Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Ouch

     Just before Hudson's 2nd birthday I figured it was time for a cute big boy hair cut. I knew I'd cry and miss his long locks so I chose a somewhat shaggy style that would keep a little bit of the length. 
     I asked him for 2 weeks if he wanted a hair cut. He always replied no. I didn't blame him. His hair really fits his personality. He's so full of life. He's pure joy. His fun, carefree long hair matched him perfectly. But I didn't want it in his eyes. So Barker volunteered to take him. 
     The appointment was at the Salon I go to, with the girl that cut Audrey's hair into her  adorable style. I sent him with pictures of the style I wanted, front and the back. 
     Hudson crawled into the chair, ate cookies and sat so still he fell asleep. She cut. And cut. And cut. Then she apologized and refused to let Barker pay. For she had butchered my sweet baby's hair. 
     Barker called to warn me but I still wasn't prepared. My first thought was "He looks more like a girl! How is that?! He looks like Ellen Degeneres." 
     It's still in his eyes. So all of this was for nothing. She cut off all of the length in the back. It's long in places where she just completely missed strands. It's really layered in a choppy fashion. It doesn't blend. There are like, holes almost in some areas. It's so uneven. And the worst part- she cut so much that it's a different color. She cut off all of his sweet super blond baby locks. It's still blond, but not white blond. 
     I tried to laugh it off and remember that while the color is gone forever, the cut will grow out. But the growing out phase is terrible. It looks worse now. He looks like those kids that get gum in their hair or try to cut their own hair, forcing their parents to take them to a salon in hopes of salvaging some kind of a style out of it. 
     He doesn't seem to mind. I asked him if he liked his hair cut and he nodded and said "uh huh." If only I agreed. It makes me sadder every time I look at it because he no longer looks like my Huddie. I like Ellen Degeneres and all, but I miss running my fingers through my sweet boy's wild platinum locks. He's still shockingly beautiful, but looks like he lost a fight with a weed eater. 

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Not So Silent Night

     Tonight was the nativity play at church. Hudson was cast as a shepherd and Audrey as an angel. It was fitting because we needed the staff to herd him and she was of course well behaved. 

     They both started out super excited. 
              Lights, camera, action!


     But like most actors Hudson didn't like being directed. 
     The juice box we let him have with dinner at church probably didn't help matters much. 

     But at the end of the play we were just thankful that Hudson didn't knock over the manger when he went rouge. 
            Shepherd on 'the lamb'


 Also glad he didn't steal the baby Jesus. 
     We confiscated his staff so he didn't club the wise man that kept trying to wrangle him. It was hysterical! I laughed so hard it actually crossed my mind to calm it down so my water didn't break. There wasn't much room left in that manger. 

No Frozen Tundra Here... Yet!

     All of my friends in Texas are going crazy after spending 3 days indoors with their kids due to an ice storm. Not fun, pretty, fluffy snow. Ice. Dangerous to drive on ice. 
     But not us! It's in the 20's here but nothing is frozen luckily. So we've been happy to be out and about as usual. I took the kids to see Frozen. Finished Christmas shopping. Did a little meal planning and grocery shopping. Barker and I went out for sushi and to see Catching Fire. And it was packed at church today.  
     But it makes me wonder if I'm a little crazier than I realized since I'm always stuck in the house with my kids yet I don't seem to mind. And neither do they. In fact Audrey begs for pajama days. So I don't think it's the cabin fever that would get me if we were still in Texas. I love being cooped up with the kids and Barker. It's the lack of electricity that would drive me to my breaking point. Apparently several of my friends were without power for quite some time. Yikes! It would turn into the Hunger Games real quick if our electricity went out. We have gas here so at least Barker could cook for me. That might buy as a little time before we turned into Lord of the Flies.


Side note- DFW friends, after several days off work & trapped in the house with your spouses I'm expecting a baby boom from you guys in 9 months!  ; )  I can't wait to see who it will include!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Yes Sir!

     Sir Topham Hatt was at Toy Fair, Hudson's favorite store. So we swung by to play, have mini cupcakes and pick up a few Thomas the Train toys for Santa. We even ran into a few friends. Great way to start a Saturday!
     Sir Topham Hatt said he liked Hudson's name. He thought it would be a good name for a train ; )

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Hud Muffin's First Haircut

     Our little meat pie had his very first trim yesterday. I gave him a cookie and plopped him into the chair. He never moved. He just enjoyed his cookie, kept his chin down and let her cut away. I think he enjoyed being pampered. 

     It's no longer in his eyes but still long enough in the back that people will probably still ask if he's a girl from time to time, even though I dress him very boyish. But I don't care. It's kind of a layered surfer look for now, until it thickens up some. Then it will be easier to shape. But as for now he and I have a 'long hair don't care' mentality, and let Daddy and Audrey rock the short strands. 

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Here Kitty Kitty

We finally took Hudson to visit Mike the Tiger. Audrey met him when she was 16 months old so we figured Huddie was overdue. 
He was so excited to see Mike and exclaimed "Kitty Kitty!" Then he roared at the sleeping mascot. 

