From Our Family

2nd Birthdays & Sign Language

Over the last several months we have celebrated many 2nd birthdays. Hudson's friends all were born within three months of him so we a LOT of birthdays in the fall/winter. Last week we went to a birthday for Addie. She had a tutus and ties party at Chick-fil-a. The boys wore duck tape ties and the girls had tutus. It was super cute and Hud enjoyed playing with friends in the play area.

He is such a flirt. I took him to the restroom to change his diaper and on the way she stopped at every table to tell them bye. My little ham....On another note I wanted to talk about sign language. I haven't mentioned it in any of his recent birthday posts but I think it's important to note that he still uses it. Sometimes when he's frustrated and trying to tell us what he wants he will do a few different signs in a row because he can't figure out the right one. It's like he's hoping that if he can make up a sign we will be able to help him. I taught him sign language for many reasons, but one of them was that it lessens frustration when they can't communicate through words.(He obviously loves chocolate)I still try to teach him new signs periodically, but to be honest I haven't done a great job lately. We are working on water but it's a hard one!The signs he currently uses are:milkmorehungryfinishedagain (he mostly associates this one with Mickey Mouse because I always say "again?" when he wants to watch it but we are working on using it in other situations too)shoesbooks (he does this for Library too)he also has a sign for yes sir that we kind of made up and he also associates it for Uncle Trent who he calls "hat"(I'm probably forgetting some)I think he is a great talker and probably doesn't need signs anymore. But I just think that while babies are young and growing we should use their willingness to learn for their benefit. (And no I don't think we should teach our babies to read) I'm praying that one day he will be able to use signs to help others ;)

23 Months

Hudson, you are 23 months old today!

You still weigh between 27-28 pounds and I think you're still 35-36 inches tall. You wear 18-24 month clothes for the most part. We have bought you a few 2T shirts and I can't believe it. It makes you sound like such a big boy!You wear size 6 shoe, but I think you're about to move up to a 7. Your feet to seem to be growing a lot lately.You wear size 4 diaper.And speaking of diapers we bought you a potty this month. You have started staying dry through some of your naps and we wanted to get you used to the idea. You love to sit on it (clothed) and talk about it. But you aren't really interested in it other than a few minutes a day. That's ok, we will get there!You talk nonstop and I'm so impressed by the things you say. Today you got a present from under the tree and said "Hudsee's box" I have no idea how you know that it is a box. You took the bow off and put it on Rylee and said "Ry Ry's bow" I didn't know you had the word bow in your vocabulary either! You are putting words together to make simple sentences and they are so cute. One thing that you do that cracks me up is repeat yourself until someone acknowledges what you said. You will say the same thing over and over until someone responds to you as if you need their approval. You are such a social bug and talk to anyone! You especially love to tell everyone bye and blow them kisses. You still LOVE to eat and I don't think that will change. You are really in to "nandy" right now thanks to Grandma's candy dish. You go right to it and can even get to the lid!
You love all of the Christmas decorations and call trees "lights." You have a tree in your room and call it lights even though it has none on it. I knew that you would never sleep if you had lights in your room! You love to drive to look at lights around town and when we go to Papa's house you say "papa's lights." I'm curious to see all you will react to all of the fun of Christmas. You are obsessed with cars and driving and buckles. You love to sit in the front seat and pretend to drive. If you see someone in the car without their seatbelt on you say "Mommy buckle." You are keeping us all safe!You have and still love Mickey Mouse, chocolate milk, sausage rolls and gravy (without the sausage), music, socks and shoes and anything to do with technology. My favorite part of the day with you is bedtime. Not because I'm exhausted, because you are so sweet about the whole process. It goes a little something like this:bathteethjammiesbible storytucking you in bedpraying over you (and you do a little whisper prayer that isn't understandable but it's to die for) saying love you Jesus (while looking at the ceiling)kisses goodnightYou are SO sweet. Your love for your bible above any other book is so inspiring. Sometimes when I just want to get you to bed because we are both worn out you hold me accountable and it's always SO worth it.I seriously cannot believe we are going to be celebrating your 2nd birthday next month. This has been an amazing two years with you! I'm a little sad that I won't be doing anymore monthly updates, but so excited to watch you continue to grow! Daddy and I love you very much. You light up our lives and we are better because of you! We love and adore you sweet boy! Happy 23 months!

