First Day and Last Day of School

I love to take pictures of the first day and "last day" of school to see how much the boys have grown and changed over the year. I say last day loosely since they do still go in the summer, but everyone else is out in May and we had end of the year parties, so that counts to me!

 

Here they were on their first day of school last August. Hudson was almost 3.5 and Harrison was 10 months.

 

And here they were this morning (Hudson at 4 and a few months and Harrison at almost 20 months)...

It is amazing how much they have both grown! Harrison would not take his fingers out of his mouth, but I think that explains exactly where we are right now. Hudson has turned into such a big boy this year. He has gotten so tall over the past year! I have been amazed at what all he has learned since August. The biggest thing has to be writing his name and knowing how to write all of his letters and spell his friend's names. He has had a great year. Harrison has had a great year too. I think back to August and he was still such a baby then. I remember how hard it was at school for him everyday because they dropped him to one nap way before he was ready, and he was just so tired and fussy all the time. We have come a long way! He is now running, jumping, starting to talk a lot, giving the best hugs and kisses, and showing us his temper--everything he is supposed to be doing at almost 2! He adores his big brother and has to do everything Hudson does. I just love to watch these boys grow and develop! They are our life and we can't imagine going through it without them!

Happy summer!

He Pulled His First Fast One

If you follow me on Instagram, you already have seen this, but since Instagram doesn't make it in the blog book, I have to record it here too!

 

This morning was like any other morning. Joel left for work early and I got the boys up and ready and finally out the door. It was actually a good morning considering there were a couple of mornings this week where Harrison literally screamed from the moment he woke up to the moment I threw him in his class and sighed a sigh of relief! Only kidding about that last part...sort of! Please tell me I'm not the only one that feels this way! Too bad there are plenty of days where I can't stand the thought of having to drop him off. Oh the joys of a guilt-ridden working mom...

 

Anyway, so after I dropped them off this morning, I had to go meet Joel at the car place to drop off his car. On the way there (mind you, I had dropped them off only a few minutes before), I got a voicemail on my office phone that goes to my email from the assistant director. She said that she had Hudson with her and he was complaining that he needed to throw up and he wasn't feeling well and if I could just call her back. I tried calling her back, but could not get her for a while. Joel went ahead and dropped me off at work and took the car and was on the way to his office when I finally got the call back from Cindy. I point blank asked her if he was pulling a fast one on her because he sometimes tends to do this and he was fine this morning, but she said he wouldn't even play on the playground and was acting really puny and if we could just come on and get him just in case he had a bug. Sure, ok.

 

I KNEW he was not sick, but oh well, what can you do?!?! So, since we were down to one car, Joel went ahead and picked him up and brought him to my office. I had a lunch that I had to go to, so the plan was that he would stay at my office for the morning and Joel would pick him up in time for me to go to my lunch. As soon as he got out of the car, I asked him if he was feeling better and that stinker said, "I'm feeling a lot better now that I'm at your office!" And then he proceeded to tell me he was just kidding with Cindy and that he really wasn't feeling sick.

 

He apparently put on a pretty good act! Isn't he too young to do this??? He had them all fooled. I just hope the next time he really does get sick that I believe him! :)

 

It's really hard to get upset with him. We probably could have just taken him back to school, but he obviously just needed a day away and our schedules allowed for that today so why not! I think he knows not to do it again though unless he is really sick! :)

 

We had a fun morning and I think he really enjoyed getting to see where I work. He especially loved the drink machine, which he then proceeded to spill his sprite all over my office. He drew me pictures, stapled lots and lots of paper together, and did a lot of cutting with scissors! He also watched a good bit of cartoons on my second screen! I actually did get some work done surprisingly. I need to plan to take him back to work with me again some day. I did love the company and it was nice to just get to spend time with my oldest!

 

Does he look sick to you???? 

 

And not to leave this crazy boy out, this has got to be one of the funniest pictures of Harrison. He LOVES to drink the water straight from the faucet (when he is not taking cup fulls of water and throwing them out of the tub!). Silly boy!

This was the last picture taken in this bath tub! We are now down a bathroom and the house is full of dust. Let the remodeling begin!

Hodge Podge

The boys are on hour 4 of a nap today, and I'm bored out of my mind! We are definitely still catching up from the last few weekends. This weekend has been nice. We have not done anything and it has been great. Harrison is battling an ear infection that has been ongoing the past few weeks, AND he is getting teeth finally, so he has been a pill. I'm thankful that this little attitude of his waited until this weekend to appear. And I'm hoping it leaves us before we head to the beach! Ha! He is certainly starting his terrible two's early! Luckily for him, he's cute as a button.

