Happy Halloween!

On Sun., Oct. 28th we enjoyed a quit day of church & carving pumpkins!  Our neighbor Bill had a huge pumpkin patch and we got 4 pumpkins, one for each of us!  Here's Dad & I cleaning them out and Hudson having fun making noise with the bowls and carving utensils!

Here's Mom & I doing the other two: 

I decided to carve a happy face, as not too fond of "scary", and of course I told Dad we needed to add ears!  Yep, I carved "ears" on all our pumpkins!

Here's Hudson playing with all the insides; he wasn't sure if he liked it or not but he kept going back for more!  He didn't try to eat it like I did my first year.

Here we are all done & ready for supper.  We made two faces, an I State of course and a Yoda one to match our costumes this year!

All light up!

On Oct. 29th Hudson pulled himself up at DC for the first time and as you'll read Hudson pulled himself up at home on Oct. 30th!  On Halloween, Oct. 31st, our Little Sprouts class joined the Tiny Tots class for a Halloween party and trick-or-treating!  We got to bring our costumes to daycare and around 10:00 a.m. we went around the Ag Building to all the businesses.  We got so many fun treats and for my special treat we made bags with Halloween themed apple cider, Halloween Micky Mouse stickers/tattoos and fun Halloween pencils.  After DC Mom picked us up and we met Dad at home to go trick-or-treating!  What a fantastic fall to have Dad done early and get to with us.

2012 Family Theme: Star Wars!  I was Luke Skywalker, Hudson was Wicket the Ewok and Kato was Yoda!  We had trouble getting Kato in his costume in time for pics before we headed out so here's us boys before we left on Halloween...

and here's all 3 of us Star Wars characters a little later (*as you can tell as Hudson now has glasses!)... 

Looking good don't you think?

   

We enjoyed seeing Grandma Betty, Grandma & Grandpa Prestegard, Aunt Patty & Uncle Butch and even getting our pictures professionally taken with Bennett's Mom, Kim, who Hudson & Mom met at their ECFE class.  Hudson had a fun first Halloween and did great trick-or-treating.  Didn't get scared and enjoyed crawling around no matter where we went.  I enjoyed having my light saber as it glowed!  Here's our family: 

Hope you had a very Happy Halloween too!

Standing Tall!

While I was getting my P.J.'s on Hudson surprised Mom & me by pulling himself up in a standing position on his bookcase!  Yep, Hudson is now standing tall all on his own.  He's been standing for awhile however first time pulling himself up to do it.  Way to go Hudson! 

2012 Fall Fun!

Since Wed., Oct. 10th Hudson has been doing great and the best news, no ear infections!  Tubes seem to agree with him and hopefully this means all will be right.  On Oct. 11th at daycare I got to use a real hammer and crack coconuts for tasting.  Wasn't a huge fan of the taste but loved using the hammer!  Hudson has been showing off his fancy new standing skills and loves to venture over to say, "Howdy" to his daycare friends sitting in saucers as perfect standing height!  On Fri., Oct. 12th we got new Halloween P.J.'s that glow in the dark!  Pretty fun going to bed now - don't even need a night light.  Here we are showing off our new P.J.'s:

On Sat., Oct. 13th I woke up to make a gingerbread haunted house with Mom.  Not sure if the best part was eating the frosting or the candy.  Here I am decorating the front windows:

Here's the finished project; "TaDa!!!"

After naps Hudson, Mom & I met Grandma Judy at the Bricelyn Prairie River Camp Corn Maze.  It was beautiful outside and we had fun getting lost in the maze.  It was kind of a bumpy ride for Hudson in the stroller but he did great for his first trip. 

About to enter the maze if we dare...

They had a pumpkin patch for picking but we enjoyed just playing around...

Afterwards we enjoyed playing with all their toys and play equipment.  Loved swinging! 

