A visit with Santa!

Sunday December 8, 2013 we headed over to the MN Zoo for Snack with Santa. This is a great program that the zoo has for their member's. They provide snacks, art projects, and the kids can make an ornament for their tree. Santa then comes table to table to chat with your kids and to get some pictures.

We have seen Santa from afar numerous times this year at the mall. Everytime I ask Hudson if he would like to go sit on his lap and I always receive a quick "no". We were a little worried at how he would do this year but once again it was a success. They have a zoo volunteer ask you your child's name so when Santa comes over he can address your child directly. He asked Hudson what he wanted for christmas and of course his response was Tractor's :) This year they gave out little stuffed Tapper's to the kids. He then had Hudson come sit up on his lap so we could take that tag off :) Worked like a charm. I was able to get pictures of Hudson & Santa, the whole family & Santa, and Mila & Santa. If you are a member of the MN Zoo, I highly recommend checking this out. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience with Santa vs. standing in line at the mall. We will definitely do this again next year!

 Making his ornament

 Taking the tag off of his tapper

Hudson's Holiday Program

December 5, 2013 Hudson had his preschool holiday program. Justin & I were both hoping that baby boy would do a little more singing this year as he loves to sing at home. Once again his shyness overtook him and he hung out in the back just checking everyone else out. At least he stood up there during the whole program.  Here are some of the pictures we were able to get :)

 Just love this little guy!

4 months!

Wow, I am way behind on my blogging. Hoping to catch up here over these next couple days. To start, Mila turned 4 months on November 29, 2013!!! The time is just flying by.....

We had her 4 month well child visit on December 2, 2013. She weighed in at 11 lbs 7 oz, measuring 24". Her pediatrician is a little concern about her weight as she did not gain as much as predicted in following her growth curve. Hoping at the 6 month visit we can catch up as he thinks it may be in part to my recent medical problems (more on that later).

Here is what Mila has been up to......
1. She continues to roll over from her belly to back. She is pretty close to rolling from her back to tummy.

2. She is noisy! She loves to talk and she loves to be heard :)

3. Her brother I think is her favorite person :) Everytime she seems him she smile and stares in awe. Luckily he likes her too.

4. Sleeping is not her thing, unfortunately for me. On average she is taking about 3 cat naps during the day and at night she is waking about 4 times :( I am hoping this is just the 4 month sleep regression and that within a couple weeks we will be back to normal.

5. Still working on teething. Nothing has poked through yet but hopefully soon.

6. She was diagnosed with her first ear infection on December 1, 2013. Hoping we don't follow in big brother's steps.

Happy Halloween!

I was very excited about Halloween this year as I knew Hudson would have a better understanding of what it was about.  Months before we started discussing what he would be and he was set on being Bob the Builder.  Perfect costume as I just needed to purchase a few clothing items :)

Unfortunately he woke up Halloween morning with a fever so he was not able to go to daycare with his friends but instead he got to go hang out with Papa all day!  I am sure he thought that was much better.  By the time we got there after work he was feeling much better but we decided to pass on trick or treating at the zoo and instead hung out at my parents until it was time to go out.  Of course we had to start out night with a Pumpkin Pizza from Papa Murphy's

 

It took a little convincing to get Hudson to put his costume on and head out but once we started trick or treating he didn't want to stop!  Here are some more pics from our night.

 My little ladybug

 Bob the Builder without his construction hat :)

With Hudson, my mom took some pictures of him inside a pumpkin his first Halloween.  Since Mila is not able to sit up yet, we improvised with her :)

 Falling over...

Smiling at her big brother!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!  Looking forward to next year :)

3 months

October 29, 2013 Miss Mila turned 3 months old!!!  Hard to believe three months has passed since this little baby girl stole our hearts.  The last three months have definitely been a challenge with two kids but I wouldn't change anything about it.  Here is what our little princess has been up to......

1.  Eating about every 2 hours during the day and waking anywhere from one to three times at night to feed

2.  Very alert during the day.  On average at daycare she is only napping two to three hours all day.  Too much to see there :)

3.  She loves to watch her big brother and he always makes her smile :)

4.  She is rolling side to side but has not rolled over yet.  Tummy time, she just lies there and sucks on her thumb or fingers.  Little stinker.....