No children were eaten during the taking of this picture. 

Hud had a blast. His favorite part wasn't sitting on the statue or watching Mike but following the tiger's huge red ball that floated in the water. He wanted in there to get that over sized bath toy in the worst way. 

Audrey was less excited. She didn't want to get anywhere near this statue. She's a nervous Nellie like me. 

Audrey informed us that she learned to chant "LSU. LSU. LSU." at church. Ha!

Rain

I took Audrey to see Rain- A Beatles Tribute when it left it's usual Broadway home and visited The Strand.  She was by far the youngest fan in attendance but she didn't care. 
We left the boys at home since the show didn't start until 8 but during the very first song Audrey declared "I wish Daddy and Hudson came. They're missing out on all the fun!" Sweet thing. 
She sang, danced and clapped the entire time. She said her favorite song was I Want To Hold Your Hand. Mine was a tie between Blackbird and Two of Us. Blackbird was strikingly beautiful, as always, but Two of Us was fun because that's when Audrey crawled into my lap. (The baby kicked her the whole time for invading her space.) I reminded Audrey that Two of Us is one of the songs I sing to her at bedtime. 
She had so much fun and was glad her dad was still up so she could tell him all about it. She couldn't wait to tell him about Ringo wearing a purple shirt. He's her favorite. 
It was a super fun show and I was so happy to be able to take my sweet sidekick. 

Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Princess and the Frog

Usually I coordinate our Halloween costumes but this year Audrey found a dress she just had to own. I bought it to add to her collection of dress up clothes but she insisted on wearing it for Halloween. 
It's like a masquerade ball gown but she thought it was a princess gown. It looks very Anne Rice to me so I felt it was appropriate for her first Louisiana Halloween.


I didn't know what to make Hudson other than the frog prince to go along with her masquerade princess. Really felt like I phoned it in this year. But we had fun. 


The rain finally stopped long enough to have a hay ride and trick or treat. 
The kids loved the hay ride (Hud was esp stoked about the tractor) so I'm not sure why they looked so annoyed in all of the hay ride pics I took. 


Hudson was so into trick or treating this year. He had to carry his basket himself even though it was so heavy he was grunting and breathing heavy, and he was always quick to say Thank You! 

By bed time Audrey was whining and Hudson had some how come out of his diaper in his costume, no mess luckily. So we didn't make a late night of it. But we had a lot of fun, nonetheless. 

 Last Halloween as a family of four!




Just Like Dad

Recently the kids were able to play with the Centenary Ladies and Gents Soccer teams under the bright lights of Mayo Field. 


 My how we've come full circle.


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Animals Galore!

I almost forgot to add this post due to other photos I had to edit. 

Barker had another soccer tourney so we tagged along. 
 Audrey asked to help clean the windows at a gas station.  Always the helpful one.


When we arrived at the hotel Hud screamed "Yay!"
 And they both crawled into Audrey's bed immediately.


 Hud just wanted to play on his bed.


The next day we hit up an Aquarium. Fun!
 I loved the sting rays. They were so friendly and desperate for affection that they'd try to jump out of the water in your direction. Audrey was NOT a fan of that but H and I LOVED it! You could reach in and pet them but none of us did for whatever reason.


 Audrey loved the jelly fish.


But the sea horses were here fav.
 They had big pregnant bellies.


 Male sea horses can carry babies. Ahem, Barker.


Then we hit the shark tunnel. My kid's reactions couldn't have been more different. So glad I had my camera out to document their faces, even if my camera and flash weren't ideal for taking pics in a dark shark tank. 
 Audrey was terrified yet amazed.
Hud just thought it was awesome.

 Her jaw was on the floor.
He was still just soaking it all in.


 She grew more nervous the closer they came.
He was more excited.

 Audrey was not a fan of being shark bait.
Hudson was repeating "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" and pointing by this point.


 I don't think she 100% believed me when I told her they couldn't get her through the glass behind her.


She liked the big tanks better.
 They had tunnels for the kids to crawl into in order to see the fish from another angle.


 Dared her to kiss a gator. She was so nervous. Ham.


The next day we hit up a zoo. It was really pretty but kind of a pain to navigate. It wasn't on a loop or two like most zoos, so that you're sure to see everything. But we did find a TRAIN!
 Huddie was in awe.


 We had lunch and played on the playground. Audrey liked the spider webs you could climb. Son preferred the pretend choo choo and truck, of course.


 They both enjoyed the petting zoo area. Hudson kissed a goat.


 I thought the sea lions and penguins were neat.


 Meat Pie got really excited over a sand cat that didn't look all that different from a house cat.


Then we rode the carousel. 
H was still pointing out that the train was right there waiting for us.
 Audrey of course picked the sea horse to ride.


 When the carousel started to move Hudson's face turned into pure joy! 
He was thrilled!

I don't think Audrey is going to out grow carousels anytime soon.