photo shoot

Poor kid - I dressed him up and took him outside to shoot some pictures today. (The weather's been BEAUTIFUL the past week and all the sunflowers are blooming!) I haven't tried to take pics of him like this in a long time. He used to do so well but if today's session was a hint of things to come - I don't think he'll be doing many more photo shoots for me. He was not real interested in being photographed today. But I still got a few cute ones.

BUGS!

Hudson's newest hobby - bug collecting! On Sesame Street the other day it was all about bugs and he really liked it and was saying some of the bug's names like firefly and bee and bug. The next morning we go outside and he runs down the driveway yelling "bug" and picks up this huge - dead (thank goodness!) - bug laying on the ground. Then we found a few more. He has his whole collection out on the front steps and likes to play with them everytime we go outside now. YUCK! Today we played with some live grasshoppers - daddy was home - mommy doesn't touch bugs! - and he enjoyed that. But I think he likes them dead just as much as alive. Which might be why he tried to squeeze the poor grasshopper so hard! :)

His collection - not sure what the green ones are but there were 2 dead ones on the driveway. The one on the left is a rock but he wanted it in his collection anyway. The brown one is a cicada shell. The far right is a rolypoly.

Looking for more bugs.

Call the exterminator!!

speaking of cakes

Just thought I would show you the CUTE cake Celeste made for her brother-in-law's engagement party. How creative is that!?!?

Going Away party for (and without!) Aunt CJ

My sister, Christin, left for college yesterday so Saturday I decided to throw her a last minute back to school party. Celeste and I (mostly Celeste) made a cake, we called everyone and had everything set to meet at the park at 3:00 for cake and ice cream. My dad called at 2:30 and said Christin was sick and couldn't come. So we already had cake and ice cream and everyone was coming - so we just had her back to school party without her!

The cake Celeste made. I designed it - she made it. Celeste, Christin and my sister-in-law Annie all took Cake Decorating classes this summer so this has been a new hobby around here lately. And a fattening one! We've had lots of cake this summer!

Garret pushing Hudson on the swings.

Callista Jane hanging out with the girls.

Garret feeding Hudson SONIC ice (the best ice in the world!). Garret had to "squeeze the water out" before he gave it to Hudson.

So we weren't sure if Christin would even go back to school Sunday since she wasn't feeling well but by Sunday afternoon she was feeling better so Mom and Dad took her up and got her moved in to her dorm. Then that evening she went for her physical for volleyball and the doctor told her she had a heart murmur so he couldn't let her play! So she ended up coming back home with Mom and Dad and going to the doctor here today to get it checked out. She had never had a murmer before - or at least no one had noticed it before so we weren't sure what to think. But her doctor here said she didn't have one so she made it back for her afternoon practice today! WHEW! But we are looking forward to the volleyball games starting next week!

spaghetti - with Athena!

Oh good - Mama put the bowl right where I can reach it AND then she left the room!

Share a few with Athena, of course. Mama says it's nice to share!

Wait! Why is Athena wearing the spagetti?

Get those off Athena! You're supposed to EAT the spaghetti, not wear it!

Silly Athena!

animal sounds

Jamie added in the "uh-oh" bird since he's so good at "uh-oh", I guess. Now he'll probably call all birds "uh-oh" birds from now on! And I'm not real sure where he heard this pig noise but he scrunches up his face when he makes the sound and it's pretty cute!

growing up

I can't believe how fast Hudson is growing up and learning new things! It's amazing to be able to watch him everyday as he figures things out. He has started talking A LOT. Unfortunately only he understands most of it. But he has started repeating - or trying to anyways - most everything we say. And he has added lots of new words to his reportoire. His favorite word lately - besides Mama which he says - or screams - 500 x's a day - is water. He says it "wawa" and mostly it's his favorite because he wants to go play in the "wawa".

Some of his other new words lately are: baseball (can be easily confused with basketball but there is a slight difference!), Elmo, Big Bird, computer or "pooter", bottle, meat, fruit, bath and grass. He also has a few "phrases" he likes to say - and I use that term loosely because I know what he's trying to say but it takes a little imagination to actually hear it - but he says "There it is" and 'Where is it" and "no flag" (Which he what he says when we go outside and our neighbors haven't put their flag up on the flagpole - such a disappointment to a 15 month old!)

I feel bad when he's trying to tell me something and I have no idea what he's talking about but we usually figure it out with lots of grunting and pointing. Like lately every time we go outside he has to remind me that one of his basketballs went down the sewer drain (and this happened over a month ago!). He walks down the driveway and starts pointing at the drain and says "baball, baball, baball." Then we talk about how his ball went down there and it's gone now. Today he wanted to throw another one down and threw a little fit when I wouldn't let him. That's another new development - a little temper! Luckily right now I can say it's little but give him a few months and I might have a terror on my hands!

