The Circus

Joel and I decided to take Hudson to the circus on Friday morning. It was Joel's birthday and we thought it would be something fun to do with just the 3 of us. We weren't sure if he would be old enough to like it or not, but decided we would leave if we needed to and wouldn't make a big deal of it if we had to duck out. I was a little worried about my child that doesn't like to sit still. Little did we know, Hudson would LOVE it!

Our seats were on the floor, front and center. When we first realized we were on the floor, we were kind of bummed about it (we thought it would have been nice to be up a little bit), but actually, it turned out great because Hudson could roam around (even though he did watch most of the show from our laps). We also had our own bathrooms and concession stand, so that was great too.

My camera was not obeying so all of the pictures are fuzzy, but these were before the show. We had some time to kill and were trying to stay away from the $12 cotton candy and all of the light up toys that they so graciously throw in front of all the kid's faces...they don't make it easy to get out of there without buying something! Luckily, Hudson wasn't quite old enough to understand that he could have those things. He enjoyed just looking at all of them!

Hudson's favorite thing about the circus was the elephants! He talked about them non-stop and loved seeing them come out. It was really neat and I enjoyed it too!

This made me nervous...

He also loved the tigers! He ran on up to the rail to watch the tigers! Again, one of the perks about sitting where we sat. I was ok with not getting too close! I have to say that the dude in the cage with 13 tigers is nuts. Seriously...why would you do that?

There were also horses and zebras, and lots and lots of clowns. I thought the clowns would freak Hudson out (they kind of freak me out!), but he laughed and laughed at them.

The circus started at 10:30 am and at 1 pm, we decided to head on out. We had been there forever...I couldn't believe it lasted that long! Hudson was getting a little restless by that point--we had not eaten lunch, and naptime was looming as well. We had taken snacks of course, but goldfish only go so far! So, we beat the crowd and got on out of there. Hudson fell asleep within about 5 minutes. He was exhausted!

It was such a fun morning. This is one of the reasons why I love being a parent--we get to do all this fun stuff again! Seeing Hudson love it made it so much more joyful too!

Videos and Losing My Mind!

I never upload any videos (mainly because it takes FOREVER), but since I haven't taken many pictures lately, these will have to do!

First up...What Animal is this??? Apparently the second video is also attached to this one...not sure how that happened. So, you don't have to watch the second one if you watch this one. The blog is really making me mad lately! Does anyone know how to make the header picture larger??? I just can't seem to make it work. UPDATE: This morning when I got on the blog, the header picture was the way it is supposed to be. Weird! Anyway, here's the video.

Second up...Where's Hudson???

Isn't he the cutest??? I think so! Peekaboo started by Hudson is now a daily thing and if you don't participate, he will call you out. I hear "Mommy do it!" about a hundred times a day!

It's a good thing that Hudson is turning out to be so smart...it obviously didn't come from me! I think I've been losing my mind recently. I've been doing some really weird things! Last week, I decided we were doing roast in the crockpot, and I put it in the crockpot in the morning, drove all the way to the other side of Vestavia to take Hudson to school, and then realized on my way to the Summit to work that I forgot to plug the dang thing in. I just KNEW I didn't plug it in--I remembered turning it on, but I did not remember plugging it in. I didn't want to not have dinner that night so even though I was already late, I drove on home only to find that I had plugged it in and it was cooking. I was so mad!

The very next day, I was out to lunch with a friend and I realized while talking to her that my shirt was on backwards. I was so embarassed. And no, I never did end up turning it around. I just went the whole day with it backwards!

So, moving on to last Friday. I left Hudson's gallon of milk out on the counter when I left for the day and so it was spoiled by the end of the day. What a waste...and Hudson didn't have any milk which was a major tragedy!

Then today, I was at work and I passed a girl in the hall that I didn't know. I used to be in the know about all the new people, but I'm just out of it now and we just had a bunch of interns start. So, I thought I would be nice and I told her that I didn't think I knew her and introduced myself. She said she was Ashley, and I proceeded to say welcome to the firm and asked if she was an audit or tax intern. She proceeds to say that she is our receptionist (and has been with our firm for like 6 months!). Oops!

