Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Birthday Time

How is my biggest boy already 5?????. It is so weird to me because I remember being 5. Hudson has been waiting for this birthday for a long time. He is so proud to be 5 years old!

I asked Hudson to show me how old he was, and he kept switching from 4 fingers to 6 fingers-haha
Hudson's Birthday festivities have been dragging on because I could not get everything organized for him on time. Hudson's birthday was the 21st.

The morning of Hudson's birthday I had some balloons and streamers up to help him feel special. Afterwords, we went out for doughnuts and went shopping to find the perfect Pinata for Hudson's birthday. We got H some birthday outfits, and he picked out a"gymnastics sweater" that he is in love with. We decided to meet up with Daddy for lunch and since our 2 little preemie baby friends were staying at the hospital Daddy works at we went to see them first. It was such a fun and special part of Hudson's birthday to see those sweet girls!!

Me Looking extra "orcaish" and my boys clearly following the universal precautions-haha

Beautiful Whitney with Gwen
After work we had a little party at home with Hudson. We gave him some gifts and we got to eat some delicious ice cream cake Hudson picked out.(which of course had to be the most expensive cake in the store)
Batman Cake

As you can see Hudson dressed up for the occasion:)



The very best part of Hudson's birthday were that his very special Auntie Jodie and all of her kids came all of the way to Edmonton just to celebrate Hudson's special day. Jodie's kids are 18, 16 and 12, and they came for my boy. They are such special people to us, and we LOVE their visits. On Saturday we took Hudson to WEM. It was tiring, but just so much fun. Auntie Jodie decided to spoil Hudson with a Build-a-Bear. I have always groaned when I have walked into that store(and trust me with all of my nieces, I have been MANY times) but seeing Hudson's eyes light up as he got to experience making his own bear was magical. It really was so fun. He picked out his bear, gave it a scent, nnamed it and bought him some clothes. It was such a fun memory for this mama. Huds has not gone anywhere with out his "Spiderbear". We truly are always so depressed when Auntie Jodie leaves. We love her and her family so much!!!

Sunday after church Hudson got another visitor, as Grandma Jan was in town and she came and spent the day with us. Hudson got to show off his Battleship prowess and Grandma Jan was kind and patient enough to play multiple games with Hudson, enduring all of his smack talk.

Hudson has had a great time telling everyone he is 5. He hold up all of his fingers with such pride when he tells people, and he always makes sure to let people know that Cooper is only 2.

This past Saturday, I mustered up enough energy (not sure how) to have Hudson's Batman Birthday Party. Honestly, I am so so super wiped lately and  my insomnia is totally kicking my butt!!! My poor kids!

We invited a few pals, and they all came and made Hudson feel so loved and important. I totally did not get everything done like I wanted it to, but in the end Hudson had a blast. Sunday morning Hudson woke up(in my bed, yes I know, so lame) and exclaimed "Mom, that was the best birthday EVER" making all of my limited efforts worthwhile!!!

Since we did a batman theme, I decided to do the dumbest thing ever and make all of the "guests" capes. They were nothing fancy, but making 8 of them was time consuming. It was so cute seeing all of the little batman's run around the house, and more than anyone else, Cooper loved sporting his little cape.

The capes:)
Hudson is so lucky to have such fun and cool pals. He was so excited for all of his birthday gifts and to bash his pinata with them. Each year I think, no pinata this year, but the kids LOVE  it. This year Shane rocked the Pinata and made it a bit tougher to hit, and it was just hilarious to watch. We even gave Cooper and Baby Jaye a turn and I was surprised at how in to it they were. So fun.
Now that the party is over, I no longer have to endure the constant, "but I am the birthday boy, and birthday boys always get what they want". I am glad that the festivities are over, but it sure was fun to see my boy so happy!
No Batman Pinata's available so His bud Spiderman had to fill in:)
The mad scramble(my favorite part of this photo is Fernanda hooking Cooper up-haha. Shane and I thought he managed to get all of his candy on his own.


I died when I saw this picture. Hudson LOVES Parker and Landon. They are such great pals!!(Hudson is also sporting his "gymnastics sweater")

Gorgeous Davey Siakuluk and Huds
Hudson's favorite gift from Ethy Anderson.! An electric toothbrush and flavored toothpaste, with some other cool goodies. Cooper is clearly jealous-haha. My kids are OBSESSED with brushing their teeth.
I am so proud of my Hudson. He is a very fun, sensitive boy, and just what our family needs. Hudson is a kind big brother, and I know that he will be a great help when the baby comes. Hudson is incredibly bright and has such a keen memory. Hudson is very spiritual and loves his Heavenly Father. Hudson already has a testimony of the power of prayer, and has great faith that his prayers are answered. Hudson can also be a real stinker, but his shenanigans keep us all on our toes. (Like today when he went to get his immunizations and the health nurse was talking to him about nutrition and he interrupted her to say"Who cares")
More than anything else Hudson, I hope you will always know how much your family loves you. We really do and we are so glad that you are our boy. Love you Huds, and Happy 5th Birthday my boy:)


Happy Hearts Day

This year, I have been pretty busy so I decided not to decorate for Valentines Day.
Hudson loves decorations and holidays so I thought maybe we could try something different(that didn't require as much work)
I saw on Pinterest that someone put a heart on their child's door everyday leading up to February 14th. I have kept it VERY simple, and moved Hudson's hearts to the fireplace, but have done a new one each night so when he wakes up in the morning he can find his new heart. Shane has done a couple as well. Hudson LOVES finding his new heart and getting me to read it to him. He beams when I tell him the reason I love him. This has been just the best little tradition. It takes less than a minute a day and it has really made my boy feel special.


We had a fun, uneventful Valentine's Day. Just the way this Mama likes it!!
I set up a couple treats for the boys when they woke up. Hudson opened all of Cooper's candy and toys before he woke up. Then they scrapped over who got which toy. We had a Valentine's Breakfast, but the boys refused my idea of pink heart shaped pancakes and asked for hot cereal (more healthy anyway-heehee).

We worked on some Valentines for Daddy, and then our best pals Parker and Landon (and crew) came by for a short exchange of Valentine's treats. Hudson was so happy, as these guys are his best buds.

Tonight we opted to stay in and get delicious deep dish pizza. I ate too much:)
Shane brought me home pretty flowers. The cutest was when Hudson saw Shane come in the door with them, and he gasped"Mom, Dad loves you".


 As far as gifts go, I now opt for favors in lieu of gifts and have Shane roped in to help me do some painting and building me some laundry basket shelves! Wahoo! I will take favors any day over gifts!!
Here they are in all of their organizing glory:)



My favor to Shane was to hem the pants of his "new suit"-we bought the suit in June-AHHHH Check out that sweet hem job.

Love my Valentine!
I wanted to write about my Valentine's Day, because I remember many Valentine's Days spent alone. Those days were lonely and a bit sad. Now I have so much and I am so thankful for my three sweet Valentines and how lucky I am to have each of them in my life. We are all getting so excited for our baby boy to get here and join us in our crazy journey.

Happy Valentine's Everyone!