Mommies & Turtles

Mini poem for my baby

Mommies & Turtles

As you rest yourself on the mommy recliner 

Legs on my legs

Back on belly

Head on chest

I lean back and your head fits perfectly under my chin

I look up to the sky as we fit like a puzzle 

Like a turtle pointing it's head up to the sun 

I am the turtle and you are the warm sun filling my heart with gold

I love you baby 

28 Month Old Sweetheart

I kid you not, there's not a day that goes by that I don't feel like the luckiest mom in the world. In fact, Karl and I sit around at night talking about how lucky we are. Or even asking..how did we get so lucky. Hudson is the biggest sweetheart ever. 

What is he up to these days? He can tell you his shapes, colors, and some of the funniest things. The other day he told me that the rain was hiding in the clouds. He picks up a lot of stuff from his shows these days. Playing his imaginary violin, trombone, trumpet and drums. 

When his guests leave he tells them, "thank you for coming over to see me," and "see you later." Every time you leave him he will give you 2 strong hugs and the best strong kiss ever. 

Hudson loves to dance and sing. He's so musical. I absolutely love it. Our evenings are spent playing on his play set, digging holes and playing with his t-ball set. My outdoor boy and I are so happy to have long sunny and warm days. 

Hudson is also a huge help and he will tell you he is too. He helps me load the laundry, clean up, throw trash away, take out the trash, water mommy's flowers, wash dishes and more. He's going to be such an awesome big brother when the time comes. I can't wait. 

How's he eating these days? Still a picky boy. He knows what he likes. His favorites are grilled chicken  with ranch dressing, pizza and mac-n-cheese. He tried spinach at his nana's house and he likes it so he will eat a few leaves for me here and there. 

Uncle Chris has visited us a few times and Hudson put on his little cow watch. He told me he looks like Chris with his watch on. So Chris took an older watch he had, took the links out to make it smaller, and gave it to Hudson. He thought he was so cool when Chris gave it to him. He said he looks like Chris and Daddy. So cute :)

Hudson is a fan of FaceTime. When he's missing pops, daddy or pawpaw he requests to talk to them. He gets his fix and is one happy boy. Technology. My son's generation. A 2 year old knows how to do FaceTime? Craziness but a lifesaver when pops, daddy or pawpaw aren't right around the corner.

Every morning Hudson wants to sit next to mommy and cuddle and we end every night the same way. This boy makes me feel like my heart is going to explode every time he grabs my hand and ever second I get to spend with him. He's my whole heart. Sweetest angel ever! 

Busy Weekend + Mother's Day 2014

I'm so very proud to announce that my baby cousin Cameron Scott Guidry is a Texas State Alumni. He graduated on Thursday May 8th. It was so awesome to see him cross the stage and yell for him of course. And of course Hudson and I were sporting our Texas State gear. Eat 'Em Up Cats! Woo HOO!

Side note:  Hudson was so cute! The band was playing in the beginning and Hudson started to conduct.  After the song was over he clapped and bowed! He is so awesome and so dang cute! Just love to see his cute personality come out. It's wonderful!

Friday we threw a surprise crawfish boil for Cameron and all of his hard work. Karl and I lied to him and asked if we could take him to dinner. He showed up at my parent's house to get ready to go to dinner. Saw the crawfish and it clicked. It was spicy and so much fun. We used to do that a lot when I was a kid. It's been awhile. So glad we got to celebrate Cameron and all of his hard work! Now onto grad school. Have fun Cameron!

For Mother's Day I wanted to take bubba to the Liz Carpenter Fountain. Man I love that fountain. Every time we go it reminds us of Chicago. How beautiful it is. How all these people are around with their coolers for picnics, towels and swimsuits watching the little ones run around the fountain. If you live in Austin and like to have some laid-back free fun it's a must! We went Saturday night for a picnic dinner. We had such a wonderful night. We ran through the water. Fed the turtles and ate our dinner. Best date ever.

Next morning on Mother's Day we headed to maw maw's house to make her breakfast. We had a vegan breakfast. My sissy made vegan french toast. Karl made a yummy fruit salad and I made vegan breakfast tacos. YUM! We ate on the back porch. It was a beautiful morning.

Afterwards we headed to Fudruckers with nana, pops, Shelly and Liam. We had lunch and headed back home for bubba's nap. Karl took his mommy (nana) to Natural Gardener and got her some fun plants. Afterwards we went to the pool. It was such a relaxing yet fun day. All in all it was a wonderful Mother's Day for all.

Another Side Note:  A few of my thoughts on the best parts of being a mommy. My angel makes my heart feel so full of love. I feel like I'm on top of the world. I feel like I could literally climb the highest mountain and tell the world about it. He sings "You are my Sunshine" with me. First time was a week or two ago. I was rocking him for a nap and started to sing to him. He started singing along with me and it was the most precious thing ever. His sweet precious voice jerked (not just tugged) on my heart strings. It felt like my heart was going to explode. It was one of the sweetest moments. 

