The HUD and Me

We MUST be CRAZY

I take that back...we ARE crazy!

We have lost our minds. 

We had a garage sale.

We've lived in our house for 6 years and decided to wait until we had a 2 year old AND it was 90 degrees outside AND I was 9 months pregnant to have our first garage sale. In hindsight, we see that this was not our brightest idea. Yet, it had to be done. So we did it, yes we did and WHEW, we're glad it's over!!

Here are my thoughts on garage sales:

1. Garage Sales are a lot of work. I mean A LOT. An absolute ton of work!

2. You will ask yourself at least 5 times during the process, why are we doing this again?

3. You will conclude at some point that, really... it just isn't worth it.

4. An hour into it you will be willing to just give stuff away just so you don't have to deal with/look at your stuff anymore and you can just wrap it up, call it a day and be done with it

5. It's very awkward to have people looking through your stuff

6. It's difficult to watch something you were once willing to pay $500 for sell for 20 bucks (ouch!)

7. You will get very dirty

8. You will seriously feel like you are going to fall flat on your face from exhaustion at the end of it all (okay, maybe that's just me) but you will be tired, I can promise you that!

 Overall summary:

GARAGE SALES STINK!

On the plus side, we got rid of a lot of stuff and we did make some money, more than we had anticipated, so all in all the hard work paid off. We were completely exhausted yesterday, and by "we" I mean Scott and me. Hudson was ready to keep on going and going and going and going...We have reserved today for something fun, preferably with very little to no work involved, and we're hoping for some rest at some point, too. I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow...for now, here are some pics from our super fun Saturday garage sale.

lunch break, chick fil A = yummy!

mid-garage sale, but there's always time for a "quick pitch" with these two

I like butterflies!

Does this look like a "happy camper" to you?

Snacking with George

Recent Stories

The Hud has been doing and saying some really funny things lately. I wish I could write them all down as they happen before I forget them, but there just is never enough time in the day. With him talking pretty much nonstop these days, it's been really interesting and entertaining to see how his little mind works and how he makes connections and puts things together. Here are a few examples of this which have made me smile recently:

Last week Hudson and I were sitting in the waiting room at his doctor's office when a brand new little baby behind us sneezed. Hudson promptly turned around, looked at the baby and said, "bless you!"

Yesterday we were walking into a store and a homeless man on the sidewalk sneezed, Hudson said, "bless you!"  I think this made the guy's day. He said, "thanks, little man!"

Incidentally, he also says "bless you" if you cough....

One of Hudson's favorite songs from Music Together is called "Stars Shining". It's a lullaby that we'd sing at the end of class at one of our many semesters of Music Together (we still take it, but this is our last semester for a little while). As you know, he loves to sing, so we sing this song a lot. You can count on it before nap and before bed and at other random times of the day. Hud will say, "stars shining, mama" as he crawls into his bed, which is my cue to start singing it. Then he chimes in with me. It's really quite adorable. This morning we were eating breakfast and as usual Dulce and Willy Wonka were at our feet hoping for any crumbs that might fall on the floor (they're usually very lucky in this regard)....anyways, Hudson noticed that Dulce was laying down and he said, "Dulce sleeping" and then started singing "Stars Shining" to her.

Potty training is going well, though I'm told we may have a minor set back when Madeline arrives. I remain hopeful that we continue to progress in the right direction. Anytime Hudson uses the potty Scott and I will say, "I'm so proud of you, Hudson!!" and he gets really happy and runs around (often naked) yelling, "I did it! Hooray!! I did a pee-pee!!" Being home with Hudson (and 9 mos pregnant) I make a lot of trips to the potty myself, none of which are behind closed doors. Unfortunately, when you're home alone with a toddler, that's just the way it is sometimes. A few days ago Hudson saw me using the potty and came running into the bathroom and said, "I'm so proud of you, mama! You did a pee-pee!! Hooray!"

A Monster

 

Yes, a monster.

Scott has created a monster. 

As I have mentioned multiple times in the last few weeks, Hudson is completely, completely obsessed with sports. You may recall that we even got confirmation of said obsession from Hudson's guide at school, Sylvie. At our parent/teacher conference Sylvie said, "He's really, I mean REALLY into sports. Scott, is he learning this from you?" 

YES. The answer is YES. He's definitely not learning it from me! 

For those of you that know Scott, and know him well, none of this will come as any surprise. Scott is quite sports obsessed himself. So, naturally Scott is sharing what he loves with Hudson, which at first I thought was really, really cute, but now...well, no, not so much. 

When Hud looks at me at 7AM, still in his pj's, with his shoes on and says, "Mama, shoot hoops, mama! Outside mama!" it isn't quite so cute anymore. Or as he says, "pitch the ball!" all afternoon as it heats up to 87 degrees and the mosquitos come out to play. Mama does not feel like shooting hoops, pitching the ball or playing soccer. Mama wants to lay on the couch in the air conditioning and eat cupcakes...but I digress... Hud has no regard for the fact that I am carrying around a basketball of my own in my tummy. He doesn't want to hear excuses. He's ready to play and he thinks I should be, too! OK, I admit, it's a little cute. I love that he's so into being active, being outside and learning, I just wish I had the energy to accommodate him!

Scott gets a small taste of what I hear all day long when he gets home from work. Before Scott's even through the door Hudson has his shoes ready for him and says, "Dada, put these on. Shoot hoops, dada." I just look at him and say, "You created the monster, sweetheart, now go play with him."

Gorgeous weather in Big D = lunch on the patio

JHMS Parent/Teacher Conference Spring 2012

We had our second parent/teacher conference on Friday and we learned a lot about Hudson and who he is at school. A few things worth mentioning:

Hudson loves to sing and dance. A lot of times when I come to pick him up at school he says, "mama, watch this!" and then does a little dance for me. Sylvie and I both crack up at this maneuver.

