Wrap-Up

Hudson's blog has been a bit neglected these days... so here's a summary of what we've been up to: 

May 9th: I celebrated my 2nd official Mother's Day! My mom also came out for the weekend, so it was great having her here. It had been almost a year since we'd seen her. She stayed with us one night, and Hudson had a great time playing with his Grandma Bev.

May 30th: Celebrated my dad's birthday at Outback. I hadn't been back there for about 3 years, so it was a little strange revisiting my old stomping grounds. :) 

June 6th: Brandon & I headed out to Palm Springs for a night. Hudson stayed with Gramma Joan while we relaxed at the Parker! We had an amazing time. The hotel was beautiful, we ate some great food, and I even got a massage. It was a much needed break from our day-to-day life.

June 12th: Hudson & I went out to Murrieta for my cousin Amber's baby shower, which was really nice! Her baby, Weston, will be arriving in August.

June 13th: We celebrated Grammy's 94th birthday at Knott's Chicken House (a tradition). I think we had about 25 people this time, and we were quite the sight, I'm sure. :) Hudson got his first taste of boysenberry punch- yum!

The Refinery

On of Hudson's favorite places to go is The Refinery at Saddleback Church.  On Fridays, we attend Kiddie Gym here, and on Tuesdays, Brandon takes him to play basketball and run around. The Refinery was built for the youth of the church, as well as the community. The building itself is beautiful and was made with mostly recycled materials. Inside are 2 basketball courts, pool tables, ping pong, video games, foosball, flat screen TVs, cafes, etc. Outside is a sand volleyball court, waterfall, BBQs and skateboard/BMX ramps. If I were in high school, I would be hanging out here all the time! :) Hudson is too young for a lot of the things offered, but he still loves running around, pushing the button for the elevator, and playing basketball. We are so grateful for such a cool place, just a few miles from home! Oh, and by the way... Hudson knows the way to church. As soon as we make a right at the light down the hill from home, he gets really excited. And down the street from church, he starts saying "Yay! Ba-goo-goo!" (This can be problematic if I need to make a LEFT and go grocery shopping...)

Bagoogoo

Ba•goo•goo

–noun

1. a game played by two teams of usually five 

players each on a rectangular court having a 

raised basket or goal at each end, points being 

scored by tossing the ball through the 

opponent's basket.

2. the round, inflated ball, approximately 30 in. 

(76 cm) incircumference, used in this game.

3. Hudson's favorite word, favorite object, 

favorite activity!

Hudson LOVES basketball! He spends most of his day playing with his hoop at home and he's actually pretty good! He dribbles, puts his elbows out to keep away the defenders, and has a mean shot! Any time basketball is on TV, his face lights up, he points and says "Ba-Goo-Goo!" over and over. It's the cutest thing. Needless to say, his daddy is very proud... and so am I. :)

Mom & Dad's Night Away

This past weekend, Brandon and I went away for a night. We went to Temecula for a hot air balloon ride and wine tasting. Since the hot air balloon ride is a "sunrise" ride, we had to wake up very early to get there by 6:00am.  Oh, and did I mention there was a time change and we lost an hour? Thanks to some noisy neighbors, we got up before our alarm and were out of the house at 3:40am with a full tank of gas and a full thermos of coffee.

To make a long story short, we ended up not going on our hot air balloon ride. We were unimpressed by the company {cough... Sunrise Balloons} and didn't want to put our lives in their hands at 2,000 feet up. This, however, left us with a dilemma... what do we do at 8:00 in the morning in Temecula? We were staying at South Coast Winery, but couldn't check into our villa until the afternoon, and the wineries didn't open until 10, so we decided to sit in the jacuzzi and have some champagne! It was really nice, since it's something we aren't able to do too often. It was a beautiful day in Temecula- a bit brisk at 8:00am- but the salt water jacuzzi felt great!

We went to a 2 wineries the first day and 2 the second. We were able to taste in Leonesse Cellars' barrel tasting room (thanks to our friends Grant & Brooke), which was a nice treat, and their wines were fantastic. The second day we went back to Churon Winery, where we were married. It's always nice to go back there. We finished up our trip with an amazing lunch at Public House in Old Towne Temecula. If you are in the area, I would highly recommend it!

Gramma Joan stayed with Hudson, and he did great without us! So much so, that we may have another night away in our near future! Although we missed our boy, it was a much needed break from our normal day-to-day life and responsibilities and we came back feeling refreshed!

Mommy Lesson #472

Today, Hudson and I were out and about, and since the weather was nice, I thought it would be fun to go to MV Lake and play in the sand and on the playground. Since this was a spontaneous trip, I didn't have beach essentials such as towels, bathing suits, etc. In fact, I was the genius who wore jeans... because "we won't be going in the water, we'll just play on the sand!" Well, of course Hudson didn't want to play on just the sand... there is all the fun lake water to play in! He was splashing along the edge of the water, when all of a sudden.... Splash! He tumbled and fell all the way in!! So we ditched the shirt and let him play in his shorts until... Splash! In the water again. And like I said, I was wearing jeans... so Hudson left the lake in just a diaper, and I left with soggy jeans. Next time I think I will bring a beach bag, just in case. :)

*Sorry for the poor quality, I took these on my cell phone. Did I mention I was unprepared today?

Hudson's Words

Hudson is staring to talk, and every day it seems like he learns a new word. Here are the words currently in his vocabulary:

Daddy

Doggie

Please ("Geeee")

Cheese  ("Jeeee")

Uh-oh

Iced Tea ("Dee Tee")

Hot

Sydney-his little friend from daycare ("Zee Zee")

*Note that Mommy/Mama/Mom or any other variation of the word has not made the list yet... but we're working on it. :)

18 Months Old

26 lb 6 oz

33 1/2 inches

size 7 shoe

Link to our Family Photos

Our photographer has posted about 15 photos on his website. Check 'em out here

Family Photos - December 2009

A couple weeks ago, we went down to San Juan Capistrano to take some new family photos. There is a cute little train station down there, as well as a lot of cool, old buildings. We had a lot of fun looking around and shooting in different spots. Hudson was a good sport about the whole thing... he just got scared whenever the train went by, because it was really loud! I think he likes trains better when they fit in his hand. :) Anyway, here is the first picture from out awesome photographer Matt Luecht @ anewhalloo.com. We can't wait to see the rest!

Happy Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at Uncle Phil & Aunt Laura's this year. The food was amazing (would you expect any differently?) and I tested out a new recipe: butternut squash lasagna. It's definitely a keeper... thanks Giada! Aunt Laura brined her turkey, and it was awesome. The weather was a bit warm for November, especially by our house, but it was about 10 degrees cooler with a nice breeze in Long Beach. Hudson had a great time running around outside- until he ran right into the rosebush. Ouch. But once we pulled the thorns out of his little face and Uncle Duane distracted him with the soccer ball, everything was fine. And amazingly, his face healed up within a few days. We went for a Duffy boat ride in the bay and checked out some of the early Christmas lights. It was a great day!