Catching Up

A few happenings since Thanksgiving....

Our dogs have been at mom and dad's house since we moved back last year. They have so graciously taken care of them for over a year. But now they are in our house and Hudson LOVES it. Most of the time he wakes up asking for "Mar Mar." I'm so glad I captured this moment a few weeks ago, he loves having his dogs around. 

I received a grant for a rug for my classroom! I had to take a picture while it was so bright and pretty. I'm guessing it won't look this beautiful in May!

Ayden and family came for a visit. We had dinner and went to see the Christmas lights. We had the BEST time with our families together. We were laughing so hard we were crying, especially at the sweet boy above who thought he was in a parade and that everyone was there to see him. I am so thankful for Hudson's buddies and that we can call their parents our friends.
And just for the record I wanted to post that H now has potty in our house (as of Sunday). It doesn't mean anything except that we are just getting him used to the idea. I know that it won't happen overnight and he may not be ready yet. But so far he loves to sit on it (clothed) and talk about it. He has even carried it to other places in the house and tried to use it for his "chair" ha!

Thanksgiving

Happy very late Thanksgiving! We had a nice three days of celebration!

I had to show off these cute turkeys we made at school!My big boy loves to eat so of course this is a great holiday for him!I have so much to be thankful for! I wish I could write it all on here, but these pictures show just a minor part of the blessings I am thankful for.Hudson had a great time with family and got some cousin time. This is the best picture I could get where all three were smiling!

We also got to visit our family in Missouri.

Hudson got a little tast of Bobby's sense of humor and wasn't too thrilled. One day he will learn to appreciate it!

Can you believe it's the holiday season? Time is just flying by around here!

22 Months

We seriously cannot believe that you are almost two Hudson!



You weigh a whole 27 pounds are about 35 in tall (Papa couldn't get an exact measurement because you wouldn't stand still).

We can't say that you have changed a whole lot since your last "birthday." You seem to be getting taller and thinning out. It's making you look like such a boy and not a baby.

You wear mostly 18-24 month clothes, but you still wear some  12-18 month pants.

You wear size 5 or 6 shoes.

You are saying new words all of the time and talk nonstop. You still use signs like milk, more, shoes, and finished. You are putting two or three words together in phrases. Your favorite thing to do right now is naming. You point to everyone and say their name. You also have to tell us about every one's possessions-they all have to be identified by who they belong to. You are always saying "Mae Mae's car" or "Mae mae's shoes" and on and on it goes. You will not stop until it is confirmed that you are right too. You are hilarious!

I do believe you are going to be my social bug. Everywhere we go you say hi and bye to everyone and blow them kisses.

You are still in love with Mickey Mouse and music. You love to play, but don't currently have any favorite toys. You play with anything, but mostly love to be outside and run around!

You are and have always been a great eater. You LOVE salad (with ranch of course) and aren't afraid to let us know when you're "hunee." We can't drive by a restaurant anymore without you rubbing your belly and saying "hunee, hunee."

You are a smart little stinker and we think you may hit terrible two's before two! You are not afraid to show when you aren't happy with something. You're meltdowns are kind of hilarious considering you are really careful to drop on the floor as to not hurt yourself.

We love you so very much! You bring so much joy and love into our lives. We don't know how we were blessed with such a special little guy, but we couldn't have asked for more! We love you Hud!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

A few things

What a wild week! We've ended up with two sickly boys in this house so it's ended up being pretty low key around here. One is feeling better and the other woke up covered in vomit this morning. I'm sorry for the grossness of that sentence, but it's true. I'm praying we don't carry any yuckiness into this new week. We need to be healthy!

We had a busy week at school too! We hardly finished all that we had planned, so I'm sharing one photo of what we did complete. We celebrated Veteran's Day by making these cute soldiers to take to the local  Veteran's hospital. We had great discussions about how important the military is and how they protect us. And I just loved seeing my little girl's face light up when she was learning about how important her daddy's job is. Don't you just love kinder art?! These turned out absolutely precious! I'll be posting about our pilgrim week next, it involves all kinds of kinder cuteness!We have reached a milestone at our house! An organized garage that can be parked in! We spent most of Thursday afternoon trying to get things cleaned out, put away and taken to Goodwill. My life feels so much more organized now! These two crack me up. They would much rather sit in their garage chairs, listen to the Cowboys game and be outside than watch it on tv and sit inside.
We tried a new recipe this week-Ryan is a dark meat fan so occasionally I eat it for his sake. We had these drumsticks in the freezer and I went searching for a good way to use them. I ended up here. They turned out great and I could leave them in the crock pot all day which made it even better!I hope you've had a more exciting week than us! It's our last full week before Thanksgiving! I can't believe it's so close! I'm definitely looking forward to turkey!

