Littlest Ski Bum

 

Hudson got his first pair of skis for Christmas this year, his Daddy's idea of course, and decidedly likes them much to my surprise. He spent a good 45 minutes tromping up and down the greenbelt trail behind out house on Tuesday having a blast. The weather was dreadfully cold and we (ok, I) kept trying to get him to come inside only to hear a little voice say, "No! More ski!". I suppose it is safe to say "like father, like son" in this case, for last night after a day of being sick with the stomach virus Hudson sat watching Dan gather his gear for some last minute night skiing at a local resort. When Dan told Hudson he was going skiing, Hudson promptly perked up wanting to go along saying, "Hudson ski". Beaming with pride Dan told me it was one of his new proudest moments as a father. All I can say is that it is a good thing I'm having a little girl :)

 

About to tackle the big hill out back

 

Tromping through the backyard

And so it begins

I am starting to get excited, thirty five weeks down and only four remaining. Up until this point I've been preparing as best I can for this little pink bundle soon to join our family, but I don't think it has truly sunk in as a reality...until tonight. A sweet friend, Stacy knocked on our door with this truly amazing gift. As I stood there looking at the pink gifts and little while cradle it hit me that a precious little girl would soon occupy our home. I couldn't help but smile then, and even now as I bubble over with an anxious excitement. Every child is a gift, but in my family of 3 boys, and Dan's family of all boys, there is something especially fun about the color pink entering my home, filling my closet, and laid out over a little bed.



Hudson and I have been talking a lot about the little baby coming to live at our house. Yesterday at the store we picked out two different kinds of pacifiers or "ba bas" as Hudson calls them. He carried the packages around today, smiling as I told him those were for him to give the baby when she comes home. He loves anyone smaller than himself, and would rather sit stroking their head or hugging their necks than play with the children running all around. Tonight as we talked about his baby who is coming soon he sat smiling and said, "hold it, baby". He is really looking forward to holding the her in his "rock rock" (rocking chair) giving her "big hugs". Even tonight for his bed time story he wanted to read the 1950's Golden Book story called "Baby Dear". It's about a little girl who takes care of her doll called "baby dear" as her mom takes care of the new baby sister. We laid on the bedtime pillow in his room reading it over and over, I think it is going to be a new bedtime favorite for the next few months.

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 :)