Family Pictures

We recently had the pleasure of having the talented Kathryn Cline take pictures for us. I love them! She is very talented.  You can find her website here. Below are some of my favorites.

This was my grandad's suitcase.  It reminds me that these children aren't really mine.  I want to keep the fact that they will one day leave my nest ever before me.  A bittersweet reminder of the sweet gift of now.

I was so happy to get pictures of us with this old quilt.  A sweet lady I spent time with in my grandmother's retirement home made it for me right before she died. It was actually gifted to me by her family after her death...she hadn't had time to give it to me yet. I think I was in 5th grade.  It took me a long time to realize that beauty wrapped up in that loving gift.  I will treasure it my entire life.

He has my heart.

I never want to forget the faces she makes.

They read this book every night. It was a gift from Uncle Ryan and Aunt Hayley.

These pictures tripled as Clara's 6-8 month pictures, Hudson's 3 year pictures, and our 5th anniversary pictures.  Our kiddos were not in great moods.  Neither of them were offering up smiles.  Hopefully, we can get some sweet Clara smiles for her 1 year pictures.

Posting these pictures reminds me that in the haze of a newborn, I never posted Clara's newborn pictures.  Those too were wonderful and were taken by my sweet friend Alison Bell.  You can find her website here.  I hope to post some of those pictures in the next day or so.

Thanks Kathryn!

Hodge Podge

Instagram has officially eaten by blog. I want to remember all the little stories that go along with the pictures, but goodness I have become lazy. It is so much easier to snap a picture and write a caption...blogging takes much more effort.

Below is a hodge podge of our recent happenings:

We are officially on summer break around here.  This means Will is home much more!  We are planning on doing a staycation this summer.  We just figured it was more trouble than it is worth to haul our kiddos to the beach....gasp! I feel like I am depriving them, since in these parts everyone heads to the beach during the summer.

Here is some of our staycation/ bucket list ideas:

McWane, Zoo, lots of Y trips, Airwalk,  Strawberry picking, library storytime, lake, backyard camping, frozen yogurt, etc....

Will and I are taking a short trip to Chicago to celebrate our five year anniversary.  The official date was May 17th.  We celebrated that night with Surin and Star Trek.

I am also doing Before Five In a Row with Hudson and two of his friends.  We are meeting one day a week during the month of June.  Today was our first day, and we read the Carrot Seed.  More on that later.

Hudson and Clara have officially become friends.  It took forever for Hudson to warm up to her, but I have witnessed some true bonding moments over the past several weeks.  He loves to bath with her, and always begs me to let her splish splash with him.  He has even started playing little games with her.  One of my favorites is when he hides behind her high chair and then creeps to one side and then the other.  She loves it! I  love when he tells her to watch when he does something.  He screams, "Watch Sissy!"

Will has a routine prayer he prays with Hudson each night, and every couple of weeks, he adds more to it.  He has recently added that Hudson and Clara would become best friends.  We desire that they would value each other and through their relationship, they would better understand the opposite sex.  My prayer for them is that their relationship even helps better equip them for their future marriages.  

Hudson finished Mother's Day Out in May.  I think sending him twice a week was good for him.  I had debated it for awhile, but Hudson really needed consistent interaction with other children.  We have decided to put him back in the same program next year, instead of staring preschool.  We just don't feel like he is quite ready.  I am really not too concerned about what he "learns" in school.  I just want him to learn to play well with other children. 

I had fun crafting his end of the year teacher gifts.  I need a washi tape intervention.

He has also been pooping in the potty without us even telling him to go!  Officially a mom of a preschooler...who else would blog about that?  He is even watching a bit more TV.  We now can add an episode of Barney to his limited list.  Clara, on the other hand, could easily become a TV junkie.

Clara has finally started sleeping through the night more consistently.  I think I used to secretly judge moms who fed big babies during the night.  Clara has really taught me that all babies don't fit neatly into boxes, no matter what you do.  

She is eating more table foods.  She never really liked baby food.  Most days I wheel her on the porch for lunch.  Less cleaning.

She is slowly making her way to crawling.  She is close, and if i held her less, she would be there!

She loves her swing.  It took Huds awhile to not complain about her taking "his" swing.  Now, he loves her in it.

She screams at church nursery. She loves her mommy and daddy.  

Last week, we went to visit some of our friends on a farm.

We have also been trying to swim as much as we can.

Will recently took the job as head coach of the Hoover Girls Soccer team.  We are so excited. It is a huge responsibility, and we will miss him in the spring.  He will have more responsibilities all year and will more than likely sell his lawn care business.  He is such natural coach, and we think this is a wise decision all around.

I am most looking forward to slow days this summer.  Limited agendas.  I love the break from all the hurry.

The Big 3

Hudson turned the big 3 yesterday!  We skipped planning a birthday party this year, and instead, focused on small little treats.

We started his celebration this past Thursday by meeting his Uncle Ryan and Aunt Hayley at Chick-fil-A for lunch and ice cream.

They surprised him with a huge castle and ogre.  For a kid that doesn't love toys, he has played with this tons already.  It is awesome.  They are moving to Ohio and will really be missed by us.

On Friday, he had his school party.  He was so excited about having his friends sing to him.  He loved it!

When he returned home, we finished off his cupcakes.  Why waste good cupcakes?

Later that day, we ate pizza and made more cupcakes with some of our friends.  More singing.  More celebrating. 3 is a big deal.

On Saturday, we planned a family pool party in Alex City.  Then, the weather decided it was March again, but there were still cupcakes......and presents!

