Yellow + Blue = Green

You really have to love the color bath dotz. I think they are one of the greatest kid inventions. A couple of years ago, Hudson went through a stage where he didn't want to take a bath and introducing the bath dotz to him made all the difference in the world. So we have used them faithfully ever since. Up until a few days ago we only used one at a time and Hudson looked forward to picking the color and throwing it into the water. The other day Hudson asked me what would happen if we mixed two of them together (I have used these as a teaching tool to teach colors but I'm sad to say that the real teacher in me didn't think to mix them and teach him about that!) Leave it up to my 4 year old to teach me! Anyway, he picked a yellow and a blue and was so excited to discover that yellow plus blue makes green. The whole day he went around saying that. Today we will try a different mix, maybe red and blue to make purple.

All clean and ready for the day!

This was the first time that Cooper has been in a wagon. Last spring/summer he was so tiny so we obviously didn't try that. They had a good time. Wow, I got my workout pulling these big boys around the block.

I wanted to share a funny conversation that Hudson and I had last night while watching American Idol. One of the guys was singing and Hudson stopped playing when this guy started to belt out his final note. You could tell that he was taking it all in and really watching him.

Me: "So Hudson, are you going to be a singer when you grow up?"

Hudson: He shook his head "no"

Me: "What are you going to be then when you grow up?"

Hudson: He thought for a minute and then said "I'm going to be a Doodlebop."

Me: I started laughing and thinking in my head "not over your father's dead body!" Jason hates them and was so mad at me when Hudson was Rooney Doodle for Halloween.

Me: "You can't be a Doodlebop. What do you want to be."

Hudson: "I think I'm just gonna be a daddy."

Me: smiling....."and you will make a wonderful daddy one day!"

(Glad to hear that his plan B is at least a good one!)

On the countdown

In our house, we are on the countdown for several things. First, Hudson is on the countdown to his birthday. He is so excited about his party and every day he asks me if today is the day. I realized that he had no idea what a week or month really meant so I created this calendar for him so that he can visually see how much longer he has to wait. Every morning we put a green "X" in the box. He knows that all the boxes must have one and once we reach the red box- it's his birthday party. In the past, I have always decided where we would have his birthday. He was always too young to really care or have an opinion. This is the first year that we really talked about it and I gave him some choices and let him decide. He has decided that he wants a Diego themed party at the Zoo. He can't wait and he tells everyone about it.

The second countdown is Cooper turning 1 and all that comes with those changes. Mostly weaning him from a bottle, baby food, on whole milk, ect....... Over the past 11 months I have often thought about how nice it will be the day he can drink from a cup or eat what we are eating for dinner. Not that I have wished this time away but mostly on those days where it feels like a 3 ring circus around here and it would be nice if he were a little more independent. Well now that this time is almost here, I am pretty sad about it. Yes we will feel like we have been given a raise once formula is no longer on our shopping list but all these changes make me realize that he's growing out of the baby stage. At the same time he is getting to be so much fun and such a sweetheart. I still can't tell exactly what his personality will be like but he is pretty sensitive right now.

Finally, I'm on the countdown for losing these extra pounds I've been toting around the past year. I weighed in today and lost another 2 pounds so I'm down 4 since I've started. I was telling a friend this morning that I'm glad but also a bit disappointed that it's not coming off faster. When I did this after having Hudson, I think I lost 4 pounds my first week. I think one difference may be that when I did this before, I didn't exercise at all and this time I am. I'm not lifting major weights or anything but just walking and building up muscles in my legs may cause the scale to seem higher. Anyway, I was thrilled yesterday when I tried on 2 pairs of capris that didn't fit a few weeks ago and they fit now. So, I can tell I'm losing inches.

Donuts with Dad and brothers that walk funny....

This week, Hudson was working for donuts with his dad on Saturday. If he got enough check marks (which he did), then he and Jason could go get donuts. He picked out a chocolate heart shaped donut and several glazed "dots" He won't call them "holes" like the rest of us. He was in hog heaven!!


