Hudson Lee Hake

We have officially decided on Hudson Lee Hake for the new lil Hake's name! Actually, we have known for awhile and just forgot to post our decision. While we were in the process of making our choice and researching names, we started calling the baby Hudson and from then on it just made since that his name should be Hudson. I am officially 28 weeks and getting huge! At my last appointment he was measuring big so next week I have a sonogram to find out exactly how big he really is! While I am excited to get to see him again, I am really hoping that he is really right on track!

It looks like I will have another funky monkey -- while looking at tons and tons of baby bedding online and fabrics I couldn't find anything I really liked that compared to Tanner's sock monkey bedding. So, the sock monkeys will live on in Hudson's room too, but this time in blue! I plan to make their rooms matching but everything that is orange in Tanner's room will be blue in Hudson's. I am getting the itch to get his room ready -- I haven't been in much of a hurry at all as we lose our guest room once converted to a baby room. But, the nesting instinct is starting to take over and I am ready (well, ready for Brian) to get busy! :-) So if anyone see's any great sock monkeys out and around let me know as we are adding to our collection!

Arboretum and Camping

Dallas Arboretum

My friend Scarlett and I, braved taking three two year olds to the arboretum. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. They had story book houses on display that the kids could go in and enjoy. Each one represented a different story book. They were really cute!

Tanner showing his new 'cheese' smile!

Tanner by the big flower cake!

We rented a wagon for our three tired pups! The best purchase ever!

Hansel and Gretel was Tanner's favorite house -- he kept trying to get a lick of the cupcake cutout. Yuck, he was disappointed it didn't taste like cake!

Cooling down and getting soaked at the frog fountains -- I think this was the highlight!

A view of where we ate our picnic lunch -- overlooking white rock lake.

Camping at Whispering Pines

This weekend we went camping at whispering pines in tyler, tx. This was Tanner's first time to go camping and our first time camping with a lil one! Like everything in life with a toddler -- it was different than we were used to. We remember camping being so relaxing, well, not anymore! But its way more fun! We had a great time. Grammy and Papa went with us so that made it even more fun! It was great to get away and have a change of scenery and activities! We stayed in a cabin (no tent, for the pregnant lady). So it was pretty cush camping!

Tanner and Daddy

Tanner loved throwing rocks into the water and we even saw some tadpoles!

Tanner and Grammy roasting marshmellows by the fire . He didnt care for the marshmellows all that much he just wanted the chocolate from the smores (thats my boy)!

Tanner and Daddy cooled off by pouring water over their heads. We managed to have no rain all weekend, but it was very hot and humid.

Future Golfer?

Tanner and Papa swinging!

Tanner on the jumping pillow (it was the coolest thing -- it was about the size of a swimming pool and bouncy like a jump house) Tanner loved running on it!

It's a ...... and celebrating 2 years!

Well, the new lil hake is a BOY! Tanner is going to have a little brother! Brian is excited he already has half a basketball team and I am excited to have another lil momma's boy to get lots of hugs and kisses from! We are really excited and as you can tell by the second picture -- there is no doubt its a boy! He spread eagle and let the whole world see his glory! It was so fun to see him moving around -- he was kicking those lil legs and swaying his arms. We are already anxious to see if he is going to look like Tanner and if he will be the wild child or even sweeter than Tanner! No names picked for sure, but I will let you know when we decide (but no its not Jordan)!

We also celebrated Tanner's birthday last week -- we officially have a two year old!!! He had a curious george party and was soooo excited to wake up from his nap and see George everywhere on balloons and color sheets and a cake! He was so cute -- he squealed like a girl! He was so happy to see all his friends come over and had a great time! He got lots of great toys, books, and clothes! I was exhausted after his party and it was even an as simple as you get party -- cake, ice cream, and punch!

On Monday, his actual birthday we took him and Marty to the zoo. It was really fun -- he was really into it more than ever. We spent the longest time at the monkeys -- yep, i have trained him well! They were eating oranges for their 'nack' (snack) and all week he wanted oranges for a nack! He was yelling 'hi' to them and got sooo excited when they would move!

