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!

Memorial Day Weekend Fun!

Angela here!  Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  We spent ours outdoors as much as possible, soaking up the sun with family and friends.  We started off with a visit from my girlfriend Bonnie and her crew.  Little Charlotte will be one in July and is already on the move!  Hudson enjoyed showing off all his toys and demonstrating how "big kids" play.  They drove walkers together...

And they enjoyed chewing on (unused) dog toys together.  I was nice enough to keep the slobbery ones away from them, this time.

 And the water table is always a favorite for all.

On Sunday, we met up with the entire Bockelman crew (including those in Louisville) for some quality pool time at our neighborhood pool.

Anderson and Hudson were so sweet to push baby Claire around in her blow-up toy, and she loved it! 

Chris was an awesome dad at the pool and made sure to dunk and throw Hudson endless times and made sure to get him wet as much as possible.  Huddy loved when they would run through the waterfall together.

 Two cool dudes...

 And two little cool dudes getting into trouble with squirt bottles...

We ended the holiday weekend with a tribute to the Patriots and a visit to the Boonshoft Museum.  The weather wasn't as great Monday with occasional showers and overcast, so we had to stay indoors.

Hudson enjoyed playing in the water sprinklers, launching off in space rockets and making pizzas.  We had a great weekend!  Chris may have had the best time at the museum though.  We met another New England Patriot fanatic and they immediately became best buds, discussing the intense debate and unfair repercussions of the still-lingering "Deflate Gate."  It's been a topic that won't leave our house, even though I've tried many times to extinguish that flame.  I'm giving myself the best-wife-ever award for listening to Chris rant about Brady and his Patriots.  Your welcome Chris; Happy Father's Day!

 

And happy Hump Day!  Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Donuts and Rocks!

Angela here!  Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Hudson got to embark on his first donut-making experience this weekend.  A local bakery, The Donut Haus, let a bunch of kiddos decorate and then eat donuts.  What more could a kid ask for?  Hudson was first perplexed with the glass case of sugary goodies.  He tried ever so hard to break that glass down.  And he made sure to fingerprint and slobber all over the it before we got things started.

We lined the kids up at the counter and the owner showed them how to dip the donut in icing then cover it with endless sprinkles.  Even Chris and Aunt Shannon got in on some fun.  Poor Chris couldn't make a donut for himself (as it was kids only, he missed that memo), so I had to force him to share with his son.

Sugary goodness...

The proper way to eat a donut...face first!!

Other exciting news, we got new landscaping!!  When we bought our house last year, the tree on the right was half destroyed from getting struck by lightening.  And all the bushes were on their last leg and somewhat disappointing.  And everything was green....I needed color!  Now we have a pink Magnolia tree, blue hydrangeas, orange lilies, rose bushes and a White Snow Crabapple tree!

BEFORE...

AFTER...

Hudson has become a great helper with the new lawn.  And by great, I mean our sidewalk and rocks and driveway have been watered very thoroughly.  We had to get new nozzles so he could hold and maneuver the water hose.  He would have a meltdown if you didn't let him help.  Now we just have to work on his aim.

Since we got new landscaping, Chris decided he needed a handy-man project to take on himself.  What did he choose - ROCKS!  Really?  The obsession started after we got a storage shed to hold all of Hudson's toys.  There was this patch of dirt and dead grass around it that just didn't look nice.  We are waiting to landscape the backyard for a year, so Chris said he could fix up this spot.  So for the past month, he and Hudson have been collecting rocks on their walks with Penny Lane.  And I hate to admit it, but my boys have made me proud.  We have a TON of rocks!

Chris' work of art...

Rock-picking is tough work people.  So afterwards, Hudson decided to take a dip in the water table.  I think he is hanging out with the dog too much.  I might need to separate the two of them....

Hope everyone has a great week!