On Belay?

 May I climb?

After a few months of Hudson climbing everything in the house we decided to channel his passion into a more structured approach.  We finally gave in, took him to the YMCA climbing wall and made a family night of it.  He was really excited to wear the harness.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go when up against the wall but Hudson was really brave!  Although his first time up I was worried we wouldn't be able to get him down.  He would not let go with his hands no matter what we said.  I thought Jake was going to have to climb up after him, but after a little more coaxing he did finally release his grip and enjoy the ride down.   



Our little man is quite the climber! 



Ellie has discovered the joy of dress up.  She has started to bring me blankets and say "dress", "Dress", "DRESS"!  I wouldn't say she asks for it as much as demands; but the happy dance she preforms once its on, makes me not mind her sassyness so much.

As for the rest of us:
Jake is pluggin away with school as usual.  Things seem to be going well, but I know he is looking forward to the end of the semester, as we all are!
Baby Piston is doing well.  I'm feeling so much better and back to my old self....Well a more tired and slightly rounder version of myself, but none the less, I'm thrilled to feel like life has been injected back into my system.  We are over a third of the way done and I couldn't be happier!

Good News

What a great week!


Spring has finally found its way to us. Hudson and I decided that it would be fun to have a little party with our friends to celebrate. Hudson’s closest friends are conveniently the children of my closets friends so we both look forward to having them over.

He wanted to decorate cupcakes so we bought all sorts of fun gummy bugs and flowers and various candies so the kids could dress their cup cakes up for spring. I put all the supplies on the table and the kids went to work. The funny thing is that when we all get together the Mom’s get so busy talking; the children are forgotten and sort of become ambient noise.

Looking back I must admit that I have no idea how many cupcakes, let alone decorations, Hudson devoured during our party. All I know is that a few hours later after frosting had been wiped from every surface and all the little pieces of candy had been vacuumed out of the rug, when Hudson looked at me and said “something’s wrong” and grabbed his stomach.  I knew I didn’t have much time to react. Frosting was definitely the nicest thing I had to clean up that day, but I only have myself to blame!

I had my first doctor appointment on Wednesday. I knew I would be having an ultrasound so I was excited but also really nervous about it due to some weird symptoms I had been experiencing in this pregnancy. My appointment was during Jake's class time, but he sweetly arranged things so that he could be there with me. It made me feel so much better knowing that no matter what we found out he would be there. I told the doctor I thought I was about eight weeks along, but when she administered the ultra sound we were all surprised to see a perfectly formed little baby who was a lot bigger then eight weeks. She sent me right over for another more detailed ultrasound and it was determined that I was actually just about 13 weeks! So not only am I nearly done with the morning sickness phase of this pregnancy, but I also get to meet my baby a whole month sooner! The very best news of corse is that everything looks perfect and their doesn't seem to be any problems. I think I may have floated out of the office. Having that weight lifted off me has left me feeling so full of gratitude and joy. Once again I feel so unworthy of all the blessings the Lord is continually sending my way.



 Our new little one should be arriving sometime around Sept 23rd. Hudson is adamant that its a boy and that his name is going to be Piston.  Fortunately, we do have control over one of those things.

Hudson has been surprisingly excited about the baby.  The other thing he has been really excited about, to the point of hounding us relentlessly, is flipping his bed into a big loft bed.  We finally gave in and switched it. It made for one happy little boy.

The kids think this new play area is pretty fantastic.  Not only is it another area to continue the train track through
 but they also think its really fun to use it for watching movies. I never thought I would live in a house with its own theatre room! 

Train Fever
Hudson is starting to get some real competition for the trains.
I sure hope he can learn to share! 

Not So Springy Break

This morning Ellie will not leave my lap so I get to see how long it will take me to type a post with her help.  With one hand on the keyboard and another dedicated to bating away her attempts at pushing the power button this might be an all day project. 

After weeks of looking forward to it, spring break has come and gone. Although, "Winter" break would have been a much more accurate name for it, because spring was nowhere to be seen. Come to think of it "break" isn't a very good description either since Jake kept roughly the same hours up at campus. Actually, the best part of the last two weeks was having Gram Wendy come visit for a week. We didn't get out for many adventures due to weather and my feeling awful, but she did a wonderful job of keeping my kids entertained so I could rest on some of the sickest days I have had this pregnancy. It was such a blessing to have her help. She put in a lot of hours playing trains and reading books and it was sure appreciated.

