Branson!

This past Thursday we headed to Branson to meet Aunt Fern, Paw-Paw, Nana, Aunt Shani and Uncle Todd for a long weekend of fun.  After driving all day Thursday, we had dinner with the family and went to bed so we would be ready for the fun on Friday.  We woke up Friday morning and headed to Silver Dollar City.  We rode rides, watched a show, ate a lot of food, and just had a great day!

 Hudson's face watching the Western show...he loved it!

 A sweet person took this family picture of us while Hudson and Daddy were in line for a ride.

 Uncle Todd and Daddy had a great time riding every ride they could get on!  I'm not going to lie, being a person that loves rides, Shani and I didn't enjoy standing on the sidelines watching this all day.  Next time, we'll be handing over babies so we can ride!!  :)

 While Daddy and Uncle Todd were riding this crazy swing, Hudson stopped to milk a cow.

 Hudson's final ride of the day with Paw-Paw completely freaked him out.  Poor thing was screaming at Paw-Paw to go down the entire time...he and Paw-Paw never did make it to the top of this ride.  :(

 On Saturday the big kids went to the Titanic museum which was really cool while Hudson went to an animal show with Aunt Fern, Paw-Paw, and Nana.  Later that day we went and rode go-carts, played games, and saw the Presley's show that night.  It was a fun filled day and we were all beat by the end!

 This little boy might not like heights, but he LOVES going fast!  You could hear him saying "Faster Nana" the entire way around the track.  I think they rode 3 or 4 times he loved it so much!

 No go-carts for the three of us!

 Happy boy winning over 400 tickets in ONE game!

Such a fun weekend with family!  :)

Watch DOG

Wednesday, October 9th was an exciting day for Daddy and Hudson.  Daddy signed up to be a Watch DOG at Hudson's school for the day and his day finally arrived.  It was a busy day because it was also Walk to School Day and it was bully prevention week and all of the students were supposed to wear orange for the day.  So, Daddy and Hudson left bright and early and walked to school at 7:10 that morning.  Here they are before heading out:

 We of course had to have a silly face picture:

 I got one text during the day from Kelly saying it was going well.  That afternoon, I walked outside to see them walking home.  Kelly was BEAT!  He was scheduled for recess for an hour and half straight and said he played tag the entire time.  He also was in PE for two classes and did a lot of running as well.  There was also reading to the first graders in the library, helping out in the lunchroom, and finally Hudson's favorites...being on the morning announcements with Hudson, eating lunch with Hudson, and helping out in Hudson's room.  :)  They both had a fabulous day and neither can wait for Daddy to do it again next year!  

Will it be pink or will it be blue??

Saturday, October 5th was a day our family was anxiously awaiting...my sister's gender reveal party!!  I really thought the day would never arrive.  I'm not sure who was more excited that day...Shani, Todd, ME, or the grandparents.  Ha!  Thankfully the party was in the morning and the cake was the first order of business.  I didn't take a ton of pictures because they hired a photographer, but here are a few of the big reveal!  They had this precious cake made and the inside layer of frosting was either going to be pink or blue:

 The proud parents to be.

 Shani at 20 weeks.

 Cutting in...

 IT WAS BLUE!!!!

They were SO excited!!  Baby Luke is set to arrive in February.  I am so happy for these two!  :)

Family of FOUR!

Friday, August 2nd I knew Kelly would be mowing when he came home from work.  So, I wrote a special note in sidewalk chalk on the back patio.  It said:  Guess what?  We're adding one more.  We're about to be a family of FOUR!  I watched him mow the yard, and then begin to edge, all while walking back and forth across the note.  I finally couldn't take it anymore and walked outside to have him read the note.  By this time, it was starting to fade, so I had to help him read part of it.  Here he is trying his best to see what it says:

 He finally got it!  :)

 We decided to wait and tell Hudson until after my 12 week appointment.  So, on Friday, October 4th we surprised him with a cookie cake that said Big Brother in pink and blue.  At first when we asked him what he thought it meant, he said it was because Aunt Shani was having a baby.  Guess again little man!

 So, after a little explaining, we got some funny responses from him!  First, was surprise...

 ...followed by understanding there would be "stinky diapers" in the house!

 And finally, acceptance.  When we asked him what he hoped it would be, he said a girl because boys are stinkier.  Silly boy!

 We then gave him his new shirt to pose in before diving into the cookie cake.  This is how we announced it to everyone else.  

He's still warming up to the idea and the other day told me I didn't look like I had a baby in my tummy.  He's worried about the baby crying in the middle of the night and waking him up when he has to go to school the next day.  We've reassured him that since the baby isn't due until April and school will almost be over that he doesn't need to worry about that since the baby will be sleeping in our room for a few months.  The things he comes up with!  Here's to becoming a family of FOUR!  :)