You may have noticed that I've been into my hipstamatic iPhone app lately. I've been really missing painting and being in the studio and having that time just for me. I think this is causing me to seek creative outlets where ever I can these days, hence the iPhone. Now, there's definitely a creative element involved in caring for and entertaining a 2 year old, but....it's not quite the same. So, until I can step back into my studio with the oil paint, the turpentine, the blank white canvas and some Counting Crows (hard candy, please) I'll just settle for the hipstamatic.

Scrubba-dub in the new bathtub!

Monday afternoon at the park

Baking Cookies

Okay, is someone going to explain to me what's really going on here? First, she's dragging me all over town for ice cream, now she's got me baking cookies. What is up with mommy?

85 degrees in February

Only in Dallas, right?
It's supposed to be 40 next week.
Which might explain why I always get sick this time of year. I can't complain about a day like today, though. It really was beautiful, and what's better than ice cream on a hot day? Ok, you caught me...I'll use any excuse to eat ice cream these days, but the HUD doesn't mind. He loves "peeeeeeennnt ice cweem!" (pink ice cream). Me too!

Birthday Party at the Gentle Zoo

This weekend we were invited to 3 year old Logan's birthday party at a place called the Gentle Zoo.



















We weren't supposed to bring gifts, but the Hud said he just couldn't show up empty handed to a little lady's birthday party.













Hangin' out with the rabbits and the turtle.













I think these guys were a little much for the Hud...













...but, he was very curious about the pig...













and ultimately it was determined that the pig was very silly!













Wait, what's over there?













Ah, llamas and horses! I've heard of you both!



















Wait...mama and dada, you know I don't like it when my shoes get dirty...













and I don't want to ride on the train without you guys...













...much, much better. I love being with my dada!

24 weeks and 6 days, 99 more to go

Hudson likes to kiss the baby in mommy's tummy and even calls her by name! We said we weren't going to share the name until the baby was actually born, but we've shared it with a few of you already, so we're not doing a great job of keeping it a secret. Baby Madeline will be here in just 99 days!

Catch?

I love kit-kat...

...but I'm not sure the feeling is mutual.

Moments of Discovery

Witnessing a discovery of the world through the eyes of a child, well, it's one the many great things about having kids. It's also a reminder to us to stop and take a look around, admire the beauty of the things you see every single day that you often just don't even notice.

This morning as Hudson and I were walking out to the car we heard a flurry of noise coming from the tree above and when we looked up to see what is was we discovered that there were about 100 birds in our tree. Now, Hudson has seen many birds in his 2+ years of life, but I don't know that he's ever seen this many all together making this much noise right in the tree above him. He was wowed.

There's nothing like seeing his reaction first hand, but I snapped these two photos trying to capture the look of awe in his eyes. It really, really is the little things that make our world beautiful. I'm so glad that Hudson reminds me of this every day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This afternoon my Valentine and I headed to the park to meet up with Ethan and his mommy where the boys had a lot of fun playing together at the park.

progress

Hudson getting ready for swim class on Saturday morning.

Things are finally starting to look up around here, yay!
As you all know, it's been a very trying couple of months at the Akins household, but it appears that things are finally on the up and up. For starters Hudson has been feeling so much better as a result of his sinus infection medications. His mood is better, he looks better, he has more energy, he's sleeping better (well, at night anyways, naps are still a complete disaster, but we can't really fault him for that under the circumstances).



















Swim lessons are one of my favorite things all week long!

The home remodel project is moving right along and we got word Friday that it's moving ahead of schedule (WHAT?!?!?!) and should be finished in two weeks!! I'm not sure where this stroke of good luck came from, but I'll certainly take it. I mean, really, who cares if we've gone over budget? Here's a little sneak peak at the progress we're making on the new bathroom.

ICE-CWEEEEEM!

I think there's something funny going on with mommy, she takes me to eat ice cweeeeem almost every day!

For the Record

I would just like to go on record as saying, I DO NOT recommend remodeling your home, while you're living in it. ESPECIALLY if you have a toddler who naps. It's bad enough as it is, but every day when Hudson takes his nap there's banging around, talking, yelling, scraping, people coming and going, dogs barking....I'm not sure how we can expect him to sleep through this, there is no way I would be able to, and most of you know that a toddler without a nap is a recipe for disaster. It's been rough. Very rough around here. The remodel is supposed to be finished March 15, which means we've got another 35 days of remodeling bliss. Yippee!

A piece of the puzzle

As most of you know, we've been struggling for the last year or more to figure out what is going on with Hudson, medically speaking. He's seen his regular pediatrician it feels like a million times in the last year, as well as his pediatric pulmonologist (who we adore). Well, now we can add a pediatric allergist to the list. Hudson visited him for the first time yesterday after our pulmonologist did some bloodwork and it showed significant allergies.

side note: most of the allergies were food related, peanuts, soy, eggs, etc..., and the good news is there is not one single ounce of allergy toward cats and dogs- whew. Mommy was VERY worried about that!

Our new pediatric allergist was not at all concerned with the food allergies. He said that the levels which Hudson had allergic reactions for were not significant so he doesn't think we need to change up Hudson's diet at all (thank you!!), but he was concerned about the ongoing congestion combined with the cough he's had for the last YEAR!

So, he sent us over for some x-rays and called me with the results this morning. Apparently the Hud has been dealing with a pretty severe sinus infection for quite some time. Poor guy. FINALLY...an answer. So, we're going to attack the infection pretty hard with a few medications to see if this clears it up and makes him as good as new. We'll go back to see the allergist in a few weeks and if the problems still exist, we'll be referred to yet another doctor, an ear, nose and throat specialist. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen.

I would like to mention that both the pediatric allergist and the radiologist were really impressed with the Hud. The pediatric allergist said he was the best 2 year old he's ever examined and the radiologist said he got the "patient of the day" award. What a champ!

In other news, the Hud has really been into his "colors" lately.
Look out Jackson Pollock!

breakin' it down

Hudson went to his friend Sam's birthday party this afternoon.
This is a small segment of what went down at the party.
Or should I say, who "broke it down" at the party?

First Haircut

The Hud got his very first haircut this morning!!! It seemed like it took Hudson forever to actually grow hair, and then suddenly we realized- he needed a haircut! The proof is in the picture.



















So, this morning we ventured off to see Karla (she's been cutting my hair for the last 8 years), and she did an awesome job! The Hud wasn't too thrilled to begin with...































But he hung in there, and he looked so handsome with his new haircut!



















We took these photos post-haircut at the Starbucks down the street.