Happy Hudson and his Tired Parents

The Second Time Around

2011-06-08T10:33:00.004-05:00

My second pregnancy has not been as easy as my first. This time around I have felt bigger and it has just been harder in general. I was very sick in the beginning so that was no fun. Now I am feeling better but I tire more easily. I think the first time around I only had to worry about myself and the second time around I am chasing a busy 3 year old and taking care of my family. It has made this pregnancy seem more difficult. The upside to being busy is that it is making this pregnancy fly by. I am 23 weeks today. I can't believe it. We get to meet our baby girl in about 3 1/2 - 4 months. It is hard to imagine how our lives will change but I know she will be a wonderful addition to our family.

Here I am today at 23 Weeks

I have been hard a work picking out nursery decor for our little girl. I decided to have the bedding made. Below is a mock up of the bedding (computer generated, so you have to use your imagination). I am so excited to see the finished product in a couple of months. It is just so fun picking things out for a little girl this time.

I will leave you with a couple of pictures of my favorite 3 year old and the big brother to be!

Think Pink

2011-05-16T21:16:00.003-05:00

You guessed it. Baby Pate is a GIRL! We are very excited. Mostly we are thankful for a healthy baby. I feel like I am still in shock that it is actually a girl. I keep saying "he" out of habit. I guess I will have to form a new habit of saying "she".
I still have not bought any girl baby stuff but rest assured I will be on the prowl this weekend. Our family is very excited as well about adding a little girl to all the little boys. Below are some pictures of our little princess.

Up next: Crib bedding and decor!

Motivation...Where Are You?

2011-05-10T15:46:00.005-05:00

I have been feeling very unmotivated lately. Maybe it is because I am exhausted all the time and I can't seem to catch up. Work has been really hectic and I have been traveling quite a bit. I want to be better about posting on the blog so I can look back on these times but I am having a hard time getting motivated. I am hoping that in the next couple weeks life will slow down a bit but I am sure that is wishful thinking.

Now that I am done complaining about exhaustion and motivation I will update you on the last couple of weeks.

We had a fantastic Easter with my extended family. It was so great to spend time with my cousins and my Aunt and Uncle. Hudson enjoyed eating the candy out of the eggs better than actually hunting for the eggs. Maybe he will get it next year.

After all the Easter fun we celebrated my Dad's Birthday with cupcakes. Hudson loves to sing the Happy Birthday Song and help blow out the candles. He loves eating the cupcakes!

This past weekend Brad and I traveled to New Orleans to celebrate the wedding of Jennifer and John. It was a fun weekend. It was great to catch up with old friends and enjoy some yummy New Orleans food. Jennifer was a beautiful bride and they day was perfect. Sadly I did not bring my camera so I have no pictures from our trip. Below is one I swiped off of facebook (sorry for the small size

I cannot believe the I am 19 weeks pregnant. Time is flying by. We are very excited for our ultrasound next week. We hope Baby Pate will reveal his/or her gender during this ultrasound. I am so excited to start planning for a little girl or another little boy. I have some nursery ideas for both. I plan to share the ideas on the blog once we know if we are team pink or blue.

More to come sooner rather than later. I hope =)

Happy Easter and 16

2011-04-22T21:09:00.002-05:00

I cannot believe that Easter is here and I am 16 weeks pregnant. We had a great doctor appointment on Monday. Baby Pate looks wonderful and had a heart rate of 156. Baby Pate did not wish to participate in the ultrasound so we still do not know the sex of the baby. Our 20 week ultrasound is on May 16th. We look forward to finding out if Hudson will have a brother or a sister at the appointment.
My family is in town for Easter this weekend! We are going to have lots of fun so be on the lookout for more pictures next week. I will also post another bump picture next week!

Happy Easter!

14

2011-04-05T19:57:00.003-05:00

I am 14 weeks pregnant. I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by. Maybe it is because I am so busy with Hudson and work. I have been feeling pretty good the past couple of weeks. Hopefully the morning sickness and exhaustion are behind me.
My next Doctor Appointment is on April 18th. I will be almost 16 weeks so we will be able to find out the baby's gender during the ultrasound. We plan to have the Doctor write the gender down in a sealed envelope and then we will open the envelope with family on Easter. I think this will be a fun way to find out if Baby Pate is a boy or a girl. I would love to have a little girl to dress up but I also think it would be so fun for Hudson to have a brother. Needless to say we will be very happy and excited either way.

Here is my 14 week bump shot. Not much to see but I have a feeling it won't be much longer until I actually look pregnant instead of fluffy.

Do I Still Have Any Readers

2011-03-24T18:27:00.003-05:00

Whew! I took a long blog break. It started because not much was happening at the beginning of the year and then a lot was happening and I never got caught up. Also I have been keeping quiet because I have some BIG News to share:

Hudson is going to be a big brother. We are thrilled to be expecting Baby # 2 in October. The baby looks perfect and healthy so far and we are very thankful. Hopefully this will jump start my blogging again. For now enjoy some pictures of Baby Pate!

Bahama Mama

2010-12-24T07:36:00.005-06:00

We're Back! We had an awesome trip to the Bahamas! Thanks Papa for taking us on such a fun trip. Hudson had a ball. He dug in the sand, played in the pool, went down waterslides,and napped on the beach. I won't bore you will all 200 of my vacation photos but I will share a few of our favorite moments from the trip.

Wedding Album

2010-12-09T16:20:00.007-06:00

4 years ago Brad and I got married. I still love looking through our wedding album. I love thinking about the beautiful day we shared with family and friends. One of my bridesmaids posted pictures of her wedding album today and it had me thinking about how thankful I am to have wonderful pictures of our special day. Below are some pictures of our wedding album. The album was made by our photographers Schmidt Photography. I took the pictures of our album in my dining room so there is a slight glare and while I did not post a picture of every page there are a lot of pictures in this post. Enjoy!