 

For anyone that thinks the boys don't look alike, check out the picture below. I think they look so much alike here!

 

We are starting our big renovation next week. We are getting a new master bathroom and Joel is planning to do other things that I am sure will just add to the cost (and time involved)! I'll give an update 6 months from now and maybe this will all be finished! :) We have been planning this for a while and have had some setbacks, so I'm just really ready to get the project started. I will be sure to show before and after pics!

So these boys have started wrestling. I knew it would be coming, but they are having a blast playing and jumping on each other. I am secretly hoping that it will help toughen Hudson up! We have a conversation daily about how he needs to stand up for himself. He's just so sweet natured. So, this is good for him! Harrison on the other hand does not need any help in that department. He's a bruiser. I'm just waiting on someone to get knocked in the mouth or break a nose or something. Speaking of mouth, Hudson knocked a bottom tooth loose last week. It was one of those times where I had asked him to not do something 10 times and he decided to do it just one more time, and about knocked the tooth out! There was blood everwhere. Thankfully, I think it has tightened back up. I'm sure there will be more of this, but it was not fun!

Hudson started swimming lessons last week. We are taking from the same guy at St. Vincent's 119 that we took from last year. He is great! Hudson did great at his first lesson, but he definitely needs more practice. He will tell you that he already knows how to swim though. :) Good thing because the puddle jumper is going to Harrison this year! He's on his own! Not really...but sort of! Seriously though, he LOVES swimming and is not scared a bit so I'm thankful for that (he just needs to get good at it!).

Movie night! We normally have a rug, but it was getting cleaned! Thank you Chloe for that. :)

Last Saturday in the middle of all the wedding day fun, Hudson went to Haines' birthday party. We sure could not miss this party! It was supposed to be at a park, but the rain caused it to move indoors so we went to the lighthouse at the church. It was a cowboy party and they had a real cowboy put on a show! Talk about heaven for little boys!

Doesn't he look hilarious?!?! I cannot get over that mustache! Can you tell that Hudson had his own idea of what he wanted to wear to the cowboy party??? Woody hat, long sleeve shirt (at least it has a cowboy boot on it), shorts, and cowboy boots. Joel hates shorts and cowboy boots! Oh well! Hudson won out on this day! He got the mustache and the bandana at the party. Such a cute idea!

Here are Hudson and Haines and the real cowboy! I only got to see a few minutes of the show since I had to head to the church, but it was great and he incorporated the kids in everything that he did. Harrison loved it too! It was such a cute party.

My three day a week work schedule starts this week! Woo hoo! I have big plans for tomorrow. Sadly, most of them involve organizing things around the house! I need to catch up on things so I am so excited for this schedule. It makes all the long hours during busy season worth it.

Jordan and Anna's Wedding

We started out the wedding weekend by picking up the boys' tuxes. They were SO excited and thought they were hot stuff! Hudson got to stand on the counter to get  his picture made!

When I told Harrison it was time to take it off, he replied with a loud "NO!" It was so funny! Who knew they could make tuxes this small. Anna wanted them both in tuxes without a jacket, so that's what we did! They were precious!

Friday morning after Muffins with Mom, I headed to the bridesmaids luncheon. It was at Anna's mom's house and had a beautiful backyard! We had a great time kicking off the wedding weekend! Here is Anna with all but 2 of her bridesmaids.

 

 

Friday night, we headed to the rehearsal at Reid Chapel. The boys did great at first and held hands down the aisle. I thought, well, maybe this might just work. What was I thinking?!?! Ha! By the end of the rehearsal, we were talking to Anna about not even trying with Harrison, but she wanted him to do it, so we just decided we would play it by ear and if he did it, great, if not, no big deal. My mom was going to be at the back of the church to deal with the boys since I was the first bridesmaid to go down the aisle, and Carrie was going to be at the front of the church to whisk Harrison away if he didn't make it! Thankfully, there were doors at all ends of the church! We had a grand plan (of course "plans" involving a 4 year old and a 19 month old never really work out the way they are supposed to!).

 

We sent the boys off with my mom so that we could go to the rehearsal dinner at Vestavia Country Club.

Dinner was delicious and the toasts were plentiful and were mostly sweet! Poor Jordan got roasted for sure! It was great though. We laughed and cried and just enjoyed the celebration!

Aren't they the cutest couple?!!?

Then it was wedding day (not before going to Haines' birthday party that morning--pictures to come on that later as it was such a cute party!). I got to the church around 11 and we started the pampering process!

She was a BEAUTIFUL bride! Absolutely stunning. Her dress was amazing, although she can make anything look good!

