November 22, 6pm

JR and I went to the hospital on Saturday afternoon after talking to our Midwife. Because I had been having a lot of contractions for a few days, she wanted us to come in just to check on the baby to make sure baby was handling the contractions ok. We got to the hospital around 6pm and after monitoring the baby and finding out I was dilated to 5cm, we were admitted and staying!!
After walking the halls and little/no sleep Saturday night we welcomed Baby Reynolds #2 at 5:00am on Sunday November 23, 2008!

39 Week Appointment

I had my 39 week appointment today and I am now 3 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced. It is progress and I am excited about it. I am having a ton of contractions, some nauseau (which is common in labor - I was barfing throughout the entire labor with Hudson) and sharp pressure pain from the baby being so low. But nothing that lasts or turns into actual labor. So basically - the same as 2 weeks ago: ANY DAY NOW!
Tracy and I (33 weeks and 39 weeks) - possibly our last pregnant photo together since she is on her way to the airport to go to Costa Rica for a week!

Smarty Pants

I know that everyone thinks their own child is the cutest thing ever and the smartest thing ever and that is just fine (and as it should be as a parent!). I am no different. Because this blog is a journal that I want to look back at (and for our children to look back at) I feel I should write some of the things that Hudson has been doing lately. So if you dont want to read about how great I think my child is, you should skip this post!
Yesterday when we were walking into the store, he point down at the street where there was a turning arrow painted on the ground for cars and he said "triangle" (because the arrow was painted in two pieces - a triangle and a rectangle). Then he said "jeep" to a jeep parked in front of us. I asked him what shape the spare tire on the back of the jeep was, and he said "circle". He also knows squares, stars and sometimes rectangles.
He knows so many animals right now it is crazy. He knows what I consider to be the more difficult animals - like "hippos", "rhinos", "camels", "llamas" "peacocks" "cheetahs" and "porcupines". He knows the sounds and can act like a lot of the animals too. For example, he stands on one leg if you ask him to be a flamingo and beats his chest if you tell him to act like a gorrilla.
He has been singing his ABCs for a few weeks now too (even though L-M-N-O is a little blurry he picks right back up at P and finishes, including the "next time wont you sing with me" part).
He can count to 14 (there are 14 stairs in our house that lead to the second floor, so we all count on the way up).
Hudson can do matching as well. He finds two trains that are the same or matches flash cards that are the same and brings them over and excitedly says "Same, Mommy!" He also knows when two things are different and points that out when we are doing these matching games.
He is aware of how people are feeling and gets sad and really nice if someone is crying or upset. On Sunday, I had some really strong contractions and got up from the floor where I was playing with Hudson to lie on the couch. Hudson jumped up and put his hands on my cheeks (to look me in the eyes) and said "Mommy what happened? All better?" He was so worried that I did my best to act fine -- which was a lot easier considering how impressed I was with his reaction.
I know this is all normal stuff - kids are such sponges at this age - but it's always impressive when it is your own child learning and taking in everything that you spend HOURS each day doing over and over and over again (and over... and over... Haha - I swear I have memorized so many of his books from readng and re-reading the ones he picks out). I do know he is talking and communicating so much for his age and we are so proud of him. He amazes and surprises us every day. Now if he would only listen all the time and sit still for more than a few minutes....

9 1/2 Months

Uggghhhhh.



Where is Hudson (yes, that is my belly)?

Blow it Out Hudson

My mom's birthday was last week and we all met for dinner. Of course, Grandpa the photographer took 100 photos of the kids playing.






I showed Hudson this picture just now and he yelled "BLOW IT HUDSON!"

The Yardies

Hudson saw his first 'concert' this weekend. The Backyardigans at the OC Performing Arts Center - or as we refer to them around here - the 'Yardies'. Nice and short and kept the kids entertained even though Hudson did get scared in the beginning when the lights went out and he saw random looking people on stage start singing (yeah, they didnt really look like the actual Backyardigans at all - nor did they sound like them).

Full Term!

We made it to 37 weeks ~ full term! I see my doctor every week now and we are definitely at the final stretch. I have been getting a lot of sharp pressure really low. Because of this my doctor checked me at Thursday's appointment and discovered I was 75% effaced, 2 centimeters dilated and the baby is low (she felt the head and said it is engaged). The sharp pressure/pain happened when I was in her office and I told her - she felt my stomach and said I was having a contraction which was causing the baby's head to drop and put pressure on me. All of this means absolutely nothing about when this baby will come - but we know he or she is coming.
Speaking of "IT" -- not knowing the gender of the baby and calling him or her 'it' still gets REALLY hard at the end. I remember feeling this with Hudson since we didnt know he was a 'he' until he came out. My mind KNOWS a baby is coming but it is a little weird not knowing whether we will have a son or daughter. Of course, it was our choice not to find out the sex of the baby. We love not knowing and think it adds so much to the special birth day and we would choose not to find out again in the future but it is definitely harder at the end!
37 weeks also means the waiting game starts. In my opinion this is the hardest part about a pregnancy (aside from the HEAT). Consuming thoughts like "it could happen right now" fill my head at every moment of the day. People call to see if I answer and wonder if I am still pregnant. Honestly though, now that the weather has cooled down, I feel like I can handle being pregnant for awhile longer.

