A spring like winter day

Lunch outside with Gage!

Yogurt eaten with fingers....notice how clean the spoon is?

Painting with Gage. Gage loved to say "perfect" after each paint stroke!

Yummy strawberries.....

Lunch with Benjamin

His favorite baby....Mason

Nana's birthday in St Louis

We spent a fun long weekend in St Louis while the house had lots of painting done. Here is an after picture of the cabinets after being glazed
ignore the mess:)

the staircase painted

We had one day with really nice weather so we spent the morning at the park

Sharing spaghetti at a great restaurant on the Hill for Nana's birthday

Getting a haircut by Nana

With "Pa" at an arcade

With Nana, Tanner and his favorite new word "Chloe" in the matching PJ's that Hudson insists on wearing to bed every night

His FAVORITE "car" at the arcade that he rode over and over again. He keeps making this "o" with his mouth to keep himself from smiling

With Aunt Dana "after" the bang hair-do

With "Pa" at the arcade.....trying to escape back to ride the car again

yummmmm

Let it snow.....

We have had a pretty cold January here in KC but despite the freezing temps we had to get outside for a bit and play in the snow. He was not a fan of the snow being on his boots which he loves.

We have been playing with lots of change lately. His girlfriend Ainsley got him a piggy bank for Xmas and he will sit at his banks for a long time playing with the change.

For some reason he thought it would be more fun to eat yogurt with his hand:)

It is hard to get a picture without him immediatly squinting his eyes and putting on his "cheese" face. He loves his new little cars and people he got for Christmas.

Christmas in Colorado

We just got back from a wonderful Christmas in Colorado with John's family in Ovid. We were also very fortunate to see Nana, Aunt Samantha and Evan and Lyndi who drove up to Ovid from Denver for the day with us. Hudson loved opening presents saying "oh, wow" with every one.

Hudson was such a good boy on this trip! We were amazed at how well he did in the 8 hour car ride...not once did he complain. Elmo on DVD sure did help the time go by though! He had such a fun time playing with all of his older cousins.

Deciding what to eat at a local steak house

Sitting with cousin Ethan at church on Christmas Eve. He LOVED the Xmas hymns. Each time one would end, he would look at us and say "more, peas" (aka "please")

All the cousins.....

One morning at Grandma's house we looked outside and saw a ton of cows coming down the street. It was quite a site for us city folk. Hudson thought they were dogs at first but finally realized they were "ow's"

Hudson loved riding on Uncle Pete's shoulders which gave him quite a workout. Each time he stopped, Hudson would say "Go!"

Eating a roll with "dada"

friends

We had a small Holiday party for our friends that we met when John was in law school at KU. There were two two-year olds, three one-year olds and two babies running around. They had so much fun together and were so fun to watch interact. We are hoping we didn't scare the couples without children too much :)

Getting one picture of the group was a bit of a challenge, even with bribery for cookies.

Hudson loved baby Mason and loved taking out his pacifier and putting it back in. Luckily is used to his one year old big brother and didn't mind too much. Hudson thought it was hilarious when Mason would grab his hair.

Even though it is 8 degrees and snowing, Hudson would rather spend most of his day naked. He can now get undressed from coat to shoes including diaper in about two minutes so we get dressed about 25 times a day right now!

We are getting ready for Christmas around here. On Tuesday we will be driving to Colorado!

Cookies and cupcakes.....

Hudson loves to be a helper in the kitchen and pulls a chair right on up to the counter. We made "Barbie's" oreo bon bons which are always a holiday favorite and he loved putting the cookies in the food processor. Surprisingly not one went in his mouth until the very end......

As soon as he saw the camera, he put on his "CHEEEESSEEE" face.

We ended our last Kindermusik class of the year with a big cupcake kiss with Ainsley.

Yum....after eating his cupcake, he proceeded to bend down to Ainsley's hand and tried to finish hers as well.

The big challenge this week has been keeping Hudson clothed. Despite the snow and freezing temperatures Hudson just wants to be naked. I put him down for a nap this week and after about 30 minutes of him playing in his crib, I heard repeated "Ah, ohs"and went up and found his naked....all but his shirt which he had his head and arm stuck in the same hole......thanks goodness the diaper on the floor was still dry.

Chooo-chooooo.....

We are moved (and almost unpacked) - yeah!!! Things went really well thanks to Nana for all of the help with packing and unpacking. Moving took 11 hours and three trips...very far from the estimate of 7 hours and one truck but nonetheless we love the new house and are filling up the space quickly! Hudson now has at least 20 new places to hide from me or run when he doesn't want to get dressed, get a coat on or shoes. Although all I have to say is the word "car" and he comes running back and finds the keys (even the right one depending on which car we ride in). He LOVES cars and things with wheels. He can accurately find our cars in the parking lot which is always helpful for me since I seem to always forget where I parked!

He also LOVES the new pantry which starts right at his level. Here he his hiding with a box of cookies happy as can be. He also loves to push chairs from the kitchen table over to the counter to use them as a ladder to climb up on the counter....lovely....so now I find all kinds of new things spilled on the floor.

We had a great Thanksgiving and were very thanksful that Nana, Grandpa and Aunt Sam made the trip over so we could spend our first Thanksgiving in our new house. We kept them busy as the ladies helped Xmas lights and the tree and Grandpa and John hung his new TV on the fireplace.

He learned how to take a picture of himself with the camera and say "cheese". We are amazed at how fast the kid can figure out a gadget and work it properly like a remote, cell phone or key.

Eating round two of thanksgiving dinner before bed....can never have too many mashed potatos.

A Staple in Hudson's diet

We took a fun field trip this week with some friends (Gage and Benjamin) to Union Station to see the huge "choo choo" display. The boys were amazed at the train display and then got a chance to ride on the train around the tree. It was by far the best $3 we have spent in a while. They would have sat on there for hours I think. Then we went to eat at Fritz's at Crown Center where the train "drops" the food off at the table. What a good time we all had.

Hudson is always daddy's little helper, especially when he has a tool in his hand!