Polar Express and Parties Galore!

I love this time of year. There is never a lack of activities to do with the kids. We may have overextended ourselves a bit this weekend because I sort of feel like I have been hit by a bus today, but I just didn't want to miss out on anything!

Friday night, we headed out to Calera to ride on the Polar Express. I bought the tickets for this way back in July because it sells out so quickly, so I think I was just as excited as Hudson was by the time it finally got here. Hudson had been watching the movie since Thanksgiving, and was so excited about riding the train to see the North Pole! He was not, however, excited about seeing Santa and kept telling us all that day that Santa wasn't going to be there.

We got there a little early and looked around at some of the old trains that they have on display. Hudson loved looking at them, but couldn't wait to get on the real train!

Below was the car we rode on!

Patiently waiting in the freezing cold to get on! One of his favorite things was the glowstick we had to buy for a dollar. He hasn't put it down since and likes to use it as a weapon unfortunately!

Boarding the train!

He was like a kid in a candy store. He was thrilled to be on that train!

We went with our friends, the Kincaid's, and Hudson and Hunt had a good time together!

And, we're off to the North Pole!!!

We rode about 10 minutes on the train to the "North Pole". It was a little village of lights, and we got to wave to Santa and Mrs. Claus from the train.

Hudson started to hear something...

An elf!!!

Then, he started to hear something else...

Uh oh!!!

The train ride took a turn for the worse...

Santa decided to skip us first...I think that was a good idea. But then, he came from behind!

I just want to say that he was a really great Santa. He told me that he would get him calmed down and he did!

He's asking Hudson what he wants for Christmas. And then, Santa tells him he's going to bring him a bicycle. Santa probably should have asked Mom and Dad if that was ok because Mom and Dad would have most likely said no on that. Thanks, Santa. He has yet to forget that Santa told him that.

Santa even got Hudson to hold his hand! Like I said, with the exception of the whole bicycle thing, he was a good Santa! This was huge!

This is as close as we could get to a picture. But hey, he's not screaming. We're making progress here.

Once Santa was gone, the world was ok again! Ha! They brought out cookies and chocolate milk, and Hudson was in heaven!

It was a fun ride. I'm not sure that we have to do that every year, but Hudson loved riding on the train so it was worth it for that! After dinner with the Kincaid's, we went to pick up this happy little man...

We figured it would be too cold to take him with us, but don't feel too bad for him. He was getting spoiled by his grandmother!

Saturday, my dear friend from college and her family came up to visit from Gulfport. They had heard about the Polar Express and were doing it Sunday night. They have a son a month younger than Hudson and then had a sweet little girl this summer. We went to Olexa's with them for lunch and then came back for the Liberty Park Christmas Parade.

It's hard to believe we now have two kiddos each! I wish I could see them more. Austin and Hudson had the best time playing together.

They were so cute holding hands.

After the parade, they came back to our house and played for the afternoon.

That night, we had another Christmas party to go to. My friends Cameron and Caroline had their annual Christmas party. I was a little worried about taking both the kids, especially with no naps Friday or Saturday for Hudson, but we took them anyway. I think we've exhausted our babysitters this holiday season already! :) We had a great time seeing everyone and the food is always SO good. That is one of my favorite parts about it. Of course, they always have their house decorated so cute and it's just always a fun time. This year did not disappoint!

We got to stay a couple of hours before the meltdowns began and we had to make a quick exit! Thanks Cameron for a wonderful party!!! Can't wait until next year!

Sunday, we went to church and then to lunch with Joel's parents, and then Hudson and I went straight to a cookie and gingerbread house decorating party. I pretty much knew we were pushing the limit with Hudson at this point, but I also knew this party would be so much fun and I didn't want him to miss it. Margaret went all out and had every little detail of the party planned out perfectly. I hope this becomes something we can do every year! The kids were too cute!

She started out with the kids making Christmas hand towels. Hudson was not interested in getting his foot or his hand painted, so he skipped that part. I was so sad about that because I really wanted one, but he's funny about getting his hands dirty and I wasn't going to push it. All of the other kids did it and they turned out so precious. Now that I watched her do it, I may try to do it at home once Hudson is out of school for the holidays. We'll see how that goes! I'm definitely not crafty so it will probably turn out as one big disaster!

