Happy 3 year birthday, Hudson

January 6, 2013
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUDSON!

OH MY WORD! How did this happen?! You turned 3.  You are not a baby anymore.  I am so happy to watch you grow up and so sad at the same time.  You are just a wonderful, sweet, determined, intelligent, hysterical, emotional little boy.

This past 6 months have been big for you.  You got a brand new brother and you LOVE your baby.  After constantly asking me if my belly would pop soon, your brother was born the day we went apple picking.  I am so glad we got to go apple picking as our little family of three. You enjoyed it. It was a wonderful date before everything changed and you couldn't have my almost undivided attention anymore.  You have to share me. So far, you do really great with that.  Sometimes you want me or whoever is holding Camden to put him down to play with you, though.  It is funny. 

You enjoy cuddling.  Randomly during the day, and almost always at bedtime, you ask to cuddle with me.  I LOVE IT!  I am a cuddler and so glad that you are right now too.  You love cuddling with Camden too. You want to hold him and kiss him.  You sing to him.  You sing "Hush Little Baby" when he cries.  It is AWESOME! 

You still go to your preschool class and had gone to your gym class and enjoyed yourself.  I still love seeing your crafts.  This time, the preschool class is a little different.  You've taken a liking to a little girl there named Ashlynn and sit with her a bunch.  Vavo brings you to your classes. 

You were Spiderman for Halloween this year.  You are OBSESSED with Spiderman.  You pretend to throw out a web all the time.  It is cute.  You put on your costume at random times and run around the house pretending to get the bad guys.  It makes me smile.  You have races with yourself in the house. You like to run from the kitchen to the living room constantly.  You still love your tools and play with them and fix everything in the house all the time.  I LOVE IT!

The holidays were eventful.  At Thanksgiving you came down with a bad cold and had to stay home and miss the festivities.  You had a great time at Daddy's friend's Christmas party.  You made a Santa hat and got to decorate it.  We had many other Christmas parties after that with different groups of family members.  You had  a great time opening all your presents.  New Years Eve, we let you stay up very late. I don't think you enjoyed it that much though. 

We had your birthday party with your friends at KidCity in Middletown.  It was a tool theme.  You seem like you had a great time playing and eating ice cream cake before lunch. 

You have said some funny things these last few months.  One night you woke up having a nightmare.  I asked you what was wrong and you said there were caterpillars in your bed.  One day, you had a scratch on your face (I think it was from your fingernail).  You told grandma that you got the scratch from Cooper (Grandma's dog). You said he bit you.  Then, when Poppy came over a little later, Grandma said, "Tell Poppy how you got the scratch." You then said a crab bit you.  You are too funny.  You enjoy making up stories with your fantastic imagination.

When you are told that you aren't allowed to do something, sometimes you burst into tears and say, "Oh no! Not again."  

Sometimes, we will be playing with toys and you turn to me and tell me I can't play with them.  Then you tell me that maybe when I get older I can play with them.  It makes me chuckle.  You say your a such a big boy and Camden can't do things because he is little, but will when he gets bigger like you.

One other thing that you say that makes me chuckle is that you call the squirrels outside your friends.  If you are sitting at the table or looking out the window, you will yell, MY FRIEND! MY FRIEND! 

YOU ARE SO ADORABLE.

I love you!

Happy 3 Months Camden

December 15, 2012
Happy 3 Month Birthday, Camden


I wish time would slow down.  You have outgrown your 0-3 clothes.  It made me sad to put them away. I love being home with you.  All too soon, I will have to leave you and go back to work.  You are just so sweet and cuddly.  I love holding you all day long and kissing your chubby cheeks.  I love playing with you. You laugh and smile at me like I am the best thing on earth.  It is great.  You always have your hands in your mouth.  You chew on your knuckles; you suck you thumb; you suck your fingers.  You are a drooling mess. I love it! You found your feet.  They fascinate you.

Your big brother fascinates you too.  You look at him like you have so much to learn.  It is adorable. You seem to like when he plays with and talks to you.  I hope your smiles at each other always stay!  I know someday there will be fights and tears, but I truly hope you two are wonderful friends all your lives.

I love you.

