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!

1000

This weekend my little etsy shop had it's 1000th sale. It sometimes seems crazy, but I  have spent a lot of time over the past year sewing so it should not seem too crazy.

I have learned a lot over the past year, and it has been fun. I like doing my own thing, and I LOVE being home with my guys. I was really sick of being away from them all of the time. They were learning so much and changing so much and I was missing it. It would not have been so bad if my kids didn't go to bed at 7, or if I had any energy after work, but  that was not the case. 2 hours with my kids which included cooking dinner, feeding them , bathing them and getting them to bed was not working for me. My little shop has provided me a way to continue to help my family financially, but be with my kids, which is really what all of us needed.

 I like being in charge of my little shop, but at the same time, I have to hand it to my sweet husband who is my only "employee". Shane deals with the constant messes all over my house, a major lack of dinners, and is always up for a mail run. Shane helps out all over the house, and is definately a hands on Dad which to allows me to have this little shop. He knows that I enjoy it and it has become important to me and he has truly given me wings to fly. He really is my best friend. I used hear that your husband would be your best friend, and I totally expected something different. I have never had a guy best friend before, but now after 7 years together I am finally understanding it. Anyway, I am thankful for my number one fan and biggest supporter, Shane!!

A typical sewing day mess.

Now off to get sewing:)

Embarrassment, Art, Bowling and Battleship

Sometimes I think I should have named this blog, How my kids embarrass me on a daily basis. I think it may be more fitting for my life.
The missionaries popped by the other day(the Elders-boys) and Hudson and Cooper were in fine form. They acted like I gave them speed. The missionaries awkwardly stood in the door I think a bit in shock, when Hudson decided to start throwing down my dirty underwear and bras down at them. You can imagine how fun it was to be me at that moment.

Right now I am a bit obsessed with Hudson's art work. He loves to draw. We play a game where he draws a question mark and gives me the first letter of whatever he is going to draw, then he draws it and I guess what it is. It is so fun. I have so enjoyed being able to keep Hudson busy and he is so happy when we do "Art". I obviously can't keep all of Hudson's art treasures, but I try to keep some and snap some pictures of my favorites. Sometimes Hudson will draw the baby pictures, and I think he is finally okay with having a brother. We talk about the baby a lot, and Hudson has agreed to help by making the baby laugh and taking his diapers out to the diaper pail in the garage:) Another thing that Hudson has been doing are some workbooks I bought him from Education Station. He will literally sit for an hour at a time and do the different activities.

Hudson Drawing himself-note:the red "pelvic area" part was "where his poop comes out"- nice!

melts my heart

Hudson decided that he wanted to go bowling a few days ago, and had started to ask me everyday if we could take him. On Monday he drew me a card with him bowling and asked if we could go for FHE, so I knew he REALLY wanted to go. I quickly looked on groupon and found a super great deal. 19 bucks for an hour of bowling with the shoes included for up to 6 people. I bought the groupon, and I am so glad I did.

I die!

At first Shane tried to control the situation and make the boys take turns and act like humans. He offered them lessons and suggestions but after about 10 unsuccessful minutes we just let them go crazy like the wild animals that they are. It was insane.

SCORE!

Cooper using the ball helper as a slide.

More than once  there were 3-4 balls flying down the lane at the same time.  I am still in shock there were no serious injuries. I snapped a couple videos of Hudson lobbing the ball, and I can't believe we did not get kicked out. Overall, it was crazy, but super fun too. The boys were in HEAVEN, and Hudson has asked me to go again everyday since.

Holy, I love these guys!!!

Cooper has decided that he hates nursery again, and now refuses to go. He is also sporting a new fake laugh, which is pretty hilarious. He fake laughs at just about anything.  He is talking and communicating more and more and it is so fun to get to understand him. The other day Shane scolded Cooper for climbing on the dishwasher door. Cooper was so offended, and sat with his bottom lip out, when suddenly we hear "rude Dad" then "Daddy bad"-hahah. Cooper's favorite song right now is Once there was a Snowman, he could sing it for hours. I am so thankful that Cooper is still such a snuggler. I love cuddling with him, and that he loves his Mom. If he wants to be held, I try to drop anything I am doing to give him cuddles. It is good for both of us and I know that my time snuggling him is marked.

