Euna's baby shower

Of my best friends from dental school, one lives in Purcell, one in Altus, one in Houston, one in Tulsa, and one in Dallas. Sadly, this means I hardly ever see them and after spending practically every waking minute of 4 years with these girls, I miss them a lot. We went through some really big moments in our lives together, were each others bridesmaids, and are about to see the 9th baby be born. This weekend we got to celebrate Euna's baby boy Arlo. Euna lives in Houston and had a shower here in the city and it was so much fun to all get together once again. With no kids, it felt like dental school all over. And we, of course, went to Teds after the shower because once you have lived in OKC you have to go eat there whenever you come visit!

Sing-A-Long

Hadley had her last Sing-A-Long at school yesterday. Wow! She has become a performer!!! I feel like this year has been a really big year for Hadley breaking out of her shell. She talks ALL the time to the point that Matt and I have to ask her to stop every once in a while so that we can get a word in. She puts on performances for us daily. She dances and sings throughout the entire day. And she CANNOT sit still. The second we walk in the door she is asking for a friend to come over, to go to a neighbors house, or to play with her cousins. But with all this being said, I still could not have expected her performance last night. The kids sang some of the songs they had been learning all year in music class. Hadley was pretty much front and center and sang her heart out. She knew every move and every word. On our way to school that night Matt and I asked her which song was her favorite. She said she couldn't remember but she would give us a thumbs up when she was singing it. I laughed out loud when she found us in the audience and lifted her thumb up high when singing one of the songs...

Hadley and a couple of her friends from school:

Hadley and Brooklyn:
Hadley and her best "boyfriend" and neighbor, Jack:

Standing up with all the other Butterflies and Monarchs:

Hadley and Hayley (the girl in the brown dress next to her) are attached at the hip.

Science Museum

I decided (without thinking it through) to take the kids to the Science Museum on President's Day. I have no idea why it didn't even cross my mind that with all the kids being out of school for the day most of Oklahoma City would also join us. So very crowded but I think the kids had even more fun with kids running everywhere. I managed to take some pictures with my phone but with a 4 year old running one way and a 1 year old running the other I was lucky to get a picture period.

We started out in the preschool room where Hudson stacked some big foam blocks...

...and Hadley had a cup stacking contest with another little girl.

Hudson soon found the legos...
...and thought he was one of the "big" boys!
Here is my embarrassing story of the day. So the point of the lego table is to build a car and then race it down the track (pic below) with another kids car. Hadley asked me to help her build a car and I immediately looked for instructions somewhere. No instructions to be found. I think to myself, "How hard can this be? Surely, we can figure this out." I start grabbing legos and Hadley patiently watches while Hudson is trying to break other kids cars. After about 15 minutes and no progress Hadley must have realized I was a little frustrated and failing at my task. She picks up a wheel and says in her sweet voice, "It's ok, Mommy, I will just race a wheel down the track." She grabs a handful of wheels, marches over to the track, and races her wheel against the other kids cars. She got a few annoyed looks from the 10 year old boys but at least she won a couple races. I have a lot to learn before Hudson gets a little older!

Painting:
Hadley made great friends with this man while waiting in line to get her turn on the Segway. Under a certain age they are only supposed to go around the big track once but he took her over ramps, through cones,...
...and he even let her drive it by herself! She thought she was pretty awesome and told the man thank you at least a dozen times.

Peek-a-boo!

Hudson loves to play peek-a-boo in our curtains. Sure, this is cute right now. But when the curtains come crashing down one day we may be re-thinking this grand idea of doing whatever it takes to keep him happy!

Where's Hudson?
Sneaking a little peek...
I think we can hear some giggles...

Can't hold it in any longer...Peek-a-boo!!!

Ready to play again?

Unpluggits with the Robertsons

We met LaNeale, Chris, Holland, and Oscar at Unpluggits yesterday so the kids could burn some energy and we could catch up for a bit. There are stations for the kids to play dress-up, paint, play with play-do and chalk, put on puppet shows, play in sandboxes, and go down slides. We had such a great time with the kids and after over 2 hours of playing they were exhausted! Afterwards we went to Lotsa Noodles. This has become a regular restaraunt for us because mac and cheese is the one thing Hudson will consistently eat. Four kids eating spaghetti became quite a messy ordeal.

Hudson's first time to paint!

Hadley is painting Ariel...

Four artists in the making

Hudson's cooking up a little food for us:

Playing with play-do
Hadley and Holland putting on a puppet show for us. They took turns being a princess that is attacked by a parrot. This was the finale to our fun day at Unpluggits!