On Sun., Oct. 14th after church & naps we met the Grunden's in Mankato for some fall fun.  We first had fall pictures at Drummer's Garden Center and then to the mall for the indoor playground.  Baby Olivia (*2 months older than baby Hudson) enjoyed playing with the floor toys while Katelyn (*3 months older than me) enjoyed playing on the big kid equipment.  Afterwards we had dinner at Applebee's; we had a blast and can't wait to have family fun time with them again soon!  Here are some of our fall pictures: 

For some reason I liked sticking my tongue out?!

Like our personalized tractor pulling a pumpkin wagon shirts?  Mom is addicted to Esty.com!

Here's Katelyn & I:

On Mon., Oct. 15th Hudson enjoyed another ECFE Babytime class with Mom while I went to Ms. Megan's house.  I had a blast going to the park & raking/jumping in leaves and Hudson had fun playing and doing a hand/footprint project.  Note they cleaned Hudson up with water & Dawn dish soap and of course he had an allergic reaction!  Broke out into hives all over and unfortunately by the next day they weren't gone so he had to go to the doctor for some medicine.  Dad however now likes to joke that Hudson is allergic to Grandma Dawn as well, which Grandpa Mark gets a kick out of, however, he (we) love Grandma Dawn very much!  Even with all the craziness his first art project turned out great; here it is:

At daycare on the 16th & 17th I enjoyed learning about mixing colors at daycare and of course my favorite to mix, red & yellow!  I love my Cyclones.  We've also been enjoying our nice fall weather and I've been loving our newest daycare toy, a push lawn mower.  We even use it in the gym with "pretend grass".  Mom had to work on the 19th so we had an extra day of DC fun and Hudson had his first wrestling match.  The "Hudson's", yep, there is now another little baby Hudson at DC and they like to hang out or rather, crawl together.  Apparently they got a little tangled today trying to navigate the floor and both got lots of belly laughs.  I had lots of laughs too as we played with shaving cream today and even used it as "mortar" in between our play bricks.  It was even more fun knocking everything over - what a mess!  After our extra day of DC Dad & Mom picked us up together and we got to visit Grandpa-Great, Albert, at the hospital.  He was doing better and it was nice to see him & Great Aunt Patty.  We then got to go out to eat at the new Chinese restaurant in Blue Earth.  Man, I love crab rangoons and fortune cookies!  Afterwards we had family movie night & watched Madagascar 3.  I love the zebra and his crazy rainbow Afro.  What a funny movie.

 

The rest of the weekend was low key just hanging out at home & playing outside a lot.  I helped Mom winterize and clean/put away our outdoor toys including our pool.  I was a little bummed about that.  I did love making huge piles of leaves and pulling my wagon all over while we picked up sticks.  Hudson had fun outside too and we loved being pulled together in our wagon.  Only problem was we couldn't fit Kato in but he was a good dog & followed us all over the yard.

 

The week of Oct. 22nd we enjoyed a very quit week.  No ECFE class this week and just gymnastics on Tuesday as normal.  After daycare on Thurs., Oct. 25th Grandma Anne met us for dinner and I got to go to her house!  Mom had board meetings in Ames so Hudson & I both got spoiled with Grandma time.  On Friday, Oct. 26th Hudson spent the day solo at Grandam Judy's while I was at Grandma Anne's.  Then Hudson got lots of Daddy time Friday night and today.  Today, the 27th Grandma took me to meet Mom for ISU's 100th Homecoming and I had so much fun.  Best part of the weekend was getting to see lots of friends and family although ISU winning 35 to 21 against Baylor wasn't bad either!  Mom had a great time at her events and even got a picture with the Butter Cy!  Here she is with Cy and friends, Matt, Adam & Ben: 

It's nice to be home again, in my bed and with my family.  Up next craving pumpkins!

Hudson 11 Months Old!

