at 2:13 in the afternoon on monday, june 22nd...

...we welcomed our beautiful baby boy into this world,

fresh from the hands of God and into our loving arms!

with hearts full of love we introduce Hudson Rowe
06/22/09
2:13 p.m.
8 lb. 8 oz.
20 in.

This is what falling in love looks like Father and son meet for the first time Grace meet your little brother Hudson,
Hudson meet your big sis Grace I don't know - he's kind of squirmy......but I love him.
The little pumpkin kept telling me, "Awwww...he's so cute." Just when you think a heart can not possibly hold more of "that" type of love...it just happens. Feeling incredibly blessed. Our family of four. Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes! We came home yesterday and have been adjusting to our newly expanded family (so far, so good!).

About the delivery...
It was an incredibly easy delivery, for which I am so thankful! The induction was much better than I had imagined. We had wonderful nurses - most were the same ones we had with Grace which was nice. I got the epidural when I was 5cm and this time it worked like a charm! Things moved right along and I went from 7cm to 10 and complete in 20 minutes. I told the nurse I was feeling a different kind of pain. She came in, checked me and said "don't push". My doctor came in. I had asked Lance to take a picture of the wall clock when I started pushing (2:03 p.m.) and Hudson was born just 10 minutes later :) If I could skip the pregnancy part, I would definitely do the labor part again to end up with another lil bit of heaven in my arms!

we're going to the hospital...FINALLY!

We're all packed up and ready to go! God willing we'll soon get to meet and hold little Hudson in our arms. Thank you for all your prayers - they mean so much to us !

I love you daddy!

One of the benefits of not having had the induction on Friday was that we were able to spend Father's Day together at home rather than in the hospital. Grace colored cards for her daddy and three grandpas. Noonie & Papa J joined us for church and lunch and then Noonie treated us to a homemade brownie cheesecake at home. I'm not a big cheesecake fan but this was really yummy! Grace was quite the little helper and volunteered to open all the presents :)

Daddy & Grace acting quite silly (actually I was trying to get a picture of the two of them which was almost impossible with the little energizer bunny running all around) Grace loves Curious George and got a kick out of saying her daddy was "the man in the yellow shirt" :) Little helper at work Time to help Papa J with his gift (check out the little hair flower - love how cute it looked with Grace's dress!) A big hug for Papa J Happy Father's Day to all the daddies and grandpas out there! Hope your day was wonderful! And Happy Birthday to my sweet grandma!!! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!

is it time yet?

Images by Creative Breathing

Back up with me for a second to last Tuesday at my doctor's visit...OK, Great! Seems things were progressing right along, but maybe Hudson needed a little push - quite literally you might add. Well after worrying for weeks that he would be early, we were now navigating a whole new world...the world of inductions. Long story short it was decided that I would be induced at 5:30 a.m. on Friday (as in today) if Hudson hadn't arrived by then. I would be right at 39 wks. WOW!

Okay, now fast forward to Thursday morning (are you confused yet? I think I am). Seems God had different plans for baby Hudson. I got a call from my doctor's office to tell me that due to a rush of emergency inductions and deliveries at the small private hospital I wish to deliver at, my induction had been bumped to Monday morning, same time. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty bummed. I had already psyched myself up for Friday morning. We had all our plans and arrangements made. After spending some time sulking about the whole thing I finally came to terms with it reminding myself that God's plans are not always our plans...but He's always in control.

So who knows, maybe Hudson will make his debut some time this weekend...without the need for an induction (can you tell I'm a little scared of the whole induction thing?). And if not, then come Monday hopefully the stork will be paying us a visit... Tick tock...
Tick tock...
...is it time yet?

pretty little things

As I write this I'm sitting right under our family room ceiling fan, with an additional stand-up unit pointing straight at me at full blast. It was 96 degrees outside today with a heat index in the low 100s, it's 72 inside the house...with the thermostat set to 68. My fingers are swollen, so are my toes. The little pumpkin is tucked in and hubby is watching a ball game. What's a majorly preggo girl with heartburn from our earlier italian take out to do? Why a little online browsing of course!

I love these sweet birthday hats from A Rabbit in the Hat! They're a little different than other handmade ones I've seen out there and I love that they have vintage appeal.

This one is my current favorite: And how cute is this one for a little boy!! And of course I have a weakness for vintage circus/carnivals so I had to throw this one in here too! Now these are strictly for the girly girlies, like my pink-loving little pumpkin. Check out these sweet pretty.messy.flowers, aren't they so fun?!! They're made by Julie of Joy's Hope. You can check out her blog HERE and read the story of her sweet firstborn daughter Joy and you can shop her etsy shop HERE. Julie helped raise funds for Cora's Playground by selling these sweet flower pins and headbands.