We were also celebrating my niece Chelsea's Birthday.

Later that evening, we went out for Mexican.  They sang to him and gave him ice cream.

Finally, Sunday was his actual birthday.  We all came into his room as soon as he woke up and started singing.

We sang again over orange rolls.  Which are really even better than cupcakes to us.

Then..........Hudson's little body went into sugar overload.  In fact, he still is trying to come down off this insane sugar high. 4 cupcake parties, 2 ice cream parties, orange rolls, and candy threw him for a crazy spell.  I never even took any pictures of his birthday night with Ge and Pops because he was INSANE!

For instance, today at Publix, he threw my groceries out of the cart, busted a carton of yogurt onto the floor, squeezed out Clara's fruit squeezie on to the floor, and slammed her head against the cart.  Sugar does not fair well with my little man.  Lesson learned.  I pray my little Huds returns to us soon.

Happy Birthday, Hudson!  You are so loved.

Chore Chart

I stole an idea from a blog called  Smile and Wave.

I found a vintage time card machine off of Etsy and filled it with chores Hudson is able to complete.  These include:  brush your teeth, dress yourself, make your bed, put your books away, clean up your toys, put your plate in the sink...etc.  Most of these task we do anyway each day.  I help him do most of them.

I took a picture of him doing each chore and explained that they go in the do slots, and when he does them, we move them to the done slots.  He receives a smartie for every completed chore.  One day, this will probably change to money that we will divide into keep, save, and spend piles.

Hudson's 3rd birthday letter

Hudson,

Happy 3rd Birthday!  In some sense, your birthday will always be a little different to me than your siblings.  It signifies the day that you made me a mommy!  As I was introducing you into a new world, you were introducing me into a new one too!

It has been a nonstop adventure since day one.  I would never classify you as easy. Or calm. Or quiet.  No, you have literally kept me on my feet for 3 years.  You fight hard.  Yet, you love hard too.   I love that you are all boy, full of chaos and mischief, but goodness, you love your mommy!  I adore holding the title as your leading lady!  You are worth every bit of my labor!

This has been a year of big changes for you:

You became a big brother.

You changed rooms in our house.

You moved into a big boy bed.

You started preschool two mornings a week.

You learned to use the potty.

It hasn't been easy!   You and I both share the quality of not transitioning well!  Your dad and I have been pushed to our breaking point many times.  I thought you would never stay in your big boy bed, take another nap, use the potty, or love your sissy.

I know that we are in for many more adventures and transitions ahead.  I look forward to the coming years as you grow from my little boy into the man God has designed you to be.  I love you!

This picture was taken this morning while Daddy and I were singing to you!  Your first moment awake as a 3 year old!

Easter

I am sad to say that we did not do a great job for preparing our hearts for Easter.  I know there is grace for all of this.  I know.....yet I struggle with failure.  It is easy to compare--especially with blogs, Facebook  and Pinterest at my fingertips.  I pinned my share of resurrection eggs, empty tomb rolls, Easter trees, and so on and so on.  It just didn't happen this year.  Hudson never even made it to an Easter egg hunt.   I have to remind myself that it is ok.  My children are happy.  They know they are loved.  We talk about Jesus.  There is always next year.

We did have a god Easter weekend.  We spent Saturday with my family.  Will and I hit some flea malls while my parents watched the kiddos.  We grilled steaks in the rain.  It was fun.

I did manage to get Hudson and Clara some Easter baskets.  Though, I still struggle when I see that Hudson doesn't have a cute monogrammed one.  His gifts were piled in a basket I found lying around.  Clara's basket was mine as a child.

Before you think I spend a thousand on books for Clara's basket, remember I am a thrift-er   Those perfect condition books were fifty cents each at a yard sale.

Hudson's basket was full of my typical pre-Easter Target one spot run.  He usually is only interested in the candy and bubbles.

Sweet Hudson is just like his Daddy---not a morning person at all.  Clara takes after me....up and ready to go!

I love that Hudson's eyes are closed in this picture!  He was trying so hard to keep them open!  Ge made Clara's dress.  I was obsessed.  I found Hudson's outfit for 6 bucks at consignment.  I meant to get a bow tie.  I remembered the day before.

After church, we ate lunch at Ge's house.  She decorated the table and we even had poppers and crowns!

And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”--Mark 16:6-7

Kiddo Update

More updates:

Clara:
Clara had her 6 month check up at 6 1/2 months yesterday.  She is a little bit over 17 pounds.  She is in the 70th percentile for weight and the 40th percentile for height.  She is my little short and fat girl.

She likes food now.  We have recently tried carrots and avocados.  I usually just mix a couple of things together for her.  I'm a lazy mom when it comes to feeding babies first foods.

She sleeps nearly 8 hours some nights now.  We usually have a feeding between 4:30-5:30.

She popped her first tooth at the beginning of this week.  She spent the couple of days before not napping well at all!  We were glad when we figured out what was wrong!

Hudson:

Hudson is somewhat potty trained.  He does not have much interest at pooping in the potty, and he won't potty at school.

He is doing so much better interacting with kid's his own age.  In fact, there is a boy at school he loves to play and wrestle with. Here is a note I received in his school bag yesterday:

Hudson was wrestling with another child. The child asked repeatedly for Hudson to stop. He continued and the child bit him on the leg.

I know I should have had a stern face when the teacher explained the note to me.  I didn't.  I laughed.    I have no idea how to raise this little boy.  He is such an adventure for me.


They had their first official bath together last night:

I am slightly obsessed with her smile!