It's becoming a typical evening

When Matt gets home from work we like to get in the golf cart, jump on the par 5 behind our house and play a few holes. The kids love it and we are just waiting for Hadley's patience to kick in so she can learn how to play.

Getting some pointers from dad:

Hadley is getting pretty good at making contact and Hudson is perfecting his fine motor skills of getting the grass into his mouth.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Doesn't this face look a little mischievous?

But he is actually sweet like this:

Hadley's first year of preschool is complete!

Hadley finished her first year at Warm World preschool and I cannot believe how much she has learned in this first year. It definitely helps that she LOVES school and would go everyday if she could. She has learned how to write her name, count into her twenties, sing many songs, cut with scissors, and color in the lines a little better. We had a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Russ, and we will miss her so much next year. Just to brag a little bit...our parent/teacher conference went great! Mrs. Russ said Hadley listens so well. She never complains and plays with all the kids rather than just a couple. This made me so proud because I pray she is always a child that doesn't want other kids to feel left out. She shares and has such a sweet demeanor. She comes home from school and talks about a lot of the kids but her best friend this year was Parker. Parker is a sweet little boy in the class connected to hers. She would always talk about him but we met him for the first time at a school function in October. Her teacher told us that they hold hands all the time, he always checks on her, and they lay their nap pads right next to each other during nap time. I think it's really cute but Matt is not too sure!

Hadley's teacher made a book from projects throughout the year and I took a picture of a few of my favorite pages:

You can't see this page very well but it has her handprint at the beginning of the year and one at the end. It also has her weight in which she somehow went from 34 to 32 pounds and she grew an inch from 38 to 39 inches:

This is the page from Mom's day in October. She drew a picture of me and answered a few questions that her teacher asked. I have no idea why she said I like Fanta because I don't think I have ever tried the drink. My favorite answer was "She takes care of the baby while I am at school." Hudson was born just a few weeks before and I love how Hadley was thinking about him.

This page is from Dad's Day in April. Look how much better her stick people have gotten. And what a great dad..."He plays baby dolls with me." But again, I have no idea how she got the color question wrong. Any other day you ask her and she quickly answers GO POKES...her word for orange.

I am not sure when Hadley was asked these questions but they are still right on. My favorite here is "When I grow-up I want to be...married." So cute. Apparently we've been watching too many fairy tale movies!
Here are all the kids in Hadley's class (from left to right): Claire, Jack, Charlie, Hadley, Keely, and Drew.

Mother's Day

Yesterday I celebrated my first Mother's day as a mom of two. The day started with Matt waking up early with the kids and letting me sleep in! Then we went to a wonderful Mother's Day brunch at the clubhouse with my mom and dad, Ryan, and Lisa. Like I said in the previous post the house was clean, laundry was done, and the rest of the afternoon consisted of playing with the kids and relaxing on the couch. We ended the day with an inspirational church service that had us ready to start the week. I love my family and I am so blessed that God chose them for me!

Hadley made this at school for me to put my jewelry in. She said, "Mommy, it's so special!"

I will say that I think it takes becoming a mom to really make you appreciate Mother's Day. I have a selfless, loving mom that makes me strive to be a better mom myself. Being a mom is the hardest, yet most rewarding job I have ever been given. I love these kids too incredibly much and I look forward to watching them grow... just not too fast! I love their smiles and giggles. I love watching them play with each other. I love the hugs and kisses. And I love waking up every morning and knowing I get to spend another day with them. Thank you God for making me a mother...twice!

Wedding Showers AND exhaustion

I have never lived in a house that was great for throwing showers, nor have I accumulated all the wonderful servingware that makes a shower so perfect. We now have a house that can host a shower and well, I still left it up to my friends (for the first shower) and my mom (for the second shower) to make serving possible. I guess that will be my next project.

The first shower was for my good friend, Candice, whom I have known for 20+ years! All of my highschool friends are still really close and we have a Bunko group so that we can make sure and get together often. When someone gets married, has a baby, etc. we love to throw a shower for that person. This shower was wonderful! We had pasta, salad, bread, lots of desserts, and lots of wine. I, of course, was too busy making sure everything was going ok and completely forgot to take pictures. Here are a couple though...just wish there were some people in them!

kitchen island set up with the food

wonderful keylime cake balls that Blair made

The second shower was for my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Lisa. We went with a brunch theme and I had so much fun planning. I had lots of help with food prep and decorations from my mom and everything went perfectly! Ryan and Lisa decided to get married in Steamboat Springs on top of a mountain in June...can't wait! Here are a few pictures from the morning...

food table with fruit, french toast, breakfast casserole, quiche, cinnamon rolls, brie and...

...cupcakes!

The gorgeous flower decoration that my cousin, Melissa, made for us.

We had the Dirty Water coffee company come. It was AMAZING!

Chaney, Melissa, Creedy, and the bride-to-be

After two successful showers I was exhausted. I think before each of the showers Matt heard me mumble, "I am never doing this again!" but I will take it back now because I had a blast. And everything was put away and cleaned on Saturday so I could spend the day resting on Sunday...Mother's Day!

Hudson is 8 months old!

Our sweet baby boy is 8 months old and growing up too fast!!! I feel like this is the first chair picture we have taken that makes him look more like a toddler and less like a baby. This past month has probably been my favorite yet and we have loved watching his personality develop. He loves to cuddle and hug your neck, smiles at EVERYONE, and laughs at just about anything his sister does (other than when she tries to pick him up). He has such a sweet demeanor and is getting happier by the day as he is much more able to accomplish what he is wanting to do. We have been blessed with a sick-free month and only lost a little bit of sleep because of vacations and what we believe to be his next round of teeth. Hadley is still the sweetest big sister to him and helps us so much but is showing a little bit of frustration at his attempt to play with ALL her toys (even though she loves to pretend she is a baby and play with his too). We have had a couple cool weeks but look forward to spending more time outside again! He is still a skinny guy but has really gotten the hang of babyfood so I expect a little jump soon. He loves to eat ANYTHING and really just wants to drink out of Hadley's sippy cup.

About 17 lbs. Still in the 10th percentile.

Now that he has mastered pulling up, Hudson is trying so hard to stand on his own. We can let go of his hands and he may last a couple seconds but then falls to his bottom. He is also cruising around all the furniture that has ended in quite a few bruises on the forehead. Here is a picture of him holding onto the toy and trying to get his balance:



Hudson still LOVES the dogs. Poor Bauer gets tortured daily but I think he may actually like the extra attention. Most of the time when we get Hudson out of the crib in the morning the dogs will follow us into his room. When he sees them he smiles so big and fights to get down and play.




Our big boy in his shirt and faux-tie. He would ride in this car all day if we had the energy to push him that long:

Fashion Statement

We may have the most hot-natured child around. On a typical night (even in the winter) Hadley wants to sleep in panties only, on top of the sheets, with the fan on. I will walk in her room and its freezing and she still says she's hot. When it was below freezing outside I would have to have the heater on in the car for me and her window down so she wouldn't get hot. This doesn't match up well with me since I am always cold! Anyway, a few days ago I needed to go to the store and Hadley was still in her panties for the day and I told her to go upstairs and get dressed. She came back down wearing this:

It makes me think of a little girl in the 70's with her golden yellow purse, long straight hair (feather included), and the dress-turned into-shirt because it is a size 18 mo but she still loves it! And the cowboy boots light up when she walks. She was so proud of her outfit and was even more proud when everybody she talked to at the store commented on it. I have had to wash that dress/shirt multiple times since because she wants to keep wearing it while only switching out the leggings for jeggings on some days. Love her fashion independence!