Possibly the WORST Thanksgiving EVER

2010-11-26T21:36:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday we traveled to Georgia to visit Brad's family for the Thanksgiving holiday. On Monday Hudson was hit with a stomach virus. On Thursday we thought he was getting better, only to find out that Brad was now sick. Everyone woke up feeling fine this morning and then Hudson had a major relapse tonight and Brad is still not feeling great. We have been stuck in the house all week and we all have cabin fever. Poor Brad did not even get to go to his family's Thanksgiving. We are facing a 13-14 hour drive tomorrow with 2 sick people. This sounds miserable but we have to get home. My thoughts are scattered because I am one exhausted Mommy. At this point I am just trying to hold it all together and make it home before I get sick too. I am praying that we can make it home tomorrow in one piece and that I can get my poor boys well. Please send good thoughts and prayers our way...we could really use them.

Is this the worst Thanksgiving or holiday ever. I would love to hear some stories that top this (let's be honest - I could use a good laugh about now).

Hope everyone else had a very Happy Turkey Day. I am very thankful for all of my wonderful family and friends and I will be even more thankful when my two boys are feeling better.

Trick or Treat Recap

2010-11-02T20:07:00.004-05:00

Hudson had a great Halloween weekend. We started off the weekend with his class Halloween party and then the Barton Creek Halloween party. A fun time was had by all. On Saturday we watched the Dawgs put up a good fight against Florida but in the end it was not enough. We ended the weekend with a block party and some good old fashioned trick or treating.

Hudson Reading

2010-10-12T20:40:00.002-05:00

Weeked in Pictures

2010-09-26T16:57:00.004-05:00

We watched the Dawgs lose again (but we still look cute getting dressed up in red and black) and we went to the Pecan Street Festival in downtown Austin. It has been a fun weekend.

Just a little mess....

2010-08-26T21:27:00.004-05:00

First I want to say thank you for all the kind words about the new house. We are getting settled in and we are really enjoying our new home. So when I posted the pictures of the new house I did not share pictures of every room. I did not share pictures of the office because the office furniture we purchased is on back order until September 10th. So I have not really unpacked or organized the office mostly because there is no where to put all of our stuff. And now something has happened in there that I had not planned on... more junk is migrating in to the already cluttered office. Anything that does not have a home ends up in there. Since my favorite blog posts to read are the honest, real life accounts decided I would come out of the closet and share my mess.

Here is a view when you look into the office. Don't you love the card table as a make shift desk?

Lots of unpacked boxes. I can't even stand to be in there. That is why I am blogging from my laptop in the very organized living room.

Some of our favorite photos just stacked in a corner...Sad but true.

So for now the doors to this room remain shut!

I hope that shortly after September 10th I will be able to share some pictures of a beautiful, functional and organized office.

First Day of School

2010-08-23T18:08:00.004-05:00

Today was Hudson's first day at his new preschool. He was so excited to go to his school. He loveshis backpack and lunch box. He was ready for a great day and he looked so cute. His day started off rocky because he did not want Mommy and Daddy to leave him at school. I think overall he had a good day and each day will get better.
Check out some cute pictures of him below before we left the house this morning.

Finally

2010-08-10T07:37:00.004-05:00

Finally I m posting some pictures of the house semi finished. We still have some organization to do. We are still waiting on the rest of Hudson's bedroom furniture and the office/study furniture so you won't see any pictures of those two rooms...yet.
Let me know what you think of the new space. If you missed the "before" and "during" pictures scroll down and check out the two previous posts.

Exhausted

2010-08-05T07:19:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was a long day. Today I head back to work. I wish I could just stay at the new house and get things organized. But all of the unpacking and organization will have to wait until the painters finish this weekend.

Below are some "during" photos. More to come later.

The New House: Before Pictures

2010-08-04T07:48:00.005-05:00

Let the house pojects begin. The painters started painting on Monday and we hope they will be done by this weekend. We are painting all the walls and all the cabinets in the kitchen and the bathrooms. We are also planning to change the hardware on the doors and replace the fans. The movers are meeting me at the house today to deliver our furniture. I am excited to finally have all of our stuff here. The frig and Hudson's big by bedroom furniture will also be delivered today.

Below are some "before" photos. I will take some "during" photos today and I hope to take some "after" photos this weekend or early next week.

Hudson's New House

2010-07-26T18:51:00.004-05:00

The house is ours! Finally we have a place in Austin. We can't wait to move in, meet neighbors, have friends and family over. It is going to be a lot of fun. We are not officially moving in for a couple of weeks because the entire house and the cabinets are being painted. I plan on showing some before and after pictures (once we have the after that is).

Hudson is very excited about the new house. He already has his room all picked out. I wish I would have had my camera with me this afternoon when we went by the house to check it out. He ran straight up the stairs to check all the rooms. There is a big closet in his room and I can already tell that it will be his new hideout.

We are thrilled about the house and we have to give a big Thank you to Nana and Papa for letting us stay with them for so long and for all they have done for us to make the transition from Georgia to Austin smooth one. From all the help with jobs, Hudson care and house hunting we will never be able to repay them. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts Nana and Papa! We are so lucky to have you. We also need to thank Grammy and Big Daddy for helping Brad pack up our old house and for driving all of our stuff to Texas. We could not do it without them either. Thank you.

We cannot wait to have some visitors to our new house! Start booking your trips to Austin please!

Hudson is 3!

2010-07-19T07:44:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday Hudson! 3 years ago today you came into our lives and things have never been the same. I am so thankful to have such a sweet, loving, and adorable boy. Hudson you are growing up so fast. You are growing and changing every day. I cannot believe that you are 3. You melt my heart when you say "I love you Mommy" and "One more hug Mommy".

