Princess Couture Designs

One of my very favorite places to get headbands for Zoe is Princess Couture Designs. She is talented, creative, and so fabulous to work with. There is a PCD giveaway on this website. Check it out. Warning: You may become addicted to her headbands..I am!

Finally the pictures!

It's true what they say...third time's the charm. This was our third attempt at getting some pictures of Hudson. The kid is impossible to photograph due to his over abundance of energy. I owe all of the following amazing shots to my good friend Shellee of Photography by Shellee. She has been our "family" photographer since Nate and I were engaged and I love love love her work. She got some great shots of Zoe too. I'm a bit behind on her "milestone" series, she's 5 months old and these are the first shots of her since she was 9 days old. But enough with the intro...on to the good stuff!

Whoooo wants to win something cute??

I know I've blogged of my obsession with giveaways, but I'm not sure if I've blogged about my newest obsession with owls...Maybe it is because of the one I can hear outside every morning while I'm up feeding Zoe, or maybe it is because of BWinks. Sugar Pop Ribbons has teamed up with BWinks for a giveaway. I'm really hoping to win one of these precious little owl friends, because I'm pretty sure each of my kids are getting one for Christmas one way or the other!!

2-year and 4-month stats

I took Hudson AND Zoe in for their well child checks on Monday, and that is the LAST time I ever schedule them together unless I have some backup. It is hard enough to watch one kid get poked and prodded, let alone both of them. Add that to the sad news of Grandpa H.'s passing I received in the waiting area at the pediatrician's office it equaled a pretty crappy day.

Hudson's 2-year stats...

He is 33.45 inches tall and weighs 26.37 lbs. He is a little guy, and pretty soon his little sister is going to catch up! He is in the 26th percentile for height and 29th for weight.

Hudson is a talker! I am not kidding when I say he talks in his sleep. He just never stops. He tries to say everything he hears which is cute most of the time but it sure makes us have to watch what we say, and what is on tv when he is around.

He loves his sister and is always kissing some part of her...toes, fingers, head, cheek, belly...He has only had a couple of real "jealous" moments since we brought her home. For the most part he adores her. He calls her a dama keen (drama queen) when she cries, but he also tries to console her and tell her it will be ok. He is a very good big brother.

He is learning his ABCs, he gets to G then skips to W...The middle doesn't really matter does it?!?! He can also count to 8. He loves to sing "Rock-a-bye Baby" and "Twinkle, Twinkle." When we sing "Old Macdonald" the only animal he likes Macdonald to have is a dog. It's pretty funny.

Hudson makes friends easily and he is pretty laid back. The terrible twos have set in and he does have an opinion about a lot of things. He is starting to care about what clothes he wears, what books we read, what songs we sing, etc.

He is still a picky eater. He likes sweet stuff, fruit, pancakes or french toast with syrup, juice, chocolate milk, and of course all sorts of candy. He also likes black beans, which is random.

He loves to go for a ride in the car, so we do that almost everyday, even if it is just to get Mommy a Dr. Pepper.

He's active and if he is awake he is busy running and playing. I don't know where he gets his energy, but I wish I had half of what he's got.

He has become a GREAT sleeper (finally, it took long enough)!! He sleeps 10-12 hours at night then naps for 2-3 hours every afternoon.

He is learning to clean up so well. He is pretty good at organizing things. He likes to keep the doors shut, and if they are ajar he will close them tight.

Hudson is a joy to have around. As much as the twos are terrible, they are also terrific. He constantly tells us he loves us, and that alone makes all the naughty easier to put up with. I love my little man, and cannot believe he's 2!! I look forward to all of the learning and growing that is bound to take place in the next year. It will certainly be an adventure!

Zoe's 4-month stats...

She is 25.39 inches tall and weighs 13.23 lbs. Tall and skinny just like her daddy. She is in the 80th percentile for her height and the 30th percentile for her weight.

Zoe is such a fun baby. She is full of smiles, an once in a while we can work a giggle out of her. I love this age of so much discovery. She has found her hands, and toes. She has started to try to grab things with her hands and put them in her mouth. A couple of times she has succeeded with putting her binky in, or holding her bottle in place. It is so much fun to watch.

Some of her favorite things are watching the ceiling fans go around and around, laying under the tree and watching the leaves blow, shiny things like soda cans and cell phones, getting attention (of course, she's a girl!!), snuggling, and eating.

She still doesn't love car rides, but she has mellowed out in the car a lot. Unless she is hungry we don't hear much from her in the car.

Zoe doesn't give us much warning when she's getting upset. One minute she is all smiles, and with the blink of an eye she is in a full cry. Today I was making brownies, she was sitting in her Bumbo watching me, smiling and cooing so I grabbed my phone for a quick picture. I had no sooner taken the shot, sat down the phone and turned my back and she was in full hysterics. It is the craziest thing!

Zoe is a bit of a mama's girl, but she is happy with most anyone as long as they are holding her and talking to her. In moments of real distress though it's mommy she wants.

