CAMP

I mentioned earlier this week that the girls were doing a camp at their school.  They have had so much fun and have been very excited to go each day.  I know part of the reason was because they had their best friends with them.  Today was their last day, so a lot of the kids wore their camp t-shirts.

While they were at camp this week Hudson and I got a lot of errands done.  One thing I finally checked off my list was getting Handley (and Harper) a tennis racquet.  Handley is going to start tennis lessons this fall, but she's never played before so I wanted to let her at least hit the ball around in our driveway before she starts her lessons.  She was thrilled about the racquet and this afternoon we spent a lot of time out in the heat so she could play.  She really took to it and had a lot of fun.  After the first time she hit the ball really well something must have clicked.  She kept saying that she could really "feel" and "hear" how the ball hit her racquet and that she wanted to hit the ball like that again.  She didn't want to come in this evening and begged me to let her bring the racquet and ball in the house with her so she could practice more.  I'm hoping this is a sign that she is really going to like it!

Hudson's first storytime

Yesterday I was sort of regretting the fact that I signed the girls up for camp at their school this week.  Mostly because we've been out of town so much this summer and I was feeling like we just needed a little downtime.  However, seeing how excited they were this morning to go and see all their friends and hearing about all the fun they had today made me glad they were able to do it.

Hudson and I got to spend a few hours alone today and I met up with my friends Jen, Lizzi and Lisa (and their kids) to go to storytime at the library.  I used to take Handley every week and she loved it when she was smaller. I thought Hudson might be a little intimidated by the new place and new people, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  As soon as we arrived he took in his surroundings and while most of the other kids were sitting in their moms laps, he was speed crawling in every direction he could.  He didn't care who was in his way and he had no problem pushing his way through people and across other moms' laps.  As I was chasing him around I thought to myself that I sure was glad I decided to wear shorts today, instead of a dress because I certainly got my workout with him.  Next he found the tables in the back of the room where we were sitting and used them as a tunnel.  At one point Jen commented tome that the little boy in him was definitely starting to come out and she couldn't be more right.

When I could keep him in my arms during the singing part of storytime he had fun clapping and dancing to the songs.  After it was over he kept crawling around and looking back at me like it was the best day of his life and I couldn't help but grab my phone and snap a few pics of his first storytime experience.**

After storytime we all had lunch at Chick-fil-a.  I usually NEVER let him get down in the playground area since he's not walking yet and I don't want him crawling around on the dirty floor.  However, there was no way he was going to sit in my lap while he watched his friends, Will, Parker and Leah, running around and having fun.  So, I caved and let him down and he took off.  He loves anything with a steering wheel and immediately found the one there.  If someone else bigger than him came over, he stood his ground and wasn't about to loosen his grip.  When it was time to go, he was devastated...and he let everyone know how unhappy he was about it.

He's also started testing limits in a big way.  He loves to pull the girls' hair and if we tell him "no" he starts crying big ol' tears and acts so pitiful.  He also will swing at me (sort of a hit) if he doesn't like something or if he is mad.  I immediately tell him "no" and he breaks down into tears again.  It's such a game though because he will pause briefly from the crying, look right at me and do it again, then start crying even louder.  I can't help but laugh at him.  He's definitely figuring it all out and learning his boundaries.

And, one last thing to share is that he can now "quack-quack" like duck!  It's his first animal sound and he does it for every other animal he sees, too.

**I've become such a slacker with my nice camera. I used to carry it with me a lot, but now I rely on my phone a lot instead.  Mostly because I haven't mastered trying to keep my big camera on my shoulder and chase down a busy crawler at the same time.**

Lake Fun with the Mills

We spent the last few days at the lake with our friends, the Mills.  We became great friends with them when we lived in Florida and this is the fourth year that they have made a trip up to the lake with us.  Because we spent almost every waking our on the boat I didn't get many pictures because I was worried about my nice camera getting sprayed with sunscreen or splashed with water.  I did snap some with my phone though and captured some of the fun we had.

Their girls, Marlee and Lilah are very close in age to ours and although we usually only see them once a year, it never takes long for them to pick up right where they left off.  When we were at the house they had fun playing doctor, tooth fairy and princess secret spy complete with their sparkle spy flip-flops.

On the boat they loved swimming, tubing, ice cream stops at the marina, pretending to surf, cannon balls off the side of the boat and booty shakin' dance parties.  Plus, all four girls wake-boarded with their dad's (a first for Marlee and Lilah)!

We forced ourselves to come in early one afternoon so we could get dressed for dinner and try a new restaurant on the lake.  The food was delicious and anytime you can ride in the boat to dinner instead of by car, it's a good time (as long as you don't mind looking a little wind blown).

We are already looking forward to this winter when we can hopefully catch up with these friends again!

