Phil Wickham Concert

Last Friday night, we went to see a Phil Wickham concert in San Diego.  Our friend, Dan plays drums for Phil and gave us a few tickets.  Before we left for the concert, Travis dressed Hudson for the occasion.

If you can't tell in the picture, his shirt says "the beatles":

These shoes are really sentimental for us.  We bought these when I was still pregnant with Hudson after we found out we were having a boy.  

On our way into the concert... he looks excited... haha

Phil Wickham:

Dan Bailey... an AMAZING friend and drummer!

The concert was definitely loud and Hudson and I were up towards the front.  Travis was walking around taking pictures in the beginning, but after a while I decided to head to the back towards the lobby.  It was loud... which was great, but I didn't want to do damage to Hudson's ear drums by exposing them too long.  While we were standing in the back a sweet lady gave us ear plugs to put in his ears... but as you can imagine that didn't last long.  So, we stood in the back doorway to enjoy the rest of the night.  It was such a refreshing time of worship and they sounded even better live than they do recorded. 

Hudson walking around with dad:

He is getting good at walking holding just one hand.  I love watching Hudson and Travis relationship.  I know they are going to connect on a different level than Hudson and I will.  And it is fun to watch.

I think it is safe to say Hudson enjoyed the night...

Who doesn't love a good strawberry?

April 26th

Hudson's actually birthday was the day after the party and it was just plain fun!  We woke up and in the words of my sister Summer, "Hudson enjoyed the spoils of birthday victory".  Aunt Brittany and Uncle Taylor got Hudson a Cozy Coupe car which he LOVES.  It was a sweet gift because Uncle Taylor believes every kid should have one... it is a right of passage.  However, we weren't able to peel away the drumsticks he was given, so he played with both. 

After breakfast and a nap, we met Uncle Trever in the orange groves for some family pictures.  Then Hudson literally swam in the pool for 3 hours without getting out took a break and then was back in.  He even ate his quesadilla while swimming which only brings the fondest memories of swimming in my dad's pool as a child.  My sisters and I would swim all day and only ate the pizza my dad order while hanging over the edge of the pool and never getting out.  So, it was fun to see the tradition condition with Hudson.  

The weather was perfect the entire weekend and the day of his birthday. 

Hud bud and Trav:

Take 2:

We sang "happy birthday" and this time he laughed and smiled.  He still was a little hesitate of the cake, but he didn't cry. 

Man I love me some chlorine hair that will stick straight up with no additional assistance and this is one of my favorite expressions he makes:

After dinner, pushing around his walker toy my mom and Bruce got him:

And then the drums... 

He has enough to have a makeshift drum set.  

Golf clubs turned drumsticks...

And then for the second night in a row more time in the pool and time by the fire pit:

These are some of my favorite pass times:

Aunt Brittany and Uncle Taylor who both just graduated from CBU with their master's and BOTH of them received the highest award for their department! 

Hudson having a good time with his aunts and uncles:

This video really isn't that good of quality, but I still love it.  When we hang out with our family it feels like we are hanging with friends.  I think Hudson is going to love his aunts and uncles. 

This was about 9:00pm which was right about when Hudson was born the year before.  This year we were cozy by the fire eating birthday cake while Trav held Hudson who was fast asleep.  

 My best friend's mom holding her grandbaby Logan (Hudson's best bud) and my mom holding Hudson.  They are 6 months apart and we are so excited to see their relationship develop.  They are destined to be friends.    

When I was pregnant we had no idea what life would be like with our baby.  When we found out we were having a boy, we were excited and unsure of the future all at the same time.  I have to say looking back over this last year, we had no idea how wonderful it would be.  We have said it before, but we are so thankful for our son.  

We had this verse at the beginning of Hudson's slideshow, but I thought I would share it again.  It really is the cry of our hearts: 

Behold children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. 

Psalm 127:3

Hudson's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Hudson's 1st Birthday a little over a week ago with friends and family.  Summer and I worked together to come up with a fun birthday party "theme".  We made all the decorations and it was a lot of fun to see everything come together.  

To see all the details of the decorations go to our photography website T&H Photography or visit GreyLikesBaby.  

This is how Hudson started out the party...

He wasn't too excited about the big crowd of people gathered around to sing "Happy Birthday".  Intially I wasn't sure how the cake would go over, but he is used to a lot of people and used to a lot of noise.  However, he has never liked sudden screaming.  In addition to the sudden cheering, he has taken really slowly to wanting to eat food.  So, the combination of the two made for one sad baby. He wanted nothing to do with the cake or the birthday song.  It was actually quite funny. 

The "toy buffet" table where the kids could get their own custom bag of goodies.  And what adult doesn't appreciate a good army man with a parachute or an old deck of "old maid" cards. 

Hudson LOVED his cake topper.  Summer got it at a flea market and now when Hudson sees it in his room you will often hear a "ooooo" sound followed by the excited dance.  Lately, after I change his diaper we give the merry-go-round a little spin. 

We played games and just hung out while eating food and enjoying company. 

We should have sang, "it's my party and i can cry if i want to"

and the drama continues...

I wish we had taken a picture with everyone who was there, but alas all we took was this picture with all the moms and their kiddos. 

OC Half Marathon

My sister, Brooke just posted these pictures on her blog and I stole them:)  For those of you who have been asking, I promise I will blog Hudon's birthday party tomorrow.

Brooke and I before the race at 6:00am... which means we were up about 4:30am...yuck!

In regards to training for the marathon, I definitely didn't train like you are suppose to.  I was running about 7 miles comfortably about a month ago.  Then I just got busy and didn't have time to run anything more than about 4 miles.  And at that, I didn't run the 2 weeks before the race! Again, this is not what they recommend.  So, my goal was to not stop the entire race and I was surprised that I was actually able to do that.  I didn't feel out of breath or tired, but around mile 12 and 13 I was definitely feeling sore.  So, really I only had to push it during the last 2 miles.  I think 10 miles is a good run, but 13.2 just takes you to another level of soreness.  

My favorite thing was seeing all the old men running in the race.  You just want to run up to them and give them a hug... so impressive!

Coming in to the finish line...

After we finished, we found my step-sister Natalie who beat us by about 25 minutes... muahaha. 

Hudson and his girlfriend Olivia

I am working on a blog with pictures from Hudson's birthday, but in the meantime I thought I would post a few pictures of Hudson's "girlfriend".  They are 5 weeks apart and it is so much fun to see them grow together.  Olivia is the daughter of an amazing couple from our church who have been great mentors for us.  

This first picture doesn't even look like Hudson... even when I took it I thought he looked weird in this picture...haha

They actually have the same amazing blue eye color.

At church in the nursery a few weeks ago:

The both of them at Hudson's party.  They were a little distracted by everything, so we didn't get a good one of them looking at the camera.