A letter to Hudson on his First Birthday!

Dear Hudson,

How have your become a little boy already??? This year has been full of wonderful changes but you, by far, were the best!!! You came into this world smiling and hungry and things haven't changed much ;) You fill our days with joy, love, hope, wonder, and amazement! You are the happiest baby we have ever known and you have the "true" second born attitude of just going with the flow. Being a first born, Mama does not understand this mentality but Dada totally gets it so you are in luck :)

You are the little light in this family that shines at all hours of the day (and night) :) Your laugh is infectious (in person and on Facetime and Facebook and the Blog) Your chubby legs are the best thing in the whole wide world and your cry can wake up the neighbors (literally)! You are a tiny piece of heaven that we get to love on every day and for this we say THANK YOU!!!!

We love you so much Hudson Wayne and can't wait to watch you grow in this coming year! So many milestones completed and so many to come! Walking, talking and beating up your big brother are just a few we can't wait to witness ;)
Happy First Birthday HUDDY!!!

Love,
Mama, Dada and Jd

SNOW IN SEATTLE- January 2012!

On Sunday morning, January 15th we were pleasantly surprised to wake up to snowfall! The meteorologists kept saying it was coming but I really did not believe them ;) They proved me wrong and as I type this (Monday afternoon) it is still snowing!!!! I can't tell you gorgeous it is but I can try and show you in some pics! But it really does not do it justice. The boys have had a blast in the snow! We have only played in the front yard and took a wagon ride through the neighborhood. We have just gotten over being sick for 2 weeks so I am trying to keep the extreme cold play to a minimun without being a total scrooge mom ;0) The Pacific Northwest never ceases to amaze me with its beauty and mother nature has outdone herself again!

Snowfall Day 1


"Mama, I catch the SNOW!"


Day 2

Our house all SNOWY!!!! :)







We have been warned about Seattle drivers in the Snow and we got an up close and personal introductionon this subject. My good samaritan husband sprang to the rescue and helped this van get back on course :)

Christmas at Mimi & Papa's

We spent Christmas in Michigan this year! And Mimi and Papa didn't disappoint!!! From the moment we walked in the house it was like a toddler playroom gone wild. There were so many toys before we even had Christmas morning! The basement was like Little Gym complete with a kiddie pool filled with plastic balls :) The boys were beyond excited to play down there! We had many visits from Uncle Ace (Andy's bro) Aunt D (Sister in law) and Aralyn (cousin)! This was the first time the Kirkland cousins were all together and the first time we had seen Aralyn since she was a newborn! We tried all week to get a good picture of the 3 of them together and somehow it didn't happen :( Also, while we were there, Aric and D'Ann found out that their bundle of joy due in May in a BOY!!!! So excited for them and can't wait to meet the little guy!
Christmas morning was magical! Jd, sort of, grasped the concept of Santa or See-ta as he calls the man in the red suit :) And he loved opening presents. I think the big wheel bike was the highlight for him. Hudson liked eating the paper.......shocker I know :) Andy and I were spoiled as well. Andy received a new camera, so more pictures coming soon! And I got some new running shoes and a new heart rate monitor watch! We got to see some family that we, sadly, do not get to see often enough. Great Uncle Ed and Great Aunt Toots stopped by twice! We visited Great Aunt Laurie's house. And Aunt Cindy and cousin Jessica came over to love on the boys! We had such a wonderful trip and can't wait to get back to the mitten soon!!! Probably in May to meet the newest Kirkland :) Here are WAY to many pictures! Unfortunately I do not have all the videos and pics from Andy's camera uploaded yet but I thought something was better than nothing!

The night before we left for Michigan, they were so excited!!!! :)

Seattle Airport rocks, they have a kid play area. Burned some energy before the 5 hour flight!

Daddy's first flight with both boys! FYI they did awesome. They are such frequent flyers. They have been on 6 flights in the last 3 months!

Mimi, Papa and the boys!


Before, so pretty and clean


The Aftermath!!!


Oh Great Uncle Ed and Great Aunt Tootie (as Jd likes to call her) what fun we had!!!

My favorite capture, so sweet!!!

Jd and Aralyn having some fun in their Christmas jammies!

All dolled up in their Christmas outfits!

Some super cool seating for the boys
This is a craft table that turns into a high chair. This is 73 years old and has had over 20 children from Marie's side of the family use it! Such memories in that chair! Huddy loved it :)

And the boys, of course, had their own La-Z-Boys for movie night!

At Cousin Aralyn's house for some play time

Aralyn is super deprived of toys ;) The boys were in heaven!


Outside Fun with Jd's new bike from Santa (aka Mimi and Papa)




Taking brother for a walk

Fun with Laundry :) Poor Mimi got the brunt of our laundry situation. I think she might have forgot how much laundry 2 little beings can create. But she quickly remembered, especially since we showed up with Hudson have an intenstinal virus......so you get the idea ;)


New Year's Eve dinner, Surf & Turf!!! YUMMY!!!!!


See you soon Michigan family!
"Hey Hud, you think we can make it there in the Monster Truck?" :)