Pumpkin Patch

To say that we had lovely weather for our trip to the pumpkin patch on Tuesday would be a VAST UNDERSTATEMENT...then again, we have had the soggiest autumm in my memory so a lack of vitamin D may be affecting my judgement. With a few friends from our church playgroup, we traveled to the Great Pumpkin Patch in Hayden, AL about 45 minutes from home and it was worth the drive. From the wagon ride to the field of pumpkins to the inflatables, it was a fun time had by all. The boys tended to gravitate toward the busted pumpkins...picture oozing pumpkin inards and flies...of course, who wouldn't be drawn to that great science lesson?! Thankfully the hay maze was a nice distraction. My favorite part was watching Hudson's face as we rode the wagon--wonder and joy with perhaps a little bit of expectation of something good--is the best way to describe it.



May something today give you wonder, joy, and expectation of something good...

Birthday Parties and Thanksgiving

November and December are super busy in the Franklin household! Now that I'm done with birthday party hosting (at least for the next 11 months), I have had a chance to download pictures from Thomas' party, Thanksgiving, and Hudson's party. I didn't take time to edit out so there are lots to enjoy!

Happy First Birthday!

One year ago today, Hudson was born! We named him Hudson Patrick for two great missionaries -- Hudson Taylor and Saint Patrick. He was born after only two hours and forty minutes of labor not unlike the drama on tv (during which Matthew almost passed out!). But all that was forgotten when we saw that precious little face.



Today, Hudson is our little sunshine, full of smiles, and very very curious. He loves to climb inside the kitchen drawers, open the fridge, and find a way through every barrier we build. He is a master at climbing and, if you saw the previous post, is well on his way to walking. Hudson doesn't seem too interested in the tv but will stop to watch one of Moose A. Moose's songs on Noggin. Most of all, Hudson loves his big brother and will follow him wherever he goes.

We are blessed beyond measure! Happy birthday, Hudson!

Halloween Overload

We had a lot of Halloween fun this year. We carved our first pumpkin ever. We trunk-or-treated at Andrea and Tyson Belue's church. Thomas was literally a little firecracker at school and on Halloween night (a last minute decision - he was going to be a dinosaur again). I didn't take the time to edit out pictures because, well, I don't have the time. So this might be an overload of pictures :)

Remember as Diane Stortz says in Let's Shine Jesus' Light on Halloween (a great little children's book): "Yes, Halloween is jack-o-lanterns, costumes, and candy on a dark and spooky night...But Jesus is the light of the world!"

Back in the Swing

It has been a while since my last post. Well, a day shy of a month to be exact! I can't believe it's been that long... Preschool started for Thomas. MDO started for Hudson one day a week. Community Bible Study began it's new year for Hudson, Thomas and me. We've had birthday parties coming out the ears. We've already battled a light case of the stomach bug. And consignment sale season is upon us (my hunting season - ha!). Busy Busy Busy. So that's my big excuse for not posting. After a nice relaxing summer, the Franklin household is back in the swing of the new school year!

So what else is new? Hudson has started to clap and wave bye-bye in the past few weeks and just yesterday he started squealing, for everyone's listening pleasure (but mostly his). He is also climbing the stairs like a pro. Thomas is loving school and playing with all the boys in his class (there was only 1 boy in his class last year). So I'm hearing a lot about boy stuff like Spiderman and Power Rangers. Thomas doesn't know anything about them except that when you play Spiderman you run around and shoot out webs. He is also the proud (but temporary) pet-parent of a praying mantis. I found "Mr. Mantis" on Monday and he is now living in a critter box until Show and Tell on Friday. I'm not sure how long after that I'll be able to handle having him in our home.

Counting Teeth and Bruises

Hudson has not been a happy camper recently. Well, that's not completely true. He is still smiley but we've had a little more fussiness than usual. I discovered the reason a several days ago when I looked in his mouth only to find his 6th tooth(bottom right-side) completely through the skin. How did I miss that one coming in? And, on the top, he has two more coming in! I know he is in pain...thank God for infant ibeprofen!

