We Did It Jennie!!!

This is at the starting line before our Half Marathon. (left: Jennie, middle: Melissa, right: Sydney). Both Jennie and I ran under the names of different people. Jennie's brother caught the flu so she is "Josh" and I am running for a man in my ward, Mike Smiley, who was actually in Utah. GO TEAM Josh, Mike, and Melissa!!!

It was FREEZING!!!!

Jennie is so talented she even whipped out her camera and took a picture while we were running:)

We all finished! We started together and ended up breaking off from each other to do what felt comfortable for each of us. It was a great morning to run through Independence Grove (a forest preserve)! It was lovely.

I am going to miss this girl!!! She is moving at the beginning of next month:(  Jennie, you have been and will continue to be an amazing friend. Thank you for getting me to move my buns and do a half marathon after having Hudson!

Mundane Has Never Been SO Refreshing!

For the past three weeks, we have been watching several different families. Life felt crazy! It is so nice to be back to our mundane little life now! During these weeks we celebrated Thomas' birthday. He was a trooper to spend it with one of the families we were watching during this time, the Robbins' little girls and their aunt. We tried to make it a special day for him by decorating the Robbins' house with balloons and banners and having a delicious dinner and deadly ice cream pie for dessert. We love our THOMAS!!! He is such a wonderful part of our lives! Happy Birthday you old man:) xoxo

I need to time Hudson's "sippy cup sucking" to when we aren't taking pictures. I feel like he is always sucking a sippy cup in our pictures!

This was our birthday crew including Hattie, Fleury and Emily, their aunt. They seemed to enjoy the festivities . Who doesn't like a reason to eat delicious things and throw a party? C'mon. Unfortunately, Thomas had school obligations the whole day until 7 that night. Talk about dedication and sacrifice! Such is life as an adult.

Hudson loved singing to his Dad. He got down on the floor and started laughing and dancing while we sang. The second the camera came to his attention he was as stiff as a board. Why is that? I'll never understand.

OBI WAN???

At our next stop, we watched a family of 4, the Walkers. Such a cute bunch. Nothing like going from having 1 child of my own, to adding two more at the Robbins, then going to the Walkers and adding 4 more! I think I am destined to madness. While playing outside in the chilly air at the Walker's, we bundled Hudson in what looked like Obi Wan Kenobi:)

An early Halloween get-up:)

It has been getting chilly here in Chicagoland! Fall is beautiful as ever and I am amazed at the color and magnificent feeling of Fall in the air. This is something everyone needs to experience in their lifetime. We are enjoying the season and we  try to get out as much as possible while we still can. Hudson is our little explorer and could play outside for hours and be in heaven the whole time.

During the 3 weeks of babysitting, my time was overly consumed with kids. I felt like my life flashed forward to life as a mother of 5 children. It was pretty wild! I had to sneak my time to get out into a 2 hour block of time I had while the youngest was in Preschool during the mornings. During this time, we would run errands or go on bike rides or run to prepare for the Prairie Half Marathon Jennie and I planned to do (Oct 6). Pictures to come...

Hudson has enjoyed having a number of new siblings and toys over the past few weeks. He has played so hard and has loved every minute of it. Although I was overwhelmed and stressed at times, I was happy to know Hudson was having the time of his life. It kept me going!