We celebrated last weekend. Below are a few pictures. Don't worry we are going to celebrate again tonight with cupcakes!

Happy Birthday Hudson!!!!!

We Got a House!

2010-07-18T13:23:00.003-05:00

We are so excited that we finally found a house in Austin! It is in a great neighborhood with lots of families and kids. We are expecting to close on the house this month and hopefully we will be settled in soon. We can't wait to have some guests so let us know when you are coming to Austin and we will have the guest room ready for you.

Happy Birthday Brad

2010-06-30T20:52:00.004-05:00

We celebrated Brad's 28th Birthday a few weeks ago. Brad had a great birthday. He got a new guitar. Brad is taking guitar lessons and really enjoying his present. Hudson's favorite part of the birthday celebration was the singing and the cake eating. Yum.

Life's A Beach

2010-06-24T18:25:00.004-05:00

Hudson and I had a great trip to the beach. It was hot but beautiful! Enjoy some pictures from our trip.

Love Swimming

2010-06-04T08:44:00.003-05:00

Hudson has found a new love of swimming. He asks to go swimming everyday.Luckily Nana and Papa have a great pool. We are enjoying all the time in the sun.

It's been way too long

2010-06-02T20:05:00.002-05:00

No, I am not pregnant and I won't be for a while. Thank you very much.

Things have been so busy the past month I have abandoned my blog. The exciting news is that we have a the opportunity to lease our house for 2 years. This is exciting because it means we can get a house in Austin. We have been house hunting for the past few weeks. It has been fun but stressful and exhausting at the same time. More details to come once we have an official house under contract in Austin.

Hudson is doing great. He is talking up a storm and is starting a new preschool this summer. He is really excited about it. Hudson also has a new favorite movie, Toy Story. He is excited to go see Toy Story 3 at the movie theatre in a couple of weeks. Hudson is loving the warm (hot) weather and enjoying spending every minute he can in the pool. He is all boy.

Brad and Hudson are heading to Columbus this weekend for a getaway and Hudson and I will have a nice trip to the beach in a couple of weeks.

I will post some pictures later this week!

Ugh... Computer Problems

2010-05-09T09:57:00.002-05:00

My computer has a virus and is not in working order right now. It is irritating but hopefully it will be fixed soon. So all 5 of my devoted readers will just have to wait a few more days for some pictures and family updates. You won't want to miss the update. Hopefully by the end of the week I will be able to share some good news!

Welcome Harper

2010-04-24T14:49:00.003-05:00

Our nephew, Harper Franklin Pate was born on April 21, 2010. He surprised the whole family and came 5 weeks early. We are so happy that he is here and that he is doing great. He is getting stronger everyday and hopefully will be able to go home soon. We can't wait to meet the new addition on our next visit to Columbus.

Congratulations Clay, Jamie and big brother Tucker!

Random Update

2010-04-18T15:49:00.004-05:00

I have been trying to be better about blogging more often, but sometimes I feel like I have nothing to write about. Since I have no ideas I thought I would do an update on each member of our family. Here it goes:

Hudson
Hudson starting going to Speech Therapy twice a week about 3-4 weeks ago. Let me tell you that we are amazed with how much progress he has made in such a short time. He is using more words, talking in more sentences. I can't believe how far he has come. Hudson adores his Speech Therapist, Angela, and he loves going there to play. The Speech Therapy is all play based and they have loads of toys and fun games for the kiddos.
Hudson is still going to preschool 3 days a week and spending the other 2 days with Nana. He loves school and is now having more fun and communicating more with his friends. The past weekend we went to his friend Logan's 3rd Birthday PArty at Pump it Up. Pump it Up is the ultimate bouncey house play land. The kids had so much fun. They had pizza and cheetos and a Spiderman birthday cake. Hudson had a blast.
Hudson is loving the nice weather. He wants to play outside and swim in the pool everyday. I can't believe how big he is getting and how he is turning in to a little boy.

Colleen
I am loving my job working for a great non-profit doing fundraising support and event planning. I work with a great group of people and I am really enjoying my work. I have reconnected with some of my old high school buddies and we have been meeting up once a month for dinner and drinks. It has been a lot of fun. This weekend we will be going to our Dance Team's reunion luncheon. It will be great to see more old friends and talk about the good ole days of Hyline.
I want to be better about making time to excercise, so that is my goal for spring/summer. I want to go for a walk at least 3 times a week. I hope I can make this happen.
We still have not sold our house in Georgia. We are at a cross roads and we have some big decisions to make on next steps for our house. So, if you are in Columbus , GA and you want a fabulous deal on a beautiful home, let me know. We will consider all offers!!

Brad
Brad is still working at his job at Wachovia. He likes it ok but is in the market to find something he likes more. Brad has been in Florida all weekend with a group of high school/ college friends at a Music Festival. It sounds like they had a great time. They camp and listen to live music for 4 days. I think it is Brad's version of heaven. Maybe if he took some pictures, I will post them next week. Brad also has a trip to Vegas coming up so he is staying busy on the weekends and when he is in Austin he enjoys checking out some local music shows.

Maverick
Maverick is still wearing his cone. He had surgery in October to remove a tumor from his leg and it still has not healed correctly. He also will try to re-open the wound if we take the cone off, so he must keep it on. Hudson always reminds us that Maverick wears a cone. The cone nor the surgery have slowed him down. He still enjoys walks with Nana and swimming in the pool with Kramer (my parents dog).
We hope that he will get his cone off in another month or two. I guess only time will tell.

Hudson's School Pictures

2010-04-07T20:53:00.004-05:00

Hudson's school pictures came out great this year. We are just in love with our little guy. I think both of his school pictures sum up his personality, sweet and totally goofy. I can't decide which picture I like more, so of course I ordered several copies of both. I guess it comes with the Mom territory, thinking that you have the cutest, most adorable, lovable kid in the world.

