Braelynn's first X-mas

We started out on X-mas eave with the Hudson side of the family. Not a big typical dinner, just homemade lasagna and garlic bread early in the afternoon. Then we opened gifts and chated. Oh and we made my brother Nick change his first ever diaper. He got lucky and only had a wet one, we will make sure next time it will be a little harder for him ;).

The next morning, the three of us went to Gennie's grandpa's house for a wonderfull day of food and gifts. Almost the whole family was there and we had a fun time. Grandpa Hamlin wore his springy santa hat that the kids loved. We all got some great gifts and can't wait for the next family get together.

Gennie's other side of the family will be having X-mas on New Years day. With everyone having more than one place to go for X-mas, we all decided to split it up a little. We look forward to seeing everyone and we will post more after the New Year.

Hope you had a good X-mas and will have a great New Year.

Three months! Where did the time go?

Wow! It has been three months with Braelynn now. How amazing it is to have such a wonderful little happy baby. She almost always has a smile except when she is crying of hunger or has a messy diaper. She is doing well at daycare and everyone loves her. She has been trying to sit up on her own already and loves to grab our fingers to pull herself up. She is also starting to laugh and figure out putting things in her mouth. We are getting ready to try moving her from a bassinet next to our bed to her crib in the next room. She is starting to outgrow almost everything.

Some notes on things that work and don't work for us:
Cheap diapers DON'T WORK! We have tried almost every off brand out and none of them absorb better than Pampers Swaddlers.
Same thing with wipes. Most of the cheap brands are too wet, rough, won't come out of the package, or leave little scraps. Pampers Sensitive have been the best.
Can't find a better stain remover than Shout. It has gotten the worst poop stains out of everything. Even jeans after sitting for two days without spraying them.
One last thing. If you aren't picky about what your baby wears, Once Upon A Child is great for getting clothes that baby will grow out of quickly. From holiday outfits that only get worn once or twice to sleepers that get spat up on all the time. Sometimes you can even find brand new stuff with the tag on it still at about half the price.

That's about all for now. Hope everyone has a great holiday and New Year.

Turkey day x2

We know, we havn't posted in a while. It's been busy now that Gennie is back to work, and I am working two jobs, plus we have had to go Dublin for a weekend for Gennie's reserve duty. I figured since we had a day off that one of us should post something. Since Thanksgiving is now over, I thought I'd let ya'll know what we did this year for Braelynn's first turkey day.

We started with an early dinner (at lunch time) with my parents, grandma, brother and sister in-law, and my cousin and his wife and son. We had the usual turkey (deep fried), dressing, mashed potato's and gravy, rolls, green beans with BACON and MUSHROOMS MMMMMM, two kinds of moms home made stuffing, and candied yams. We had a great time laughing and talking during the meal. Then we went outside for some family pics before coming back in for some home made pies. Mom made two pumpkin, two pecan, and a key lime pie to go with grams apple pie. Everything turned out great and we were stuffed, but we had to go to another dinner at 3pm.

We packed up Braelynn's diaper bag and headed to Gennie's dad's parents for more turkey and all the fixins. For our second round of desert, I had Jamie's apple-pear tart that was awesome, cause it was made just for me (with splenda). The rest of the family had pumpkin pie and Gennie's pretzel salad, made with cream cheese, whipped cream, jello, and pretzels. I know it sounds like an odd combo, but everyone loves it.

We hope you all had a good thanksgiving and hope to get back some blogs or pics of x-mas time.

Braelynn's 1st Halloween

Nope, she didn't go trick or treating, and no she didn't snag a bag from any other kids. She did something even more fun. She went with us to her uncle Christian and aunt Jamie's wedding. She had fun being passed around to all the family that attended. She was dressed up as a wiggle worm that grandma camel made her. Gennie and I dressed up too. The theme of the wedding was the masquerade ball from the Phantom of the Opera, so most of the guest could dress up for the holiday. Gennie was dressed as a saloon girl and I went as a old west gambler. We tried to find something that was in the period of the Phantom, but more from the west.

