A Christmas Surprise

I meant to post this one some time ago. This one is mostly for the Lane crew, but hopefully you other readers can find the humor in this. Christmas morning, my clever father had made a switch to one of Spencer's (my nephew) gifts. My sweet mom had thought Spencer would enjoy a "manly" doll to play with when he and Ally play dolls. He's two and has an older sister...playing dolls is just going to happen. So she picked out this prince doll. My dad thought it was way too girly (princes wear tights), so he wanted Spencer to have a GI Joe instead. Mom said no. Dad bought it anyway, changed the doll inside the prince box to GI Joe, and the rest you see here. The end of the story...Spencer picked the prince. Gigi knows her grandbabies.

Hosanna, Jesus is King!

On Palm Sunday, Hudson came home with a craft from Sunday School telling me that they learned how the people lay down palm branches exclaiming, "Hosanna, Jesus is King!" Throughout the week and on Easter Sunday, we had great fun proclaiming this truth together. And I must admit, although I did briefly share the Easter story with Hudson, those are some big concepts for a little one. I've told the Easter story to children many times, but telling it to my own two year old this year was somewhat intimidating. So for now I just enjoyed hearing Hudson say, "Ho-hannah, Jesus is King!"

Our Easter celebration was wonderful. We started the week off with an Easter egg hunt during his play group on Wednesday. Friday night, Susu came to town. And on Saturday, we had an Easter party at church. Pa, Gigi, and the Thompsons came up for that as well. Hudson was as excited about hunting eggs as I would have expected. He got motivated to find some when Jay told him there was candy inside, but then lost interest after spotting the trucks in the sand box. He did not like the Easter bunny, but loved going on the inflatables with Aunt Kandace. Easter Sunday we worshipped at church. Hudson stayed with us through some of the songs and then went on to play with his friends in the nursery. Susu helped us make a festive lunch, we rested, and then he opened his Easter baskets in the afternoon. A great day for our little guy!

Group hug as requested by Hudson Happy Easter, Susu !!

Some more of our favorite people... Hudson giving up on the Easter egg hunt

Reflections on 09

Oh, sweet Hudson, how much fun we've had in 2009!

In our second full year with you, we experienced many joys and learned many new things. Between your first and second birthday it has been incredible to listen to your vocabulary develop. You accomplished great feats in the way of physical movement in your first year of life, but in this second year and beyond you are learning new words at such a fast rate. At the end of this year, we've noted how much more you are talking than even at your birthday in October. You can repeat almost anything, and you remember just about everything! Just yesterday I took you to a place we'd been to once before, and you asked for a balloon because you had been given one before months ago. How do you remember these things!

You are a sweet, happy little boy. You love life and get so excited at the opportunity to play with other little people your size. Outgoing, joyful, and sometimes silly are words I would use to describe you, little Hudson. You enjoy the nursery at church, as well as playing in the youth house and getting a chocolate in Daddy's op-ice. Daddy is your hero, and you are still Mommy's baby. Thomas the train, Pa's tractor trailers, and most any other types of truck have been your favorite playtime choices this year. When we leave the house, you can usually be spotted grasping some type of vehicle in your hands. You have continued to love books. I can clearly hear you saying, "Mama read." In your love of reading we've gotten to read more to you about your Heavenly Father. How could we ever say no when you ask us to read your bible to you? Haircuts have been a new experience for us this year. We've been thrilled to see that even after we cut your hair, those red locks keep coming back curly. Your hair attracts so much attention.

Some of our biggest struggles have been over food. You just don't love to eat, well, that is, you don't like to eat vegetables or dinner foods. Pea-boo-butter and bread is one of your favorite cuisines, as well as chicken nuggets (you are like your father). Fruit you will also eat well. Desserts, of course, are not in question. As in so many other ways of life, you've challenged us to be more healthy eaters as we know you are always watching and wanting what we have. Even though we conflict over this issue, you do want to please Momma and Daddy, and tell us you will obey. It is a very sweet sound.

A few travel hi-lights of the year include a second journey to the mountain of Colorado, a trip to the Florida beach, a mission trip to Galveston, and a visit to Nashville complete with a stay at Opryland. You are a well traveled little boy!

You are a precious gift, and we cherish each day with you. Even when you wake up early in the mornings, you bring a smile to our face and make us eager to start the day. Happy New Year, Hudson!

P.S. Hudson has now been sleeping in a toddler bed for a week. He has transitioned better than I even hoped. Way to go, Hudson!

Merry Christmas

Our Christmas celebrations officially began the morning of Christmas Eve. This morning was designated as our family time. When Hudson woke up, we sat in the living room munching on breakfast goodies and reading Christmas books. Hudson was delighted to have that cuddle time with us and truly enjoyed hearing the Christmas story. He has learned the simplest elements of that great story. I'd have to say this was my favorite Christmas moment. Hudson is still so young that he didn't know presents were coming next and feel the need to hurry on. Instead, he just enjoyed reading with us. We then went on to exchange a few presents. He took his time playing with each gift before moving on to see what else he had gotten.