P.S. I am feeling much better. Thank you for sending all the positive get well vibes my way.

Easter and Food Poisoning

2010-04-05T18:27:00.004-05:00

We had a great Easter, until I was struck with terrible food poisoning yesterday. I was scheduled to leave for Washinton D.C. for work today but I had to cancel my trip because I was too weak to travel. I am bummed about missing my trip but I guess my health is the most important thing. Never a dull moment around here.

Now back to Easter. Hudson got lots of goodies from the Easter Bunny and he enjoyed a wild Easter Egg Hunt with some neighbors. Hudson loves his new "Cars" backpack and all of the candy. I will leave you with some pictures of our Easter adventures.

SMILE

2010-03-24T20:56:00.003-05:00

We could use some smiles like these around here. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers. Hudson is doing great. He officially starts speech therapy tomorrow morning. We hope that he is going to be talking up a storm in no time. Hudson will have the Audiology exam this Friday. Hopefully we will know more about his hearing next week when we get the results of the exam.

I am so appreciatve of all the support. It means so much to me.

For now, enjoy these sweet smiles.

imperfection

2010-03-17T22:33:00.003-05:00

I first want to apologize for the lack of communication with friends and family the past couple of weeks. Things have been a bit crazy around here. We have enjoyed having my Aunt Mary and my cousins Melissa and Rebecca here in Austin this past weekend and this week. We had a wonderful visit. Both Melissa and Rebecca are pregnant. I could not be more thrilled for them. They are embarking on an incredible journey. I know they will both be wonderful mothers. I cannot wait to welcome Baby Hills and Baby Martin into the world and into our family at the end of summer.

Last week on my birthday we got some disappointing news about Hudson. Hudson's teachers at preschool called us in to discuss some concerns they have about Hudson's language and speech development. While is is talking more than he ever has,they feel he is not picking up language as quickly as the other children in the class. It was really hard to hear this and we immediately called the Doctor to get some more information. After a great visit with the Doctor it was decided that Hudson would benefit from speech therapy. The Doctor also recommended a hearing test just to make sure that he is hearing the same sounds that you and I hear. So far this week we had the speech therapy evaluation and hope to have more details about the speech therapy plan by the end of the week. Hudson will go in for the hearing test next Friday.

While we are encouraged that whatever is going on with Hudson is correctable with speech therapy, it is difficult to watch your child struggle and to feel completely helpless. I have been really down on myslf because I have been feeling like this is somehow my fault and that I have failed Hudson. I have to keep reminding myself that I did not cause this and we will do everything that is recommended by the Doctor and Therapists to be sure that Hudson gets the help he needs. I wanted to share this with those who read my blog. I hope that you all don't have to go through something like this but if you do, know that your feelings are completely normal. I feel that as parents we prepare so much for the birth of our child(ren) and the first year of their lives, but we don't do anything to prepare for the difficult times and the next 17 years of their lives. I guess as parents we think that our child(ren) are gong to be perfect and they will never have any issues but this is not life or reality. Brad and I are so grateful and thankful that we have been blessed with such an amazing son (who is still perfect in our eyes). We also feel very blessed that he is a healthy boy who just needs a little extra help in learning the fine art of communication.

I hope that we will have more answers next week once we have the official results of the Audiology exam and the speech therapy evaluation. I will try to share once we feel the time is right. So again please accept my apologies for being a little distant and unavailable. I am trying to spend all of my free time with my little guy.

Thanks for listening to my rambling.

The Most Magical Place on Earth

2010-03-03T07:24:00.013-06:00

WARNING: Disney Picture Overload

We had a great trip to Disney World. Hudson had a great time. I took a ton of pictures!Hudson's faorite part of the trip was meeting the cast of the movie "Cars". and he loved the race car ride. Now I just need a vacation from my vacation. After Disney Brad and Hudson headed back to Columbus to visit family so I have had a much needed weekend of rest and relaxation. I am now ready for them to come home (good thing because they get home in a few hours).

Enjoy the photos from the trip.

Cute

2010-02-24T22:21:00.003-06:00

Hudson has been Mr. Busy lately. He is into everyting. The other daye came out of the pantry with a big bag of chips. He also is big into trying on everyone's shoes. Below are some pictures of him with my shoes on - on the wrong feet and one is backwords. We are heading to Disney World this weekend. Pictures and tales from the trip when we get back.

Be Mine

2010-02-14T16:14:00.003-06:00

Here are a few snapshots from Hudson's Valentine's Day Party at school earlier this week. He had a ball. He was the only child to eat all the Valentine treats that were on his plate. Then he was trying to steal cookies off of all the other kids' plates. Hudson and all of his friends exchanged Valentines. It was so cute. Tonight we are off to a Valentine Progressive Dinner Party. Our house is dessert. I will post some pictures of the desserts and the fun tomorrow. Happy Valentine's Day!

love

2010-02-10T20:25:00.003-06:00

Since this is the month all about love, I thought I would post a few pictures of my two loves. I caught my boys on camera tonight dancing.Hudson was smiling and laughing. It was a treat to watch my two loves having so much fun together.

Thank you for all the swimsuit votes. I really appreciate all the input. I was sort of hoping that one suit would win the popular vote but this didn't really happen. It makes me feel like I can't go wrong on this choice. I think I have narrowed it down to two. The second was popular amoung the commenters and the first is the one I like the most before the vote. I am going to order both and try them on and then make my decision. Who knows I may not like either of them and end up going with one of the others. Now I just have to pick the color. Ahhh, choices. I will not be posting a picture of myself in the swim wear but I will post pictures of the swimsuits in the color I choose. I will also let you know the winner.

