Tom gave me the okay to upgrade…and actually placed the order for me from Afghanistan since it was lunchtime there (when pre-ordering opened) instead of me having to be up at 3am here! (I know—what a guy!)
That it was scheduled to arrived ON my birthday was just…icing on the cake so-to-speak. 🙂
Oooh…it’s sooo pretty… I hate to put a cover on it but I don’t trust myself OR the kids. It’s also why I bought a warranty on it. 🙂
The best self-portrait, but a little blurry.
A little better…
I invited the moms from my mommy group and my two oldest friends so we had a party of six!
Unfortunately, the restaurant ticked me off…oh, we weren’t late, but they told us we could only have the table until 7:30 because there was another reservation…so if we thought we’d be longer than an hour and a half, we had to move tables right then. I said “It might have been nice to know that when I called.” The owner didn’t respond. 🙁
So we missed out on the seating I wanted AND requested—cool bench seats and cushions with lots of space (it’s a middle eastern place) and instead got a cramped U-shaped booth which was hot and a little squished (we fit but it wasn’t as comfortable as I’d planned on).
To add insult to injury, we ended up being done about 7:35. And the drinks were weak. And while it was a really nice time and we had some great laughs, it wasn’t what I had imagined in my head…which was totally my own fault but still disappointing. (This is the same place we had a friends birthday dinner a few weeks back and we had an AWESOME waiter and the time just flew and I was annoyed to have to leave early.) Stupid me wanted to recreate that night and I should know that’s impossible. I should have just done Mexican like I first thought.
Karen (old friend) and Amy (mom group/our sitter):
Me and Alea (mom group/Braxton’s mom):
Kathryn (mom group) and me:
Ursula (old friend) was taking the pics so she didn’t get in one. She was also my DD for the night (even though it turned out I didn’t need it)!
But all in all it was a good way to ring in turning 40…I was with friends, I was home at a decent hour, and I didn’t drink enough to worry about a hangover. 🙂
One of the playgroup kids had a birthday today. When telling Owen what house it was at, I told him “where you had cake and there was a waterside.” So we get there and as we walk in the front door, you can see straight through to the back yard where they have a bounce house set up. Owen was EXCITED. Before I know it, he’s in front of me pulling his shirt off and asking if he can be naked—I’m guessing he thought it was a water slide! I explained it was just a bouncy house (NOT a pool!) and he didn’t need to be naked. 🙂 Thankfully he was still excited!
He doesn’t quite have all the lyrics down but it’s still cute.
Today was the big day of our Deckwarming party (and Tom’s going away party) as well as a mini celebration of Katie’s first birthday (technically her third first birthday as we already celebrated in Michigan, then she had her actual birthday on the 10th, and then today’s gathering). It was a long, hot, tiring—yet fun—day.
Party-prep is so much work—it never seems like stuff will take that long…but it always does. I was VERY thankful to have hired Virginia to come watch the kids while we did the prep because then I didn’t have to listen to Katie screaming because I wasn’t paying attention to her…and I was actually able to get stuff done! I loved what Virginia posted on Facebook—it’s classic Owen:
As usual, we had too much food (or maybe just not enough people?!) but then, I’m a Len and we apparently don’t know how to cook for less than 40 people (or are paranoid about not having enough food regardless of the number of people). 🙂 But everything was delicious.
The weather actually held out—it was touch and go for awhile with intermittent thunderstorms pretty much all morning and early afternoon—but it cleared up about 4 and was sunny and gorgeous (though the humidity was right at about 99%).
We had a good blend of old (Mitchells and Trimbles) and new friends (from my mommy group) and the kids had a blast in the playroom and in the pool.
Then it was time for the birthday cake. I had wanted to do something special for Katie so she didn’t fall into that “second kid gets squat compared to the first kid” thing PLUS after Owen’s Lego cake debacle I had decided I was never attempting to bake a cake again…so I asked our friend Ursula to make a cake. She has recently started making and decorating cakes and she’s ABSOLUTELY AMAZING (as opposed to my first attempt—see above Lego debacle post). Here’s the picture I sent her (that I found on Pinterest) along with her version on the right (I asked for the 1 on top instead of the ladybug and only two layers):
Amazing, right?
