Thursday, January 28, 2010

Nothing is off limits


Don't lie to me and tell me that your pantry is incredibly organized and junk food free just like mine. Ha! This picture cracks me up so much that I am putting pride aside and allowing you to see my disaster closet so that I can show you what my hilarious little boy did two nights ago. We were sitting at the table having dinner (read: picky Hudson not eating) when he climbs down from his chair and opens the pantry to go for some cookies. Of course following this photo opp was a tantrum because mommy doesn't allow little boys to eat cookies when they haven't touched their dinner.



There is not one thing or place in our house that is off limits to Hudson now. All of the doors have lever handles which is super easy for a toddler to reach up and yank on. Apparently Mac-n-cheese boxes and similar items make for great climbing tools. There is no more child-proofing. All I can do at this point is make sure sharp objects and writing utensils are locked away somewhere and say help yourself Hudson. We have three levels in our house and he's totally mastered the steps so he can go anywhere he wants to go. If my eyes aren't glued to him I loose him at times because he's gone to visit Daddy downstairs in his office, or up to his room to play by himself. God forbid he be quiet because that means havoc is taking place somewhere.



Oh its so fun though--watching him discover the world and be independent. When he's not saying "No Mommy", not eating what I want him to, or throwing a tantrum about something, life with Hudson is a blast. He's actually using his manners now which is so sweet and makes me giggle. This morning I caught him covering his mouth when he coughed and I didn't even have to mention it. He always says "thank you" when you give him something. If the answer to a question isn't "no" its "ok Mommy" which sounds more like "ooogaaayyy". Too cute!! Now we are working on "yes ma'am/sir, and no ma'am/sir".



Can life be any better than this? I have loved every stage of his little life so far. I keep thinking it can't get better, or more fun and then it does. He amazes me every second that I'm with him. What unbelievable little creatures these toddlers are!!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Photo Time!


My beautiful baby


A sweet passerby offered to take our photo.


He was excited about the ducks AKA: quack, quacks


One of my favorites!


He followed the ducks around for a long time.


He was so excited about the quack, quacks!


Checking out the water.


He loves his daddy!


I really just want to eat him!


Looking for fish...


Good job behind the lens Lantis!


He found the mud puddles!


splish, splash!


We let him play in the puddles with his rain boots.


Again, looking for fish.


Hudson and Daddy


Hey Mommy!


He's so silly!

Lantis and his mini me.



This weekend I felt the need to be behind my camera for a little while, get out of the house, and I really wanted an updated photo of Hudson and I together. So Saturday morning we set out on a little family adventure to Aldridge Gardens. We killed several birds with one stone: Hudson could play outside, I could take photos, Lantis could see Aldridge Gardens for the first time, we could cure some cabin fever, and we could spend some quality time just the three of us before the skies opened and the rain started. My husband who is also great with a camera took over for a few minutes during our outing and he got some great shots of Hudson and I together and for that I was very greatful. I have tons of photos of Hudson--so many that I've nearly crashed computer and had to go buy an external hard drive--and I have a lot of photos of Hudson and Lantis together, but I have hardly any photos of Hudson and I together. The few that I do have are mostly just quick snapshots of he and I being silly around the house which means I'm wearing no make up and a T-shirt. So finally I have some decent photos of us worth framing. We had a great time wandering around the gardens and seeing the ducks. Hudson loved it!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Lens Envy Freebie


In case you don't follow my Lens Envy blog, I'm offering a February Freebie. We all love freebies, right!? I'm feeling generous, so pass the word on to your friends. If this isn't your month for photos, never fear. I've already planned specials for March and April as well.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Who's child is that?


Whos child refuses to stay clothed in public? Whos child screams and pitches a nasty fit when his mom tries to put his shirt back on? Whos child can stroll through the freezer section of Costco completely unaffected by the low temperature? Whos child was putting on a gun show at Costco? Whos child danced for a group of women in Costco while half naked? Whos child was winking at women as he rolled through Costco eating his goldfish? Whos child was bribed into putting his shirt back on after the promise of a Coke was made to him?





...Yep, that would be mine. Although yesterday I wasn't so proud to claim him.