Another time I was rocking him to sleep he leans back to look up at me and tells me "I'm so happy to see you mommy." Where does he learn this from?!? He is hands down the sweetest baby I've ever met. I'm so very lucky to have this sweet angel of a son. 

Louisiana and the Houston Zoo

I'm so behind as always. Playing catch up :)

We took Hudson to Louisiana at the end of April to see maw maw Leatha & Sonny, Uncle Bubba & Aunt Peewee, Cousin Michelle, Bella, Brody & Orin, and Cousin Chris, Nikki, Kendall and Tyler.

Drove over Thursday night and got there about 12:30 AM and went straight to sleep. Got up the next morning to be greater by my ever so sweet aunt peewee and uncle bubba. They are so wonderful! We always love getting to stay with them. After a huge breakfast we went to maw maw's for a big lunch. There's nothing better than the food my maw maw cooks. We all try our best to recreate it but we try. My mommy learned how to make gumbo from her and her mommy and I learned how to make it from my mommy. Passing that recipe on down the family line as long as we can. Need to write that down for Hudson. Yummy!

We got to hang out at cousin Michelle's house and swim with Bella and her friend. Hudson is in love with Bella. He was at 3 months old and still at 28 months old. She's so sweet to him and he LOVES her. He even laid on the floor next to her during Indiana Jones and stole kisses periodically. He's a charmer!

Next day we got to hang out at cousin Chris' house and watch the kids swim in the pool. Kendall is on the swim team! Tyler is awesome at Soccer and even though we didn't get to see her Peyton is SO TALL and BEAUTIFUL! They all are.

Saturday night we drove and met maw maw in Houston to go to the zoo the next day. Our hotel was awesome! Karl and I always use our Hilton Honors points to stay places and we never know what we are going to get but this time we got a room with a living room. It was so cool. Yes, we were excited about that LOL. Hudson and I could go to sleep while whoever wanted to stay up could watch tv. The little things….or the big things..however you want to look at it.

Got up the next morning to go to the zoo. I was so excited because this time Hudson would see an Elephant. The Austin Zoo is great but I remember going to the Houston Zoo when I was a kid. So many good memories. Can't wait to take Hudson there more. It's so lush with all the beautiful plants. So many animals. It's really a 2 day kind of trip. We didn't see everything but we most definitely saw the elephant and Hudson wanted to go back and see them over and over. He kept asking to go see the Elephant. Mission accomplished.

We had such a wonderful long weekend. Visiting family and seeing the zoo was awesome. Can't wait to do it again :). Funniest thing to me was when we got back home Hudson laid on my bathroom floor with my phone and covered himself up with the floor mat. I asked him if he wanted to go in the kitchen with me and he said no. He laid on the bathroom floor for about 30 minutes. I think he was happy to be home :).

Hapa's 105 & Easter

Hapa turned 105 on Saturday 4/19. Can you believe that I can tell you that hapa is 105? Amazing. We took hapa to dinner to one of his favorites spots (Bill Millers) on his birthday eve. I think hapa had a good time. He couldn't believe that Hudson, Dad and I took him to dinner. He was cute.

We then celebrated his birthday on Saturday with all of our family. It was so nice. Hapa watched his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren playing. We even hunted Easter eggs. I think Hapa thoroughly enjoyed our families getting together for such a special day. He is wonderful.

My favorite thing to hear Hapa say is how wonderful it is for Hudson to be the way he is. It's such a huge compliment to hear Hapa say that. I asked Hapa what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said, "I've done it." Praise from a man who has done it all is a huge compliment. I love how Hudson loves his Hapa too. He talks about Hapa. Loves to get Hapa's attention and tell him what he's doing. Can't wait to celebrate the big 106 next year :). 

For Easter we went to PawPaw and MawMaw's house. We had a great lunch and Easter egg hunt. Loved watching my baby find all the eggs. He would open each one and see what was inside. If it wasn't what he wanted he put it down and kept looking. He's onto that game haha. 

That evening Hudson kept wanting to dig with his bucket. So I took him to a nearby park that had sand volley ball and we dug in the sand. What joy it is to do things like a kid with your love of your life. There's never a dull moment with my little angel.

27 Month Old Pete and Repeat

I'm very behind on this blog (whoops). My baby is now 27 months. Man my little boy is talking up a storm. It's so cool. He usually repeats every thing we say but now he tells us so much more. He remembers what you say and holds onto it until the next day or so. Or forever. He doesn't forget. He tells me what he wants which is so awesome. As a parent it's ground breaking. What really makes me laugh is when I can't decipher what he's saying and I start guessing then he gives me that smiling look you do when you are trying to talk to someone who doesn't speak your language. Makes me laugh every time. He's so smart! Blows me away. He loves to tell stories and I love to listen.

