Play Set All Day

I started a blog about this but never posted it! Whoops!

For Christmas Nana and Pops made our little boy's (or maybe mommy's) dreams come true haha. They helped us pick out and get a play set for our backyard. Hudson and I would take several trips a week to a nearby park, Garden Ridge, Chick Fil A, you name it. Any place Hudson could play we went.

With a lot of help Bubba got his play set. Little did I know that my idea would cause 3 trips to too far north in Austin, leveling of our backyard, shoveling dirt, and a extensive installation project. I can't apologize enough for that. BUT after a week of all of that, Hudson was able to get on his new play set and play to until his little heart was content. A few days later it snowed! So it was kind of torture looking at it through the window but sure enough, we've had some awesome weather recently and of course we've been putting it to good use! He LOVES it! I LOVE IT! In fact, we haven't been to that near by park or Garden Ridge in awhile.

It's been so much fun. Hudson and I play on it every evening I get off work until the sun goes down (which right now is only about 1-2 hours of play time if that). And now that the weekends are getting warmer we play then too. In fact, we played this morning.

What does it include you ask (hehe)? Well, it has two ladders on one side that Hudson demands that "mommy climb too." We race to the top. Once we get there he drives the boat and I am his lookout. We're looking for Jake from the Neverland Pirates and Captain Hook. We see sharks and whales and neighbors houses (haha). We switch roles and I get to drive the boat too (so nice of Hudson hehe). Then we slide down the slide. Mommy goes first to get the bugs off the slide. There aren't really any bugs. Hudson thinks the dirt looks like bugs. We run around to the rock wall and see who can climb the fastest..he beats me every time. Then we get our green soccer ball and push the ball in the baby swing. Then Hudson swings and "mommy swings too." It also has a tire swing that Hudson hasn't tried swinging in yet. You kind of need a little one like him because mommy is too big. For now it works well as a safe place for his green soccer ball.

We have 2 weeks from today where our beautiful days will be longer and we can play all night. I can't wait!

My Wild Child: 25 Months

OMG my son is beautiful. I feel like I can't say that enough. I swear after every time we go to the doctor Hudson listens to the doctor and does exactly what she says he's going to do. Apparently two years old develop feelings they don't know how to handle. They get emotional. He heard that and took it as a recommendation lol. Actually, it's amazing because while bubba has gotten in touch with his emotional side for the "sad" "angry" parts he's such a huge lover. I can't tell you how many times he wraps his arms around my neck and gives me kisses. Especially when I'm putting him to sleep. Love love love my angel baby. He's pretty awesome. He tells me, "mommy, come here" and then he wraps his arms around my neck and snuggles me. Seriously?!?! I'm on cloud nine.

What are we up to these days? Talking so much. He copies everything we say and he's telling me so much. I LOVE it. He can now tell me "ouch that hurt" "I hit my arm" "I throw it away" "wipe my nose" I could go on. Eureka! He can tell me what's wrong. This is groundbreaking. This also gets more and more fun. Now that he's talking a lot more he's getting to the age where kids say the cutest things. For example, he tells me "mommy, I get that moon down!" with a serious face and as he points his finger down to the ground. So cute!  Just look at that precious face>>>>>>>>

He LOVES his new sunglasses and hat that he would NOT even let you get close to him with a few months ago. He tells me the sun is his eyes. I tell him to put on his sunglasses he says otay. Or he'll tell me, "mommy, I look this way" so the sun doesn't get in his eyes. Boy he's so smart! I love it. My favorite thing about Hudson right now (besides everything hehe) - his fake laugh. He's so good at it. It's so darn cute! Ok, it might not be fake (wishful thinking) but he sure does know how to make you feel like your jokes are funny. He'll continue his little fake laugh until your heart is content. Love it. Also, something new (kind of) right at bubba's 2nd birthday he had started to climb out of his crib. As of last night we are transitioning to a big bed. I'll report next month on how it goes but so far he loves to sleep in it. Especially when mommy is right by his side. 

Below:  Taking a look at our amazing city with his Aunt Ashley (sheee). Can't wait to spend more beautiful days with Hudson out on this awesome playground of a city we live in.

We have less than 3 weeks before the time change which will mean so much more time for playing on Hudson's playset (which we plan on every chance we get) and more awesome memories in the awesome weather to come. It's going to be a beautiful spring in this beautiful life I have. 

