Merry Christmas from the Ashworths!

{not so speechless}

Disclaimer:  This may be more of a rambling than a blog, so please forgive me.  I have felt the urge to write since Friday night and I want to get my thoughts down before they leave me.  

There are no words to describe what I, what the world, felt Friday as we heard the news of the massacre.  I use the word massacre because that's exactly what it was.  The mass killing of innocent lives.  Why?  Why was there this mass killing?  At first, I was speechless.  Now, not so much.  

Although this tragedy will likely never have a direct devastating impact on my life, I will never forget it.  I was sitting at the lunch table with my 3rd grade coworkers and someone told me the devastating news.  What? What?  I remember that was all I could say.  I could literally feel my heart hurting.  Aching.  Of course, all I could think of was my baby.  I yearned to hold him.  All I wanted to do was snuggle him and kiss him and keep him safe.  People always say you will never know how much your parents love you... how much they worry about you... how they want the very best for you...until you have your own.  And it's so very, very true.    

When I was finally reunited with Huddy Buddy that afternoon, we were in a hurry.  Rusty was off work and we were in a rush to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop before the crowd arrived.  Before this day, I was overjoyed with the thought of seeing my son sitting on Santa's lap for the very first time.  Although he would have no clue what was going on, it was an important day for me.  One of the "must dos" with your child at Christmastime.  But the 30 minute drive there all I could think of were the presents that we had already purchased and couldn't wait to set out as Santa on Christmas morning.  And the overwhelming sadness thinking of the Mommies and Daddies that also had presents for their beautiful first graders... presents that would never be opened.  Never be played with.  The smiles on Christmas morning that would never be seen. Just typing that brings tears to my eyes.

The news of this tragedy is unique to me because of the different emotions I have.  Emotions as a new mother, but also emotions as a teacher.  

You could never, ever, understand the role of a teacher unless you have been one yourself.  Teachers play many roles: facilitator, instructor, mother/father, nurse, therapist, friend, referee, disciplinarian, cheerleader, role model, PROTECTOR - physically, socially, and emotionally.

Parents entrust me with their children daily. From the hours of 8-3, I play these roles and more.  My tones and facial expressions change throughout the day.  Some students require quiet encouragement while others need some tough love.  The coolest thing is, good teachers know what their students need.  And it makes me happy when I know I have provided them with what they needed. 

I came across a program tonight that was somewhat of a memorial service for the Newtown community.  I missed most of it, but managed to catch the President reading a list of the names of the students that lost their lives.  What made it so personal was that he only read their first names.  Just like I would call my students by name.  There were 20 children killed.  12 girls.  8 boys.  I have 19 kids this year - 12 girls, 7 boys.  This made it very real for me.  These poor babies, at school, likely doing Christmas crafts - just like we were doing Friday.  

It makes my kids laugh how well I know them.  How I can predict when they are about to get in trouble.  How I can tell who is talking behind me while we are walking down the hall because I know the individual sound of all 19 kids - their laugh, their huffs and puffs, the tone of their voice, even how they cry.  Most of them snicker when I call someone's name as we walk down the hall without ever turning around.  I must admit, it makes me smirk, too (most of the time).  From 8-3 - and many times even after that - those are my babies.  I know them well, and they all have a piece of my heart.  

I received a prerecorded message on my cell phone today.  A SchoolCast, we call it.  I recognized the number, and I had a feeling I would be receiving a few words from the school board regarding the shooting Friday.  The message was our Superintendent letting everyone know that a police officer would be assigned to every elementary, middle, and high school in our system- all 52 of them - during school hours until the Christmas break.  Although I like the idea of heightened security, it just added to the realness.  It could have been our school.  It could have been my babies.  It could have been me. 

I can't imagine what the day will be like when the rest of the Sandy Hook Elementary students and faculty return to school.  20 kids, 2 teachers, a psychologist, and the principal - all part of the Sandy Hook family - faces and voices that once filled the halls - gone forever.  The place where the last sounds many of the survivors heard were gunshots, screams, sirens...their lives will be forever changed. 

So tomorrow morning, I will kiss my husband and baby goodbye.  I will drive my 30 minute commute to work.  I will walk to my room, plug up my Christmas tree, and catch up with my coworkers about their weekend.  I will greet my students with a smile.  I will think of those 20 sweet angels.  I will think of their parents, that instead of sending their children off to school, are making funeral arrangements.  I will live cautiously, but not in fear.  I will be thankful for another day on Earth.  I will praise the Lord for all of his blessings and pray for comfort for those in unimaginable pain.    

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

8 Months

Hudson,

You are eight months old!

And you are by far the cutest, funniest, most loving little boy I know!

At eight months you...

 

weigh about 23 pounds

wear a size 4 diaper, 9 month/9-12 month/a few 12 month clothes and a size 3 shoe.

