Looking Forward to 2010!

2009 has been such an incredible year, and we can't wait for what 2010 will bring! We already know of one special miracle coming in April! Each of us have made a New Year's Resolution for 2010:

Matthew: To put work aside sometimes to make time for what's important - my family.

Kara: To take time out of each day to show/tell my three boys, Matthew, Hudson and Lucas, how much I love them and what they mean to me. Along with that, I am going to make sure to take time out of the busy days to slow down and just have fun being a Mommy, taking pleasure in the joys of having such wonderful kids!

Hudson: To teach Lucas everything I know and to be the best big brother. Also, Hudson told Daddy that he wants to learn how to catch!

We wish everyone a joyous, healthy and prosperous New Year 2010!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Just as the last few patches of snow from Christmas were almost melted away, we received some more winter weather! It has been very chilly today. Hudson and I ran a couple errands this morning then had lunch with Daddy. After lunch, we came home and stayed inside for the rest of the day where it was warm and cozy! We had fun watching the pretty snow!

Hudson sitting on Mommy's lap watching the snow fall

Pointing at the snow

Choo Choo

Today, we visited the Holiday Train Exhibit. Trains decorated in all sizes were chugging along everywhere! The exhibit featured different national landmarks such as the White House, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and the Golden Gate Bridge. Hudson enjoyed watching all the Choo Choos, and he even got a conductor hat to wear.

Dressed up in my new outfit from Mimi & Papa

Yay! We're going to see some Trains!
Look at all of these Choo Choos!
I want to touch them!

This was Mommy's favorite section... very pretty!

15 Months

Hudson is 15 months old today! He visited the doctor on Wednesday for his 15 month checkup. Everything went great, and the doctor said that Hudson is such a sweet little boy! At this appointment, Hudson had to get two shots. When he was finished, he snuggled up to Mommy with his head on my shoulder. The nurse thought this was precious! She gave Hudson a ball before we left for being such a good patient!

Our growing boy is now:
Weight: 25 lbs, 7 oz (60th percentile)
Height: 32.25 inches (80th percentile)
Head Circumference: 49.2 cm (95-97th percentile)

Now that Hudson is walking, he is becoming tall and slender; although, he continues to have what we like to call his "Charlie Brown" sized head.

Some of our memories of Hudson at 15 months:

• He points to baby brother.


• Hudson's first two word phrase is "Goo Gir" (good girl, which is what we call Misha all the time).


• Hudson prefers his fruits, veggies and cheese over meats. He always eats his veggies and fruit before his meat. Hudson especially likes "nana" (bananas...Erica taught him that word) - He will gobble one of those up very quickly!


• Hudson now likes to scoop the food he doesn't want to eat into his lap. This has become a messy habit of his!


• Hudson often imitates things we do and say. One cute example of this...On Thanksgiving morning, when Daddy was holding Hudson he was brushing back his hair with his hand in the mirror, and Hudson started doing the same thing with his hair while also looking in the mirror.


• When Hudson drinks his milk at night while we are holding him, he twists his PJs in between his fingers. This seems to be a comforting thing for him. He will also do it when watching a show in Mommy's lap.


• Hudson likes to put things away - Mommy has enjoyed this! He likes to put his blocks back in their bucket. Also, one evening when I was cooking, I was letting him play with the spatulas in the bottom cabinet. He was taking them out of the utensil crock and playing with each of them. A few minutes later, I turned around to find Hudson putting the last one back in the crock and closing the cabinet. He also does this with the tupperware. He enjoys cleaning up after himself!


• Almost every time we open the car door to get Hudson out, he says "Da Da Da", "Ba Ba Ba", "Ma Ma Ma", or some combination of those.


• Hudson has started doing these high pitched squeals and a laugh that sounds like he's trying to catch his breath, but this is what he does when he's very excited.


• Hudson enjoys "Roaring" with Daddy, which now has become a nightly routine... Hudson's roar is so cute.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Well, our White Christmas Eve continued into Christmas morning! How perfect!! It was sunny that morning, and the wind had died down, which gave us perfect weather to play in the snow with Hudson! He was so thrilled and, of course, didn't want to come inside this time either! We had so much fun watching him experience his first snow (and what better time than on Christmas morning)!!!

Daddy & Hudson looking out at the snow

Look at all of this snow! Snow is difficult to walk in!
So I will just sit in it!
Daddy showing me a snowball
Let's see if I can make one!
I'm all covered in snow!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Christmas morning has become one of my favorite times of the year! It was so fun making traditions and memories with family and spending quality time together...just the three of us!

