104 Years Young

Not sure if you know but Hudson gets his middle name from his great grandpa Eugene Ruf. It's a great middle name (shortened to Gene for the sake of my son not having the initials HEF...if you don't get why...I'm not a fan of the bunny dude and that's all I'm saying).

Last Saturday, 4/20, we celebrated grandpa's 104th birthday. We also celebrated Karl's 30th due to the ever so fun tax season (enough about that..I promise).

As grandpa sat in his robe watching the generations that he started play around him he seemed to enjoy himself. Grandpa...such an easy going 104 year old who can get around pretty darn good if I might say. No walker assistance needed (he hates it) even though it is nice to have just in case...but grandpa doesn't need it.

I absolutely love talking to grandpa and playing cribbage with him. Among the many fun things he is a Friedeck house main attraction. He is definitely a man I like to call my own grandpa and I've felt that way about him for a long time. I love him.

I was sitting next to grandpa by the pond and he tells me...."that little one" (referring to Hudson), "is full of piss and vinegar isn't he." I agree. My son is the most amazingly energetic little one I've ever met. Then grandpa tells me, "It's absolutely wonderful." I couldn't agree more. As a 104 year old he has seen a lot in his time. The internet/computer as he refers to as "the magic box", iPhones let a lone cell phones or even portable house phones. Grandpa has seen a lot. And he is absolutely amazed by his "smart, very with it" great grandson. He says this with a sense of pride that would make anyone feel blessed.

I'm so lucky to be a part of this man's life and to know what great genes my son has to look forward to. A life full of change, growth, and more knowledge that I could ever dream of. Grandpa is the most amazing 104 year old I will ever have met. He is absolutely wonderful.

For the love of water

I love how my son loves water. We are truly going to be the best fishing buddies ever. Can't wait. 

Sunday date day with my beautiful main squeeze. The Botanical Gardens is awesome.

15 month old Scientist

I call bubba a 15 month old scientist because he's working on a lot of case studies. If I do this...this happens. If I continue to do this...this happens. I can't say he's ready to write about his findings but he's definitely doing a lot of testing. And while some or most would get mad or lose patience it's so amazing how much he's learning. It's amazing to see how much he understands and how he's discovering cause and effect. And how he does care about effect sometimes lol.

Per his doctor, words bubba knows are words that sound like words that he uses with purpose. I knew I wasn't crazy :). So if that's the case bubba knows and understands a good amount. He's really into the "B's" these days. Bubba, bubble, back, bye, baby just to name a few.


Exciting things this month? How about scary ones first?

Hudson is climbing on everything and jumping off with no fear. He does know how to safely get down but more times then not he wants to go the most unsafe route. Causing lots of bumps and bruises. I hate to say it but I have told him what all parents (or at least mine) say, "you are going to send me to an early grave." Is this something really to tell your 15 month old? Probably not but all of this stuntman activity makes me super nervous. I remain cool on the exterior but sometimes it gets hard. And I absolutely hate seeing bruises on my beautiful babies head. I know there's much worse to come. Oh and one more...he now can open doors! He finally figured it out today. Oh boy oh boy....it's going to get wild!

Most exciting for me? The front facing car seat. Soooo much fun. I absolutely love seeing his precious face and talking to him. And watching him raise his head like a little turtle to probably be a backseat driver (like his dada lol sorry honey...throwing you under the bus).

Spelling...you are looking at the 2013 winners of the Friedeck household spelling bee. Not Hudson but momma and dada. We have to spell certain words or else Hudson will figure out what we are talking about. He loooves fruit. He would eat fruit alone for an entire meal. One thing he loves to eat the most that we have to spell is orange. If you say orange you better start peeling. We have to spell it cause he will eat so many that the going #2 count goes way up. Sorry gross but true haha. We also have to spell "out." If you say out you better have your shoes on. Bubba is an outdoor boy for sure. He's our trail runner and fisherman in the making.

Best thing that happened all month? Dada finally getting through 4/15. We've never been happier to get dada back. Tax season is rough. Especially when you miss someone this awesome.

Below:  Celebrating grandpa's 104th birthday! 4 great generations. Shiner on bubba's forehead :(. Loving that smile in the car :).

Bubba....you have the best smile and heart in the world. Happy 15 months our beautiful angel!

Sweet Baby Curls

Rear View Smiles

We would have kept bubba in the backwards facing car seat longer but we finally got to the point where we stretched the strap to its limit and bubba was always turning to look at me (not safe!). So, after doing some research on the safest forward facing car seats we went and bought one.

I'm sooooo in love and so is Hudson! We can see each other now and "talk" to each other. It is soooooo much fun! It makes me want to go more places so he can ride in it haha. Yes. I will keep my eyes on the road but I absolutely love being able to see him now.

He kicks those legs with so much room now. And it even has a cup holder!!! Coolest thing ever. Man this is going to be so much fun!

As small as this act of growing out of a car seat may seem to some it most definitely put a smile on our faces. It was such a wonderful way to spend the weekend :). Love this little love of my life!

He's the best thing I've ever seen in my rear view mirror. To make my weekend even better my bubba took a nap on me. Best. Feeling. In. The. World.  The. End.

My Beautiful Husband's 30th Birthday Weekend

My beautiful husband's 30th birthday was last Friday (4/5). Just like any man (I'm assuming) he said he didn't want to have a birthday party. I'm sorry...I don't care who you are a 30th birthday is definitely something to celebrate. Well...any birthday is but at least your 30th!

(<< Old pictures...the bottom left is his 21st bday! Bottom right is still one of my all time favorites..my senior prom)

So, I planned a surprise poker night for the guys with blackjack dealers and even though I'm sure Karl would have wanted to see me and Hudson (due to the stinky busy tax season - glad he has a job but we miss dada immensely) I planned it before I knew he'd be working this much. Luckily I was able to reserve my husband from work for the surprise and I think he was surprised to see the blackjack dealers (or at least was really good at faking it haha).



Due to staying up until 3:00 AM and based on what the guys said I think everyone had a really fun time. Who was there? Why the good ol poker buddies of all time:  Wes, Luke, Adam, and a few new to the group Patrick and Pops :). So glad they could make it and make it a special 30th.

I'm not really sure what 30 feels like but I'm pretty sure it feels like 18, 21, 25, etc...maybe with a few more aches and pains (haha sorry babe). I'm right around the corner from 30 myself....and I still feel 18. My great great grandma says the same :). Life is what you make it.


The next day Hudson and I went down to nana and pops for a 2nd Easter Hunt due to nana being sick the actual Easter weekend. It was a beautiful day for egg hunting and dada got to at least make it down that night to have some confetti fun.

I know you don't read this much babe (or have the time) but bubba and I miss you more than you know. You are a wonderful daddy!