Two years down and eternity to go!

Today marks our second anniversary and I couldn't be any happier. What a life we have had in the past year, let alone two years. What a crazy up and down life we have. What memories we have created. The tears we have shed together, the laughs we have had together, the jokes and the life changing events who have made us such a great couple.

April 28, 2012 - Sealed in the Seattle, WA temple
I had no idea what my future with this man could bring!

April 28, 2013 - Anniversary trip to San Antonio
A  month and a half pregnant with Hutson boy.

April 28, 2014 - Anniversary dinner
Baby slobber and a purse full of toys is my new life.

I remember the night before Grant and I got married. I never was nervous. I never had a doubt in my mind what was before me. I was so anxious to spend the rest of my life waking up to him and never having to say good bye.

Our first year of marriage was full of nonstop events causing time to fly by! We moved into our neighbors basement, packed up all of our stuff and moved from Washington to Texas (I had no idea what I was getting myself into), moved in with my in-laws, moved into our first real place together (I loved that apartment!), got a dog because we had no plans to get pregnant (ha!), and found out we were pregnant. My wonderful in-laws surprised us with a hotel on the water in San Antonio for our first wedding anniversary. We had plans to go, do, and see so much while we were there, but instead relaxed and walked around the water while spoiling ourselves with way too much delicious food.

My coworker recently asked me what our plans for our anniversary were this year. I had absolutely no idea. Grant and I planned to go to Galveston just the two of us. I was going to surprise Grant with a fishing expedition and a relaxing weekend at the beach. Having a baby has definitely put a little bit of a damper on being able to pick up and go without thinking about it. I would never change it for anything, but because my in-laws were going to be out of town (free babysitters) and Grant had drill both this last weekend and next we decided to move our weekend getaway for later this summer. Last night we still had no idea what we were going to do today, and for some reason I was totally okay with it.

Grant and I have never been big planners or needed much to occupy ourselves. That is one thing that I am grateful for. Just being together makes us happy and content. This morning Hutson woke us up at 6:30am (much earlier than normal). I fed him and the three of us cuddled together in bed for another hour and a half. Grant spoiled me by getting us donuts for breakfast. I gave Grant his card and a gift to him to get his CHL. He has been wanting it so bad! We laid in bed while watching Private Practice (Yes, I have watched almost two whole seasons in the last three days. That's what happens when the husband is out of town). I asked Grant if we could go out to lunch, but he was way too anxious to get me my anniversary gift. He told me that I needed to pick it out. We left the house and my mind was running through ideas of what he could be getting me. Note to anyone that knows Grant: he CANNOT keep secrets! I was impressed. We headed down 121 and into Allen. He told me he didn't really know where the place was but we would figure it out. The outlet stores are in Allen and the only one we ever shop at is the Coach store (my addiction!). He told me I could get anything in the store. I ended up getting a diaper bag (surprise, surprise!). The rest of the day we spent walking around the outlet mall, dealing with a baby who had his first blowout diaper (boy was he angry!), bought Grant some new soccer shoes in exchange for getting his CHL, then headed home to waste a couple hours until our surprise dinner. Grant surprised me with a DELICIOUS dinner at Jinbah (a Japanese hibachi restaurant). He spoiled me with lobster and filet mignon dinner. What a stud he!

Yes, I am impressed by the amount of effort Grant put into today. But at the end of today, while Hutson is asleep in his room and Grant is gone playing in a soccer game, I reflect on how none of those materialistic things matter to me or made my day as great as it was. I don't need any "thing" to make me happy. I don't need any trip or any amount of money to make me happy. Grant and I don't have a lot of money right now due to lots of bills from the past couple months, but today it didn't matter. Today, I am reminded just how blessed I am to have such a thoughtful and amazing husband. I know that almost any women can write this as they reflect on their spouse, but I feel the need to do it myself.

I have a husband who has gone through amazing trials in his life. He sacrificed years of his life to fight in the Army, who continues to sacrifice years of his life in the Army to take care of his family's health needs. Those years of trial and anguish still haunt him and probably always will. He has been teased, embarrassed, and manipulated for his beliefs and morals. He has stood up for himself and our family when times have tested us. He has needed a shoulder to cry on and constant words of encouragement, but at the end of the day he is my hero. He is my best friend and my constant companion. I don't need any fancy day or fancy gifts. Laying on the couch, watching TV, laughing at silly faces our son makes, playing fetch with our dog...those are the moments that remind me just how lucky I am. Those are the moments that remind me why I married him. They are the moments that I hope we continue to have for eternity.

Four lovely months into this journey

Such a handsome little guy!

Hutson boy is officially four months old now. Time has gone by so fast yet it seems like SO much has happened!

Here's little man's stats from his appointment last week:

• Weight: 13 lbs 10.5 oz (27%tile)
• Height: 24.5 in (36%ile)
• Head Circum: 15.75 in (7%ile)

Yup, he's still a little guy. We started him on rice cereal. He wasn't quite sure about it. I'm sure that it didn't help that he was extremely tired and hungry when we first tried it, but who can blame the poor guy. We tried again the next day and he was much more pleased. We put some in his nighttime bottle, and it seems to help him sleep his normal 12 hours. He was going through a phase where he thought 5:30 am was time to wake up. Thankfully that only lasted about a week. Cross our fingers, I think we are back to our normal 7/7:30ish routine. We do wake up around 4-6 am depending on the night to have the binkie put back in. Thankfully it takes a quick second and we both go back to sleep.