Family & Friends

Uncle Christian


Grandma Jackson


Auntie Elizabeth and Cousins Ella and Annika


Great Grandpa Rittmann


Great Grandma Rittmann


Great Grandpa Hamlin


Great Aunt Linda


Auntie Jennifer and Mari


Auntie Colleen


Uncle Nick and Aunt Marianne


Grandpa and Grandma Hudson


Cousin Maddie



Grandpa Gary

1st Pumpkin

Braelynn is ready for Halloween. Thanks to Mari, Jennifer and Tim for her 1st pumpkin - just her size!

Work update

The search for a job is done! I now have two jobs. One of them is full time for a really great group of people doing deliveries for a dental lab in Roseville. The other is part time for a local radio station in the promotions department and some board op stuff when someone calls in sick. I have been working for a week now at the dental lab and love it. I start at the station next week setting up for a live remote.

On the Braelynn front, we have got a daycare with an opening just over a block away from Gennie's work. We really lucked out with the location cause we were told they wouldn't have a spot untill late November. We got a call last Wed. with the great news. They are letting us bring Braelynn in a few times before the actual start date to see how she is going to react. The staff seems to be really good and the cost is fair for what they include. They include diapers, wipes, and food or formula. Since Gennie is breastfeeding, we will supply the food for now and with Gennie being so close, she can go on her breaks and lunch to feed.

First road trip

It's been three weeks now for little Braelynn. Everything is going well and she is growing by the second. She has gained over 2lbs and about an inch since she was born. Her thrush has gotten much better and the Dr. says she is doing great.

We are trying to get her ready for a long road trip to San Jose so she can meet her Grandpa Russ. He has been in the hospital with ALS (Lou Gherigs Disease)(forgive the spelling) since last July. He was in Folsom untill the hospital could no longer handle his needs, so they sent him to the nearest place that could. Unfortunatly it is a little over two hours away for any of his family to visit. In preperation for the treck, we decided to take a ride to Apple Hill this past weekend. It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun. Braelynn did great the whole time and slept for most of it.

If anyone would like to help support the ALS Foundation by donation or just a show of support, please leave a comment on this post and I will send you some info. We are going to do a walk for ALS on Oct. 25th at William Land Park. We have signed up on the website and you can either make a donation or come out and join us for the walk. It's only 1 mile and the foundation can really use the support by getting the word out about this horible disease that can effect anyone at any time.

Got Stains?

Hey all, just a little tip on stained baby clothes or blankets. What works for us so far is Shout and a little cold water. I (DJ) try to do most of the laundry and I check all of Braelynns stuff as I put it in the wash. She lost her billy cord after just one week old and her belly button will leave a small blood stain. I found that a good shot of Shout on the spot and a little rub between my fingers under cold water gets 90% out before washing. Then one more shot of Shout and in the wash it goes. So far all of the stains have come out 100%. It works great on spit up, blood, and even a messy blow-out.

Also, we save money by useing Free & Clear laundry soap instead of the expensive Dreft. We just run a second rinse cycle just in case. We have an HE frontloader that works great with the extra rinse button.

Hope you find this helpfull and that it works as well for you.

Week 2

Braelynn has now started week 2 of her life. All seems to be going well...except the lack of sleep for me and DJ of course. So far sleeping, eating and making dirty diapers are of course 99% of her days. Our biggest concern so far was that she was sort of Jaundiced, she didn't have to sit under the lights though, it wasn't that bad. She has a Dr. appointment on Friday, so we'll know more then.
Her umbilical cord fell off the night before last, so last night she got her 1st real bath (not a sponge bath). She cried the entire time!
Time is flying by already, hard to believe she's already a week old!
DJ has been trying to get a good pic of her so we can have some birth announcements made, but every time her eyes are open we keep forgetting to take pics...silly us.
We've also been dealing with her having a lot of gas. We even had to get the gas drops (medication over the counter) already, which does seem to help although it takes a while.
Thanks for all your well wishes and things. Can't wait for you all to meet her if you haven't already!

She's Here!

Braelynn Maurine Hudson has come out! She made her arrival at 3:17 PM on Sept. 9, 2008. Her weight was 7lbs 14oz. and was 21 1/2" long and a full head of hair. Her eyes are a real dark gray, but they look like they will turn out like mommy and be hazel/magic color changing eyes that go from dark green to medium blue. Both baby and mommy are doing great and we are all back home.

We want to thank everyone for all the congrats and concerns. You are all great and we can't wait for you all to meet her.

