Happy Summer!!

I know it's been a while since I have last written. Keeping the blog updated seems to be a trying task for me. Anyway, a little about what we have been up to:

May - we went to Port Aransas for the Berchelmann Beach Reunion, sans baby. We had a wonderful time, and were so glad we had such a great turn out. There is nothing like hanging out on the beautiful Port Aransas beach with a bunch of crazy Berchelmann's and friends. I hope we do again really soon!

Lauren and Dana came to Dallas to visit and we had a great visit with them. Lauren is such a cute little pregnant girl.

And, Hudson is 9 months old! We just can't believe how much he has grown.

June - Hudson officially started crawling on June 1. Yes, he is mobile!

We are heading to Vegas this weekend with Mom's family, sans baby again. We are sure looking forward to winning big this time!!!

Some new pictures of Hudson:

Ok - It doesn't read "Fun February" anymore

I am so sorry that it has been so long! I know this is unacceptable in the world of blogging, and I have felt so bad that I haven't even looked at other blogs.........I am just totally out of the loop right now. But, I am getting back on track, I promise.

We have had a wonderful March and April so far. I got to go on a wonderful trip to Winter Park with my girlfriends from college while the boys stayed home and played. Beau had so much fun with Hudson! It was really cute to hear the daily events they did together. I am so happy Hudson has such a wonderful Dad! Beau and I just got back from Hawaii and had the best time! It was so strange to sleep in and stay up and have long dinners. Hawaii is so beautiful and relaxing, it was perfect. We sure missed our little man, but we know he had a great time with his grandparents.

Hudson is now 7 1/2 months old, is sitting up, and has two teeth. We are laughing at him CONSTANTLY. He is such a happy baby and loves to go wherever we take him.

View from my room in Winter Park

Picture of the back of the house we stayed in - it snowed all day!

This is at the Beach House for one of our long dinners in Hawaii

Hudson's new summer hat

Hudson and mom at dinner

Hudson in a basket - we were being silly

Fun February!

We have had such a fun February! Beau's corporate kickoff was February 9, so the three of us made the trip to San Antonio. We stayed with Beau's parents the first night. What a great help they were - Hudson got sick for the first time while we were there. He was such a good sport about it, and it was nice to have experienced parents to help us first-timers out! Hudson and I moved to my mom's house, and then I got sick. Mom helped take care of Hudson for me - thank goodness for grandparents! We didn't get to do much while we were there, so we will be making the trip again soon.

The next weekend Hudson and I decided at the last minute to go to Hannah's 2 year old birthday party in Austin. It was such a great time (too bad the weather didn't cooperate), and the little one's loved running around the Kost's house doing crafts and getting their face painted. Hannah is adorable and so much fun to talk to! Then, this past weekend Mom and Tom came to Dallas for a visit. We had a great time playing cards together, hanging out at a park on Saturday and cooking dinner.We love having visitors! Here are some photos from the month...............

Mom, me and Aunt Susan at Hannah's birthday party

Hannah is 2! (She is the one on the left)

Mom, me, Tom, Beau and Hudson at the park on Saturday

Hudson loved this waterfall! He stared and stared at this forever...

Dad's sunglasses don't fit yet - they sure taste good, though!

There was a "Technical Fair" that we just happened upon. This is me on TV doing the weather. It is so much harder than it looks on the news!

Hudson and Dad - best friends

Mom and Hudson playing. He is starting to really like his exersaucer

Tom and Hudson - look, they match!

Beau's homemade margarita - he hated it, but drank it anyway. Yep, that is strawberry.

Hudson eating his first taste of cereal

And, Hudson having trouble keeping the cereal in his mouth

Quick Blog for a Quick Trip

Aunt Susan and Lauren drove up to visit us and Brittney on Tuesday. It was a quick trip, but so much fun. Lauren hasn't been back to Dallas in quite some time, and she had never seen our house, so it was great to finally get her here. Beau was so sweet to watch Hudson while all of the girls went to Campisi's and enjoyed the best pizza in the world! On Wednesday, Hudson had a Sam Moon shopping day combined with his first experience at a hot dog stand. Ok, not really a stand, but the famous Harry's on Knox. We had hot dogs and custard while Hudson snored in his seat. I can't wait until he can enjoy a great American Hot Dog!!!! And, if you have never been to Sam Moon, it is so not a place for babies or strollers. There are aisles and aisle of purses, bags, wallets, jewelry, scarves - definitely a place men love, so I thought I might as well get Hudson used to it....... He did great, and mommy found a few things she could not live without.

Lauren watched Hudson while mommy showered. He loved her reading books to him!

Hudson loves Aunt Sue Sue. I had to show this picture because you can see his chunky legs.....with two rolls each.

Thanks for coming to visit! We had so much fun!!!

One Busy Week!

We have sure had a super busy, fun week. I have realized that entertaining a 5 month old is a lot of work each day, so we HAVE to have at least one outing a day. I have also realized that I love gadgets that Hudson can sit in and be entertained, even if it's for 5 minutes. I remembered I got a Jumper as a gift, so the week started out with trying out the Jump & Go for the first time. Beau and I have been so anxious for him to try this out, we decided that Saturday was the day. We think he likes it?, we are really hoping he does! It is such a great place for him to sit while I am in the kitchen.

On Monday, Hudson had his first Little Gym class. It was a trial class to see if he liked it. Will Cook tried it out too, and they both told us thay want to be enrolled. They got to play with bubbles, bells, balloons, and a parachute. There are balance beams, mats, and lots of bright colors everywhere. They also met a lot of other friends to play with. What fun!

