What the...!??!

Here's a special posting for my friends that live in California and Arizona...here's what we are experiencing in Washington today. For those keeping track, it's SPRING and almost APRIL. Now, I love the snow, I wish it would snow here more often because it's cold enough during the winter that there really should just be snow on the ground. I'm also not usually one to complain about the weather in Seattle because quite frankly I don't mind the rain. However, let's get serious here for a minute, it's SPRING and almost APRIL...
Also, please disregard my posting titled "A Sign Of Warmer Weather to Come" because apparently I am a liar and shouldn't quit my day job anytime soon to predict the weather.

Backyard left side

Backyard right side

Deck about 30 minutes after I took the backyard photos

Birthday Celebration

I turned 31 yesterday and feel pretty good about it!! My birthday snuck up on me this year so I really haven't been in the birthday spirit, but do have a lot of fun things planned. On Easter I celebrated with my family who all pitched in on my new pots and pans. It's funny the gifts you get excited about as you get older! I am THRILLED with my new pots and pans, Tri-Ply Stainless Steel Calphalon for those on the market for new ones (mine are from Macy's and came with 2 great FREE gifts, couldn't beat the deal). I'm feeling much better now when I cook for my family as I had no business feeding them from the old ones! On my actual birthday, yesterday, I went to Stroller Strides in the morning, had a playdate with my friends Molly & her daughter Maddie and Sara & her son Jack in the afternoon, who brought over these amazing cupcakes from Central Market. Wrapped up the day with at Ruby's with Ryan and Hudson. Tomorrow night, Thursday, Ryan and I have plans with his godmother,Jill, (who shares my birthday!) and her husband Mike. We are going to this fabulous restaurant in Seattle, Tulio, then to see a Cabaret type show. I'm very excited as the excuse of my birthday is one of the rare times to get Ryan to "cross the bridge" and see a show, yeah me! Friday I am having lunch with my friend Krissy, probably Red Robin. Then Sunday, to wrap up my birthday WEEK, I am having a pedi (long overdue) and lunch with my cousin Tami and Ryan's cousin Rachel. Phew!! If by the end of the week I'm not in the birthday spirit, there's something seriously wrong with me, haha! My friend Marcy, who I have known since the 6th grade, did a birthday posting for me on her blog, which made me cry. If you want to check it out AND see pictures of me from High School (yikes!) here is the link: http://macfamilyfive.blogspot.com/2008/03/happy-belated-birthday-to-my-dear.html Hope you don't mind Marcy, but I'm so touched that you did this I have to share it!! Thank you to everyone not mentioned above as well for your birthday wishes, emails, cards, and gifts. I'm truly blessed to have so many amazing people in my life!

Making my birthday wish...

...we'll find out soon if it will come true!

Apparently the cake wasn't enough for this prego

16 week along OR really full from cake and candy?!?

Easter Brunch

Ryan, Hudson, and I hosted Easter Brunch at our house this year, 19 of us total! We had a ton of food & candy and even made peace with the pouring down rain for our egg hunt. The kids didn't seem to mind the rain and all looked pretty darn cute in their rubber boots as they searched for eggs. The Easter Bunny was very smart this year, separating the yard by age and color coding the eggs for each kid: Blue & Yellow for Jack, Pink & Purple for Ellie, Green for Cole, and Orange for Hudson. Alexie just watched this year as crawling in the rain probably isn't the best idea. I added a picture of my tables as well as I was really pleased with the way they turned out...just as I had pictured them in my head, when does that happen?!?!

So proud of my tables

Jack and Ellie searching for their eggs

Cole found all his eggs

Hudson searching for his eggs with Daddy's help

Found one!

Passed out from the egg hunt!

Thanks Janet

My Stroller Strides franchise owner and instructor, Janet, passed out some goodies for the kiddos after Friday's class for Easter. One of the things in Hudson's goody bag were a pair of sunglasses that he now LOVES to wear around the house. The funniest part about the glasses, after he has them on, he walks over to the oven to check himself out in the reflection. Here are a few shots from the other morning and during his lunch. There was a few pieces of candy in the bag as well, but I'll be honest, I finished those off myself before even leaving the parking lot!!

Under Construction

The votes are in! As the majority of votes towards a background change were "don't care" and next in line was "change it", I decided change it indeed. Please bear with me as I work out the kinks with the new blog background and enjoy the change!!

Jail Bird

I was letting Bruiser outside the other day and looked up the stairs to see Hudson standing at the gate waiting for us to return. Then I noticed his shirt and the fact that he was clicking his snack cup againgt the bars of the gate and burst out laughing. This better be the only time Hudson is in "jail"!!

A Sign of Warmer Weather to Come

My front yard is starting to burst with color and I LOVE IT!! My daffodils are all in bloom with my tulips following close behind them. I planted the bulbs when I was 8 months pregnant with Hudson, so this is their second season in bloom. If you don't already know this about me, I love to garden! I hate to weed though, yuck, so boring. Here are some "proud Mama" pictures of my daffodils and the one random tulip that happens to be in bloom early (poor tulip, so confused!).