Here's the happenings of Hudson's 11 month; can't believe only 1 month left and he's a 1 year old!:

• He's more and more mobile; at this point he can get into a sitting position from his stomach, loves to stand and is working on pulling himself up.  Of course major milestone of crawling for the first time this month on Oct. 6th!  New trick is crawling after you so you pick him up!
• He loves to clap, play patty cake and we're working on waving bye-bye and pointing.  Gets lots of belly laughs at peek-a-boo, tickling and just being silly.  He likes to rough house with big brother, Mommy & Daddy.  Even likes to go after Kato!
• Still only says, "Mama", however getting more vocal when displeased or very happy.
• He still loves to inspect things and put things in mouth however less of baby toys and more of big boy toys like trucks, tractors and loves to "play ball" either rolling it and/or hitting it up & down.
• We think he's starting to understand the word "no" however already starting to ignore it!
• This past month had lots of firsts from surgery to football.  We enjoyed Hudson's first ISU football game at Jack Trice on Sept. 29th, first eye doctor visit & full exam on Oct. 1st with prescription for glasses, first bath as brothers on Oct. 2nd, took Daddy to Center Creek Orchard for the first time on Oct. 7th, tube surgery for both ears on Oct. 10th and even did baby ECFE classes with Mommy on Monday nights for some one-on-one time.
• Tried more finger foods like baby cheese puffs, fruit, veggies and different types of crackers & toast.  Started drinking from a sippy cup at daycare too!

Hudson gets Tubes!

Early this morning around 4:45 a.m. Daddy, Mommy & Hudson left for Mankato for his surgery.  He slept the entire ride there and was ready to go, as you can see, for pre-ops at 6 a.m.!

Since he was the youngest he was up first and he loved crawling around & playing in the crib.  Wasn't too sure of his "gown" as a little big but we think did like the freedom of it! 

Too cute with his little diaper hanging out! 

Didn't have to wait too long but it was fun going on wagon rides while we waited.  Hudson loved looking around and seeing or flirting with all the nurses!  Around 7:10 a.m. they took him back for the procedure and he didn't cry at all.  The procedure seemed so quick and Dr. Pearson came back to give an update which she felt it went really well and was glad we did it as he did have a lot of fluid built up.  She felt he should have hearing gain right away and be prepared in case a little startled by noises at first.  Everything may be magnified for a little bit.

After recovery was a little out of it due to the anesthesia and a little grumpy but didn't last too long. Did love cuddling with Mommy & watching a little TV. Soon after a bottle he seemed to perk up a bit and was a little happier. He slept the entire ride home and dozed on & off for the afternoon.

By mid-afternoon he was ready to go again & play!  Here's our happy little man!  What surgery?!  He'll get drops now for the next 5 days, needs to watch what he eats for 24-48 hours and we have to be careful with baths for a week but overall very successful so far.  Hopefully helps him in the long run and no more ear infections!  Yeah Hudson!  Hudson has post-ops check-up on the 20th and Hayden even goes for his 6 month tube check the same day. Hopefully will learn all looks good. 

Hayden did great overnight at Grandma Judy's and had a great breakfast with her this morning.  He played at daycare in the corn sensory table and even played kitchen with the toy food.  Was very excited to see Hudson & Mommy at pick-up and had a great night at home.  So blessed to have two healthy, happy little boys! 

Sunday Fun With Dad!

On Sun., Oct. 7th we took Daddy to the Center Creek Orchard and we had a blast!  It was nice going back as we didn't have time to do everything our first trip.  I loved showing Dad the trike track, the corn pile, play houses and bouncy houses.  Here I'm showing Daddy how to go down the 80 foot slide; note we were racing & I won!

It was a little chilly out so we had bundled Hudson up; he was such a trooper watching me play in the bouncy houses, with trikes, etc.  We did break him out later though! 

Here's Hudson, Mommy & I as we are all about to enter the "maze".  I had a blast running around and going down dead ends.  At one point I think Dad said he didn't think there was a way out but we found it.  We even got Hudson giggling as pushing him along.

How I've grown since last year!  I was just at 3 feet last year and now almost 3 1/2 feet!

Here's us boys waiting for the tractor hayride!  Yep, Hudson got his first hayride and didn't get scared at all.  He was a champ and I loved the John Deere tractor driving us.

