Charlie at age 3

I can't believe you are 3 already. These past 3 years have gone by so fast. Here are some of my memories of you at 3:

You had to have a monster truck party. Monster trucks have been your favorite toy lately. You love to smash the trucks together.

You love numbers and will point them out whenever you see them (house numbers, clocks, etc). You are also learning all of your letters. You are able to recognize most of them.

Your favorite movie is Cars. You have watched it a million times. You like to sing "Life is a Highway" when it comes on, but you do not want anyone else singing it.

Your favorite shows are Wild Kratts and Dino Dan. You love to pretend to be the characters from the show. You and Daddy are Chris and Martin, the Kratt brothers. You pretend to have different creature powers and rescue animals. We have been on lots of Dino tracks looking for all the different dinosaurs like Dan. You enjoy performing dinosaur experiments with your tools (Mom's digital frame, Dad's iPod, etc)

You are a wonderful big brother. You adore your little brother. He receives 100 kisses from you every day. You enjoy holding him and every time he starts crying you inform Mom that he is hungry.

Your favorite colors are blue and orange like your bedroom.

Shorts and a short-sleeve t-shirt are your choice in clothing. You like to change clothes as soon as you get home from Lori's. You are very particular about what shoes you wear. It has to be the pair that you are in the mood for even if they don't match.

Playing outside is a nightly event. Baseball, golf, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, basketball, anything that you can do outside, you enjoy doing.

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of the boy that you are becoming. 

Sharing

Hudson and I picked Charlie up from daycare. When we got home, Charlie wanted to eat his snack from daycare. So Charlie is eating his cookie gripz and Hudson is sitting in his bouncy seat in the living room. I was putting dishes in the dishwasher when Charlie yells, "Mommy, I sharing".

"What are you sharing?", I ask.

"My snack"

"Who are you sharing with? The puppy?"

"No, my baby brother!"

"Did you put it in his mouth?"

"Yes"

At this time, I sprint across the living room and hook the little cookie out of his mouth. Luckily, Hudson had been sleeping so the cookie hadn't gone past his lips. Charlie and I had to have a talk about how babies don't eat food, only milk.

Little Brother

This little boy has kept his mother on her toes the first few days.  He was very tired the day we came home. Slept most of the day. That night, he was up every hour eating like crazy. The next day he was very tired in the afternoon, but when night time came he was wide awake and eating like crazy. He was eating for an hour to an hour and a half at a time. This afternoon, he slept great again. Hopefully tonight goes better.

Coming Home

We couldn't wait to bring Hudson home. I was starting to go a little stir-crazy in the hospital. I had everything packed up and ready to go when the doctor showed up at 8:30 that morning. We ended up getting home around 11:00. We had such wonderful doctors and nurses during our stay but it is nice to be back at our house.

 His hospital picture pose.

 Snug in his carseat.

 As soon as we got home, Aaron ran over to give him kisses. He has been very good with the new baby.

 Hudson was very sleepy all day from his circumcision. That let me take a nice nap!

I walked over to pick up Charlie from daycare. He was so excited to see his new baby brother. He ran the whole way home. He came into the house and immediately gave him a big kiss. Later, Daddy and Charlie went outside to play. Every 5 minutes Charlie would come inside to check on Hudson. 

My 4 boys!

Hudson had slept most of the day, so he decided to make it up during the night. He was up eating almost every hour. He had lots of poopy diapers throughout the night. I did not get much sleep, but that was ok. 

Hospital Stay

We have had a few busy days in the hospital. Many wonderful visitors have come to see Hudson. 

 Proud Daddy shortly after Hudson is born. 

 First time Mommy gets to hold him.

 Uncle Josh and Auntie Kelsey

 Proud Grandparents

 Papa holding Hudson while Big Brother watches on.

 Nana and Papa

 Kasey, Lisa, Brooks, and Claire came to visit. 

 Charlie and Brooks always have a great time playing and eating together.

 Great-Grandpa Bill

 Snuggling with Mommy

 Charlie opening Mommy's Mother's Day gift. Charlie and Daddy  made muffins and a fruit salad to bring me on Mother's Day. They also gave me a Willow Tree angel of a mother with two sons.

 Daddy and Charlie sharing lunch in Mommy's room.

 Mommy and Charlie sharing lunch.

 Turner visiting with Peg and Tanya.

 Great-Grandma E.

Reading a book to Charlie and Hudson.

Brotherly Love

Charlie has been such a big brother. He is so proud of his little brother. He wants to hold him, hug him, kiss him, and "pet" him.

Hudson's Delivery

Hudson's due date was Sunday, May 1st. Well that came and went by. On Wednesday, our doctor decided to induce me on Friday, May 6th. Corey and I arrived at the hospital at 7:00 Friday morning. They got us all checked in. When our doctor stopped by he informed us that they had another patient that was going in for an c-section. She had been trying to deliver for hours and couldn't.  They asked if they could push back our induction until 10:00am. That was fine with us. The nurse checked the babies heartbeat and checked me for contractions. Hudson sounded good, and I was having some contractions, but they were not strong enough for me to feel.

At 9:45, the nurse came and informed me that Dr. Halvorson was here and ready to do my induction. I got changed and the nurse started prepping me. She was watching Hudson't heart rate and my contractions. All of a sudden, she asked me to roll onto my left-side and she put an oxygen mask over my face. She paged Dr. Halvorson and when he got there he said that Hudson was not happy. For some reason his heart rate was dropping really low when I had a contraction. They watched the heart rate and contractions a little while longer and it continued to happen. Dr. Halvorson said I needed to have a c-section to be safe. They did not know for sure what was causing the heart rate to drop.

They began prepping me immediately for surgery. All of the nurses and doctors were amazing. They always informed me on what they were doing and why. I was taken to the surgery room.   Here they gave me a spinal tap so I was numb from the breast line and down. They began surgery as soon as possible and Hudson was born at 10:55 am. It took only a little over an hour from when they discovered that Hudson was not happy to have him taken out. They found out he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice. So during every contraction, his blood supply was being reduced. He was not injured or harmed from this happening, but something could have happened if I would have tried delivering.

Hudson William Kratcha was born at 10:55am on Friday, May 6th, 2011.
He was 8 lbs. and 2 oz. and measured 20 inches long.

Hudson and Mommy have been doing great!