Pennee's Gender Reveal Shower

On April 21st, Hudson and I drove down to the OC to attend my friend Pennee's gender reveal baby shower. Pennee is a friend of mine from my Laker Girl days and I hadn't seen her in forever. It was so nice to see her and finally meet her daughter Kiera. She did a great job with the party and Hudson and I had a lot of fun! I guessed boy simply because they already have a girl. I placed a pink and blue box in front of Hudson and he picked the pink box. I switched sides to make sure it wasn't a fluke and he picked pink again so his guess was girl. We filled out a wish card for the new baby, played a few games, then watched the big reveal. They are having another little girl!! Hudson guessed correct!! I couldn't be happier for them and am hoping that we will be able to have some play dates together once the new baby arrives. 

Target Cart Monkey

On April 19th, Hud and I went shopping at Target. Normally when we go shopping I either stick his car seat in the cart and pile my shopping in around him or I put Hudson in the Ergo Baby. At Gymboree though one of the moms mentioned that her daughter loves riding in the cart which planted the idea in my head. Hudson has been sitting well for a long time now, but for some reason I have been too nervous to let him sit in the cart. I also didn't have my cart cover with me, but on a whim I decided I needed to be less paranoid and let Hudson have his first cart ride. You should have seen his face as soon as I put him in. He was ecstatic. He was so excited and proud to be sitting like a big boy. He was balancing and trying not to use his arms as I made turns...I was impressed, happy with how well it was going and relieved that he wasn't toppling over like I'd imagined he would. I was sort of feeling bad for not letting him do it earlier because he was having so much fun. We went down the baby aisle to look at some toys for a present. I looked away for a few seconds and when I turned back with my toy in hand I couldn't believe what I saw. Hudson was standing up and half hanging out of the cart reaching for a toy (still strapped in). I had the belt as tight as I could get it, but the little stinker had still managed to escape! I snapped a quick photo, then sat him back down. As soon as I started moving he was fine, but once I stopped to pick up a prescription he was on the move again! I ended up having to hold onto him the entire time!! What a little monkey!! I might give this one more try with my cover in the hopes that the straps will restrain him better, but if not, its back to the car seat and Ergo.

Babies, Wine and Cookies

On April 17th, Rachelle called after a crappy day of work up in our neck of the woods. She wasn't in the mood to come by for a visit, but said she would anyways since she was so close. I just knew Hudson would cheer her up, but put some cookies in the oven and got a glass of wine ready too just to really make sure I cheered her up. Who doesn't love cookies, wine and babies? I think it worked!! :)

Thirty Four Weeks

On April 17th, Hudson turned 34 weeks old. Hudson weighs 17 pounds 10 ounces. We stopped giving Hudson his reflux medicine this week since he finally seems to be doing better in that area. Hudson can now sit down from standing with complete control. He has been scared lately by the vacuum and other loud noises. He climbed the two stairs outside our bedroom this week. He has really taken off with crawling. Up until this week, he needed a toy close to him for motivation, but this week he has started crawling fast and all over without something nearby. He is very interested in everything he shouldn't be touching like outlets and electrical cords. He walked down the hallway this week holding my hands. He crawls all over the carpet, but when he gets to hard floors such as the wood and tile he stops then tries to crawl on his hands and feet. He is pulling himself up on anything and everything. He is getting really good at waving bye bye. He is starting to play peek-a-boo himself. Every night we say bye bye to Nic before bed. One night this week, Hudson started waving bye as soon as Nic turned the lights down. He also automatically starts waving whenever I say hi or bye. He has had pears this week.

Family Visit and BBQ

On April 14th my mom, Tyler and Sabrina came over to play with Hudson. Hudson is so lucky to be so loved!

That evening the Mirkovich clan came over for a BBQ. We made hot dogs, chicken, beef burgers, turkey burgers, zuchinni, yellow squash, mushrooms, and peppers. For dessert I made s'more cupcakes and rice krispy treats. We had planned to roast s'mores in our fire pit, but didn't have time because of kiddie bedtimes. We joked that it was too bad they didn't live next door so they could put the girls down then come back for dessert with their monitor. Luckily, they do live quite close, so I'm sure we will have more of these BBQs over the summer. 

