What We've Been Up To

Here are a few pics to update you on what's been going on with the Denney family.

My First Big Boy Bath


Hanging out with cousin Kayli


My Many Faces








My First Texas BBQ Experience


I LOVE my Mommy


I LOVE my Mommy's shoulder

2-Week Check-Up

Today we visited the pediatrician for Hudson's 2-week check-up. He's a healthy growing boy! He weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces - that's nearly a pound more than his weight on the day we left the hospital (6 pounds 14 ounces). Clearly he's a good eater! He also measured 21 inches. That's a lot of growing for a little guy in a short amount of time. At this rate, he'll be taller than us by Christmas! He was a trooper during his heel stick for a repeat newborn screening and then slept most of the rest of the day. We are so blessed to have a happy, healthy baby.

Continuing a Tradition

In Istanbul, we had a tradition of eating Chinese food for lunch at Cevahir Mall every Sunday (well, almost every Sunday) after church. The Hope gang would head over to the mall to the Chinese buffet and chow-down after a morning of praise and worship. Well, the Denneys have continued this tradition here in the Big D with Hudson. For the only two Sundays of his life thus far, we've been to Pei Wei for lunch after church.

Here's the fam enjoying the outing.

How Hudson Spends His Days

Relaxing in Mom's Lap


Milk Coma After a Good Feeding


Napping After a Morning of Eating and Pooping

Not enough thank-you cards

With all of the baby showers and gifts and everything, we knew we would need millions of thank-you cards, so we bought bunches of them long ago. Only problem is that we underestimated the amount of things we would have to be thankful for. After an old family friend of the Mitchells, Lou Beth Birdwell, brought dinner to us and prayed for us the other day, I realized that fact.

There's another thing I would like to point out here. I was struck this morning by the similarity between our love for Hudson and God's love for us. I was thinking about how the Old Testament says that God created us so that he could share his love with us. It's amazing how closely that statement parallels my feelings about Hudson. Karen and I wanted to have a baby, but why? Because we had so much love in our relationship, we thought we might share it with a little buddy (or budette). And it's surprising how much you can enjoy taking care of someone who's completely dependent on you. It's not a drag--it's actually pure joy!

Activities of the day

So while newborns require constant feeding (every 2-3 hours) and diaper changing (every 30 minutes to 2 hours) and sleep about 20 out of 24 hours, Hudson has managed to squeeze a little leisure into his day. Today was a pretty fun day. Read on to see why.

This morning, he had a visit from Nana Bozman, who held him for about 90 minutes straight. Everyone was pretty relaxed and sedate (notice the pug-shaped couch cushions!). It must be some sort of pheromone that Nana gives off.

In the early afternoon, Byron took Hudson for his first walk in the stroller since it wasn't too hot. Here's a picture from just before they headed out (you'll notice Byron's flip flops waiting by the fireplace). Look how excited Hudson was!

Leaving the hospital

Karen took this picture of Hudson just before we left the hospital on Thursday. He's wearing his special leaving-the-hospital outfit, the first thing he wore besides hospital t-shirts. And he's lying on the blanket that Grandma Denney knitted for him. He seems to like it, Grandma!

This keenly angled shot was, as you can see, taken in the car on the way to the Mitchells' house from the hospital. Hudson seemed to settle into his car seat very easily. Oh, you can't see Byron's hat from this angle, but it says "New Dad" across the front. And it's getting lots of use!

Family resemblance

Look at the the similarities between Hudson and Karen in the photos below. The features Byron and Hudson have in common--as far as we can tell at this point--are the ears and the chin. But everything else seems to have come from Karen!

Karen:

Byron:

Hudson (obviously):

Or, if you prefer, a close-up:

Daddy cuddles

This is a great bonding moment this morning that I was able to capture. It shows exactly how Hudson acts most of the time he is awake.

Smiley time!

Byron was holding Hudson this morning as he dozed off to sleep after a feeding, and he must have been dreaming because he was making some really adorable smiles and smirks. We just ate it up!

The rest of the videos

Hudson squirming on the OR warming table:


Hudson's first bath:


Meeting family:

More pictures

I just can't get enough! Here are some more pictures from our first night with Hudson.

First Cuddles

First cuddles

This is a video of some of Karen and Hudson's first cuddles.

We had a good first night.

Karen, Hudson and I had a good first night at the hospital. We did a feeding at 11:20 that ended at midnight, were up at 3:00 again to feed, and Hudson had his breakfast at 6:00 this morning. He's feeding very well, burping like a champ (dare I say frat boy?), and sharing some very sweet cuddles. We're very excited about our first full day with him and with visitors. We'll post more pictures as we take them.

More pictures of Hudson

Baby Hudson is here!

Dear friends and family, please join us in welcoming Hudson Mitchell Denney to the world! Our precious little boy was born at 5:28 PM on August 4th 2008, weighing in at 7 lbs, 5.5 oz. and measuring 19 inches. Karen and Hudson are both in fine health and resting peacefully. We thank God for the miracle of birth and new life, and for the good health with which he has blessed our family. We are also thankful for our friends and family, and all of the love and support that you have given us. How exciting it is to be able to share this with you!

Hudson Mitchell Denney:

Sorry, no baby yet!

But here's the last belly shot, taken this morning just after Karen put her hospital gown on.