The Crib is FINISHED!

Well, this happened about 3 weeks ago, but with everything that's been going on, I haven't had the chance to share the fun news.

For those of you that are just chiming in, Brad refinished my dad's old crib that both me and my brother slept in, so that Caedmon and all the Hodgson babies can sleep in it. Here are the "Before" pictures:









As you can see, the crib used to be a light oak color with cute little bunnies and fawn on the headboard and footboard. This worked for me and my brother (ha, ha), but we thought that we'd do something a little different for Caedmon. Now after many hours of love labor in the ARS warehouse, here's Caedmon's new crib:









Brad added beadboard to the headboard and footboard to modernize the crib and stained it a nice espresso to match our changing table. I'm a big fan of the color and love the bedding as well. Caedmon would agree and thoroughly enjoys starring at the dots on his bumper pad.

Great work Brad, furniture-restaining extraordinaire!

Ohio Trip

We drove up to Ohio 2 weeks ago for my Grandpa's funeral and it turned out to be a pretty good trip despite the circumstance. It's usually about an 8+ hour drive and with the stops we needed to make for Caedmon, it took us about 10 hours. Luckily though, he was a great traveler: He ate, played and slept at all his scheduled times and was a great baby! Praise the Lord!

We got up to Ohio late Wednesday night and had a great time catching up with all my aunts. David and Jon didn't arrive until Friday evening. This was the first time, with the exception of my cousin Andrew, that everyone had met Caedmon, so that was a lot of fun and he definitely brought a lot of joy to the house -- especially for Grandma Courtney!

The service for my Grandpa that Saturday was really special. It was tough because it was an open-casket service -- the first one I've been too -- but it was good to see him one last time and I think it brought about good closure. And he looked really good! He was dressed in the tweed blazer that he wore so often and then we put the matching tweed hat that he wore just as much on his chest.

There was a portion of the service that was dedicated for reflection and it was really nice to hear all the great stories about Grandpa -- stories about his childhood as he raised the best and biggest potato crop in Medina county, stories about how he taught his daughters positive work ethic as they plowed the fields and occasionally ran over the little pine trees and tried to tape them back together, stories about how he danced with his grand-daughter (me), stories about how he dearly loved his wife (the Queen of Manor Care), stories of the legacy that he has left behind in OB/GYN practices and care, and the list goes on. We laughed, cried and grinned ear to ear as we heard about the life Grandpa had lived and that memory will live on with me forever, as will the stories and special memories that I had with him! I love you Grandpa!

Here are some other fun pictures from the trip:

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year in Charlotte with Brad's family and my mom. Here are some fun pictures from the weekend.

In Memory of Donald C. Snyder, My Grandpa

We got a call last Sunday morning from my mom and she said that my Grandpa had passed away earlier that morning. At 98, he had been suffering from congestive heart failure for the majority of the year and had rough boughts of pneumonia along with it. But even in that, his mind remained sharp as ever, his humor was even more super-charged, and he continued his morning exercises and economy-following to the T. The funeral is set for Saturday, December 6 and as I prepare for this day of closure, I thought that I would compile a set of memories of his long and giving life. We love you Grandpa!

An Account From Akron University:
"Dr. Snyder was always inspired and motivated by his mother Jennie Lynn Smedley Snyder. Dr. Snyder became one of the Akron area’s most well respected physician-surgeons, recognized by colleagues for his many years of professional service and contributions in the field of medicine, published in scientific journals and listed in Who’s Who in the Midwest. Originally from Medina and a graduate of Case Western Reserve University, Dr. Snyder did his four-year residency at University Hospitals in Cleveland, coming to Akron in 1940. He became the catalyst for developing the first training program for young doctors in obstetrics/gynecology in Akron, preparing hundreds of doctors who became Board-certified in that specialty. With the over-crowded hospitals of the early 1950’s, Dr. Snyder was the first doctor to perform same-day surgery.

Dr. and Mrs. Snyder’s lifetime objective was the value of higher education and helping others."

Boys Will Be Boys:

Grandpa & His Hats:

Let's Dance!:












71 Years Together!:

Go State!