We decided to take the bed rail thing off Hudson's bed. I think he's been ready for a while now but I've been worried that he would fall off and hit his night stand or the step stool. Jason and I talked about it briefly the other night and a few nights ago while Jason was reading books and tucking Hudson in, he took the rail off. At first, Hudson wasn't sure what to think but now he thinks it's very cool. He likes the fact that he can get on his bed different ways now. Another thing that I really like is that I can now make his bed so much easier. I plan to start having him do this next month when he turns 4 so this will make it so much easier for him. We are about to start "chores" and "allowance" with him and this will definitely be one thing on his list to do.

Cooper has started this crazy kind of walk-crawl thing. He will stick his bottom straight up in the air and his legs are locked tight and he will walk with his hands and legs all over the place. It's hysterical. He's getting pretty fast I might add. I'm thinking it won't be much longer until he is walking (upright) He's been pulling up forever and will walk around the furniture some.

Day at the Park.......

I am just LOVING this weather. I can't believe that it was almost 80 degrees yesterday. I'm such a spring girl.......it just puts me in such a great mood. Unfortunately, I didn't listen to the weather today so I assumed it would be just like yesterday. I had a sweet girl from Hudson's preschool (her son is in Hudson's class) she asked me if I wanted to meet her at the park and do a picnic and let the kids play. So today I got everyone ready in shorts and we piled into the car. As I was backing out of the garage I noticed that it was a bit cloudy but I didn't think much of it. We got to the park and it was so windy. Hudson loved it but Cooper hated the wind in his face. Overall we had a good time but it was a bit cooler than I expected. At one point, Hudson was taking a break and eating some crackers when all of a sudden he looked up to the sky and said, "God, please make the wind stop!" It was so funny! Here are a few pics from today. **Can you believe that I'm blogging 2 times in one day? Whoa.....

First time for Cooper to be in a swing

I'm ready to go home!

Rudy vs. Cooper

Our dog Rudy loves to put his treats in front of the boys to see if they will try to grab it. Once they do, he starts to growl and snatches it up really quick. He did this a ton when Hudson was little and now that Cooper is crawling and about eye level to him, he's back to his old ways. Cooper is pretty quick and will often get the treat before Rudy does. I have to watch him because he will try to eat it and he gets upset when I have to dig the soggy treat out of his mouth. Yuck!!

He got it

Such a sweet boy!

My little American Idol

Tonight we were watching American Idol. I'm a big fan and it's one of the few things that you can watch while your kids are in the room. I walked out of the living room for a minute and when I came back in I saw the cutest thing ever. I wish I had my video camera but it was in our entertainment center (which was right in front of him) so there was no way I could get it without being seen and ruining the entire scene. There sat Hudson, on the floor, swaying his head back and forth while he was pretending to sing into his play microphone- just like one of the 12 contestants. I can't remember now which guy was singing but Hudson was trying his hardest to imitate him. I was laughing so hard and smiling so much just watching him. It was so cute!!!

By looking at this picture you can guess what kind of day I had. The other day, I was busy in the kitchen and Hudson came up to me with a marker (at the time I thought it was a highlighter) He asked me if he could color on a piece of paper. Sure, no problem. I ran into the study and got him a piece of paper and brought it back to the kitchen table. He has used highlighters before and we have not had any issues. He starts coloring away and I'm busy cleaning the kitchen. After a while, I look over and see that his paper is soaked through with marker. "No biggie" I think. It's just a highlighter and it will wipe right up. Unfortunately for me, as I examined the marker a bit closer I realized that it wasn't a highlighter but a PERMANENT marker. My heart sank, I felt sick, I was nervous......I ran to my cleaning supplies and quickly retrieved the 409. Nothing. Then I tried the Comet spray with bleach. Nothing. I got a sponge and used the rough side. Nothing. My heart began to race as I envisioned our many meals together at the table while staring at this huge hot pink blob of marker. I felt sick. I went through the cleaners one by one and I didn't even remove a speck. Want to know what got rid of it?

