Hudson's Big Surgery

Wed., May 29th at 5 a.m. up & ready to head to Mankato for surgery!  Hudson was a little out of it but no worries he went back to sleep on the drive up!  I got to spend the night at Grandma Judy & Grandpa Allen's house before heading to daycare so I was the lucky one getting to sleep in.

Upon arrival Mom / Dad told me they did some initial checks and pre-ops stuff but for the most part just waited for our 18 month old Huddie's turn.  They killed time with some spell presents Mom / Dad brought for him and of course, wagon rides!  His favorite were the wagon rides: 

Around 7:30 a.m. it was about time for surgery so here's Hudson getting dressed & ready to go: 

The gown was a little big so he kept trying to take it off so Mom / Dad kept him distracted with some games and lots of laughter/hugs: 

Just before 8 a.m. they were ready to take him in - here he is ready to go. 

Note the cap did not last long!  One more wagon ride before the big show!

 Surgery took around 40 mins and Dr. Pearson came back saying they were really glad they did it.  His throat looked worse then they initially thought and his tonsils were extremely swollen and enlarged.  May be why Hudson has not spoken much.  The nurses all seemed impressed with his tonsil size too.  After recovery Hudson with Mom / Dad were transferred to the children's intensive care unit.  The nurses were amazing and took great care.  Hudson was fairly hungry at first but by mid-afternoon a little stir crazy.  Finally got him to take a nap after lunch but poor guy in lots of pain.  If kept moving, like playing in the toy room or going on more rides, seemed to help: 

A little before 6 p.m. they got to come home!  So far everything is going well and today, day 2, he spent the day home with Mommy & me.  He had a bit of a tough day but to be expected.  After nap we got to play a bit outside which seemed to cheer him up!  Hopefully he'll have a speedy recovery!  Thanks everyone for your thoughts & prayers!

Hayden & Hudson - Homeowners!

We had a great start to our weekend, on Fri., May 24th we got good news at the ENT Hudson is going to have surgery on May 29th to remove both is tonsils and adenoids!  Our ENT said his were extremely enlarged and hopefully would do him lots of good to remove them and also, no longer breed strep throat!  Afterwards Hudson, Mommy & I celebrated by having lunch together at Olive Garden and Hudson & I even shared a chocolate mousse - so good!

 

After nap we got to welcome Grandma & Grandpa Vogel!  They decided to come up for most of Memorial Weekend and help us do a couple of things.  Most importantly help Mommy build us our very own crooked playhouse cottage!  They got most of it done on Saturday while we napped but it turned out great!  Here we are after we're all done - notice Daddy & I are inside!

Here I am so excited! 

Who knew two little boys and their dog, Kato, could fit in the house! 

We had a great time just hanging outside and even inside learning more wrestling moves and celebrating an early Father's Day with Grandpa! 

After dinner we all headed to Blue Earth to hang out at Grandma & Grandpa's hotel and more importantly their swimming pool!  Here's Hudson swimming in an indoor pool for the first time - loving it and blew bubbles with Mommy right away!

Here's me learning to ride "the noodle" with Grandpa - we all had a great time!  I asked if we could go back the next day and learned the pool is not open regularly to us so have to wait for summer - bummer! 

On Saturday was also Hudson's 1 1/2 birthday!  We celebrated with special cheesecake brownies and here's Hudson blowing out his candles (*I got to help too!): 

After church / lunch on Sunday, the 26th Grandma & Grandpa had to head home but we got another special treat with the Hanson's visiting!  We had a great holiday weekend only downer was it rained on Monday but no worries we had fun playing inside.  We returned to DC refreshed and ready today, Tues., May 28th and Hudson got lots of hugs when we left to wish him luck for surgery day tomorrow.  Please keep him in your prayers and we'll keep you posted!

Twin Cities Fun and introducing Bane!

