Bennett & Hudson

Last week we had Bennett's nine month pictures done by Jocelyn Brown. She is AMAZING! I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures and I'm even more excited to have her do Bennett's one year pictures. We are going to do a cake smash!

Pool Time

Oh how I love summer and even more I love watching my kids enjoy it. When Hudson wakes up and sees the sun outside he always tells me all the things he wants to do. It usually sounds like "mommy it's sunny today, we can ride my bike, go to the park, have a picnic, play outside, put water in my water table and then take a nap" yes, he wants to do all of these things before 1:00. He loves being outside. Luckily Bennett like it too.

9 Months

Bennett is 9 months old and is one happy baby. He has 4 teeth coming in right now and it doesn't even seem to phase him. He is crawling all over the place and loves to get into Hudson's toys. Each night when I get him undressed he crawls right to the bathroom and waits for Hudson. He loves his bath time with Hudson. The past few days it has been warm enough for us to put out the baby pool. He loves this just as much. I want him to slow down, but he really just wants to be a big boy like his brother. I guess all I can do is sit back, try to relax and take it all in.

Things Bennett is doing now...

Crawling (army crawl) all over

Eating 3 (solid) meals a day

Loving rice cakes, peas and green beans

Getting 4 new teeth

Saying mama and dada

Still sleeping like a dream

Cousins

Emma holding Bennett

Bennett

Group Picture

Emma telling Ben how to hold Bennett

Yesterday we had a fun play date with our cousins. Tricia hadn't met Bennett yet and we had been talking about getting our kids together for a long time. After we left I couldn't believe that it took us so long to get together. The kids had a blast together. Hudson is so excited to spend three days with them at the Cowan family reunion at the end of the month.

Crawling

Bennett is on the move! He has mastered the army crawl and he is fast! He is so proud of his new found skill. He loves to play with Hudson's toys and crawling allows him to be able to get to Hudson's toys...Hudson is still adjusting to this.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

On Father's day we had dinner at John's parents house and we also celebrated my birthday. Hudson was very excited to sing happy birthday to mommy and bring me cake. He was even more excited to have his own birthday cake pop!

Dedication

Today Hudson and Bennett were dedicated at our Church. We have been attending Gold Creek Community Church since Hudson was a few months old. John and I had been searching for a Church for awhile when we found Gold Creek. We knew right away that it was the perfect fit for us and for our growing family. Hudson will also being going to Kids at the Creek (the preschool at Gold Creek) next year. The dedication was the perfect way to celebrate Father's Day. We had our parents there, Uncle Greg and Kevin (Bennett's godfather). The boys did great up on stage and Bennett even let Pastor Dan hold him for the prayer. We went home for brunch, a nap, then off to John's parents for dinner to celebrate the dedication and Father's Day. It's was a busy, family filled day...loved it.

T Ball Game

This might very well have been the cutest 45 minutes of any sporting event that I have ever seen. All the kids on the team were so proud to be there, have their team shirt on and to hit the ball then run! They all pretty much hit the ball and they all ran...but not many of them actually ran to the bases. On Hudson's first time up he hit the ball and ran to the middle of the field and got the ball (the one he just hit). On his next time up he hit the ball, ran to first, but he still had the bat with him! Like I said, the cutest thing ever!

T Ball Practice

Last week Hudson had his first t-ball practice. He is playing with the Mill Creek YMCA. Yes, that is him on first base with a batting helmet on. It might just be the cutest thing ever. He loved wearing that helmet, even if it wasn't his turn to bat. I can't wait for his first game!

Goodbye Teacher Betsy

Hudson and Sloan

Last Day

Goodbye Hug...and maybe some tears.

Today was Hudson's last day of preschool at the NSCCP. Next year he will be going to the preschool at our church. He has been at NSCCP since he was 18 months old. I remember asking teacher Betsy if he was going to be okay in the class because he had only been walking for a few months and wasn't talking a lot. Now I can't believe that I was ever worried about him starting preschool. Deciding to go to NSCCP was one of the best parenting decisions I made with Hudson. Teacher Betsy, the parents and the children have made a huge positive impact on Hudson and his love of school. I feel so blessed that we were able to have the experience that we did. We are sad to leave, but contributing to a co-op when I have Bennett with me has become a bit hard. Also, I want to be able to have one on one time with Bennett next year while Hudson is at school. We love you teacher Betsy and we will be back with Bennett in 2012.

"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!