Hudson was so cute this morning! When he woke up, we went into his room with the camcorder, and he wasn't sure what to think. We put him down, and he followed Mommy into where Santa delivered all his toys. At first, he wasn't sure what to do. He was just standing there looking between us and the toys. Once I showed him that they were all for him, he began playing with each thing one by one. We guessed it! - The first toy he played with was the cell phone, second was the keys, and third was the Mickey Mouse sound book. He kept pushing the red doorbell button on the book. In between almost every toy, he went back to the cell phone for a minute before going on to the next thing. That was definitely one of his favorite toys that he got! However, Hudson also thought the Curious George Jack-in-the-box was so much fun! He would laugh each time George popped out!

Hudson got Daddy matching shirts. Matthew's says "Daddy", Hudson's says "Daddy's Caddy", and they both have their faces on them with golf bags. Matthew wore his proudly to dinner with the family that night. Hudson got Mommy a very cute Texas Tech dip platter, which I am very excited about using! I will get to try it out next weekend when we have some friends over to watch Texas Tech play in the Alamo Bowl. Matthew's gift from Mommy this year was the new putter that he wanted, and Daddy is going to get Mommy the new camera that she wants. We still haven't figured out which camera we want yet but plan on getting it soon!

After our family enjoyed our Christmas, opened up all of our gifts, and played with the toys, Hudson and Daddy watched A Christmas Story while Mommy finished up breakfast - sausage mushroom and egg souffle with cinnamon rolls. Delicious! After eating breakfast as a famliy, we changed into our warm snow gear and went outside to play in the snow before it melted away. Hudson was thrilled about doing that! When we came back inside, we drank a cup of coffee while finishing up A Christmas Story and playing with Hudson. Around noon, we put Hudson down for his nap while Mommy and Daddy got dressed and ready to go to Matthew's parent's house for Christmas dinner. Dinner with his family was lots of fun. After eating and exchanging gifts, we played Tabboo and the girls won!

Matthew and I were talking about how Christmas this year has turned out absolutely PERFECT!!! We both agreed that our favorite time would definitely have to be spending time just the three of us as a family and enjoying watching Hudson's face light up with his new toys. The snow definitely added a nice touch as well because we had fun playing with Hudson in it.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Santa's visit to The Arnold Home

We are anxiously waiting for Hudson to wake up, so he can see what Santa brought him! Hudson was nice rather than naughty this year, and Santa gave him lots of good toys! Hudson got a sports theme toy box to put all of his toys in! Santa also gave him a set of golf clubs, a T-ball set, a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal, a Tigger stuffed animal, Mickey Mouse and Thomas the Train sound books, a Curious George Jack-in-the-box, The Wiggles DVD, a big stuffed Doggie, a cell phone, his own car keys, some sippy cups, a Mickey Mouse bowl/spoon set, his own play photo book with pictures of the family, some M&Ms, Reeces Peanut Butter Cups, and, of course, a Mickey alarm clock since he loves clocks! Can't wait to see the look on Hudson's face! We are trying to guess what he'll play with first... it's between the cell phone and the keys. In the meantime, I'm off to fix breakfast - sausage, mushroom and egg souffle and cinnamon rolls. Yummy!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

This evening we made the crazy trek through the blizzard to spend Christmas Eve with the family. Christmas Eve is one of my favorite nights of the year because my whole family gets together after the church service. However, the service was cancelled tonight due to the weather. This year, the Christmas Eve party was at my parent's house. As always, we had a lot of fun visiting with the family and enjoying wonderful food. Hudson had a blast playing with all of the boys, and what's an evening playing with all boys without a bump on the head? Hudson bumped his head on the treadmill, which left a waffle looking mark on his forehead. This didn't stop Hudson though... he kept on playing and even cried when we had to leave.

The weather BEFORE it got too bad

All of the boysThe mark on Hudson's forehead

White Christmas

We had a nice surprise this morning... Snow! It definitely makes Christmas more festive with snow rather than the 70 degree weather we had yesterday!

Our Christmas Eve so far has been packed with lots of fun! Hudson slept in until 10 this morning, which was perfect because it gave Mommy time to finish all her baking. Once he got up and ate breakfast, we took him outside to play in the snow. It wasn't sticking yet, but Hudson had SO MUCH fun running around in the falling snow! He cried and cried when we brought him back inside. During the afternoon, the snow started to stick, which made for a very pretty Christmas Eve! However, at that time, it was extremely windy, so we didn't go back out in the blizzard-like weather. Instead, we stayed cozy inside and drank hot cocoa.

Our backyard later in the afternoon