On Fri., May 17th I had my 6 mth, and second ever dentist check and I did great!  Last time I barely let them check me out and this time I let them not only count my teeth but clean them, put on fluoride and everything.  I & even Hudson got tooth brushes and a toy.  Mom was so proud of me!  Afterwards to celebrate we took Great Grandma Betty out for breakfast at Country Kitchen and had a awesome time catching up over pancakes.

 

Grandma Anne came up just in time for dinner as we were going to have an early morning adventure to the Twin Cities.  Unfortunately around bath time Hudson spiked a high fever and started to get sick.  Dad & Mom took him to urgent care while Grandma and I did bedtime stories, prayers & songs.  Found out Hudson in addition to strep earlier in the week now has an ear infection - poor thing.  Got him on meds however on Sat., May 18th he had to stay home with Daddy; between us I don't think he minded all the extra cuddle time!

 

So early Saturday morning Grandma Anne, Mom and I went to the Twin Cities to participate in the Twin Cities Kids Fun Run.  We arrived to down pouring rain & lots of lightening so year two of no Fun Run and no Como Zoo meeting the PBS characters like Clifford & Curious George.  Grandma says hopefully next spring the third time or third year will work!  So we got our t-shirts and medals for "trying" and look forward to trying again next spring.

 

So we went to plan B.  We met up with our good friends the Grunden's as they were going to run with us (*just a 1/2 mile run for kids with parents) and went to a Lakeshore Learning to get some fun learning/craft stuff and Katelyn and I even made crafts!  Here's my love bird I made (hearts are the mouth!):

 

Afterwards we headed to France Ave. to do a little shopping - here's me "shopping" at another kids store; aren't I a cute lion?

While shopping we ran into the Sutcliffe's which was a treat and I got to play a bit with Max - I told mom he's my friend and we'll just have to see him again soon.  Add a play date to the agenda!

 

Since it was still raining up next we went to the Sea Life Aquarium at the Mall of America; we had a blast getting to see and even touch some awesome see life.  Here's Grandma Anne and I checking out & touching some star fish and other shelled creatures. 

I loved how close to the tanks you got and how close the sea life was...here's one of my favorites the sea horses.  They moved so slowly & gracefully they were fun to watch.  I also enjoyed getting to see a lion fish and kept talking about it however couldn't get a good picture through the glass so just have to go there & check them out - totally worth it! 

Next we went through the tunnels which the sharks and other larger fish swam right above and by us - so cool (*and have to admit a little scary).  Hopefully some day we can even come back to swim in the tank with them but I have to be a bit older. 

After our walk through we did the behind the scenes tour where we got to explore & touch some past on sea life, see where the fish kitchen is and what they eat, and the best part going to see the tanks and some sea life that isn't open to the general public.  I really liked getting to see up close all the turtles.  Pretty cool.  Here I am listening and learning very eagerly with our guide: 

Thanks Grandma for coming up we had a fun trip and hopefully next time Hudson can join us.  On Sun., May 19th Grandpa Scott came up with some stuff for Uncle Jared so they met in Blue Earth after church to have lunch with us.  Uncle Jared just got a new puppy so Kato's cousin - Bane!  Here's the cute little guy: 

We really enjoyed getting to pet and play with him and we even took him to the park after lunch and played around.  He's got lots of energy and very lovable.  He's also got monster paws so he might not stay small for too long! 

Hudson just loved Bane and couldn't get enough, including of his tail!  Here we are with Grandpa Scott trying to chase Bane down.  Can't wait for Kato & Bane's first puppy play date! 

Our fun weekend continued into a fun week of just DC and home.  Nice to relax a bit!  Today, May 23rd was extra fun as we started to get some of the summer toys out at DC.  Hudson played with the water table for the first time and just loved it!  Did have to get a change of clothes eventually though :)  Up next Hudson's big ENT appointment tomorrow, the 24th!

Happy Half Birthday Hayden!

As May is here we'd like to believe spring (*dare say summer) is finally here; with our wacky spring weather so far it's been nice to enjoy the outdoors and actually see some planting here & there being done!  Poor Daddy, Grandpa and all the farmers it's been a tough road so far.