As for counting bruises, I know it is typical for his age, but Hudson knocks his noggin on something twenty times a day. I think we need one of those safely helmets they sell for babies!

On a lighter note, Hudson is really enjoying Thomas' company these days. He gets a kick out of Thomas' silly antics and will laugh and laugh that adorable baby laugh. I'm talking about the total-body laugh -- I'm almost afraid he is going to topel over backwards! I'll have to try to capture it on film and get a picture posted.

Family Pictures

Our photographer just posted our family pictures on her website. I'm so glad we captured this sweet season of their lives. Click below to take a look:

http://www.jenniferhaglerphotography.com/franklin.html

Change

It's been over a week since my last post and a lot has changed in the Franklin household. A lot has changed because about a week ago Hudson started really crawling. He was on the move before but now it is a "textbook" crawl. So with Hudson on the move, we now have installed the gate over the stairs (Why are babies so attracted to danger? Hudson beelined it to the stairs as soon as he was able.). And we've had to make new family rules such as "If you choose to play with a toy on the floor, you must be willing to share it." In addition, Hudson has gotten 2 more teeth -- the top center right one came first and then the top center left. So you can only imagine the strength of his bite now -- ouch! It has been fun watching him explore his little world (taste-testing whatever he can)!

On The Move

I've been in denial, but it is true. Hudson is on the move. Today he almost pulled himself to standing by the sofa, and over the weekend of the 4th, he mastered sitting up from being on his tummy. He doesn't crawl necessarily but does a combination of moves. Whatever it takes to get him to the desired object (usually the power cord for the laptop or my big toe). It usually consists of a Downward Dog, a Belly Flop, a Sttttttretch and Reach, a Roll, an I'm-Going-To-Crawl-Nope-Fooled-You, and finally a Scoot-Back-to-Sitting. I don't remember needing to really childproof the house for Thomas until he was 8 or 9 months, but the time has clearly come whether I accept it or not.

Food Fun

Honestly, I had to have an attitude adjustment about starting Hudson on "solids" (Why do we call pureed anything "solid"). However, I knew at 6-months that it was time. So my mantra is "Food is for FUN until he is one." I learned that when Thomas was a babe, but I'm really really going to take it to heart this time around. So for fun, Hudson had a banana for his first food(hopefully, you've seen the picture in the Father's Day Weekend slideshow)....or at least, he held the banana and kind of sucked on it. And for fun this week, we've had oatmeal (which he loves!). He's also tried the "thank you carrots" and "yes peas" by Happy Baby. By the way, I purchased the Happy Baby frozen organic baby food from Whole Foods because it was on sale AND I had a coupon. It comes in little cubes -- the perfect amount -- and actually smells, looks, and tastes like the vegetable it is. I completely recommend it.


Here are some photos of other fun we had this week.
Below Thomas is brushing his hair to get ready to ride the...

Carousel!

This was Hudson's first carousel ride. (and I was certain to wash his hands as soon as we exited)

(Mimi was the photographer and worked hard to get us all in the photo. Thanks, Mimi! )

This last one is Hudson's new move. Looks like he is crawling doesn't it? Perhaps not before too long...They grow up so fast!

A Weekend of Firsts

We visited Mimi and Gran for a long Father's Day Weekend. This was Hudson's first trip to the beach. He also enjoyed his first food and his first swim in a big pool. Thomas had his first fishing trip and caught his first fish! Thanks for a fun weekend, Mimi and Gran!

You can click on the speaking balloon at the bottom left of the slideshow to see the commentary or click on the pictures to go to PicasaWeb to view it there.

Happy Half Birthday, Sunshine!

Today is Hudson's half birthday! He really does have the sunny personality you see in these pictures. I just love those smiling eyes...

Update:

At his 6-month dr's appointment, Hudson weighed 23 pounds and was 27.5 inches long (97th and 90th percentile, respectively). Dr. Stone commented that she thought he was tall -- I should say so :) Apart from the 4 shots, he had a great appointment!