Cooper enjoying the fort he and Hudson made together.

Cooper fitting Spidey with some shoes

My little etsy shop is still thriving. I have been quite busy, and for the first time since I opened the shop I am not working another job, so I have been able to stay on top of it. It is such a relief.  I feel like I will maybe be able to run it the way I have always wanted to now that I can focus on it a bit more.
I ordered some new supplies and business cards, and I am trying to get all of my listings updated. It is a lot of work, but totally enjoyable work, so it is good. Plus I get to be home with my little guys:)

New stickers.

 I am now just a bit more than 24 weeks. I am now feeling and looking pregnant. I would say that my biggest complaints have been insomnia and heartburn. The insomnia has been crazy, and I know the heartburn will only get worse, so I believe this is exactly what the third trimester is supposed to be like.

Weird doing a preggo selfie-but I have never done them before, and somewhat regretted it.
24 weeks.- I wrote this about 2 weeks ago, but just finally added the pictures today-oops

Now onto the Heath boys latest obsession. Battleship. Shane decided to teach Hudson how to play battleship this week. Now that is all he wants to do. It is so funny to hear him talk smack to his Dad. The other morning Hudson was up in the bonus room, and Shane was downstairs, and we hear Hudson yell" Happy New Year", followed by an evil laugh as 2 homing missiles took out some of Shane's ships. Hudson is hilarious playing with his Dad, and it is fun to see them together.

Playing Kung Fu

An epic battle with Daddy

Cleptomania and Colostomy Bags

Hudson my dear first born. I love you so much, but for some reason you have had 2 issues over the past couple weeks that have been driving your Mom and Dad nuts.
The first is stealing. I am not too sure where this has come from, but everywhere we go you steal. I find myself constantly doing pocket checks, and watching you like a hawk. Teaching kids is so annoying sometimes. When I talk to Hudson about stealing, he very smugly responds that he will just"repent" so it will all be okay. AHHHHHH.

The other issue is just gross. Hudson who is almost 5 has reverted to #2ing his pants. Me and Shane are baffled by this. We are not sure why this is happening, and the only thing we can pin it to is that he waits too long. We have threatened him with wearing diapers, and HE DOESN'T CARE. He thinks it is a good idea! A friend of mine has suggested that when he does it, he only be allowed an ice bath, so we are definitely going to try that out. The other idea that I had this morning was to straight up lie to him and tell him that he was going to have to get a colostomy bag. Again, this may have backfired as now all he wants to do is look at pictures on the internet of colostomy bags DISGUSTING!! I showed him some images and he was fascinated. Oi!

Hudson, (who is now only referring to me as Mother (pronounced Mudder) or MOM (emm oh emm)
good thing your a cute little stinker.

Here is hoping for a "clean" clepto free week!

2014 so far and some Family Pics!

Change is always happening around our house.

For me, I had my last day of work on December 31st. Who knows if I will ever have the opportunity to work as a NM tech again. This year, learning basically a new job kicked my arse big time! It was such a great opportunity to see so many new things, but having two little ones at home, running my etsy shop, and dealing with two church callings nearly did me in!
I just reopened my etsy shop, so I will do that for now. It certainly keeps me busy enough.
I am thankful for now to be done, and I am at an "I don't care" place as far as what happens in the future. Maybe we will win the lotto right?

I was released as the Enrichment leader, and was given a new Primary Class. I teach the CTR 7 class, and they are fun. There are about 8-9 kids, and they are busy and chatty, but I already LOVE them and I am excited to be their teacher. Shane was recently released as a YM advisor, and recalled as a councilor in the YM presidency(his FAVORITE calling ever). He is in Heaven and has a lot of great guys in his quorum.

My favorite.

