Santa!

Yesterday after church, we finally made it to see the big guy in person!  We had quite a wait, but it was worth it!  Hudson was so sweet to Santa and hopped right up on his lap.  He told him he wanted Melt and Mold Crayons and Skylanders and then wished him a Merry Christmas as he climbed off his lap.  So sweet!!

Tummy pics - Week 23

Before heading out to celebrate Kelly's birthday on Saturday night, I had him snap a few pics of my growing tummy.  Here are Holden (YES, we decided on a name!) and I at 23 weeks!!  :)

Christmas Express!

This past Friday night, we surprised Hudson by putting our golden Christmas Express tickets under his covers.  As he pulled down his comforter and saw them, he immediately knew what they meant and was so excited!

 He gathered his tickets and was ready to GO!  We grabbed blankets, went to get hot chocolate, and went and looked at Christmas lights.  This is one of our favorite Christmas traditions!!  :)

Kindergarten Christmas Musical

Hudson had his first Kindergarten program on December 10th.  It was a Christmas themed musical and he was one of ten kids in all of Kindergarten chosen to have a speaking part.  He practiced his lines leading up to the big night and woke up the morning of the 10th to find that Haddy had left him a note next to his elf costume.  :)

 Here he is before leaving for the program.

 Speaking his line, "My favorite part about Christmas is when my Mommy and Daddy take me to get hot chocolate and look at Christmas lights.  I would like it if Santa brought me Melt and Mold Crayons and Skylanders."  We were blown away...he spoke loud and clear and didn't seem nervous at all!!

It was such a cute program and I loved getting to see him on stage. :)

It's a...

After Aunt Shani and Uncle Todd had their gender reveal party, Hudson asked when we were having our party.  Of course in his mind, everyone has a party since that is all he has seen!  We explained that we weren't going to have a party and he was kind of bummed, so we asked him if he would like for us to tell him in a fun way.  He was all in!  First, he thought he wanted a cake like Aunt Shani had, but then when he heard the balloon idea, he was sold.  On Monday, November 18th, Kelly and I headed to the doctor with Noni, and Paw-Paw, and Nana so we could all find out together.  It was almost immediate when the sonographer told us BOY!  We were all so excited!! Hudson had gone home with his friend Cooper after school, so after picking up our blue balloons, we headed to get Hudson.  I was so excited to tell him, but a little nervous because he had been adamant about wanting a baby sister.  We walked through some of the trails in our neighborhood until we reached an open area and Hudson could hardly wait to open the box.  He patiently let us take some pictures though...

 ...and then we did a countdown from 10 before he opened the box.

His immediate reaction had us all rolling.  He yelled, "No!" as the blue balloons were coming out.  We were laughing so hard that he began to laugh too.  :)

After the balloons were gone, I bent down and told him some good things about having a brother instead of a sister.  He felt pretty good after he discovered that our house won't ever be full of dolls, Barbies, or My Little Ponies!  He was relieved to hear that we will always have a house full of boy things and that he will have someone to teach the game of soccer to.  :)  I absolutely can't wait to see how their relationship is one day...they will be super far apart, but hopefully will build a special bond.  

We took one quick family picture before taking the box home to play in.  :)

So, it's official...I am about to be REALLY outnumbered and I can't wait!!  I have absolutely loved being a boy mom and can't wait to add one more crazy boy to this family!

Bump!

I realized the other day that we hadn't taken any pictures of my "bump" yet.  I'm going to try to take pictures the same weeks that I have pictures from my pregnancy with Hudson to be able to compare them.  So, here I am at 18 weeks.  :)

50's Day!

November 5th was 50's day at school to celebrate the 50th day.  So, Hudson dressed in his 50's best...rolled up white t-shirt, rolled up jeans, and slicked back hair!  He also had to take 50 of something to school and picked 50 pennies.  Here he is before heading off to school...cutie!  :)

 Of course, we had to get in one silly picture...always!

Number 6...my favorite!!