Although it's hard to pick just one, this one is my current favorite! Grace has just started wearing headbands and she thinks they are so grown up :) I think it's a perfect match to this sweet little number I picked up at Target this weekend for $12.99! Isn't it cute?! I think it's supposed to be a tunic top but I bought it two sizes bigger so Grace could wear it as a dress. I'm thinking of adding a little ric rac to the bottom just for fun :)

And finally, check out this little cutie! More on this one to come...

blueberries for Hudson

This morning we made blueberry muffins for breakfast. Warm, yummy, right-out-of-the-oven blueberry muffins. Grace gobbled them up. The oatmeal - not so much, hence the need for rainbow colored yogurt to go along with the muffins and string cheese (her request :). As she was about to finish her prized muffin, she grabbed a little crumb with her "berreries-stained fingers" (that's what she calls berries :), grabbed my arm to pull me toward her, lifted my shirt, and proceeded to try and squeeze the little crumb right into my belly button, saying "for my brother Hudson". She melts my heart...all the time...for a million different reasons.

school of fish

We love doing projects around here. Lately we haven't been doing quite as many as we usually do. I think the little pumpkin misses them, especially since school is out for the summer and she's not getting to do any there either. So today, we pulled out the paints and decided to create our own school of fish.

As soon as I put her art smock on her face brightened up and she yelled "PROJECT TIME!" :)

Mama, you said "fish" but I don't see any fishies in here?? Ahhh, paint + water = my kind of project! The messier the better! I like this one. This is "Grace fish". While we have the paints out...I think I'll take a little break to paint my fingernails :) Our fish family. Check out the eyelashes on the girlie fishies - he, he, he P.S. This is such a simple project. Just paper plates + paints. I've also seen where you can cut up a bunch of different colored tissue paper and glue them on the plates for a more 3D effect.

Have fun!

Hudson's Nursery

FINALLY I'm getting around to posting pics of the little guy's nursery! It's been a rough week with lots of painful contractions and "is this it?" thoughts, but so far I think Hudson is feeling rather cozy in there and has decided to take his time :) The nursery, as are most of my projects, is a work in progress. I'm always switching things out and tweaking the rooms in our house when I find new treasures or an item that is just perfect for a spot...but if I wait, I would never get around to sharing with you so here it goes...

The views of his room from different angles Now, I should have started by saying that I took the pictures late last night or rather in the early morning hours when I couldn't sleep, so they're probably a bit dark :( - sorry!

By now you've probably figured out that I prefer a "gathered over time" look rather than an everything-match-perfectly look, and Hudson's nursery is no exception. These two shelves hold some of my favorite vintage finds for Hudson. Vintage embroidered pillowcase (maybe Hudson will be born on a Thursday and then it will be even more perfect, LOL!) Vintage circus tray and toy and the sweetest little silver "locket style" rattle that my friend Bridgette gave me for Hudson. It opens up to hold two photos: Grace & Hudson - how perfect! Photo of Lance at his first birthday - LOVE IT! - along with a sweet vintage ducky planter and Grace's first softie blabla frog doll. The red dog is a vintage reproduction given to us by Lance's Aunt Marilyn. It is a reproduction of the one the owner of the company she worked for 20+ years had as a child. His name (the dog) is Pudgy and they had him made to celebrate the company's anniversary. I think Hudson will love playing with Pudgy! Hudson's crib and bedding. Not a great picture but you get the idea. I love the tangerine shag rug and I think he'll like wiggling his toes all over it :) The patchwork quilt is my favorite!! I ordered a vinyl wall monogram to go over his crib. It came in yesterday but it's not the right colors :( so back to square one for what to hang there. Any suggestions?? I don't want to do traditional letters spelling his name, but I'm pretty much open to anything else and would love your input.

Bedding close up: A "new" old hamper from Wendy Bellissimo. It sits next to his crib and I think I'll use it to corral toys rather than clothes. His sweet hospital wreath made by dear friend Heidi. I love that it's more modern and not what you would find in a store. Woodlands bouncy seat with the cutest little hedgehogs! Changing table His changing pad with one of my favorite cuddle blankies/lovies on top. It's a vintage inspired circus/petting zoo print by icky baby. Close up of the painting Grace did for Hudson along with her handprint signature :) And a sweet little sign that although hard to see, reads "the blessedness of being little" His dresser I added the vintage alphabet scrapbook paper to the shadowboxes hanging on the wall. I've cut out orange scrapbook paper in the shape of a smaller square to take to the hospital when the time comes. Hopefully soon one of the shadowboxes will house his newborn hospital cap/id bracelet and the other one his little footprints.

Sweet little details on his dresser (can't wait to have actual photos in the frames!) Sock monkey with a cute vintage animal crackers tin can I found recently at a yard sale. LOL, Grace calls the tin "Hudson's jewelry box"! Vintage globe and fun little retro sneaks Fun toys - I love old-fashioned wooden toys View of the nook in his room. I couldn't find any window treatments that I loved, so I just hung some silk curtains that used to be in our room a long time ago. They work for now :) Wall collage - still tweaking this A LOT. The shadowbox has the outfit Lance wore home from the hospital 32 years ago! I really love this sweet little peg rack I found a couple of years ago for $10 from a store that was relocating! It holds some of my favorite outfits for Hudson and right above it is a sweet cross given to us by friends. A couple of cute outfits I can't wait to put on the little guy :) Finally, his little moses basket where he'll spend his first few nights at home Thanks for touring his room. I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into our Hudson Rowe's nursery! We can't wait to hold him in our arms and introduce him to his sweet big sister...soon I hope!