Aquariums and Super Bowl Celebrations!!

Angela here!  Hudson has had some fun couple days lately.  We start with a new church the family has discovered.  It's a little more hip and young and closer to home.  The kids seem to enjoy it as well.  Hudson has not had a breakdown (yet) and I have not been paged from the sanctuary to retrieve him out the nursery.  We usually do brunch or lunch afterwards, which is where the boys really shine!  Chipotle was the place this time.  We will probably not be invited back for awhile....

 Hudson had a play date at the Newport Aquarium, which he LOVED!!  Well....he didn't really love the kids he was with, but he loved all the sea creatures.  Everything was an "awww" or "ooohhh" as he ran around the place like a mad child.   Out of all the children, I definitely have the loudest, most energetic one.  The child could not be contained!

We first stopped at my girlfriend Bonnie's house.  Hudson loves his Baby Charlotte almost as much as he loves his cousin Claire.  He would grab her paci and put it back in her mouth.  Such a good helper!  Then he would continue to "rock" Charlotte's car seat to calm her down.  Notice the blurry picture below.  He doesn't understand the word 'gentle' yet, but it's the thought that counts, right?

My girlfriends learned a lot about Hudson on this trip to the aquarium.  They learned that my son is a bully.  Yes, I said it.  A BULLY!  He was nice to the girls but somewhat of a twit to the boys.  He would push Stella then hug her and say "I'm sorry" (*insert baby lisp).  As a mom, that's a win!  I mean, what a perfect child to acknowledge his fault and then hug-it-out.  But then he would push Greyson, and then push him again, and then run up to a stranger and push that boy too.  He only went into timeout three times during this two hour visit.  Being a good parent and all, I feel like I have to blame these actions on someone or something.  Every mama deems her child perfect, right?  So I'm blaming these outbursts on daycare.  He was recently moved up to the big-kid classroom where they sleep on cots and eat at tables.  He is now the youngest in his class again.  So obviously the big kids are teaching Huddy all these terrible things like hitting and biting.  Or maybe I was just blessed with the terrible-twos starting early.  Probably a little bit of both.

 All that hitting really wore him out....

After the aquarium, we had to stop by Lolly's house for some quality cousin time...and more pushing.  All the kids wanted the best seat in the house...which is always Lolly's lap.  Hudson has no qualms about bulldozing over his cousins to get to his Lolly.  But Miss Claire has found her voice and strength ever since turning one.  She quickly straight-armed Huddy and regulated the situation!  One smart little girl.  And then Hudson was in time-out two more times before the day ended.

To end on a good note, we mustn't forget the Patriot's football victory this past weekend!  Woop woop!  Hudson was so into the game that he had to read all his truck books.  But not for too long though.  Chris had to make sure he continued to teach his son how to yell at the TV.

 Get ready for the Super Bowwwwwwllllllll!  Go Patriots!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Snowfalls, Museums and Tom Brady

Angela here! The Kemps have finally thawed out only to refreeze this week with rain, sleet and snow.  So we did what any good parent would do in times of a dire crisis.  We nixed the child labor laws and put our son to work before he goes to daycare!  Huddy loves his snow shovel he got for Christmas and does a fairly decent job at pushing snow out of the way.  Such a good helper!

With all this coldness, we had to resort to playing indoors over the weekend.  The entire family packed up and went to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.  Talk about heaven on earth; this place was perfect for everyone!  Hudson and cousin Anderson learned how to launch spaceships and everyone built water tunnels together... 

Even the dad's got in on some fun with a friendly game of ball....

 I think Huddy's favorite part was this net you had to climb up to get to this ginormous slide (not intended for small children).  But of course, Chris deemed his son old enough to slide down with the big kids.  Luckily, no one was injured.

This past week was PATRIOTS WEEK in our house leading up to the big game on Saturday.  Hudson had his rotation of Patriot football gear to wear almost everyday.  Chris did not hesitate to splurge on his son's wardrobe when we were in Boston.  Not being biased at all, but Huddy did look handsome in his gear.

Below is Hudson telling me "Hiiiiiii."  I wasn't coming or going, he just likes to say 'hi' and wave all the time.

Then came game day.  I don't know who yelled at the TV more, Chris or Hudson.  Every time Chris would scream out in agony, Huddy would point to the TV and say "NOOO."  It looked like he was trying to protect his daddy.  Super sweet!

