Be Still My Heart.....

My two little Valentine's.....two pieces of my heart!

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a lovely day which included a trip to Target to pick out cards and sweets for daddy and then I picked up Chick-fil-a and had lunch with my precious and oh-so handsome sons. Then we spent the evening at home when David got off of worked and he cooked me a yummy grilled rib-eye steak dinner with baked sweet potato. It was really good and definitely made this mama happy since she didn't have to cook, score! All-in-all, it was a really nice, low-key Valentine's Day, which was just what we needed!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you from my two sweet Valentine boys! 

Snow Day

Living in Texas by definition means that we are at the mercy of some of the craziest weather around from blistering heat and drought one minute to torrential downpours another and in the winter, it can flip a switch from spring-like conditions to winter wonderland in just a 24 hour period. (or less!) And of course, even our winters are so very mild, that we typically don't see much snow or if so, it's usually a small handful of occurrences for the entire season. and this winter in particular, it has been unusually mild, lots of nice warm weather more appropriate for April than December and January. Until this week that is....

Apparently, Old Man Winter must have FINALLY gotten the memo that it's not supposed to be in the upper 60's and sunny everyday (not that I didn't enjoy it at least a little bit) and we got our first real cold snap and snow of the season. And we couldn't have been more thrilled to have gotten an unexpected 'snow day', but even more-so because it was on the weekend so daddy was home as well to enjoy it, unlike last year when he had to work during the record snowfall days we had in early February. 

Silly me hadn't even been paying attention to the weather forecast all week long and happened to mention to David on Saturday morning that I wanted to maybe go do some shopping at Home Goods on Sunday and possibly go scope out and try on some cowboy boots as I've been eying a few pairs online for quite some time now. Little did I know that my shopping plans were going to be derailed by the supposed impending bad weather, that I thought was, well, somewhat of an unlikely reality since SO very often our forecasts call for snow and then nothing happens or we get ICE instead of the snow. He told me that the weather was going to be bad and that so I went ahead and decided to go do all of my grocery shopping that afternoon so that it was out of the way and we didn't have to worry about getting out on Sunday should we actually get any winter weather. I was definitely excited to hear that snow was a possibility, but didn't necessarily get my hopes up since we have such wacky weather patterns and rarely do we get any accumulation even when it does snow. 

So, when I woke up way too early Sunday morning and looked out our bedroom window, I saw nothing, just a bunch of rain, LOTS of it. Great, SUPER, lovely, now it's going to just freeze and be a total mess, is what I initially thought. I crawled back into bed and when we all got up later on in the morning, I asked David when the snow was supposed to start and he said, "Oh, it's not supposed to even start until around noon." Me - "Uh, okay. I was wondering because right now it's just a soggy mess out there" 

Fast forward to right around noon and it starts to snow, but not just little itty-bitty flurries, I mean it REALLY starts to snow and they are big, FAT, fluffy snowflakes and it is a heavy mix coming down. It snows for hours and we surely got at least a couple inches or more, but nothing like the 12"+ we got last year. Even still, enough to cover the yard, the rooftops, the trees and everything else in our neighborhood instantly transforming it into a temporary Winter Wonderland. It was beautiful, as it always is when it snows. Hudson could NOT wait to get out and play in the snow, but by the time it had accumulated, it was Landon's naptime. So, we promised him we'd go out and play as soon as baby brother got up from his nap and he was really patient and good with waiting until after Landon had a nap and a late lunch and then we all got bundled up and went out to enjoy it for a short bit.

Hudson was SO excited to finally be able to go out and play in the snow a bit.

Landon curiously checked things out and decided to hang out on the sidewalk.

(the snow was actually already melting away and kind of slushy at this point, so although I wanted him to play more in the snow, I didn't encourage it since it was more like slush and not so much snow. We should have gone out before his nap probably)

What is all this stuff????

David showing Hudson the trick to a perfect snowball.

Stomping snow is SO gratifying.

He took no time in getting all wet and yucky....my little snow loving boy!

Landon was content with just sitting on the sidewalk and watching on....

Hi mama! It's cold! Brrrr.....

No, really, it's pretty cold out here guys.....

Oh well, I'll make the most of it......Woohoo! Yay for snow!!!

Hudson was not so happy with mom snapping away with the camera. He said "Only ONE picture mom!"

 

 Snow days ROCK!

Obviously, he LOVED it!

Two of my loves....SWOON!

Daddy + sweet baby boy = heart.melt

Then I jumped from behind the camera for a few shots...

Landon and mommy...

Landon wanted to show off his new first big-boy haircut too!

It was fun, but would have been SO much better and more fun had there been more snow and had it not already been melting so badly. Hopefully, we'll get at least one more good snowfall before the winter is over. We have to have another snowman opportunity since this time was a FAIL due to the melty snow. Just as long as it doesn't snow in March, we'll be good!

To The Moon And Back....

 

Loves my two sweet little boys so, so very much, more than I can ever express in words and am so beyond blessed to be able to call them mine. And even more blessed that they love me back and are so, so sweet and good to me. Love you both...to the moon and back.

 

Santa Success!

