Simple Joys

On Monday, we opened up the stroller we got for Hudson to "share" with the baby.  Although, he liked the stroller (especially since it has a "skateboard" on the back), I think he liked the big box even more:

There is nothing like getting to wrestle with dad:

Hudson is not normally allowed to sit or stand on the table, but he knows that only when daddy or uncle B are here then he came jump off of it onto them.

I love watching Hudson and the simple things in life that bring him so much joy.

A few touches of summer and some random photos of Hudson...

Continuing with the summer photos.  Here are a few random photos of Hudson and a few photos of the decorations that have brought touches of summer into our home. 

We are definitely into making funny faces now:

One thing that I love about having a white couch is all the fun pillows and decorations that go great with it.  Plus, if my couch gets dirty, I just throw it in the wash with some bleach and it is as good as new!

I love having flowers in our home and the cheapest way I have found to do this is with Trader Joe's $1.99 or $3.99 flower bouquets:

And for those of us who struggle with a green thumb these succulents are great (although I have been known to even kill succulents):

Thanks to the inspiration from my friend, Rachel, I made these to add a little bit of summer:

We hung this old stain glass window which was a nice little touch:

Summer time has been filled with lots of fun and exploring.  Some of the fun has including fort-making:

Hudson is still quite obsessed with his drums, but he also loves all different kinds of musical instruments:

And of course, we have spent as much time as we can down by the beach... even if it is just a walk down to the water after dinner.  This particular night Uncle Brandon joined us:

Fun in the park... Uncle Brandon and Trav teaching Hudson how to pretend to be an airplane:

I think he caught on rather quickly:

Update on baby #2...

Well, as I begin to go through all our photos from this summer (since I really haven't posted all summer long), I figured I should start out with an update on the little one that we are expecting in just 6 weeks from now!  Last I blogged, we still hadn't decided if we were going to find out the gender of our baby.  

When we had Hudson we definitely knew we wanted to find out and we didn't want to just find out at the doctor's office.  So, after some research and one idea giving to the next, we came up with having a cake party to reveal the gender of our baby.  You can see the photos here and the video here.  It really was so much fun and a day we will never forget.  And it has fun to see friends and friends of friends who have since done the same thing to find out what they were having... and even a few have put a little twist on it. 

Anyway, I think with the first baby it was really nice to know what we were having, but Trav and I have both said we have always thought it would be fun to not find out.  We went back and forth, weighing out the pros and cons to finding out and not finding out.  The day before our 20 week ultrasound, we finally decided not to find out.  

We had the ultrasound technician print out the photos that reveal the gender and place them in an envelope, so that we could have them for a keep sake.  A lot of people are surprised that we haven't been tempted to look, but because we decided we didn't want to know it isn't a temptation at all.  After the ultrasound, the reality that we were going to have to wait several more months really started hitting us, but once we made it to about 24 weeks it really hasn't been hard at all.  

We are beyond excited for this baby and we can't wait to finally find out what God has blessed us with.  We absolutely love having a son and we would love to have another son.  The bond between brothers, especially those who are close in age is just so sweet.  But, then we also know that it would be fun to have a girl.  However, since we are hoping for a big family, we really don't feel like this baby has to be a girl or we will never have a girl.  

So, with that said, we are anticipating both.  Some days I dream about having a daughter and other days I dream about having a son.  It actually has been more fun that I thought it would be not to know what we are having.  We have both a girl name and a boy name picked out, so it is just a matter of time before we know who it has been that we have been praying for these last several months. 

Everyone always asks what I feel like we are having and I really don't have much of an answer.  In the beginning, I really thought it was a girl, but the second half the pregnancy I really think it is a boy.  I have had dreams about both and so, I really just don't know.   My pregnancies have been very similar, the only difference being I was sick for about 4 weeks longer with this baby.  At this point, I have gained the exact amount of weight so far with this baby as I did with Hudson, although, I just gained it a lot faster before I finally started slowing down a few weeks ago.  

I had a really great birth experience with Hudson and I actually enjoyed it! :) I know that things could be totally different with this baby and I am beginning to pray more specifically about it as we get closer to my due date.  However,  I must say, I am just as excited to hold this baby as I was with Hudson, but I do have additional butterflies in my stomach knowing that when this sweet baby finally makes an appearance that I will get to hear my husband say boy or girl!  I can't wait!!! 