Happy 2 Month Birthday, Camden

November 15, 2012

You are getting so big. Some of the 0-3 month clothing does not fit anymore. I am so sad to have to pack some of it away.  You SMILE, and LAUGH, and COO all the time. It is so cute. Your big brother Hudson always asks what you are saying.  He doesn't understand your babytalk.  I do. You are saying, I love my Mommy.  Seeing you smile at me when I'm getting ready to nurse you, or pick you up is heart melting. Watching you smile at your brother and father is so sweet.

We went out for Halloween. You were Superman and your brother was Spiderman.  You guys were so cute. My little super heros.  You are very calm and relaxed. You don't mind others holding you and you sleep a long time in the swing and when you are swaddled. Sometimes, I just want to hold you and pick you up to cuddle.  You love the cuddles.  You don't mind being on your tummy either for tummy time play.  Good job.

Happy 1 Month Birthday, Camden

October 15, 2012

Happy Birthday, Camden.  You are a month old. Stop. Stop Growing. Stop Time. I LOVE this stage. You are so sweet and cuddly. You are perfect. I love holding you and smelling your sweet baby scent.  You are a sleeper. You love to just sleep and nothing will keep you awake.  Except around 9:30 at night. You get a burst of energy and want to stay awake. It happens to be at the same time I am ready to call it a day and fall asleep.  Silly boy.  Your little brother still loves to hold and kiss and hug you all the time.  I hope you guys become great friends someday and enjoy playing with each other.

We went to your cousin's birthday party at his house. Connor turned ONE YEAR. You have a long way before that, but I know it will seem like just a blink before it comes. You have had lots of visitors and were given lots of gifts.  We are blessed to have you in our lives.

Happy One Week Birthday, Camden

September 22, 2012

You are ONE WEEK OLD already!  Time goes by way too quickly.  It seems like just yesterday, I found out I was pregnant with you (on your big brother's 2nd birthday, actually). I am truly trying to cherish your babyhood since I know this stage of you sleeping a bunch and being all cuddly is going to disappear all too soon. 

We left the hospital on Monday early evening.  At the hospital, you met your Grandmother, Poppy, Vavo, Vovo, Grandpa, Aunt Kim, and Cousin Dillon.  Your big brother Hudson also came to the hospital to meet you.  Your first week of life, you met a few more of Mommy's cousins, went to the doctors, slept, ate, and pooped.  Your big brother really loves you and wants to hold you all the time. You just want to eat and sleep all the time.  You love snuggling next to Mommy at night and Daddy during the day.

I love you.

Mommy.

Welcome to the world, Camden

Camden Richard

September 15, 2012

10:38 pm

8 pounds 10.75 ounces

20.5 inches

My estimated due date was Thursday, September 13. I assumed I would go over since I was a full week overdue with Hudson.  I was right. We did not mind. I wanted to finish out the work week and go apple picking on Saturday. I was not uncomfortable at all. I started losing my mucous plug on Wednesday evening. I went to work the rest of the week. At 2 am on Saturday morning, I started having some contractions. They were kind of painful and 10 minutes apart but not so severe that I had to stand up. They were strong enough that they would not let me sleep. I read a book during them and it helped me take my mind off them. The contractions seemed to fizzle out around 6am.   

We went apple picking in the late morning and walked around.  Hudson walked around the pumpkin area, looked at all the animals, and ate some cookies. I was contracting on and off and told Rich I wanted to leave.  We left and ordered pizza as my last meal.

I tried to nap around 3. I started timing my contractions and they were between 6 and 7 minutes apart. They stayed that distance for a while but were getting more painful.  I took a shower to see if that would help the pain but it didn’t really help. I finally called my midwives and Elise was on call. I was glad because she had delivered Hudson.  She told me to lay down again, drink some juice, and do kick counts because the baby wasn’t moving a bunch. After about a half hour, I got up and the contractions were between 4 and 5 minutes apart and much more painful.  She told me to come in and that she would see me in the triage area before determining to admit me.

We had already called my inlaws who were at our house. Hudson started watching A Bugs Life and we left.  We got to the hospital a little after 9pm and Rich gave the car to the valet.  We got checked into triage at 9:27. I was 5cm dilated. My water broke at the next contraction. They ordered the antibiotic for me since I was Group Strep B positive.  The contractions came very close together and it was quite painful. I had wanted the room with the labor tub, but someone was using it. Yale only has one. We were going to wait it out. Rich was told to run to get our stuff from the car since our camera was in it. I thought they were being silly since it was 10 hours before Hudson was born when I was 5 cm.  