Shakin' It Up

We have had quite the weekend! Friday night Hud's buddy Brax got to come over and play! We went to bed and apparently had an earthquake while we were asleep! Thankfully the 2am shake did not wake us!

Saturday was a pretty whirlwind kind of day! We were up bright and early for our family garage sale. We did really well and sold a lot of things, including all of Hud's baby-12 month clothes :(. And I can now park in the garage! Anyway, we left the sale early to head to special little guy's birthday! 

His momma did the BEST job decorating his Car's themed birthday. They had it at the gym and the kids loved that! And it was absolutely adorable! These puzzles were a big hit! 

She even made the family matching shirts! I love that baby girl and I got to hang out with her while Hudson played his heart out! Check out his face? I actually think I was more scared of him going down that slide than he was!

Ayden's nonna is a baker! She made his adorable Cars cake and these little mini cakes for the other characters! Hud and I shared the yellow one, yum!

We came home and watched the Cowboy game and were so excited they pulled out another win! Then we had another earthquake and this time I was awake. Yikes, that was the scariest thing! Ryan was at work and Hudson was in bed. He must have felt it though because he let out two little cries and then went back to sleep. Our house got a good little shake and thankfully nothing was hurt and we are all safe! It's just so crazy to experience something that you think will "never happen to you." Anyone else out there experience the quakes?

Anyway today has been a busy day preparing for the coming week and Hud got to play with Uncle "non" and Ash while I worked. Then he had another play date with Brax and I have yet to take any pictures of them together. I'm so thankful for relaxing times with friends, but sad to see them go back home.

I will probably have to post some of the cute things we are doing at school this week! Thanks to Pinterest we have some cute Thanksgiving projects coming up! Is it really already time for turkey?!

Halloween and Haircuts

I think this was the most fun Halloween ever! I'm really not a Halloween fan, I don't like the scary stuff associated with it nor do I think that anything about it glorifies God. But I think there is something simple and fun about kids in cute (not scary) costumes exchanging candy that is innocent and fun. Can't we just get rid of all the junk?

Anyway, we started this holiday by visiting the pumpkin patch after school. Hudson really enjoyed it (see post below). We picked this pumpkin patch because it had animals most of them were either called a dog or a moo, but he wasn't necessarily interested in feeding or touching them.  He really just wanted to pick pumpkins.

I was nervous about was his costume and really didn't have a backup plan. I tried it on several weeks ago to see if it fit and it was a disaster waiting to happen. I bought this costume last year and it was too big so we saved it. Luckily it fit! Just not willingly...We didn't spend any money on the costume this year, didn't buy any candy and spent $10 on a pumpkin bucket (why are they so expensive?). That's a pretty cheap holiday!

Anyway, back to the costume. The part that made it all so bad was the hat. He will not wear a hat for anything, it's just not worth the fight. So we put him in the car to get him dressed and he wasn't very happy with me. We told him we were ready to go get a snack and I slipped the hat on while he was walking and he was fine with it. Really? Oh well, I'm just glad that he wore it.

After the pumpkin patch we made our first stop for Trick or Treating, "Gamma's" house. He didn't really want to hold his pumpkin, but he knocked on the door and got irritated when she didn't answer quick enough. She gave him Hershey kisses and he got to eat one. Then he quickly realized that the pumpkin was for his benefit. Needless to say, he was happy to carry the pumpkin the rest of the evening.

One kiss was not enough and he was begging to dig in his bucket for more.

Aunt Abby took him around the block for tick or treating. He practiced saying trick or treat, but mostly just said thank you after he got the candy. He wasn't shy about reaching for it either. We visited 8 houses or so, got our mini Wonder bread loaf and by that time H was ready to be carried home. It was a successful Halloween for this little man!

