New Years Eve

My New Year's Eve plans sure were have changed over the last decade! And although I hung out with a 2, 3, 5, and 7 year old, I still had a great end to 2012 and wouldn't change it. Drew and Padgett had tickets to the Thunder game and it was their last night in town. Matt's Mom, Dad, Erin, Tim and Matt all had tickets to the OSU/Gonzaga game and I was invited as well. However, babysitters aren't the easiest to come by on New Year's Eve and I decided I would have just as much fun staying home with the kids and planning a fun night for them so that's what we did. In fact, I was able to get our nanny, Kristin, to come with me to Chuck E Cheese because I was too much of a chicken to take all four there by myself. The kids had so much fun but with Sloan and Hadley going one direction and Davis and Hudson going the other, I was definitely glad she was there to help!

Here are the kids waiting for pizza with their cup of coins to go play games. I could not believe how patiently they waited because they were so excited!

                                      

And just a few pictures of the kids playing. My parents ended up coming by to watch the kids play as well. We all had a great time and the kids minded so well. 

After playing for a couple hours, we decided to call it quits and head back home. We played some more at home and with all the kids getting pretty tired, we made it an early night (with no disappointment from me)! Hudson slept in his crib and Matt and I made a pallet for the three bigger kids in the theater room where they fell asleep watching a movie. Sloan was a little scared and so I went to bed about 11 and Matt stayed in the movie room with them until about 1:30 when he woke up after falling asleep in the recliner. When he walked out of the theater room and down the hall he noticed a cold breeze and looked over to see our side door was open and Bauer was gone. We have no idea when he got out other than sometime between 11 and 1:30. Unfortunately, when Bauer gets out he runs! He looked for him for a little bit on his own and then came in to wake me up and tell me he was going out to look some more. Of course, I panicked and cried because I was so scared of Bauer being out in the freezing cold and getting lost. I called my parents at 1:45 in the morning and they immediately jumped in the car to help us look for him. Can I just say they are amazing!!!! I paced the house and felt so helpless. I prayed that God would please bring Bauer home safely and within about 30 minutes Matt was on the phone with me telling me he had found him. Definitely an exciting way to bring in the New Year but I was just so thankful to have our fur baby home!

December favorites

Hadley and Hudosn often have to compromise on what TV show they watch. Hadley is into all girly stuff and Hudson really only wants Diego, Cars, Curious George, or any superhero movie. Therefore, there are times when one gets the TV and one gets the iPad. They still always want to sit right by each other though!

I took the kids to the mall to play and eat lunch and here is my little superhero lunch date eating some chick-fil-a. I think I may love his capes more than he even does.

I will still take a picture of my sleeping babies anytime I get a chance. She is just too sweet for words!

Aunt E got Hadley and Hudson new t-shirts and Hadley loved hers. She wanted to take a picture for E in it with both a thumbs up and a "go pokes."

I got to go eat lunch at school with Hadley again and afterwards I watched her color with all the kids in her class. I really wish I could eat lunch with her everyday! It is so much fun to sit in a classroom of 5-year-olds and listen to their conversations. The best part is the reaction I get when I get there. The kids are usually on the playground and so I wait in the classroom until they come inside. When Hadley walks in the door and notices me she screams, "MOMMY!" and then runs and jumps in my arms. She makes sure to look around and see that all her friends see her mommy is here. We have not hit the "my mommy is embarrassing" stage yet and I will soak this up as long as I can!

We have had some really beautiful sunrises lately which make waking up early a little easier. These next three pictures are from one of those pretty mornings. Too bad I couldn't really capture how pretty it was in person.

Aiden, our elf, was not so crazy this year and didn't create any mischeif. I think he knew Hudson would not leave him alone and that mommy and daddy really weren't excited to clean up a lot of messes yet! Maybe next year he will be a little more ornery. He did decide to go rock climbing one morning and both Hadley and Hudson thought it was hilarious!

We had the Chesapeake medical Christmas party at our house and even with a house full of people, it went great. It helps that they just cater Ted's every year so there wasn't much for me to have to get ready. We were basically in charge of alcohol and desserts. 

Hadley and Hudson stayed for the first 30 minutes of the party because one of the other dentists was needing to bring his son and wanted him to have someone to play with. It didn't take long for me to call my parents to pick them up so I could concentrate on making sure everyone had everything they needed. They were so sweet and sat on the fireplace eating chips and drinking coke (so, of course, they were good)!

This is Cooper and he is a couple weeks younger than Hudson. They were so cute together and shared their toys so well. It was really hard to geth them to both look for a picture though...

Playing peek-a-boo with his blocks. He would yell "HI!" as loud as he could and then continued to do this for another 100 times.

                                                

Hadley made a plate for Nana for Christmas and I was so amazed at what a great job she did. She literally did the entire thing by herself with no help other than spelling the words. She knew exactly what she wanted to draw and I had no idea she even knew how to draw a Christmas tree!

I was picking up the mess of toys in the house one day and had the back door open so the dogs could come in and out. Hudson would go outside, play in his sandbox, and come back in. At one point I noticed he had gotten daddy's pillow off his bed, carried it outside, and laid it down in the yard. Hmmm, daddy would love to know this!

Hadley had a playdate with Grayson, one of her friends from school, and another one of Grayson's friends. Emily (Grayson's mom) sent me this cute picture of the girls playing dress-up and eating lunch. 

Getting Hudson ready for bed and Hadley picked up my phone to take this picture. I love when she says, "Oh, mommy. Stay there. This is such a cute picture."

Hudson's 4th haircut and he is finally getting a little better and doesn't scream hysterically. We do have to distract him from the other crying kids with the tv though...

We were at Erin's house for the Holloman Christmas party and I went in her bedroom to find Hudson playing in the dog kennel. He was not thrilled that found him either.

Ice Skating

It has been a great Christmas break with all the cousins in town and unfortunately, it was time for Abby and Katie to head back to Ft. Worth. So we decided to have one last outing all together and go ice skating downtown. The ice rink was not quite as "manicured" as I expected and had a few huge ruts but it was still so much fun. I was especially proud of what a great job Hadley did for her first time to ever ice skate. I had fully anticipated both of us falling all over the place and Hadley deciding it was too hard. She amazed me at how fast she picked it up and she was soon going around the rink faster than me. 

First few moments on the ice and a little nervous!

Look at her go!

Most of the crew from left to right: Hadley, Jase, Tim, Abby, Erin, Sloan

Katie picked it up so fast, didn't want any help, and was very upset when she was told it was time to leave. She would have stayed out there all night.

We had to take a little break after Hadley's first fall. She was more embarrassed than hurt and I had to have her watch everyone on the rink for a little bit to see that lots of people fall. She was soon ready to jump back out there and the next few falls were handled much easier.

Sloan said these were her ice-skating moves:

Love this little snow-covered bottom.

Davis was a little too cold and spent most of the time watching from inside the cafe. Hadley was pretty excited when he came out to say hi to everybody and needed to skate up to say hi.

After all the girls had worn themselves out we made our way inside to warm up with some hot chocolate. I think Hudson still has a couple years before he is ready to attempt a trip to the ice rink but I am definitely excited to take Hadley back again next year.