I'm so hungry!





Likes:

• He loves to be changed and he loves to be naked! As soon as you put him on the changing table he immediately starts to smile. If for some reason he is crying and upset, you put on the table and VOILA we've got a changed kid.
• He loves to be talked to. This has started in the last couple days. He wants to have conversations all day long with people. With Grant and I, he'll start conversations and keep going. With others it takes him a while to get started. He seems to read people before he gives them the go ahead with any facial or verbal response.
• He loves to stand up and sit up. If he could stand up all the time he would. If he starts to get a little fussy, stand him up. As for sitting up, it won't be much longer til he is sitting up completely on his own. When he lays down he is constantly moving his neck upward so he can sit. Also, when you put him in his car seat. He will sit up, but realizes it's not too comfortable.
• He loves his ball. We got him this new ball a couple weeks ago and boy has it become his favorite. It used to be the purple cow toy, but he has since upgraded. He falls asleep with it in his hands. He has to have it with him in the car seat.
• When he is really tired he wants his binkie. I'm hoping we can keep it this way. I don't mind him having it when he's tired and ready to fall asleep. Let's hope it stays that way!
• When he's really tired he likes to be swaddled. It's actually a necessity for him to fall asleep. I know it is something we need to stop doing here in the near future due to the almost rolling over deal, but I don't really want to jump through that hoop quite yet.
• He loves to be on this toy mat. He loves pulling down the animals and putting them in his mouth. He thinks it's so cool to pull one animal down with this feet and another with his hands. This boy LOVES playing with his feet. Anything that gets near his feet is pulled/touched/felt.
• He LOVES his feet being touched/rubbed. It calms him down and flat out relaxes him to a tee. He is a little ticklish at first, but once you start rubbing them he gives a deep sigh of relief.
• He is starting to like tummy time. This has been a HUGE battle since day one. We didn't do it often because it ruined the whole day. Literally the moment you put him on his belly he would just scream. When you would pick him up he would continue to scream. It lasted FOREVER. Totally not worth it for us. We had him on his belly on our chests (the doctors told us this counts just as much) and called that good enough. Now it's a much better experience. He especially loves tummy time on our bed (I don't blame him. It's much softer than the rug.). He will crawl/scoot his way all over our bed. There is normally a drool trail all over the bed. He looks up for us, smiles and then lays his head flat on the bed like "Mom, aren't you proud of me?! But now that you believe I can do it, I think I'm done for now." It's the cutest thing.

He's going to be a soccer player like Daddy.

 

He's so proud of himself when he hits the buttons and makes the music play.

Dislikes:

• There isn't much right now that he doesn't like. He is pretty content throughout the day unless he is hungry or tired. He does not like to be ignored and has started freaking out when you walk away from him. He follows your every move and if your out of view he starts crying.
• He likes his new jumper, but after awhile gets upset in it. I think it's mostly because he gets bored of where he is out, notices there are other toys around it, but gets frustrated because he can't figure out how to get to it.

Personality:

• This kid is seriously going to keep our life interesting! He is the funniest kid and has the biggest attitude already. When he drinks his bottle he always folds his hands and places them on his chest. He is SO proper! It's like he is sitting politely (even though he is normally not too polite or patient) waiting for his supper. Well recently, he has started to hold onto the bottle. He wants to be a big kid so bad. He puts both his hands around the bottle and kind of pushes my hands out of the way like "Mom, I've got this." When that happens he stops drinking all together and just plays with the nipple. Half the time I let that go because I want him to figure out independence. Other times, I tell him it's my turn. At that point, I have to hold the bottle with one hand and hold down his hands with the other. It's quite an obstacle at times.
• He is 100% boy. He loves to be rough and tough with Daddy. Grant has recently discovered that Hutson LOVES to messed around with. Grant will grab his legs while he's on his back and turn him over facing the bed, quickly turn him back facing him, turn the other way facing the bed, and back to facing him again. Hutson laughs and smiles the entire time! He loves his Daddy because he is much more playful than me. Grant loves this stage. He admitted to me that he is much more excited for this stage because he is more responsive/interactive. Before Hutson just ate, peed, pooped, slept, and sat there. Now Grant loves to talk and play with him.
• He is unbelievably happy! The last couple of nights I have put him to bed, laid myself in bed and just ponder at how incredibly blessed I am to be his mom. We had some rough patches when he was two months old, but man he is the greatest kid (Yes, I know you all say the same thing. It's okay - I won't argue with you because I understand it comes with the territory). He loves me unconditionally. When days have been difficult at work or I have a negative thought all I need to do is look at that boy. My whole attitude changes. He lights up when he sees me. Especially when I have been at work all day. His dimpled smile melts my heart! He is very much an old soul kind of guy. When people see him they don't get much out of him, but it's because he soaks everything in. He reads people and environments. He takes everything in. When he gets comfortable you better watch out because your heart will melt just as much as mine has.