Family

Happy 5th Birthday, Hudson!

Filed Under: Every Day, Family, Hudson, Motherhood

Jun52014

Dearest Hudson,

Five years ago, at 4:38 a.m., you made your grand entrance in this world. We really thought you were going to be born on June 4 because that was the day of my induction, but you had other plans. You arrived sunny side up with the biggest cheeks any of us had ever seen. All 9 lbs 6 oz of you were sweet baby boy perfection.

Now, you are fifty pounds, fifty inches tall, and a vocal, smart, energetic little boy. You’re heading off to kindergarten in August and, yet, there are times when I look at you that I can still see that sweet baby that was first placed in my arms five years ago.

You are such a fun-loving boy. You always want to dance and sing and you want everyone to do it with you. We’ve always had music playing throughout the house during the day, and I love that you love music as much as I do.

You have the most tender heart of anyone I know. You feel things deeply and are such a joy to be around. I’m still trying to figure out your love language, but I think you show love with words of affirmation. You’re constantly telling everyone that you love them and how you feel about them. It’s such an encouragement, and you will meet many people in your life who love this about you.

You have grown and matured so much in this last year. You are reading everything and you love to write. You love your friends so much. We sometimes have to take a little break from too much time with friends because we’ve already entered the season of “friend spats” but you do love your friends.

Your favorite color is blue. You love Frozen. You love “Life is a Highway” and the song “Carry On” by Fun. You love being outside to play with sidewalk chalk and ride your bike. Your best friends are John, Dolan, Heyward, Brennan, and Witt. You really love Mommy and Daddy’s friends, too. You love being around babies and trying to make babies smile. It’s pretty sweet.

You want to read and color all the time and you are obsessed with The Octonauts an Ninja Turtles, even though you’ve never seen an episode of Ninja Turtles.

Hudson, this day is my favorite day, too, because it’s the day I became a mommy. It’s the day that I first looked in your big brown eyes and realized for the first time how special our relationship would be. It’s the day that we looked at each other and I knew that you were going to teach me so much about love and grace. It’s because of you that I know what grace looks like and feels like. Thank you, sweet boy.

My life completely changed the day that you were born, and I can’t imagine my life without you in it. Everything is exciting because you’re a part of it. Everything is new to me when it’s new to you.

I’m so excited for you to turn five. You’ve looked forward to this day for a long time. You’re going to kindergarten and you’ll be away from us more. We’re just so excited for you and this next year.

We love you so much, buddy. Happy birthday, Hudson!

Love,

Mommy

Throwback Thursday Stories : sweet summertime

Filed Under: boy mom, Family, Motherhood

May222014

My friend Jessica Turner of The Mom Creative hosts this fantastic link up on Thursdays called Throwback Thursday Stories. It basically takes the #tbt idea a little bit further and you can tell the story behind the photo.

I don’t know about you, but I can turn into a weepy mess if I start looking through my iPhoto account. I see pictures from pre-Todd days and pictures when we were engaged, and then married, and then we welcomed our babies. It’s so crazy that your whole life can appear right before your eyes in photos.

In honor of the beginning of summer for us, I chose this picture for today’s Throwback Thursday Story.

I love this picture of sweet, round, little 14-month-old Hudson. He’s carefree. He’s totally unaware of his extreme wardrobe (or lack therof) choice.

My mom, Hudson, and I had gone to Tennessee to visit my cousin and her daughter. She and Hudson are about five months apart in age, and we just couldn’t wait to get them together. It was in the middle of August in Tennessee, and we decided to let the kids run around in the sprinkler.

So we stripped them down to a diaper, put on some water shoes and a hat, and then somehow they found golf clubs. They ran around like this for an hour and just loved it.

This is summer to me. Maybe not so much the diaper part. But being outside. Running through the sprinkler. Soaking up the moments with your kids because they don’t care if you’re sweating and they really just want to be with you having some simple fun.

The pace is a lot slower and sometimes that’s hard on us. Too much time at the house can make us go a little stir crazy. But these days will be over before I know it. August will come back around and they’ll head off to preschool and Hudson will be in kindergarten.

I’m trying to say yes this summer. Yes to a random day trip to the beach. (Thank heavens we live within driving distance.) Yes to sprinklers in the yard. Yes to a bike ride when it’s blazing hot outside and I’ve already washed my hair. Yes to movies on a rainy day. Yes to staying up late just to hang out together. Yes to wacky outfits in the yard because it’s the carefree way to be.