We did take one day trip to Harrisburg the state capital to visit the state museum.  Harrisburg is a beautiful and historic city with really neat old building, but I guess everything in Pennsylvania is old because I find myself describing all of its cities that way.  Since Hershey was only twenty minutes away we also swung by chocolate world on our way home.  I was so sick and exhausted by the time we got to chocolate world I didn't even think about getting pictures.  Of coarse the kids had a great time.  Who doesn't love free chocolate?!?

You would have thought we were on a train quest as we looked through all three levels of the museum.  Hudson was able to detect them in even the smallest of displays.  This was the biggest of the trains he found.  I was surprised he didn't try to get Gram Wendy to purchase it for him.

Hudson with William Penn

Ellie got in a little mutton bustin practice in the children's section of the museum.

We had to pry Hudson away from yet another train table.

We actually went sledding during spring break.  Its just felt wrong!  Especially after overhearing college kids talk about the warm beachy areas they were going to be heading to.  The snow was so deep it kept stopping the sled.  I think we might have crashed more then we sled but the kids still thought they were having a great time.

It looks sunny, but it was really really cold.

We were sure sad to see Gram Wendy go.  The kids had so much fun playing with her and I got a taste at what it must be like to have a nanny.  Thanks again Mom!





I was wrong

When I predicted that this week would certainly have to be better then last, I was wrong. Colds turned into sinus and ear infections, and we have been stuck at home even more then last week. Hudson has gotten better but Ellie and I just can’t get over whatever super bug infected us. I feel so bad for the kids when we can't go anywhere to play; although, after this morning, I may never leave the house again.

We woke to pouring rain, so we all loaded into the car to give Jake a ride up to campus. Ellie seemed to be feeling much better, so I told Hudson I would take them to play at the “Chicken Store”. The "Chicken Store" is what Hudson calls Chick Filet and it is the only place in town that has in indoor play area. I thought after a long week of being trapped in the house the kids would really enjoy some run around play time, not to mention, all that was required of me was to sit and watch. It seemed like a great idea, but I was wrong. Within five minutes, Ellie managed to cover not only herself but a large portion of the chicken store in vomit. I had to strap a screaming vomit soaked Ellie into a high chair while I spent nearly thirty minutes cleaning up her awful mess. I will say this, I have never been so thankful for a stuffy nose. Had I been able to smell, I would have likely contributed to the mess.


This week has got to be better right?!? Gram Wendy is coming on Wednesday to spend the week with us. We are so excited! I just hope we don’t get her sick!



Fortunetly Ellie loves medicine.  She actually cries when she can't have any more. 



Hudson was very excited to show me how he had dressed himself just like Nephi! 
I don't think Nephi's hair was quite as crazy though.

A Rough Week

What a week!
I was just thinking it has been a while since the kids have given me an interesting story to share. Hudson must have read my mind, because the very next day he did in fact have a note worthy incident. Hudson has swimming lessons three times a week and often times I swim with Ellie while he is with his class. On Thursday we prepared to do just this. As I entered the pool with both kids Hudson's teacher grabbed my attention to ask me a question. As I talked with his teacher Ellie made a run for the ramp that leads into the pool. She already had her life jacket on so I wasn't terribly concerned, but I quickly made my way over to her and scooped her up into my arms. To my surprise she was not the child I should have been worried about. I looked back to where I had left Hudson only to see a soaking wet life guard and my little guy sobbing hysterically. I guess Hudson had decided to jump into the pool all by himself without any type of floatation device. Neither his teacher nor I even saw him in the water! He was fine, and received quite a few reminders of the rules from his teacher and me, but I will admit I was shaking for the next 30 min at the pool. Hopefully we all got a good reminder of just how careful we need to be around water.

Aside from our near drowning, this week should have been a good one. We had two days in the 60's! How amazing is that! It felt heavenly, and we even got to get out and ride our bikes a little. However, this week has been the pits. I've been dealing with nausea, dizziness, and weird pregnancy pains, plus the kids and I have colds that just won’t go away! I don't know what weird Pennsylvania cold bug is out here but I do know we have had awful coughs and runny noses for far too long! Sometimes the kids cough so hard it makes them puke. I even had the rare luck of getting puked on this week.  If that's not a joy of parenthood I don't know what is. The one good thing about Jake being so busy, is that he hasn't been here enough to catch it. Lucky guy!

