family pictures for us. They turned out great! You can check out his website at here

School Baby Shower

My team and the first grade team hosted a baby shower at school on November 30th for baby Emma. Another first grade teacher is due a week before me and so we had a double shower. She is also having a girl and naming her Layla. Here are a few pictures from the shower...

Nathan, one of my teammates, made these cute flower pots with "gift card trees". We decided it would be easiest to ask for all gift cards. So Cody and I had a blast shopping at Target a few weeks back.

Sweet cake

The two mammas

Lots of yummy food!