Busy Week Ahead...

Hi peeps! Hope you are all doing well and had a great weekend. We layed low this weekend and didn't do much at all. Trey and I have been working overtime to finish decorating the house and finish up little projects that we had put off forever. I think we can both agree that we feel very productive these days. Still lots to do, but it's looking good. More projects on the horizon and new furniture to buy. Yippee!

This week is a busy one for us. Tomorrow night, we're entertaining some folks that Trey is hoping to do business with. I've gotta be on my A-game!! They mentioned to Trey that they don't really eat big dinners, so I'm thinking I'll just go with a few appetizers and cocktails and call it a night.

What do y'all think?? And if you have any 100% no fail apps recipes.....send em' on! Now. 

Starting Wednesday, I'll be MIA for awhile. This week is Christmas in Cowtown.

Our Junior League puts this on each year in October and it's fabulous. If you live anywhere in the D/FW metroplex, I highly recommend that you come shop. Yes- that's right....SHOPPING! It's a huge holiday market and there's tons of super cute stuff. I always find all kinds of unique things. If you're interested, go here for more details.
I'm on the Special Events committee this year and we're throwing THREE events this year. Busy-busy-busy! Lots of decorating and coordinating to be done over the next few days.

Hopefully, the entire market will turn out great and we'll be able to give tons and tons of money to our community charities. Which...of course...is the main goal.


We took dinner to our friends, Carlton and Jennifer last week because they just welcomed a new baby girl to their growing family. Her name is Madeline and she's precious! They also have a little girl (our god daughter) named Emery...who is precious as well.

Madeline just chilled the whole evening. Barely made a peep. I might add that she has dark, dark hair. So did Emery. And so did Hudson and now they're both little toe heads. Isn't that strange???

While Madeline chilled, Hudson and Emery had a good time playing together. Hudson especially enjoyed the sand box. Santa will definitely have to bring him one of these this year.

We might need to work on his sand pouring skills though

Look at the concentration on this kid...

They ventured into Emery's playroom after awhile and I was told to stay out because that was their house. Please excuse the blurry picture as I was taking these with my phone, through a window and as they were running around like wild Indians.

After dinner, we let the kids play outside a little more. Hudson didn't seem to mind that this car was pink and purple. That's right buddy - Two hands on the wheel at all times -10 and 2. 

He's got good driving skills already!

I have a sneaky suspicion that Hudson chasing Emery is going to be

very familiar to all of us as they continue to grow up!

So.........that's what we've been up to lately. Hope y'all have a great week!!

 

Backyard Fun

It's finally cooling off a little bit here in Texas so we're able to enjoy playing outside in the evenings again. Yesterday, we pulled into the garage and never made it into the house. Straight to the backyard we went. Sliding, mowing, running - you name it.

My parents just got back from a long trip to Ireland and Italy. My mom surprised Hudson with this adorable soccer uniform from Ireland. Talk about scoring some major brownie points with Trey!! How cute is he in this?? Obviously, we don't have soccer cleats yet, so we had to make do with our trusty Stride Rites.

More, More, More - that's all we hear these days. I think Sass asked me a long time ago if Hudson knew how to sign and the answer is yes. We've taught him some signs. He knows: More, Please and Finished. More is his favorite - as evidenced here.

He loves to mow the yard too - unfortunately, this John Deere mower doesn't roll through the grass so well and he usually ends up getting very frustrated. Patience is definitely not one of Hudson's strong points. I think that comes from my side of the family. 

Man down 

He looks so much like Trey in this picture

Slide time with Mommy

Why do I always seem to have my mouth open in pictures??? 

And because he doesn't play favorites

Yes buddy, you're #1!!

I went inside to start dinner and when I came back out, this is what I found. Hudson stripped down to his diaper and having a ball playing in the water hose. I bet that diaper weighed 10 lbs. 

Fun times! You know what the best part of my parents going to Italy is??? 

My mom brings back this.  

Yep. Authentic Parmigiano Reggiano. This should last me until our next trip over there. I hope.

Of course I had to make asparagus risotto last night. Scrumptious.

Can y'all believe that September is almost over??  I have to figure out what Hudson's going to be for Halloween this year. What do y'all think? Give me some ideas and keep in mind that he DOES NOT like anything on his head. He was a lion last year and he was pissed the whole night. 

Remember this:

Not a happy lion. So, ideas please. Thanks. 

Houston....we had a problem

Last night, I put Hudson to bed and grabbed his laundry hamper to do a quick load of laundry. I usually don't even separate his clothes. I just wash everything on cold and that's that. I was in a hurry because I was hungry and I had cooked a brisket (brisket tacos...yum!) and I was ready to chow down. I threw everything in the washer, started it and closed the laundry door. About 45 minutes later, I heard the washer's cute little chimes go off, so I went to throw everything into the dryer. Here's where the problem comes in....

I open the washer door (we have front load) and there is this weird jelly stuff ALL over EVERYTHING. It looked like little ice crystals.

I had no idea what it was. I start trying to take out his clothes that are covered in this gunk and all of a sudden, I pull out..... A DIAPER. A disposable diaper that is still completely intact. Nice.

You see...Hudson has become very interested in throwing his clothes in his dirty clothes hamper so we've been working on that. Yesterday, he started grabbing clean diapers from his changing table and throwing them in his hamper too. I explained to him that the diapers don't go in the hamper. Only dirty clothes. I thought I'd gotten all of the diapers out of there, but obviously not. The little stinker snuck one in on me!