We got to go on pony rides too!  The pony we rode was 3 years old and very gentle.  I climbed right on and held on.  Wasn't scared a bit.

Here's Mommy taking Hudson on his pony ride and he loved inspecting the saddle.  Didn't seem concerned once while on the ride; most likely because I, big bro, walked along side the entire time!  Mommy says I was very protective, good brother.

We had such a fun day and ended it with another football win; yep, our Vikings won too!  What a fun filled, yet, relaxing weekend. 

 

On Mon., Oct. 8th we both had great days at daycare; I hung out in the preschool room and got to have a play date with McKinley after daycare.  We had a blast going to the park, playing in the leaves and just running around.  Hudson had a good day too, however, Mom picked him up early to meet with Dr. Pearson, same doctor who did my tubes, to see if Hudson needs them too.  Good & bad news; bad news is that after 3 rounds of meds (*finished last round this past Thursday) he still had a double ear infection when Dr. Pearson examined him!  Good news is we have a plan to correct this which is he'll have tubes put in this Wednesday, Oct. 10th by Dr. Pearson first thing in the morning so he won't have to go on any more meds.  Poor little guy but hopefully he'll feel better before we know it!

 

Today, Tues., Oct. 9th we made spider webs and Brooklyn's Dad brought over one of the city fire trucks!  We got our own junior fire fighter hats, fun coloring books & safety tip books, and learned all about fire safety.  I even got to go on the fire truck & do the horn.  I should mention for October our units are Oct. 1st - 5th was Fall Leaves; 8th - 12th Fire Prevention; 15th - 19th Harvest & Buddies; 22nd - 26th Pumpkins & Spiders and the 29th - Nov. 2 - Halloween, Black, Orange & White (*most importantly our Halloween Party on the 31st!).  Can't wait to show you our costumes!  Hudson had a good day too, even with ear infections, and seems ready for his surgery...more to come soon.  I'm heading over to Grandma Judy's for the night as Mom, Dad & Hudson need to leave really early...thanks for all the prayers & we'll keep you posted.

Hudson Crawling!

So this morning Mom & I got Hudson up for breakfast and then decided to play for a bit on the floor in the living room.  The next thing Mom & I know Hudson is crawling, yep, on all 4's, towards the DVD player (*it has a light)!  We thought it may just have been a near sighting at first but then he started crawling everywhere!  Don't worry I'm helping Mom keep Hudson safe telling him what to touch or not touch, etc.  I'm a good helper.  Watch out though my little brother is on the move!

Here I am telling Hudson, "No, we can't play with the DVD player".  A skill Hudson picked up going to his first ISU game was clapping!  We had been working on it but something clicked a the game and ever since whenever he's happy he claps!  After he crawled was pretty proud of himself and yep, clapped away!  Way to go Hudson! 

Today we enjoyed a wonderful day at home & even got to watch our Cyclones beat TCU in a major upset 37 to 23!  Clones were amazing forcing 5 turnovers, TCU was a 14.5 point favorite & ranked 13th which means this is the first time ISU has beaten ranked teams in 3 straight seasons!  Most importantly ISU ended the longest winning streak in major college football for TCU at 12 games.  This is also the first time TCU has lost a conference game since 2008.  So proud of our Cyclones and Coach Rhoads for all their hard work and determination.  Can't wait til next Sat. vs. K State. You can do it - go Cyclones!

Hudson's 1st ISU Football Game!

On Sun., Sept. 23rd we joined family & friends at St. Luke's to celebrate Great, Great Grandma Doris' 100th birthday!  What a special occasion to get together.  Here's Hudson, Daddy & Grandma Doris catching up: 

We were blessed to have so many members of the Prestegard family present and even got a 5 generations picture with the four of us, Grandma Doris, Great Grandma Alice & Grandpa Omar Prestegard and Grandpa Allen Prestegard.  5 Generations - Wow!

On Mon., Sept. 24th we began our fall unit on apples & I spent another day in the Pre-school / Explorer's Room.  We learned & sang about Johnny Appleseed, colored pictures and even used real apples to paint apples!  Here's my masterpiece! 