Tomorrow I will do a post about everyone's favorite 2 year old (or my favorite at least).

100th Post & Suits of Summer

2010-01-31T13:03:00.002-06:00

100th Post! I can't believe I made it. It took a lot longer than I thought but I am happy that after 100 posts I am still blogging! Is anyone still reading???

If you are, I need your help. I have a J.Crew gift card burning a hole in my pocket from Christmas and I feel the urge to purchase a new swimsuit for myself. Why, a swimsuit in January you ask. I feel like retail stores always come out with their cute new summer clothes in January - March time frame. By the time I am ready to buy swim wear in May, all the cute stuff is gone or they don't have my size anymore. So this year I am going to buy a swimsuit now. I need something that is cute, age appropriate (not getting any younger) and will work while I chase Hudson around the beach or pool. What do you all think of the following options. Don't judge on color because each of the suits below comes in several colors (colors can be seen at jcrew.com)

Ok, here is your chance to pick my suit for summer! Leave a comment with your vote.

The Joys of Parenthood

2010-01-27T18:56:00.002-06:00

So I feel like everyone I know is pregnant. While I won't share who, I am very excited and happy for each of them. Being a parent is a wonderful thing and I am so very thankful for my little man. And when I hear the news of friends and family who are adding to their family, I can't help but think; maybe we are ready to have another. Then I am brought back to earth with moments like these: Hudson banging a golf club against the staircase, Hudson sticking his hand in the toliet and screamig water as if he has found gold,and Hudson standing on the arm of the sofa just before he dives in to the decorative throw pillows. Ahh, the joys of parenthood.

**NOTE: We do hope to add to ur family someday, but today is not the day. I have a lot of respect for those Moms out there that have 2 or 3 little ones because I am fairly certain that it is more than double or triple the work.

The Strongest Toddler in the World

2010-01-13T07:27:00.002-06:00

Hudson has gotten really into these large stuffed animals. We had them in his room but had to remove them because he was putting a three in his bed and then sleeping on the floor (because there was now room for him). He has started carrying them all over the house. It is really cute to see. Below you will see him with the polar bear.

Bad Hair Day

2010-01-11T22:25:00.003-06:00

This is what I found when I got Hudson up from his nap this Sunday. I promise for a better longer update later this week!!

Trick or Treat

2009-11-01T17:30:00.003-06:00

We had a awesome Halloween this year. Brad arrived in Austin at about 1:00 pm. We are so excited that he is finally here and that he made it here safely. Hudson was excited to put on his Superman costume and head to a Neighborhood Halloween Block Party. There were tons of kids there in some great costumes. We had a great tex-mex feast. After all the Block party fun, it was Trick or Treat time. Hudson wasn't so sure about Trick or Treating at first. Then he warmed up to the idea once he realized you get candy at each house. He was a little confused and thought you eat the candy at each house. He was on a little sugar high after a pack of M&Ms and a pack of Skittles. The weather was perfect and we could not have asked for a better Halloween. Brad has been resting up today as he prepares to start at his new office tomorrow. The first day in a new office can be tough. I hope he has a great day.

More to come soon! Maybe an update tomorrow after Brad's Big Day!

Life in Austin

2009-10-30T04:30:00.002-05:00

Wow, it has been a month since my last post. With no camera, I have not had many pictures to post.Luckily, my Mom has taken some great pictures with her camera. And I hate a post without pictures of my favorite little man. Life in Austin has been great. Brad will be here this weekend for good. We are so excited. He will be starting at Wachovia in Austin on Monday. I am still job hunting, but I am enjoying my time with family, friends, and of course Hudson. It has been challenging being a full time Mommy but Hudson is adjusting well to our new routine. We are all excited for a fun Halloween Weekend. I will be posting pictures of our little Superman next week.

long time no post

2009-09-27T18:31:00.002-05:00

Strange title, I know. We have had a lot going on lately and therefore I have not had time to post. Hudson and I are officially in Austin now. We arrived in Austin Friday night after a long drive and a fun stop to visit friends in New Orleans. Hudson is adjusting well to life in Austin. Now all I need to do is find a job and find a preschool for Hudson. Brad should join us in Austin at the end of October. We miss him so much already and wish he was here with us. I don't like to post without pictures but sadly my camera is not working great and I have not taken any pictures with all the stress of moving. Just wanted to let all my faithful readers know that Hudson, Maverick and I have made it to Austin and we are loving it so far. If you are in Austin, we would love to see you. Give us a call. If you are in Georgia, we miss you already and please come visit us soon!

Love and Kisses!

changes

2009-09-13T13:49:00.004-05:00

New look. New town. Lots of changes going on around here. This week will be my last week of work with my current company. My co-workers have been so supportive of our decision to move that it makes me realize why I loved working there for the past 4 years. I work with an amazing group of people and I have learned so much. I am excited about the move to Austin but I am sad to leave some wonderful people behind.

This coming weekend we will be headed to the beach again to celebrate Ashley and Sam's Wedding. Hudson will stay home with Grammy and Big Daddy. Brad and I are looking forward to an adult weekend at the beach and celebrating with old friends.

I will leave you with some old pictures of us and the Bride and Groom to be.

beach

2009-09-09T19:09:00.004-05:00

I cannot believe that today is 9*9*09. Where have all the years gone? We had a fabulous time at the beach with Brad's Family this weekend. Hudson loved the sand and the water. We went for a boat ride and we even played at the pool. It was nice to relax and catch up with our wonderful family. Here are some pictures that I had on my camera. I promise to post more pictures once I get a hold of my Mother in Law's camera (she is still at the beach -lucky duck).