Since Nic had already prepped the fire pit, we took advantage and had a mini date night after we put Hudson to bed. It was so nice to spend some quality time together and was actually quite romantic. A friend of mine wrote a blog post about this very subject recently and even had a printable dating bucketlist. I agree with her so much about the importance of finding time with your partner and I also agree that when kids are in the mix you have to get creative. We had a great time and even created allergy free s'mores with special graham cracker cookies and rice milk chocolate bars. I hope this is the first of many backyard S'more making date nights. :)

Healthy Homemade Meals

Nic and I have really been making an effort to eat healthy. We have both been following the allergy free diet for a while now, but since we eliminated tomato from our diet we had to get a bit more creative. Now that it is warming up though the veggie options are better and we have been using the BBQ which gives has made it easier than ever to have quick, delicious, allergy free meals. A lot of times we will BBQ steak on Sunday night along with a large portion of zucchini, yellow squash, peppers and mushrooms. Then we can have the leftovers during the week for other dinners and lunches. We also added halibut to our repertoire with broccoli and corn and BBQ chicken, which is super easy and delicious. We kept a few staples like salmon with spinach and sweet potato fries and turkey tacos with corn tortillas, Spanish rice, guacamole and lettuce. I also have gotten this whole allergy free baking thing down. We have been enjoying lots of delicious desserts too. We've had brownies, s'more cupcakes, rice krispy treats and sorbet. I never knew eating so healthy could taste so good!! And to make life even better on April 13th, we decided to introduce wheat back into our diet. So we can have burgers and hot dogs now!! YUM!! 

Gymboree Free Play

On April 12th, Nic and I took Hudson to the free play at Gymboree. We had so much fun playing on all the equipment and to be honest Nic seemed to be having more fun than Hudson dribbling, spinning and juggling balls. 

We set up an obstacle course for Hudson and he did so well until he ate it exiting a tunnel. Ooops. Luckily, as soon as we gave him the ball we were using as his motivation he stopped crying. 

Park and Gymboree

On April 10th, Hudson and I walked to the park. We had a nice little afternoon sitting on a blanket and watching some of the big kids play. I took him on the swings (his favorite) and then we headed home.

That night we went to Gymboree. Hudson loves it so much! He has made so much progress since the first class already. He is more confident and willing to explore. He is highly motivated to try anything if there is a ball involved as his motivation, He crawled all the way through a long tunnel and climbed up a wedge (not the one in the photo below). His favorite part of class though was when he got to kick the ball.

Thirty Three Weeks

On April 10th, Hudson turned 33 weeks old.Hudson now weighs 17 pounds 10 ounces. He went to his first hockey game this week and loved it! He also sat in his first highchair. He was pretty amused by this and we could tell he felt all proud that he is now a big boy who can sit at the table. We also tried My Gym this week and Hudson seemed to really like it. He was easily the most vocal kid in the class. Hudson has a side of the crib that he prefers (of course its the side we have trouble seeing on the monitor). He hates having his diaper changed! He cries, rolls over and crawls away. It is as if he just doesn't have time for the diaper change or getting dressed for that matter (imagine when I add the lotion routine into the mix). The changes get in the way of his exploring, so I usually end up wrestling him during the diaper change trying to distract him with funny noises, songs and forbidden toys like my iphone. Then I just chase him around while lotioning and dressing him. Hudson has gotten really good at standing, he is pretty obsessed with it and is so proud of himself every time he stands up. He pulls himself up, then immediately looks around for praise with the hugest smile on his face. He has also gotten good at sitting back down. He stands up, realizes he wants a toy so he sits back down, then realizes he wants to stand again. He does this over and over again. One time he was able to bend over and pick up a toy while staying standing. He has started giving open mouth kisses! At Gymboree this week, he crawled up a wedge and through a tunnel. We were so proud! We went to the park this week too because Hudson loves the swings! This week he has had carrots, and peas. He also had his first night feed and ate an entire jar of sweet potato!

Hudson's 1st King's Game

On April 6th, I took Hudson to his first Kings Game. We went with my mom, dad and Tyler. We got there a bit late, so we missed the first goal. Hudson had so much fun though. He loved his flag, he loved spending time with his nonna, opa and uncle and he loved all the excitement around him. He also loved when we scored!! He even took a nap between the second and third period and part of the third period! Hudson is such a little sports fanatic already!! :)

After the game, we went to the hangar to check out my dad's helicopter. Hudson was so cute sitting in the pilot's seat. 

Tyler also took Hudson for a ride on the bone while we were there. He was spinning and pushing him pretty fast, which made me nervous, but of course Hudson loved it!