 He even had to stand on the couch a couple times to demonstrate his excitement.  

And then we had our victory dance!

 My future linebacker..... Hope everyone has a great week!! 

 Go Patriots!!

Christmas Germs & Football cheers

Hello everyone - Dad's working the blog this week!!  Before we go into it, I just have to tell everyone the big news:  I won both of my fantasy football leagues this year!!!!  Woop woop!  Anyway,  I hope everyone had a wonderful Xmas and Happy New Year!!  Ours was a wild time (!!!), as the pictures below surely can attest.  

Despite the smiles, the Springboro crew was on the receiving end of a nasty little gut punch of germs courtesy of daycare.  And when I say daycare, I really mean Anderson.  Poor boy.  By the time we all sat down to open presents after Christmas dinner, Anderson just looked pitiful.  Though he made sure to share whatever he brought home for the holidays to the rest of us - during dinner, Anderson hopped into Shannon's lap, looked her in the eye and forcefully coughed right into Shannon's face!   You could just SEE the germs go all over her!  It gave Shannon pink-eye, caused Andrew to talk in feminine terms about how it's making him feel all bloated, and has given Lolly's voice a raspiness only a smoker could admire!  It's been a strange bug, whatever it was.

Thankfully, the Kemp side didn't get it too bad, Huddy got to enjoy all his Christmas gifts right away.  He had a blast, I swear, just not when he was being held, apparently. 

One thing I've learn to appreciate as a parent is the art of getting little ones to take pictures - especially if there is more than one.  It is a herculean task.  Enticing all of them to stay still long enough to get just one good shot is close to impossible; but then add on the extra layer of complexity of getting them all to smile at the same time - all the while, a little clock is ticking in the back of your mind telling you "Hurry up!  Take the picture! They're about to scatter like the winds!".  It's a ton of pressure!  As such, I've learned to broaden the term "good photograph" to include semi-smiles, smirks, and basically anything that isn't crying.   So yes, this is now a great shot of all the cousins on Christmas.

Also on Christmas, Hudson decided to show everyone his new trick that he learned.  We are starting to teach Huddy all the body parts and there is one in particular that he revels in showing us with gusto.  We say "Hudson, where's your belly button?"  and he gives a quick smile before throwing up his shirt to show us his entire physique and twirling around for the audience to see.  Ladies man, or what?!!?! 

And Anderson had to get into the act and show us he knew where the belly button was too!

I think Lolly & Pop went present crazy this year.  Also, notice the Christmas tree.  I told Lolly it looks like a drag-queen tree - as if it were decorated by RuPaul.  In a word, flamboyant.  I think my comment made her like it even more, though.

All those presents didn't bother the kiddos one bit.  Hudson LOVED all the presents.  It didn't matter whose present it was, after it was opened Hudson would throw his hands up and exclaim "Whooooaaaaaa!" and gave his "Ohhh!" face.  We all got a hoot out of it.    

The kitchen set isn't Claire's.  It's Hudson's...and he can't get enough it.  Every morning now when he comes downstairs, he has to play with his kitchen before eating breakfast.  Continuing with the girl theme, LollyPop also got Huddy a toy vacuum and a broom.  The moment Hudson opened up the vacuum, he couldn't let go of it.  The boy loves to clean up - it makes Mom so happy!   :-)

Thankfully (for Dad, anyway), it wasn't all cleaning gifts!  There were some guy toys too.  Hudson's favorite was the toy construction truck...though, he still didn't want to let go of the vacuum.





Hudson also got a fun gift from Aunt Shannon & Uncle Drew.  It's a kid's chair that spins round and round.  Anderson was apparently well enough to show Hudson how to use it.

The kiddos had a blast getting in the chair and being spun around in it.  Getting all of Hudson's presents back home was hard enough, but now the problem is figuring out where to put everything in our house!!

Finally, I am proud to announce that Hudson has learned how to say football!  Angela has been teaching him to say "football!" as the answer to "What does Dad say?"   Well, this past weekend, he finally got it!    And actually now, whenever football is on the TV, Hudson screams "FOOTBALL!!"  He actually seems to enjoy to watching it.   Dad is so proud!  

http://youtu.be/00ftdwBPDUM

Til next time, hope everyone has a wonderful New Year!!