What Makes Life Meaningful

Of late, we have been watching the thermometer as it continues to prove that winter is not over and done with. We couldn't be wishing for Spring with more intensity!  Nevertheless, we have been able to find meaningful moments during the days when we are cooped up and trapped in our little cave.
These such moments primarily premiere Hudson:) Hudson has learned how to be a great chef in the kitchen, Mommy's ever-faithful assistant, train conductor, Lego-gamer, ant and Box Elder bug-smasher, and anything Mater. We love all the joy that his little spirit brings to our family!

Our Vanna White, showcasing his newly remodeled toddler bed. We have been wondering if it was such a good idea...Hudson thinks it has been a fantastic idea. There just hasn't been a nap since he can come and go from his toy cubbies to his bed, back and forth, back and forth---until I look at the clock and Hudson has been busy workin' away in his little man cave for the duration of his supposed "nap-time". This stops eventually right? He may not need his nap-time, but Mommy sure needs it!

When we don't see much of Hudson, we will find him jumping on his bed or playing with cars or trains IN his bed. He has loved having the space be claimed as HIS. To put it simply, he is a teenager before his time. He loves to jabber and has started to take off with his vocabulary. I love how we can ask him a question and he immediately will respond in his own adorable way. He is filled with happiness, adventure and energy. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree---DAD!

The last night before taking off the front railing to his crib. He is officially a little boy now and I'm in denial that my baby is not such a baby anymore. Where time goes is only a thought now of sweet memories of what seem to have been so long ago... Can you tell I'm still kind of in denial?

I just love this cute face! The last couple months he has loved taking over Mommy's phone. I will get ready to take a picture and he will run over in excitement thinking I am ready to let him play his games. And he gets frustrated when I am using it because he feels it is his own. He runs it like a pro and sometimes I don't know how he has managed to so quickly change all my settings and run the battery down to nothing. I guess that is the next generation of tablets and little swiping fingers.

This is one of those sweetest moments---when you REALLY love your child. He isn't getting into the fridge or climbing the counter tops carrying all the sharp knives. He hasn't just found the scissors or hidden chocolate which is now smeared across his face and the white couches. He is fast asleep with one of the sweetest looks that never ceases to melt my heart. 

Reading to Hudson has been another one of these moments. It can be 10 degrees and snowing outside, and we're missing Daddy who is faithfully at school studying, tutoring, or taking another test, but with Hudson in my lap, his blankie and a book in his lap we are two happy campers. I love reading those favorite books over and over again and watching his face light up when we get to snuggle on the couch as we flip those worn out pages.  

Hustle Bustle

     February has sure flown by for us. We began our month watching a family of four from our ward out here in Chicago. That week we celebrated my 40th-ish birthday and I got to flash forward to what life would be like with 5 and 1/2 children. Tom was a doll and got me roses and a pizza and took the evening off from his hectic school life to be my sweet hubby. We sat around a table with our 5 and 1/2 children and they sang out their lungs each time we broke into the birthday song. I think Tom still had them beat on the loudness factor. He is sure great and making the room feel like it's packed with 50 vivacious people who are all happily singing to you:) To make the day even more special, my dear Mother sent a cute birthday package that I got to admire the week beforehand and work very hard not to open prematurely. Another cute birthday surprise was from the parents of the family we were watching... they sent me a bouquet of sugar cookies that were absolutely adorable (shown above). Almost too cute to eat. But heck yes we ate them!

     The following week Hudson and I made some trips out of the house to prepare for LOVE day and to just get out. We ran errands, went to the library, the play area at the mall, played out in the snow and hung out in the house eating popcorn and watching Disney movies as we simutaneously watched the thermometer drop... UGh. Hudson was a big help as we made heart sugar cookies and ate WAY too much candy:) This is Hudson's fabulous French look/pose while in action. A bourree would complete the bedazzlement.