 
Hudson has so much character. He's had so much character for a long time. His little personality never seizes to amaze me. He's amazing. Love this little boy with my whole heart. Dada and I always talk about how wonderful you are every night bubba. You mean the world to us. Love you!

First Austin Marathon 2014

Wowsers! What a race. Ok, I don't call it a race. It's a marathon. So glad I can finally say that I ran a marathon. How was it? Well...this is how it went down.

I trained with my good friend Nancy who ran several long runs with me in the wee hours of the morning. I also ran long runs when Hudson was napping. Short runs with Hudson in his stroller or when pawpaw or daddy were hanging on to bubba. And also a few runs when Hudson was with nana and pops. I ran when I could and knew Hudson was in good hands. 

How did the race itself go? I made Ashley nervous in the car but continuously screaming on the way to the race. Random screaming. Like, "WHAT DID I SIGN MYSELF UP FOR?" and "OMG AHHHH!" We lined up with the 5 hour group because I believe that was the last marker (haha). I had high (really high) hopes of finishing at 4:45. Boy was I off. LOL! It's ok though. I'm cool with it. 

Cause every race should start with a duck face and a scared to death look.

We started off the run strong. Doing great running up Congress. I really enjoyed my sissy running with me. She's my partner in crime and anything fun. We split between mile 6-7 and it was a sad departing but I was lucky to have ran the beginning with her. She started me off strong. After Shelly pointed out to me that Congress was a faster incline than the 8 mile stretch from 11-19 I was quickly convinced that I was in good shape after mile 8. Eh hem...after passing the split I was thinking how lucky I was to not have to run up the hill that the half marathoners had to...and then...I ran up a hill I was not expecting to be there. What?!?! I thought I was getting off lucky. Boy was I wrong. I ran hills during training runs in preparations but what I should have done was run all my runs in my hills (our neighborhood is super hilly - more hilly than the Austin Marathon). That would have prepared me for the killer hike between mile 11-17. Once I got to 17 it seems to taper off and felt like I was running on flat ground even though there was a slight incline. At mile 20 I took some ibuprofen (good call sissy) and hit the gas. I sprinted (well what felt like sprinting) I then reminded myself that I had 6 more miles which could be well over an hour. So I slowed myself down. When I had 3 miles left I hit the gas again and was flying past people. I wanted to do this because I knew for sure I would walk up the last hill at the race. BUT I didn't. I put Sail on by AWOLNATION and while listening to it 3 times in a row I ran up the hill to be greeted by my mother-in-law who saw me at mile 2, 8, 15 and finish (as was Shelly and Pops). They helped me so much by seeing them. In fact, they kept me going strong. A driving force to keep on running. Or as Shelly told me, "put one foot in front of the other." And of course my sissy reminding me to "do it for Hudson." Once I got to the hill and started to run down I saw my wonderful family. Kissed my baby and sprinted to the finish line. I was so unbelievably happy to finish. I finished in 5 hours and 24 minutes. I'm most definitely happy with that. 

Best part after finishing was taking a nap with my angel!

Thoughts on my experience? Was it fun? Yes. The beginning was haha. By mile 20 I was most definitely ready for it to be over. I joked by saying I'll never do another one again but there's more to that then just feeling super tired by the end or having a hard time during the race. And here's my reason why. That night and the day after (today) I could give Hudson my undivided attention. No stress of having to figure out when my next long run was going to be. How I was going to run a marathon and give all of the attention to Hudson that I want to give. That's what makes it hard. Every long run I was on I thought about Hudson the whole time. I wondered what he was doing even though he was sleeping. So...would I do it again? Maybe. Ask me in 10 years :). Do I think Hudson will be proud of his mommy one day? Yes. Overall it was an amazing experience to have done it by age 30 (another goal of mine - I have a lot of those haha). I can cross that off my list and fulfill another item. Check. 

Valentines Day 2014

A day most definitely worth mentioning :). I took Hudson to HEB to pick out a rose for mawmaw and sheeee (aunt Ashley). Bubba was excited to pick roses and he did NOT want to let them go. I had to tell him that once we got to the shop he could bring them in. I had to remind him several times he would get to hold them again (so he wouldn't break them on the way there). They were surprised and we also brought pawpaw some candy and a card. 

