Sisters

I love this

I love having a sister! There are many days I talk to my sister 3 or 4 times a day. We talk about everything and nothing at the same time. I cannot imagine my life without her!

 Holy blonde hair flashback

Sometimes I think she is the only oe who understands me. She listens and loves me no matter what. She also gave me the most beautiful babies to love on and made me an Aunt. I love her!

                                            I am so grateful for the closeness of my family!

Fun Friday morning

Wow, what a week it has been. 3 nights out, 6 playdates, lots of errands.... I am exhausted and my house is a DISASTER! One day I am going to get myself together. Maybe tomorrow?

One of my favorite things about our house is the proximity to North Hills. I am obsessed with North Hills. I could literally survive with the stores located there. They have wonderful activities for kids and I love putting Hudson in the stroller and walking up there. This moring we met his friend Claire for thumb print art class.

With free milkshakes from Chick-fil-A

                                                         

                                                             Storytime with the cow

Hudson loves hugging the "chicken cow"

And playing a little game

It was so cute.

We ran home (literally) and had some outside time.

He is obsessed with this firetruck that squirts water. Obviously our chiminea was on fire.

He also found his way into his water table.

I should admit that I took all of these pictures while lounging in a chair. This week has worn me out and mama needed a little sun.

On a blogging roll

I am on a blogging roll. This is blog #2 in less than 12 hours.

Let me start by saying that it is 8:45 am and we have been awake for over 3 hours. Poor Hudson wet his bed. 5:30 is not a fun time to wake up. At all. Especially for me. I am not a morning person. I think I have said it before but I find that I really am not at full functioning mode until after 10 am. It may be a very long day.

We have new additions to our family...
the front fern birds

The back fern birds

Baby birds are really not cute. But we have loved watching them go from eggs to babies. Hudson likes to check on them throughout the day.

Hudson & Bailey have been super snuggly lately

Yesterday was National running day so Hudson & I celebrated with new fast runners

It's sad that his foot is almost as big as mine


Yesterday Hudson was begging to call his daddy at work so I dialed the number really fast. I heard a male voice answer so I said "Hey, here's Hudson." Hudson started talking and then said, "Daddy? What are you saying? Daddy? Hello? What?" I took the phone to make sure Jonathan could hear him and the voice on the other line was a hispanic man. Guess I was too distracted while dialing.

Fire station

I have tried to plan something fun for us to do everyday this summer. We have worked on art projects, practicing writing Hudson's name

For some reason that picture will not rotate on my computer. But he is a child genius.

We have been on many lunch and dinner dates with friends, North Hills open play, pool parties, the library, museum, scavenger hunts, daddy's kickball games (HILARIOUS), etc.

But I think Hudson's favorite activity so far was going to the firetruck station yesterday! He is fascinated with firetrucks. He will scream at the top of his lungs when he sees one or hears a siren coming.

We were headed to eat lunch yesterday when we passed the firestation. 2 firetrucks were outside so  I decided to pull over and see if we could go on a tour. The sweet firemen were so gracious and welcoming to us. All of them came out and showed him every single detail of the station. Then it was time to see the firetrucks. Man oh man, was my boy happy.

While he was in the truck they let him try on boots, a jacket and a mask. They taught him about stop, drop and roll. He even got to turn on the siren and lights. They were so sweet to give him a coloring book, stickers and a hat. I was very impressed and it warmed my heart to see how nice they were and took the time to let Hudson explore and ask questions. He cracked me up because his questions were...

"Can I drive it?"

"Why do you sleep here?"

"Is this a boom or a pumper truck"

"Where are your bandaids?"

and

"What do firemen eat?"

Before we left I asked to snap a picture of Hudson with 2 of the firemen. Much to my surprise I think they thought I was taking a photo for a pin up calendar.... I mean seriously, they were standing normally and then struck a pose.

Thank goodness for brave men and women who put their lives on the line to help us and to make my little guy so happy.

Who does Hudson look like?

I get asked all the time who Hudson looks like. I think he is a really good combination of both of us. He definitely has my eyes. But when I look at pictures of Jonathan as a 2 year old, it is no contest.

