Holiday and Birthday Celebrations!

Angela here!  Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.  Hudson got off to a great start at daycare where he came home with a hat and shirt that just screamed Independence Day!  He was very proud of himself and his crafting skills.

On Friday, our jam-packed weekend of family visitors began.   My Uncle Steve, cousin Robert and his girlfriend Christine came to visit for a few hours.  They live in Texas but were in Indiana for soccer games and were nice enough to stop by for a bit.  And then came Hudson's Uncle Brandon (my brother), Aunt Sam and cousins Hannah and Nate to stay for the weekend.

Uncle Steve taught the little ones about the family tradition of airplane...always a favorite.

Below is what happens when you try to get three kiddos to stop playing and look at the camera....one turns into a dog, one gives me a wink/stink-eye and the other gives me a confused, I'm-about-to-poop face.  Definitely a framer.

On Saturday, Springboro was having a Bicentennial Festival to celebrate our 200 years of history.  This festival was surprisingly awesome and had every sort of entertainment for adults and kids.  There were bounce houses, trains, pony rides, petting zoos, obstacle courses, live bands and great food!

Hudson was not a fan of the train ride though.  Which was hilarious because trains are one of his favorite toys to play with.  Maybe it's the size that's scary...

But he loved the obstacle course that Chris took him through.  One tough cookie.

Lunch time = tackle Chris time.

And yes, I know I look like I'm about to pop.  But I still have 5 weeks to go!  So close but yet so far.

 The ponies were definitely the best part for Huddy.  He was obsessed and didn't want to leave.  So round and round we went, riding the ponies until they kicked us out.  We even went back on Sunday to let him ride them again.

Saturday afternoon, we had a cookout to celebrate Hudson's upcoming birthday next week, the big T-W-O! My parents came up to visit and the local Springboro crew came as well to celebrate one lucky little boy. 

 Hudson got a ton of gifts and had to show everyone what he was receiving.  He would run around and place them on people's lap, all while saying "I got it."

 After presents and dinner, the kiddos got to play with pop its and sparklers...

 ...and sidewalk chalk...

 ..and the bounce house!

The above picture is cousin Nate getting his bum stuck in the bounce house entry.  Hilarious!  But it happened to all the kids, I just happened to catch Nate in action.

And we ended the evening with a silly string fight.  A good time for both the kids and the adults.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend.  We are blessed with good family and could not be more thankful for their love and support.  Hudson is definitely living the good life.  But probably only for five more weeks.  His little sister will likely steal the show once she arrives mid-August :)

Father's Day and Paci Goodbyes

Angela here!  Hope everyone had a great Father's Day Weekend!  Chris was in a wedding in Maine for a few days so I had to take on both the mother and father duties.  And it was a great weekend to do so.  On Friday, daycare had a Dads and Donuts morning.  I couldn't deprive my child (both born and unborn) of that sugary, fried awesomeness, so we ate donuts together.  Then Pop and Uncle Drew came to daycare and were nice enough to grab Huddy for a second round.  He is a lucky lucky boy!

On Saturday, Dorothy Lane Market had a cookie cake decorating event for Father's Day.  This is our local grocery store, and probably the coolest store one can ever go to.  If Whole Foods and Trader Joe's had a grocery baby, it would be Dorothy Lane Market.  They have cook-outs in the summer, any special treat or food you could ask for and just happens to be in walking distance to our home.  So thus we made a cookie cake for Chris.  I learned that my child likes sprinkles....lots and lots of sprinkles.

We tried to wait for dad to come home before we conquered and destroyed the cookie, but we were just too incapable to do so.  Chris' flight wasn't landing till Sunday evening, which seemed like forever as this sprinkle-infested cookie stood before us.  And Hudson kept saying "A bite! A bite."  And my pregnancy hormones just couldn't resist.  So we had just a taste, and by "taste," I mean almost half.

Another big milestone was hit this past weekend.  Hudson gave up his pacifiers!!!  Woohoo for parental accomplishments!!  My frustrations started when Huddy would wake up screaming in the night for his "paci,"  which would inevitably be RIGHT next to his face.  He just couldn't find it in the dark.  This had been going on for a few weeks.  Well, with Chris gone all weekend and me starting to get uber pregnant, I couldn't muscle the stamina to keep getting up and searching for a dang paci.  So I let him cry-it-out...which lasted about 20 minutes.  That was the longest 20 minutes I had endured in awhile, but then Hudson calmed himself down and slept through the night.  And he didn't wake up till 9 am!!  

Once he woke up, we talked about how it was time to give his pacifiers away to the baby.  He was a big boy now.  And if he could make it through a nap and bedtime without the paci, the baby would bring him a "special treat."  Lolly has coined the phrase "special treat," which every grandchild knows that that phrase means something awesome (and usually sugary) is about to be given to them.  So we packed up all the paci's in a bag and Hudson effortlessly handed them over knowing a special treat would soon come his way.

My boy rocked out Saturday and took almost a FOUR-hour nap and then slept straight through the night.  He continues to ask for the paci at bedtime, but once I remind him that he gave them to the baby, he seems content and goes right to bed.  I am so proud!  And of course, the special treat arrived....

An alligator that eats soccer balls once you hit it towards its mouth!  What more could a kid ask for?  He was surprisingly good at it too, so we played all morning.  It was a good weekend. 

 But we're glad Chris made it back home safe, and just in time for his cool little dude to sport his shades...

Hope everyone has a great week!

Smoothie Making and New Chairs

Angela here! We've had a happy little boy in our house lately.  An emotional happy little boy; but at least mostly happy.  Age two is supposed to bring on the roller-coaster of fluctuating emotions and Hudson has decided to start a bit early.  He'll be overwhelmed with joy one minute and then in a split second, he'll be lying on the floor crying because mommy took her shoes off but daddy still has his on.  Or he'll find it hilarious that the cat is drinking water, but the moment the furball goes towards his kibble, Hudson loses it.  As parents, we do the only thing we know how to...we laugh!

We taught Hudson all about the Ninja and how to perfect the smoothie this week.  Again, hilarious stuff for a toddler.  Only problem with this parenting technique is that Hudson doesn't know about the sharp blades on the inside yet.  All he sees is the delicious yumminess, so we're working on not sticking our hands inside the blender.   No fingers were dismantled in the below pictures.

Ohio has finally gotten some warm weather and we're outside more often.  Hudson likes to sport his new shades...

I've been doing a lot of shopping for the nursery lately and felt bad that my little boy was getting neglected.  So I decided he needed this cool chair and footstool.  It's fun (for me) because it matches our furniture.  So yes, I bought something for myself and am trying to convince people that I really bought it for Huddy.  But look how fun it is....

Below is the expression I got when I told him we could turn on the Furchester Hotel.  For those normal people out there who have cable, the Furchester Hotel is an Elmo spin-off of Sesame Street on YouTube.  We don't have cable and I try not expose Hud to too much tv time (but lets be honest, the tv can be an awesome babysitter when necessary). 

 And then I turned on Elmo, thus he went into a trance and didn't talk for the next 20 minutes.  A sweet reminder of why I'm glad we have to resort to YouTube.

 Other fun news, I hit the 30 week mark last weekend!  We're on the home stretch till when we get to hold a sweet princess in our arms.  Hudson is going to be a good big brother (I think).  He likes to pat my belly and "show" his stuffed animals to her when we read books at night.  And by "show," I mean dig his animals into my belly all while making animal noises.  Fun stuff for a pregnant lady who's trying not to yelp when her uterus is getting crushed.  And he's very protective over his cousin Claire, so my chances are high.  Right?!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week and weekend!