Date with Huddy

Hudson and I took a trip to the zoo last week!  What used to be such an ordinary occurrence was such a sweet trip this time.  I left Harper with my mom and the two of us were off to spend a little quality time together.

This trip marked the first time we went stroller free.  Hudson was more than ready to go stroller free prior to this, but I was not ready to chase him while super pregnant. :)

Hudson was loving the lions.  They were putting on quite a show and we stood there for 15 minutes.  Hudson kept saying that the lion was scaring him, but when I asked if he wanted to go he quickly said no.  Silly boy.

Such a fun, sweet day!  I love how Hudson knows the exact route we take and what animals are coming up. And since he is such a chatterbox these days, it is super fun to have conversations with him as we make our way through the zoo together!

Harper Joy

The Santa picture that almost wasn’t….

They say every picture tells a story…well these two pictures don’t quite tell the whole story…

We took the kids to see Santa last week. I had high hopes of getting a cute picture of the two of them together in Santa’s lap.  Hudson was so enamored with Santa at the Polar Express that I just knew this was going to go well.

We went during the week so it wouldn’t be too crowded and Trent came down to meet us during his lunchtime.  We got in the (small) line and waited our turn. Hudson was busting with excitement and we kept telling him he had to wait his turn. When our turn came up Trent put Harper in Santa’s arm and Santa reached out to Hudson.  Hudson had been running towards Santa with a huge smile and then suddenly something snapped. We still aren’t sure what happened, but at that point Hudson wanted NOTHING to do with Santa and in fact ran as fast as he could away from him (thank goodness my mom was also there to help and could run after him).  We had Harper’s picture taken and then we went to get Hudson.  He was still pretty upset. I chalked it up to him being two and also super tired (he had gotten up too early that morning). We went to eat some lunch and run a few errands in the mall.  As we were about to leave Miss Harper decided it was time to eat. While I sat down to feed her, Mom took Hudson for a stroll around the mall.  They went by Santa again and mom asked Hudson if he wanted to go talk to him. He said, no.  They kept walking. They came back around again and mom asked him again if he wanted to see him…this time it was a yes.  There was no line, so they marched up there and Hudson went right in his lap. According to mom he really chatted Santa up and then when they took his picture he was grinning in all of them.  A Christmas miracle indeed. Santa thanked him for coming back and told him he was such a good boy he could have two suckers (Santa knows they way to my boy’s heart).  Hudson eagerly took both suckers, but only after picking up the ones that had fallen on the floor and giving them back to Santa.  He has a bit of OCD in him (thanks to his dad).  :)  All in all, it was a success…just one that took a few hours. :)

And a flashback:

2009:

2008:

Polar Express 2010!

Last year was the first year we rode the Polar Express.  We were super excited to ride it again this year!  I wasn’t sure what to expect from Hudson during the pre-show.  He freaked out last time and I was afraid we were going to have to leave.  He did better this year, but he still had his moments.  He really doesn’t like it when people are singing lately – at all! 

We started out at Hudson’s favorite activity – bounce house!  He likes to tell me lately “bouncing is fun mommy!”

Then we met up with the Hakes and Gates in line:

He was super excited to see his buddies!

Then it was on to the tent and the dreaded pre-show…

Suckers helped at first, but 30 minutes is just too long for 2 year olds!  (Especially cheesy pre-shows :))

Then it was all aboard the Polar Express!

Then the big guy in red made his appearance:

We wrapped up the ride:

Can’t wait for next year when we can take both Hudson and Harper!!!

Inaugural Joe T’s visit…

If you know us then you know we love Joe T’s.  So, it was only fitting that one of the first places we took Hudson was to Joe T’s.  Friday night was Harper’s first experience!  We had beautiful patio weather that night (don’t get me started about how I feel about the fact we can sit outside to eat in DECEMBER. Ridiculous.). So, since germs weren’t a fear in the fresh air we decided to break Harper in.

She appeared to love it:

Or maybe she looked exactly like Hudson did his first time at Joe T’s:

In that case, in a few years I guess we can expect this:

And maybe she will pick up the tab:

One Month Old!

Dear Harper,

You are one month old today!  Blessed does not begin to describe how we feel having you as part of our family.  You are the sweetest thing and we all love you so very much.  Your brother is especially attached to you and it is so fun to watch you two together. 

You are a sleepy little thing, not that we are complaining!  You have started sleeping between six and seven hours at a time at night which we will happily take!  You are eating anywhere between 3 and 5 oz at feedings.  You love your bottles!  You started sleeping in your crib right around your 3rd week of life. And unlike your brother you LOVE to be swaddled.  You still do not like your bath very much, but we have to wash those beautiful highlighted curls. :) 

Harper Joy – we love you so much!  We are excited to watch you grow and develop. 

Love,
Mommy

Know your audience…

Back in October the organization I am a part of announced tickets to see Rudolph at a local children’s theater.  I jumped at the chance to buy tickets for Hudson and I.  I thought it would be such a fun treat for us to go together and have a little one-on-one time. Since he had done so well when we saw Toy Story 3 I thought he would enjoy this. 

Driving over there today I had some reservations – we have been basically housebound for the better part of a month and I was worried he might be overwhelmed. I should really learn to trust my instincts more.  My little explorer was not to wild about being confined to a seat.  I expected this and thought it would get better once the play actually started (this is why I got to the movie seconds before the movie started when we saw TS3).  However, when the big snowman came out to start the show, Huddy freaked. And I mean freaked.  I honestly think it scared him.  After about 3 minutes of the screaming – I got us both out of there. There was no way I was going to ruin the experience for those around us and frankly, I am a little too tired these days to deal with it.  So, we left and ran some errands.  The minute we were out the door he was fine.  I, on the other hand, was a bit of a mess.  We ended up having a great time and then had some more fun at the play area at Chick-Fil-A.

Moral of the story – I will listen to myself more in the future and we won’t be trying Casa again for about a year. :)