She is rolling from her back to her front, and she's ok on her tummy for a few minutes, but when she's done she hasn't figured out how to get back to her back and it makes her really mad. She scoots like crazy, she'll be facing one direction and in a minute or two she's scooted half way around and is facing the opposite direction.

She loves her rice cereal. I can't seem to feed her fast enough, I just get the spoon out of her mouth and she is crying for the next bite. Not a patient one, our miss Zoe!!

She has been, and continues to be a great night sleeper. There have only been a handful of nights that we have been up more than once or twice with her. She is now fully sleeping through the night, from 10-7, then she wakes up and eats and goes back to bed until about 10. Naps are a little more challenging. She fights her sleep at naptime and I think she must be like her mommy and like it really dark to sleep because she has a much harder time sleeping during the day. She used to love to be swaddled to sleep, but in the last 3 days has grown tired of swaddling, but she still loves to clutch her blankie.

What more can I say about my little girl. She is such a blessing to our home. She already has a sparkle about her. I love to see her personality emerging as she grows. The time is passing by so quickly, but I am loving each and every day I get to spend with her.

What do you do on the day you turn 2??

Since we had a party for all of Hudson's little friends on Saturday we were a bit at a loss for what to do Sunday, his ACTUAL birthday. We decided we would just go with the flow, spend the day together, and let Hudson decide what activities we would do. We would give him two options at a time and he would pick one It was a lot of fun to see how easy it was for the simple things to bring him such happiness.

First he wanted to play with his balloons and watch Cars, of course. It was also very rainy and he was very interested in that, so he and the balloons went to check it out.

Birthday breakfast was Cinnamon Streussel muffins. He can't get enough. I gave him 2 and he devoured them and ate another one!!

Then it was time to burn off some of that energy by jumping on the bed (and trying to wake up daddy.) That was an exhausting activity, and he had to lay down and pretend to snore so he could rest! Funny boy!
Daddy finally woke up and took Hudson for a motorcycle ride around the block.

The rain finally stopped and the sun came out long enough for us to go to the splash pad. Hudson likes to go "To Infinity and Beyond" off the rocks. He prepped, "to infinimy" and then he jumped, "an menon."

The rain clouds came back so we left the splash pad and headed to Grami's. We decided to take the dogs for a walk. Of course Hudson had to hold Audrey's leash.

The day of celebrating ended with some birthday cake and Bee Movie.

It's hard to believe my little boy is 2. He is full of personality, attitude, and love.

Here are some fun things about him:

He is still a sweet boy MOST of the time, constantly telling us "I love you, Mommy/Zoe/Daddy."

He is very independent and likes to do most things by himself, telling me "I do it, Mommy."

He likes to do up buckles, push buttons, and turn the lights on and off

He loves going to the movie theatre, just like Mommy and Daddy

He still does really good in the car, and tries to keep Zoe calm because she doesn't do so good in the car

He likes to help pick out his clothes

He talks and talks and talks, even in his sleep

These are just a few of his current behaviors, there are many more. This is such a fun and difficult time. It really is terrible and teriffic!

Terrible or Teriffic...Hudson is 2!!

It is official...Hudson has reached the "terrible 2s!" How did that happen so fast?? I swear it was just weeks ago that I had him, but now he's a toddler.

We celebrated his birthday a day early on Saturday, the 7th at Dave and Judy's house so we could make good use of their nice backyard and pool. Cars was the theme of the day since Hudson has been OBSESSED with Lightening McQueen and the whole crew for about 6 months. The kids had a great time swimming around with each other while they waited for Nate to get the hot dogs and burgers cooked.

They also painted little wooden cars at "Ramone's House of Body Art," had a pinata, and played a "Tow Mater" towing game while they waited. I hope they enjoyed themselves. It's a little challenge to find activities to entertain a wide age range, as well as boys AND girls.

After lunch Hudson opened his gifts. He is a very lucky boy to have so many friends to give him so many fun gifts. He got a good mix of things, which he has loved playing with!

Then it was cake time! I had a heck of a time finding a Lightening McQueen cake that I loved but there was this really sweet lady at Baskin Robbins who helped me until I found one I was very happy with!! I'm pretty sure Hudson made much more of a mess with his cake this year than he did on his 1st birthday, but that's fine.

I think it was a pretty big success with the birthday boy, and I hope all of the other kids enjoyed themselves.

Here are a few pictures of the party:

Give oh give away...

I know you are all aware that I love a good giveaway. Janice over at Mama's Fantabulous Giveaways has always got something fun to give away!! This time she has teamed up with some good friends of mine from Royal Spice. I actually have a few items from Royal Spice and I absolutely LOVE them. The shirts look great alone, or can be layered. And the bracelet I have is a very high quality accessory that Zoe will be able to wear for a long time because they were smart and made them adjustable!! Anyway check them out, enter the giveaway...The more followers Mama's gets, the more giveaways she can offer...Then it's a win win for us all!!