Hudson's Nautical First Birthday Party

His birthday party was a success! Too much time, stress and money went into it, but I am so glad we did it. He had a great time and it was so nice to have everyone in the same room that loves him.

Saturday was his birthday, and we spent that giving him our gifts...

I worked way too long on that hat that he wouldn't keep on for 3 seconds...

Too much fun. Sunday was his party! I think it turned out adorable, but that's just me. It was on Morse Lake, so we had a nautical theme.

Well, you can't tell here. But those are burlap pennants that say "Happy Birthday Hudson". :)

 Biggest hit of the party: For the kids to play with, and for the adults to watch this cuteness.

 and...again. This happened through the whole party. SERIOUSLY adorable.

All in all, I'm so glad I did it, but will not be doing it again! (At least that's what I say now). I was up until way too late working on party supplies for too many nights in a row! (Fish shaped crayons? Yes! I better make 40 since there will be one kid there that can color).  But, it was worth it to have everyone together! You live and learn I guess. I blame pintrest for all the unreachable birthday decoration goals!!! 

Happy One Year to my best little friend!

11 Months!

Hudson is 11 months old today! This month he is being extra cute-he says "Mamma" (kinda) and "Hi" (kinda). He waves and says hi to the animals every morning. He claps and smiles when we say "yay!" and copies everything we do. He tries to eat everything we are eating so it's getting harder and harder to eat crap :) He pushes his trucks and trains across the floor which is the. cutest. thing. ever. He had his first vacation this month and he was a champ! He is on the go constantly and never sits still. He's so much fun right now! But he's always been fun. Here's this months weekly photos:

Last weeks picture was taken at the hotel in Michigan! His Aden and Anais blanket was our fabric for that. I can't believe he turns one in a month...it's unbelievable. Here's a few more cute pictures of him this month:

Love him!

Michigan Vacation

We just got back a few days ago from our first family vacation! It was only 3 nights and a 4 hour drive, but it was great.

Ready for his first vacation!

We got there Tuesday (my birthday!) and really only had time to check into our hotel and go get something to eat. We drove around Saugatuck to check it out and ate at a yummy and not very kid friendly restaurant. We scarfed our $80 meal down so we could get Hudson to bed. It was worth it because he said Mama at dinner!!! And of course I cried. He said it at least 4 times and reached for me, so Imma count that as his first word.

Playing with the sunlight to keep him entertained during our fancy dinner

Wednesday we drove to Saugatuck and "hiked" the dunes (as best we could with a stroller) to a beach, and I was blown away at how beautiful the water was. I expected it to be smelly and murky like the lake water here, but it was as clear and beautiful as any Florida beach I've been on. We weren't really expecting to get to a beach when we got there so we didn't have any of our beach stuff with us. Hudson was dying to get in the water. We let him put his feet in but he stood with one leg up like a flamingo because it was cold.

Then we walked around and shopped in Saugatuck, and had lunch outside on the lake. It is such a cute town! It looked like it was from a movie.

Seriously!! Look at that kid! Obviously he was loving vacation. 

After that we went to another beach so we could actually get in, and Hudson LOVED it. I was afraid he wouldn't want anything to do with the beach, or would just want to sit and eat the sand, but he crawled all around the beach and even made a sand castle with his dad.

We had so much fun at the beach we were hoping to do it again the next day, but Thursday it rained and was a little chilly, and there was a warning against getting in the water because the current was too strong. We walked around the town of Holland for the day instead, and we really loved it there! I wish we would have had more time, and would have been able to go to Holland's beach because we heard it was great. Next year! We went to a steak house for dinner on our last night and were absolutely exhausted. So was Hudson so it should have been no surprise that he was terrible all through dinner. Except for a few short minutes when we clapped and said "yay!" his new favorite thing.

We got back to our hotel and were all asleep by 7 pm that night. We got up in the morning and stopped for the MOST delicious cinnamon rolls I've ever had, and headed home.

As usual we had a blast but it was good to be home. Danny went back to work today so that was no fun. Back to reality! But that's still pretty good :)