Who’s with me?

What’s your favorite summer memory?

strawberry pickin'

Filed Under: Every Day, Family

May212014

May in South Carolina is just so beautiful! We’ve had our fair share of 95 degree days, but the temperatures have cooled off to 80 in the last week or two, and we’ve loved spending as much time as possible outside.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already seen some of these pictures.

Yesterday morning, we met our friends Emily, Jack, and Hazel at the strawberry farm (Cottle Farms if you are local to Columbia and want to pay them a visit) to pick some strawberries. We kept reminding the little ones to pick as many as possible so we could make a pie for a daddy.

We went a few weeks back and the strawberries were still kind of tart. But the strawberries yesterday were bright red and so beautiful.

The kids had a great time running around and filling up their buckets. Some strawberries were thrown by the two three-year-olds in the bunch, but every strawberry is worth saving. And Hayes and Hazel both chowed down on strawberries the whole time.

They had a great morning, and I’m glad we picked them one more time before strawberry season is over.

We had some fun visitors at our house from Charlotte yesterday. Rachel, Katie, and both of their girls came to visit. We hung out at the house and caught up. We watched the kids play and then went to Whole Foods for an easy lunch. It was so much fun to see them and catch up! I just love those girls.

I came back home and washed the strawberries and sliced them to make a pie. I was so excited to make the Strawn’s strawberry pie, and kept thinking things were going great. I made a crust. I made the filling. I chilled the filling. And then when I poured the strawberries and filling into the crust, I could tell it might take it a while to congeal. Last night, I even dreamed about strawberry pie and wondering if it would still be a runny mess in the morning.

And it was. Just a soupy strawberry pie. But I let everyone have some this morning for breakfast anyway. Even if it’s ugly, it can still taste amazing. And it did! I broke my sugar ban just to eat some of this pie. And it is FULL of sugar. Holy sweetness.

So we had a great time at the strawberry farm. I had a small kitchen disaster with the strawberry pie. But boys are super gracious when it comes to ugly, delicious food!

Hayes is 3!

Filed Under: Every Day, Faith, Family, Hayes, Motherhood, Uncategorized

May52014

Dear Hayes,

We woke you up this morning to sing happy birthday to you, and brought you downstairs to open your presents and have a donut fiesta. You were so excited. It’s like you couldn’t believe that today was actually YOUR birthday. Finally!

We all call you Hayesie. Your classmates, Hudson, and all the teachers, too. So sometimes when we ask you what your name is, you’ll say, “Hayesie.” It’s hilarious, but then sometimes I think we should stop so you don’t grow up thinking your name is Hayesie.

Being your mother is one of the sweetest privileges of my life. You are my sweetheart. You are the little light in this house that is always shining. Always beaming. Always laughing and looking for the party.

When someone is sad, you hug them. When someone is laughing, you tell them how funny they are. You greet everyone you meet with a smile. When we have visitors at the house, you want to take them around and show them your room and your favorite toys. You want everyone to feel as welcome as possible, and I just love that about you.

You’re our little wild card. Sitting still is not your favorite. You love to move and dance and do anything physical. You talk all the time and you don’t have a mean streak in your body. You’re not always obedient, but you are always sweet. I could cry just thinking about the way you hug using your whole body. And the way you grab my face to kiss my cheek. Totally unprompted… just because you’re you and you’re so loving.

If Hudson taught me how to be a mommy, you have taught me how to slow down to enjoy every single day. You’ve reminded me what a gift it is to be a mommy and what a joy it is to be your mommy and Hudson’s mommy. You love to enjoy everything for what it is. We take walks and hold hands. You soak every little thing up.

Even though you’re always running, you’re never actually in a hurry. When we opened your presents this morning, you wanted to stop and savor that first present. You weren’t ready to see what was in the next one. I get all teary thinking about what a good friend you will be and I just know that you’ll be the kid that everyone wants to be around because you treat everyone like they’re special.

I’m so thankful for your sweet little spirit and I’m so thankful for the way you rub off on the rest of us. I look at you and I still see my tiny little baby. Watching you grow up has been tough because I know you’re still really so little, but the time sure does go by quickly.

There aren’t enough words for me to tell you how wonderful you are and how much fun you are. But I will love you, love you, love you for as long as I live, and because of you, I’ll slow down a little bit more every day. You are such a light. Happy birthday, my sweet baby boy!

Love,

Mommy

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