     For Valentines Grandma and Grandpa Montague sent us some cute Valentine cards and we took that money and went to get Hudson some beefy trucks. He is currently all about trucks, trains and anything with an engine and the baby toys just weren't doing it for him anymore. SO Sydney being the thrift shopper she is, found some SAWWWEEET trucks for under $5. We haven't seen much of Hudson since.

     After a quick breather week, we then packed our suitcase AGAIN and headed back to the Walker home where we would again watch that cute family of 4. Those poor children had us crazies for two weeks out of this month!!! I loved having 3 cute girls to paint nails, play dolls, and do fun things with their hair and Hudson loved having a big brother to play Lego's with.
     All in all, I am happy I don't currently have 5 and 1/2 children. I keep being told it's different when they're you're own...I'm sure it is! And gratefully we are going to take it one at a time:)

Happy Holidays, Good Memories

This Christmas season has been such a joy and very eventful! We began our journey by plane from Chicago (with lots of prayers that Hudson would act on his best behavior instead of terrorizing the plane and everybody on it!!!), with a layover in Denver and then reaching our final destination in Salt Lake City. Fortunately, Hudson was a gem on the plane and watched Bambi in my lap and then passed out??? What? After all the games, activities, books, snacks and coloring books I packed to keep him entertained... I couldn't have been more relieved. Such a blessing to have a sleeping baby instead of a screaming hooligan! Turns out the Sunday previous to our flight, Hudson picked up a bug on his first day of Nursery...Gotta love that petri-dish off fun:) His sedated nature was the onset of a nasty croup. Sad.

Lisa and Taylor were so kind to pick us up from the airport and house us for the week we were up north where we enjoyed spending our time with them, family Christmas parties, friends, playing in a fresh snow storm with Taylor, Lisa and Rockwell, seeing the lights at Temple Square and City Creek with James, Jami, Lincoln and Winston, and having get-togethers as often as people were able. Hudson getting croup wasn't the best part of our stay---I guess when you pray for months beforehand that the airplane experience will not be a total disaster, you might be praying for a sick child that is sedated...but just doesn't feel so hot:( No fun.

After staying in Draper for a little over a week, we ventured south to St. George to spend time with the Montague side of the family. Hudson got this sweet ride from Grandma and Grandpa Montague and hasn't quit running it around the house since:)

We had a gingerbread house contest, which turned into a pretty intense competition involving Ash and Sydney's Christmas Zoo (including animals constructed from gum drops), Thomas' community home...Dad and Spencer's Nation's Capitol, Aaron's cathedral and Geoff and Em's Recreation Hut:)

After Christmas morning we got to talk with Uncle/Elder Stephen, who is currently in Brazil on a mission. It was so fantastic to Skype with him and see how great he is doing! Afterward, to brighten our spirits and soften our missing of Steve, we ate our tradish Greek breakfast and Hudson was crazy about the hashbrowns. Potatoes help almost anything!

It was a fight to keep Hudson away from the Christmas ornaments!

The Lights at Temple Square! It was beautiful (as always)!

Grandpa and Hudson in the CROCS Club. Hudson got some micrscopic black Crocs for Christmas so Grandpa and Hudson posed for a little picture, on the new favorite Buzz Lightyear car of course:)

The day after we arrived in Draper, and Thomas flew in after finishing his last test, we got to enjoy several inches of fresh snow!!! It was so much fun! We threw Rockwell and Hudson behind the fourwheeler and these two just bounced in the back like two little black beans. Taylor and Thomas built a massive snow fort in the backyard and felt like kids again.

Here we are taking a stick to the tree branches and watching all the snow come crashing down.

Squished... While down in St. George, we were able to get out and enjoy a bike ride in the pleasant weather with Ezra (one of Hudson's newest cousins). Isn't he a cutie?!:)

Playing with his new trucks.

Uncle Spencer and the two Montague cousins. Thanks Geoff and Emily for having Ezra:)---now Hudson has a cousin to play with when we go down to St. George!