Regaining Sanity

I just realized I have yet to mention something that is such a big part of my (and Hudson's) life and thought I would take the time to do that now. Long story long...many of you know that I am really into fitness and working out. For me, it's my stress release, my way of getting a grip back on reality. Last June, as Hudson was approaching turning 6 months old, I was finding it harder and harder to deal with my stress from being a new mom and working from home. I hadn't found a mom's group as I really didn't think I had the time to join one, wasn't working out, and was about to lose my mind. My friend Molly told me I should come to Stroller Strides with her and that's what I did. Stroller Strides is a way for mom's to take an hour for themselves, their health, and to workout with your baby or babies while in their stroller. I instantly took a liking to it and the other moms that I was meeting. What a great concept for moms that are looking to get back to their pre-pregnancy form or to stay in shape, meet other moms, and have your child or children interact with other children. We have other fun events too like a monthly Mom's Night Out, Book Club, and Play Dates for the kids. After raving about Stroller Strides to my sister, she started doing it in Portland after her second baby was born. I even have a girlfriend in Arizona and one in California that both started after their babies were born. I should be a spokeswoman! Check out the website for more info: http://strollerstrides.com/ and if you live local here is our group: http://classes.strollerstrides.net/lynnwood/location/index.aspx
I can honestly say that adding exercise back into my life has helped me regain my sanity so that I can be a better mom!!

Bump Progress

I'm 15 weeks along today! My pants are too tight, my energy is back, my stomach is starting to itch, my boobs finally hurt, I need new underwear, I'm officially using my ginormous U shaped pillow, and I can't sleep, but most importantly, I'm ready to EAT EAT EAT!! I LOVE my second trimester and everything it brings, BIG fan of the second trimester. We find out the baby's sex in 4 more short weeks!!

The Joy of an Old House

We are having electrical problems (yes, AGAIN for those counting) so my Uncle John came over Sunday to help us out. Our house was built in 1977 and the wiring has been re-done so funky that we have issues a lot and random switches will turn on random lights, it's very bizarre. My Uncle is always nice enough to come over and see what he can do first before we have to call an electrician, which I think we have finally put off long enough. He and Ryan were able to fix a few of the problems though. Hudson wanted to help, so here are some pictures of Hudson helping Daddy hold the flashlight for my Uncle.

The Park

We took Hudson to the park the other day and he had a blast. He's still unsure about walking on uneven surfaces however and it took awhile for him to figure out that he could walk around on his own without holding one of our hands. We went to Logan Park and if you live in the area and haven't been, it's a really good park for little ones as they have smaller things for them to play on and with. The only thing that I was disappointed with was that they didn't have a swing for little ones. Other than that, great park!

Trying to figure out how I got it to bobble back and forth

Coming down the slide with Daddy's help

Please note the amount of drool here...tooth #6 finally cut last night!! Also, I don't think Ryan likes his son very much, I always catch him looking at Hudson in this mean, non adoring way (hee hee)

And my favorite!

Storey, Table for 3

Look who's joining us at the big table these days! Hudson had been throwing a fit this past week when I would put him in the highchair. Not thinking much of these fits I continued to get him in the highchair, but then he didn't want to eat which is not like him at all. He's always been a great eater...gaining an entire pound from his 2 day to his 10 day Dr. visit was our first clue that eating wouldn't be an issue!! So now I was puzzled and ready to try anything else as the fits were getting to be too much to handle. That's when I remembered the little chair my sister-in-law gave us that had been strapped to one of our table chairs for months just waiting for Hudson. Problem solved, he loves it and no more fits. He looks like such a big boy sitting at the table with us now!

Stepping Stool

Hudson has discovered that just about anything can be used as a stool. I looked from the kitchen to the family room yesterday to discover this. Earlier in the week he was using his training potty (we've introduced it, but don't really anticipate him being out of diapers before #2 arrives) as a stool to get on the ottoman. Thinking I was being smart, I moved the semi he is using in the pictures below and replaced it with his retro rocket. Proving once again that it doesn't matter how smart Mommy is, we caught him this morning using that as a stool. I think we need to buy a real stool so he will stop using things with wheels as one.

I should mention here as well that when I asked him what he was doing he looked at me sweetly with the picture he had grabbed from the trunk and said "Dada" as if to say "I'm just up here Mom so I can look at pictures of Daddy while he is at work". It was pretty cute actually.

Hudson the Ham

I wanted to get better pictures of Hudson with his new teeth, so I snapped these while he was eating lunch the other day. He is such a ham that it was hard for me to choose between them, so I made a slide show of them all. Sorry about the little piece of cheese floating around in his mouth, but what can you do! Isn't it amazing how teeth completely change them from that baby look to being all grown up?? And #6 still hasn't broken through! http://www.photoshow.com//watch/my7IT4Zt