I had such a fun time spending the day with Anna and her other bridesmaids. We all had our hair and makeup done and had lunch and just talked the day away. Anna was so calm all day! She was ready!

Joel and I were so thankful to my mom and sister who came to our house at noon and let the boys nap. It seriously took a village this weekend! They brought the boys around 4 to the church and got them dressed. At least one of them was happy!

Carrie brought cartoons on her Mac so that was a huge hit. It kept the boys happy for a little bit while we waited for go time!

This picture just makes me laugh and sums up the day (and my life!). Hudson being compliant and Harrison throwing a fit. I did not get a single picture of the two of them that was decent, nor did I get a family shot of all four of us. The photographer got some I think, so I'm hopeful that some of them turn out! It was just a stressful time once the boys got there.

So...the actual wedding ceremony. What I wasn't prepared for was that Hudson would come halfway down the aisle and then get stage fright and would turn around and run back! Ha! My mom came to the rescue and ended up walking down the aisle with both of them. She was embarassed, but it was fine and they did it. Hudson carried a sign that said, "Uncle Jordan, here comes your bride" so it was very important that he get down that aisle and let Jordan see that sign! He showed absolutely no emotion, while Harrison was just cheesing it up all the way down the aisle. Finally, once Hudson dropped the sign with Migi, he trounced up the stairs so loudly that the audience all got a chuckle. He made it though! He even successfully transferred the ring to Jordan. You must be thinking, we are crazy for letting him touch that ring. YES, I thought that was the worst idea ever. However, someone had told Hudson that he was carrying the ring the whole time and when he found out that he actually wasn't going to get to do it, he was very upset! So, the solution was that when it came time, Charlie would hand the ring to Hudson and then he would hand it to Jordan. I might have had a small heart attack during the exchange, but it went off without a hitch! Oh and Harrison...well, he got down the aisle and then was immediately taken outside the church! Phew!

The wedding was beautiful and sweet and everything a wedding ceremony is supposed to be! They did not see each other before the ceremony, so it was extra fun watching their reactions to seeing each other for the first time. It was hard not to tear up!

The reception was at Avon Theater, which was such a neat venue! I had never been there before, but loved the atmosphere and the exposed brick. It really was beautiful! The boys got right back in the swing of things and headed straight for the dance floor. Where else would they be?!?! We sure have this wedding thing down pat! They had the best entertainment, and even had a photo booth, which we had a ton of fun with!

 

SO SWEET!!!

 

 

We look pretty exhausted here!

 

Carol looked beautiful in her dress!

The highlight of the night was when Hudson was taking a break from the dancing and sitting in my lap and he leaned in and said, "Mom, I love you. And I just love this pretty dress." Melt my heart!

The boys danced and danced until they could not move anymore, and we sent them on home with Mom and Carrie. They had a big day and really did great! We were really proud of them!

Joel and I stayed at the wedding until the end and then headed to the after party. The bride and groom rented out the side bar at the Rare Martini so we were able to continue the celebration into the night with them.

What a great wedding it was! We were so glad that we all got to be a part of it (and not cause too much drama with the boys!). Anna is the perfect match for Jordan and I am so glad she is now officially part of the family! Although Jordan better watch out...Hudson told us the next day that HE was going to marry Anna! Ha!

They are enjoying a week in Costa Rica and words cannot even express how jealous I am! I hope they have a wonderful time though!

Mother's Day

I have a lot of pictures to put on the blog from the weekend's festivities, but I'll start with Mother's Day. We started Mother's Day weekend with Muffins with Mom at the kids' school. It was so cute. Words just cannot express how much I love these little munchkins!  Hudson was SO excited all week about Muffins with Mom and I was excited to share the morning with both of them!

 

I loved getting to spend time in their classrooms and I think I read about 10 books to Hudson's class while I was there! :) They sure do love reading!

This might have been my favorite thing from the morning...

Hudson thinks I'm 12 years old and 20 pounds! Hey, I'll take it! He cracks me up. He has been talking about the slip n slide since last summer. I did the slip n slide once to show him what to do and thought I might have broken every bone in my body! But, he obviously thought I liked doing it! The favorite foods are the two vegetables that Hudson absolutely will not eat. Anyone who knows me knows that I despise carrots...brings back memories of when my own mother made us sit at the kitchen table until we ate our carrots ("they are good for your eyes, blah, blah, blah"). I guess maybe she was right since I have yet to need glasses! Ha! Anyway, I love the last response too. We love to take surprise trips to Dairy Queen for ice cream after dinner. I'm glad he loves that too!

