Three Amigos

What a treat to have two of my best friends and their boys make the trip to visit us over the weekend!  They were both brave mommas and drove alone with their toddlers to Chapel Hill so this pregnant momma wouldn't have to make a trip.  Our weekends and road trips aren't quite what they used to be now that we have 3 active boys.  Ben is now 2 and-a-half, Cohen is 2yrs, 2 months, and Hudson is 19 months.  It was another HOT weekend so keeping the boys entertained in the air conditioning was the best we could hope for.  We did make it to Pullen Park on Saturday morning but didn't stay too long because we couldn't take the heat.  Other than that we entertained ourselves by watching the boys play and laughing at their silliness. It was a great weekend and I wish they were closer because we don't get to do this often enough.

Aunt Becca came to visit on her way to Raleigh.

Waiting for the "choo-choo"  
"Yea Mom!  I am ready!"  (Until the loud whistle blows anyway)

Ben was not so excited about the train in the beginning.  He wanted to play on the playground.


Cohen was ready for the Choo-Choo!


Hudson taking it all in on the train

Next came the boats.  Cohen and Ben were totally ready for it and when Hudson saw that they were riding he said he wanted to ride.  He acted excited about it until it actually started moving.  Then the tears started.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get him off mid-ride so he had to suffer through.  He would stop and turn the steering wheel every once in a while but then start crying again.  Finally, I remembered I had the "Papis" (Paci) and that at least stopped the crying.  You can see he still looked pretty pitiful.


Cohen hanging out in the shade.

Hudson's first "Loco Pop" experience.  We chose a cherry LocoPop and he loved it.


Waiting on the Merry-go-round


He loved it so much the first time we were here but this time he wanted down as soon as it started moving.  Imagine me at 30 weeks pregnant trying to get him off of his horse and then trying to hold him on my hip for the duration of the ride.  All while being a little dizzy. :)


We did some playing in the shade in the back yard.  Clothing was optional for Hudson.

Blowing bubbles with Sarah


A minor collision


Just thought Hudson's expression was funny in this one.


He was probably worried that there was more thunder coming.  We had bad storms both nights that they were here.


A ginger and two blondies!

"mmm bubbles"


My little sumo wrestler showing off his graceful running skills- nick named "Half-ton Hud" by Melody. :)

We were out numbered when Zach got home.  They had a little jam session with the guitar.


Since Hudson is just as big (or bigger) than Ben and Cohen we decided that he should try on a pair of Ben's big boy undies.  

They were just a little snug. hehe.  
Hudson has had a few successful trips to the potty so far but I think we are quite a bit away from being potty-trained.  Guess we will have two in diapers in October.  Better start stocking up on coupons!


His prized possession "mow mow"



Ben showing Hudson how it is done.


"I did it!"

Sweet Cohen

Crazy Hudson ;)  He really cracks me up watching him run.

We tried many times to get some pictures with all three boys but they were not having it.  In this case it was Hudson who was being difficult.

In order to at least get them in the same vicinity for more that 5 seconds we told them to bang on the garage door to wake up the animals inside.  They then started telling us about all the animals (Monkeys, Lions, and Elephants) that were sleeping in the garage.

Hudson being a Ham as usual



Finally we got them all to sit down with us and told Zach to snap away!  At least we got a few with everyone looking and eyes open.


Hard to see the belly in this picture but Cohen was being sweet to baby boy on the way!  

Even after a busy weekend with the boys Hudson was ready to go again after a short nap.  Aunt Becca came to visit on her way home and they both got a little workout running around the house. 


Thought this was pretty cute.  Hudson was so surprised when Aunt Becca walked in the door.


Raising A Boy

 I am officially 29 weeks and I don't think I have taken a real belly picture since week 16 or so.   I will work on getting a few this weekend but this belly is growing pretty fast and there hasn't been much time for picture posing.  We have been busy house hunting so we can make room for our growing family and busy keeping up with Hudson who doesn't seem to stop going all day unless it is to watch the Wiggles (oh joy).  My sister sent me this link this week and since I am having another boy I thought I would share.  So far it is so true.  Love my boys but I have a lot to learn!  Growing up with my sister and mom in the house most of the time was quite different for sure.



 We spent our Sunday morning at Grandma's in our pajamas playing outside before it got too hot.  Hudson is apparently a janitor at heart and insists  on playing with mops, brooms, and dusters.  He just had to bring the swiffer mop outside to mop the driveway.


 I always hate to see the daycare number pop up on my phone while I am at work.  It is never a good reason that they are calling.  Either he is sick or something happened.  Miss Maria called me on Friday afternoon to let me know that Hudson fell and hit the corner of a table.  The result was his first black eye. :(  You can kind of see it in the picture above.  Poor Hud.

 It is pretty neat that when Hudson is at Grandma's house he gets to take bath in the same blue bathtub that I used to take a bath in when I was little.  I will spare you the comparison pictures but believe me not much has changed about this bathroom.  Grandma is getting ready to do some renovations so I thought I should get a few pictures of him in my old bathtub.



Hudson figured out that he can climb on Grandma's coffee table.  When he got up there he thought he was on stage and immediately started singing and giving us a show. Rebecca caught the tail end of his silliness on video.

He has got a pretty awesome laugh...just like his Daddy. :)

After he was finished with his dinner he leaned over and started asking Wyatt if he wanted one of his "puffs".  He stuck his hand out like he was going to give it to Wyatt and then he took it back and put it in his own mouth and said "All Gone" and started laughing.  Already teasing the poor dogs.  Soon after he realized how funny it was to actually give them the food.  This video shows the end of the fun.  Since he was out of food he decided to just throw the whole bowl on Wyatt.  :-/

18 month check-up

Hudson went in to the pediatrician for his 18 month check-up today.  Here are his stats:  He is 34 and 1/4 inches tall, weighs 29 lbs, 11 oz, and his head circumference is 48 cm.  According to the pediatrician he is 98th percentile for height and 97th percentile for weight!  The chart I use online says that he is more like 90th percentile for both but to sum it up, I have a big boy!  He was a champ during his visit and laughed when Dr. Joe was checking his belly.  I put off his shot until next week so that was one less thing to worry about today.  After this he only has one more to get when he is two then we are shot free until he is four!  Yay!  I guess I can start worrying about immunizations for the next baby boy. By the way, he will be here in about 2.5 months!!! 

Hudson and I hid inside most of the day because it was miserably hot outside again today.  Later this afternoon it got a little cloudy so we went outside before the storm to enjoy the cloudy "cooler" weather.  He insisted on riding in his wagon outside but of course he decided that he had to get out and run for a little while.  This means that mommy had to try to pull the wagon and keep up with Hudson.  He really wanted to find the rabbit that we usually see on our walk and kept running up and down the path yelling "Hop, Hop!"  I am sure this scared all of the wild life away pretty quickly.  On the same path a few weeks ago we saw 3 deer and it was so funny because Hudson kept calling them "Wyatt" and trying to make clicking noises to get them to come closer.  If you know my dog, then you will know that he does actually resemble a small deer at times so it was pretty funny.  Mommy would be happy if Hudson loved the deer as much as he loves the dogs because I don't know what I would do with a son that takes up hunting as a hobby!