Your eating has recently changed just a little bit.  Your spit up problem had gotten a little better, but all of the sudden it started getting worse again.  I felt like you could go longer between feedings, so we first stretched out your bottles, which led to us giving you a 3-4 ounce bottle right before bed to "top you off".  That was so close to the bottle you had just had at 4:30.  So, we dropped a bottle, added a snack, and up your ounces for your first and last bottle.  You also dropped your last catnap! This has been going on since about Thanksgiving.  You can make it with just 2 naps as long as you sleep until 3.  If you wake up at 2, you will probably need a little nap.  Your current (during the week) schedule is: 6:30 wake up and 8oz bottle, 7:30 cereal/juice cup*, play, nap 9-11, stage 2 fruit and 7oz bottle around 12, play, nap 1-3, snack: mums mums/puffs and juice cup*, play, stage 2 meat and veggie and 1/2 a stage 2 fruit with juice cup*, play, bath, 8oz bottle at 7:15ish then bed. *Cups are always 1/2 water, 1/2 apple or pear juice.*     

We recently discovered Mum Mums! Love them! So much easier than puffs.  By the way, it is SO cute to watch you feed yourself! We just can't get enough of your everyday cuteness.

Your favorite times are bath time, when you first wake up, lying on the changing table, and when you find something you aren't suppose to have and start chewing on it.  ; )  You also love shopping.  You don't love being in the stroller if we aren't moving.  You LOVE being up in the shopping cart.  I think it's because you can see so much.  You are SO observant...almost to the point of ADD. I can't get you to look at the camera because you are too busy exploring.  You still love being outside and you enjoy riding with your window down when it is warm enough.  You have started chewing on your pointer fingers and smacking your lips.  Your favorite non toys are the remote, wooden spoons, cell phones, and anything with a tag. Oh, and Cooper.  You love to pet Cooper.  He is much more laid back with you than Macy.

You are a much better napper these days, averaging 1 1/2, many times 2 hour naps at a time.  You usually wake up for your paci a few times a night, but you will go right back to sleep.

Mommy You had several rough nights of sleep.  We just couldn't figure out what was wrong.  You were also a little fussier and more clingy during the day.  Then suddenly, your 2 "fangs" started popping through! You skipped your top central incisors and the lateral incisors came through instead.  They made for a rough few days, but I think we are finally past the roughest point.  

Sickness was another sleep culprit this past month.  You got your first ear infection about a week into November.  We could just tell something was up.  You didn't seem super sick, but after days of pulling at your ear, a slight cough, and finally a fever over 100, we called the doctor.  She thinks that the last bacterial infection didn't quite get out of your system. 

You still aren't crawling yet, but you can get around when you want to.  You roll and roll, do 360 spins on your belly, and are starting to pull up on things. 

You are quite the talker.  Your first word was definitely Mama.  : )  You've been saying it for a while, but I didn't think you knew what it meant.  I really think you understand now because you tend to say it when you are upset or mad.  You are great at saying and waving bye bye.  Buh, Bye, Ba... those are your favorite syllables! Here is a video of you talking after bath time.

You have started reaching for people and it is super sweet! 

Mommy and Daddy are so excited to be spending Christmas with the best gift we've ever been given!

We love you!

Hudson's First Halloween

We had a great time celebrating Hudson's first Halloween!!  Here are waaaay too many some adorable photos from Hudson's First Halloween!

First stop was to see Nana and PaPa...and of course, his scarecrow cousin, Dominic!

 The next day we went to MiMi and PawPaw's house and went to Trunk or Treat at their church!

 While we were there, we got to see one of my long time friends, Taylor and her baby girl Berkley!  She is PRECIOUS!!  We were all cold and a little fussy by this point, so not the best picture.  Taylor and I have birthdays only a couple of weeks apart and our babies are about 8 weeks apart.

 Tonight, we celebrated by welcoming trick or treaters and visiting with our neighbors! 

 

Happy Halloween from the cutest giraffe in town! 

7 Months

Hudson,

You are SEVEN months old.

Hold. the. phone.  

ARE YOU SERIOUS???  

I thought I was shocked when 6 months hit, but that just flew by like a 747 and 7 months here we are!! I would be sad that my sweet baby boy is growing so fast, but we are too busy having soooo much fun!!

Could you be ANY cuter???

 

Doubtful.

Weight: about 22 pounds

Length:  I haven't measured you, so I'll come back and update this.  

Diapers: You could have stayed in 3s, but we decided to go ahead and bump you up.  The 4s looked so much more comfortable.

Clothes:  You are wearing some 9 months and a some 12 months.  It just depends on what it is and the brand. Your clothes are starting to look more like little boy clothes, and you are SO stinkin cute! 

Loves: You love to play in the floor.  Tummy time is still not your favorite, but I think you are discovering what it takes to crawl. You love to sit up and play with your toys and hang out with us in the floor.  You love sitting in your high chair and banging on it while we get your food ready.  And you still love to eat! You still really enjoy the Johnny Jump and I'm sorry to say I don't think you are going to meet the weight restrictions on it for much longer.  You love to watch the dogs and you enjoy watching TV, including football. 

Food:  Your eating hasn't changed since 6 months.  4 - 7oz bottles a day with cereal, fruit, veggies in between. 