Doggy Door

I knew this was going to be a problem someday....but at least he hasn't figured out how to crawl through it - YET! This is what he spends his time doing when we are upstairs - unless he's playing water basketball in the toilets or eating dog food or playing in the dog's water bowl or pulling all the tp off the roll or messing with my computer or throwing his shoes down the stairs...He's a busy boy!

Batter Up!

It looks like we are going to have at least a 2 sport athlete at our house - so far anyways! He's only 15 months so give him a little time and we might add another one or two to the list! :) Basketball is still the favorite but baseball has become pretty popular around here. Hudson could entertain himself for hours in the basement with a ball, bat, balloon, golf club, etc. It's crazy how much he loves balls! Everywhere we go he points out the balls - like the BIG ones outside Target or the Pepsi logo on the can and he points out basketball goals as we drive through my mom and dad's neighborhood!


My Montage 8/16/09

cheerios

For some reason my garage floor is always covered in Cheerios...and someone thinks they look pretty good to eat everytime we go outside. So I have been sweeping the garage out quite a bit lately and Hudson always likes to help. So I give him this mop and he works right alongside me...and stops for a snack every once in awhile too!

snacktime....with Athena

Swoosh!!

corn on the cob

Hudson finally decided to try some corn on the cob last night at dinner and he decided he liked it. Before he has only licked the butter off but this time he had a few bites. Of course, those little kernels that fell off were pretty distracting...so he didn't have much time to eat!

He has entered a food throwing stage (I hope it's a stage!) and we can't take him out to eat anymore - it's too embarassing the mess he leaves behind! Although tonight we went to Chipotle and ate out on the patio and what does Jamie do? Teaches him to throw food to the birds! Ummmm.... I thought that was why we now make the dogs stay outside while we eat...


My Montage 8/12/09

GiGi's little helper

Since Christin and I have been working out 3 times a week all summer long, Hudson has spent lots of time at Gigi's and Papa's house while we're at the Y. Helping GiGi water her flowers (and usually get soaked himself in the process of course!) is one of his favorite things to do there...along with playing basketball, playing in the fountain, playing with the rocks, playing with Papa's guitar, dancing to Veggietales....so many fun things to do!

He carries the nozzle sprayer thing all around our house and pretends to spray everything.

uh-oh

Hudson's newest word - and he says it ALL the time. Last week he figured out how to stick his tongue out and blow and make a "zerbert" noise and he did that constantly for 2 full days. So I am glad he has moved on to something new! All though "uh-oh" 500 times a day can get tiring too! One of his favorite things to do is throw things down the stairs, then come tell me "uh-oh" and ask to go down and get them. Then he just throws them right back down.


My Montage 8/10/09

BIG truck

Our neighbors moved last week (to Switzerland!) so we had the entertainment of a BIG truck parked out in the street all day. As you'll see - he's learned "little" and he seemed to like the little truck more than the big one that day. Plus a little time out in the middle to take care of some dirty business! And a little sweetness at the end! :)




My Montage 8/6/09

making faces

feeling crafty

I have discovered a new craft project that is easy to do and turns out really cute - decopauge! I can't believe I haven't tried it before. Two years ago I bought the supplies to do it and hadn't ever got it out and tried it. But my grandma needed a box decorated for a lunch auction at her church and asked for my help. She had a cigar box and I couldn't figure out what to do with it so I surfed the internet for some ideas and this is what I came up with. Turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

I decopauged the entire cigar box first, then glued on the buttons and mounted the clock mechanism and it was all set.

golfing with daddy

Daddy took us to the driving range with him this week. Hudson had lots of fun. We took his little set of golf clubs and he got in a few practice swings. His favorite part was putting the ball on the tee (or trying to anyways) and then when we went to the putting green it turned into more of a game of mini basketball rather than golf. But he had a great time.

My Montage 8/1/09

(Sorry about the STRONG Kansas wind!)

first trip to the library

I took Hudson on his first trip to the library this week. He had a great time. We started out in the children's section where he played with puzzles, looked at books, played with some toys and just waddled around exploring. Then we moved on to look for some books for me and that's when he decided to pull every book within his reach off the shelves. So unfortunately I only was able to pick out one book for myself before I gave up. I'm sure the librarian was glad to see us leave!

I did sign us up for "Baby and Me Storytime" starting in a few weeks so that should be fun. It's for kids 2 and under and they do some nursery ryhymes and songs and each child gets to hold their own book while we read. I let Hudson pick out a book to take home too - it's about basketball of course!