As we are rolling through Costco (aka Erin's grocery shopping heaven--the amount that I LOVE Costco will have to be expressed in another blog) Hudson decides that he no longer needs to wear his shirt. He decides that he is completely comfortable riding through the store half naked. I tried to convince him nicely to put his shirt back on, but he refused with a big fat ugly, "NO Mommy." I then resort to mean teeth gritting mommy and say, "Hudson you must put your shirt on or you will be in trouble. No snack and time out when we get home." That was met with another, "NO." Mean teeth gritting mommy then wrestles the shirt back on over his head and insists that he wear it. He's crying and when I turn to pick up something out of the freezer, he again removes his shirt. At this point we are in freezer section where the sweet little ladies are handing out food samples--typically our favorite part of a Costco excursion. The food sample ladies yesterday just happened to all be African-American women and to say that they were loving Hudson's repeated attempts at removing his shirt is an understatement. They are laughing at him and basically encouraging him to put on a show. As I've mentioned before, my son has NO problem being the center of attention, especially for the ladies. He starts showing his muscles, dancing, blowing them kisses and winking at them. While this was quite humorous, my inner mommy "I'm-not-going-to-raise-a-brat" voice is telling me that I must win this war against the naked child and force him to wear his shirt as I asked him to. When we get past the employees who were urging on the naked show I put his shirt back on and told him we would buy a Coke if he wore his shirt the rest of the trip. Bribery works every time, but I'm quite sure that creates a brat, right? This is only going to make him think that in order to mind, I owe him something.





I was faced with a OMG mommy moment--do I allow my child to happily ride through the store unclothed, or do I make him wear it and scream the rest of the trip? By going with the later I was afraid we would possibly end up with a ripped shirt becuase of his temper and we were sure to endure stares from other shoppers wondering why I didn't shut my kid up. Its a no win situation. Help me out blog mommies--what do you do!?!!??





By the way, while I'm on the subject. I hate the other staring shoppers when my child is being loud, or just generally being a kid. Half of them had kids at one time too!! Half of them have children in their buggies also--they just happen to be having a well behaved day, or are older kids that you can threaten and it works. If you are a parent you are sure to endure at least one miserable grocery shopping trip in your lifetime. Its like an unspoken rule, so don't look at me like that! Give me a look of "Its ok, honey. You're halfway to the register. If you can just make it past the candy aisle without WW3, you're homefree. You can do it, Mommy!"

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Lazy Day


Me and my sweet little man had a nice relaxing weekend together. We barely got out of our PJ's or off the couch. We watched several movies (gasp! I allow my child in front of the TV!). He and I rarely get that much alone time, but Lantis went hunting so we had some really good uninterrupted bonding time. This is a photo of Hudson and Bear-Bear enjoying their lazy Saturday. :)


Thursday, January 14, 2010

New bedding

I think the curse of having an interior design major is constantly wanting to change things around the house, constantly wanting to have trendy things in the house, being extremely picky about buying things for the house, and being very indecisive about things for the house. I think all that eventually leads to giving up and living with things I'm not satisfied with.

You may remember from a post back in the fall--September I think--that I have been looking for new bedding and ran into a bedding dilemma. I have literally been looking for bedding for over a year and just haven't found what I wanted or could afford. Then the Christmas/spending season arrived and I put my search on hold.

It is so hard to find affordable bedding unless you want the ol' bed-in-a-bag. I have had our current bedding for somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-7 years and I'm sick of it. Its nice and someone may want it when I put it in the yard sale this spring, but I'm done with it.

I ran across some bedding pieces that I really liked awhile back, but I had to find some things to coordinate with it. I was literally to the point of considering having something custom made when it found me today! I wanted something solid white with some bold coordinates and something I could use with my existing curtains because curtains are a whole new dilemma. (Hudson is almost two and still doesn't have curtains in his room!!) My mom makes all the curtains for our house, God love her, and I really didn't want to have to ask her to make something new. Then I'd have to go on another year long search for fabric for curtains. Yikes!

Anyway, I found what I think I'm happy with. Take a peek below! I may replace with solid white bedspread with a duvet and shams from Pottery Barn. Here it is: its the Morgan Collection. For now the solid white bedspread will suffice, but eventually I may switch them out. I'm just happy for a change right now!! :)

Next step is putting something new over my bed. I'm going to do a portrait on canvas--it will be beautiful! And we are painting. I'm shopping for paint tomorrow and we'll get out the rollers this weekend or next week. I'm going for something light since our bedroom is so dark and the furniture is so heavy. I'll share pics after the paint is complete also. Here is the bedding today...



The things they say!

Hudson has recently been saying "come here" which is accompanied by a little wave of his hand. It always cracks me up to hear him asking someone that. It sounds more like "ah-meare". So cute!! This morning I woke up to him talking over the monitor, calling for "Mommy" and "Daddy". Then he starts saying "ah-meare Mommy, ah-meare Daddy. Huddy up nite-nite. Huddy want milk!" It was the funniest wake up call and the best way to start my day!

Then we go through our morning routine and we're getting ready to leave to take him to his school. We passed through Lantis' office on our way out to tell him goodbye. Lantis' office was a small disaster zone--the typical man cave in the throws of a work day. When we walked in Hudson said, "oh Daddy made a mess!" Haha! Lantis and I both died laughing.

Hearing him learn to talk and putting sentences together is so stinkin' cute!! I know you other moms out there will agree.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Hudson ABCs

My sweet baby growing up and singing some songs for us.



Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday so we had a "celebrate Erin weekend". Naturally, I hated that! I don't like attention or affection...nope not one bit. ;)

We kicked the weekend off by taking Hudson to the Monster Jam. For a couple weeks prior to the show, we've seen it advertised on TV and Hudson would go crazy when he saw the commercials. After seeing him get so excited about something, I decided to put pride aside and take my precious man to see the "big trucks". I'm so glad that we took him. He sat mesmerized by the show. He would clap at all the appropriate times, he would squeal and laugh. He loved it because he could be as loud as his heart desired. He kept his head phones and ear plugs in without putting up a fight. I was concerned about protecting his ears and the show being way past his bed time, but he was so sweet and I would do it again tomorrow. Now...did we stand out in the crowd? A little...my husband in a polo shirt, me in cute boots, and neither of us with a dip in our mouth...I'll let you do the math.



A big truck jumping. Hudson loved their tricks.


Oh! It's loud!


Hudson sitting in Poppy's lap watching the big trucks.


Putting on a show.


He was mesmerized.


Our little family at Bebe and Poppy's house pre-Monster Jam.



Saturday I got out of the house for awhile and pampered myself. I had a manicure, had my make up done and my hair did. Hehe! That night Lantis threw a surprise birthday party for me at our house. I knew something was happening because he wasn't rushing me home Saturday afternoon, he'd gotten some of my girlfriends' contact info from me, told me that we needed a sitter Saturday night, and was being secretive about the plans. He had our friend Jason bring all of his audio equipment and they successfully transformed our eating area between the kitchen and living room into a karaoke stage. If you know me, you know I love to sing and I love to pretend I'm Mariah or Whitney for a few minutes. Put a hot mic in my hand any day. I'm not shy. So we had a karaoke party Hollis style. IT. WAS. SO. FUN. We had a house full of people-literally we were busting at the seams--and we had an absolute blast. I felt very loved! I loved every second with my sweet friends. I'm usually the event planner, so to not be the catalyst for such an occassion was nice and everyone pitched in. My girlfriends all went over board and helped Lantis by supplying food, snacks, drinks, and girly gifts. I'm so blessed with friends and family--they never cease to amaze me.


Me and my beautiful friends...minus a few that couldn't make it. (yes I did have a jacket, but I was hot)


Our eating area being set up for some serious karaoke.


Picture of a picture.


Lantis layin' down some rhymes. Ha!


Ryan sharing the mic with the crowd.


A little soul train broke out. This pic cracks me up!


Christa and Kathy duo



On Sunday we had family time--after I mopped the floors 15 times. We played hard with Hudson all day. We watched a couple of movies. Lantis and Hudson cooked dinner and a cake. They sang happy birthday to me which I have on video and hope to post soon. Hearing your sweet baby sing "happy day to mommy" has to be the sweetest thing ever!! I will share the video soon. :)



"Stop taking pics of me mommy! I want cake!"


Trying to wait patiently for me to cut the cake.


He couldn't stand it any longer and tried to sneak a little taste. Haha!



As you can probably tell it was a great birthday weekend! It will take a lot to top this one.

What's Hudson up to?

My sweet baby boy makes me laugh and smile so everyday! I needed to share some of the many cute things he does and says.

He talks very well and repeats anything and everything that we say--literally. He's a mocking bird.

Vocabulary:
Big truck crashed, or it broke
one more bite please
______'s house (fill in the blank with grandparents' names)--he recognizes the grandparents' houses and our house as soon as we're within a few miles.
Bear bear (who goes everywhere with us)
Buddy eat (when its time to feed the dog)
Buddy sit, Buddy lay down, Buddy stay--he orders the dog around constantly.
He refers to himself in the third person--Huddy eat, Huddy night-night, Huddy up (when he wants to be held), Huddy milk, etc
Thank you, Mommy or Daddy
Please, Mommy or Daddy
I love you Mommy or Daddy
Huddy hug--when he wants to hug you
He knows everyone's name in our immediate families and a few of our close friends and neighbors.
tick tock (for any clock or watch he sees)
Huddy watch Movers (his favorite TV show--The Imagination Movers) or Hot dog mouse (this is the name he came up with for Mickey Mouse. He saw the mouse and then put it with the hot dog song they sing at the end of the show and Mickey was officially named Hot Dog Mouse)
Huddy go bath n bubbles
Huddy want milk or water (but sounds like wawoo)
Huddy bite chick-chick (for chicken nuggets) or cheese, or candy, or cookie, or cracker.
we're here--this cracked me up the first time I put the car in park and he yelled "we're here" from the back seat! Ha!
where'd ____ go? (fill in person's name)
bye bye ______ (fill in person's name)


He can name almost every animal you show him a picture of and tell you what sound they make.