Also a big thanks to mommy-group friend Jacqueline who helped with my last-minute ice cream request (Doh! How could we have forgotten ice cream on our three trips to town?!) and pre-party kitchen cleanup (she arrived during the last 15-minute rush to get everything done, saw I was a bit overwhelmed, and jumped in to wash the sink full of dishes).
Some of the kids playing dress up:
Having a blast in the pool:
Wandering:
She made such a mess that we had to hose off the deck (thanks, Roger!) and give her a quick bath in the sink with Dawn detergent (I hadn’t planned ahead to have baby soap downstairs). Here she is somewhat cleaned up, back with Virginia again.
Since Owen was having so much fun in the pool and with the kids, we let him stay up late. This is about 9:30 right before he finally went to bed.
Thanks to everyone who shared the day with me and Tom!! And you can tell we’re all getting older…everyone had gone home by 10:15!! 🙂
First outfit of the day…a white onesie (with design that could be covered up by the sticker) from Gramma Jean. I didn’t put her in the matching pants because they clashed with the sticker. 🙂
Here you can see the actual onesie. She started ripping the sticker off after the first 100 photos. 🙂 This is also where she loves to play—the coat rack. I’m not sure what she’ll do when we finally get hooks attached to the bottom level for their coats!
Post-nap outfit change! This one is from Grauntie Sue! It’s scary because it’s size 18mo and fits pretty well.
Her second first birthday onesie!
Her birthday balloon and bib at the hotel for her party!
Making faces with Papa.
Amazingly, she didn’t dive into the cake.
Singing Happy Birthday and big brother helping blow out the candle! (Yes, it’s a little blurry. I have a FAIL every now and again.)
Also amazingly, she didn’t make much of a mess. Yes, SHE got messy, but she ate the whole piece and none hit the floor!
Her new suit and coverup from Grauntie Rose!
Up and out completely on her own!
She would have dove in had Tom let her.
It was impossible to get all three looking at me at the same time.
She kept trying to drink the water!
She loved playing with Papa’s toes!
Drying off with Grandma Marsha.
Waiting to open presents!
A fun game Katie had with some grandparents…
Since we were on vacation with access to all the grandparents (and Uncle Rob and Grauntie Marge) we decided to celebrate Katie’s first birthday a little early (just three weeks!). She has a few “first birthday” shirts to wear so we started with the same onesie Owen wore for his first birthday:
With Gramma Jean…
Then hanging out and watching TV with Owen:
Then outside in the backyard with the really nice grass—one of my favorite shots of the day! 🙂
That’s his new catchphrase when he puts his superhero cape on. 🙂
Also, this is the first he’s put it on since he got it for a birthday present!!
Fun with leftover Lego parts!
Balloon fight with Grannie Lin!
Posing with his presents—and in his birthday shirt—for another birthday picture!
Katie in her new party dress…with Grannie (and a gift from Grannie):
And trying to peek around me to watch TV like Owen does:
Owen’s finished (lame) Lego cakes:
The appetizer set up:
Attempting to Skype with Gramma Jean/Grandpa David and Grandma Marsha/Uncle Rob (it didn’t work too well—our network couldn’t handle it):
Most of the attendees:
Singing Happy Birthday:
Really excited about his new Xbox Sesame Street game from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob:
And the guitar I found on clearance for $3 (and took the batteries out ahead of time!):
He did pretty well opening presents…except he really loved the first things he opened (Lego Cars and a Ninja Lego) so he wanted to stop right then and play but we made him keep going. 🙂 We did stop about halfway through, though, because he was losing interest and really wanted to play. Which was just fine.
One last attempt at a good Katie pic:
Our attempted family photo:
And just for comparison…last year’s photo:
A great shot in the morning…more to come later today, for sure!
It took me about five hours to bake four double layer cakes for Owen’s birthday cake.
Why so many?
Well, for starters, the theme was Legos, so I wanted to make a bunch of Lego blocks (squares and rectangles) and I knew one cake certainly wouldn’t be enough so planned on two from the start. Then as I was making the second cake, I realized I left out an egg…so called dad and Lin who were at the store and had them pick up two more, just in case the minus-one-egg cake didn’t turn out plus an extra in case I had a kitchen catastrophe. 🙂
I was exhausted by this time (about 5pm) but still had to make the frosting and get the first layer on. What a mess—and I was being careful!