Pregnancy Recap:
Cravings - Lattes, Iced Tea, Grapefruit, cereal (Before you go and think that I didnt eat anything bad, know that I normally have a sweet tooth and that did not diminish because I was pregnant. I just wouldnt say it was a craving - I would say that is normal for me).
Avoided - Mexican food (much to JR's disappointment) and chicken
What I really miss since being pregnant - Running, sleeping on my stomach, regular clothes and wine.
What I gained being pregnant - the occasional foot rub, some heartburn and 30 lbs so far.

Looking Big...




And last, since the poll is over - 56% (36 people) of you think we are having a girl and 43% (29 people) think boy... we'll see!

Hudson is 19 months!

Our happy little boy at 19 months!

Happy Halloween!

Of course - it was only fitting for us to be the Thomas Family of trains.




We went downtown HB for a slide ride, the petting zoo and some candy. Hudson has literally never had candy and yet knew exactly what it was, all wrapped up in colorful wrapping. Every time someone gave something to him he immediately looked at us and yelled "OPEN PEASE!" with a huge smile (I tried to stay away from the chocolates and tried to stick with licorice type candy. Someone handed out fruit roll ups and I was the mom that was so excited - the other kids probably hated that 'candy').



We also carved some pumpkins the other night. Hudson colored on one. He was pretty interested for about 3 minutes and then we were left to finish our pmpkins on our own.

Thomas Obsession

Hudson's current obsession is trains. 'Choo-Choo' is often the first word we hear when he wakes up. When Hudson and I walk into Target, he starts yelling "Thomas! Where are you?" (more like "Where awe you?"). After spending ridiculous amounts on single trains, I have started buying sets of used trains on ebay. Here are a few photos. I forgot to mention he knows most of their names as well - and some of the names are weird, like 'Stepney' and 'Iron Arry' and 'Mavis.' These photos are not all the trains he has. I am sure I have 10 in my purse, another 5 in my car, a few at my aunt's house, some more at my mom's house, some in the bath (yes, there are water Thomas trains specifically for the bath) and at last a few under the couch and behind the tv. And these are just the 'Thomas' trains - he has other no-namers all around. And yes - he is wearing his Thomas pajamas and sitting on his Thomas blanket in this photo.

Our Crazy Son

Where does Hudson come up with this stuff?

Baby Morrison's OC Shower

We showered the upcoming arrival of Baby Morrison with love and presents this weekend with a brunch at my house. It was so much fun and I cannot wait for his/her arrival in January!



Everyone at the shower got creative and decorated a onesie to give to Baby Morrison. They turned out sooo good!!

Growing Bellies

Catt is 4 months pregnant here, Tracy is 7 months pregnant, and I am 8 and 1/2 months pregnant in this picture. Getting bigger!!

Family of 3

We took some family photos last week. Actually they were maternity/family photos - even though I was hoping for more family and less maternity this time around. Unfortunately, Hudson wanted NOTHING to do with the photos and only wanted to play. So wrangling him in and getting him to look semi-happy about it was nearly impossible. I am actually happy that we got a couple decent photos of all of us together! Next time we take family photos we wont be a family of 3 anymore!















Ok, so I really am completely happy that we got at least a couple family photos - but this is what most of the photos look like:

Pumpkin Patch with Gia

With Gianna and Hudson being so close in age, they have turned into the best of friends. They are obsessed with each other, they have so much fun together and it is sooo cute.
We went to a pumpkin patch and the kids ran around, went on rides and then went and ate their favorite dinner (Japanese -- edamame, tofu, miso soup and rice). They literally run around yelling each others' names the entire time: Hudson yells "Gia" and Gianna yells "Hud-man".
It is so fun to see them play and I cant believe Catt and I will have our second children at exactly the same amount of time apart as Gianna and Hudson. Baby Reynolds #2 is due Nov. 29th (Gianna's 2nd birthday is just a couple days before on Nov. 26th). And Catt is due with Baby #2 on March 30th (Hudson's 2nd birthday is a couple days after on April 3rd). The timing couldnt be more perfect and I am excited they will all be so close! Plus, Tracy and Adam's little one will fit right in the mix (due January 8th)!


The rides - such big kids now!!





Holding hands!!


Eating straight out of the bowl...


They love each other.


Skatin' around.


Relaxing before bedtime.