Rich got back to the triage area and we walked over to a room because Elise did not think I would make it long enough for the tub room.  They did some counterpressure on my hips during contractions which helped. I was only there a short time before I felt like I needed to poo. Elise said it was the baby and I was seriously doubting her since it was so quick. I painfully got on the bed on my side and she checked me.  At the next contraction, I was fully dilated.  Elise walked toward the door to turn on the light and I panicked and yelled “Where are you going?” For some reason, I thought she was leaving and I was going to shoot out a baby.

I pushed 13 minutes. He crowned on the first push but she had me stop pushing a little to help me not have another 4^th degree tear. I felt a burning sensation but not really pain. I couldn’t tell when I was contracting anymore. I was just hot and tired. He came out and there was a bunch of fluid that gushed out. He spun around in Elise’s hands and she put him on me.  They suctioned his mouth and he started to cry.  I had a very small 1^st degree. Rich had called my mother when we were in the triage area and they got there while I was being stitched up. I started bleeding too much but I thought I was just incontinent. I hadn’t said anything but when they checked me, they noticed. Elise took out some clots behind my cervix which had lowered.I finally went up to postpartum and they weighed and measured him. My mother and stepfather came up with us. My tailbone felt bruised but I was feeling fairly good, just tired.

I can’t compare which labor was more painful since Hudson was all back labor and took forever.  Camden’s was rapid and really intense.  Both of the boys stats were similar but Camden was in the correct position and so much easier to push out.

Hudson loves his brother and is very protective of him. He gets very upset whenever Camden is crying. It’s cute. 

Happy 2 1/2 birthday!

July 6, 2012

You are TWO AND A HALF! I can’t believe it. It’s crazy. It went by so fast.

You crack me up all the time. You are so funny and so full of life. You can be so intense and so gentle. You are going to be a big brother in a couple months. You talk about the baby. You ask if it’s “popped yet.” I am not sure what that means though.  You kiss the belly. It is really cute. You do not like to talk about sharing with the baby (or anyone else), though. 

In the past six months, you have grown so much. You talk well, you count, you recognize your colors (most of them) and letters. You love to do arts and crafts. You went to the recreation center and took a preschool type class and came home with a craft for me every Tuesday. It was great. You love to color, cut, glue, and play with playdough. You still love being outside and “riding” (more like us pushing you) on your bikes and toy truck. You are great with puzzles. You are getting so good at entertaining yourself. You will go to your books and pull them out and start reading them. 

You love your tools. You always want to help Daddy fix things around the house. He is working on making a big boy room for you and working on the baby’s room. You love to look in there and tell him to finish the rooms and want to “help.” You like to “fix” your toys when they “break.”

You still love the water. You were nervous when the first time you went in the pool this season because you weren’t sitting in your floaty. You now wear something that goes around your chest and arms. You didn’t want us to let go, but after 2 pool trips, you were okay with it.  You had a great time at the beach right before you turned 2 ½. You did not want to walk in the water by yourself though. You had a great time making sandcastles and digging in the sand with Daddy.

You still love fireworks. The loud noise does not bother you at all. You love when Poppie and Uncle Anthony set off small fireworks at Poppie’s house. You had a good time at the town’s fireworks display too, but you paid more attention to all the other kids than the fireworks.

Here are just some of the cute things you have said in the past few months:

In May, you woke up two days in a row asking for snow or wanting to build a snowman. You were not thrilled when I explained that there is no snow out in May (at least where we live).

You try to feed Elmo your food. Some days, he sits on the table and has pieces of food in his mouth.

You say, “I do MYSELF; I big boy!”  You say this about so many things.

You told me a story about your Vovo. You said he stuck tool in his eye; went to the doctor. Now he is blind. I cracked up. Turns out you had been told a story a while before that, when your vovo was young, he did get a tool or a stick in his eye and went to the doctor. He did not go blind. We think you picked that up because you’ve been told not to put things in your eyes or else you could go blind.

You made a stage and started singing into your microphone…VERY LOUDLY. If you are outside, you like to sing loudly too so our neighbors can hear how well you sing the “ABCs” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

When we tell you to do something you do not want to do (pick up toys or come to the table to eat supper), you tell us, “I can’t; I busy.”

You make us laugh. You make us smile. Mommy and Daddy love you!