All this to say, I've got to get my act together! 2011 is not starting out so well!

Ok I have to share this funny story to end this post. If you get grossed out easily, do not proceed. Our Sunday school class is learning about the Five Love Languages. Basically, we all have a particular love language and our spouses should be showing their love in our love language (if that makes sense)--that's the way we feel loved the most. My love language is acts of service so basically I feel loved the most when Joel helps around the house, helps with Hudson, etc. Joel laughed at that and said it wasn't right, but that's beside the point (he's worried that he's going to have to take it up a notch!)! Anyway, so last night Hudson was in the bath and I was folding his clothes (while also keeping a close watch on him!). Well, I went in the bathroom to check on him and realized that we had a MAJOR code brown going on. Major. And, Hudson was playing with it. Awesome. So, what do I do? I call out for my wonderful husband (oh and not 10 minutes beforehand, I had thrown Hudson's shoe downstairs for him to clean because Hudson had stepped in dog poo). Joel rushes upstairs and immediately takes charge, starting the bath water in the other bathroom so we can give Hudson another bath and then cleaning up the code brown in Hudson's tub. I told Joel that this was very appropriate for the day and that I was totally feeling the love because of his gracious acts of service! :)

Not Much to Report...

I guess it's the January blahs because I really don't have much to say! Busy season has begun, although I really don't pick up until next week so I'm enjoying my last stress free week until April! We have not had a normal week since before Christmas, so I'm looking forward to getting back into our routine next week. Hudson didn't start back until Tuesday the 4th, and then with the snow (or I should say ice), daycare was closed for a couple of days last week, and then it was closed again yesterday for MLK Day. It finally warmed up this weekend from the bitter cold we have been having, so we've been able to go outside a little more and that always makes things better around here! It was a balmy 40 something--and it felt like it was in the 70s!

Hudson has been a bit under the weather just like every other child around here, but luckily we've not had to make any trips to the doctor (knock on wood). I just think back to a year ago when we were on about the 10th ear infection! He has been a different child since getting the tubes and for that we are thankful! So, we've been watching a lot of Mickey (which is a new thing for us--he actually asks us to put on Mickey now and it lasts about 10 minutes before he moves onto something else). He says "toodles" all the time! Really, I think if Mickey just consisted of the intro and the Hot Dog dance, he'd be in heaven because that's all he really likes. He sure can dance to the Hot Dog dance! Also, the other night, I was putting him down and we were saying night night to everyone (night night mommy, night night daddy, etc.) and he ended it by saying night night Mickey, and night night Aubie. His priorities are in the right place! :)

We've been singing lots of Happy Birthdays around here, with my dad's birthday on the 10th, Joel's mom's birthday was today, and Joel's is coming up next Friday. Hudson sings Happy To You, Happy To You, Happy (name), Happy To You. We're working on filling in the gaps! His little voice is just precious though and to hear him sing is priceless! Hopefully I can get it on video soon, but as soon as I get out the video camera, he wants to watch himself! I've been working a little bit on Hudson's 2nd birthday party. I promised myself last year that I wouldn't wait until the last minute to plan it, so I'm getting ahead! Stay tuned!

This is Hudson's "fish face." He loves making this face when you ask him to! Speaking of fish, he is such a fish in the bath tub! He now asks every night for a bubble bath, so we've been going through bubbles like it's nobody's business. He loves to hide his little dog bath toys under the bubbles and then try and find them. Oh and he also has to sit on his Elmo potty before he gets in the bath every night. He sits down, then gets some toilet paper and puts it in the potty, and then heads for the tub. No action yet, but like I've said before, I'm not even trying with it.

Tomorrow night, Hudson and I are going to Mom and Me at our church for the first time. It's a program for moms with children under 3 (or something like that) and I'm looking so forward to it! I think it's basically a play group at night with a devotional as well and I think it's going to be really fun!

