Hudson vs the Windowsill

This morning, while at Memere & Opa's, Hudson took on the windowsill and lost. He fell into it and got his first black eye. :-( It's very puffy right now and will probably turn black and blue tomorrow. Even though it looks really bad, it doesn't seem to hurt him at all. Of course, he cried when it happened but has been his normal happy self ever since. This will be the first of many bumps and bruises now that Hudson is walking, especially since he's a busy boy!

It actually looks worse in person than it does in the pics. :-(

Poor little guy!

Still having fun playing though!

Riding Piggyback

Today, we went shopping at Lone Star Baby and decided to test out a backpack for Hudson to ride piggyback with Daddy. Matthew walked around with Hudson on his back while we looked at all the double strollers and cribs for Luke. Both Daddy and Hudson had a lot of fun with this, so we'll have to invest in one soon!

Gobble, Gobble

Our family had a fabulous Thanksgiving this year! We spent the day with my family in Denton and enjoyed wonderful food. I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for breakfast, green bean casserole for a side and rolo snaps for a snack during the Cowboys game. My mom fixed an outstanding Thanksgiving meal as always! Hudson enjoyed all of his first Thanksgiving foods; his favorites were stuffing, yams, green bean casserole and corn salad. Hudson also had a lot of fun playing with his Uncle Derek and Aunt Kitty. After the Cowboys game, Derek, Kitty, Matthew and I went to the movies to see The Blind Side, which was an appropriately touching movie to watch on Thanksgiving. Lots of yummy leftovers for more turkey and fixins this weekend!

Memere & Hudson

Uncle Derek reading to Hudson

Opa & Hudson

Hudson with Uncle Derek & Aunt Kitty

Hudson & Daddy watching the Cowboys game

Hudson & Mommy who just woke up from a cat nap and still looks sleepy!

I am Thankful for...

Tomorrow on Thanksgiving, we will be spending the day with family and enjoying terrific food. I am blessed with so many things to be thankful for:

• God who is gracious and merciful.
• My healthy, happy and beautiful family.
• Matthew who works hard to provide for his family and is a wonderful father.
• Hudson who has a tender heart and funloving spirit.
• Lucas who will add so much joy to our family in a few months.
• Dr. Williams who made it possible for me to have Lucas as well as save my life.
• Our puppy dog, Misha, who is gentle and loving.
• My mom and dad who are supportive, loving parents and outstanding grandparents to Hudson.
• Derek and Kitty who are thoughtful, wonderful siblings and uncle/aunt to Hudson.
• My sweet Grandma who has such a tender spirit and is strong during this time.
• That Grandma has moved to Denton, and I can enjoy her company and visit her during her last days here.
• A close extended family that I can count on and always have a blast with.
• Larry & Vicki, my inlaws, who are terrific grandparents.
• Wonderful friends who I can laugh with, lean on and are always there for me.
• Being blessed with a job that allows me flexibility to spend time with my family.
• Co-workers/friends who make my time at work lots of fun.
• Our cozy home and friendly neighbors.
• The ability to travel and see new places.
• Taste buds to enjoy the wonderful food I'm about to eat!!! :-)

"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven." Johannes A. Gaertner

Hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Deck the Halls and Tree

Last Sunday, we decorated our house for Christmas... I like to decorate early each year so we can enjoy it longer! I love this time of year! Though it was too warm outside to have a fire going, we tried to make it festive. We drank peppermint mochas and listened to music...We intended to listen to Christmas carols, but the TV music stations didn't have any on, so we decorated to 80's music! Daddy helped Hudson put on the first ornament - a nutcracker. Hudson loves looking at the tree, and Mommy is teaching him not to pull off the ornaments. :-)

Daddy helping Hudson put the first ornament on the tree

Our Christmas Tree

The Mantel

Our Family's Stockings
Hudson enjoying the tree

It's a...

BOY!! - Lucas (Luke) Henderson Arnold - Henderson is Daddy's middle name and Mimi's maiden name. Hudson is going to have a little brother! We are very excited about having two boys close in age. They will be great pals! Hudson is going to be such a wonderful big brother to Luke!

Ruff, Ruff

We've realized that Hudson's nursery theme of puppies is quite appropriate for him because he LOVES them! His favorite word right now is definitely 'doggie'. He points out doggies everywhere we see them, including in his books and on TV. Also, when asked "What does a doggie say?", Hudson responds "Ruff". Miss Erica taught him that! Another word that he enjoys saying is 'clock' (sometimes 'glock'). While at at Memere's or Mimi's, Hudson will hear the clock chime each hour and say 'clock'. He can be busy doing something completely different, but he's very tuned in to when the clock chimes.

Hudson has learned how to shake his groove thing! While standing, he will stick out his "bobo" and bounce up and down when music comes on. It's very cute! Hudson has taken 12 steps, and he definitely prefers to do most things standing now instead of sitting. He will often choose to walk instead of crawl, and he is very proud of himself when he walks as he always has a big grin on his face!

Peek-a-boo

Peek-a-boo is a favorite game of Hudson's. He will cover his eyes (or usually it's just one of his eyes) with his hand for us to say "Boo". We love to watch him do this because he often misses his eye and puts his hand on his forehead or the side of his head instead.

Golfing at The Colonial

Matthew, his Dad and two brothers had the opportunity to golf at the Colonial... not only once, but TWICE! They lucked out - On hole 13 of their first round it started to rain, so they got a raincheck to go back a second time in Novemeber. Matthew was so excited about that! They returned on November 1st, which turned out to be beautiful weather. He said the course was amazing and gorgeous! For their first round, they had a caddy who knew Ben Hogan, so Matthew came home with lots of stories about that!

Lions and Bees and Candy... Oh my!

We had a spooktacular Halloween weekend! On Friday night, we went to a Halloween party with some friends. Mommy & Daddy were bumble bees and Hudson wore his adorable lion costume. We had a blast! Halloween night we went trick-or-treating in Denton with family and friends. Hudson enjoyed riding in his wagon and trick-or-treating for candy. This year he was cute rather than scary in his Halloween costume! We enjoyed lots of spooky decorations, and we even visited a house that was passing out hot dogs and hambugers straight off the grill, along with cider and hot cocoa! Hudson got lots of goodies and even a glow-in-the-dark bracelet on his outing.

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Snip, Snip

Hudson got his first haircut on Halloween! Mommy finally gave in to cutting off those curls she loves so much (and we definitely kept a couple of them). This was a great decision because Hudson looks SO HANDSOME now! Mommy and Daddy think he looks older with his new 'do. For Hudson's first haircut we thought it would be fun to take him to Phil, who has cut Matthew's hair for many years ever since he was a young boy. Phil did an outstanding job with Hudson... he definitely knows how to cut a boy's hair through all of the wiggling. Hudson did great for the most part as long as we kept him occupied... We first used a comb, then his book, then his phone, then some goldfish to eat and finally a magazine. We were quite busy trying to keep him occupied and STILL while also trying to take pictures and video of it all! At the end, Hudson had enough of geting his hair cut, which is when Daddy took over because he was getting wiggly and fussy. When Phil finished, he gave Hudson a lollypop which Daddy ate! We had a lot of fun, and we love his new boy cut!!

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