Jonathan age 2

Hudson age 2

Master bedroom

I have been looking for inspiration for our master bedroom since we moved into our house. We always pushed our room aside and bought things for the other rooms of the house or for outside. It's time to make our room nice. I love these bedding ideas.

Minus that cat. Gross

I always say that I do not want all white bedding like we have now, but I am so drawn to it. It looks so clean and fresh..... until you go to sit on it and realize a 2 year old boy and golden retriever have been there.

Sweet potato casserole

We have 6 cookouts this month, yay! I love a good cookout. I always contribute deviled eggs because it is easy and I have a phobia of cooking for other people. Seriously. I am always worried they will hate it or it will turn out horrendous. So I make deviled eggs and Jonathan makes sweet potato casserole. This dish is melt in your mouth amazing.

Ingredients

• 4 cups mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract                    
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup chopped pecans (we use Special K cereal)

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, milk, salt, 1/3 cup butter and vanilla. Mix together and pour into a greased 13x9 inch baking dish.
2. To prepare the topping, combine in a separate bowl the brown sugar, flour, 1/3 cup melted butter and pecans. Mix together and crumble over sweet potato mixture. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 45 minutes.

We had our first cookout last night and had a ball.

                                               

Happy Friday

Here is to hoping your weekend is full of love

Favorite things

My sweet friend, Ashley over at  Ashley's life always list her favorite things at the end of the month. Cute idea! Here are my 5 favorite things from May

1. The Got to Be NC Festival. It made one little boy super happy.

2. Home grown vegetables

Hudson is obsessed with sweet peas. He eats them right off the vine!

3. The Bachelorette started back. I am a sucker for this every season.

4.  Weddings and date nights

5. Hudson is fully potty trained! No picture needed for that one!

Darn you, Pinterest

Pinterest is becoming the death of me and our bank account. Am I the only one who finds it overly addicting? It has the best ideas for organization, gardening, your home and clothes. Not to mention cute accesories. Darn you Pinterest

I already bought this from Charlotte's

 These are at my friend Kristin's adorable store, The Purple Polka Dot in Cary - I need

Other drool worthy things

Brain release

- We had a great weekend full of parties, friends and fun.

- I have had zero appetite lately. I am not sure if it is because it is so humid outside or if it is God's way of letting me fit in my bathing suit. Either way works for me. Hudson and I ran 12 errands this morning (totally fun with a 2 year old.... not) and the closest thing to us was a Steak & Shake. I was craving a milkshake so we went through the drive thru and I honestly said this,
"Hi, May I please get a chocolate  m-i-l-k-s-h-a-k-e ..... sorry I have a 2 year old in the backseat. "
yep, totally spelled it. I did not want Hudson to know what I was getting.

- I have had a hard time deciding what I want to hang on our front door for the summer. We always have something for holidays but I want something I can keep up there all summer. I found this today and am getting it  made.

I think it is really sweet with our married monogram.

- I am teaching Hudson's Sunday School class all summer. That should be entertaining.

- My baby boy will be 3 in 24 days. That is crazy. How did that happen?

I find myself getting so frustrated with people saying, "oh he is about to be 3, time for another one." It's such an annoying statement. Especially since I was medically told having another baby would be so life threatening for me. We are beyond, beyond blessed with our sweet Hudson and I will always be happy for my 1 sweet, precious boy! And I will be really happy when my sister stops calling me everyday begging to be our surrogate. My sister is the best!

-Together Hudson and I replanted all of the potted plants that the bunnies have ruined. We changed out all of the hanging baskets and added a few more potted plants for the backyard. It was a workout. Hudson pulled every ounce of mulch out of the bag and spread it over the driveway with his new shovel & rake, so I seriously did a lof of work getting everything together. We also made a new flower bed, planted more vegetables, planted a climbing rose bush for the shed and found a home for Charlotte, our new rooster

Thank you Dad & Lisa!!!


- My Michael Kors watch has still not shown up in a gift box somewhere. It's getting annoying.... Jonathan! Maybe my 3 year belated push gift?