Chills You To The Bones...The Muppets Don't Lie

A brief summary of life here in Chicagoland for us Wrights: It is November 24th and we are freezing!!! The wind out here is killer. The thermometer will say it is 30 degrees, not too bad right??? But we always forget to factor in the wind chill which is the kicker. The wind chill makes the real feel an extra 50 degrees lower... Okay, not 50, I just love to exaggerate. It runs in the family:) But seriously, we have been dying this week. The Friday after Thanksgiving, we went out to see the lighting of the Christmas tree, some chick sang about Santa Clause coming to town and then Santa strolled the block on a fire engine. The festivities were great! I just couldn't stop thinking about how much a little frost bite brings out the holiday spirit:)

Down in the city. Hudson loves his Daddy!

Santa lost his sleigh in the middle of this park. We were just devastated about it. But then we realized how much fun it was to play on and the two of them weren't feeling so bad anymore. 

Cold does not mean it isn't sunny. Gotta be stylin' on the road.

Who's the kid that can't get enough popcorn in his mouth at one time? Yeah, that's our son.

The Many Faces To A Tantrum

The new phase for Hudson has been "the tantrum"...Why? I really feel so bad when he gets this frustrated, but I've told myself it is just a phase...Right? We are working on communication. Hudson has his own language--we just haven't deciphered it yet. I wish with all my heart I knew what he was saying. Sometimes he'll start into a long conversation only to end with a  full-on-belly chuckle. I love him.

 This is the many faces to a tantrum---

Face 1: Happy, adorable even hunk-ish right? Nothing could go wrong kind of look.

Face 2: This is the fence line: the deciding face, "Do I stay happy or throw my back out and start wailing?"

Face 3: "Just try and stop me from being totally put out". I can't help but still love his sad face! This face also comes with a free log roll demonstration. It doesn't matter whether you're on a hard blacktop of a parking lot, on the all too familiar cement of a quiet store, or at the top of the stairs ready to plummet to the bottom. This tantrum will take place and rolling uncontrollably will be part of the show.

So where has Fall gone???! The leaves have now almost all dropped and I am feeling the panic of winter setting in. Our beautiful neighborhood, usually all covered in greenery, has now become a bunch of naked trees awaiting the first snow fall... I don't know if I'm so anxious for that part myself! 

Thomas is completely immersed in school and all the demands that come with that ball of wax. We miss him everyday and look forward to the brief moments we get with him, but Hudson and I have found many great ways to spend our days out here in Chicagoland. This is home.

Hudson was Bamm Bamm from the Flinstones for Halloween and his friend Sarah Navarro was Pebbles. The comical part is that we wanted to use one of Thomas' anatomy bones as a club, but Hudson is a little too good at finding objects to whack things/people with when he doesn't have a dangerous object given to him so we saw it more as a hazard than anything to let him carry around a club of sorts. He therefore looked like a pumpkin...

The fork...it should be so straightforward, but even Scuttle from Little Mermaid got it all wrong. Although you can't see the detailed sauce figurines Hudson drew on himself with pesto sauce, they're there. We are getting much better with how to properly use a fork, spoon and cup. I want me a little' gentleman! It's been fun:)

We have a lumberjack outdoors-man on our hands. Our little friend, Sawyer that lives next door to us, lets Hudson use his "extensive yard equipment . He has a blower, a lawn mower, a shovel, rake, and hoe that Hudson loves to borrow and put to good use. I could leave him outside all day and he would be in toddler heaven. It's the misuse of the equipment that forces me to keep an eye on him... This kid is innovative!

This is taken along one of our walks that we like to go on. I had to capture the color before it all fell. It truly is SO BEAUTIFUL out here! We just said goodbye to our dear, dear, dear friends, and walking buddies, the Tranter's who moved away for Residency. We won't ever stop missing them!

Here is a picture of Hudson and Emily (the Tranters' little girl). She is too cute for words. Hudson and Emily have spent a lot of time together the last year and a half and I can't help but be sad for him to lose his little friend.

Aren't they cute?:) Gosh, I love these two.

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!