Then bubba and I headed back home for nap. We didn't tell dada what I had planned for the evening. I texted him the address to go to when he got off of work and asked him to meet bubba and me there. It was the Aquarium. It took Hudson and I awhile to get there. Traffic was bad but it was fun. 

Dada and bubba bought me flowers and a card and we went into the Aquarium. Bubba loved it. He LOVED the stingray tank. He grabbed our hands and told us to touch the stingrays. He was so cute. He loved splashing in the water. 

Bubba really loved the snake. Hope he doesn't think they are all cute. LOL. He actually looked into the snakes habitat and put his nose up against the window. The snake got close the glass and it didn't even phase him. 

Also "NEMO" was a huge hit :)

A wonderful Valentine's Day we had bubba. Daddy and I love you with our entire hearts!

Most Beautiful Day + Weekend Festivities

We had such a wonderful weekend. I'm going to start backwards by saying I had the most beautiful Sunday ever. Bubba and I woke up and snuggled on the couch. Then we made dada breakfast after letting him sleep in. I thought today was going to be beautiful and I needed to run one last long run. So I packed up bubba and took him to town lake close to his nap time. Started the run and bubba wanted to hold my hand. He's done that before. Sweetest thing ever. He reaches up through the back of the stroller and says' "hold Mommy's hand." And of course I hold It for as long as he wants me to. Love my angel! He fell asleep at mile 6 wearing no shoes. Letting the warm sun soak into his feet and the nice breeze push him over into dreamland. My plan was to run 13 miles but he woke up at mile 11 and drank the rest of my Gatorade :). I love this sweet face!!!!

Then I ran him back to the park. We put the stroller up and walked to the park. I'm glad I found a spot by the park because there's was no chance I was getting a spot to park where I normally do. There were sooooooo many people out enjoying the beautiful day. We walked past the playground. Hudson kept telling me he wanted to play. I told him we'll play but we have to get tickets for the train first. He then tells me I ride choo choo. Then bubba was sooooo good. We had to wait in line for tickets for at least 15 minutes which seems like forever in parenthood with a toddler. Standing in one place for 15 minutes is unheard of for Hudson. He stayed right by me and didn't try to run off or fuss. We got our tickets. Played for a little bit because the next train ride was in 40 minutes. We got ice cream and cheetos.

Once Hudson heard the train whistle he got ready to get on. Then as soon as the other passengers got off the train Hudson got on and sat down on the seat. He's never done that. He usually tries to run around the train or stand up. He was soooo good. He was ready to ride the choo choo. The train started to take off and bubba waived and said "bye kids." That was the CUTEST thing ever. Then any people he would see he would say, "bye people" and then turn to tell me that there were "people everywhere." He amazes me.

We played after the train and I didn't want to take him from the park on this beautiful day. It was soooooooooo wonderful. We headed home, picked up dada and headed to "nana pops house." I then took Karl on a date to our old date spot Garcias. It was a wonderful day.

Friday night we drove up to Dallas and stayed the night so we could squeeze in a visit with the sweet Clem family and then go to Ashley & Thomas' Dallas wedding shower put on by his awesome mom and aunt. Hudson also got to see snow for the first time. Well, real snow. Not like the ice that we get in Austin. He looked puzzled and was quickly over it because of how cold it was haha. Guess you could say he's an Austin boy :)

Saturday morning we headed to Chick Fil A to meet the Clem family. I'm not really sure the boys remember each other but it didn't take long for them to start playing. We also got to meet the ever so chill baby Deacon. He was such a good baby! Just calmly chilling on either mommy or daddy's lap. A few hours of chasing Hudson around we said our good byes and headed towards the airport to pick up mawmaw. I can't wait for the Clem family to move back to Austin. I loved getting to catch up but I'm ready to see Natalie more :) hehe.

Saturday night was the shower. Thomas' mom, Eyde, and aunt, Angela, threw an amazing shower. It was so much fun. Games for everyone. Great food and just a really great time. I'm so happy for Thomas and Ashley. Got to meet Thomas' family and friends. Can't wait for the awesome party of a wedding to come. It's going to be great.

We had a brief trip. Not even 24 hours. we drove home after the shower and got home late but not too late. It was perfect. Especially since we got to enjoy the one day this week of pretty weather in Austin.

This was a wonderful weekend. Definitely one for the books. I can't wait for more awesome weather in our future.