Then the weather changed...at first the sleet and snow seemed picture perfect with the fire keeping us warm in our home on Christmas Eve. Maybe it would have been perfect had we not had travel plans. Church was canceled for the evening, so we drove over to Tulsa after Hudson's nap. I'll just say I was praying before we made it to the highway in Stillwater. The normal 1.5 hour trip to Gigi and Pa's took 3 hours! We were just glad we made it when it was all over. Hudson wasn't a huge fan of this snow storm. The drifts were so high around the house that he couldn't walk in them, and he fell a time or two as well. When we got back to our house, we did convince him to give it another try, and he enjoyed it then.

As for family time, we had a great visit with the Lane side of the family on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. The cousins enjoyed their play time with one another. Hudson was not too interested in opening presents Christmas day as the train table for all the kids from Pa and Gigi that was left sitting out was far more interesting than any other gift he could open. Even though we couldn't make it out to church, we took time together to reflect on our reason for this celebration with a reading of the Christmas story and a nativity reenactment as well, all focused on the little ones, of course.

Rockey, Susan, and Stephen journeyed over from Mississippi the next day for another Christmas celebration with us. Hudson seemed to get the present opening this time and was delighted to see gifts fill up under our Christmas tree when they first arrived. His interested was further sparked when he realized many of his presents were from Thomas and other trains. Thanks for coming to see us!

We hope you and your family had a joyous Christmas celebration as well!

Getting the driveway cleared off!

December Fun

A Christmas story...

So many Christmas decorations, so much to touch! Silly Mom thought decorating the Christmas tree would be such fun this year with Hudson. He would help me hang the ornaments and marvel at the lights. Not exactly how it went down. Hudson was fascinated alright, but his idea of fun was banging the Christmas ornaments together. We struggled as I decorated the house and then in the next few days as I reminded Hudson not to touch the new decor. However, one wonderfully bright spot was the moment I got out the nativity set. When we were first married, we picked out a beautiful plastic set knowing that we'd have little hands around one day. It's perfect for Hudson to play with. I've put it on the coffee table, and Hudson has had such fun moving the sheep around and exclaiming, "Sheep eat grass!" I've tried to encourage him to keep Baby Jesus in the manger and explain that He is special. It's provided me with several teachable moments and distracted Hudson from all the other things he can't touch. Oh, and I must share this...when I got the set out, Hudson was looking at the one goat. I told him it was different from the sheep because it had horns. He thought a moment and said, "beep, beep!" He was thinking about a horn on a car. Priceless.

A few other pieces of news...

One of Hudson's newest feats includes counting to 10. Never thought he could do that so early. It encourages me to continue to present new concepts to him and see what sticks. His love is still for Thomas the Train. He continues to sleep well with about the same routine he's had for the past year or more although I fear his nap is slowly shrinking. He's stayed in his crib for now. We plan to convert it to the toddler bed after all the Christmas gatherings. One thing we love to hear right now is Hudson talk as he falls to sleep. He will lay in his crib and chatter about the day, repeating new words that he enjoys saying. A recent favorite has been saying our "real names." I love hearing him say Jennifer Lynn, James Edward (not Edwin), or best of all James Hudson Felker. A new potty was Hudson's most exciting purchase of the week. We're still mostly just playing when we sit on it, but he is very interested in the idea. We'll just see what happens.

A Time for Thanks

Helping Susu in the kitchen wearing his own turtle apron

Cheering on the Bulldogs wearing a real big boy jersey

Despite each getting a cold over Thanksgiving, we were grateful for a restful and refreshing visit with the Felkers in Starkville. We've decided that whenever possible we should make extended visits to Mississippi since it's such a long drive. Hudson does his very best in the car, but he is only two. It was so hard trying to explain to him why we couldn't let him sit in my lap while we were driving (and I must confess I did let him sit with me for a minute in the back seat which was a horrible idea...he then couldn't understand why he couldn't get out again). Jay had the opportunity to tour David's new stomping grounds in Jackson, Susu took us shopping in Tuscalosa, we ate and ate on Thanksgiving, and we cheered to the Bulldogs to victory at the Egg Bowl. As Hudson would say, go Papa's team! :)  Hudson wasn't much of a Thanksgiving food eater.  Not a surprise to those who know our picky toddler well, but I think he was thrilled with all the family around and new toys to play with.  We are thankful for many blessings, including our wonderful family.  

Spider Mania

Whether we call it the Pumpkin Party or Fall Carnival (no one name has stuck just yet), Pa and Gigi's second annual gathering was incredible! I think some public festivals don't even have as many activities as this did. Tractor rides, fishing booth, bowling, and most every other type of carnival game you can think of were the kids' options. And, of course, there were plenty of yummy treats to be had. We didn't even get to the pumpkin carving, but they did paint pumpkins. Hudson loved the bowling and the tub of balls.

We spread out our celebrating throughout the week. We enjoyed Stillwater's Downtown Festival on Tuesday, did a little trick-or-treating and candy distributing on Thursday (yes, Stillwater moved the official celebration due to football games), and then finished up the week with the grand Pumpkin Party on Saturday. Hudson was the best looking spider I've ever known. His costume choice was his idea, so it made it even better.

(P.S. So I realize it is December as I'm posting this, but I felt it was necessary to chronicle our Halloween celebration. I tend to blog in clumps. I just can't help it!)