Sneak Peek

Birthday Party pictures coming soon.

A Day In The Country

We always love going out to Uncle Pete and Aunt Ruth's house. It's gorgeous out there, and always nice to visit. Yesterday we enjoyed being able to visit with lots of aunts and uncles and cousins. Hudson is in heaven with all the farm tools and being able to just run and run with no boundaries. Even though it was hot, the weather did not stop us from having a good time and being able to enjoy a day together since school is back in full swing. Time to cherish those weekends again, and milk them for all they are worth. They are certainly not long enough.

Blogger Slacker

It's amazing how fast things can change in the short time of just 2 weeks. The days of sleeping in until 8:30-9:00 am, getting up and hanging out around the house, going out to lunch or eating a late lunch at home, spending the afternoon at the pool or a play date, and staying up until well after mid night are OVER!
WHEW! I can barely hold my eyes open until 9:00, and I won't even lie about my (almost) 2 year old out lasting me the other night while I passed out on the couch before dark. I love teaching. Don't get me wrong, it's just hard getting back into the swing of things.
I have A LOT of little kindergarten darlings in my class this year. So many, that we (all of the K teachers at my school) are over our legal state mandated capacity limit, and should be getting another kindergarten teacher at our school soon. It will be nice to have a more manageable class size, but I have already gotten attached to all of my babies and it will also be hard to let any of them go.
Hudson has enjoyed getting back into his routine and spending time with Claire and Nana. He comes home everyday talking about new things. I can't believe that he will be turning 2 in a few weeks. His party is next weekend, and he's excited about it.
I'm going to cheat with the pictures for this post. I'll admit that I have not really taken any in the past few weeks with everything going on, so I will leave you with a few of our last days of summer vacation. Hudson and Ila had fun playing in the sprinkler, and washing their car.
I've been a Blogger Slacker. I plan to get back into blogging regularly as soon as things slow down for a few minutes. Thanks for hanging in there with me. Hope you are all doing well and that "back to school" is going great for you!

good news

Just when I was about to get really down about going back to work, I read this update about Tripp. You might remember him from one of my previous posts. Be sure to check out the video of Tripp smiling. What an awesome sight!
Tomorrow is the day. I will officially be back to work. I spent most of the day there today finishing up my room, but tomorrow it will be back into the swing of things for Hudson and me. I sure will miss this gorgeous smile all during the day.

Summer 2011 Recap

We started the summer off at the end of May at the beach with our family. It was a blast. Hudson had a great time with Ella, and loved the water. He would just run straight into the ocean with no fear.

We had lots of play dates with Claire. These buddies are attached at the hip and always enjoy being together.

Claire turned two and had a super fun zebra party.

We spent a LOT of time at the pool, and it's official...Hudson is a little fish and loves the water just like his parents. No fear!

We celebrated Ila's birthday by going to see Sesame Street Live. These most adorable toddlers loved it.

Ila turned two and had an amazing Wiggles party.

Chris and Jackie came to visit.We spent lots of time outdoors.

Hudson learned how to climb out of his crib among other things.
We went to Alabama for the 4th of July and enjoyed being with familly and having good times playing with Ella.

I loved spending so much time with this sweet boy!

Barrett and Carter turned 2. Their carnival party was really cool.

The temps soared to over 100 degrees and our time outside was limited to early morning or evening. We found ways to stay entertained while being inside.

Lots of fun was had with great friends.

Summer 2011 has been great! Hudson grew so much and even potty trained. He's doing so well with it, and I feel like we can say that we officially have potty training success. I'm super proud of him. He is such a little boy. No more baby.

I start back to school on Tuesday. As much as I hate to see summer end, I am ready for both of us to get back into a routine. Hudson loves being with his Nana and Claire everyday, and Nana has some some exciting "school" stuff planed for those two smarty pants.

It's Hudson's time to turn 2 (in three short weeks), and we can't begin to express how much we are looking forward to Fall. Cooler weather, pumpkins, blue jeans, and college football are just around the corner. Summer flew by, but it's time to move forward. This is going to be a great year!

23 months

Dear Hudson,

This will be your last monthly post before you are 2 YEARS OLD! Wow! That's still so hard to digest. Last year this time we were preparing for your big surgery and obviously your first birthday. These 2 years have gone by wayyyyyyy too fast. I am so proud of you and the person that you are becoming. You are a great kid and we are blessed beyond measure to have you as our son.

I've enjoyed being home with you for the past 2 months. It's almost time for me to go back to work, and it's going to be VERY hard to be away from you all day after being with you all summer. I'm ready for us to get back into a routine, but that does not make it any easier. I've watched you grow, learn, and change daily. You are becoming so independant, and need me less and less with each day. You want to do everything all by yourself. Your vocabulary and communication skills/language development resemble those of a 3 year old more than a 23 month old.

You remember everything, and I love listening to you play with your cars and trucks or drive your bus around. "Beep-beep, watch out, vroomm, vroomm, and other sounds are so cute coming from you. When we are driving in the car and I apply the brakes, you always yell "watch out!". I guess you hear me telling your daddy that all the time when he's driving.

We have been working on potty training but I have not gone all out yet. You do wonderful and wear your underwear and potty all the time at home, but I am not brave enough to take you out of the house without a diaper yet. Even though you can climb out of your bed faster than a greyhound runs out of the gate at a dog race, I just can't bring myself to turn your crib into a toddler bed...YET. As long as you are in your sleep sack you don't climb out and we watch you on the video monitor when you are in there sleeping.

Your eating habits sure have changed this summer. You have become quite picky and don't eat as much as you used to at all. You still eat enough, and I know this is just a phase that is common for toddlers, so I am not worried. You have grown 2 and a half inches and lost 2 pounds since March, but you are by no means malnoursihed. You weigh 30 lbs, and are wearing size 2t clothing and size 8/9 shoes. You still LOVE to play ball...all kinds, and if you see a ball, you tell us what kind it is right away. Even though you are extremely strong willed, you know all about time out and it seems to work for you. You will walk over and sit down when we tell you that you have to go.

We are excited about your birthday party in a few weeks. You get excited about birthday parties that we go to, and love singing "Happy birthday to you". I can't wait to see your face when we sing to you and you get to blow out your candles. Hopefully you won't be shy and get embarassed by all the attention and push your cake on the floor like your mother did at her 2nd birthday party.

Thanks for being such a fun kid. I love you so much!