Hudson's Birthday Party

This evening we celebrated Hudson's birthday with our closest friends and family.  We were hosting our dinner club this month and my original plan was to just have cupcakes at dinner, sing happy birthday, and call it done.  Then I decided that we'd include the grandparents and just a few other close friends and make it more of a party.  I'm so glad that we had a party for him, but also really happy that I kept it very small and low-key.

We did a fish/ocean theme for him and set up all sorts of water play stuff in the backyard for the kids.  They loved the kiddie pools, sand and water tables.  Robby even set up our slip-n-slide, southern style, complete with dish soap and tarps and that was the favorite among most of the kids.

We had a "goldfish bar" for the kids to snack on while they played and I also went ahead and did Hudson's smash cake while we were outside.  I had a hunch that he would make a big mess with it and he certainly did.  He LOVED the cake and just kept eating, and eating, and eating.  I attempted to take it away from him a few times, but he got upset and wanted more, so I let him have at it again.  When he was done we hosed him off.

After playing outside we enjoyed Hudson's favorites for dinner, Chick-fil-a nuggets, mac-n-cheese, and  fruit.  We also had cookies and these adorable cupcakes for dessert (made by my friend, Christy).

One Year Stats, downtime and braided pig-tails

Yesterday we had Hudson's one year check-up and he did great.  His stats were:

weight - 22 lbs. 12 oz (50th percentile)
height - 30.5 inches (75th percentile)
head circumference - 18.2 inches (45th percentile)

He had to get two shots, but he hardly cried, so it was a pretty easy and quick appointment.  Every time we visit the office he just loves playing with the bead things (no clue what they are called) but he got mad when it was time to actually go back for his appointment because I had to pry him away from it.

After running a few more errands after his appointment we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying some downtime with no scheduled activities, something we hadn't done in a very long time.  We also pulled out another basement toy for Hudson to play with and I'm not exaggerating when I say he sat on this thing for 15 minutes pushing buttons, holding the wheel, and turning the key.

Today was another pretty low-key day.  I love just hanging out at home because I feel like the girls get to exercise their imagination.  They play their favorites (Baby and Mommy, Lady and Ma'am, and school), but they always come up with all sorts of crazy games, too.  Today I happened to overhear Handley saying, "Harper, you get in a ball like an egg and I'll sit on you." Huh? Apparently they had turned their chairs into a nest, Handley was a bird sitting on her egg (Harper) in the nest.

The other thing to note about today was that Handley got to wear her hair in braided pigtails.  She has been asking to wear her hair like this for months (because it's her favorite style for her American Girl Doll), but because she's got a lot of shorter pieces around her face it's never really been long enough to stay up like that.  Her hair has really been growing though so we tried it today and she looked so cute. She kept asking me if she looked like a six year old.  

Happy Birthday Hudson!

I'm just a little bit sad about my last baby turning one, but mostly we are just all excited to be celebrating this milestone with him.  He was so excited that he woke up extra early this morning.  Thankfully he decided to cuddle with me and go back to sleep for a little bit.  Then we were both woken up by the girls.  They jumped on my bed bearing gifts (made out of pipe cleaners) that they had made first thing this morning.  It was super sweet because they "wrapped" them in one of their tote bags and used construction paper as the tissue paper.

You'd never know it from looking at these pictures, but Hudson is getting some of his molars and he spent most of the day crying and is just not his happy self.  We were going to do something fun and special today, but he just wasn't digging it so instead he got to run errands with us this morning to get stuff for his small b-day dinner celebration this weekend.  He did get to enjoy lots of yummy treats today though including ice cream and a juice box at playgroup and a brownie after dinner tonight.

The girls and I set up a few new-to-him toys (stuff from our basement) while he was napping.  Handley and Harper were thrilled to shout "surprise!" when he saw them.  He had fun with the dump truck and ball popper, but loved the train most of all.  Not sure if anyone was reading my blog way back when, but THE TRAIN has been around for a while.  It's still just as loud and just as annoying as before, but I'll be able to deal with it for a while if it makes him happy.

At one year old Hudson:

• loves his paci and lambie 
• is crawling and pulling up, but no cruising yet
• has started walking around if we hold his hands
• likes playing in a cooler full of drinks/ice
• dances anytime he hears music
• really likes reading books, especially lift the flap books
• thinks it is fun to open and close doors
• has discovered things on wheels and has fun pushing around cars, trucks, buses and trains
• is taking a small cat nap in the mornings when we are on the run and a long afternoon nap
• has four teeth on top and four on the bottom
• loves the water, the boat, the beach and splashing
• has an obsession with driving and anytime he sees a steering wheel he grabs hold, starts kicking his legs, and is ready to go, go, go.  His favorite is helping drive the boat and golf cart. 
• can sign all-done and says "Mama" and "mo" for more
• likes to give high-fives and hugs, is pretty stingy with his kisses these days and likes to clap if he's holding onto your hands, but refuses to do it on his own
• thinks it is fun to brush his teeth