5.  Still not taking a pacifier but she loves to suck on her thumb, fingers, or her blanket

6.  Chatty little girl.  Loves to talk to you especially in the morning.  All sorts of coos :)

Looking forward to seeing what the next couple months bring!

Apple orchard and pumpkin patch

Friday October 11th Justin & I started our 5 year anniversary celebration with a family trip to Afton Apple Orchard.  We lucked out as the day ended up being beautiful with sun and temperatures in the 70's!

 Holding sister's pumpkin

It was a successful day at the orchard.  We picked up some of their excellent Apple Butter and found three perfect pumpkins to carve!  And yes, Mila was also along but she was enjoying her nap in the Moby Wrap :)  We ended our anniversary day with a nice dinner at Fire Lake Grill at the Radisson Blu while Hudson & Mila had quality time with Nana, Nonia (Tonia), and Torey.

Fire Trucks!

Thursday October 10th we met our good friends the Sherman's at the Farmington Fire House for their open house night.

 Watching the firemen at work

 Putting out a car fire

 Family photo op in the old fire truck

 Best Buds watching them at work

Love these two!

Pool and Beach weather

The last four days of our trip the weather was absolutely perfect so we tried to soak up as much sun as possible.  Thursday we spent the morning at the pool in Papa's neighborhood.

 Swimming with Papa

 Working on our swimming skills :)

 Mila enjoying the day

Thursday night we headed to the beach to have dinner and watch the sunset.  Of course I forgot my camera but my mom was able to get some good shots of the sunset and Hudson enjoying the water.  By the time we were ready to go, little boy was soaked from head to toe and covered in sand :)

Friday morning we headed back to the beach for brunch followed by a day at the ocean.

 Papa's favorite brunch spot :)

 Love this little boy and his cheesy smiles

 Mila's first time in the ocean!

We were able to see a group of Manitee's swimming along the shore which is very rare!

Hudson absolutely loved the ocean this time around.  We could not get him out of the water most of the time!  Monday the 30th we headed home.  Overall it was a great trip, can't wait to plan our next adventure back to Tampa :)

Florida rainshowers

On our trip to Florida we were not so lucky to experience some tropical storm weather but we made the best of it by exploring some indoor attractions.  Monday we headed over to the mall by Papa's house where there was a two story carousel.  Hudson was a little hesitant at first but eventually he wanted to try it out.

 Hudson wanted to ride the panda bear :)

Papa & Mila watching

Tuesday we headed over the Tampa Children's Museum as they were celebrating their birthday so it was only $5 for admission.  

 

 Hudson really liked the vet clinic.  Taking good care of the animals

Making a pizza for Nana & Papa

Wednesday we headed out to the outlet mall for a little shopping with my parents good friend Judy.  I was able to get some good deals at Gap Kids and Carters which is always a plus :)

Florida Vacation!

During my maternity leave I figured it would be a perfect time to take a trip to Tampa to visit my dad.  My mom, Hudson, Mila & I left on Saturday September 30th for a nine day adventure :)  This was Mila's first flight and Hudson's fifth trip.  Both did great on the plane which was a huge relief for my mom and I.

We arrived in Tampa around 3 that afternoon so the rest of the day was spent unpacking, running to the grocery store and grabbing dinner.  Sunday morning we woke up to a beautiful day so we headed down to Clearwater Beach to grab some brunch at Clear Sky Cafe before heading to the beach.

Hudson spent the morning "working" while Mila napped in her carseat.  After being at the beach for a bit we started to notice that people around us were packing up and leaving.  We looked at the sky and sure enough it looked like a storm was rolling in so we quickly packed up our stuff and headed out.

Unfortunately the next three days were full of rain showers :(  But we made the best of it by checking out some of the indoor attractions in Tampa (next post).  The last four days of our trip the weather was perfect once again so we made the most of it by going to the pool or the beach (another post).  Overall it was a great vacation with Nana and Papa with lots of quality time for the kiddos :)