You are a very friendly baby and will pretty much let anyone hold you.  You went through a phase where you preferred to be playing in the floor rather than being held.  Last week, you were a little clingy and wanted to be right with us while we are together.  Maybe a little separation anxiety is starting to set in. 

You got your first little "bug" this month.  You had a wet cough that you just couldn't shake, but you seemed ok. That was pretty much your only symptom until on the 7th day of having the cough, you woke up SUPER ill (which is VERY unlike our happy, morning baby) and practically refused to take your bottle or eat your cereal.  That finally convinced me to make a doctor's appointment.  Daddy took you to your appointment and stayed home with you for two days.  Mommy was so proud of her boys.  It was very hard to be at work, but since I am short on sick days after taking a long maternity leave and using every sick day I had, I need to build my sick leave back up.  You were on the road to recovery in no time.  After 10 days of antibiotics and lots of lovin, you are finally back to your old self.

In the past few weeks, you went to your first family reunion...

 FINALLY had your first playdate with "the boys" (Caleb {left} Gage {right}) and Ryleigh...

 and celebrated your first Halloween!

 We will have to dedicate a whole post to Halloween later in the week.

But for now, we love you!! 

We love you more and more every. single. day.  Your cheeky, infectious grin makes our mornings bright and your babbling and new tricks keep every day interesting.  We can't wait to see what the next few months have in store!

HELP!!! LAUNDRY EMERGENCY!!!

Hudson's sweet teachers made them Halloween shirts at school. They dyed a onesie orange.  Well this newbie momma washed it on warm with a whole load of laundry and several things, including BRAND NEW OUTFITS came out orange or with orange spots. : ( I'm so upset!! If I'd washed it on cold I bet it would have been fine.

What can I do? I rewashed everything and added a cup of white vinegar and it didn't help.

Please help this momma out!!!

Happy Half Birthday, Hudson!!

Hudson,

You are six months old!

That's right, half a year has gone by since this wonderful day...
 

You are growing like a weed!  

At six months (and one week, to be exact...)

You weigh 20 pounds, 11 ounces and are 28 inches long. 

That's about 95th percentile for both.

HOSS. 

You wear 6-9 month and 9 month clothes.  You wear a size 3 shoe (Mommy got you a super cute pair to wear with your Polo jeans and button down shirt-you're gonna be such a stud!).  You wear a size 3 diaper and a size 4 Baby Dry nighttime diaper.  

We followed some fellow bloggers' advice and bumped you up a size on the night time diapers after you peed out of a size 3 nighttime diaper several times making for some not so fun middle of the night wakings.

You are such a fun boy these days.  Just like everyone tells me, every new stage just gets better and better!! I do miss the days of you being so tiny and cuddly, but you are SO FUN these days!  You are sitting up pretty well now, but we still put some padding behind you.  Your favorite thing is to jump or bounce.  You still love to play in your jumperoo or in your exersaucer with a bouncy floor.  You love the Johnny Jump, where you currently look more like a circus act because you bounce and swing from side to side and just squeeeaaaaallll!!!!  If someone is holding you, you prefer to stand and bounce/jump on their legs.  You also are obsessed with grabbing everyone's face.   

You love to talk and talk and talk some more.  You are putting everything within reach in your mouth.   You love to laugh, especially at Daddy.  You have recently started grunting (we've been calling you "The Hulk" all week) and you love to bang on your highchair while waiting on your dinner.  Every little thing is just so cute!  Your two bottom teeth are completely through now and I'm pretty sure you are working on some more.  I think it will be a while though because I can't see or feel anything yet.  

You are still LOVING your food!! Your current schedule is something like this...

6-6:30 Wake Up and 8oz bottle; 7:30 rice or oatmeal cereal; 8:30ish nap; 10:30 fruit; 11:30 7oz bottle; 1:00 nap; 4:00 7oz bottle; 5:00 catnap; 6:30 veggie; 7:30 bath; 8:00 8oz bottle

You are still in stage 1 foods and you will sometimes have a sippy cup with 1/2 water 1/2 juice with your meals.

You are napping much better but still usually wake up at least once (if not a couple of times) at night.  We have been back and forth, back and forth about what to do about you sleeping at night because it seems like circumstances are just constantly changing and we (Mommy and Daddy) just can't make up our minds about what to do!  As of today (10/7/12) you are sleeping on your tummy with a paci and music on all night.  You DEFINITELY prefer to sleep on your tummy.  If you are ever in the bed with us you may sleep on your side because our mattress is so squishy.  You are a cuddle bug! 

You attended your first wedding last month (and you were quite a hit if I do say so myself).
 

You also took your first trip to the beach! We stayed in our fav place, Destin, Florida and ate at all of our fav places! You did so good! We were so proud of you.

It makes us so happy to see you smile at us when we walk in the room.  You have started to hug and cling a little when we hold you, which I LOVE. Can't wait til my little man reaches for his Mommy!!! My heart may just melt!! 

WE LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!!!