Finally some snow!

After such a mild winter so far, we finally got some snow. No more than a couple inches but it was still exciting to wake up to. Hadley managed to eat a little before school (even after being warned that it was dirty) and Hudson touched snow for the first time since he was only 5 months old for the big snow last year. Unfortunately it was all melted by the time I picked the kids up from school but it was pretty while it lasted.

I will say, I would be ok with this being our last snow for the year. I wanted the kids to see it and wanted a good freeze to kill all the critters but I am also ready for summer so we can spend even more time outside.

Hudson's Urology appointment

Hudson had his annual ultrasound and appointment with his pediatric urologist today and everything went great. I was really nervous (and even had my mom come with me) because Hudson screams everytime we make him lay still long enough to change his diaper so I thought he would flip out when we forced him to lay on the exam table long enough for an ultrasound. He completely proved me wrong and was perfectly still the entire time. His eyes looked a little fearful so I think he was just too scared to move.


Here is the lobby of the newly remodeled Childrens Hospital. It is pretty incredible with kid-friendly toys, murals, chairs, etc. I think about how many families are there with their babies for days on end and love that it at least provides a cheerful, comfortable environment for them.



Hudson, looking out the window, and waiting to get his ultrasound. He loved looking at all the trucks go by.



Brave boy getting his ultrasound. He gripped my finger and looked back and forth between me and the tech the entire time. It took about 10 minutes so I was so proud of him!

Waiting for Dr. Frimberger to go over his results with us.

So the great news! Hudson's left kidney has completely dissolved (it was already extremely small last January). This is a wonderful thing because if it were to swell rather than shrink then surgery would have to be done to remove the non-functioning kidney. It also decreases his chances of high blood pressure because it removes the negative feedback loop. Basically, our kidneys help regulate blood pressure so if you have a kidney that is not working the body can assume it is because it is not getting enough blood. Therefore, the brain tells the heart to increase the blood to the kidneys (which won't help the bad kidney anyway) and the blood pressure will rise. So it is better to have no kidney than a small, poor kidney. The Doctor then told us Hudson's right kidney has responded better than he ever sees. It is actually the size of a 10 yr old's kidney which is a wonderful thing! It is functioning at 100% and he has as much kidney function as any other person. The Doctor told us to make sure and realize that Hudson has NO restrictions. Sure, the most likely cause of a kidney injury is ATV accidents and he would try to restrict those but he also said that even if Hudson had two great kidneys he would restrict ATVs. They also make vests that he can wear if he puts himself in a position that kidney injury is more likely (football, bicycles, etc.). However, he even says these aren't really necessary. So basically, we were thrilled with the appointment. We were once told Hudson would have to come every year and have now been told that because he progressed so quickly, we don't have to come back for 3 years! Guess we already have an over-achiever!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our incredible nanny, Sarah, helped the kids paint and make some picture frames for us and had them wrapped and waiting on the table when we got home from work. Such a sweet surprise and Hadley was so excited to give them to us!

Just a few more pictures of my Valentines (minus my biggest one). Unfortunately, Matt and I are terrible at getting pictures of each other. And getting a picture together happens once in a blue moon. So we will settle with these pictures for today. But even without pictures to show it, I have spent 8 Valentine's days with Matt and love him more with each one. He is the most amazing father to our kids and husband to me!

Hudson spotted sissy on the couch and had to climb up to sit beside her.

Getting a little help.

Watching a little TV together:

A little playing on the bed. Loving this silly face:

And, of course, this face too!

Cupcakes with my sweetest Valentine

Hadley and I went to the store and bought all the stuff to make Valentine's cupcakes. We had cupcake liners with hearts, funfetti cake mix, pink icing, sprinkles, and heart cupcake toppers. Hadley has helped me make cupcakes before but this time she did EVERY single bit of it other than a little help filling the liners. She was so proud of herself and, of course, I was too!

Apron is on and we are ready:

Concentrating:




She even managed to sneak a few licks (so she thought). She kept saying, "Mommy, will you look that way please?" Thankfully, these cupcakes weren't shared with anyone else!

I love all the girly fun I have with my little girl. She is the sweetest Valentine I could have ever dreamed of. She loves to make us happy, cuddle, and cries if one of us possibly forgets to hug and kiss her goodbye in the morning. She is idolized by her little brother already and she loves him just as much. When it comes to her Valentine, I think it's her brother that has her heart. She tells us almost daily, "I really want to be a grown-up and get married. But it's ok Daddy, I am only going to marry Hudson."