Hudson's last regular season soccer game was November 2nd.  He has LOVED soccer from the beginning, and it has been so much fun to watch week after week.  I had so snap a few pics of him (#6) running all over the field during his last game!

 He enjoys being right up in the action!

 It was COLD that day, so here he is wearing Daddy's jacket to keep warm until it was time to play again.

 Final picture with Coach Louis:

Greyson, Louis, JPaul, Jordan

Cooper, Hudson, Stone, and Xavier

Hudson was BEYOND excited to find out at the end of the game that his entire team is going to stay together for the Spring season.  I can't wait to watch these boys grow!  :)

Shining the Way!!!

This morning, Kelly and I went up to Hudson's school for their first 9 weeks assembly.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but knew Hudson was going to be recognized for something.  They break up the assemblies by grade level, so it was just Kindergarten that we saw.  We sat through a few awards and then they said they were handing out the last award, the "Shining the Way" award.  This is a character award for shining the way and being an example to others.  It is only given to one boy and one girl from each class each 9 weeks.  We were BEYOND proud when his name was called!!  Here he is walking up on stage.  I didn't click soon enough, but he had just shaken hands with Mr. Don Whitt, the man whom Hudson's school is named after.  How neat that he came to the assembly!  

 All of the award winners.

 Proudly walking back to class.

 One more picture with his certificate when he got home...we are so proud of how well he is doing in Kindergarten!!  :)

Halloween 2013...and a field trip too!

Whew...talk about a crazy, busy Halloween this year!!  We started out the morning with a fun breakfast of ghost pancakes.  

 This is how my sweet boy looks at 6:30 in the morning.  Being at school by 7:20 is ROUGH!

 Hudson's first field trip was on Halloween too!  They went to Owen's Farm, which is where we have been going since Hudson's second Halloween.  I'm so glad we were able to go because I found out that this is the last year they are open.  Here he is with his sweet class and Mrs. Bray.

 You would have thought these kids had never eaten...they could.not.wait for their picnic lunch!

 Trent and Hudson after lunch.

 All of the kids got to pick out a pumpkin to take home before we left.  It was such a fun field trip and I have to admit that I had forgotten how exhausting field trips were!!  I was BEAT after keeping up with my group all day!  :)

 That night we had our traditional Jack-O-Lantern pizza for dinner.

 Then, we headed out for a few pictures before the Trick-or-Treating began.  Hudson was the Ice Bomb Angry Bird this year.

 Here he is next to his Angry Bird pumpkin that we made.  

 One of the sweetest parts of the night was when Hudson walked up to a bucket of candy and said, "Mommy, I'm going to get this candy for you because they have your favorite."  He then hands me a box of Junior Mints.  Oh, how I love this boy!!  Sharing your loot with Mommy is pretty special.  :)

 We had to get our yearly pics before heading in to bed.  It was a successful, tiring, busy day!  

Pumpkin Carving Time

Two days before Halloween, we finally decided to carve our pumpkin.  I saw we, but really it is all about Daddy when it comes to carving around here!  Hudson picks out a picture of what he wants the face to look like, Mommy draws it on, and Daddy carves away.  Team work!  Hudson always loves to dig right in and scoop out all the goo...

Sadly, Hudson went to bed before the actual carving was complete (bedtime is SO early around here these days now that he is in school), and then I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.  Oops!  It is in the background of the Halloween pictures though, so stay tuned.  :)

Kindergarten Class Halloween Party

Friday, October 25th was Hudson's first class party in Kindergarten and my first class party to do as Room Mom!  It was fun and easy to plan with all of the other Kindergarten Room Moms and in true Hudson fashion, he LOVES having mommy come into the classroom.  I hope it stays that way for a long, long time!

First up, the craft...making spiders with his friends at his table.

 Then, they played a fun game of pass the pumpkin while listening to Halloween music.

 His class with Mrs. Bray, the minion!  :)

Here's to a great first party in Elementary school!