Hudson and Cooper (and me) are adjusting to being home with me full time. Cooper has turned in to such a Mama's boy and loves being home with me. He makes being home very rewarding. It is a bit tougher on me and Hudson. Hudson misses his friends, and I miss feeling sane-haha. Hudson is really really hard. We have recently decided that the poor boy needs to get help beyond what Shane and I can offer him. It breaks my heart seeing him struggle every day with listening, and behavior. He is such a bright boy, but his troubles have caused a lot of stress on all of us. I am hopeful that we can get some help soon.(Or else I will blog from the mental institution)

Hudson has given us a few embarrassing moments as of late with his observations of others. He had a new primary teacher who had some acne scaring on her face, and decided to ask her all about it. He even told her his skin was nice and smooth and was concerned as hers was "all bumpy".
Then this past weekend we went to see Hudson's cousin play basketball. When we told him where she was on the court he yelled out" Oh I can see her, she is next to that big fat girl'".
Yesterday when we were at Costco, there was a handicapped boy in front of us in line. Hudson decided to yell out "Mom, that boy's face looks kind of creepy".
Always in earshot of parents, using his loud voice. I know it is innocent, but gosh it is embarrassing.

Love this one too.

Another big change for Mr. Huds, will be to have to share a room with Cooper. This week I scored a major deal on Kijiji and got Hudson a new bunk bed and dresser. Hudson has been asking for a bunk bed for a long time, and so I did not anticipate any problems when we set his bed up. Well, last night Hudson bawled for an hour saying he missed his old bed (as if, he still sneaks into our bed every night!). He claimed this bed was too hard, and that the wood was too hard-ha! We will wait for Hudson to calm down with his new room, before we get Cooper in with him. I do not look forward to that. Cooper still sleeps in his crib and he is  an awesome sleeper, so we may be in for some trouble when they share a room.

Now on to sweet Coopy. Cooper has been talking like a maniac. He is honestly the most polite little boy I know. He always says "Thank you Mama" or if I sneeze he will say 'bless you Mama"-unprompted. He is just so wonderful. I would die without him. He is so easy, and so kind. Everything with him is so smooth. He loves to play with his Dad and with his brother.  He is currently obsessed with a painting Mickey Mouse game, and still loves Dora. Coop loves being read to, and maybe the cutest thing I have heard in a while was last night when Cooper sang me twinkle, twinkle, little star. Cooper is so patient with Hudson(which just makes Hudson meaner to him), but he has started to "fight back" a bit. It makes me laugh a bit, but we still scold him. He is so quick to apologize, and he listens so well. He really is such a dream.

One last funny story from Hudson, as I don't want to forget it.
The other day Hudson was in his bedroom. He was locked in for time out. Shane and I were in the bathroom adjacent to his room, when we heard Hudson cry out to us. He told us to look at his door. When we looked he slid two pictures under the door. One was a picture of the Savior and the other was a picture of the Salt Lake Temple. Hudson then proceeded to tell us that we were not listening to the Holy Ghost, and that we needed to let him out of his room. He also told us we were "not listening to Heavenly Father's commands". Hahahahaha. We were having a laugh attack. So there you go, I guess he does listen to what we say!

It's a .....

I am now 22 weeks pregnant, and I have been blessed to have my best pregnancy yet. I have been feeling pretty good, which is such a blessing. I have had a bit of insomnia, but other than that, I am feeling a-okay.
On the 30th of December, I had my second ultrasound. The baby was being pretty uncooperative, so it took a while. Shane and the boys came, but were waiting in the car and Shane was getting pretty worried. When the tech got all of the images she needed, the boys and Shane came in and the tech told us we were having another BOY!
I have to admit I was a bit shocked (not sure why), and full disclosure here, I was so disappointed (sorry son). I think we all were. Hudson told the tech he didn't want a boy, and Shane looked sad. When I got to the car I cried. I have ALWAYS wanted a girl. But, I guess we don't always get what we want right?
I am used to the idea now, and though we wanted a girl we are excited to welcome another little guy to our family. We are so excited for Cooper to be a big brother, and both our boys are obsessed with babies, so it will be really fun for them.
We have started to do all of the usual things like looking at names, and I have been pinning blankets and such on Pinterest, which have gotten me so excited. Ultimately obviously we just want a healthy and happy baby. Even if he is not healthy and happy we will still love him and welcome him in to our hearts.
Our good friends who have struggled with infertility just had their twin baby girls at 28 weeks. I can't keep my mind off those two sweet girls, and what a miracle it is to even have children.
On Christmas day I a special little gift from this guy. I felt the first little flutter kick from him. Since then it has gotten a bit more strong and consistent. Still such an odd feeling:)
I am so excited to be over the half way mark!!!