The picture below is of our baby's face at 20 weeks.  Our ultrasound technician surprised us and turned the ultrasound to 3D.  We never had a 3D ultrasound with Hudson, so it was fun to see how clearly we could see the baby.  Some people think based on this picture it is a boy... 

The day of the ultrasound at 20 weeks:

23 weeks:

Our good friends are expecting their second baby and due on the same day as us... here is Natalie and I at her masquerade party celebrating the completion of her master's!  We are both about 24 weeks:

25 weeks:

27 weeks:

31 weeks:

33 weeks:

And here are a few photos our amazing brother-in-law Trever took of us when I was almost 33 weeks:

We can't wait to see Hudson as a big brother and we have really begun to pray for him with this transition.  Siblings are one of the greatest gifts and a tool God uses to teach us in so many different areas.  I know there may be a few tough days for Hudson as he begins to share his time with the baby, but the gift he is receiving in exchange is priceless:

Sometimes it feels like this pregnancy has gone by so fast, but then other times it feels like forever.  When I think about the fact that I have been pregnant since January, been to Europe twice and all the craziness life has brought... it seems like I have been pregnant a long time.  However, now I am beginning to feel the pressure that the baby will be here in approximately 6 weeks!  I have a ton of editing to get done from different weddings we shot this summer, 2 more weddings to shoot, an engagement session and a ton of family sessions all to be done before the baby gets here.  

In addition to the photography work, I need to actually wash the car seat cover, baby clothes (those that I have which are gender neutral) and I wanted to get Christmas shopping done too!  Thankfully, my mom is going to help me accomplish my ridiculous "to do" list... and maybe I need to get a little realistic with what things are most important to get done.  Not to mention the fact that Travis is back in the studio (finally) trying to finish up recording his first record with Integrity music!  Needless to say, we would covet your prayers as we try to tackle all that is on our plate and as we prepare for our family to transition from a family of 3 to a family of 4!

bad-mom-moment-of-the-century...

So, yesterday I had a first.  A first and hopefully the last.  Here's the story...

After finishing grocery shopping yesterday, I grabbed a pumpkin spice latte and headed to the car with Hudson.  I was so excited to indulged in such a wonderful treat that I decided to document it with a photo.  When I got to the car I got Hudson out and set him on the passenger seat with my bag so I could dig out my phone to take a picture.  After we innocently took our picture, I set the phone down and began unloading the shopping cart.  This is where I went wrong...

In normal circumstances, I always get Hudson out first and immediately strap him in so I don't have to worry about him while I am unloading.  However, in this case because I was standing right next to him I let him play in the front seat (he often does this while we are sitting parked waiting for whatever the reason may be).  So, he climbed in the driver seat and was pretending he was driving.  Seriously, at this point... no big deal.  I am 2 feet away, unloading my stuff into the passenger seat, watching him and talking to him.  I knew he had the keys in his hand, but again... I was right there.

So, once the passenger seat was filled (with my eye still on Hudson), I quickly closed the front door while having my hand on the back door to open it at the same time.  Then as I had the door half way open (still latched but almost pulled open) I heard a beep.

Yes, a beep.

I knew what this meant.  In a matter of seconds, in a sequence of perfect timing that might almost be impossible to duplicate, my son had locked the car doors with the remote on our keys.  Of course, with himself, my wallet and phone all locked inside... and yes, the back door was still slightly latched.  I quickly being to feel a sense panic rushing through my veins.

I pulled and pulled at the back door.  Hoping to get it to open... which made me realize that when you are driving with your door slightly ajar, there really is no way to open it without using the handle.  I then proceeded to try to convince my 2 year old to push the button again on the key chain.  Mind you, he was as happy as a clam.  With a big smile on his face, completely unaware of the severity of the situation, he looks down at the keys and just smiles back at me.

I went on to tell him to push the button by the shoe, because we have a small rainbow sandal keychain on our keys.  Well, once I said shoe, he started looking down at his shoes, then again looked right back at me with a big smile.  I was then coming to grips with the fact that my son probably was not going to be talked into pushing the appropriate button.

With not wanting to leave the side of the car, I saw a nice looking man pull up in his car in front of us and in a frantic mess I began to quickly explain what happened and begged for him to get a manager from inside the store for help. I know that sometimes stores actually have a tool they can use to unlock doors and I was hoping for this to be the case.  The man, who I later learned his name was John, clarified with this obviously-pregnant-and-panic-stricken-lady-whose-2-year-old-is-locked-in-her-car-with-her-phone-keys-and-wallet, that the best option would be to call Triple A.