Hudson loves SPORTS - to the extent that Sylvie was quite surprised and I suspect she hasn't seen before. As I've mentioned previously, he is obsessed with all sports, and can speak intelligently about them, using terms like, "pitch the ball, hit, shoot a hoop, miss, try again..." Gee, I wonder where this came from?

Hudson loves to cook, set the table and prepare the food for snack time (which incidentally he doesn't eat most of the time). See images below.

Overall Hudson is doing really well at school and Sylvie seems to enjoy having him there as much as we believe he enjoys being there. I honestly could not have chosen a better place to send my child every day.

Waiting for the trash man to come along, Sylvie says they all love it.

Cleaning up his shoes, he is a VERY, VERY neat and clean person.

Still cleaning. Note: he is cleaning the inside of his shoes.

Cutting fruit (yes, that is a real knife!)

Peeling a cucumber.

With Natalia, Sylvie says he likes to sit with Natalia.

Concentration.

Saturday afternoon PinkBerry- yum!

Applesauce Cake

Suddenly... I've turned into Martha Stewart.

The nesting phase of pregnancy? Perhaps. Who knows- I blame everything on the pregnancy (poor Madeline). Or maybe it's the fact that I know in 5 1/2 short weeks I won't be able to cook or bake anything for a while, so I'm trying to get it all out of my system? I have no idea...but, oddly, having never, ever made one, I have been completely OBSESSED with bundt cakes! I've made four in the last four weeks. I won't mention who's eating them, but I'll say this, it's not Hudson.

As many of you know, Hudson is an incredibly picky eater. He won't eat cake, cupcakes, muffins, pancakes, french toast...the list goes on. As strange as I think it is (I mean, I could live on these foods alone), I realize this is actually a positive, so I really shouldn't complain that he's not much of a sweet tooth. He does, however, love to bake and cook and helps me in the kitchen almost every day. For this week's bundt cake I thought we'd try one Hudson might (MIGHT) like, an Applesauce Cake. The child could (seriously) live on applesauce. If nothing else, he REALLY enjoyed helping bake this one.

When you get your sports mixed up....

...things go awry.

42 days

Just 42 days to go until our little baby girl arrives!
On the one hand I feel like I have been pregnant forever. On the other hand, I'm still not ready! Regarding children though, are we ever really ready? I think the answer is no. I guess for most of us you're just as ready as you'll ever be when the time actually comes. I am so, so excited to meet our little girl (and see what she looks like! My guess is the complete opposite of Hudson- hey, maybe she'll look like us!?). I have to say, though...lately I'm feeling a little sad. Sad because our family dynamic, where it's just the three of us (okay the six of us if you include the pets) will be no more. My time with Hudson, as special as it has been (and as challenging as it has been lately) will never be the same again. It's been just the two of us for so long and I am sad that these days will soon only be a memory. I am so, so lucky to have had so much one-on-one time with the Hud and I will forever treasure it. While I think being home with your child is the hardest job there is, I am so glad that I've been able to do it. I feel very fortunate to be able to choose to stay home, and proud of myself for sticking with it (believe me, there have been days when I've considered the alternative). With only 42 days left, I am going to try my hardest to take advantage of every single minute of it, to take it all in, even the challenging moments...because it will never ever be this way again. I love you so much, little Hud-bug!

happenings and hoops

Yesterday we had a follow up appointment with Hudson's pediatric pulmonologist, and I am happy to report that he is doing well. We now begin to take medications away one at a time, thankfully. I am so glad!! We also learned some new stats- Hudson weighs 34 pounds and is 39 inches tall. That puts him in the greater than 90-95% for weight and greater than 97% for height! Was there any doubt he would be tall? I guess that's a good thing, you see he is OBSESSED (seriously obsessed) with HOOPS. "Shoot hoops, mama!" This morning immediately upon waking up, still in his pajamas he put his shoes on and said, "outside, shoot hoops, basketball" and promptly put on his shoes and headed for the door. Lookout NBA.

Take me out to the ballpark!

Ever since we found out we were having a little boy, Scott has talked about how much he looked forward to taking him to baseball games. Well, the day has come. Yesterday we took Hudson to see a minor league game in Frisco and he loved it, giving a play by play update as we watched - "miss!", "pitch the ball!", "fast ball"... It's only the beginning for Scott and the Hud's baseball adventures. Next up- a Ranger's game, perhaps when the Giants (or Yankees!) are in town.

Free to a good home

2 year old toddler, sings "ba ba black sheep" constantly.
Currently going through "terrible (and I mean terrible) twos" AND potty training simultaneously.
Current parents are exhausted.
Comes with his own big boy bed, tricycle, and an assortment of balls and books.
Serious inquiries only.
The sooner the better!

Swim Class!!

Some days...

Some days with Hudson are just so wonderful that I wish I could just bottle them up and keep them forever. Yesterday was one of those days.

Raising Lions

A friend recently recommended a book called Raising Lions, by Joe Newman. If you are a parent of a toddler or young child, I highly recommend it as well. This is not to say that I believe my sweet little angel of a child is a "lion", but...well, we have our moments...and lately there have been a lot of them. Thankfully (or not) I'm usually the only one who has to experience these "moments" but I have proof if there was ever any question...

Second Haircut

Yesterday Hudson got his second haircut.
He did an amazing job- no crying at all this time!!
He just walked right in, climbed into the chair like an old pro and sat there quietly the entire time. Karla even said he was an "angel". He looks like such a little boy with his haircut, it's just so hard to believe my little baby is growing up so fast!