A Year in Pictures

Words really cannot express the love we feel for this boy! What a gift we have been given! The past year has been challenging and hard at times, but filled with more joy than we could imagine because of Hudson. His curiosity, his never-ending sounds, his smile, his laugh, his open-mouth kisses, and on and on are the reasons I smile as I get him out of bed each morning. I cannot wait to see what each new day brings with him. And I cannot wait to see what God has in store for his next years to come.

I know that every baby born is a miracle, but the events of the last week have shown us just how big of a miracle we were given. In the midst of our sadness, Hudson reminds us of joy. And we are praying this verse for our family...

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Belated Birthday Part 2

Belated Birthday

Thankfully, Hudson doesn't care that I've been an idle blogger. :) But as promised, here are some pics from the big birthday party. Or should I say, the "let's just hope he doesn't throw up all over his cupcake party!" Poor little man felt like crap this day and just really wasn't into presents, party hats, songs, cupcakes, etc. He did, ironically, enjoy jumping on the trampoline. That makes mommy nauseous just thinking about it, but he was able to hold it all down for a little cousin jumpin'! Hopefully next year we will all be well and ready to party!

(I'll have to break this up into two posts to get more pictures in!)

Heartache

Friends,

It's with a sad and heavy heart that I write to tell you that an ultrasound showed this afternoon that our new baby did not have a heartbeat. We are sad, disappointed, confused and crying out to God over the loss of another baby. We don't understand, but we are trusting in God's plan for our family. I will try to share more later, but tonight I feel drained.

I am scheduled for surgery on Friday morning. Maybe in my rest and recovery I will actually get the pictures posted from Hudson's birthday. :)

We appreciate your prayers,

Ashley

Not exactly what we had planned

WARNING: There are no pictures on this post because I left my camera cord at home. I promise they will appear shortly. But just to give you a little update on our big birthday week. It did not go as planned. Hudson had a bad case of the big "D" and I don't mean Dallas. Well, his little virus quickly spread to almost every person in this house, so we were not exactly up for partying much this week. We did have a birthday party on Wednesday night, but Hudson wasn't really into it. I did get some pictures, but there were very few smiles. Happy birthday buddy! (sarcasm)

I had plans to visit two of my friends who have recently had babies, didn't happen. I guess I'll be seeing you girls in the summer. :(

We did, however, manage to successfully throw my sister a baby shower today. And everyone has kept their punch and cake down, so far.

I will post pictures as soon as we get home. And I'm sure Mimi is ready for that so she can Clorox her house from top to bottom.

First 1st Birthday!

We began Hudson's birthday week (don't you love a birthday week?!) with our good friends on Saturday night at the most genius place I have ever heard of. My sister claims she thought of this idea first, but she is obviously not banking in on that right now. Good try Ang! Anyway, thanks to a blog by my friend Becca, we celebrated at Austin Cookie Lounge. Imagine with me people...it's like Marble Slab Creamery, but for cookies. You choose what flavor cookie dough you want and then what flavor mixins you want inside your dough. I KNOW! YUMMY! And they flavored milks, milkshakes, etc. The only downside was that it was actually a lounge, not very baby friendly. So needless to say we didn't tarry long at Austin Cookie Lounge with an almost four year old, almost one year old and an 8 month old. (Note last picture.) Maybe just the adults can go back one night and Dusty and fully enjoy his cookie and Trivial Pursuit!

Anyway, Hudson, Kate and Jack were really into the cookies and then climbing, running, jumping on the couches and just generally disturbing the cute little UT students who were there on dates! Tons of fun! Thanks to our friends the Testone's and Jaclyn (missed you Mark) for helping celebrate with Hudson! Hudson has the best friends!! :)

Hudson has an announcement...

No need to adjust your monitor, you read it right. We're having another baby! I am eight weeks along and Baby Brewer #2 will be joining us around October 25th. That means Hudson and his new brother/sister will be 19 months apart. Whew! We were a little (lot) surprised, but we are feeling very blessed that God has granted us favor in this area of our lives again.

New sibling, first birthday, standing up on his own...big week for Hudson! Poor kid doesn't have a clue!

Please join us in praying for our new little peanut. My doctor is wanting to see me every two weeks for a while, just to be safe. We are totally okay with that! We will keep you updated!

Stay tuned...the big day is right around the corner and celebrations are starting tomorrow!! I promise to be a better blogger!

Happy Spring Break!

P.S. When the news was broken to my niece Grace, her response was, "but they already have a baby." So true Grace, so true! :)

Two down, four to go!

Congratulations to Ben, Ashley and Anna Cating on the arrival of their new little sweetie pie, Rachel Lyn Cating!! She was born yesterday, March 2nd and weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. She is such a cutie with a head full of dark hair. I'm sure Ashley is already stressing about that...she doesn't do hair!! :)

Who's going to be next???!!!