The Hudson Family: April 2011

Thursday, April 28, 2011

A Circus, Some Country Dancing, and the Zoo

With the upcoming birth of Rylan, we spent quite a bit of time with Kaelyn on mini-dates to spend time together as family of three. We visited Gatti Town which Kaelyn loved, took several trips to the mall to ride the carousel, and enjoyed the nice weather outside by adventuring out on walks and playing on our swing set. One of the more memorable dates we took was to the Shriners Circus in Garland. Kaelyn has really taken a liking to elephants and we knew she would love seeing all the animals. Fortunately, Pop and KK were coming in town for my Granddad Killian's 80th birthday party and they got to join us. We arrived early for the pre-party activities which included elephant rides, pictures with a snake, meeting the clowns, bounce houses, and pony rides.

Kaelyn getting ready to ride her pony!

She loved riding the pony and kept saying "Neh"

since we've been practicing our animal sounds at home.

Kade and Kylen with Kaelyn following close behind.

She couldn't believe how big the elephant was! She's only

seen them on her television shows and was surprised!

Bo, the elephant, was amazing in his circus act!

How on earth did he get all four of his big feet on

such a small stool?

Another amazing feat...Doing a handstand on the same small stool!

On the Saturday evening after the circus, we celebrated my grandfather's 80th birthday with all of the family. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants growing up called the Trail Dust Steakhouse. Unfortunately, there is only one left in the DFW area and so we drove the distance to Arlington for a little boot scootin' and good food. One of the attractions at Trail Dust is the 50 ft. slide from the second floor to the first floor. Kaelyn was so excited to try it out. She also tried out her dance moves on the dance floor while the band played.

Kaelyn dancing with the birthday boy!

Sliding down with Daddy!

Granddad Killian sliding at 80 years young!

Getting warmed up on the dance floor.

She was a little unsure at first...

But not unsure anymore...Right at home.

Mommy and Daddy enjoying a dance together.

The young bunch trying out the line dancing while the band played.

A little boot scootin' with Pop.

She found the stage directly in front of the band and

made it her own!

A new kind of step...and a little tired at the end of the night!

Fast forward to Rylan's second week of life...We decided to take Kaelyn and Rylan to the Ft. Worth Zoo. Mimi and PawPaw were headed into town to help out for the week and got to join in on the fun. Robbie and I really thought Kaelyn would make it 1/3 of the way through the zoo and get tired of it, but we were definitely wrong. From 10:30 in the morning until 3:30 that afternoon, Kaelyn enjoyed seeing the animals and couldn't get enough. It was so precious to see her excitement when she recognized certain animals along with her curiousity when we introduced her to a new animal. The best part was the bird feeding where she got to go in and let the birds land on her feeding strip. Rylan was a trooper as well. He is such a good baby and just goes with the flow of our family. He saw the zoo in his sleep mode!

Such a sweet picture! The mommy and baby together!

Kaelyn and PawPaw checking out the zebras.

Kaelyn riding her own elephant (a statue dedicated to the baby

born at the Ft. Worth Zoo named Bonnie)

Feeding the birds

"Wow, Daddy. One of the birds landed on my stick to eat. I'm

not sure what I think of this just yet."

Found a kangaroo statue...Kaelyn being goofy!

Our luck never fails...Found the carousel and picked out

a horse to ride with Mimi!

Our precious Rylan enjoying a clean diaper and some time to stretch out!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Rylan Brice Hudson

Rylan Brice Hudson was born on Monday, April 4th at 1:05 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 0 oz. and was 20.75 inches long. He is absolutely beautiful, and we are a happy family of four now!

Rylan's Birth Story: The morning started just like I feared; we were bumped for induction AGAIN (with Kaelyn we were bumped to four days later) and were told to call the hospital at 8:30 a.m. (We were scheduled to be there at 7:30 a.m. and go the call at 6:35 a.m. after we had already showered and packed all of our bags in the car). Instead of having anxiety of giving birth, my biggest concern was getting that dreaded call. Thankfully the Lord took care of us and the hospital called us at 8:20 a.m. and told us to come have a baby! Of course, just like with Kaelyn, all the family was already in town because no one wanted to miss the birth of Mr. Rylan.

We got checked in around 9:15 and they started the pitocin drip at 9:30 a.m. Everything went very smoothly with the labor and delivery. My only complaint is that I should have asked for the epidural 30 minutes before I did, but I like to think I actually experienced some real labor contractions with intense pain! My doctor had said we would have a baby by lunch time provided that we started at 7:30 like planned, and she was right!

When we met Rylan for the first time, it brought back all the memories of delivering Kaelyn and the happiness Robbie and I felt then. When I saw his little face, I had tears in my eyes and felt so happy to have another precious member of our family. He is so special and Kaelyn couldn't be a better big sister!

Things have been really great since we arrived home. Robbie got to be home for the remaining of the week and then we were blessed to have my parents and Robbie's parents with us for the first two weeks. Kaelyn received lots of attention from her grandparents and it enabled me to get in a rhythm with Rylan. As Robbie likes to say, we are definitely practicing "man to man coverage" right now with learning to parent two children. Welcome to our family Rylan Brice! You are one special little guy and we can't believe how much you've blessed our lives in just these first few weeks. We love you so very much!