He's 4!!!!

Our first born turned FOUR years old on June 22nd. Hard to believe Hudsy is growing up so fast. Bittersweet. Per tradition, he woke up to balloons galore. See his first "fake" smile below.

 You would've thought it was this little guy's birthday for how excited he was to find a living room full of balloons! He got to play with them for about an hour while he patiently waited for the sleepy birthday boy to wake up (at 9:30!!).

 Second "fake" smile of the morning, while making blueberry muffins.

 He could NOT stop talking about his presents, he was over the moon excited to open them! First year that he's actually cared about opening presents so it was pretty fun watching him. And he was so nice to include his brother. Giving him one to open or letting him rip some paper, then telling him how much fun they were going to have playing together.

 Third "fake" smile, with his birthday blueberry muffin breakfast.

 Snuggles with Harlow. She sported a birthday cupcake shirt for him.

 The middle child couldn't give a good, genuine smile if he tried.

 Hudsy with his favorite person. No one beats Grandma! In fact, his restaurant of choice for his birthday supper was "the rice place" (known to most people as Chinese) because "my grandma loves it so much". He's a thoughtful 4 year old.

 Smoke bombs from Grandpa.

 These 2 love nothing more than to blow out birthday candles...over and over and over again!

Daddy bought Hudsy a tent...they camped in the living room.

It was a great birthday for Hudsy, and he'll celebrate all over again a couple more times with family. Birthdays never seem to end for these kids! But he's well worth it! He is an intelligent, mature, caring, high anxiety, nervous, and thougtful boy who doesn't like kissing his daddy because his whiskers scratch him so he insists he shave first, always wants his little brother to play with him, thinks Harlow should go back in Mommy's tummy so he doesn't have to hear her cry but still says she's HIS baby and no one else can have her and that she's beautiful/gorgeous/adorable, and always says I love you. The kid drives me absolutely crazy most days, but I'm sure lucky he's mine! 

Hi!!

She's getting stronger! Harlow LOVES looking around, so she'll actually tolerate tummy time for as long as her little head will stay up. A different view for her, and she usually smiles at silly mommy laying in front of her making funny sounds with a big, black camera in her face.

 And when she's done, she flops over.

Grandma Sharon and Morgan visited.

Dad's Day

Even though it is supposed to Dad's day, he got up and made breakfast with the boys. French toast and bacon. It was his plan so Mommy didn't want to intervene ;) Afterwards, the kids gave them their presents.

Daddy and his kids. Can you tell which one loves their Daddy the mostest?? That would be Paxton. He's Daddy's boy.

 The boys each wrote Daddy a letter (please ignore Harlow's expression).

Hudson's letter read: Happy Father's Day Daddy! I don't want to kiss you when you have whiskers on, sorry. I love you. I wanna watch a movie in the toy room. And maybe play Wii and go fishing. You are a good daddy, yea!

 Paxton's read: Happy Birthday, not happy Father's Day. I like you Daddy, ever, ever, ever. And Happy Father's Day. I wanna play bucky horse one more time.

 This little boy wants to be just like his daddy and do everything Daddy does! He cries when Daddy leaves and cheers when he gets home.

 Grandpa came over and brought some poppers (no idea what they're really called, but the things you throw on the ground and they pop). 

 Bedtime stories- Daddy and his boys.

Duck Days Parade

The whole family made it to Lake Crystal for the annual Duck Days parade. The boys were very excited, but someone should've warned Paxton that there might be a few guns shot off to start the parade, he was not a fan of the noise! I watched his whole body shake as he grabbed on to his daddy! Once those were over, he was good to go. Hudson got a bag full of cand and he never let it go!

 Little miss Harlow slept through the whole thing! All two and a half hours. Through the guns, the fire truck sirens, and the marching bands!!!

 Thanks Nordbys for inviting us out again!

in her crib

Harlow had her first little nap in her big crib. The boys were running around loud and crazy downstairs and Daddy was putting a new TV up in our bedroom, using loud tools, so we resorted to her own room. It was a quick little nap.....probably because Mommy was disturbing her by snapping a million pictures. But she looked so tiny...and not to mention adorable!