VBS and a 3rd Tooth

We've had a very busy, but very fun week. It all started with Vacation Bible School -- we went to "Cactus Canyon" at the Advent on Monday. I was teaching the twos & threes so Thomas was in my class. All day he kept saying "Mommy, thanks for being my teacher." And at the end of the day, he said that when he grew up he wanted to be a teacher too. It was really sweet. He is a charmer...

On Tuesday, Thomas started the summer session at Early Arts, and Hudson and I were back at VBS. Hudson was working on another tooth so you can only imagine how much fun he was in the nursery all week. My classrom was right next door to the nursery and we had tons of teen volunteers so I could pop over to help calm him. Thankfully, Hudson's 3rd tooth (bottom, right of center) finally broke through on Wednesday so Thursday was a better day for him. He made it all morning (well, 3 hours) without me! He even took some of his bottle and a nap! At the Celebration Dinner for VBS on Thursday night, it seemed that everywhere we went a teen volunteer was saying, "Awwww, there's Hudson." I guess he's a little charmer, too.

Hudson is trying out his new tooth a lot these days. Matthew let Hudson try some watermelon at the VBS Celebration dinner (thankfully, he just licked it!). Don't think that really counts as starting solids... And I'm not sure watermelon is listed as a good "first food" -- Ha! As for practicing with his teeth, I certainly prefer that he use his toe as a chew toy when the alternative is my shoulder --ouch!

Memorial Day Weekend

On Saturday we went to Witt Brown's 3rd birthday party. Any day that includes a birthday party is a great day in Thomas' book. On the way to the party, Thomas asked me what the name of the party was. I said to him that it was Witt's party to which Thomas replied, "No, what's the name of the party?" After a mental workout, I figured out what he was trying to ask me. He wanted to know what the theme of the party was. When I told him it was a race car party, he replied, in typical Thomas fashion, "WOW, I like race cars. I li-i-i-i-i-ike to race." "Wow" is one of his favorite words these days.

We traveled to Tuscaloosa on Sunday for church at Canterbury Chapel and for a reception honoring Ken Fields, our friend and former chaplain there. Ken will be moving to Houston to serve at the largest Episcopal church in the nation, St. Martin's. Ken officiated our wedding almost nine years ago so we didn't want to miss this opportunity to introduce him to Thomas and Hudson and to join in sending him off to a new calling.

On Monday, we spent some time outside enjoying the beautiful weather. Thomas had fun running through the sprinkler while Hudson kept Mommy on her toes. We couldn't turn our backs on him for a minute and he would have a fist-full of grass. Thankfully none of it reached his mouth. He is quite determined!

Hudson is 5-months-old!

I've FINALLY gotten together a photo update. See the pictures and commentary by clicking on this link:

http://public.fotki.com/FranklinHQ/hudson-is-5-months-old/

Weeds

We had a fun weekend full of weeding the one and only landscape bed that we have under-control...or at least it is under control now. (Now we need to get more pine straw, right Gran?) It was so fun for Thomas and a great science lesson. After several reminders to pull the weeds carefully to be sure we got the root too, we were able to find among the hundreds of weeds a great number of acorns that had sprouted into little oak trees. Of course, playing in the dirt is not complete without a dose of earthworms and rolly-pollies. FUN-FUN! We even got some of Thomas' neighbor friends to join in the fun.

Here is a picture of Thomas showing off a great root. Hudson with his never-ending desire to grab anything within arms reach wanted to join in the fun, too!

Teeth Already

Hudson now officially has 2 teeth and is quite fond of using them to gnaw on my fingers. His first tooth was the bottom-middle- left one which broke through on or around May 1. The bottom-middle-right one broke through on Mother's Day, May 1o. He is still chewing on his fingers, thumb, anything he can get his hands around constantly. A few days ago, he even managed to bend down over his pudgy belly to stick his big toe in his mouth. I don't know if he's working on another tooth or just getting used to these. Only time will tell!