Saturday was a particularly bad day. I woke up feeling especially awful and knowing Jake needed to spend the day up at the university, I racked my brain for ways to keep the kids happy that would allow me to move as little as possible. I decided it would probably be a lay around, watch movies and read books kind of day. However, not too far into the morning our power went out, and it stayed out the entire day! It was cold and windy and I felt too sick to go anywhere, so we were trapped in our house. I hadn't realized just how dependent I have gotten on the TV to entertain the kids when I don't feel like playing with them. I also, didn't realize just how quickly our apartment would get cold without our heater. BRRR! Needless to say, that night when the power finally came back we were happy to see it.

Jake also suffered this week on a field trip to Pittsburgh. In the true fashion of how this week has gone, his bus got two flat tires and left the group stranded for six hours. He made the most of it by getting a bunch of reading done, but it made for a long day.

I think it is fare to say, next week will be better.

Although its no fun to have sick kids, we do enjoy the extra cuddles we get.

Hudson loves to tell people about how he was so sick he went "BLAHH."
As the person who gets to clean up the "Blahh" I don't find it quite as humerus.

Hudson told me this morning that Jesus is going to come again, so that he could play trains with Hudson.
I'm not sure what his primary teachers are teaching him, but he was really excited to tell me this.

Hindsight

        As I sit down to type this morning heavenly warm sunshine is streaming through my windows and it feels SO good. Its seems like such a long time since we have had good weather. It’s not terribly cold, but it’s nice enough for us to get bundled up and go for a walk. The weather seems very fitting for my mood. The past few weeks I have been feeling down. The weather has been gloomy and cold, the kids have had colds, and I have been feeling really awful. I haven’t been able to figure out what was wrong with me. I have just been feeling so tired and sick all the time.

        It’s funny how things seem to make so much more sense in hindsight.

        Due to the weather and sick kids, we have gotten out of the house a little, although not as much as I would have liked. Consequently, I have spent quite a bit of time curled up on the couch watching movies with the kids. When I found myself crying through the little mermaid I really didn't think much of it although I knew I was being weird. A few days later when a date I had planned with Jake got suddenly messed up, I spent the evening sobbing on the couch uncontrollably. Between my sobs I tried to apologize for my strange behavior. I just couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. Jake teased me that I was acting like I was pregnant and we laughed about it, not thinking it was possible. I decided to take a test to put the joke to rest. To my surprise it came out positive. So although it’s now clear that I won’t be feeling any better anytime soon, at least I understand why I have been so strange. I’m not excited to have another three months of being emotionally impaired and nauseous, but I am terribly excited that we will be adding another member to our, maybe not so little, family. I couldn’t ask for a more special valentines gift then to find out we will have one more sweet little thing to love. I feel so blessed to have been given such a wonderful surprise.

 The day finally came!  Ellie had her first official day of nursery on Sunday. She loves it and runs right in excited to play and sing songs.  She is such a funny little thing. 


Speaking of funny little things.  These days Hudson insists on dressing himself.  Although there is a 50 50 chance to get things on right, I feel like he almost always manages to put things on backwards.  This is how he looks on a typical day. Funny Guy!

In just the amount of time it took me to write this, our sunshine is gone and the wind is back.  Ohh well, its still a wonderful day!

Ice Storms

We survived January!Hopefully we are past the worst of winter. This week we have had an unfortunate introduction to Pennsylvania's ice storms. What happens, is that it rains and the moisture coats every surface with a sheet of ice. If we had ice skates Jake could honestly ice skate all the way to campus. Even our car is rendered impermeable due to being encased in a quarter inch of ice. When this happens, the town shuts down and just about everything closes, well everything except the university. Jake has had the fun of trying to slip his way up to school every day. Since most of the roads are narrow and winedy they close many of them. I am suffering from a serious case of cabin fever to say the least. Even our sledding hill is now a sheet of ice. For being trapped in the house all week the kids have been pretty good. We made valentines, watched a lot of movies, and played with toys to keep ourselves entertained. The kids have kept me busy by making even more messes then usual in the house. I'm so excited to say goodbye to January, and since February is a short month I'm telling myself spring is just around the corner.

Since we were only able to go to the pool once last week, the kids spent a lot of time playing in the bath tub. Thankfuly we are on the ground floor, because anyone living below us would certainly have a leaky ceiling from the amount of water these two can splash on the floor.