Then, all the kids got to use the cookie cutters and fun sprinkles and make some cute Christmas cookies!

The last part was decorating gingerbread houses. I'm pretty sure Hudson ate an entire bowl of M&M's while decorating his house, but oh well. They all turned out so cute. You can't mess it up!

Then, we tried to get a group picture. These crack me up. You absolutely cannot get five kids to look and smile at the camera at the same time. I'm impressed we got them to stand there though, so I call it a success!

I can't wait to watch these kids grow up together!

Thank you Margaret for such a fun party. Hudson is still talking about all he got to do!

We had such a fun and FULL weekend. I loved it though. However, I did not get a lick of shopping done so I'm way behind. I can't believe Christmas is in 2 weeks!

Nursery and Big Boy Room Pictures

I have been waiting to put up the pictures of the nursery and big boy room until they were completely finished, but I'm realizing that being "completely finished" is never going to happen, so I decided to go ahead and take the pictures. I have problems with starting things and never finishing them--oh well. They are done enough.

We decided to put Harrison on Hudson's side upstairs and they share a bathroom. I'm not sure this was the best idea as we are reluctant to start letting Harrison sleep up there until he's sleeping really good because we are afraid he will wake Hudson up. But, that's where he's going to be so it is what it is! It's really not as bright yellow as it appears in the pictures below. It's more of a soft yellow. I know I've said this before, but I wanted something totally different than Hudson's nursery. I think we achieved that!

The bookshelf is still filled with pictures of Hudson. Maybe someday soon I'll get some pictures printed and replace those! And, we still have some hanging of things to do in there.

Below is Hudson's firetruck room. I'm not big into themes at all, but this was easy and he loves it. My Dad did the pictures above the beds and I think they are just perfect!

The room definitely needs some accessorizing still and I would like to get a bookshelf in there to put all of his books in. Right now, there are some books in his bedside table and some in the shelves under his bed. Most of the time, they are scattered all over the floor (I cleaned them up to take these pictures--the room never is this tidy!). And trust me, it is rare to see the bed made up in this house!

I also included some pictures of our littlest guy from the week. We've enjoyed a week of shopping and Christmas card addressing so far. And, as we speak, Hudson is meeting Santa at school. He was very distressed about it this morning and cried a lot over having to meet Santa. He's still not a fan! I told his teachers to try and put him on Santa's lap because I have to have that picture! I'm such a mean mom. Pictures to come I'm sure.

Life is tough as a 9 week old--fell asleep in the bumbo!

Bath time!

Bath time always puts Harrison in a good mood. I was getting lots of smiles after bath time last night!

Can you tell how easy going this child is??? He'll fall asleep anywhere!

Smiling!

We have a fun and busy weekend planned. We are doing the Polar Express train ride on Friday night, Christmas party Saturday night, and Christmas cookie decorating party on Sunday. I love this time of year!!!

Decorating for Christmas

Friday night, Migi and Pops kept the boys for a little while so Joel and I could go to my work Christmas party. This was our first outing without kids and it was a nice break! We didn't stay out too late because we knew Saturday was going to be a full day of decorating!

First up, finding that perfect Christmas tree! If you know me at all and have read this blog for the past few years, you know that I'm not too fond of "real" Christmas trees and all their imperfections (and the pine needles that seem to take a year to get completely vacuumed up). But, the experience of finding that perfect tree is something that we want to share with the boys. And, Joel is very devoted to the boy scout lot because he worked there for years.

Every year, we end up saying we are going to buy an artificial tree in January and this year was no exception! Ha! Let's just say that when we brought the tree home, it was on a major lean, so that took a while to figure out how to get it straightened out. Then, Joel thought he was putting water in the stand, but it was really going all over our hardwood floors--I think he realized this after 5 pitchers full of water. There was water everywhere! Then, while cleaning up that mess, Hudson broke one of our den lamps. Let's just say it was not exactly a fun time around the Reed house. Not to mention, this took ALL of Saturday and we didn't get much other decorating done. Oh well, here are some pictures from our day anyway...

