Birthday Boy

My, how time has flown. I can't help but sit and wonder how my little boy is now a two year old. When Hudson turned one I was so excited, but this time around I am having a little bit of a harder time. I suppose this is one of many times I will endure the bittersweet feelings of watching my child, and soon to be children, grow. That being said, we had a wonderful time celebrating this milestone. In fact, we had such a good time we decided to celebrate it three times! The first was while we were in Texas, visiting my family. We had a cowboy themed party complete with Hudson's first pair of boots, stick horse, hat and sheriff vest, all of which he loved. I had brought a package of New Year's crackers so each one of us wore little paper crowns while feasting on cake and ice cream. Hudson sat, or stood rather, eating proudly with his fork each bite of cake.




Later, back at home in Alberta, Dan and I had a little celebration with just Hudson, this time with the defining moments revolving around watching Hudson blow the candles out over, and over, and over. He cared very little about his cake, and only wanted to "blowd it candas". So we lit and relit the candles at least 10 times. There really is nothing better than watching your child experience complete happiness and excitement.





The third and final party was with Dan's parents. Patty, Dan's mom, made the cherished "Lamb cake" that she used to make for Dan's birthday when he was little. Later that evening we pulled out a small helium tank and filled balloons much to Hudson's delight. He shook with excitement while watching the balloons float to the ceiling only to be pulled down by its string. He ran all over the house with his handful of "bayoons".

Let me try to explain...

Before I begin, I feel I owe an apology for my absence and laziness in blogging. You see, I am not creative by nature and when it comes to creative writing I am especially lost. I was always the student who needed to know all of the parameters and details before beginning a writing assignment. The worst thing a teacher could say to me was, "I'd like you to write a paper on whatever topic you'd like". Ahhh, what am I supposed to do with that? I could literally sit for an hour staring at the empty page just trying to get a sentence down, something, anything. So, all that to say I do not find blogging an easy task and though it should be, and sometimes is, I feel quite inadequate most times. Facts I can do, interesting, heartwarming, or funny is another story. So for those of you who are still with me, and willing to put up with a rather dry writer, I offer my renewed dedication of sharing our stories of life, love and laughter.

Without further ado....on with the stories!

7 Things

7 Things...Ok Jen, lets see if I can do this in under an hour.

7 Things I can do

1. Get Dan and/or Hudson to do something they don't want to do by making it sound "fun"
2. Make mean salsa, and quesadillas
3. Organize chaos and have lots of fun while doing it
4. Go from bed head & blah to looking nice in 10 minutes.
5. Have children naturally gravitate to me.
6. Consistently drive till the needle is past the red and never run out of gas.
7.

7 Things I can't do

1. Tie my own shoes. Well, not for 3 more months at least.
2. Mop the floor without being asked. Sweep yes, mop no. It is my most hated chore.
3. Turn down Mrs. Baird's little white powdered sugar doughnuts.
4. Sit in a car longer than 4 hours without going crazy. No road trips here folks.
5. Remember someone's name right after they tell it to me.
6. Conjugate verbs. Part of the reason I took Sign Language for my foreign language.
7. Get the recycling items out of the garage and to the recycling center.

7 Things that Attracted me to Dan

1. His laughter and ready smile
2. His beautiful baby blue eyes
3. His character
4. His ability to dream big
5. His adventurous spirit
6. His humility and love for others
7. His good looks...of course that would have to be on the list!

7 Things I Say Most Often

1. "Hudson, down!" He is quite a little monkey.
2. "Baba night". My answer to Hudson asking for his paci, this happens at least 20x a day. In fact, I've said it 3 times just while writing this :)
3. "Ohhhh". Pretty much my response to anything that doesn't require an actually answer.
4. "Do do want to help me cook?" Hudson helps me cook every meal.
5. "Say excuse me". Hudson is all boy!
6. "Love you" or "Mommy loves you". Between Dan and Hudson it certainly ranks in the top seven.
7. "We have to change your diaper Hudson". He hates to stop playing even for a much needed change.


7 Of My Favorite Foods

1. Anything Mexican, but especially the beans and rice
2. Homemade waffles with syrup
3. Divinity, a candy my mom makes each Christmas that is straight sugar
4. Tantalizingly Tangy Meatloaf from AllRecipes.com. No really, it's absolutely amazing!
5. Wassail, mmmmm there is just nothing quite like it when it's cold outside.
6. Chicken Kiev, my request for my "birthday meal" each year from my Mom.
7. Fresh bread, especially if it has something to dip it in -I'm with you on this one Jennifer!

7 People I tag

1. Rebecca Zap
2. Mischawn E.
3. Marianne K.
4. Jocelyn H.
5. Jess H.
6. Julie B.
7. Abbe S.

Phew, I can't believe I actually finished it! Ok ladies, now it's your turn if you dare.