Facebook post, 4:49pm: Someone slap me if I decide to make Owen’s birthday cake next year. I’m 5 hours in and not even close to done. And the *hard* part is next.
Unfortunately, it was a nightmare. I didn’t love the taste of the frosting (made with Crisco and powdered sugar) and it was an absolute mess to work with. And I can’t frost a cake to save my life— which I already kinda knew but thought I could certainly do some square cakes—so that didn’t help. And trying to frost the marshmallows (what was suggested for the Lego pieces) was the absolute worst. THE WORST. Betty Crocker can kiss my ass (though, to be fair, I didn’t use their pre-made frosting). But I still don’t think it would have helped.
Facebook post, 8:55p: WHY DO I EVEN TRY? Ugh. I can NOT frost a cake. These look nothing like Legos. And there’s no red. It’s dark pink. And I don’t think I like the Crisco frosting. Too much work and frustration. /cry
Yeah, I so didn’t get the true, vibrant Lego colors I had wanted—even with my special purchase of gel food dyes. (No, I don’t even have pictures of those monstrosities.) At that point, I was tempted to just toss everything in the trash and go buy a cake. Seriously. But then I was more logical and thought since I already had HOURS and MONEY and TIME invested, we’d eat these cakes.
And the kicker is that I know Owen won’t care at all so I really shouldn’t be putting myself through the stress of it…but I honestly thought making a Lego cake would be, well, a piece of cake.
LESSON LEARNED? From now on…I will never make a birthday cake for Katie or Owen again unless it’s a 9×13 in the pan or possibly a layer cake. Nothing fancy. No designs. No themes. Ever. EVER.
My birthday started out wonderful…I got to sleep in until 9:30 (thanks to Katie getting me up at 5 to eat and “wish me happy birthday!”), Owen said “Happy Birthday Mama!” all on his own (I wonder how much instruction that took!), Tom made waffles for breakfast, and I had a Facebook wall full of birthday wishes from friends and family waiting for me!
After a nice lazy day of hanging around the house with the fam (and publishing my updated blog!), my day was topped off with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday from my niece and nephew (Gabrielle and Robert), reading my entire wall of Facebook birthday wishes, and CLEAN SHEET NIGHT! I’m a lucky girl! 🙂
Well, it’s been a long and tedious road, but the day is finally here: my blogs have been migrated, completely revamped with new themes and widgets, and now live at the main website—www.hudson2001.com—instead of a specific blog address (so change your bookmarks!). All of the content is the same, though the Blather and Owen/Katie blogs have been merged! And I’ve even added a lot from the pages that were on the website before (like Tom’s writings and photos from Iraq and our “new” house stories). However, one slight change with content is that the Recipes blog is currently locked. Long story…but they may be going away now that technology will let me compile and access them in a better fashion.
I have to give mad props to my friend, Tori, who basically did all the heavy lifting on this project—and I can honestly say it would NEVER have gotten done if it weren’t for her. Migration sounds easy, but is a total pain in the ass. That said, this blogging platform (WordPress) is a lot more involved and easier to use (behind the scenes—not for you!) so my life just got a lot easier.
Since the blogs were out of commission for about three weeks, I had A LOT of posting to do in the past two days…but I think I got completely caught up. Thanks to Tom for keeping an eye on the kids all day for almost two days so I could knock it out. There is still some tweaking going on behind the scenes, but nothing you should really notice. Let me know if you run across anything really weird or glitchy.
If you want to get emails when new posts are made, you will need to enter your address over there to the right—your old subscriptions from the old blog are no longer valid.
Enjoy!
😀
Oops! We were a day late…and we felt bad because we had actually been with Grannie on her birthday…but it was a busy morning as that’s when we were packing up to head back to Grayling.
Family MSU jerseys (Tom’s 40th birthday presents)… Any other game I’d actually be rooting for State, but today I’m rooting for CMU, my alma matter! GO CHIPS!
Thank you, pediatrician’s office, for LYING to me and telling me we could take Katie to get her two-month immunizations any time around her two-month birthday. Tom took her on base this morning and was told NO, it has to be ON or AFTER her birthday. C’mon, really? It’s six stinking days early. UGH.
