"New" Car

When Hudson was about 3 months old I must have been very tired. Twice within 3 weeks I left my tailgate open in the garage and John opened it (leaving many scratches)...and I backed in to a mailbox. Ever since then it's been driving me crazy. I never had it fixed because there was always something more important that we needed to pay for. Well, John gave me the best Mother's Day gift. While we were in Portland he had all the scratches on the whole car fixed/repainted and an interior/exterior full detail. My car looks and smells like new! To top it off the sun is shining so it might even stay clean for awhile.

8 Months

My sweet Bennett is 8 months old. I don't know where the time has gone. Honestly, it is going by twice as fast with Bennett as it did with Hudson. I guess it's because our family is twice as busy. There were so many days that I stayed home with Hudson and just enjoyed him. With Bennett those moments are rare, but when they happen they are amazing. For example, on our little trip to Portland John took Hudson out for awhile and Bennett and I took a nap. We both woke up at the same time, he rolled over, cuddled up to me, touched my face and gave me the biggest smile. In my mind he was saying "thank you mommy". Those are the moments that I will remember forever... his sweet smile, big blue eyes and cuddles melt my heart.

Things that Bennett is doing now...

Still trying to crawl

Clapping his hands

Loving baths with his brother

Swimming lessons at Waterbabies

Sleeping 7 hours, waking to nurse then sleeping 5 more

Napping twice a day 2-3 hours each time

Eating food that he can pick up himself

Smiling and laughing daily

All Aboard!

Hudson waiting for the train to leave Seattle

Bennett and Daddy

Naps in the big bed are Bennetts favorite

My Sweet Boys

We went to Portland to visit Grammy (John's grandma) for her birthday. Hudson loves trains, so we decided to take the train down. It was a great decision...he loved it! He sat looking out the window the whole time and Benentt slept. In Portland we had a fun birthday picnic and cake to celebrate Grammys birthday. We found an amazing Italian restaurant for dinner and both boys did a wonderful job at dinner. This means that I was able to enjoy my dinner and wine. This is rare when we eat out with both boys. Usually one does well and the other needs to get up walk around, sleep, nurse... so needless to say it was a nice night. The boys loved staying in the hotel. We got a suite so we had a separate bedroom. This is the first time we have done that I will do it from now on. It makes it so much easier with naps and babies that wake to nurse during the night. On a side note there was a Starbucks across the street so everyone was happy since mommy was well caffeinated. It was a nice little vacation.

Forget Baby Food

Bennett doesn't mind baby food, but he prefers food that he can pick up and eat by himself. His favorites right now are avocado, banana, tofu, pinto beans and green beans. He loves food and thinks life is good now that he can join in on our family meals.

Puzzles with Charlotte

Hudson loves Charlotte and Charlotte loves puzzles...so now Hudson loves puzzles too!

Children's Museum

Today we headed to the Children's Museum in Bellevue. We had a blast and Bennett even got in on the action!

Mother's Day

This year was my best Mother's Day yet. My morning began by waking up to an empty (quiet) house. John got up early and took the boys out so I was able to sleep in, sad but sleeping until 8:30 is sleeping in for me. They came home with Starbucks and flowers. Then I was able to take a shower alone and have time to get ready (again alone) while he got them ready for brunch. It's amazing how having one hour alone in my bathroom/room in the morning can make my day. I think it's because it never happens. We headed to Overlake Counrty Club for brunch with John's parents and Greg. After brunch the boys and I took and nap. When I woke up from my nap I headed to In Spa for a much needed massage. When I got home John had the house clean and dinner was ready. To me that is the perfect Mother's Day.

My Second Swimmer

Bennett started Waterbabies this session. We started him in the PT (parent tot) level 2. The ages for this class range from 6 - 18 months. Bennett is by far the biggest one in the class. I love that he is 7 months old and wearing a 18 month swim diaper (the same size as his big or not so big brother Hudson). Bennett loved his first class, just like he loves everything. I look forward to swimming with both of my boys this summer...if the sun ever comes out.

Sunnny in Seattle

It was a beautiful sunny day in Seattle today. We packed up and headed to the neighborhood park with Gwen and her girls Charlotte and Zoe for some vitamin D and a picnic. We had a nice relaxing lunch, Zoe slept, Bennett played with Sophie (the giraffe in case you haven't met her) and Charlotte and Hudson ran around and wore themselves out (just as planned). Our goal today was vitamin D and then big naps. I'm happy to say our planned worked. I love days like this.

* There aren't any pictures of Hudson. He was playing too hard to stop for a picture.

7 Months

You don't want to hold still to have your picture taken. You would much rather chew on the backing to your 7 month sticker.

You are seven months old and so amazing.

Here are a few things that are new in your world...

• You are trying to crawl, but it looks more like you are swimming


• You are eating solids and love avocado, banana, beans, and sweet potatoes


• Your face continues to light up when you see your brother


• You have found your voice and try to "talk" to us a lot


• You wave bye bye


• You blow kisses


• You are so amazing that it makes it hard to imagine that you are our last baby

Happy Birthday Rachael & Matt

On Saturday night John and I went to Rachael and Matt's 40th birthday party. The party was at the Place Ballroom downtown and I was very excited to go out without a diaper bag! John and I have only been out once since Bennett was born. Yes, I know it's pretty sad. We went out on Valentines Day and that is it. So needless to say I was ready to get dressed up, wear heels, carry a purse, not a diaper bag and have some fun! We had a great time and it was even worth not feeling so great for our Easter festivities. Happy birthday Rachael and Matt!

Disneyland

While we were in Palm Springs we drove over to Disneyland for two days. We packed up, made the drive, checked in to our hotel, gave the kids a nap then headed across the street to Disneyland. We went last year too, but I don't think that Hudson really remembered. I know he won't forget this trip! He was in heaven! We went on the Buzz Lightyear ride first and it was a hit. He wanted to go over and over. We finally convinced him to try another ride and then it was the same thing, he wanted to keep going on that one over and over. We had a hard time explaining to him that there were so many fun rides still to see. We ended the night around 8:00 with the It's a Small World ride. It was a nice relaxing way to wrap it up. We headed back to the hotel to get (a little) sleep so we could get up and do it all again. Around 8:00 we were up, fed, caffeinated and ready to go! We of course started the day with Buzz Lightyear and ended it with going to meet Lightning McQeen and Mater. After we ate lunch we packed up the car and headed back to Palm Springs. Both the boys were sound asleep before we even got on the freeway. I can't wait for next year!

Palm Springs

Bennett loved vacation!

Relaxing in the pool was his favorite.

Brothers!

Hudson loved swimming all day!

Bennett loved naps in the big bed!

Aunt Kris loves her nephews!

Bennett loved being outside!

We all loved that daddy was able to relax and not work (most of the time).

We even went out to dinner without the boys!

We just got back from a wonderful two weeks in sunny Palm Springs. The weather was amazing, we swam every day, ate great food, relaxed by the pool and best of all were able to to spend time as a family. John had been working so much the last few months that we hadn't t seen a lot of him. He did have to work a bit while we were there, but not every day. We also went to Disneyland for two day...Hudson was in heaven! I don't know if I can wait a whole year to go back. We might be heading down sooner.

Bennett Six Months

While we were on vacation in Palm Springs my super talented niece Britni took these fun pictures of Bennett. She took similar pictures of Hudson at five months.