Coming up in our room will be "Sharing Days"; this is when we take a sharing bag home & place something of ours inside to share during morning group time.  We'll learn to speak in front of a group of friends, get & give positive encouragement, take turns and continue to develop our language.  I look forward to my sharing day coming up soon!  The main concepts we're also learning about include the color yellow & the shape triangle.  We'll have to find an item that fits that for a sharing day coming up too - connect school to home.  We're working on self-control, following rules, expressing emotions and what it means to be a "friend".

 

I've continued to enjoy gymnastics on Tuesday nights and here's me on Tues., Sept. 25th (*Hudson's 10 month birthday!).  This time I wasn't nervous about the high bar or trampoline at all! 

I love running across the beam and doing the bear crawl on it too.  We're now learning to walk sideways and backwards on it which is much tougher.  Here I'm getting a helping hand from Ms. Erica, my teacher.

 One of my favorite things at DC this week was on Thursday, Sept. 27th we read fun stories about coconuts and even got to taste some!  I didn't mind it too much but preferred the coconut water.

 

 On Fri., Sept. 28th Hudson & I went down to Waterloo, IA to visit Grandma & Grandpa Sergeant.  We had fun playing for awhile & enjoyed a late bedtime!  On Sat., Sept. 29th we got to sleep in & then play the morning away before we headed to Ames, IA for Hudson's first ever Iowa State tailgate & football game at 6 p.m.   Here's us boys hanging out with Grandpa Scott.  Grandpa's good friend Bob from St. Louis also came up to watch the game so it was fun to share time with him too.

Here we go Cyclones!

Hudson & Mommy ready to cheer for his first game!

What a handful!  Grandma Anne with us boys trying to stand & cheer after our first touchdown!  Unfortunately the Cyclones lost to Texas Tech 24 to 13 and record is now 3 - 1.  Oh, well hopefully next weekend we'll beat TCU!  Hudson did great the whole game & the noise nor the crowd frightened him.   We left shortly after halftime but loved watching the band before we went.  The day was beautiful and we couldn't have asked for a better day.

On Sun., Sept. 30th we all went to the John Deere 13th Annual 5K event.  Mommy raced in the 5K with her good friend from college, Kristi O'Brien and even shaved a couple of minutes from her last race time although haven't seen results yet.  We enjoyed time with Grandma & Grandpa, got balloon animals, played on the bouncy castles & slides, checked out tractors and even got to go to the tractor store.  I got lucky & got a harvester semi-truck!  Hudson got a baby John Deere Barney the Backhoe tractor.  What a fun weekend.  The best part was coming home to Daddy on Sunday and having some family time together.  We miss Daddy this time of year.

On Mon., Oct. 1st Mommy took Hudson to the eye doctor after being referred during his 9 month appointment with Dr. Morris.  Poor guy had to have his eyes dilated and everything.  We learned that he's a little more far sighted than average and even got measured for glasses.  At this point we're going to continue to watch him as there is some concern for slight cross-eye & he goes back in a couple of months.  Hopefully no need for glasses yet.  After daycare I hung out with Grandma Judy while Hudson & Mom went to the Infant ECFE class.  Allows Mommy & Hudson some one-on-one time and gives new ideas of how to play with baby.  I bet they had as much fun as I did with Grandma!  On Tues., Oct. 2nd I enjoyed gymnastics and afterwards Hudson& I had our first bath together.  It was Hudson's first time without the toddler tub and he did great!  We enjoyed playing with lots of bath toys and then brushing our teeth together.  Love being brothers!

On Thurs., Oct. 4th after bath & PJ time we got all decked out (*starting to get cold out) and took Daddy super at the Frost bin site.  He was so excited to see us but not as excited as we were!  We did it again tonight too.  Love getting to see Daddy & all the semi-trucks.  Here's Daddy & I (*I couldn't stop to smile because there were trucks coming in!).

Can't wait to have some Daddy & family time this Sunday!