My handy dandy Pampered Chef spatula. Now, I did remove some of the top varnish coating but at least we won't be staring at that huge spot anymore. Note to self..........get rid of ALL permanent markers and put something else down before he starts to color. What a day!!

Going on a date and being kidless.......

In January, Jason and I decided to make a list of fun things we did when we were dating or things that we would like to do but don't get a chance to do. We wrote each idea on a small strip of paper and put those in a box. Every month we draw one out and that is our date night for the month. We planned for our parents to keep the boys on Sunday night and most of Monday since Monday is a holiday and my mother-in-law doesn't have to work. Jason's mom decided that she wanted to get Hudson on Saturday night so Papa Jim came to get him. He's having a blast and will be very disappointed in a few hours when we go get him. We took Cooper over to my mom's house on Sunday afternoon so we have been kidless. After we dropped Cooper off, we went to see Music and Lyrics with Huge Grant and Drew Berrymore. It's a cute movie. After that, we headed down to Sundance and walked around, ate at Razoos, went to Barnes and Noble and flipped through books and magazines. We headed home, picked up a bottle of wine and started watching all the Who's Line is it Anyway? episodes from our Season 1 DVD set. I know it doesn't seem too exciting but it was just so nice to get to watch TV and relax without having to feed someone, change someone, talk to someone, hear your name a thousand times,ect.......... Several time we commented on how quiet the house was and how badly we missed the boys but it was a nice break. I closed their bedroom doors (I can't bear to look in when they are not here) The best part of this "date night" has been the fact that we slept last night without the monitor and we got to sleep in until 9:00. I told Jason that I wanted to sleep until noon but my back was killing me this morning because it's not used to being in bed that long. We threw some clothes on and headed down to Joe's Coffee Shop for breakfast. Most of today has been spent cleaning the house and doing things around here that needed to be done. Before picking them up, we plan to see one more movie and then head over to get them. Our plan for today was originally to go to the Kimball Art Museum but they are closed today.

Update on my weight loss: I lost 2 pounds my first week. I'm pretty excited considering I used every single flex point (plus some) yesterday and I still managed to lose weight. I know it will take time since I'm doing it the healthy way- eating better, exercising and drinking lots of water. Nothing too radical so it may take a while to see the results.

Is there a gopher in the house?

About a month ago, Jason and I discovered the corner of our coffee table had been scraped or cut. We joked around about there being a gopher in our house. Well a few nights later we caught that gopher- his name is Cooper. Little did we know that he had been using our table as his new teether, despite all the really neat and colorful teethers we have at our house. We kindly move him but he tends to return when we are not looking. Wonder if kids can get varnish poisoning? (just kidding) Good thing we don't have super expensive furniture!

In action

What?

(now I know why God makes babies so stinkin' cute. Even at the most frustrating of times they just give us that look that causes our heart to melt)

Just a little about Hudson. We have been working on having him dress himself. I think I've hindered him a bit by doing this all for him. You know how it is- it's so much faster and easier if I just do it. Well his preschool teacher told me that he always asks her to zip his pants after he goes potty so we are working on dressing ourself at home. The other night, he went potty and came into the kitchen holding his underwear and jeans. He asked me to put them on for him and I reminded him that he's a big boy now and that he needs to put them on. So he sits down and puts everything on and starts playing. A few minutes later he comes up to me to take my picture (with his pretend camera) and I noticed that his jeans were on backwards. I couldn't help but laugh inside. I praised him for his attempt to dress himself and then we had a talk about "remember, tags go in the back." It was too cute.