HUGS

Doesn't get much sweeter than walking into the living room and finding Paxton giving his sister a hug. Add in a little Mickey Mouse butt and I've melted. The boys are often pant-less in this house.

when its storming outside...

When we're stuck inside, Hudson thinks of lots of fun things to do....like jump off chairs onto pillows lined up across the living room! What could be better??

Toddler Bed

We turned Paxton's crib into a toddler bed tonight. We're a little late in doing it because he loves his crib and going to bed. He's been able to climb in and out for a while now but he never does when he's not supposed to. However, he is growing up and isn't my little baby in a crib anymore. We likely won't keep him in a toddler bed very long either and he'll move to a full size bed like his big brother.

 When he got over the fact that Daddy dismantled his cribbie, he tried it out and let his sister visit.

And right now, its midnight, he's been sleeping in his new bed for 3 hours....not a problem!! 

Sometimes pictures need no explanation.

our cute kids

a movie & the beach

Mommy and Daddy took the boys to Madagascar 3 (while Grandma stayed home with Harlow).

 It was Paxton's first movie ever. And ocne he figured out how to use his legs to keep his seat down, he was very interested in the big screen!

 Mom and her biggest boy. Hudson loves the Madagascar movies!

 We went through TWO LARGE buckets of popcorn!!!! It was devoured by Daddy and Paxton!

 Pax went to the bathroom twice while we were there and really enjoyed drying his hands.

And yesterday, Grandma and Aunt Sheri took the boys to Flandrau, or "the beach" as the boys call it. And once Daddy got home from fishing and could stay with Harlow, Mommy was able to join the boys too. They absolutely love it there!!!!

one month

Harlow is one month old- June 8, 2012

At one month old....
weight: 9-9.5 lbs (according to home scale)
length: 20.5 inches
diaper size: newborn
clothes: newborn
bottles: 3 oz. every 3 hours
Little things about Harlow.....
-she naps like a pro! usually 2-3 hours long, several times a day, awake for an hour in between
-wakes up once during the night to eat and falls right back to sleep (in a mini crib next to our bed)
-calms to the sound of mommy's voice (I sing "A Thousand Years by Christina Perri to her)
-her longest cry has been about 5 minutes long
-she likes laying on the floor looking out the window or at the TV
-she has been smiling, or at least trying to, for about 2 weeks
-every once in awhile she'll make an "oh" or "ah" sound
-she still likes the (stupid) Avent do-do (pacifier)
-she handles Paxton's rough squeezes and too tight hugs
-she sleeps best at night when swaddled
-she makes a grunting noise, when she's eating, trying to burp, and while sleeping. I call her "Grunter"
-whether she's tired or not, she'll fall asleep with the white noise machine on
-her Daddy calls her "Tootsie" (which prompts Hudson to want a tootsie roll every time he hears it!)
-she likes getting her diaper changed and getting dressed
-Mommy thinks she's the most beautiful girl EVER! Seriously.

just any ole' day

i love this girl so much, that on a normal day, when its just her and mommy, i end up taking lots and lots of pictures of her! i don't even realize i'm doing it until i go to load them onto my computer and see that i've taken 75 and its only the afternoon! but she's so darn cute....she's cute sleeping, eating, staring out the window (her favorite pastime)....she's cute doing EVERYTHING! so everything deserves a picture, wouldn't you agree.....

The Ahlness Girls

Now that summer has started, we have 2 of the 3 Ahlness girls home with us and we couldn't be more excited!! We welcome their company any day of the week! They are WONDERFUL help and AMAZING with the kids! Playing with the boys and taking such great care of baby Harlow! WE LOVE YOU GIRLS!!

Hunter made monster puppets with the boys. And today they jumped on the trampoline with the sprinkler on.

 Logan recently got back from a vacation in California and brought Harlow a t-shirt...it doesn't fit quite yet.

 And even though Maddi isn't home for the summer....we love you too!



homemade pizza

We made homemade pizza for supper tonight, and I must admit, doing this with the boys plus Harlow, felt like a small accomplishment for Mom!

  Harlow was a trooper and sat by in her rock n' play, staring out the window while the boys cooked.

 The two chefs.

like an angel

towel dried

Harlow enjoys getting dried off and lotioned up after bath time. Does anyone else see a hint of a smile??