I like to move it

2009-08-29T13:33:00.003-05:00

So I guess it is official, We are moving to Austin! I can't believe I am actually typing these words. This is a very bittersweet move for us. We are sad to leave behind wonderful family and friends but we are looking forward to new adventures in Austin. Everything with the impending move is keeping us busy but I promise that I will post more often. And don't worry Columbus readers, I will be posting lots of pictures and documenting our lives out in Austin.

Nana and Papa came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time. We celebrated Nana's birthday, went to see Paul McCartney (awesome show), ate lots of wonderful foods and took Hudson to Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain.

Here are some pictures from Nana and Papa's visit.

We will be spending the long weekend at the Beach this weekend. I can't wait to put my toes in the sand. Beach Pictures will be posted next week.

lately

2009-08-10T20:52:00.004-05:00

ok,ok I admit I have been a terrible blogger lately. Our little life has been a sea of weddings, birthday parties, trips, and house guests. I have been very busy and a little bit lazy and that is the reason I have neglected my blog. I am sure only a few people noticed but I know those few are dying to see some new pictures of the most adorable monster, I mean two year old.

Hudson is growing bigger and smarter everyday. He is talking up a storm and he runs everywhere. He is into trucks, trains and tractors and he loves the movie Cars. He still loves the British cartoon, Kipper the Dog. Luckily Nana has some new Kipper DVDs on the way to us. Hudson loves to be outside at the park, the pool, or just hanging out in our driveway at home.

Brad and I went to Charleston, S.C. this past weekend for yet another wedding. We had a great time catching up with old friends, eating yummy food and celebrating Kourtney and Adam. We left Hudson with Grammy and Big Daddy and he had a ball.

My parents arrive in town this Thursday so I guess I need to start cleaning and doing laundry. I will leave you with a couple of pictures of Hudson and some pictures from our trip!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUDSON

2009-07-19T15:25:00.001-05:00

Hudson Andrew
July 19, 2007
4:02 pm

Check out pictures from Hudson's 2nd Birthday Party in the post below.

Caution: Birthday Party Picture Overload

2009-07-19T07:42:00.010-05:00

Picture Overload!! Hudson had a great 2nd Birthday Party. The Bouncy House was a huge hit and so was the baby pool, beach ball sprinkler and the Dump Truck cake. Everyone enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, snacks and fresh watermelon. We are now the proud owners of more toys than we know what to do with! Thank you to all that helped us celebrate Hudson's 2nd Birthday!

Happy Birthday Hudson!

We're Having a PARTY

2009-07-12T20:32:00.003-05:00

A week from today is Hudson's 2nd Birthday. I cannot believe how big he is and how fast he is growing up. We are having a not so small birthday party next Saturday. I have gotten slightly out of control with the party, but he only turns 2 once, right?
Hudson is big in to Trucks so we are having a dump truck themed party. We are having the ultimate backyard BBQ birthday, complete with a bouncy house and of course a dump truck birthday cake! Here is a sneak peak at the invitation. I think it turned out just perfect.

More pictures to come of the big event!

**Invitations from Grammercy in Columbus, Georgia**

4th of July Recap

2009-07-05T09:49:00.004-05:00

We had a great 4th. The weekend kicked off with Hudson's 4th of July parade at school. then yesterday we went to Brad's Aunt's house for a pool party. Everyone had fun eating ribs, swimming and homemade peach ice cream. Yum. Before Hudson went to bed we showed him some fireworks. This morning I woke up to find Brad making us blueberry pancakes. They were great. Hudson loves blueberry pancakes! yummy but very messy!

Happy Birthday America

2009-07-04T12:15:00.002-05:00

Here is a not so great video from Hudson's 4th of July Parade. It was hard to video since he wanted to hold his hand. next year Brad is going to come and help!

Pictures from our Trip!

2009-07-02T21:09:00.006-05:00

I am finally posting pictures from my our trip to Wisconsin and My cousin's wedding. We had a great time at Plum Lake. These are just a few pictures that I took. I was so busy being a bridesmaid and the mother of the ring bearer that I didn't take many pictures. I will post all the cute pictures my mom took soon!

Up next, pictures from Hudson's 4th of July Parade at school!

Cute Penguin, New Kicks

2009-06-14T20:58:00.002-05:00

I don't think that I have announced this to all my faithful (few, but faithful) blog readers. Hudson is going to be the Ring Bearer in my cousin's Wedding this weekend. He has an adorable tuxedo. We had to bribe him with skittles to try it on. That is why he is waving his hands in the air mouthing the word candy in the photo below. With him all dressed in his Penguin suit, I quickly realized that I had no shoes for him to wear. Then while browsing at Target this weekend I stumbled across these adorable black and white Converse Chuck Taylors and they fit his feet. So I quickly scoped them up and my shoe problem was solved.

We are heading up to Plum Lake (Wisconsin) for the Wedding on Wednesday. We are looking forward to escaping the heat for a week (the high is 75). I promise I will post pictures from our week in the North Woods when we return.
For Now enjoy the pictures of the little Penguin (minus the bow tie - he will have it on for the wedding). Now, I gotta get back to packing!

Lilly's Birthday Party

2009-06-06T19:48:00.003-05:00

Hudson and I went to his Friend Lilly's Birthday Party today. We had a great time. Lilly got a cool new swing set for her birthday. All the kids had fun playing on it. It was so cute to see Hudson and Lilly playing together and talking to each other. It was so sweet. Hudson loved to rock climbing wall, the slide and the swing. Everyone loved the cupcakes!

I have an Awesome sort of "famous" Friend

2009-06-03T20:17:00.002-05:00

My Best friend Kate is now a famous blogger. She has her own blog which is hysterical but she now has 2 Professional Blogging Gigs. You can check Kate out at Elizabeth Anne Designs Living and as Fashionista Vista on Grey Likes Weddings.