If you haven't heard, NC State beat UNC yesterday. Here's a picture of State's newest fans:
Fan #1 is obviously Caedmon and Fan #2 is his little buddy Mason Lizotte. Mason's grandma was so sweet to make the boys matching State onesies to help root on the pack during football and basketball season this year. How cute! And not only do they enjoy watching the game, but Caedmon thought it would be fun to fix Mason's hair.

Who Follows This Blog?

If you follow this blog, do me a favor and leave a comment on this post so that I have an idea who reads our posts.

Thanks!

We Have Internet!!!

Hooray for Internet!! You'd never think I was so dependent on it until it's not there. Thankfully, we have it again and I can resume to my blogging, searching, Facebooking, emailing and the like.

Here are a few updates:

Work: As of late October, Brad and I have decided that I will not be going back to work. This was a tough decision for me, but with much prayer and counsel, we decided that this was the best decision for us and one that God has affirmed in many ways. I have been at home now since Caedmon was born and I can say that I'm starting to get into a nice routine. It definitely helps that Caed is napping better these days, and I now have time to cook again, do routine laundry, read (who would have thought), and have some time for myself. When Caed is awake though, he is really such a joy. He's "talking" these days, cuing of course, giving big, bright smiles, waving his arms and legs (we would like to argue that he knows how to wave, but we know deep down that he's not quite there), and generally being a very happy baby! So, even though I don't get to give Vintage21 40+ hours a week any more, God is showing me so much more about himself and this little boy that Brad and I have the joy of raising each day at home in my new office.

Beach Weekend: This past weekend, we went to the Ocean Isle Beach with our community group and we had a great time. This of course was Caedmon's first trip to the beach and although it wasn't warm enough and Caed's not old enough yet to really "enjoy" the beach, it was pretty fun. The folks in our group took turns holding and feeding Caed and were all very amused by all the many faces he has to give. (Brad says that he gets that from me.) Brad and I took Caed down to the beach Saturday, but since it was so windy, we didn't stay down there long because Caedmon couldn't handle it. He did however do his "dog licking" reflex and that was quite amusing. So, instead of the beach, we walked down the Intercoastal and hung out on the dock for a bit. Brad and I enjoyed the view and the much calmer breeze, and Caed used this as an opportunity to catch a few winks in the Baby Boujorn. Later on that evening, we found a baby swing around the corner from the house we were staying in and swang Caed for a bit. I think he enjoyed it pretty well and even liked swinging with me in the Boujorn better. Hopefully this will begin his love for swings. In the past, he hasn't been too fond of them.The Crib: As you may know, Brad has been working very hard on Caed's crib since well before he was born, and I am happy to announce that it's almost done. (It's not like we have had a whole lot of time in the past few months to make any progress.) Brad put it together in Caedmon's room to see how it all fits together and to get it ready for the finishing touches, and it looks great! In my excitement, I went ahead and put the bumper and sheets on it to see what it will all look like and ... yay, it looks soo neat. And while we wait for Brad to finish it up, Caedmon, and unfortunately Aslan, have been catching a few winks in it. The squirt bottle is now stationed right next to the crib so that we can stop Aslan from taking over the crib ... Caedmon likes it too much to share it with his cat.

Caedmon's Hats:

Thanks to Pepsa for matching hats and the one below!

Thanks Hannah Wickline for this great hat!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

We are "borrowing" the Internet this weekend, so I am happy to say that I can now share our pictures from the past 5+ weeks. Enjoy!
Well it seems like I'm having technical difficulties, so you'll just have to enjoy this lone picture for now ... but since it's sooo cute, it can speak for all the others right now. You can refer to the slide show on the right for new pictures in the mean time.

Where Has the Time Gone ...

Oh my gosh, it's been almost a month since I've added a new post and that's certainly not because we haven't had anything to talk about. Since my last post on October 3, we've had to pack up our house on Wilderness, move everything to Brad's office, take 1/4 of that stuff to our new duplex on Wade Avenue, stay at hotel Lizotte for 4 days, unpack and settle in at the new duplex, and through it all, watch little Caed grow and grow and grow! What a month it's been, but I'm happy to say that we made it through! I have lots of pictures to share, but I don't have a way to transfer the pics to my computer right now, so they'll have to come at a later date.

