January is typically one of my least favorite months. I really don't like taking down Christmas decorations, I am already sad that Christmas is over, and I absolutely dislike the start of the really cold weather. And although two of our family members stayed healthy this month, two of us (me and Hudson) have fought a nasty bug. I had the stomach bug...again. Thankfully, since our last round of it we have been much more careful about sharing food and drinks and it didn't get passed on to the others. Hudson then got a terrible virus that we never quite diagnosed. I was 100% positive he had the flu because he had a high fever, would NOT move, wouldn't eat, and was so lethargic. He cried if you even touched him. We took him to the Dr. which resulted in a negative flu test and we were told he had blisters all down his throat. This called for a popsicle run to the grocery store and lots of fluids because we knew he wasn't going to tolerate any food. He ended up going a few days without eating and it took quite a toll on him. Thankfully, he bounced back and was happy to be playing again a few days later.
Our sick little guy:
Kitchen utensils seemed to make him feel much better! He even slept with them one night :)
All better and Kristin sent me this picture at work while she playing with the kids at the mall. Hudson insisted on carrying around Hadley's American girl doll all over the play place.
Hadley loves her Rapunzel wedding dress she got from Santa and wore it for about a week straight.
I gave Hudson some ice cream and thought I was safe to leave him for a few minutes while I put some clothes up. Unfortunately, it left me with a HUGE mess to clean up. He dumped it all out on his tray and then had some fun slinging it all over Bentley and the floor. Sadly, I think it is sometimes worth the mess to be able to have a few moments of putting stuff up without a baby hanging on my leg or propped up on my hips. He is, no doubt, a momma's boy!!!
I took Hadley and Hudson to Dynamo gymnastics to play in their playzone on a Monday. They played for a while and then I looked over to see Hadley mesmerized by the big girls practicing their floor routines. She sat there for at least 10 minutes in complete awe!
One of the few times Hadley asked me to take her picture. I will always take her up on it!
While on a walk one day we came across this tiny dog and Hadley fell in love! It followed us all around and Hadley was begging (and crying) for us to keep him. The mom in me knew there was no way we were taking in another dog and the dog-lover in me had the hardest time telling her we couldn't take him home. I was so thankful when I found out that the dog often roams the neighborhood and goes home each afternoon. Whew!
Visting her new baby cousin, Teddy. Hadley was so excited to hold a baby and was asking for a baby sister within minutes of leaving. When I told her there would be a chance the baby was a boy she said, "nevermind."
We have made many trips to the Science Museum but this is the first time that we made our way all the way back to the trains. Good news is that Hudson screamed with excitement and was in complete heaven watching all the trains go around. Bad news is that I needed someone else there with me. Hadley wanted to move on to the next exhibit and patiently waited for 30 minutes. Unfortunately, no time would have been enough and Hudson threw a huge fit when I finally peeled him away from the trains.
Build-a-bear with Peyton and Story. I mainly took this picture to show the outfit that Hadley picked out all by herself. But the girls had so much fun picking out their bears and buying them an outfit.
You have to be pretty flexible to eat breakfast like this...
Kristin brought her little chihuhua over to our house one day and the kids were crazy about this dog. Hudson loved playing with a dog he could hold and Hadley loved dressing the dog in several different outfits. They even got to drive the dog around in Hadley's car!
Hudson was pretending to write a letter to me and was concentrating so hard.
While we went to the funeral home for Nana's vistitation, Kristin took Hadley, Hudson, Abby, and Katie to the mall for dinner and a little play time. Hadley was so excited to have them here.
I watched Hadley walk upstairs one day and stay up their quietly for about 30 minutes. Although she is the easiest child in the world and never really makes a mess, I should have known that she wasn't up there reading books or playing Barbies. Instead she proudly marched downstairs to show me the beautiful Hello Kitty press-on nails! Fortunately, they only lasted about 5 minutes before she realized she couldn't function with these long nails on.
Sloan and Hadley found E's old Deer Creek and Pi Phi jerseys.
Thank God for the iPad to help little brother pass the time while Hadley is in her ballet class.
It looks like the lot to the noth of us is about to be built on. They have delivered all the dirt to start leveling the lot and in the meantime it has become a playground for the kids. Hudson was so proud of himself when he made it all the way to the top without any help. He was covered in red dirt by the time he finished but I am postitive he thought it was worth it.
After the kids had played in the dirt for a while we decided to go on a long walk and count how many tractors we could find. Hudson was so excited to find the tractors but didn't want to get too close when he realized just how big they were!
Relaxing...
Matt took this picture of my two babies watching tv in my lap. I could have sat like this forever and will miss these days all too soon!