So, now, you might be asking, What kind of pediatrician’s office DOESN’T do immunizations?
EXACTLY.
They told me it had to do with us having Tricare insurance, and that we had to go on base to the immunization clinic. So, not having any experience with this (this is our first pediatrician in the area), I assumed that was just how it was done and that was that. But when I was at my doctor recently, I asked about their children’s clinic and if they did immunizations, and she looked at me like I had sprouted a second head and said of course they do.
Interesting.
So, my best guess is that they’re just a really small office and don’t want to keep the stock? Or maybe there’s some sort of sign-up procedure that they don’t want to go through? Who knows. But long story short is I’m switching pediatricians because it’s stupid for me to have all of these monthly appointments for Katie and then still have to go on base to get her immunizations—because the point of going to a civilian doctor was to avoid having to drive on base all the time!
I got Owen a new football jersey for Tom’s birthday—and he LOVES it. He’ll dig it out of the dirty laundry and bring it to me because he wants to wear it.
We normally don’t buy each other birthday (or Christmas) presents—we just buy what we want throughout the year. But this year, I thought of the PERFECT gift(s) for Tom…and unfortunately, I kinda had to spoil it at almost the last minute to make sure he didn’t buy it himself! (He made a comment about “still needing to get” it and I just told him NOT to shop for anything the few weeks before his birthday. 😮
Tom wears my old (circa early 1990s) MSU jersey. Owen’s MSU jersey is too small (4T). I don’t have one (my old one doesn’t fit, which is why Tom wears it). MSU’s season opener is coming up soon. So I decided to get new jerseys for everyone (well, not for Katie—she has a onesie). I was going to get them all personalized, but not once I saw the price tag. 88| So, Tom just got one and the other two were from eBay. 🙂
I was going to wait until right before the game to give them to him (still before his birthday) but he had had a crappy day at work, so I decided it was time. And he LOVED them, of course…
When he saw that his was personalized, he says “How did you know my high school number was 72?!?” I said “I didn’t—I got your birth year!” (I should have kept my mouth shut to keep him really impressed—because truth be told, I never even THOUGHT about trying to find out what his number was.)
The best thing? Owen was even more excited than Tom was! He had to have his on right away, and then he made both of us put ours on, too. Then he and Tom had to play football in the living room (Owen is GREAT at recovering fumbles). And apparently his number is a quarterback number (or at least was from last season) so he thinks he’s a QB now. 🙂
Stay tuned for a family photo on game day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4xkYEQT7jQ
I love the ending…I was whispering for him to say Happy Birthday again…but he says CAKE! 🙂
As directed, I called Labor & Delivery to see if I was still supposed to come in at 6 and the charge nurse wasn’t available so I was told they would call me back.
We assumed we were still on schedule and dropped Owen and Maggie off at our friend’s house, then headed to town for dinner.
I called Labor & Delivery back since no one had returned my call. They said they had a few people admitted and deliveries going on, so wanted me to call back around 6:45 for an update. Since we were already in town with nothing to do, we thought we’d try to go to a movie but out of eight theaters nothing was even on at 5:30 so we just headed home to wait, keeping our fingers crossed that it would still actually happen. (We REALLY wanted to have her on the 10th, to match the birthday of her namesake, my Grandma Katie.)
The process is still on hold. The charge nurse is now with a patient who’s delivering and they said they would call me back soon…but they still hope to get me in tonight. This is sooooo frustrating.
Just as I was about to give in and call them back (again) they called and said things had calmed down and we could come in if we still wanted!
Here we go! Eating a last-minute snack on the way in since I won’t be able to eat anything once I get there and deliver.
Waiting to be checked now to see which induction drug I get…If I’m dilated at all, it will be Pitocin. If I’m not dilated, it will be Cervidil. An IV line is started and I am hooked up to monitors for me and the baby. Tom and I just hang out, prepping for what we assume will be a quiet night resting/sleeping waiting for the drugs to work and then a morning labor and delivery.
The midwife came in to check and see if I was dilated at all…and holy shit that was painful. I honestly don’t remember having my cervix checked before but Tom said “Oh, you did. And you screamed the same way before, too.” I said it felt like she was in up to her elbows…and he said “That’s exactly what you said the last time, too!” :meh: I was 4cm so they decided to start the Pitocin.