Congratulations to My Fabulous and now Famous Friend!

A Weekend at the Lake

2009-06-01T20:44:00.003-05:00

We had a great weekend at the lake. Hudson loved riding the boat. That is all he talked about. He also loved swimming and playing with his cousin Tucker. All in all it was a great weekend, except that my back got really sunburned. Time to go rub on some more aloe.

Happy June!

Rainy Memorial Day

2009-05-25T18:38:00.003-05:00

Memorial Day Weekend has been nothing but rainy. We did not get a chance to go to the river or spend very much time by the pool but we did have a fun family weekend. Today we went to Jason's Deli for lunch and then to Marble Slab for an ice cream treat. After ice cream we strolled through Barnes and Noble. Hudson loved the stage and the train table. We had to drag him out of there. The rest of the day was spent at home. Hudson chased poor Maverick around with his Tractor. He loved running into Maverick and chasing him around. All in all we enjoyed are three day weekend. Why can't every weekend be this long! Enjoy some pictures from today. Hudson loves taking pictures and saying, "cheese". Gotta love him.

Working at the Car Wash

2009-05-17T19:41:00.002-05:00

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2009-05-07T21:00:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday Brad took the family to the Atlanta Braves game. Hudson and Tucker had so much fun. They did not watch most of the game, they were more interested in the ice cream and toy bats. Hudson has been talking about Baseball all week. Can't wait to go back for more fun. Check out some of the pictures below!

You Scream, I Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream

2009-04-20T20:06:00.001-05:00

I think these pictures speak for themselves!

I Wear My Sunglasses at Night

2009-04-20T06:29:00.002-05:00

Hudson got to hunt through the Treasure Chest at school the other day and he came home with these bright orange sunglasses. He loves them. He wants to wear them all the time. The other night he put them on with his pajamas. It was so cute.

Playing Catch Up

2009-04-19T07:29:00.005-05:00

Here is a recap in pictures of our Easter Weekend. As you can tell there was a lot of Easter Egg Hunting and Candy Eating and we had a ball doing it all!

Hudson's Easter Parade

2009-04-10T21:04:00.005-05:00

Today Hudson had an Easter Parade at School. Each Class had different costumes. Hudson's Class dressed up as Peeps (Chicks). They were the cutest costumes. His Teacher did a great job. Cutest kids at the entire Parade. All the other Parents were talking about the Chicks. Hudson loved the Parade until he say Mama taking pictures. Hudson, Mommy and the other Parents and Chicks finished the Parade together. The Parade ended with a visit from the Easter Bunny. Hudson said Hi East to the bunny but would not take a picture with him. All and All it was a great day!

Hudson at Nana and Papa's House

2009-04-03T08:26:00.005-05:00

Hudson has been spending the week with his Nana and Papa. He is having a great time. Brad and I miss him so much but we are glad he is having a great time with Nana and Papa.

Here are some of the pictures from Hudson's week with his grandparents!

Ducks and Ice Cream

2009-03-16T20:43:00.003-05:00

We took Hudson to see the Ducks a couple of weekends ago and he loved it. He walked around saying ducks and quack, quack. It was pretty cute. He also learned the word goose. I think goose is his new favorite word.

We also let him have a bowl of ice cream on my birthday last week. He loved it. When he finished the ice cream he politely said "more please". Now that he knows the word please he thinks that he can get everything that he wants. He really is sweet when he says more please rather than more.

Enjoy the Pictures!

Thank you and Giveaway!

2009-03-12T05:52:00.002-05:00

Thank you for all the Birthday Wishes! I had a great Birthday!

Now for the Giveaway! My fabulous BFF Kate is having a Fabulous Giveaway this week, go here to enter. If you don't read Kate's Blog you need to start. She is hysterical, I look forward to her musings everyday ( and I am not just saying it because she is my Best Friend).

HAPPY THURSDAY!

Back By Popular Demand

2009-03-10T20:14:00.004-05:00

Since everyone got a kick out of the old pictures, I decided to do another old picture post. This post was requested by Allison. SO here is a Big Shout out to the CLOSET Trolls or The Westlake Hyline Board 2000 - 2001.

The Closet Trolls had a lot of fun that year, some memories included POOP, Rain man you are rolling the wrong way, OYOT, trying all the '80s costumes, being ditched at kiddie camp and many more. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Enjoy some of the pictures that I dug up. If you have a blog, I challenge you to scan in some old pictures and have a whole post about them. This has been really fun!

Happy (early) Birthday to Me!

2009-03-09T21:48:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow at 1:05 pm I will officially be 26 years old. Since your birthday is the really the only day to be vain I have posted some of my favorite pictures of me! I don't remember getting this old but I have had a lot of fun over the years. I have a wonderful life and I am thankful to have great family and friends who make me feel loved and special everyday of the year. (Notice that there are not many pictures of me and Hudson - that is because I am the one taking all the pictures.)

So here's to another year older and maybe a little wiser, Happy Birthday to Me!

A Boy and his Dog

2009-03-08T13:40:00.002-05:00

Lately Maverick (or Mabrick, as Hudson calls him) has been sitting under Hudson's chair as he eats. He waits patiently for Hudson to drop something on the floor. It is really cute. I captured a few pictures of them the other morning during breakfast.

Snow Day

2009-03-01T11:05:00.006-06:00

Here are some more pictures from our Snow Day. Hudson loved the snow. He walked around saying snow and cold. I think Maverick enjoyed it the most. He ran and rolled in the snow. Went in the creek and even got stuck on the other side of the creek.

First Day of March and SNOW

2009-03-01T08:50:00.002-06:00

This morning we woke up to Snow! Snow on the first day of March is pretty unbelievable here in Georgia. What is even more unbelievable is that it was 70 degrees yesterday. As I am posting this, it is still snowing. Once it lets up we are going to take Hudson out to play. Here are some pictures of our house covered in snow.