Waiting to go get our Christmas tree!

Hanging out in the bumbo!

Hudson had more fun with all the strings that were on the lot than actually looking for a tree. Maybe next year...

Finally, we found the one! Well, let me rephrase, Joel found the one. They all start looking the same to me after a while!

Sunday, we went to church and lunch and then came back home to get the decorating DONE (but, it didn't all get done--sigh). We have half the wreaths on the outside windows. We couldn't do the upstairs windows because of naps and then it got dark. And, we have to hang a wreath in the den and add one more hook to the mantle for Harrison's stocking. But, I did get Harrison's stocking monogrammed a while back, so at least that's done! Joel finally got all the lights on the tree, so last night, we put all the ornaments on it. It was really fun. We blasted the Christmas music and had a dance party!


Harrison just took it all in this year. I can't imagine what he's going to be like next year! I'm thinking all.over.the.place.

Hudson LOVED putting the ornaments on the tree. You can definitely tell which ornaments Hudson put on the tree--they are pretty much all on the same limb! I just left it though...I think that makes it all the more special that he helped do it too!

We only broke a few ornaments and I'm actually the one that broke an ornament first! Hudson broke a few more, but they were all old ones and nothing special at all.

Posing in front of the finished product!

It looks fabulous! I'm SO glad the tree is done. I just love the house all decorated for Christmas. It's just cozy and makes me happy. Now, if we can just get the rest of the decorations up and finish that shopping, we'll be doing good!

Two Months

Harrison is two months old today. I'm shocked it has been two months. I'm really wondering where November went because it FLEW. I'm already getting sad that my time at home with him is running out. I do have about 6 more weeks though, so I'm thankful for that.

Here is Harrison at one month...

And here he is today at two months!

He has gotten so big! It looks like his hair has lightened up a lot, and is definitely turning a little red.

Here is a comparison between Hudson and Harrison at 2 months. I took one look and said that they look nothing alike, but then Joel said he thought they looked exactly alike! It's something about the eyes that is different for me...

Harrison is just about the sweetest baby ever! At two months, he is smiling! His whole face lights up when he smiles. He's just precious. Of course, I couldn't buy a smile with our photo shoot today, but I promise, he does it and it's awesome.

It seems like Harrison is either awake all day or he sleeps all day. I feel like I did better with a schedule for Hudson, but we are just so on the go all the time right now that it makes it hard. He sleeps very well in his car seat still, so that is a plus. He's still teasing us with sleeping through the night. About twice a week, he'll sleep to 5 or so, but then he always goes back to 3:30 the following night. I'm ready for that to be consistent, but it's not too bad.

He's eating 4 ounces at a time, every 3 hours during the day. I give him 6-8 ounces right before he goes to bed. It usually knocks him out! I didn't weigh him, but my guess is that he is around 13 pounds, maybe a little less. He loves to be on his play mat and see all the lights. It never lasts more than about 10 minutes though. He hates the bouncy seat (always has, just like Hudson). He'll tolerate the swing for a little while, but that never really lasts either. We have the swing in the kitchen so we try to put him in it for meal time, but it seems that every time we sit down at the table to eat, that is when Harrison cranks up. My babies always know when it's meal time! Ha!

He is SO squirmy. If he's laying down and awake, he's swimming! His arms and legs are always on the go. It makes it hard to hold him sometimes. We stopped using the swaddle a while ago because he would bust out of it within 5 minutes. I think we had Hudson in the swaddle for at least 6 months! Just in the past week or so, he's started noticing his hands. I love watching him follow his hands with his eyes. He can also put a lot of weight on his legs. He loves to "stand" up. He's very strong. Sometimes I have to pry his hands away from his mouth with all my might just to feed him a bottle.

He's about to bust out of his 3 month sleepers. Why is it that they are never really in their "size"? Or maybe that is just my children...they are big!

The photo shoot lasted about 2 minutes this morning before he fell over and went to sleep. No fussing, he just fell to the side and zonked!

Happy 2 months little guy! Here's to a fun third month!