Well, like I said, not much to report on, but I thought I needed to do a short post for memories sake! I don't want to forget the things Hudson is saying and doing, so if I don't write it down now, I'll forget it for sure!

National Champs and Another Ice Day

We are giddy with excitement at the Reed house! Auburn won the National Championship last night and it was AUsome!!! It's still hard to believe that we actually won! That game took forever to get here yesterday. We were so anxious! It was very exciting and we are thrilled to be taking home the trophy! We've got our championship gear already (thanks to Dad who braved the icy roads!).

This guy was pretty excited too! He watched the first quarter before going to bed--it was just too stressful! :) He loved the eagle flying before the game though, and thought that Lee Corso picking the Ducks before the game was pretty funny too! Notice he put all his Auburn balls on the back of his tractor. He would not let us touch them!

Check out the grip on that football. Future Cam Newton here!

I was so glad that our defense played their hearts out and they are the ones who won us that game! See, Cam Newton isn't all we've got! Oregon played a great game though as well, and I have to say that I just love their uniforms. I know there are a lot of people out there that hate them, but I think they are so creative and love to see what they come up with each week! I will always think that Auburn has the best uniforms--can't beat the classic navy look--but Oregon is a close second! It's great to be an Auburn Tiger and War Eagle!!! I'm so glad that we got another National Championship. Let's just hope that we don't wait another 50 years to win it again! I may not be around by then!

........................................................................

So, today is our second day to be at home. Daycare is closed again and Hudson and I are having a bit of cabin fever. Joel went to work this morning. Let's just say I'm thankful for naptime today! We do much better when we are able to get out of the house some, and for the past two days, that has been impossible. It's so cold today that I don't even want to go outside in the driveway! We've watched Mickey, played upstairs, played downstairs, eaten, read books...you name it, we've done it (over and over again!). While it has been rough at times, I think I could get used to this! :) He's just SO sweet and loves sitting in my lap and hearing him say Mommy all the time just melts my heart! I don't get these kinds of rewards from work, that's for sure!

This was last night...I thought they were cute playing blocks on the floor together.

Check out our play room...yikes! You can tell we've been at home for a long time. Toys, toys everywhere.

We have done a lot of vaccuming around here. He goes to town with his Dirt Devil! If only it worked for real! :) The other night, he got out the vacuum and yelled, "Watch out peoples!!!" He then went on a tear with that thing. It was absolutely hilarious. He is really starting to make us laugh with his talking. His new thing is to say "good boy" after everything he does that he thinks is good, like when we tell him to stop doing something that she shouldn't be doing, he will say good boy.

Hopefully, the roads will be clear enough tomorrow that everything will be back open. Of course, as I type this, it is snowing. Joel said the roads were pretty clear on his way to work. I just don't want to drive in this stuff. It is scary, so for now, we're stuck here until it all goes away! This is not a good start to busy season!

Ice Day!

We got a day off from work today due to the ice. Yippee! We were hoping for snow, but as usual, the meteorologists didn't get it exactly right for the millionth time! Either way, I'll take a day off, but I am hoping that the roads are clear tomorrow. Last night around 9, Joel and I went outside to see if the roads were getting icy (which they were) and it was snowing a little bit then so I threw a snowball at Joel and he immediately took off running inside. What a sissy! Oh well, it was fun getting to make that one snowball last night and nail my husband! Ha! Today, Hudson slept until 9 (we had to wake him up--very rare, but awesome!), and then we took a long walk to my parent's house to see my Dad on his birthday and have lunch and birthday cake. Everyone was out sledding and having a good old time. I just wish we had gotten more snow! Ice really isn't that much fun! It was a good morning though, and now Hudson is napping so we're relaxing before the BIG game tonight. I have to say that I am so thankful that the power didn't go out so that we won't miss the game. Forget staying warm, we HAVE to watch that game!!!