Tomorrow...tomorrow...

Tomorrow is the day. Baby just doesn't want to come out on her own, so tomorrow is induction day. We'll get to the hospital (Travis Air Force Base) around 5:30am. Not sure what all is going to happen exactly other than inserting a portion of a pill and letting that dissolve inside of me for a couple hours to start the induction. Then I'm hopefully going to be able to eat some breakfast and walk around to get things working. After that, hopefully the labor and delivery will be quick and not too painful. One of us will write again as soon as possible.
Thanks to you all for the well wishes and everything!

STILL PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!

We are now 41 weeks and 4 days today. We had another Non-Stress Test (NST) this morning. Baby is still doing fine, nothing to worry about. So, we're letting her stay where she seems to be comfy until either she's ready to come out or until Monday, which ever one comes first. Her final eviction notice has been given for Monday. Unless she comes before, we will be heading to the hospital before the sun comes up this Monday the 8th to be induced. Hopefully the pill they will give me for induction will be enough, and we won't have to go through more than that to get things going.
So, if you don't hear from us for a while don't worry, we're just at the hospital and then getting settled at the house. I'll try to write again as soon as possible, with pictures of course!

41 Weeks / Dr. Appointment

Well, we've gotten to 41 weeks and the baby is still not ready to come out. We had a Non-Stress Test this morning. This is where they hook up monitors to monitor the baby's heart beat and my contractions for about 20 minutes. They also did an ultrasound to ensure that there is enough amniotic fluid in there for her. Then they did a cervix check. The baby is in position, but she's not locked into that position and I am still not dilating yet. So, unless she decides to come out before Friday, we have another Non-Stress Test scheduled for Friday, and if all is well on Friday then they said they will induce on Monday. So Monday is the final straw if she decides to not come out before then.
So, more waddling and uncomfortableness for me for a while longer. We'll try to keep ya'll posted!
(Picture is VERY anxious Grandma Vicki, Me, Grandma Camel, and Great Grandma Swanson)

Maternity Stuff

Ok, so I thought I'd share some things about being pregnant and maternity stuff, like clothes and things. If you don't care to read, that's ok, but I have a few friends who are currently pregnant, so hopefully this will help them/you a little.
#1 - Prenatal Vitamin. This goes to those of you who might be THINKING of getting pregnant and for those of you who already are. If you are even thinking of getting pregnant start taking the prenatal vitamin NOW! This will help prevent any issues with not being able to tolerate the vitamin during the beginning of the pregnancy. If you're already pregnant you need to take the vitamin! If you have issues with taking it, then do whatever your Dr. recommends.
#2 - Lotion. A lot of women have issues with itchy bellies while their skin stretches. I recommend putting lotion on your stomach and sides (if not the whole body) EVERY DAY! I have been doing this since day 1 of knowing I was pregnant and have not had any issues with itching.
#3 - Maternity Clothes. I highly recommend the "Secret Fit" pants from Motherhood Maternity (they're not the cheapest, but they are the most comfortable...and comfort is VERY important). Also check the sale racks at Motherhood - they have some good deals sometimes. I found shirts at Target, Wal-Mart and Old Navy. Always look for sales of course! Regarding shirts, watch the length cuz when the baby drops they might be too short if they aren't quite long enough, so the longer the better. Also, look for regular shirts that have lots of gathered material in the front of the shirt, and the length of course. There are a lot of shirts out these days that are regular shirts but have plenty of belly growing room. Also, if you don't mind slightly used, check craigslist.com you might just find a great deal or more! My theory was that it's only a few months so I could do with minimal necessities.
#4 - Exercise. I probably shouldn't even mention this, cuz I'm not such the exercising person. But if you have the resources and things, find a Water Aerobics Class, not all of them will be "prenatal" but a good instructor will help you modify anything necessary.
#5 - "Wives Tales" - Don't listen to any of them. Everything I heard or read about the baby or being pregnant was wrong for me. You know the ones..."if you have bad morning sickness than it's a girl/boy" Every person is different and every pregnancy is different. The wives tales may or may not apply to you, so I just say don't listen to any of them.
#6 - Morning Sickness. I am not the person to ask about this, sorry. I didn't have any morning sickness. I did hear that the Prego Pops were good to help with this though, I think you can find them at Babies R Us and Motherhood Maternity and other places such as these.
#7 - Heartburn/Indigestion. I wish I had a magic pill for this! I have gotten to where I avoid the foods that gave me the worst indigestion. I avoid spicy foods. I tried Tums, but they don't seem to help me. So I just kinda deal with it and avoid things I think make it worse. Although, lately just about everything/anything gives me indigestion within an hour of laying down to go to sleep. So, good luck with this one, I know I'm not having much luck with it!