This year's annual visit to go see Santa was another success and both Hudson and Landon did SO well!! We had initially planned to go to Allen again to see the jolly ole' fellow, but decided to skip the LONG drive and meet him at the Uptown Village shopping center in Cedar Hill instead. I was truly quite reluctant at first and REALLY wanted to go to Allen, but it was already so late in the day and our original Santa plans weren't likely to come to fruition so I agreed to give the local meet-up a chance instead so the boys wouldn't have to endure such a long drive to and from Allen and plus, it would have really messed with Landon's lunch time and nap times too since it would take up so much time. 

Amazingly, I was really impressed with NO wait and a super jolly and SOCIAL Santa that was ready to give the boys full-attention since there wasn't a million other screaming kiddos waiting in line. Neither boys cried or acted scared, not one bit except I would say that Landon did look quite a bit curious at first when Santa was talking to him, but after a few minutes, he was good to go and just smiled and hammed it up for their photo. SO glad it went well and we had no meltdowns this year! (we've been lucky enough to only have had one really, but last year Hudson was not so happy by the time we got to see Santa, so no wait was even a bigger bonus this year!)

Here they are with Santa.......

Counting With Hudson

Hudson randomly was counting to himself today and I couldn't help myself but to chuckle just a tad little bit when this is what I heard....

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen."

L-O-L!

Gotta work on that, ha!

Pumpkin Patch Love

Just a snippet from our trip to the Country Critters petting zoo and pumpkin patch last Friday.

Birthday Cupcakes - YUM!

Hudson's first birthday celebration cupcakes for 'school' or MDO rather. I decided that I would make a sweet treat for him and his classmates to celebrate his birthday tomorrow during snack time. Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and cute little toppers in Hudson's two favorite colors, green and orange! Can't believe our little boy will be four this Sunday!!!

You Make Me Smile

Toddler Talk

Otherwise lovingly referred to as Hudsonisms in our home.....

Um yeah, so earlier this afternoon, I'm in my bathroom putting my makeup on while Hudson was in the bath right behind me. My mother in law was going to be coming over to visit and have dinner and we had been having a lazy morning and had just gotten around to getting ready for company. Like I often do, I decided to put Hudson in the bath to play while I quickly threw on some makeup before giving him a bath and then waking up Landon from his nap to give him his bath as well. All was normal as Hudson played and splashed in the tub. He insists on having tons of toys and I always *try* to be the nice mom and play along allowing him some fun time in the tub before it's down to the business of getting clean! Well, let's just say that after a few minutes the dialogue I begin to hear coming from the bathtub nearly causes me too pee myself (good thing I was in the bathroom I guess!) because it was truly downright comical! I didn't know what to expect or what in the world Hudson could have been talking about when I heard it, but once I realized the story behind his words it was just too stinkin' cute not to share! 

So, he's just started this thing where he talks to himself or rather to his toys and cars and plays out little imaginary conversations with them and this was just one of a few this week that made me downright giddy and just smile thinking of how much fun he was having just be creative and playing on his own. Little did I know how "creative" he could be.....

First I hear this....

Hudson in a high pitched voice -- "Don't eat me! Don't eat me!"

Then I hear this.....

Hudson is a raspy, growly voice --- "Rrrr, rrrr, I'm gonna eat you!"

Then this....

Hudson in a high pitched voice --- "Oh no, oh no! Please don't eat me! Please don't eat me!"

Finally, I decide to turn around and find out what the heck the kid is talking about because I'm pretty confused at this point and low and behold, I see him in the tub, Lightning McQueen in one hand and in the other, a big-arse shark toy to which he proceeded to imitate eating his hero, Lightning McQueen, lol!!! I immediately caught on to his hilarious imaginary scene and asked him what was going on even though I knew and he said, the shark is trying to eat Lightning and then just giggled. Ha!

Seriously, kids have the craziest imaginations, don't they? But then again, that's another amazing and totally fun thing about being a parent! I am constantly amazed at everything my child says and does and whether it's silly that makes me laugh or innocent and heartfelt that makes me my heart swell or something new and amazing that makes me proud, I just can't get over how terrific he really is and how much my love for him grows more and more every.single.day. Becoming a mom = priceless, best.blessing.ever

So....now I want to know, what's the silliest or most random thing your kiddo has said or done this week?

Rewind - Maternity Photos 2009.

So, kind of ironic I guess, but I never got around to sharing my maternity photos that Sara with Little Ones Rock took for me back in, oh November! I wanted to at least share a few of my favorites even though little Landon is already here and going on three months old already!!! I know, I cannot even believe that my newborn is about to be one quarter of a year old! YIKES! Before I know it I will be planning his first birthday party and getting ready for his second Christmas, big crocodile tears coming on just thinking about it. :(

Whew...okay, past the emotional stuff for now....so on with the pics! I want to frame at least one if not a couple or few, which ones are your faves?? Being the overly-analytical one, I just can't decide and always have problems making decisions especially on things like this...thus, why there's a huge stack of Aaron Brothers frames still sitting under the entertainment center in my office | the playroom because I have yet to be able to sit down and decide on which photos to have printed to frame in each one. Le sigh. I guess I need to work on that too.