 

Spring also brings springs colds and unfortunately got another case of strep throat on Thurs., May 2nd/Fri., May 3rd.  Since this is his 4th case of strep throat since Nov. they have now referred him to our ENT in Mankato for tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy on Fri., May 24th.  Hopefully if we do surgery we'll get things taken care of for the little guy.  Since meds he's doing much better and our happy little Hudson again.

 

Speaking of Hudson...as Hudson's fully transitioned into the Tiny Tots room thought we'd give a quick report - he's been learning lots of new things like big, medium & small - even blew different size bubbles to demonstrate!  Learning about our different senses even demonstrated two of them on May 9th by touching and sorry to say tasting shaving cream!  He's starting to do puzzles, crafts and even painting - here's Hudson's very first painting masterpiece:

In May his room is concentrating on the themes of Mothers, Ducks, Mice, Gardens/Flowers & Vacations.  They are also working on directional concepts, story sequencing & comparatives.  We even joined in a farm day with his room as Zabel's brought in baby goats for us to visit with!  On May 9th Hudson even spent a day in the Lil' Sprouts room for a bit and found out Hudson with the sink & paper towels at his level were like magnets!  Apparently we have a water baby!

 

Other happenings include on Sun., May 5th we enjoyed our church's annual Pancake Breakfast and even got to sit with our good friends the Spencer's - after all Shea tells me we're married so really it was our first dinner together with our in-laws!

 

On Mon., May 13th we celebrated my 3 and a half birthday!  Coincidentally ECFE was having their year end event, a puppet show with "Cinder Frog Faced Ella" by the Schiffelly Puppets.  A Cinderella type tale including a frog, a lot of mix-ups and adventure.  We ended our fun picnic/puppet show with half birthday cake.  I helped Mom make a tie-dye cake with some of my favorite colors: orange, green & white!  The Oswald's and the Spencer's joined us at the puppet show & for cake.  Here's Ava, Shea, me & Hudson getting ready to blow out the candles - note there are 3 whole ones & one half candle!

Make a wish - half birthday boy blowing them out! 

The cake; I choose dinosaurs for the top. 

After cutting into the cake here's our tie-dye inside.  For not knowing what we were doing & making up as we went not to shabby! 

Had an excellent half birthday and the puppet show was a bonus!  Unfortunately the good times did not continue as on Tues., May 14th night Hudson began a fever and sure enough after another trip to the doctor little buddy had strep throat for the fifth time!  We are now on a waiting list to see if we can get into the ENT sooner but the good news they already added Hudson to the surgery schedule for Wed., May 29th if the consult on the 24th or sooner goes well.  Keep our little man in your prayers for speedy recovery and hopefully no more illness between now & then.

Happy Mother's Day Mommy!

Today we enjoyed breakfast at home & then church.  Unfortunately at church Hudson fell while walking on the pavement so you can see has a cut above his right eye where his glasses dug in.  I tell ya the guy can't catch a break!  After church we took Chinese to Grandma & Grandpa Prestegard's.  We gave each of the grandma's a "hand" crafted towel (with our hands in heart shapes) which Mommy wrote a quote on for us & sewed.  Note we did a practice one for Mom first:

Here's one for one of our grandma's hanging from our stove: 

After lunch we gave Mom our presents which included this cut card / poem from Hudson (*yes, he's wearing a butterfly headband!):

And I made Mommy this cool sign which I'm holding up the letters/heart to spell Mom!  She loved both items! 

Here's a close-up of the sign:

Us men also got Mom flowers for outside and I helped plant them!  We had so much fun digging all around the dirt!  I should mention at Sunday School today I got to make a prayer, Jesus bear.  There's even a little pocket if I want to write down my prayers.  Here's me & my new teddy: 

After nap we got to hang out at the shop with Daddy and enjoyed driving some tractors / helping him out.  Here's Mommy's men: 

All done for the day and time to head home! 

Hope all the Mom's out there have had a wonderful day - we truly appreciate all you do!

XOXO, Hayden & Hudson