So....back to my crystalized washer. I scooped out as much of the stuff as possible, but I knew there was no way to get it all out by scooping. I decided to get on the Internet and google "What happens when you wash a disposable diaper?" Surely someone else had done this too. Bingo. I got lots of solutions to getting rid of these jelly crystals. I finally decided on the Oxy Clean dissolved in water solution. After one wash cycle, it was pretty much back to normal, but I did two cycles just in case. Apparently, the Oxy Clean breaks down the crystals and dissolves them. Now I just have to re-wash all of Hudson's clothes again. Lots of fun, I tell ya.

What else? Trey and I were very productive this weekend around the house. Lots of things being hung on walls, lots of organizing and I started decorating for Fall a little bit here and there. Yes, I bought mini pumpkins. I just love this time of year. I think Fall is definitely my favorite season. I wish TX had more Fall-type temperatures though!

A quick glimpse of the Fall mantle.  

I put a few decorations outside on the downstairs patio too. I think I may paint those little pumpkins cream colored though. 

And what would Fall be without these?? 

On Sunday, I graciously gave up my ticket to the Cowboy game so that Trey could have a Boys Game Day! And boy oh boy did they do it up. This, my friends is how you tailgate -

Grilled lobster tails! Are you kidding me??? When I mentioned the extravagant tailgate, I was met with this comment: IT'S GAME DAY BABY!!

Tried to get a picture of Hudson with the boys, but he just wanted to jump out the window and Jamie wasn't sure how to handle him. And all Adam did was crack up at Jamie trying to get a hold on Hudson. :) 

Grill and ice chest on the back - ready for some football!!

While these boys enjoyed some Sunday football, Hudson and I played - A LOT.

He entertained me with some beautiful music on the piano

And locked himself (on purpose) in the pantry while helping himself to a snack

Real funny, isn't it?

Okay Mom, I want out now.

We also watched 5,346,720 episodes of Curious George. We went on a walk. We went to the grocery store. We zoomed around in the Cozy Coupe a few hundred times and then we watched the Cowboys lose A-NOTHER game. Boo. 

It was not a good weekend for football in our household. The Red Raiders lost to Texas and the Cowboys lost to Chicago. Not good at all. But, we still had a great weekend.

Hope your weekend was good too!!

18 Months - A letter to Hudson

Dear Hudson,

It's hard to believe that you've gone from this baby bundle of joy--

To this toddler bundle of joy

I remember talking to other Moms when you were first born and they would say their child was 18 months old...it sounded so big to me! I couldn't begin to imagine my little 6lb. 8oz baby turning into a full blown toddler. Yet, that's where we are right now. I can't believe it. Time has gone by so fast. 

We had your 18 month well check-up last week and you were the BEST you've ever been at the doctor's office. I was a proud Mama! You showed Dr. M all of your new tricks and really hammed it up. You even said FISH for the first time, so Dr. M got to witness that. And the best part??? NO SHOTS. I think you must've known they weren't giving you shots and that's why you were much more laid back.

You're doing so much these days that it's hard to keep track of everything. Here are a few tidbits:

Weight - 25 lbs. - 40%  (See, Casey - he's really not a fatty)
Height - 32" - 60%

You're using a lot of words these days and we can tell how badly you want to talk. You say: Mama, Dada, Hi, Bye-bye, Door, Boat, Car, Bubbles (sounds like boobles), Apple, La-la (water), Eyes, Nose, Teeth, etc...

You're very good at pointing and letting us know what you want. For instance, in this picture...you want me to pick you up and you're not happy that I pulled out the camera instead :)

You love your blanket. It goes everywhere with us. I bought you another blanket just like this one except it was cream colored and you wanted nothing to do with it AT ALL. In fact, I handed it to you, you put it up to your face and then tossed it on the ground. Hmmm....It's the brown blanket or nothing. I pray that we never lose that thing!!

You're a very good eater. You love chicken, hamburger meat, turkey, pasta, green beans, green peas, broccoli, strawberries, pears, peaches, yogurt, applesauce, pizza, black beans and the list goes on and on. You've gotten a little bit picky, but we're still giving you new things to try all the time. Sometimes you'll gobble down a whole plate of carrots and other times you won't touch them. This makes Mommy and Daddy crazy, but we'll just keep offering you all kinds of healthy foods.

You love, love, love to read books and look at all of the pictures. Your favorite book is Curious George visits the Fire Station (go figure) and your Trucks book because it has flaps that open and close and slide back and forth. You also love to find the mouse on each page of Goodnight Moon.

Your favorite thing to do is play with me and Daddy though. We chase you around the house, toss you up in the air, play hide and seek and all kinds of other fun games. You love to be pushed really fast in your car and think it's hilarious when you spin out. 

You would stay outside all the time if we let you. I'm ready for some cooler weather and no mosquitos so that it's actually enjoyable for all of us :)

We took you to the beach for the first time last weekend and you had a blast! You loved the sand.

 

You've definitely become a water baby this summer. 

You're 'on the go' ALL.THE.TIME. There's no downtime with you, Hudson. 

You're a climber and a runner for sure!

This is my view of you most of the time now

You love to play with other kids. As soon as you see other children, you insist on joining them...wherever we may be. The other night, we were eating out and you saw a table with 2 little girls. You immediately wanted to get down and flirt and play.
Hmmm....you're too young for that, aren't you???

I think you're starting to look more and more like your Daddy. Yesterday, you were sitting on the couch watching George (much to Daddy's dismay b/c he wanted to watch football) and you looked just like him. You had your snacks, your drink, your blanket and the remote control.

This summer, you started doing a lot of arts and crafts at school and
you've really become interested in crayons and drawing.
I love this and I love how hard you concentrate when you're "working" on your masterpieces.

Hudson, you're such a smart boy and we're loving every minute that we get to spend with you. It's hard to even remember what our lives were like before you came along. You've brought so much joy and laughter to us and we're so blessed to have you. We love you so much!
Happy 18 months, buddy!!

Love - Mom and Dad