Let's Pretend Christmas was Yesterday

Jaden and Bradli are supposed to be asleep (I can still hear them talking), my Mom is cuddling with Hudson, Doug is on a business trip in FL, so I thought I would play a little catch-up.  Is it weird that I can barely remember my life before Hudson, so I better remind myself about the wonderful Christmas we had before our little Hudson was born.

On the 23rd Doug's sister Monica and her family drove in from UT for Christmas.  That night we all went to Winter Wonderlights at the Wildlife Experience.  The kids loved seeing the reindeer and all the magical lights. 

On Christmas Eve we went over to Doug's parents house for dinner.  I would post some pics but Doug had the camera and all he did was take pics of us putting food in our mouths- not soooo pretty!!  We were surprised by a visit from Santa, which got the kids even more excited for the big day.

Jaden was all about Santa, while Bradli kept her distance.

Crew was not a fan of the man in the red suit.  Poor little guy!

After the Santa excitement we watched a DVD on Christ's Birth, acted out the Nativity with hand puppets, and then opened a couple gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.  

All the kids LOVED the snow globes they got.

Crew really loved his snow globe- YUM!!

New Christmas jammies.

That night, Jaden was very excited to leave a note for Santa with some cookies, chocolate milk, and carrots for the reindeer.

My favorite was the drill he left for the elves so they could open the glass on the fireplace.  He was very concerned that Santa wouldn't be able to get in the house otherwise.

We had a wonderful Christmas morning at our house and Santa did not disappoint!

My parents had Santa deliver Jaden's new Stampede gun.  Lucky him!  It came with 60 darts and weighs about as much as he does.

 

Jaden was sooooo excited every time he got a Lego.  Let the building begin!

Miss B was all about her Play-Doh.

After playing for a little while and getting dressed, we did iChat with my family as the kids opened gifts from each other.  Thank goodness for technology.  The next best thing to not being able to be with family.  Afterwards, we headed over to Doug's parents house for round 2.  The kids were excited to get to see Crew, their favorite little buddy.

Jaden loved his new Pillow Pet!

Grandma and Grandpa surprised B with a princess scooter that was quite a hit.  B would rather have Jaden drive her around, since she had a hard time not running into things- oops!!

The 3 kiddos took it for a wild ride around the basement.

The baby bump 2 days before the delivery.

Monica and Preggers

Papa Joel and Crew

We had a wonderful Christmas day and felt very blessed!  The blessings would continue as we would have Hudson on the 27th!!

We've Been in a Baby Coma

Hudson Reed Brown

Born on December 27th at 1:25pm
7 lb. 5 oz. and 20 in. long

This was by far the best delivery I have ever had. It was sooo exciting not knowing the sex, even though we both thought it was going to be a boy. I had the exact same labor as I had with Jaden- all in my back, so when Doug said, "It's a boy!" I thought, "well of course". Before we knew Bradli was a girl, we had the name Hudson picked if she was a boy, so we have always had the name Hudson on our mind. I really wanted his middle name to be after my Grandpa Ernie Reed who passed away in 2008. His b-day was on the 24th, so to honor him, we decided to give Hudson Reed as his middle name. It fits him perfectly and I really think my Grandpa would be pleased. We hope Hudson has many of my Grandpa's wonderful qualities, like his love of life and family.

The ERNIE REED

Oh and BTW, Hudson looks exactly like Jaden but with less hair-CRAZY!! The kids were a little nervous seeing me in the hospital with my IV and all the other crazy gadgets, but warmed up rather quickly. I have quite the little helper on my hands. Bradli just loves Hudson and has been asking lots of questions. She wanted to know if he came with clothes and when my neighbor asked her, she said, "He came with jammies on." She can't get over how little he is and his black hair, since she tells everyone she has blonde hair. I won't even discuss her many questions when it comes to nursing the little guy- HILARIOUS!!

Jaden has been quite the big brother. In the hospital he would say, "What's that little guys name again?". We would tell him Hudson and then he would say, "Oh yeah, Hudson Reed Brown." He freaks out when Hudson opens his eyes, since he's usually asleep and loves to see his little hands and feet.

Our first family pic as a family of 5

Doug's sister Monica and her family were in town for Christmas and were a wonderful help. Jaden and Bradli stayed with them at Grandma and Grandpa's house and had the best time. Uncle Joel was quite the trooper spending many hours building Legos with Jaden.

Marc and Karen saved us by taking the older kiddos for us while we were in the hospital. The kiddos had the best time. When we got home from the hospital, Doug got sick with the flu so Jaden and Bradli were off to Grandma and Grandpa's again. We were so thankful for their willingness to help us. Things were getting a little crazy with a sick Dad, a new baby, 2 very active kids, and a Mom feeling overwhelmed!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Marc and Karen for coming to our rescue.

My girlfriend Desi came by to see the little man.

Going home with our new babe

All ready to go home!

My sister Lisa came to help for a few days which was beyond wonderful! She did come with some rules, like no crazy adventures, lots of sleeping for me, she would be cooking, and no leaving the house. Well, I listened to most of her rules, but did get her to go to Costco and a night out for dinner and a little shopping. Who says there's no bending of the rules??!!

B thinks it's hilarious when Hudson has the hiccups! Love her and love him!!

My Mom comes tomorrow and we are super excited. She may be coming with some rules of her own, but once again, rules are made to be broken:)

Photogenic?

We tried to get a pic of the kiddos in their Christmas clothes after church.
This is how it went:

WHATEVER!!!

What do you think?

Possible Christmas Card Picture??!!

This Santa was Legit!

On Saturday Doug was in Moab with some buddies doing this:

and this!
Let's just say, his last ADVENTURE before #3 comes!!
Every time I would call him the first thing he would say was, "Are you in labor?" Oh honey, you WILL be here when I'm in LABOR!!!

So I took the kiddos to see Santa at the Outlet Mall by our house. Jaden has been begging to see him and the huge tree, so we headed over. We were the only ones there on a Saturday afternoon- CRAZY!! Santa sat with us for over 10 minutes reading 2 stories and talking to the kids. He was the REAL deal and thank goodness because Bradli was NOT a fan until NOW!

I love this pic of Bradli and the Man in the Red Suit- priceless!

B would listen intently to every word he said.

Don't worry about my "gangster" son. He wouldn't take his hood off the entire time- whatever, I guess you pick your battles!

On the 1st we busted out our annual Gingerbread House from Costco. The best thing about this house is the fact that the house in now pre-assembled. Doug was very happy about that! No more falling walls. The kids love decorating it and sneaking a few candies along the way!

Christmas here we come!

P.S. Something I don't want to forget: I got out of the shower the other day (I know, bad visual and TMI) and Jaden said to me, "You didn't use to have those." AWESOME!!