Tuesday we had a visitor come in town. Nana decided to come for a quick trip to see us. We were really excited, and so thankful she drove up, even though the wind was really bad. Hudson loved playing with Nana, and Nana let Beau and I got to go to dinner by ourselves! What a treat! Thanks for coming to visit!

Beau and I are big fans of the TV show, Lost, so on Thursday we went to a "Lost" watching party at my good friends, Clay and Betsy's house. Hudson had a lot of fun watching their son, William, and the adults enjoyed wine and pizza, and of course our favorite TV show - Lost.

Then to end our busy week, April and Will were so sweet to bring us lunch on Friday. We love having them over to play. Hudson and Will are becoming fast friends!

What a fun week!

This is the first time in the Jumper. What is all of this stuff?

Yep, I think he likes it.

This is Hudson's upset look. I have never in my life seen anyone turn out their bottom lip like this. I have been trying to get a picture - you can kind of see it here.

Nana and Hudson. So much fun!

This is our Lost watching party. Please notice my husbands hat - yes, it is a Lost hat. Does that make us too obsessed with this show?

Hudson and Will playing together.

Will is wiping a tear away. What a sweet friend.

They are trying to talk to each other. Will is asking Hudson to please stop rolling over on him.

I am 5 months old!!!

Happy 5 month old birthday to Hudson! I just can't believe how the time flies. We are having so much fun with our little bundle and just can't imagine life without him. Everday is a new experience, and everyday I find something new to laugh about. Here is a list of 5 new things Hudson is doing these days.

1. Turns his head the direction of our voices. We have been waiting for him to do this, and he does it almost every time now.

2. Almost always has his fingers, or his entire hand in his mouth. I keep feeling for teeth, but don't feel any yet.

3. When we are feeding him a bottle, he tries to hold it with one or both hands, AND he tries to put his fingers in his mouth. Yes, even with the bottle in his mouth.

4. Sleeps from 8pm until 7am, sometimes even later. What fun it is to sleep through the night!

5. Laughs out loud - A LOT. I think this might be one of the best sounds we have ever heard. It makes me smile to even think about it.

Posing for the "5 month old" birthday shot. He is laughing out loud here.

Whatever I was doing just isn't funny anymore. Can you believe how big he has gotten?

He is starting to like his teething toys. This is a new one I bought that stays cold longer. He is funny to watch with these.

Sister Time

We had such a fun weekend with Courtney visiting. Despite the 10 hour trip it took her to get here (due to inclement weather and traveler error), we enjoyed the weekend and spent some great quality time together. Hudson thinks Aunt Courtney is really funny and had a lot of fun playing with her. I did get the feeling that Courtney had her fill of baby stuff. I think it's because she said more than once "Gosh, you constantly have to think about the baby". My response was always, "Yes, I do, but it is so fun. You will see when you have a baby."

This visit made me realize how neat it is to be so close to my sister's, and to be able to watch each other in the different phases of our life. I am in the new mommy, married phase, and Courtney is in the first job, still feel like I am in college phase. I loved that time in my life too, but I am so happy to be where I am, as I know Courtney is so happy to be where she is.

Thanks for coming to visit Courtney! We miss you already!!

Aunt Courtney and Hudson relaxing outside after a long day at the mall

Hanging with the girls

This is one of Dad's favorite hats. I guess he thought it would look good on me too.

Hudson in 2008

Well, Jessica, Rod and Ryan were here to visit this weekend. Jessica helped me figure out how to add more than one picture at a time, and I had every intention of adding pictures from the weekend, but I realized Jessica took them all on her camera. I am so bummed that I don't have them! Hudson and Ryan had fun playing with each other and checking each other out. When Ryan would cry, Hudson would start crying, and then Ryan would start crying again. It was really funny!

Here are just some recent pictures of Hudson. He is already wearing size 12 month. I wonder how tall he will be????

right after a bath



He can push all the way up on his arms to lift his chest

Hanging out in the Bumbo. The problem is - when I lift him out the Bumbo sticks to him. I think his chunky legs have trouble sliding out.

Blogging is hard

I am really trying to figure out how to blog. I would love to keep updating, but it is a little challenging for me - I have asked the pro (Jessica Tootle) to help me. We will get it working soon. Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving - we had so much fun visiting our families. Hudson helped cheer on the Horns, but we didn't pull it off this year. We can't wait to see everyone Christmas!!!

We have Visitors!!

So two weekends ago, Natalie and Johnny came up to visit. We had such a great time with them and are so thankful they took the time to drive up. We know that drive can be very frustrating at times. It was so fun to show off Hudson. They hadn't seen him since the weekend he was born. We hung out, cooked, and the boys took a field trip to a wine store to learn how to make wine. This is a new hobby Johnny has decided to try - one that I hope he is very successful at! It was so nice to have some sister time and so nice to have Hudson around family. It was very hard to say goodbye!

Hudson loved Aunt Natalie's hair

I love my Aunt and Uncle

Our first blog

The Sturm's are going to try out this blog thing. I have enjoyed reading everyone else's and seeing all the pictures. It is such a good way to feel connected even when you live away! I also love sending pictures of Hudson, but sometimes feel like I am that obnoxious parent imposing my child's pictures on everyone. This way, people will only look if they want to. I will really try my best to update each week. Here we go.............