Hudson wasn't so sure about the ice. He reminds me of that kid from A Christmas Story that was so bundled up that he couldn't move. Luckily, Hudson didn't mind putting all the gear on. We've had a little trouble getting the gloves OFF off him--he loves them! Oh and I know that he looks a little silly with his pants tucked in his boots, but Joel says that's what you have to do so that his pants don't get wet! (while he's riding in his stroller and not touching the ice :) )

Joel had several people jokingly ask if he was an Auburn fan. It was funny--he had on everything Auburn. It was a little scary watching Joel push the stroller up and down hills--it was slick!

And of course, Hudson had his Cam jersey on underneath! He's ready!

WAR EAGLE!!!!!

I've Got Two Tickets...

To Glendale....

Only problem is, WE'RE NOT GOING!!!! We are so regretting our decision not to go. Our first offer for tickets were $600 a piece for 4. We decided to pass, thinking it was just too much. And quite honestly, at first I really didn't want to go. I know, weird. Then, our season ticket priority from Auburn allowed us to get 2 standing room only tickets on Tuesday for around $300 a piece. Joel ended up buying them for his boss who was already going out there and they came in the mail today (the above pictured tickets). Ohhhh I'm so jealous. So, so jealous. I want to go so bad now, especially the closer it gets to Monday and it seems that everyone we know is going! Little did we know that someone would pay over $9,000 for tickets today on some website (a little ridiculous if you ask me!) and stubhub made a little boo boo in their tickets so people who thought they had tickets now do not, and yet we have had 6 tickets at our fingertips for way less than what most people are paying and we are still not going (or, we could have at least bought them and made some extra money by putting them on ebay--you live an learn!)! Ok, there was my little rant. At this point, I wouldn't even care how much it costs to go...I just want to be there and be in that atmosphere with our Auburn family! Happy travels to ALL of our friends and family going. Take a lot of pictures and cheer loud!!!

Instead, we'll be hanging out in our crazy pants...

And enjoying a good night's sleep on our new mattress and box springs that we decided to get instead. Geez, we're getting old.

Well, at least we don't have to leave this little guy behind...

Thanks to Carrie for the crazy pants...hilarious. Joel has worn them for 3 days straight...yikes.

And thanks to Carrie for Moo Moo--Hudson loves it!

Giving Moo Moo a kiss...

Ok so WAR EAGLE!!!!!! I can't wait for Monday night!

New Year's With the Fam

We spent Thursday through Sunday up at the cabin in Cloudland with my family. It was the first time that we have all been up to the new cabin together and it was so fun! On Friday, we all went to Rock City in Chattanooga. While we have all been there before, it had been years since I have been and my parents too so it was fun to go see it again. I actually didn't remember a thing about it so it was like a new adventure for me!

Morgan loves to pose for pictures. She is the most photogenic child I've ever seen!

We took lots of pictures at Rock City! I think this is at the point where you can see seven states or something like that.

My sweet parents who let us invade their house for the weekend. I'm pretty sure they are looking forward to their nice, quiet weekend next weekend! It was a little rowdy!

This cracks me up because I am holding Hudson in this picture. It was so awkward for me to hold him so he could peek out that hole.

This is Dad going through Fat Man's Squeeze. So funny.

Hudson loved his cousin Morgan!

Unk Trey, Shonny, and Morgan. Unk Trey might have been the hit of the weekend. Hudson LOVED him!

We had to get a picture with the gnome hats. There were gnomes all over that place--very, very strange, and a little creepy too!

The boys having a little bit of fun. By the way, my Mom was freaking out while this picture was being taken and forbid any of the rest of us from getting on this platform!

She is trying to muster up a smile, but she was having a stroke watching Joel and Trey. She's afraid of elevators, so you can imagine how afraid she was being on a ledge!

After Rock City, we had lunch in Chattanooga and then headed back to the cabin for naps. Some napped, Morgan and I watched Free Willy (Carrie, I'm talking about the movie, not the ferris wheel :)) and Joel and Trey went on a hike and took a picture of the cabin from another mountain. So pretty!

Auburn flag at the cabin...7 days and counting!!!

I have a confession. I did not make it to midnight on New Year's. I tried to make it to Eastern time midnight, but I didn't even make it that long. I guess it was a good thing because Hudson was up and at em' at 6:30 on Saturday morning! Happy New Year to us!

Saturday was a very rainy day and we did what most people did on New Year's Day. We watched football, and a lot of it. It was fabulous. Oh and we ate all day, well at least I did.

When the rain stopped, we were all ready to go outside for a little while. We got a decent family shot before we went on a hike to find a waterfall that was supposed to be nearby.

We found a waterfall, but I think it was a waterfall due to all the rain that had come down that day! I don't think we found the right one, but it was still a good walk nonetheless! Hudson really enjoyed the hike! He loves being outside and he actually walked a good bit of it!

We made sure that 2011 is going to bring us good luck by eating our pork loin, black eyed peas, and greens (I didn't eat greens, but made sure Joel ate enough for the both of us!). Hopefully, 2011 will be a great year! I can't complain too much about 2010, but I'm looking forward to seeing what is in store for us in 2011.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun weekend!!! Can't wait to come back!

22 Months

Happy New Year!!! We have just returned from a fun long weekend in the mountains with my family. I'll do a post on that soon. We got some great family pictures while we were up there and had a blast. I'm a little sad to be coming back to reality, but in a way, I'm ready to get back to our normal routine. I have one more day of vacation though--we realized last week that Hudson's daycare is closed tomorrow too. Definitely didn't know that!

Hudson started the new year off by hitting 22 months. There is one word to describe Hudson at 22 months and that is a COPYCAT. He copies everything--I mean EVERYTHING--you say. We were calling him a parrot this weekend because it is just so funny. He repeats every word, so he was calling himself a parrot too. :)

He is a ball full of energy. The only time he sits is when he sleeps. The rest of the time he is running around, getting into everything he shouldn't and testing our patience for sure! He LOVES taking out all of our outlet covers. So much for child proofing--it worked for a while. However, we are having a great time playing with his new toys that Santa brought. This child needed some new toys! Oh and by the way, he will tell you that Santa went back to the North Pole! My smart child!

He is communicating SO well. He is getting good at saying please and thank you, and you're welcome at the appropriate times. He has also started singing a little bit and it is so sweet. He loves singing EIEIO from Old Mcdonald. He loves his "shushic" (music) and has to have it on in the car at all times. One of his favorite things is to come up to one of us and say "Rock Baby," which means he wants you to sing Rock a Bye Baby to him and hold him like a baby. It is SO sweet!!!

We have also been discussing his gender and he knows that he is a boy and Daddy is a boy and that he is definitely NOT a girl (shakes his head no and says not a girl) and knows that I am a girl. This is just a funny conversation to have! He also tells me that he is not a baby. :( I don't know who taught him that, but it makes me cry! He will always be my baby!

He is eating almost exclusively with a fork and a spoon. We have started giving him cereal with milk in the mornings and he can do it all by himself and really enjoys it. He is not making as much of a mess like he used to and a lot of days, I don't even put a bib on him! He also knows the difference between milk and juice now (milk or juice used to be one in the same). This sounds like a good thing, but he knows what he wants and if you try to give him the wrong thing, he lets you know loud and clear that's not what he wants!

At 22 months, we just became the proud owners of...

An Elmo potty! He is no where near ready to start this process (neither am I!), but he is very intrigued by the whole potty process (he is very verbal about it!) and I thought it might be a good idea to put one in the bathroom for him to look at and sit on and know it's there, and maybe someday when he's ready, we'll start it. But, I'm definitely NOT pushing it!

We are also the proud owners of...

A booster seat! No more high chair for Hudson and life has gotten a lot better at meal time. He loves sitting at the table with us. We were struggling with him every meal getting him to sit in the high chair. I think it was just too uncomfortable for him and he didn't like not being a part of the table. This seems to be working well so far! If only the booster seat solved the veggie issue...oh well!

He's wearing mostly 3T clothes now (some 2T, but mostly 3T) and went up a whole shoe size this month to a 6.5 (still an extra wide!). He's getting so big and I just want him to slow down a little bit!