Other news ...

We took Caedmon in for his 2-month check-up yesterday. (I can't believe he's 2 months already, where does the time go! He's smiling a lot these days, couing and moving his arms and legs all over the place. He even loves the bouncer seat now and will hit the little rings in front of him for quite a while.) Anyway, at his appointment, we discovered that Caed now weighs 13 pounds and is 24 inches long! He's in the 70+ percentile for weight, length and head size :). That's our boy! What a difference a month makes! And unfortunately, he also had to get 4 shots and an oral immunization, but he did really well after the initial scream and 2 doses of Tylenol. Cherry flavored Tylenol was a genius idea ... Caed loves it!

We also decided to take a visit to Charlotte this weekend and even after Caed's shots, he did really well in the car. (This was actually his first long car trip.) He slept the majority of the way to Greensboro and then was able to meet his uncle Glenn, aunt Christina, and cousins Cyrus (3) and Lucia (6 months). Lucia was so happy to meet Caedmon that she even puked up her grape applesauce on Caedmon's carseat. What great visions of the fun they'll have as they get older :P. Now that we're in Charlotte, Caed will be able to see his other cousins again tonight when they're all dressed up for Halloween. If we're lucky, aunt Michelle may be able to find Ryan's old superman costume and Caed will be able to dress up as superman for Halloween. If she finds it, we'll definitely post the pictures.

Scheduling

Oh the joys of scheduling! Now that we've hit week 5, we're taking a stab at developing a schedule that's conducive for Caedmon's large appetite and mom & dad's sanity. Today is day 4 of our schedule and like everything else, we've had our ups and downs. Monday was very rough -- full blown screams at naptime and the feeling like things would never get better. Monday night rolled around and it seemed as though things were on the ups when Caed slept 4.5 straight hours and we were able to begin a nice routine the next morning. And then Tuesday prooved to be pretty good. Naptime in the crib was still painful, but Caed was an overall happy baby during the day. But once bedtime hit again, sleep for all of us was non-existent, so when Wednesday rolled around, I opted out of the schedule for a few hours in the morning so that Caed and I could catch up on our sleep and that made the day much more enjoyable. However, by 11:30pm -- Caed's last hoorah for the day -- I could barely keep my eyes open. (We did go to Community Group and maybe the extra socialization wore me out -- but I was exhausted and used every last bit of energy to stay awake.) But now that Wednesday has passed and Thursday is here, I think we're slowly getting the hang of this, Caed is just not very predictable yet, so I imagine that only time will tell now.

Caed Visits ARS

Caedmon got to visit his daddy at work yesterday bearing Chick-fil-a. Prior to our 1 month check-up at the pediatrician's office (obviously it hasn't been a month since we've been to the doctor, but this was Caed's 1 month mark), we decided to bring lunch to Brad at his office so that the ARS guys could meet Caed, and so that we could get out of the house for a bit longer. Roger was especially happy to see Caed wide awake and alert. The other two times he'd seem him at church, Caed had always been asleep. Thankfully, even as Caed was wide awake, he was a very calm and happy baby. (I think we're turning another corner.) Last week at this time, if we would have tried this, he would have either slept through the entire outting or cried. There is hope in sight!!

Caedmon even enjoyed some time at daddy's desk and helped out with a few calls.

At the doctor's office, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Caedmon is now 9 pounds, 7.5 ounces and is in the 50th percentile for weight and 85 percentile for length. Caed, however, was not too thrilled to find out that he had to get his second Hep B shot and at the prick of the needle, he let us know. Poor guy ... we'll definitely have to prepare him for his 2-month visit, which will include 4 more shots -- 2 in each leg. Ouch!

Oh the places we go when Caed's asleep ...