How to speak todder

Dan and I have taken on an entire new vocabulary recently. Hudson picks up new "words" daily and we have to be so careful what we say as he loves to repeat everything that comes out of our mouths. Just tonight I sighed while cleaning, after the nightly before bed snack, and sure enough Hudson sighed in his highchair mimicking me. Then I sniffed, and so did he. So since many of you have toddlers of your own I thought it would be fun to share some of the new words that grace our home daily.

ah-go? - Where did it go?
ah-no - I don't know
ah-kay - OK (one of his current favorite words)
hold you - hold me
gew - juice
ohs - cereal
o-jew - orange
wa-wa - water
hot cockit - hot chocolate
my-nah - muffin
pah-corn - popcorn (favorite food)
woovee - movie
whowho - Curious George movie (making the sound George makes)
my - more
terr-it - stir it
hop - help
buh-bohs - bath time bubbles
toh-toh - turtle
jump-jump - kiddy trampoline

and last but not least, my personal favorites...
eee-boo - excuse me
gee-boo - thank you
oooohhhhhh - yes or I understand

Oh, there are so many more I could list. This little boy talks all day long and can communicate just about any thought he has. There is just nothing quite like talking with your little one about things in life, and have them understand and talk back - I could just eat it up!

Paci Withdrawls

 

Silly little one. We've begun taking the paci away except for bedtime and really sticking to it much to Hudson's dismay. Yesterday he came walking out of his room with a wooden puzzle piece in his mouth, sucking on the knob to satisfy his craving. I broke out into laughter and realized this may not be the easy transition I'd planned. He's done well so far, when he gets out of bed each day he has to leave the paci there telling it "night night ba ba". I guess I'll just have to see if we need to tell the puzzle pieces night night as well :)

My Texas Trip

Mommy is a little behind on her blogging duties, so I thought I'd take over this time and tell you about some of the fun things I got to do at Grandpaw & Grammy's.


First off I loved riding anything with wheels: tractors, trucks, and 4-wheelers. Grandpaw took me on all of them! We went so fast and rode all over the land. He even let me drive a little, but I didn't tell Mommy about that, she might get worried, but I'm a big boy.

 

Grammy took me on rides too, she and I rode behind a tractor on a hay ride at the pumpkin patch. I love giving kisses so she got plenty for taking me on such a fun adventure. We even rode it a few times!



I also learned how much I love drums. Uncle Daniel had some electronic drums and I have to admit, I spent a lot of time banging those sticks, but not only on the drums. Did you know that furniture and walls make different noises too? I liked the windows but Mommy said not to hit those. Something about them braking...

 

My Uncles are so silly. They would play games with me and then start laughing at the funny things I did. I guess they aren't used to someone who is so expressive or energetic as me. But we had a great time together and my favorite word to say while there became "Aunkle" which I think is a much better way to say "uncle". The only problem was that the never seemed to answer when I'd call them early in the morning, I guess they should go night-night earlier, then they can get up at 6 am with me! Uncles are so much fun, I wish I could have one in my toy box, but Mommy said they wouldn't fit and that they have to go to school, whatever that is.

 

We had lots of time to sit and play at Caldwell. Uncle Josh brought his big dog for me to play with and I loved throwing the ball really far, at least 3 feet, for her to chase down and bring back. I also spent a lot of time filling and emptying the igloo with my cup. You should try it sometime, it's kinda messy, but lots and lots of fun!

 

I ate so much good food while there. My Grammy makes the best cakes and I loved the fact that I could sneak a bite now and then when no one was looking.



One day we went to the pumpkin patch where I got to grind corn, throw pumpkins (when Mommy wasn't looking) and go on hay rides. I loved watching the wheels of the tractor go round and round and pulling hay out of the bales. Fall is so much fun.



Let me clarify my last statement, Fall is fun, but halloween costumes are not. I was nice enough to oblige mom for just a moment when she put a cow costume on me, but I don't think I like it. Even if it is really soft and cute.

Home again, home again jiggidy jig!

I only have a moment, as I am knee deep in laundry and in the midst of a mad rush to get three people packed last minute...
We are headed out to Texas today and I am filled with mixed emotions. On one hand I am ecstatic to be going home. Home to good mexican food and b.b.q, home to family, dear friends and shopping! But at the same time the reason we going is hard. We are headed to my Grandpa's (Kinard) funeral, and will be dealing with some tough issues while there. So it is truly bittersweet for me and if you could remember to pray for us over this next week it would mean so much. I have learned that there is such a tremendous power in sincere prayer, and in the last few days my knees have seen their fair share of floor time. But God is good and merciful to those He loves, oh how I rest in that truth!

On the happier side, for those of you in Texas we'd love to see you and will be dividing our nine days between Tomball and Dallas, I think, so shoot us an email if you can swing by Tomball and we'll make time to visit, be forewarned though that we may end up "visiting" while sitting at a mexican food restaurant!