Last night, Hudson was playing with a balloon from school. At school they were learning about the letter "p" so he brought home this pink balloon that looked like a pig. He asked if he could take the ears and nose off. He did and bounced it around the living room. I was in the kitchen and he came over to me and showed me that his name was written really big on his balloon. He started going through each letter (he has been able to spell his name since he was 18 months old so this was nothing new to me and I very much expected him to say his name after reciting the letters) He went through each letter.... H-U-D-S-O-N....and then as serious as could be he said "that spells TROUBLE" I was laughing so hard. I'm not sure where he got that or who told him that but that may have been the answer to how his day went at school. Too funny.......and so true at times.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Here is my little "heart breaker." Cooper will be 11 months on Friday.

We had a fun day today, pretty much staying inside. It was cold and there was no reason that we HAD to get out so I decided to hang out at home. Hudson had a busy day yesterday at preschool with his Valentine's Day party and activities so I knew it wouldn't kill him to stay in.

Hudson's shirt says "kiss me" so today I kept kissing him. He got a kick out of it and I figure I won't be able to get away with that forever so I should take advantage of it now. Every morning, even if I've had a ton of hugs and kisses from him I will say "have I had my hugs and kisses yet?" and he starts laughing and runs towards me with his arms wide open. Needless to say, he's used to kisses from mama.

For dinner, I thought about having a red theme but I put off getting everything from the store. So today when I decided we were not getting out- that kind of ruined my plans. So our plan B was for Jason to pick up this heart shaped pizza for us. Hudson thought it was funny and it tasted really good. We have not tried this place before but we will use them again. The concept is a bit different. You place your order, pick it up, and then cook it at home for about 15 minutes. We all liked it.

After dinner, Hudson and I made homemade chocolate chip cookies. He had so much fun helping me measure, pour, and mix it all together. We got quite messy and even dropped an egg on the floor but we had fun. The hardest part was waiting for them to cook. This picture is the true meaning of "kids in a candy store."

I'm starting a tradition with my boys for Valentine's Day. To show my LOVE for reading, we are going to give them a new book each year. I think they will look forward to that. Hudson already loves books and being read to so I think this tradition will be a favorite. We got him Where The Wild Things Are (which was one of my favorites) and after Jason read it to him he said it was scary. We may have to wait a while for that one. Cooper was excited to have something new to chew on (must be teething) and he liked looking at the pictures.

Weight Loss Blog-athon

I've decided to seriously start my weight loss plan......no, I'm serious. I know I've been saying it for some time now but this time is for real. I've been saying it since Cooper was 2-3 months old but back then I still had the "I just had a baby excuse" so I didn't have the urgency then. I no longer have that excuse and it's time for me to get real.

Does anyone else have this problem- when I look in the mirror I don't see the real picture. I mean, I know that I'm not where I need or want to be but when I look in the mirror I honestly don't see the real me. It's only when I look at pictures that I begin to realize that there is some weight to be lost. The first few times I would blame it on the angle or that my shirt was puckered funny or something like that. Unfortunately, I can't continue to make these excuses for myself. On Friday night, I was getting my pictures downloaded so that I could post about my date night out with Hudson. I had Jason take a picture of the two of us so that I'd have it for his scrapbook. I inserted that picture and it hit me again.........was it the angle or the shirt? Nope, it's still just me. So I opted to leave that picture out and just focus on my precious son.

So here I am with 2 pair of pants in the closet that fit and a few sweatsuits that I rotate around each week. I've officially decided that I'm losing this weight and if I know that people will see this then I will certainly make it happen. So, each Monday I am going to list how much I've lost. I'll post some pictures from time to time to show my progress. Here are my goals:

1. I want to lose 20 pounds by June

2. I want to feel comfortable in a bathing suit when we take the boys to Sea World at the end of May. (My 2-piece days are over)

3. I want to get back into my wedding dress by my anniversary (June 17)

I know I can do it! I've already had my 64 oz of water today, walked close to a mile (I've got to work my way up.....it's been forever since I've exercised), and counted my points (doing Weight Watchers) so I feel great. Granted it's only 4:20pm but you have to start somewhere, right?

