Thursday, October 30, 2008

HUDSON MCKAY


The first week of October our little family got to bring Hudson McKay home. Hudson was born on September 4th. He weighed 7 lbs 11 ounces and was 21 inches long and had tons of dark hair. His birth mom wasn't sure about placing Hudson for adoption so she took him home from the hospital where he stayed for almost 5 weeks. During those 5 weeks John and I and Greyson got the chance to visit the birth mom and her family at their home. We loved them immediately. They were so kind and welcoming. We also got to see and hold Hudson for the first time. He was so tiny and beautiful.

John and I were pretty nervous about going into the placement meeting. We weren't sure what to expect with Hudson having been with his birth mom for so long. Everything went well though. The meeting lasted about an hour and then all of a sudden there John and I were standing in a room with two kids. Greyson was really excited to be a big brother! We didn't have much time to prep Greyson for a baby coming into our home so overall we think he did fairly well. He LOVED Hudson the first night we had him and was always wanting to help with feeding, burping and holding him. By the next day we feared for Hudsons life and shipped Greyson off to Grandmas for a few days. (He had a little bit of an issue with Hudson.) Today, Greyson absolutely loves his brother and is very protective of him. He is always quick to let me know when Hudson is awake or crying. He loves to put (or shove, would be more like it) his binky in his mouth when he needs it and he gets excited when he gets to hold him. Hudson loves Greyson as well. He watches Greyson all the time and grins at him. I hope as they get older they will be the best of friends. We are so lucky to have such wonderful boys. We are also so lucky to have such wonderful birth parents. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them and are so grateful
to them for entrusting us with their boys.

At placement with Hudson and his birth parents.

Kissing baby Hudson for the first time! He was so tiny even at 5 weeks old. I can't believe how much he's grown. The outfit he has on and came home in doesn't fit him anymore and it makes me sad!

Isn't Hudson's birth mom cute? She is so cute and we hope Hudson looks just like her. One thing about adoption is you never know what kind of birth parents are going to pick you and I'm not going to lie it's kind of stressful. You hope they will be a cute couple because you hope for your baby to be cute. Both times we've met our potential birth parents, John and I have sighed in our heads upon meeting them.



This was Greyson's first time being with Hudson. He was so loving towards him. I don't think Hudson much cared for Greyson's hugs but it was sure adorable.

There we were after Hudson's birth parents left. Before this picture was taken John was in another room and I was left alone with both kids. I wasn't sure what to do with myself. Greyson kept jumping up on the couch trying to pick Hudson up. (As you can see in the picture he had a lot of energy.) Only 5 minutes and I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack!



This picture was taken right after we got home. Hudson kept smiling in his sleep. It was so cute. The monkey next to him was the gift we got for him. We also got one for his birth mom to take home. I know the gift sounds lame, but we wanted to get something for both of them that they would always keep. When we adopted Greyson we got he and his birth mom bears. Greyson sleeps with it at night.

Greyson's first time holding Hudson. He spoke really softly to him and was very careful and nice.


Greyson arranged this pose. He wanted me to kiss him while he was kissing his baby brother! I thought is was so precious!



Monday, September 1, 2008

LAGOON FUN

Our family had a blast at Lagoon this summer thanks to Johns Mom and Dad who got us season passes for Christmas last year! Greyson LOVED, LOVED, LOVED going! We wanted to post some of our favorite pictures of us, well mostly of Greyson, at Lagoon! Beware there are lots and lots of pictures. Thanks to "Papa" and "Mama" for allowing us some fun memories!

This is by far our favorite picture of Greyson at Lagoon. The train is one of his favorite rides. John happened to get a great snap of him lovin the ride. His other favorite rides are the Swings, Puff the Dragon and the Carousel.



Greyson could have spent the entire day at Lagoon riding the Carousel. Greyson is absolutely in love with all kinds of animals so it was a dream come true to pick a new animal each time he rode. Pretty sure John and I wouldn't be sad if we never rode that ride again!

Here are some other fun pictures of us!









On this trip to Lagoon we met up with Toms family. Greyson loves being with them, especially Ethan. He talks about Ethan all the time. He had a lot of fun! He got to go on Rattle Snake Rapids with them. (I'm not gonna lie I was a little scared of him going on this ride.)




John made sure Greyson hardly got wet. Good job Dad! The other kids were completely wet. They were trying to be good sports about the cold but we all ended up leaving soon after this ride.


This Lagoon trip we took Abby and Brian, Hayley and Stryder. So Stryder is super tuff. His favorite toys are guns, swords and light sabors. Anyway we thought Stryder would love the rides at Lagoon but he ended up NOT liking most of them. Even though, he still had a lot of fun. Greyson sure loved being at Lagoon with his Aunts, Uncles and Cousin.





The boys weren't sure about the water. Poor Greyson is so skinny he looks like a wet rat!

This picture is so cute. They held hands most of the day!





Brian and Abby cheesin it up! Thanks for coming and spending the day with us!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Jump On It!

A couple of weeks ago for family home evening we went to Jump On It with my brother Ryan, his wife Christina, and their two kids Avrie and Halle. We had a lot of fun together but then we always have a good time when we get together with them. Greyson especially loves being with his cousin Avrie. She is always so sweet to play with him even though he's a lot younger than she is. Below are some of the pictures we took that night.


Our family cheesin' it up!




Ring around the rosies... and we all fall down!



Ryan, Christina and Avrie!



Ryan being a goofball like usual!



I wasn't sure what to expect with Greyson and the whole jumping thing but he did better than I thought he would. There were a couple of times he fell because he couldn't catch his balance but he just got right back up. Avrie has a trampoline at her home and loves to jump. She is really good at it!





Greyson and his cousin Avrie having fun together!




Holy cow! Christina is doing the splits!



The boys on a quest to catch the football in midair!