Traveling with a 3-week-old certainly has its challenges, as you may remember from our first trip to Target, but I'm excited to say that it's getting easier by the week (fingers crossed), and yesterday prooved that point even though it didn't start off that easy. (The ride to Target and the first leg around the store was actually pretty brutal.) But once Caed made it over that hurdle, took his pacie and fell asleep, it was all smooth sailing from there. In fact, once we finished our trip to Target, I was even able to run home, grab my watch and head to the mall to have the battery replaced, and stop in to Crate and Barrel to pick up a little surprise for Brad. (Thanks to Erika & Morgan, Caedmon was able to make his debut in a sling on this trip.) Once we arrived back home and found that Caedmon was still asleep, we were able to even go for an afternoon stroll around the neighborhood -- and this wasn't just down the street, but the full circle around the neighborhood! How wonderful! Then, I was even able to get a load of laundry done and fold a second. What an afternoon! I hear that it only gets easier from here ... and that takes in to account waking hours as well.

On another note, Caed's weight continues to improve by the day. As of yesterday, he weighed in at 9 pounds, 3 ounces!

Caed is 3 Weeks Old Today!

Well, it seems like it's been a little tough to update the blog on a regular basis, so we're just getting Caed's weekly milestones. And this week, at his 3-week mark, we have a lot of fun stuff to share:

Caedmon met his cousins, Madison, Ryan and Emily yesterday, as well as his aunt Michelle and had the chance to spend a few days with his Nana and Papa Tony.

GG and cousin Andrew came to visit this past weekend and Andrew was excited beyond words to get his picture with his "cousin once removed," or however that works.

We took Caedmon in for yet another doctor's appointment today and we're excited to say that he's gaining a good amount of weight!! He weighed 8 pounds 7.5 ounces during his doctor's visit last Thursday and now, only 4 days later, Caedmon now weighs 8 pounds 13 ounces!! Great job buddy!

Happy 2 Weeks Caed!

Caed is 2 weeks old today ... well, it will be official in exactly 10 more minutes. And what a lucky guy he is, he got to spend the entire morning at the pediatricians office for his 2-week check-up and weight check. Although he lost 11% of his weight the first week of his life, he has gradually gained the majority of it back. He weighted in at 8 pounds, 6 oz. today, only down 1 oz. from his birth weight. That puts him in the 45 percentile for his weight, but measuring in at 21 3/4 inches, he's in the 80 percentile for his length. (We certainly know who this long and slendor guy's daddy is :).

On another note, we took Caed for his first walk in the stroller last night, and boy does he really dig the outdoors. Brad found this out last week when he had to pace up and down the driveway at 3am to quiet him down, but to see him captivated in his stroller -- head cocked upward so that he could see ahead of him and up at the sky -- was really neat. We're going to try and make this a nightly routine.

Our First Major Outing

Today was a big day ... After leaving the peditrician's office (our 5th visit in Caed's short life), Brad went on to work and Caedmon and I took the plunge and tried our hand at Target. And, I'm happy to report that it was a success! I was a little nervous to drive around with him all alone, but then to carry him into Target, put him in the cart and walk around the store, was another big feat, and thankfully, he slept the entire time. Go Caedmon! And what a proud mom I was to be able to walk around the store with my precious little son. This was the first time I got to show him off in public all by myself. How fun!

During our shopping trip, we picked up a few extra onesies and long-sleeve sleepers since Caed seems to go through so many each day. (Although babies typically go through several outfits a day anyway, Caed is particularly susceptible since we're having to give him that extra formula supplement during the day, and he's a lot more inclined to spit up and go through more outfits.) So now, we're a little more prepared for the ongoing clothes-changing each day. Then, in addition to the clothes, we also had to pick up more laundry detergent and some stain-fighting solutions to tackle the formula and poop stains that are now on Caed's cloths. (Speaking of poop stains, Caed had a huge blowout the other day ... his first ... and was skilled enough to get it all the way up his back and onto his shoulder blades. What a talented son we have!) Hopefully, the Oxi-Clean will do the trick. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know. GG recommended the Oxi-Clean.

Happy 1 Week Caed!

I can't believe it ... Caedmon turns a week old today. Happy one week buddy! It's crazy to think we were just in the hospital last week at this time. How time flies!

Sleeping and eating have been our primary activities this week, and we're slowly getting into a routine. 5 hours of non-consecutive hours of sleep a night is now the norm and I can't believe that sleeping in was once a favorite past-time of mine. (If only I could reach back in time and grab a few of those sleep hours and utilize them now!) But for Caedmon, it's totally worth it. What a precious little boy he is!