That's about all I can think of right now. If you have any questions for me please feel free to ask!

Dr Appointment

We had our Week 40 Doctor Appointment this morning. Baby is still not ready to come out and meet anyone. I have not started dilating still, there's about a finger tip to go until that starts. And the Midwife (not a Dr. - you never know what you're gonna get at the military base) said that the baby's head is not actually down in my pelvis yet. Oh, and the Midwife was a male! I've never heard of or seen/met of a midwife being male! Have you???? I was kinda in shock for a good minute or two of the appointment when he introduced himself as a midwife. So, we need to get out walking more and I will try sitting on my birthing ball more often to wiggle the baby around so she gets her head down in my pelvis. Our next appointment (if she doesn't come before) will be next Tuesday for a non-stress test. My understanding of that is they hook up a monitor on me to monitor the baby's heart rate and things to ensure she's doing ok in there and that she doesn't need to come out immediately due to complications of some sort or anything. So, keep us in your thoughts and prayers that all will go smoothly and fairly easily when she does decide to come out and meet everyone (which will hopefully be sooner than later).

Still Waiting

Well it's the day before the due date and still no sign of our little girl making her debut.

It was almost one year to the day that we met online when we got the news that Gennie was prego. Talk about a great b-day present for me. Our friends and family are almost as excited as we are.

So far the whole pregnancy has gone pretty easy for Gennie. She never even had to deal with morning sickness.

Our Wedding

Gennie here...
DJ and my friends Colleen and Rachel are the ones responsible for putting together our wonderful wedding. They planned and organized pretty much the whole thing. I only gave a little input here and there. The location was David Wally's Hot Springs and Resort in Genoa, NV. It all began on April 5, 2007. Our rehearsal was actually our legal ceremony because the officiant that we hired for the ceremony was not licensed in NV. So, we had a Justice of the Peace do the legal part at our rehearsal. We had the infamous Gary's tacos for dinner after the rehearsal. April 6, 2007 was the big day. The weather was beautiful and some of us even got light sunburns. Our wedding party consisted of my neice Maddie. The ceremony was perfect. Kathleen (Colleen's sister) gave us her photography services as a huge gift, and the pics were wonderful! We HIGHLY recommend her if you need a photographer for anything! The reception was lovely and I believe everyone enjoyed the build your own sandwiches and salads and of course the wedding cake. Oh, speaking of the wedding cake...it had to be fixed because the bakery spelled my name with a "y" instead of the "ie". DJ's parents had to get more frosting and my mom made the repairs. Our Durango was decorated by our friends and family. We spent our first night as husband and wife in Lake Tahoe, it was very nice and relaxing. We now celebrate our Anniversary for 48 hours every year and have wonderful memories of the day(s).

How we met

Gennie here...
DJ and I met on myspace in December 2006. DJ was searching for work contacts and motorcycle contacts and on a search by zip code my profile came up. Turns out I had used my Dad's zip code when I set up my account. So, DJ looked at my profile and saw that I was in the military and decided to leave me a "thank you for serving our country" kind of message. Needless to say I was MORE than hesitant to reply, but after studying his profile and things I did reply 6 days later with a generic "thank you for supporting our troops" kind of message. Well this sparked a conversation and the messages back and forth led to instant messaging and then phone calls. We seemed to hit it off instantly, it was sureal! He eventually brought up marriage and since I was living in San Antonio, TX, he decided to meet my Dad to ask him for permission. My Dad and DJ met, things went well and DJ came down to SA in February 2007 so we could meet in person. He proposed to me while he was visiting and of course I said yes. DJ went back to Sacramento, and I stayed in SA until after our wedding on April 6, 2007 when he moved to SA to be with me.
Yup, a fast and amazing love that neither of us thought we could ever find.