I went on to explain that I do have roadside assistance with my insurance company but all the information is locked in my wallet in the car.  So, this nice man offered to call from his phone and to use his Triple A card to make the phone call.  I was seriously soooo thankful!  He proceeded to call and I meanwhile continued to try to convince Hudson to push the button on our key chain.

Once the tow truck was on it's way and we were told it would be about 15 minutes (probably the longest 15 minutes of my life), John said he was going to run into the store, but as soon as they called when they were close he would come right out.

So, this is where the fun continues.  John goes in the store and I stand outside of my car with a shopping basket half full of groceries, knocking on the window and talking to Hudson while I watch him thoroughly enjoy playing and exploring the car.  At one point, he had his hand on the gear which of course, freaked me out.  I imagined him putting the car into nuetral and watching my son and the car roll away.  He tried to put the key in the ignition, but thankfully he was doing so with the house key instead of the car key.  I was praying for God to intervene, thinking about what a foolish decision I had made all while instructing Hudson not to touch the gear and not to put the keys in the hole.

Thankfully, he listened and decided to crawl back into the back seat.  At this point, he was playing with the latch on his car seat and tried to latch it himself.  Then he came over to the back door where I was standing and smiled and tapped on the window.  I then asked him to try to open the door... which he has never done before.  But, after showing him from the outside to pull the latch, he tried it... and yet, it still wouldn't open!  I then began to tell him to push the red button hoping the lock button looked red and if it did that he would be able to push it.  He tried opening it a few more times, but then he found coins in the side door (which I had no idea were even there).

So, the fun continued for Hudson.  With so much joy in his face with his new found treasure, he immediately climbed back into the front seat and proceeded to put the coin in the cassette player.  I knew what he was going to do, because he has tried putting small things in the cassette player before.  I coached him out of this decision, so he decided maybe the air vent would be a better option... NO!!! I again convinced him not to put the coin in the vent when he decide that yes, yes the cassette player would be the best option for a new home for this little coin.  And so, the coin went in.

At this point, I am hoping the coin in our cassette player is the worst of the consequences.  Mind you strangers are walking by and starring as I am standing alone next to our grocery cart outside of our truck talking very loudly to Hudson inside the truck.  Talk about embarrassing.  Oh and the guy gathering the carts, even offered to help me finish unloading my cart.  Anyway, after Hudson discovered the joy of putting a coin in it's new found home, he quickly climbed back into the back seat to grab yet another coin.  And yes, he gave this coin a new home in the cassette player as well.

Still waiting for the tow truck and for John to come back, the fun continues.  Hudson looks at me smiling and picks up my coffee that I had set in the cup holder.  He picked it up with one hand by the lid of the cup.  I of course, told him to take two hands and put it back.  He listens, only to pick it up again.  Now I am thinking about how it is going to spill coffee all over him (although, I knew it probably wasn't very hot at this point), but I was imagining the coffee spilling all over him and the interior of our truck that we are wanting to try sell in the next couple of months.  I again told him it was coffee and hot and to use two hands to put it down.  He listened again (thankfully) and went back into the drivers seat to pretend he was driving.

About this time, John comes out and I see the tow truck pulling up.  Hudson still completely unaware of what was going on and continues to play.  As the tow truck man is walking towards me about 2 parking spaces away, Hudson climbed into the passenger seat and OPENED THE DOOR!!!!

I could not believe it.  After all of that, he just opened the door.  I profusely thanked John and the tow truck man for their help.  Gathered my sanity and strapped my son into his car seat.

Never again will I do anything other than strap him in BEFORE unloading the car.

At one point, John said how quickly kids grow up and this will just be a story to tell.  I knew he was right, but I almost burst into tears.  I just couldn't believe I let something like this happen.  I have heard about these kinds of stories, but normally I am pretty cautious.  Goes to show, you can't control everything and life just happens.

When I finally got a hold of Travis (who was in a studio all day recording), he couldn't believe what happened.  After hearing that we were fine the first question he had was, did you get the coins out of the cassette player?  Yes, yes I did.  I just used a few long wooden skewers I had in the kitchen and guided them out.

So, we are safe.  The car is fine.  And I now have learned my lesson.  Someday I will tell Hudson this story and remember the truth of what John said... these kids will grow so quickly, this will one day just be a story.

The token picture of the coffee that began all the madness...