And just for my own record, H had a haircut this week. This one was NOT a pleasant experience. He didn't want to eat his sucker, talk to Sarah, sit still, or be covered in hair. He was quite the disaster, but such is life with an almost 2 year old...

Pumpkin Shopping

Mommy and Daddy took me to the pumpkin patch and let me go shopping. It went like this....

Can I have one of these? 

And one of these? 

I'll take another one! 

How about two more? 

And this guy! I want him! 

Corn? 

Ya this one too!

And I'll grab a white one too!

Mommy just wants that one. Yeah, that one with the cute smile! She said she'd never let anyone else buy me. She sure does love me!

Birthday

It's a special birthday today!


Happy Birthday to the best dad and papa a family could ask for. We love you very much and are so thankful for the example you set for us and the way you speak wisdom into our lives. We wouldn't be the same without you!

Fall Break

Fall Break has come and gone and I'm mising it a bit.

We made another trip to Grandma's house to help with her estate sale.  

Grandma had SO much stuff. I cannot even describe how packed her house was and in the midst of it all we found some treasures! I'm not trying to downplay how hard it is to sell all of your family member's possessions, but we tried to have a little fun with the items that are not sentimental-like these wonderful boots. I claimed them quickly and now they are all mine. You think I'm joking, but I'm not lying when I say that I will wear these. I think they have a bit of a vintage feel to them and I love it!  

The estate sale went really well. I think we probably had at least 30 customers before we even officially were set to open on Saturday morning. These people are serious about their estate sales. We were able to empty the house of everything that was not needed. Hudson did a pretty good job during the whole ordeal. He found this mini wagon to drag Mickey around in, watched a lot of "hot dog" and ate junk food. That's what you're supposed to do on "vacation" right?! For the most part he did really good, he wanted to be outside most of the time and thankfully the weather was mostly gorgeous except for the chilly mornings. Brrr. 

Other than trying to help with grandma's things we have been trying to keep up with the baseball games. Ryan is cheering for the Rangers, I'm secretly cheering for the Cardinals (shhh don't tell, I'll be kicked out of this house), and Hudson just cheers. His daddy likes to yell "Go baby" at the tv and that translates into "no no baby" in Hudson language. We adore him, he keeps us laughing!

And of course a weekend wouldn't be complete without a trip to school. Hudson loves to go to school with me. He mostly wants to vacuum (which is broken and almost brought him to tears), but he has discovered the motor lab. It has lots of great toys for large motor development and the trampoline is definitely his favorite! He is also at the right height to reach markers, scissors, and anything else he shouldn't touch! Such is life with a 1 1/2 year old!

Happy Fall (break) Y'all! Can you believe October is almost over?

21 Months & a New Cousin

Hudson Williams I cannot believe you are 21 months old!

I covered most of the highlights in your picture above, but I have to add a few details.

You weigh 27 pounds and wear a size 4 diaper.

You wear 12-18 month or 18-24 month clothes and size 6 shoe. You are obsessed with shoes and pick which ones you want to wear each morning.

You are also obsessed with cleaning-every night before you go to bed you put everything back in it's place. You also love to sweep and vacuum and wash your hands too! We could give you a rag and you would wipe down EVERYTHING in this house.

On a more serious note, you went for your yearly cardiologist appointment last week. You did pretty good laying still for the ECHO. You ate gummy bears and played with their fun light up toys. The best news is that everything came back normal and we don't have anything to worry about!

You still talk ALL day long. You love to name everything and you are starting to put two words together to make a phrase. You say things like "wash hands" and "where's abby." My favorite things you say right now are okay and alright. I think it's hilarious that you respond to us with those words. You are also getting really good at yes and no. Anytime we are in the car you name everyone is the family. It sounds something like this, "papa, mae mae, nick, abby, erin, hat, non...."

In other news you have a new cousin! You got to go meet her on Saturday, but you didn't pay much attention to her. You were really excited to play with Katy and her toys! You are now surrounded by 5 girls and another one is on the way! Good thing you have some good friends who are boys!

Daddy and I love you so much H! We have loved every bit of the last 21 months with you! You are so grown up and although it's a little sad we are excited for your future. You have great days ahead of you! We are already so proud of you and cannot express how much you bless us! Love you little man!