Monday, June 25, 2012

Life Recently

There's been a lot of activity around here recently.

 


Hudson went on his first trip to CostCo and got to be loved on by his defacto Louisville grandma.  My favorite quote from our CostCo trip was when Mrs. B said, "Oh I love it when they are squooshy."




The C family came over to see Hudson.


Hudson and Miss O.  They are both cuties!


The other C family also came over to see Mr. H.

\
Hudson and Mr. N - another set of cutie-pies!



Hudson's first trip to Chick-Fil-A.  He was rather unimpressed, but only because he couldn't partake in the good food.  Your time is 'acoming young man.


Guess what this symbolizes?
Me in my pre-pregnancy clothes - yahoo!

In the ongoing saga of Melissa & the UTIs, I still have one - sigh.  I am beginning to wonder if I will ever live a day without daily antibiotics.  I really hate taking medicine and worry about what all these antibiotics are doing/will do to my system.  (Pass the probiotics, please!)  Though I am thankful to Dr. B for trying to get me well, though praise God I am still asymptomatic.  At my last appointment, Dr. B said, "It's a wonder you aren't systemtically ill due to all this, that's a real blessing."  I agree with him.  Overall, outside from my bladder who hates me, I am really healthy.  That is a definite blessing from the Lord. 

Tomorrow, Hudson gets to go to a local portrait studio and have newborn pictures made.  Best part is that I have a coupon so the whole deal is FREE - yahoo!  Plus I have coupons for free 6-month and one-year portraits.  I heart free stuff.

This Friday, Hudson goes for his one-month check up and I am looking forward to seeing how much he weighs.  He feels heavier.  He looks chunkier.  I'm guessing he's close to 7 pounds, but we shall see.

We will all embark on our first road trip this weekend, visiting friends in Northern KY.  I am curious as to how long this 2 hour trip will actually take us with a baby on board.  Hopefully we'll time it right and he'll sleep most of the way.  Speaking of sleep - why is it that during the day Hudson can sleep with every light on, the TV on and the vacuum running but at night he'll stir if there's the slightest sound?  Things to ponder ...

Enough rambling for now ...

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Father's Day Recap

Sunday was Father's Day and it was a busy weekend at our home with James' parents in for a visit and Child Dedication at church.



James reading the class book my second graders wrote and had published this year.
Hudson enjoys being read to and we hope he becomes a life-long lover of books, like us.
(If you are a teacher, check out this link so your class can make their own book - it's way cool.)


James' parents came in for a visit this weekend.
This is their third visit thos year - behold, the power of a grandchild!



Sunday was Child Dedication at church.
For those outside the Baptist world, it's not to be confused with infant baptism or christening.
It's simply a public commitment parents make to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  Here we are after the church service.  Hudson was clearly not happy at the moment - haha. 


Three Generations.


The whole Lackey family minus me, the photographer.


James opening his first ever Father's Day cards and presents.


Happy Father's Day!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Got Milk?

TMI Warning - this is a post about my adventures in nursing thus far.

The Lord has been very kind and so far nursing sweet Hudson has been going extremely well.  Once my milk came in, it came in with avengance and sweet boy definitely gets a tummy full. 

Some of my favorite things about nursing:

1)  It's free, 'nuff said.
2)  It's so healthy - the benefits are simply amazing.
3)  It's portable - as long as we're together, he can eat.  It requires no set up, no heating bottles, no mixing formula, it's so easy.
4)  But by far the best part are moments like these:


Notice how he's holding my finger - such a sweet bonding moment.



Note the milk moustache. 
 I'm thinking of sending this picture to the GotMilk? people -
I see a new ad campaign :)





And afterwards, with a tummy full - he generally falls straight asleep.



Hudson generally nurses about 10 times a day - every 2-3 hours during the day and after about 5-6 hours initally at night. 

I'm a slow eater (usually because I'm talking - haha) but I think Hudson takes after me as he makes a habit of nursing 15-20 minutes each side.  Granted, that's not a solid 15-20 minutes.  During that time he'll eat, stop, look around, think important thoughts, solve world problems, eat again, etc...  He definitely does not get in a hurry. 

He has literally only spit up twice and rarely needs to be burped (though I do burp him each time just in case).  He must have a great metabolism as after he eats, we can expect a diaper change within about an hour - haha.  And nursed babies have poop that really doesn't stink, which is an added plus.

I know nursing doesn't come easy to everyone so we are extremely grateful to the Lord that this has been an easy transition so far.  He is good to bless us in this way.  It may seem like a small thing, but definitely an important one.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Rub-a-Dub Dub

Hudson was seriously relaxed during his first (sponge) bath. There were no tears, though he did make a few not-so-happy faces.

Enjoy the pics:

 

The before picture - he had idea what was coming - haha



Bath Time!



All done and snuggled in his monkey towel.



Afterwards when he was dressed, we read him a book. 
He was intrigued, obviously.



Then it was the nightly stare at Mama time;
which is also known as the "Are you gonna feed me soon?" look


All clean, fed, and ready for bed;
with a rather contentious look on his face - haha.

I gotta brag on my little one.  He has slept 5 hours solid for the past three nights.  Last night, he even "beded" himself.  I put him to bed in his bassinette after the 11pm feeding while he was still awake.  He "chattered" to himself for about 10 minutes and was then fast asleep until 5:30 this morning.  Yay Hudson!  We're proud of him for doing such a good job with both the bath and going to sleep by himself.  Love our little boy!



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

D-Day

Today is D-Day.

It's both the anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy and Hudson's official due-date.   We are celebrating Hudson being with us a whole 8 days now - wahoo.  And boy has he turned our life upside-down.  Overall, the transition really hasn't been that bad - praise Jesus!

Hudson nurses like a champ and I'm so thankful that's progressing well.  We're hoping he'll be back up to fighting weight at his doctor's check up on Friday.  He nurses about 8-10 times a day; I think he may be secretly a teenage boy. 

Hudson sleeps a lot.  However, he's getting better at sleeping at night.  Monday night he actually slept a full four hours before waking to nurse - crazy!  Tuesday night, after sleeping four hours I woke up with this insane need to nurse him so I woke him up, fed him, and of course he wouldn't go back to sleep.  Oops - rookie mom here.  I guess tonight, I'll let him let me know when he needs to eat. 

I'm recovering and feeling stronger everyday.  We get to take the steri-strips off my incision Friday and I'm not looking forward to that at all.  I'm 2 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight which is a blessing.  However, my belly is giong to need some serious toning before it resembles what it once was (not that it was all that toned before - haha). 

Here's a taste of what we've been up to this past week in picture form:



Coming home from the hospital.  (I have no idea why my pictures are sideways)
He is so little he really doesn't fit in his infant car seat.  I sit with him and literally hold his little head to keep it from flopping around - sweet baby.  The whole time we were
driving home I kept thinking, "I can't believe they're letting us bring him home!"
It was a strange feeling, as if we were stealing him or something.


My very bestest friends from home - Mrs. Kay & Mr. Marvin drove up from Nashville Saturday to meet Hudson.  They are such blessings in my life and I know Hudson will LOVE them.




We've been having lots of bonding time as a family.
What's up Daddy-O?



My sweet sister, Sharon has spent this week with us.
She is such a blessing - cooking, cleaning, holding Hudson, and
generally just doing what she can so I can rest and recover.  Love her!




Since I didn't get to do a 39 week picture, because he was born the day before,
I thought I'd do a "Ta-da! Out comes a Baby!" Picture.

 

Some of Hudson's many faces - love him so very much!