He can name most items around the house--table, chair, vacuum cleaner, toys, plate, cup, bed, potty, book etc.

He's getting better with his ABC's. I hope to post a video of him singing his ABC's sometime this week--as soon as I get caught up on some other things and upload the video to my laptop. It goes something like: a, c, e, d, i, o, p--and he'll repeat letters over and over throughout the song--but he's naming more letters than the original a,c, e that he did a couple of months ago. Haha!!

He's doing well with his colors. He can pretty consistently name red, green, yellow, blue and orange. He gets blue and green mixed up sometimes, but I'm still proud! :)

He is a very picky eater. Grrr! He would live off of chicken nuggets and pretty much does. I never stop offering fruits and veggies, but he's not interested. He won't even think about touching the little Gerber meals or the soup/ravioli meals in the cans. He pushes away his plate if he sees something that looks like its been mixed up or may be healthy. He loves junk food so I have to keep everything hidden and out of reach until he's eaten something decent. I tried the "this-is-dinner-and-if you-dont-eat-you-go-to-bed-hungry" approach and he went to bed hungry several nights because there was no way he was going to touch the corn and greens on his plate. It appeared his will power was stronger than mine. The weird thing is that he ate fruits and veggies when he was an infant, but stopped when we got to solid foods! We try to eat as a family as many nights as we can. Sometimes that just doesn't happen due to work schedules and obligations, but we make a genuine effort. We make him sit in his seat and try to eat what we are having for dinner. Sometimes he'll eat what we're having, and other times he'll take a look at it, nibble on a few things, and then he's ready to get down from the table. If any of you mommies have advice for a picky eater, I'm all ears!!!

He can name all his body parts. We recently graduated from the simple eye and nose to elbow, knee, and hiney. He'll say hiney and point to it from between his legs and it is absolutely hysterical.

He is consistently telling me when he's wet or soiled his diaper and asks me to change him so I have introduced the potty. We bought a training potty and an "Elmo goes to the potty" book, and the "Potty Training for Dummies" book. He has yet to use the potty and I guess its still a little early for that. I figured if he can tell me that he needs to be changed, then its time to start talking potty and big boy undies. He sits on the potty every night before bath time and before bed but no success. No, I have not put fruit loops in the toilet. I figured getting him to use it was the first step then we'll work on the precision and ruining a perfectly good box of cereal at a later date. He doesn't tell me when he has to go yet, so I assume that's the next step. I'm checking with my owner's manual on how to handle all this stuff...wish me luck. Tips welcome!

Hudson LOVES music--playing it, singing it and dancing to it. He plays my FIL's drumset forever every time he's at their house. He loves the drums and will ask to go to their house periodically "Huddy go Poppy house drum-drum?" He's really not bad on the drums either. He can keep a beat and he tears up the whole set, not just the ones in front of him. I know nothing about drums, but my FIL who has played for 35 years thinks he's amazing. He also plays Poppy's guitar. He likes the guitar, but he doesn't seem as interested in it as he does the drums. Our friend, Jason, who is an amazing musician gave Hudson a harmonica one night at one of his shows. We went to see Jason play and let Hudson enjoy the music. While Jason was on stage he found a bad note in the harmonica he was playing so he handed to Hudson. We are now the pround owners of a Herring harmonica and a very loud little boy. Honestly he can play more single notes on the harmonica than I can. He walks around the house playing a tune all the time.

So there's an update of our sweet little man and what he's doing these days. Of course, this barely even scratches the surface of his little mind and capabilities. He amazes me constantly and I fall more in love every second that I'm with him.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Handy Huddy-Ready to work!

Hudson is enjoying his work bench and tools that Mammie and Deedah gave him for Christmas. He's spent enough hours standing at that table to have built at least 4 birdhouses.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Happy New Year


Tina, Lisa, and me on New Year's Eve. Celebrating the end of 2009. Yes, we did wear our head accessories all night--including during dinner.


We had a fabulous and very grown up New Year. Our typical New Year celebrations include us being out way too late and having way too much fun. I guess age and parenthood kicked in this year and we decided to be grown ups. We went to dinner with some fun friends at The Cheesecake Factory and then back to their house to see the ball drop and have a champagne toast. Dinner was great! I forget how overwhelming their 25 page menu is! I can never decide what to get when I'm there, but I've never had a bad dish. This time I ordered shrimp scampi and it was to die for. The shrimp were lightly battered and fried to perfection. It was heavenly. One thing we never have a hard time deciding on is the appetizer--fried macaroni and cheese. OMG!!! Those fried balls of goodness are to die for. We always order that appetizer and it never lets us down. The appetizer, wine and dinner was so yummy I didn't even leave room for cheesecake. What's up with that!? Oh well. There's always next time.

I wish everyone a very blessed year in 2010!!