Harrison had the sweetest little cards made for me too. Even though he is still too young to understand, we had a good time eating muffins together and opening my sweet gifts!

They both made these cute coffee mugs. I think Hudson went a little crazy with a sharpie! I love it though. The homemade gifts are the best and the ones I treasure the most.

Joel and the boys also got me some new (really nice!) sunglasses. I've never had nice sunglasses before so we'll see how this goes!

 

As for Mother's Day itself, it was the day after the wedding and we were all so exhausted. We had breakfast at the Reed's with his extended family that was still in town and then stayed there through lunch. Then, it was big time naps at home. The highlight of my day was getting to go to the grocery store ALONE. It's the little things. It was a pretty normal day and that was fine by me!

 

I have to mention my mom. We could not have made it through this weekend without her (and CJ!). Love you Mom and Happy Mother's Day!

 

A Soggy Wedding Weekend

This weekend was Joel's cousin Abbey's wedding at the family farm on Weiss Lake. We headed up to Mentone on Thursday night. It's only 30 minutes away from the lake and my parent's were going to keep the kids for the rehearsal dinner Friday night, so we just decided to go up early and do something fun on Friday with my parents. We ended up going to the Children's Museum in Chattanooga. It was great! The boys LOVED it. It was the perfect size and very age appropriate for the boys. I liked it so much more than McWane. We spent a while there and then had a great lunch in downtown before having to make a stop by the mall to get Hudson some pants for the wedding. Who knew that it was going to be freezing in May (much less pouring rain--more on that in a minute!). 

 

 We were "on stage" dancing for Hudson (yes, I know we look ridiculous!)...

 Puppet show!

There was a whole doctor's office that Hudson could have stayed in forever. He was the doctor and Big Mama was the patient.

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner at the Chattokee Lodge, which is a hunting lodge near the lake. This is where Joel's entire family congregates for Thanksgiving every year. It is really super nice! Joel was not feeling all the great, but I made him take a picture with me! A rare date night if you will.

So, Saturday arrived and we all kept looking at the radar and we were all convinced the rain would be out of there by 2 pm or so. We kept hearing that Tuscaloosa and Birmingham were sunny, but it was raining buckets in east Alabama! It was quite a disaster. Joel and his brothers and dad (and the rest of the extended family!) spent the entire day trying to get water out from under the tent. They dug trenches to divert the water away from the tent and put sandbags around the tent to hold the water out. And then there was another group with cups that were pouring out water, and some were using the shop vac to suck the water up. It was awful...oh and it was STILL raining buckets. All of that effort did work though. While there were muddy areas, it was a lot better than it could have been! The guys were just covered in mud. After the wedding, I think they had to pull about 10 cars out of the mud so they could leave. It was such a muddy mess! Plan B was to go down to the methodist church in town, but Abbey wasn't having it. She was bound and determined to get married at the lake! So that she did! And it was still beautiful! The rain finally stopped as they pulled out of the driveway after it was all over! After 9 pm! Oh well...

 

Gail made a early morning run to Wal-mart and bought all of the polka dotted rain boots they had for the bridesmaids. I thought they looked so cute. They also carried these adorable pink and white umbrellas. They definitely made the best of the situation!

 

Everyone waited in the tent until it was go time and then we all went out in front of the house with our umbrellas and watched. While this was not what they had imagined the wedding day looking like, it was still really pretty! I'm not going to lie though...it was kind of miserable in the rain and it was COLD too! They made it quick though and Abbey looked SO pretty! And she was so calm too...

I had to throw the original boys' outfits out the window and even made a mid-day dash to Wal-mart as well to buy the boys some rain boots. Camo was all they had, but it was better than ruined church shoes. They pretty much looked like a mess all night, but oh well!

My boys loved the band again. We couldn't get them off the dance floor. As you can see below, the dance floor was soaking wet too and the boys both did the splits multiple times. I was so worried that one of them was going to hurt themselves, but they just got back up and went on!

 They wore themselves out!

We had a really fun night despite the awful weather. Everyone just went with it! We went and put the boys in bed around 8 and then headed back to the wedding. That was nice to have a little while by ourselves. The bride and groom's exit was really fun. They are expecting a baby in September and they decided they would do a gender reveal as their departure. They had confetti that was pink or blue and so when it was go time, we all shook our little sticks and the confetti came shooting out. It was BLUE! Another boy in the family! We are excited for them. It will be the first boy for their little immediate family so that is good for them!

We have work this week and then we are doing the wedding thing all over again next weekend! Phew! These weddings are going to wear me out, but they have all been so much fun. Next weekend should be interesting though as we are all in it. We will see how that goes! :) Can't wait!