A Bunch of Monkeys

2009-02-16T12:42:00.005-06:00

This Morning Hudson and I went to play with friends at Monkey Joes. We met up with Lilly, Cale, Mac, Will, and Robbie. The kids had a ball. The Moms had fun too. After all the Monkey Business we headed to Fudruckers for a relaxing (or as relaxed as you can be with 5 little ones ranging from 15 - 19 months) lunch. The Moms enjoyed gossiping while the kiddos threw grilled cheese, corn dogs, french fries, goldfish and animal crackers all of the place. All in all in was a great play date. We will have to do it again soon. I am excited because Hudson was so worn out that he is still napping. I tried to capture a few pictures but the kids were moving so fast that my pictures are not that great. Hopefully some of the other Moms got some good pics and they will share them with me!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T06:45:00.005-06:00

Hudson had a Valentine's Day Party at school yesterday. He and his friends had a great time frosting cookies and eating frosting. They even gave each other Valentines. I had my camera and my video camera to capture every moment. Here are some pictures. I will post video later.

Go Jayhawks - A Post for PAPA

2009-02-08T07:45:00.002-06:00

Aunt Mary brought Hudson this adorable Jayhawk T-shirt. I took some pictures of him in it just for my Dad or as Hudson calls him, Papa. It was a little difficult to get a cute picture because Hudson wants to take the camera from me when he sees it. Brad said that he can only wear this Jayhawk shirt during Basketball Season!

So this one is for you Papa! Go Jayhawks!!!!

A Bride's Life

2009-02-03T20:13:00.004-06:00

I spent the past weekend in Dallas for Kate's Bachelorette Party! We had a fabulous time!

Recent Pictures

2009-01-25T10:06:00.001-06:00

I don't really have anything interesting to say so I will leave you with some pictures of the cutest 18 month old in the world!

Hudson's First Haircut

2009-01-17T12:39:00.005-06:00

So we took Hudson to get his first real Haircut today. We have trimmed it ourselves a couple of times. He cried a little bit but overall he did alright. Here are some pictures of him. He looks so cute and he loved his lollipop at the end.

ELMO!

2009-01-11T19:42:00.001-06:00

Hudson is in love with Elmo right now. He woke up saying Elmo this morning. He loves to sit in his chair and watch Elmo on DVD. Here are a few pictures of him relaxing, eating popcorn and watching Elmo. Needless to say Brad and I are getting a little sick of Elmo. Maybe next month he will be on to something else.

Update on Hudson and New Deck

2009-01-10T13:09:00.003-06:00

So we took Hudson to the Doctor yesterday and he has a Double Ear Infection. They are not sure if the last ear infection ever went away. SO now he is on one of the strongest antibiotics that they make. It tastes and smells awful so we are doing everything we can to get it into his system twice a day. Hopefully he will be all better soon. The good news is that he doesn't really act like he feels bad. He is still his same busy, talkative, wild, happy self. We are very thankful that we have such a wonderful son.

In other News, Brad and his Dad have been building a deck off our back porch. It looks great. We are so thankful to have Perry help us with this project. Brad has been talking about building this deck since the day we moved in. We still have a ways to go. We are excited to use the new deck this Spring. Since My Dad has been hounding me for pictures, here they are! Enjoy!

Happy New Year and I Hate Winter

2009-01-08T19:11:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year. This is my first post in the New Year. I cannot believe that it is 2009. I am still trying to figure where 2008 went. The lack of posting is not caused by the complete laziness that follows the holidays but because our computer got some sort of Trojan Virus. Needless to say that our computer spent about 5 days with the Geeks from Geek Squad. Now it is as good as new.

We had an amazing time with friends at a cocktail party ringing in the New Year. Pictures posted below. Then My Mom, Aunt and Cousins came for a visit this past weekend. We had a blast eating, drinking, gossiping and playing with Hudson.

Now on to why I hate Winter. This only the second Winter that Hudson has been alive and both Winter Seasons he has been sick on and off. Yuck. I am so sick of him being sick. He is coughing all the time and we are pretty sure that he has another ear infection. He just had a cold and ear infection right before Christmas. I feel bad for the poor guy. I guess we are off to the Doctor tomorrow. It is sad when you are on a first name basis with the PA. What is amazing is that I have managed to stay healthy this year (knock on wood). I don't know if we could survive another winter like last year. Last year every time Hudson got sick, I got sick. We both had several colds, the stomach virus and the Flu. Double Yuck!

Blog Identity Crisis

2008-12-30T20:08:00.000-06:00

Sorry my blog is going through a major identity crisis. I just can't decide what I like. I don't want the blog to be too girly because it is a blog about the entire family but I want it to be me! Tell me what you think. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night

2008-12-25T19:29:00.005-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. Hudson got lots of presents from Santa. He had a great day playing with all of his new toys. We are all exhausted from a very long Christmas Day. Now I am off to bed.

Enjoy some pictures of our day!

3 Days until Christmas

2008-12-22T20:21:00.002-06:00

Hudson becomes more and more interested in the Christmas tree as time goes by. He likes to touch the ornaments. He walks over to the tree and points and all the balls. He is so cute and so SMART.

I managed to catch a few pictures of him looking at the Christmas Tree.

Here Comes Santa Claus, Take 2

2008-12-21T13:39:00.001-06:00

Here is Hudson's 2nd visit with Santa. Mom helped out this time. Still not a great picture. Maybe next year!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

2008-12-15T20:03:00.002-06:00

This weekend we went to the Falcons game and Hudson stayed in Columbus and played with his cousin Tucker. Here are some phones my Sister in law sent me of Hudson. I think he is just the cutest kid in the world.