I just have to say that I love love love this age!!! I mean, there are moments when I am like yep, we have reached the terrible twos, but for the most part it is soooo great! There is nothing like those big hugs and kisses you get and the big smile and 'MOMMA' that he yells when he sees me! I love being with him and he brings soooo much joy and laughter to my life! I am definitely going to cherish the time we have left with just Tanner!

The Sacrifice!

Ok, so I finally decided to sacrifice my nap/break time (aka Tanner and Marty nap time) to do a little blogging -- so I hope there are still people out there reading this to make it worth it! :-) Well, a lot has happened and I have no excuse for my lack of blogging other than being pregnant and pregnant I am! I am 18 weeks now and really poking out - I am trying to make use of all these winter maternity clothes I have that will be of no use in a few weeks. I wore my famous brown velour sweatsuit (my staple last time around) this week and Brian said "well, you are officialy pregnant now that you are wearing your suit". I am feeling soooo much better! It was pretty rough for awhile, but I am starting to get a little energy and the sickness has worn off (except in the car). We have our sonogram on the 19th and will hopefully find out if the next lil hake is a boy or girl! I am really ready to know (and then we will start the name battle).

Tanner is in a big boy bed (crib converted to toddler bed) now! Within two days he discovered hey I can climb out of this thing and I can open doors now! It was a pretty stressful few days, as I was not quite prepared for all the freedom this brought! We all adjusted just fine though and now he sleeps great in his bed (well, that is after he has pulled all the books off his shelf, rearranged all the stuffed animals and crashed with a book on his tummy). Brian and I shopped for his official big boy bed this past weekend and he will transition to it soon! Tanner turns two next week (I cant believe I really have a two year old!!!) I will post pics of his curious george party!

I submitted classes for next year's home school coop and I am really excited about the classes submitted (discovering the artist in you for early elementary, creative cultural crafts for late elementary, knit one pearl two, and sculpt it for middle school, and Interior design 101 for high school students). The committee chooses the courses they want to offer and then it goes to the public for sign up. Please say a little prayer that the committee will choose several courses to offer this year! I miss teaching art and this is my chance to get to tap back into my creative and teaching side plus the extra money is great! I started doing Yoga classes back in December at the gym -- its been really great. I love it and its a nice break from the day. Well, I know there is so much more to catch up on, but thats all I can think of right now! I will post soon with our big events coming up!

Tanner's first time painting a ceramic (of course it was a monkey). At first, he was so excited he could hardly stand it then it turned to very serious concentration! He worked on it for about 45 min. It was so great!

Tanner still loves to hug and hold hands!

Loving Play Dough!!!

Tanner has started to smile at the camera now and gives this big cheesy grin (this time he happened to have cheesy crackers in his mouth too!

Tanner's big boy bed!

Table display of some of the home school coop art class (1st and 2nd graders) work.

Tanner's New Shirt

Yep, Tanner is going to be a big brother! I am 8 weeks pregnant with number 2! We are really excited and Tanner, as you can tell from the first picture, is still his busy self! Looks like we will have an end of July baby -- I am already praying for a cooler summer!

Girls night out!

Wednesday night was girls night out for our ABF class at church. We went to Bread Winners (probably my favorite restaurant -- at least for a girly night out)! If you have not been and live near Dallas, its a must go to ASAP place! And if you like chocolate cake then sister you really need to go. I never used to be a fan of chocolate cake until..... I had this cake!!! It's so yummy! So we ordered a chocolate cake and ate dinner too! :-)

I love girl's night out. When I was working, I never wanted to go out and miss out on time with Tanner and Brian, but now that I am staying home and get to spend lots of time with Tanner (or maybe that he is learning how to throw a pretty good temper tantrum) I am all for girls night out. Its such refreshing time to get out and hang out with other moms. Of course, the subject of conversation is mostly about our kids, but its still tons of fun! I am lucky to have such a great group of girlfriends to hang out with and I am looking forward to our next time out!

November Moments

What a great week! It was so much fun to spend all week with Brian and Tanner.