The nurse came in to ask how I was doing and I said “Fine, nothing is going on” and she laughed and said I’ve been having contractions for awhile now! Hmmm, that’s news to me but the machines don’t lie!
The contractions started off pretty tame and I actually tried to sleep (they gave me Benedryl in the IV but it didn’t even touch me). I couldn’t have slept anyway as the blood pressure machine kept going off every 20-30 minutes and I could hear the fetal monitor beeping. I had to get up and pee a few times and that was a chore since you had to unplug the two fetal monitor cables, the blood pressure machine, and then drag the IV stand along. Interestingly, we got to listen to a woman give birth in the suite next door (through the wall) and she was NOT having a good time. Really screaming and yelling—VERY much in pain—and I thought “Wow, I wonder if that’s what I sounded like when I gave birth to Owen?” and then as it became apparent she didn’t have an epidural I just kept thinking “Silly silly lady, why wouldn’t you get an epidural?” If only I realized the foreshadowing…
I’m guessing this is about when my water broke (there was no clock and I didn’t have my phone out). I assumed this would be like last time my water broke (where it didn’t really have any effect on the process) so waited 5-10 minutes before I even paged the nurse. She checked and said that there was meconium in it (which means Katie pooped already) which wasn’t a problem at all except that at birth they would have to take Katie right away to make sure she was okay instead of being able to put her directly on me.
Still no idea what the actual time was, so I’m guessing… The contractions had started getting a little too painful—moreso than I remember them being with Owen when I got the epidural—so I paged the nurse and said it was time, then made one last trip to the bathroom. The anesthesiologist seemed to take his sweet time getting there and when he finally did arrive, it appeared he didn’t have ANY of the paperwork I had already filled out so he was going over every little thing and asking me a ton of questions and I was only half paying attention because I was having majorly painful contractions every few minutes and was just thinking GET TO THE EPIDURAL ALREADY. By the time he brought me the sheet to sign (of course, in the middle of a contraction) I was barely coherent and my signature was pretty illegible.
Needless to say I never got my epidural. >:XX By the time he was done messing around, it really felt like I needed to start pushing—like it was going to happen with or without my consent—so the nurses and midwife told me to go ahead because it was too late for the epidural anyway. I seriously thought the process might kill me…the pain was SO much worse than what I experienced with Owen. I know I said “I can’t do this” at least 20 times and I know there was a lot of swearing involved overall…and I’m pretty sure I told them to just do a C-section and be done with it because otherwise this was going to kill me. And I pushed.
Four minutes later (according to the paperwork I got at discharge) after only 2-3 pushes (according to my memory), she shot right out. Like literally SHOT right out—I could feel it clear as day and Tom said the midwife actually had to catch her. And it was over. JUST. LIKE. THAT. In four minutes. Of course they still had to deliver the placenta (which I’m guessing was the 12 minutes listed on the paperwork) which wasn’t comfortable but it was certainly easier and less painful than the birth. I was pretty incoherent as to what was going on around me—I was just glad it was over and completely stunned that I did it without drugs. I do remember telling Tom to at least go get a picture of her!
Her stats and first official photo were posted on Facebook:
Katie Jean Hudson
Born July 10th 0329
8 lbs 1.4 oz
20.5″
I did need a few stitches, but had asked the midwife if I could have some time to rest before we did that part and she said that would be fine. So I had some time with Katie.
The midwife came in and shot me up with a bunch of lidocaine (at my request, as I had warned them I felt everything the last time I got stitched up). And it still wasn’t enough as I felt each stitch she put in. 😮 :'( But then, finally, it was over.
Tom was snoring away in the chair/bed next to me and I wanted to sleep but was wide awake and just watching Katie in the bassinet next to me. All of the recovery rooms were currently occupied (they apparently had six births that night!) so we were just waiting out our time.
Short story?
Unless something happens on its own this weekend, I’ll be induced Monday night…
Long story?
