Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, and FALL!

We are enjoying the cooler weather and warm hot chocolate! We even had a fire this morning in the fire place!

Hudson still loves being outside! At school, one of his teachers tells me almost every day that as soon as she says "Line up, it's time to go outside", Hudson drops whatever he's playing with and gets in line with the other kids at the door! And then when they say it's time to go back inside, he "runs" the opposite direction back to the playground! He just loves being outside! Which I love, too!

He takes his mowing very seriously. 

We went back to the pumpkin patch this year. He definitely enjoyed it more this year since he could walk around and play in the little play yard they had set up! The horse tire swing was a favorite.

2014

 2013

Our pumpkin he helped pick out. He wanted so badly to be able to pick it up! 

 My two handsome guys! I'm so blessed. 

We went to Nashville to celebrate my Dad's birthday and my niece's first birthday. It was a great weekend with family, and Hudson's first visit to Nashville. I just wish we all lived closer! Hudson had a great time playing with Eliza and Henry!

Halloween was good. Hudson was a scarecrow. We took him around to a couple of the houses on our street, but he's still too young to really walk around or even to eat candy, so we didn't do much. 

 2014

2013

God Bless

Catching up

It's been over a month - my apologies! We've been quite busy around here. The week after Hudson's birthday, school started, and we've been running full speed ever since!

My little kiddos at school keep me running ALL day long (we got 19 5 year olds!), but this year is going well so far. I have my own classroom this year (as opposed to being an assistant as I had been the past two years). While enjoy this position, and having my own room, it's a lot more work and stress. I try to do as much as I can at school and not bring anything home, and 9 out of 10 times, I can. When I'm at school I'm Mrs. Reid. But as soon as I leave the building, I'm mommy again, and I want all of my attention to be about taking care of my sweet boy (who I miss desperately throughout the day) and my husband (who I also miss!). It's not easy, but I just keep telling myself it's a season of life that God has given me, and I will rejoice with each new day no matter what.

Here's a little from the past 7 weeks!

Hudson started his second year of school. It's crazy that he can walk into school all by him self this year!

 He loves his toy lawn mower and he wants to push it all over the yard, driveway, sidewalk, wherever he can!

 This kid seriously loves yogurt and cottage cheese! And he's feeding himself (with a little help)! Yah!

 Instilling a love for books and reading early on is key for reading success! (also, just pulling them off the shelf is really fun, too)

 Clemson football started, and we have enjoyed watching the games and cheering on our Tigers! Hudson went to his first tail-gate this year, and had a blast playing! And Paul and I got to go in and watch - it was my first game in over a year! It was fun to be back! 

 We spend probably 20-30 minutes every afternoon outside. He loves being outside! We collect acorns, leaves, pine straw, anything and everything! 

 Cutest kid on the block, hands down!

 Did I mention he loves cottage cheese but also likes to share?! 

 Due to some scary spray, blue, foam soap, baths in the bathtub are negotiable. Sometimes, we do what we have to do - if that means bath in the kitchen sink, then bath time in the kitchen sink it is! (Don't worry, we clean it before and after!)

 Mommy teaches reading, Daddy teaches the molecular properties of water. I think we're going to have a genius here, folks! 

He's just a happy little boy, who loves to play, laugh, and have fun! Each new stage is exciting with him, and he brings so much joy to everyone who knows him, especially me and his Daddy.

God Bless.

Hudson is 1!!

Our little guy is ONE!

He is such a sweet boy - and growing so much!
He's walking ALL over the place!
He's "talking" more - and saying "mama", "dada", and "uh-oh".
He still loves playing with his truck, trains, and cars.
He is very smart and will mimic things that we do - like drinking from a cup, stacking blocks, and hiding toys.
He likes playing Hide and Seek!
He's eating a lot more foods - I'm still trying to make as much as I can, but with school starting, we'll just have to take each day and week one at a time. He really likes blueberry muffins, cottage cheese pancakes, veggie nuggets, banana bread, spinach and fruit smoothies, hummus, cheese, bread, and fresh fruits.
He can clap! It was fun watching him figure it out!
He's still napping well, but with school about to start, that will probably change since he doesn't usually sleep well there.
He is developing quite a sense of humor, and loves making people laugh! And his laugh is the sweetest sound I've ever heard! It is just precious!
He loves being outside! Now that he's walking, he just likes walking around the yard or the driveway, looking at everything, picking up everything, exploring it all with the ease of mobility.
He loves climbing on and over things!! Stairs, pillows, quilt racks, boxes, anything he can get over!

We took Hudson to our friend's farm and took some One Year Old pictures! He did great! How can you not LOVE this face!  

 We celebrated his first birthday on his birthday, which was fun! It was "If you give a baby a first birthday" themed - based on the book series by Laura Numeroff (If you give a mouse a cookie). I had a lot of fun planning, baking, preparing, and celebrating with family and friends!

 He wasn't so sure about the smash cake! He tried a little bit of it, but got caught up when his hands got dirty and he didn't know what to do!

 My grandfather celebrated his 85th birthday on the same day! These are the two birthday boys sharing birthday secrets!

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for this little boy, supported and encouraged us through all the joys and concerns, and who have loved him every day! He is truly blessed!

God Bless

The magic of technology

While I don't usually like technology (I think it's taking over our lives in a not so positive way - but that's another soap box for another day), I will say there are times when I am very grateful for my phone. It has a camera and a video camera, and I use both probably daily capturing special moments with Hudson.

I think about my Dad when I was a little girl, having to pull out our huge video camera with the light on top, and sitting it up on his shoulder just to video us for a few minutes. Thanks Dad, for capturing those moments for us, but I'm so glad we've come a long way since then!

What's even better? I can take a picture or video and send it to Hudson's family all over the country in a matter of seconds! And then they can send it to other family members to enjoy as well!

Or even better?! We can FaceTime any time we want, with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that we only see a couple of times a year, and Hudson can talk to them and see their faces, and not forget who they are! Plus he likes seeing himself on the phone! :)

So here are just some fun photos from this summer that I took with my phone!

First plane ride to Cleveland. 

First day of weaning and holding the bottle by himself

Climbing the stairs! Beware of silence!! 

All boy - anything he climb on or through...

Frozen smoothie bites. AKA - yummy hidden veggies and fruits

Watching Daddy cut the grass

Walking in Daddy's new shoes

Its not about what comes in the box, its about THE BOX! 

Found him like this - he crawled up into the basket and snuggled with his stuffed animals

Playing with bubbles in the sink 

Homemade smoothies in a reusable food pouch

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good" (or just playing with his monitor) 

Never a dull moment at the table!

He's very photogenic, and loves having his picture taken! He also just likes playing with my phone! Some day, probably sooner than I think, I'm sure he will be taking picture of me with it!

God Bless