Christmas 2010!!

I think everyone who has a 3 year old would say that Christmas this year was magical! I cannot express how fun it was to experience Christmas through Hudson's eyes. From all of the activities we did leading up to the big day, to the day itself, it was WONDERFUL!

Hudson came running out of his room Christmas morning and didn't stop at the tree...nope...he went straight to the plate of milk and cookies to inspect it...

The snacks must have been good because Santa only left a few bites!
After that, he was ready to tear into his stocking.

LOVE this picture...him taking a picture of me with his new camera as I took a picture of him. Let's just say his memory card is probably close to being full already!

Playing Whack-a-mole with Mommy...tongue out in full concentration!

After a relaxing morning at home opening gifts, eating, and spending time with Noni we headed to Oklahoma. Hudson literally walked in, went straight to his toy closet and had Paw-Paw and Nana sit down and play!

Doing ANYTHING but eating his dinner!!!

The next morning, the whole family came over to celebrate. Funny story...while Hudson and Uncle Geoff were playing, Hudson accidentally got hurt. He was hysterical and I was having a hard time calming him down. Finally, I asked if Uncle Geoff needed a time-out and he said yes. Poor Uncle Geoff sitting in time-out:

After giving Uncle Geoff "the talk" he gave him a hug and told him he could get out of time-out!

Hudson has a small obsession with Humpty Dumpty. He tells the nursery rhyme ALL THE TIME, and he constantly asks me to cut out Humpty Dumpty's so he can cut them in half and glue them back together. Aunt Shani searched high and low for a Humpty Dumpty toy and when she couldn't find one, she MADE this:

Hudson's very own Humpty Dumpty! THANK YOU Aunt Shani!!

This year, instead of Santa bringing us our huge stockings, he brought us Santa bags! Hudson was REALLY excited about his!

The "kids" with our Santa bags:

Uncle Geoff, Aunt Tara, Daddy, Hudson, Mommy, Aunt Shani, and Uncle Todd

Pretty cute Christmas gift...

Before bed, Hudson was using his other Uncle Todd as a human jungle gym. Not sure what it is about him and his Uncle Todds, but he sure is a lucky little boy!

I can't believe this Christmas has already come and gone. It definitely went by way too fast as always. Can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

Christmas Eve

We started out the day on Christmas Eve by making cookies for Santa. Hudson and Noni made sugar cookies shaped like snowflakes, candy canes, and Christmas trees. Hudson always LOVES helping when the mixer is involved. :)

While the sugar cookies were baking, Noni started on dessert for Christmas day...chocolate mousse...YUMMY!!!!! Hudson wasn't far from the action and even got to lick the spoon.

After playing super hard so he could go down for an early nap, we headed to the family Christmas Eve service at church. It was fun hearing Hudson participate in the Christmas story this year since we have talked and read about it so much.

After that we headed to Poppy's house to celebrate with Kelly's side of the family. Sadly, I must have been too busy chatting away because I hardly have any pictures. I do have these though that make me smile. Hudson holds a special place in his heart for Uncle Todd. Poor Uncle Todd gets a workout when Hudson is around and doesn't get left alone for a SECOND, but he seems to enjoy every minute of it and gives Hudson ALL of his attention. Hudson was beyond thrilled that Uncle Todd gave him a keyboard for Christmas and that Uncle Todd would just sit and play with him. :)

Leaning over to give Uncle Todd a big kiss for his gift. Too sweet!

When we got home, we had Hudson open his Christmas jammies...a yearly tradition.

Modeling his jammies!

After that, it was time to set out Santa's milk and cookies and the carrots for the reindeer.

Too funny...after setting down the plate, Hudson took a bite out of a carrot. Very strange for a child who doesn't eat ANY vegetables!

Before bed, Hudson put his final ornament on his advent tree. This was SUCH a fun tradition that was started this year and I absolutely can't continue it every year.

Christmas lights & Dinosaurs??

The weekend before Christmas we headed to the Heard Museum to walk their lighted nature trail. Hudson was so excited to go at night since we have been there during the day to see the dinosaurs. He was off like a rocket...

...until he got to the dinosaurs. He has always had a love/hate relationship with these things. It was definitely more love this time around though because they were wearing Santa hats, had wreaths around their necks, and mostly because they weren't turned on!

Have no clue as to what he is looking at in both of these pics!

Even though it was FRIGID to say the least, it was such a fun, new Christmas tradition that we will definitely do next year! :)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 2010!

Santa!

I was VERY nervous about seeing Santa this year, but after talking it up for DAYS, the little guy did GREAT! HOORAY!!!! He even gave Santa a great big hug before walking away. :)

Playgroup Christmas Party!

This year our playgroup Christmas party was at Allie, Chapman, & Cole's house. Instead of doing a gift exchange this year, we decided to buy a goat for a family through World Vision. We are going to make this a tradition each year and I cannot express how much I LOVE this!!! Alli had all of the materials sitting out for the boys to make a goat ornament to represent our donation. How fun is that?!?

Hudson painting his ornament. To the left is the World Vision magazine to show the boys what we are doing for a family in Africa.
Of course, we had to get a group picture and this year the boys were eating candy canes. Check out those red little mouths!

Reid, Quinn, Landon, Tanner, Sutton, Hudson, Porter, and Chapman

When Mr. David got home, he took the boys down the street to see a train in one of their neighbor's front yards. Talk about impressive...I think the boys could have stayed there all night!!!

How sweet are those excited little faces?!?

Thanks friends for a wonderful night of fun!

All Aboard!

Last night we went to Grapevine to board the North Pole Express for the second year in a row. To say that Hudson was excited was an understatement...he was BEYOND excited about riding a train and seeing Santa. When we first arrived, we waited in the tent and sang Christmas songs while we waited to board. Hudson wasn't too crazy about this...he was READY to board the train!

You can see that he was clapping, but the look on his face was like this the entire time in the tent!!

The excitement started to build while walking through the "snow" on the way to the train.
Checking out the view...it was actually really cool going at night. We went during the day last year, but I think we will go when it is dark from here on out...it was fun to see all of the lights.

Getting ready for Santa...

(They asked people to not take pictures while Santa walked down the first time and to wait until he came back through. So, I followed directions and didn't get the precious picture of Hudson shaking hands with Santa and BEAMING from ear to ear. On the way back through, Santa didn't stop, so I didn't get ANY Santa pics. Boo!)

Our VERY HAPPY boy!! :)

Gingerbread Houses!!

This past weekend we went to the cutest little party at Annie & Sutton's house. It was a Gingerbread House party and it couldn't have been more fun! Annie had a house for each child and ALL of the fixings!! The kids came in their pj's, ate some yummy breakfast food, and decorated away.

Hudson was very serious as always when it comes to doing a project...look at that tongue out in concentration.

After they were done decorating, the kids did a book exchange and Hudson was really excited about his books! Check out this smile:

We of course couldn't leave without a group picture. :)

Thanks Annie & Sutton for SUCH a fun morning!