Hudson & Adley's (Neighbor) Hood Life: Single-Parenting and Ailments for all!

Angela here! It's been another busy week at the Kemp household. Chris was in Chicago for what seemed like eternity so I had to hold down the fort as best as possible. I am exhausted! The week started out with my poor children having major adjustment issues with their morning routine. Their luxurious, relaxing mornings of arising whenever they please had banished. Chris usually takes them to school in the morning and I pick them up in the evenings. But with dad gone, I had to wake them up before 6 am to get to school by 6:30 in order to be in surgery at 7 am. And let's just say that these kiddos take after their mama and require a lot of sleep! By the time evening hit, they were in complete disarray; the teardrops flowed, they had coordinated their crying outbursts and were inconsolable beyond compare. It was debilitating for all of us. But when they were not having complete meltdowns, Hudson and Adley were pretty cute to watch. Now that she's getting bigger, they are becoming buds and actually like to hang out. Hudson likes to "read" to her and show her how to color. And they have no problem snuggling close if it means more TV time.

Growing a Christmas tree together with the special "magic water"....

Adley wants to be helpful all the time. She can put her arms through shirt sleeves and will attempt to put on her socks and shoes. And she's fairly close to being successful with that task!

But she is also getting a strong little personality and is testing her boundaries. We finally had our first time-out encounter. And I say finally because Hudson started this process at the mere age of 11 months (and has since perfected it). The princess kept standing up on her chair and wouldn't listen. After only placing her back in time-out a second time, she obeyed and stayed. I was impressed! But as soon as she completed her sentence, she ran back to the chair and stood right on top of it and laughed, ha! I am certain we will have many more moments to "practice" time-out in the near future. Poor girl!

By mid-week, Hudson and I were slowly falling apart. I developed a sinus infection and Hudson had a bad cough that turned into a high fever by the weekend. We were (and kind of still are) pathetic. This resulted in Adley getting a tad more TV time than usual. We have currently watched The Elf on the Shelf movie over a dozen times. It is the only show that will keep her seated and intrigued.

We visited Santa for a third time with the cousins. They got to write letters and place them in Santa's mailbox. Hudson kept wanting to hold Anderson's hand while they waited; it was cute!

Cousin Claire was fearful of the big guy and could only wave from a distance. Adley had no choice and was forced upon his lap. And the boys had a long wish list. At Hudson's second Santa visit, he had asked for "everything." This time he was more specific; he wanted "Two football players. A good-guy football player and a bad-guy football player." This is in reference to Chris and his brainwashing antics - the "bad guys" are any team that plays Tom Brady and the Patriots.

Next years' Christmas card.....?!?!

We continue to stay in holiday mode and Hudson continues to request pjs from one of the elves in his life. This has resulted in a tad more laundry, but it makes him so happy that I can't say no.

We also decorated his bedroom door! Adley slightly freaks out every time she walks past it and keeps a safe distance from those scary snowman eyes. Hilarious.

Lastly, we received some bad news regarding our pup Penny Lane. The biopsies came back as cancer. It is slow-growing and just in her nose, but now she is congested from all the drainage. She sounds terrible, almost to the point where you question if she's getting enough oxygen. Imagine the sound of Darth Vader meeting a growling bear that is choking on a deflated squeaky toy. Just awful and strange and creepy and sad all rolled into one. And the bloody nose is back in full swing so it's not looking good for our furry friend. Keep us in your prayers!