I'll keep you posted!!

Responsibility Chart and Chuck E. Cheese

As some of you know, this year has been a challenge for Hudson. He entered the "terrible 3's" just eight days before his brother entered the world. He is an amazing child and has a wonderful heart but we have definitely had our issues with him over the last several months. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a responsibility chart for him. I realized that I was focusing too much when he did something wrong instead of praising him for doing something right. I got the chart out and explained it all to him. Last week, he was working for an ice cream treat and I made it pretty easy for him to earn. I upped the amount of check marks needed on the second week and he picked Chuck E. Cheese as his reward. He had a great week overall- you can see that being nice to brother (2nd from the top) is still a bit of a challenge but we are working on it!! We used to have a really hard time getting him to pick up his toys before bedtime and now he knows that he is working for that check mark. He feels so proud of himself and we make a HUGE deal whenever he does something right. I can see a big difference already.


So, on Saturday evening Jason took Hudson to Chuck E. Cheese. They ate pizza and played games. Hudson has a blast. I wanted to take a picture of them together before they left but earlier that day Hudson took the battery out of my camera and "misplaced" the battery charger. For those of you that don't really know my little "high maintenance" child......he takes everything apart. I swear his middle name should be "battery." He loves extension cords, batteries, outlets, running water.......everything that a typical 3 year old could care less about. He never plays with toys, only real tools and things around the house. Anyway, I was searching for the battery and couldn't find it so I don't have a picture of the two of them.

So, are you feeling my pain yet? Geesh!!

Here is Cooper cruising around and having a good ole' time. We have this gate up so that he can't roam the entire house. He isn't walking yet but will pull up and then walk around the furniture a bit. Not too much longer!!

Jack & the Beanstalk

Tonight, Hudson and I had our monthly date night. Back in the fall, my friend Tammie invited me to a Once Upon a Family party and I was educated on how important it is to have family traditions. Not that I didn't know that, but growing up I didn't have many traditions with my family. I knew that I wanted to have them but I just wasn't sure where to start. One of the ideas was to have a date night each month with your child. So, once a month Jason and I each take Hudson out alone so that we can spend quality time with just him. Once Cooper gets older we will do the same with him. We started our evening off with dinner at Chick-fil-A (his choice) and then we went to see Jack & the Beanstalk at Casa Manana. It was really fun. A few times he lost his attention and got restless- the little girl behind us that took her shoes off didn't help. He wanted to take his shoes off too and wasn't too happy when mama said no. Overall we had a good time. More than anything else it was great to just be with him. I cherish this time because unfortunately I know there will come a day when he doesn't need me or want me anymore.

My Blog is Born

For several months now I've been lurking around on different blogs- entering the world of blogs and finding myself spending hours at a time getting caught up on people from my past. I've always said that I will never do a blog but here I am, now creating one. I know my Bunco friends will laugh at me because I've resisted this for some time now but it seems to make sense to start one. I have several friends and a few family members that live out of state and they are always asking for updates on the kids, pictures of the family.... so for this reason I've decided to start. I don't feel that my blog will take the place of scrapbooking but I do think it will help me journal the day-to-day activities of my family and I will then take that information and include it in my scrapbooks. So, here we go.

I took these of the kids yesterday so that I could post an updated picture. I can't believe how big they are getting. Hudson will be 4 next month and Cooper will turn 1 next month as well. Where did that time go?

Here is Cooper checking out our new floor. This week we had the carpet in one of our hallways ripped up and tile put down in it's place. He is such a curious child!!

Hudson is at that weird age where he won't smile naturally. He either makes a weird face or squints his eyes. This is the best I could get after taking several shots and bribing him with candy to stop acting silly.

There we go, blog # 1 is behind us. I know there isn't anything exciting here. I need to spend some time playing around with it and learning how everything works. Hopefully by my next post I will understand it much better.