I love hearing the little funny things he comes up with. He slaps his knee and says "oh man" or you push him high in his swing and he says, "I fly high like a bird." Ask him to grab a plane in the sky and he says, "I can't it's too high." He closes his eyes and says, "I can't see mommy." My baby is also such an angel. At least every hour during the work day he comes up to me and says, "I hug mommy" he pushes my computer off my lap, takes my glasses off, wraps his arms around me and gives me a kiss. ANGEL! 

He's very into daddy these days. He always has been but even more so. We have to FaceTime with daddy on his breaks at work sometimes. He asks about daddy first thing in the morning and then says, "daddy's at work" and "he'll be home later." When he gets in trouble by mommy he says, "I need daddy." 

Hudson is very into  FaceTime these days. He likes to FaceTime daddy, paw paw and pops. His guys. It definitely makes him so very happy to talk with them if he can't see them in person. 

Hudson's FAVORITE shows to watch is Little Einsteins and Tom & Jerry. He could watch the same series of episodes over and over. His favorite pretend instrument to play is the trombone. It's the cutest thing ever. He puts one hand up to his mouth and takes the other one like he's sliding to different notes. So cute! Sometimes I wonder if he's going to be a musician. He LOVES music. 

A few weeks ago I taught Hudson what a Triangle was and he started pointing them all out. So, we've learned triangle, circle (he can draw that!), diamond, rainbow (he can draw that too!) and heart. I love his brain!

How's his activity level? Boy still never sits still for any length of time unless he's tired. He's got so much energy and it keeps us on our toes. We have dance parties to the Rio soundtrack. Swing outside and chase each other around the play set. I can't wait to take bubba swimming on a warm day. 

Overall my bubba just gets more and more awesome. I can't believe how lucky I am. He always wants to sit on mommy's lap first thing in the morning. Snuggle and drink his milk while I drink my big girls milk (coffee). Then periodically give me hugs and kisses throughout the day. Snuggle me at nap time. Snuggle me at bed time. To feel his little hand on mine makes my heart feel like it's going to explode. I am and always have been forever lucky to have this little love of my life.

Daddy's 31st Fishing Birthday

My son loves to fish. I'm on CLOUD NINE!

For daddy's birthday we took daddy on a secret trip. We load up in the car and as I plug the address into my new iPhone 5S Suri starts to tell us where we are going. Mommy (that's me) starts screaming so daddy can't hear and Hudson starts laughing at me. Daddy didn't hear but a third of the way into our trip daddy knew where we were going.

Pops, nana and pawpaw were waiting for us at the fishing house in Port O'Connor and surprised Karl when we got there. With 6 lbs of bacon we had awesome breakfast and dinner. My son probably ate a lb of bacon to himself.

We had a weekend of fishing planned for daddy's birthday. I can't speak for him…or maybe I can when I say this..it was the best birthday weekend ever. We got up Saturday and got ready to go out on the boat. Hudson played on the boat while the boat was loaded with drinks, poles, boots and more. He LOVED it. We got to the water to back the boat in and after I put on my life jacket my bubba didn't have a problem matching his mommy in his life jacket (whew). He was holding on tight to nana as we got closer to the boat to get in the water but got in with a little hesitation.

After loading up with live bait we took off to our first fishing spot. Hudson wanted pops and my sleepy bubba fell asleep as we pulled up to our first fishing spot! That was probably from getting up with mommy at 5 AM and then the boat rocking him to sleep. Bubba slept on pops for close to 2 hours. In the mean time, mommy, nana, pawpaw and daddy fished.

Once Hudson woke up he immediately grabbed a net and started scooping the water. His feet even got wet and he didn't even care. He just kept scooping that water. Then daddy hooked a perch (bait) on his pole and threw it out. Had Hudson reel it in and he was hooked..no pun intended. I'm so unbelievably proud of my amazing son. I chased him around the boat. He helped reel in everyone's line. Played with the perch. He tickled the perch and would pick up the fish. He totally amazed me. I can't believe my little spitfire who doesn't sit still for anything was totally enjoying staying in pawpaw's boat.

After we headed back to the dock we kept on fishing. It was so easy to catch little perch and he would scream "turn turn turn" as he reeled in his fish. He would then grab the fish and feed it to the huge pelicans after watching us do it a few times. He is fearless.

From day one I've said Hudson is my future fishing buddy. Little did I know he would totally be a natural. He will be all of our fishing buddies. Saturday night after BLTs and Zebra Cake birthday cake we fished at the dock with bubba and then again on Sunday morning. I didn't want to leave. I was having so much fun watching my bubba. This was the best trip I've ever been on. My son is so amazing.

We had so much fun with pawpaw, pops and nana. I think everyone left the weekend feeling wonderful :).