It's amazing how alert he is, when he's not sleeping. (He sleeps like 12+ hours a day now.) The little faces he makes and the things he does with his hands are absolutely amazing for a 7-day old. We love you Caed!

Brad Was Right ...

It turns out that Brad was right after all. Just as the olympics came to a close Sunday evening, my contractions began and Caedmon began his decent into this world. It all started at 11:45pm, August 24. (If you haven't heard before now, baby Hodgson's name is Caedmon Williams Hodgson. Here's a little background behind his name:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caedmon
• http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03131c.htm
  

At that point, my contractions continued steadily every 5 minutes for over an hour and we knew that it was time to call the doctor. With the go-ahead from the doctor, Brad and I began to get the last few things together in our hospital bag -- iPod, speakers, laptop, razor -- you know, the essentials and headed for the hospital at 2:30am. (Listening to Coldplay in the Labor & Delivery room was awesome!)

When we arrived, there were no labor & delivery rooms available, so since we had to pass through triage any way, we camped out there until 7:30am and paced our way through the 4th floor hallways to try and speed things up. Once 7:30am rolled around and I had walked over 40 laps between the NICU and the elevators, we were escorted to our labor & deliver room. From there, after a nice, stiff epidural, Caedmon's entrance was not too far behind.

Then, at 12:59pm, August 25, Caedmon Williams Hodgson was born!

Sunday & Still No Baby

Ok ... so much for saying that baby Hodgson is going to be an "on-time" baby, but I'm sure that he has a good reason for his tardiness. Brad's thought is that he's boycotting the Olympics, and therefore after the closing ceremonies tonight, he'll make his grand entrance. Why should he have to share the spot light anyway? We'll see if that's truly the case this evening.

On a different note, our friend Amy Hathaway just finished developing the maternity pics that she took of us earlier this month and they turned out really cute. Here's one of Brad and his little boy bonding:

Thanks for the great gift Amy!

Still Waiting ...

Well, still no baby Hodgson, but hopefully that means that he'll be an "on-time" baby, since he is due tomorrow. But for those of you who are hanging by this blog to see if he's come yet, you're out of luck.

With all the free time that I have these past couple of days though, you'll see that I've been able to post all kinds of pictures of the past few months to our slideshow, showing our trip to Puerto Rico, Family Shower Weekend, Amy's Beach Weekend, Amy & Jason's Wedding and several other fun moments this summer. So, as you wait in anticipation with us for baby Hodgson's arrival and the "official" unveiling of his name, have fun browsing through our pictures, and we'll be in touch soon!

If you think you might miss exciting news from this blog though, feel free to subscribe to our blog feeds on the right and every time we update "Hodgson Tales," you'll be notified through email.

Under Contract!

After 10 long months, we are excited to announce that we have finally received our 2nd offer Monday night and it's one that's going to work for us. So as of last night at 8pm, our house is officially UNDER CONTRACT! I can't believe it!?! What timing!

And with that great news, Brad drove up to Greensboro this

morning and picked up Aslan, our little orange tabby cat who's been away since October. As you may remember, we dropped him off at Brad's brother's house last Fall, to get him out of the way of potential showings and thinking that he'd only be there for a few months. And now, 10 months later, and right before baby Hodgson arrives, Aslan's home! Welcome back!

The Countdown ...

Well, I just finished up my last day of work yesterday before beginning maternity leave and the countdown until baby Hodgson has really begun ... T-4 days until August 23. I think we're in good shape for the most part, the only thing we're still working on is the crib -- this is the one that my grandma gave us, the one that my dad slept in, that I slept in, that my brother slept in, that will soon be baby Hodgson's! Brad has been working late nights in the warehouse at work, staining, hanging and cutting. If you could only see him work: He's rigged up the crib with fishing line so that it hangs from the ceiling or from a pole between two ladders outside(depending on the weather outside) to stain and wipe each coat. At first glance, it looks like quite the art exhibit. But thankfully for Brad, the final masterpiece is almost in sight and it's going to be beautiful. Brad's such a great handyman!


Here are some "before" pictures of the crib: