The Fair

We had really good intentions of going to Auburn this weekend for the last roll at Toomer's, but decided last minute not to go. I was out of town for work on Thursday and came back Friday, and exhaustion from that, coupled with a 8:30 am t-ball game on Saturday and endless yard work that needed to be done, we decided we needed to stay home. It would have been a really long day with the boys. I see all the pictures though and wish we had gone (although I am sure that it was pure madness).

 

Anyway, it was a beautiful day on Saturday so that afternoon after naps we decided to venture to the fair! We did not really know what we were getting ourselves into, but thought it would be fun to just go see what it was all about. We had such a fun time! So much fun that Hudson threw a fit when we told him it was time to leave! We were flat out of money though--beware, money goes FAST at the fair! Sometimes that just doesn't matter though when you're having fun! You just gotta know when to cut it off! :)

 

We started out watching a pot bellied pig race. It might have been the funniest thing I have ever seen. Then, it was on to the ferris wheel (or the "Free Willy" as my sister used to call it!). It was the only thing that we could do all together with Harrison. We have two fearless boys. They were not scared a bit to be that high! 

 

Then, it was onto the kiddie rides. I didn't think that Hudson would ride anything by himself, but I was definitely wrong about that. He loved it. We did not have to go with him at all. Poor Harrison was too small to do any of the rides, but he still had fun (good thing because that would have been MORE money-ha!). He really wanted to do them with Hudson though!

There was a petting zoo area and also pony rides.

 Hudson got to ride his very first motorcycle!

And I got to participate in a teapot like spinny ride! Yay me! Joel refused to do it with him, so I took one for the team.

 Then it was onto race cars!

 His faces were priceless. It was pure joy for him.

What a great afternoon! I told Joel that I think he's ready for Disney!

Doctor Checkups

The boys had their 4 year old and 18 month checkups on Friday. Why I thought it would be a good idea to have 2 checkups, which included 5 shots, at the same time, I will never know. I learned my lesson! :)

I'm throwing in some t-ball pics so that this won't be a pictureless post! 

Hudson and Haines wrestling in the outfield. They played one extra inning this week and it was hard for the boys to hold their attention that long!

Hudson walked into the lobby at the doctor and yelled, "Give me my shots!" He had all the nurses laughing. It was pretty funny--obviously when it actually came time for the shots, it was a different story. Poor boy. Four shots is a bit much, but he doesn't have to get a shot again until the 6th grade!

This was the first doctor's appointment that they actually took Hudson away from me. It was a bit chaotic as you can imagine, so all I got out of Hudson was that they checked his eyes and his hearing. I don't know what else they did, but I guess he passed with flying colors! It was weird though not seeing him do the tests. Mama Bear just had to let go!

At 4 years old, Hudson weighs 39 pounds (50th percentile) and was 41.5 inches tall (75th percentile). His whopper of a little brother weighs 29 pounds, 8 ounces (90th percentile) and was 33.5 inches long (90th percentile) at 18 months. Incidentally, when we went to have them fitted for their tuxes for the wedding, they were the same size in the waist! Ha! Both are projected to be 6 feet tall like their Daddy!

Hudson's favorite part about t-ball is getting to slide at home plate!

Both boys were healthy as can be so it was a good checkup! I think next time I will do it one at a time though! There was a lot of crying come shot time! :)

We left with both boys decked out in stickers. They looked like a car that was full of bumper stickers. Then of course it was time for a treat for being such big boys, and Hudson wanted Dairy Queen, so that's what he got! Ice cream always makes things better!

Thankful for healthy boys! And thankful to finally get my Fridays off again--woo hoo!!!

Reed Wedding #1

We have three Reed family weddings over the next month. Yesterday was the first of them. Joel's cousin got married at this beautiful house in Wilsonville overlooking Lay Lake. It was so pretty and they could not have had a more perfect day! Of course we had to take lots of pictures.

 

 Joel and his brothers...Joel's brother Jordan on the left is getting married next month!

 Reed family pic...

The boys did awesome at the wedding. Joel did remove Harrison during the ceremony, but it was only because it was overlooking the lake and Harrison got really excited every time a boat drove by or a bird flew by! He did great though. Hudson sat still the whole time. The wedding was complete with the bride singing the groom a song and they did their own vows! It was so sweet!

Hudson couldn't wait to get on the dance floor. He is a dancing fool. Harrison was too! We could not get them off it. We had to take them down to look at the lake when the bride and groom did their first dance because they wanted to dance with them!

They could not have been more cute last night. I was so glad that we took them with us.

You can see how much dancing Hudson did in the picture below. He was sweating so bad!

 More family pics while the dance floor was being occupied... :)

Uncle Jordan and his nephews! They can't wait to walk down the aisle at your wedding (well at least one of them will be doing it--not sure about the other!)!

Still dancing into the night...

The groom and the groomsmen had a rehearsed dance and so did the bride and her bridesmaids! It was so cute. And then of course the whole bridal party came out and danced to Gangnam Style! So hilarious!!!

 

It was such a fun night. We are so glad we got to be a part of it! And the best of all, Hudson slept until 8 this morning and Harrison slept until 9:30! They were flat worn out!

Our 18 Month Old

Harrison is now 18 months old! The past couple of months have been so much fun. He is doing something new every single day and we have loved watching him develop. This is one of the greatest things about motherhood!

 



I wouldn't say that he is talking up a storm, but he is finally saying a good bit of words. Some of his favorites are milk, juice, "tank tu" for thank you, shoe, dog, cat, hudson, "side" for outside, hot, train, choo choo, car, truck, and "nana" for banana. There are a lot of other ones that I'm sure I am missing.

He is doing awesome eating with utensils and actually prefers eating with them than without. There are lots of times when it would be easier and less messy if he just picked it up with his hands or let me feed him, but I just have to deal with it and let him do it himself. He tries a lot of foods and is definitely a better eater than Hudson. The poor boy STILL only has 4 teeth. I do not see any on the horizon either. That is so strange to me, but I keep being told that the longer it takes for them to come in, the better.

He is a great sleeper and is still taking about a 3 hour nap in the afternoons. He's goes to bed around 7 and is most always ready and willing to go! We always read books before bed and he is the one that picks them out. His favorite is Goodnight Moon (Hudson loved this too!).

He loves cars, trains, motorcycles, airplanes, tractors, and pretty much everything else little boys love. He still loves balls and can hit the ball off the tee like nobody's business. He's got a great swing and loves to practice (and really loves Hudson's t-ball games!).

He is an outside child and we are loving the warm weather. He thinks bubbles are the greatest and would do them all day if he could. He also loves our swingset. He is already climbing up there and sliding down by himself. I would never have let Hudson do that at 18 months.

He loves shoes! That is the only way I can get him changed most days. I bribe him with shoes! He will run right over to me and sit down. He still hates diaper changes though and pretty much everything else with putting on clothes, except for the shoe part. We have bought him some new shoes within the past month and he is so proud when he wears them. It's like he prances around! My dad will love this about him as he has somewhat of a shoe fetish himself! :)

He is still a bruiser. Last week, he threw a toy so hard at school that he broke the bottom half of the window in his classroom. They said it just completely shattered. Whoops!

He has finally started watching cartoons or the Ipad with Hudson (I think we have created a monster when it comes to the Ipad because he is slightly obsessed), which makes mornings a little easier when I'm trying to get ready. Most days I try to get up and get ready before they are up, but that doesn't always happen so any time where they can sit still for just a few minutes is great.  And they are just so precious when they are doing something together and not fighting about it!

Joel and I look at him all the time and just smile. How can you not?!?!? He is just the cutest and sweetest thing in the world. He had a rough first 15 months of life and I think we are finally seeing his true personality come out, and we love it. He is just perfect. Happy 18 months big buddy!

We have 18 month and 4 year old checkups coming on Friday, so that ought to be fun. Hudson has to get 4 shots I think! Here are a couple of pictures of the boys before church today too!

Easter Weekend

We started out the long Easter weekend with class parties on Thursday morning. This picture pretty much sums up Harrison's party...

 The only mom that wasn't there was the mom of the little boy that isn't crying. It's just almost not worth going to his parties at this stage. They just cry because they think you are going to leave them (which you eventually have to) and it just tugs at your heart! Oh the guilt...

Moving on--Hudson's party was a different story! He LOVES that I'm there and he definitely turns on the silly switch!

He had a great time hunting eggs. The teachers told the kids that they could only pick up 12 eggs and it was so funny to watch them stop and count to see if they had hit 12. I never thought in a million years that they would do that, but they did!

Friday night, we dyed eggs. This was the first time we had done this with Hudson, and let's get real--I had to call my mom to ask her how long I needed to boil the eggs! I only blew up one egg. I think hard boiled eggs are disgusting. Oh well! :) Hudson LOVED dying the eggs!

Somehow Hudson got the dye on his mouth. I'm hoping he wasn't tasting the water when I wasn't looking! Ha! Harrison loved watching! He only tried tumping over the glasses a few hundred times before he got sent to the bath tub with Daddy!

 We even glittered the eggs. So fun!

This has nothing to do with Easter, but we had t-ball on Saturday and Hudson got to be the pitcher. It was special for him to get to wear all the gear and get most of the balls hit to him! He did great too! I'm still loving t-ball. I can't get enough of it. This has been a way better experience than soccer. 

Right after t-ball, we headed down to Somerby to see Mama Jean at her spring fling at the old folks home. I had slacked with not taking the kids to see the Easter bunny this year, but thankfully, he was there and we got to take a picture! Hudson loved the Easter bunny. The first thing he said was, "Hey Easter bunny, can you hop???" It was so cute.

The Easter bunny had to go inside for a little while and when he came back outside, Hudson said, "Hey Easter bunny, why do you have on different shoes?" How observant he is...we are in trouble. Going to try and have fun with this while it lasts because it isn't going to last long!

Hudson got his face painted...

And Harrison got to jump in the jumpy (until the whole thing collapsed on him--whoops!). They had a cookout for lunch and it really was a fun time with MJ!

Saturday night we helped host a party for Jordan and Anna. I say "helped" very loosely because I literally did nothing! Oh well. That is really the best kind in my opinion! Ha! It was a fun party though and I can't wait for the wedding to get here! Just 6 weeks away!

The Easter bunny visited our house Saturday night! We didn't really talk a whole lot about the Easter bunny so it really was not a big thing at all.

 Then it was time for church! The boys stayed up really late the night before (at my parents while we were at the party) so they were extra fun yesterday. :) I tried to take some pictures, but it just wasn't really happening.

 Harrison wouldn't even get in a picture with me. :(

Hudson looks like a big boy. It makes me sad that's he's not wearing something a bit frilly (but boyish!), but he was still handsome and I'm just going to have to get used to it--he's 4, it's time. This was the first time he has worn a belt and he was so proud of it.

We had to take our annual picture in front of the cross. Good thing the rain finally stopped! It was still a pretty yucky day though.

 After church we headed to my parent's for lunch and another Easter egg hunt. Harrison has this thing down pat now! He was chilling out mid egg hunt in this picture...

After lunch and naps, we headed to the Reed's for dinner. The Easter bunny made a stop there too, so Hudson was extra happy!

It has been a fabulous week of celebrating!