My blood pressure was high at the appointment so the doctor was concerned that it might be pre-eclampsia (it hasn’t been high for a few months, but since I’m near the end, it was a worry). She also wanted an ultrasound to measure the baby (something I was apparently supposed to be having done every so often—NOT the fetal monitoring I’ve been doing, but an additional ultrasound—but hadn’t had in a while) so she walked me across the hall for that since she had an opening right then. On the way I told her that I was concerned that the last doc mentioned stripping my membranes today and possibly inducing labor next week and she said she wouldn’t do that unless it was medically necessary—so that made me feel better. Everything with the baby measured just fine (head, length, amniotic fluid, etc.) but the doc still sent me off for lab work to rule out or diagnose the pre-eclampsia. (On a sidenote, the tech guessed that the baby was about 8.5# but the doc said “Oh, the +/- on that is about a pound…” |-| So why even give a guesstimate that could be so far off?)
The lab work actually went amazingly well, considering I have the worst veins on the planet and it usually takes three techs and four pokes to hit a vein—the girl got it on the first attempt! Everything was marked STAT so I knew I’d have results fairly soon.
So, up in Labor & Delivery Triage, they hooked me up to the monitors (like I’ve been doing at my weekly appointments, just with another nurse) and my BP was fine and the baby’s movements were fine—and most of the lab work came back just fine…except the protein in my urine was __fill in the blank with whatever number was high enough to cause more tests but not high enough to be severely concerned__ and the midwife wanted me to do a 24-hour urine test. Uh, yuck. No thanks. Especially when she said that if the protein marker results were __whatever number high enough__ I would be admitted RIGHT THEN. As in tomorrow afternoon! So I half-jokingly said “Can’t I just skip it and agree to come in and be induced Monday?” And she was fine with that!!! So that’s the plan…unless, of course, something happens before then or I have any strange symptoms that might be cause for alarm.
So, no, I didn’t initially want to be induced…but since things went a little awry, it did seem like the best option. Especially since if things go according to plan…I’ll have Katie on her namesake’s birthday: July 10! (I’ll be admitted for induction at 6pm on Monday night the 9th and will likely have her sometime after midnight on Tuesday the 10th!) 🙂
Yes, it’s my fault for not keeping better track of Owen’s SS card, but seriously, the list of Identity Documents to get a new card? Owen has none of them:
We can accept only certain documents as proof of your child’s identity. An acceptable document must show your child’s name, date of birth and preferably a recent photograph. A birth certificate is not a form of ID it is only used to establish a Social Security number. Your child must be present unless the picture ID also shows your child’s biographical information (i.e., age, date of birth, or parents’ names). As proof of identity, Social Security must see one of the following:
Health Insurance or Medicaid card (issued within the last four years)
School identification card (current year)
Certified school record or transcript (current year)
Certified copy of a medical record
U.S. passport (not expired)
U.S. military dependent identification card (not expired)
Certificate of Naturalization
Certificate of U.S. Citizenship
Final adoption decree issued by the court
Certified child care facility or pre-school record (current year)
Religious record (cradle roll, naming certificate, bris certificate, baptismal record, Amish or Mennonite bishop’s letter)
Life insurance policy
U.S. driver’s license
State-issued non-driver identification card
U.S. Indian Tribal card (Social Security has to approve as an acceptable ID)
He uses OUR ID card for anything military (they don’t need one until they’re 10). He has a medical card, but it doesn’t list his birthday or a picture (do ANY medical cards have pictures?). I guess the only thing on that list is a certified copy of a medical record…and I don’t even really know what that means (though I eventually got what I hope passes for that).
Now I have to send off all his info plus our passports and wait 10-14 days to get a replacement card.
Ugh.
Owen’s birthday cake—he was so excited he wouldn’t stop jumping for me to get a good picture! (It was made by an acquaintance of ours. I decided to splurge this year and have someone else make it so it was his first REAL birthday cake!)
This is what it looked like after I decorated it with his own Cars cars (while he napped):
Family photo!
Since he had so many presents, we started opening them before the party. He loved the bowling pins from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob! (After we played with them as actual bowling items, they turned into soldiers!)
I have no idea why he plugs his ears, but it happens often:
Drinking out of his new big boy Cars cup!
“Happy birthday to you…”
Trying to blow out his candles…
We didn’t get a group picture, but we celebrated with Papa, Grannie, Dad, Mom—and our good friends Roger and Ursula and their kids Virginia and Caroline!
is a HUGE hit!! Thanks for Owen’s birthday money, Aunt Rose!
