18 months! and Lilly Dance

Hudson recently turned 18 months - such a big boy now! His appointment with the new pedi went well - I liked him and he was very thorough. He is now in the 50th percentile for height and 40th % for weight. He has slowed down a little on things he likes to eat, but still much better than Lilly. He says funny things now, like Love You momma/daddy and Thank you Momma and is soooo loud! He can copy pretty much anything you say. He is a climber in every sense of the word - he will use every ounce of energy trying to get up on somethings and usually succeeds - he even uses his teeth to climb! He can jump or hop on two feet which is prett impressive and loves to copy his sister. I love being his mommy - he gives the best hugs and kisses now. He is pretty funny - in the car he likes to take off his shoes and put his feet in his mouth - I don't know why, but he thinks it is so funny! He started a mommy and me swim class - he seemed to enjoy it - likes to "blow bubbles" and splash.

Lilly had her end of year dance program (they don't have recitals for the little ones at this studio), but they had a little performance on Sunday afternoon. Lilly did very well and did everything her teacher asked them to do. They skipped, danced with watering cans and bears, ran with flowers, it was cute. Lilly is always excited to go dancing.

Englands in NC

Wonderful bakery!

Duke University

Mimi and papa arrived

Lilly's end of school program - yes, her skirt is tucked in her panties!


All the pictures are out of order, sorry about that!

Before mom and dad came to visit, Lilly finished this year of preschool. They had a little program and sang some songs - Lilly knew all the words and sang very loud! It was cute!

My family came to visit us for a week and we had a great time! We enjoyed getting to show them around our new surroundings and our home. The kids loved having them here and having quality mimi and papa time. We got to do some new things too, while they were here. Here is a brief overview of what we did while they were here.

1. Tried to see a Durham Bulls baseball game, but once we got there it was sold out. Durham has a cool downtown area, so we ended up eating there at the Mellow Mushroom - yummy pizza and letting the kids run around before heading to see Duke campus. Duke has a really cool chapel that is beautiful (did you know if you want to get married there, you have to camp out next to it at the beginning of the month to secure a date a year in advance?)

2. Showed them our little town - it has a neat park and some antique shops, a few restaurants.

3. Took everyone swimming - my mom even rode the lazy river with me!

4. Ate lunch with Brian and played at the mall, did a little shopping

5. Got to go on a date with Brian while my parents watched the kids - loved the grown up time! We saw Iron Man 2 - I would recommend it, a good action flick.

6. Went to the library to get some new books

7. Spent a day going to the capital - we went in, but Hudson got a little loud and it was suggested we take him out! :) Then we drove to Chapel Hill and visited North Carolina University - a beautiful campus and ate at The Top of the Hill restaurant (very cool!) and ate a delicious treat at Sugarland bakery (delicious ice cream and cupcakes!)

8. Did a curtain project - dad hung the rods and mom helped me sew Lilly's - they turned out great!

Thanks Mom and Dad - we had a great time!

Back to Earth

This spring we have decided to start using The Produce Box.  They deliver fresh, local organic produce each week to your door.  It is so great to know the farm your food came from and be able to prepare healthy, sometimes new things for your family.  Today was exciting, we got our first box!  Here it is:

Spring onions, strawberries, new potatoes, asparagus, cabbage, greens, fresh dill and parsley, and a kids garden to plant and watch grown throughout the summer.  Lilly loved doing this today!

 

Mother’s Day Festivities

This Mother’s Day was fun.  It all started 2 weeks ago when we went to get a car – I am officially a mom on the go – I have a mini-van now!  I love it!  I has so much room and you can walk from the front all the way to the back and the kids can climb in by themselves!  Very fun!  So all of you kiddos out there that were like me and said I would never, ever have a minivan – I can officially eat my words! 

Lilly’s school had a mother’s day breakfast with muffins and juice and they sang a few songs for us and gave us each a rose. 

We went to a Durham Bulls baseball game Saturday night – we made it about 6 innings with the kids.  It is fun to be in a smaller stadium and they had a fun playground in there too. 

Sunday we went to church, ate Chinese, and the kids and Brian gave me a cool wind chime that plays tinkly music and a bird feeder for our woodsy area behind our house. 

I love being a mom.  I was thinking about how I came to be a mom and the journey that it was for Brian and I.  I would not trade giving birth or watching Hudson’s birth mom give birth for the world….each made me a mommy to my kids and gave me such joy. 

Strawberry Pickin’

We were able to go with some neighbors to Vollmer Farm to go strawberry picking.  Vollmer Farm is a wonderful place that grows organic foods and has all kinds of things for the family and kids to do.

We got to go on a hay ride around the farm to see the play areas that open in the fall and the different crops that they grow as well.  These organic strawberries were delicious!  The whole family enjoyed them and the kids liked picking them too.

 

We have a little stand at the entrance to our neighborhood that sells these strawberries too, so I stock up quite frequently.  Here’s some pics from our picking. 

Easter

Happy Easter everyone – He Has Risen Indeed! We had a fun Easter here in Rolesville. Our community had an Easter egg hunt that we went to the weekend before Easter. They had it divided into age categories and it was a beautiful day! Lilly and Hudson both got a few eggs. As you can see – Hudson was content to just sit and have his snack. They had a fire truck there the kids could get in and also little owls to see.

Easter weekend, we dyed Easter eggs – aren’t they pretty? We went to a church that we are pretty sure we want to join. They have lots of young couples, tons of kids and babies, and Lilly will go to preschool there next year. After lunch we made Easter cupcakes – they were yummy! My little ones sure love their sweets – can’t ya’ tell? :) We did an egg hunt in our back yard and then had a big meal here at the house that evening. It was a good day!

Yesterday we decided to go to the Raleigh Children’s Museum – Lilly and Hudson really enjoyed it. Then we picked up Snoopy’s Hot Dogs - (delicious by the way) and had a picnic at a park downtown. We ended our day by a visit to the capital and ice cream looking at the statues.

We Have Arrived

Greetings from Rolesville, NC!  I am so glad to be here and getting settled into our new home after a crazy few weeks.  Let me back up and let you know about what we have been doing along our journey here. 

My family came to help me pack up my house in Houston after Brian had left to start his new job in NC.  It was a HUGE help and I am so thankful for them.  After that, Lilly, Hudson and I stayed with Brian’s parents for about 5 days.  They really enjoyed being there and exploring on Nina and Papa’s “farm.”  Lilly overcame her fear of the horses and continually asked to ride the pony Belle, so papa let her and she loved it!  She even went to the barn to help feed one day – that is a big deal for her!  While we were there she wore a pink dress up dress the whole time – playing, feeding horses, running errands, sleeping – she is definitely my dress up queen.  Hudson really expanded his vocabulary during this time – he is saying so many new words these days – truck, tractor, car, train – very boyish words, huh?  

Ada, Brian’s mom and I headed out on our road trip to NC on a Sunday morning bright and early and armed with my GPS, thank goodness.  We drove for about 10 hours that day – which is a lot with the 2 kiddos.  The mornings were fine, but in the afternoon, they got bored and we tried anything to keep them happy.  Thanks ADA for Elmo puppet shows!  The road side stops were nice to let them get out and play in the fresh air.  We stopped in Montgomery, Al the first night.  Then the next day (after losing 2 hours due to daylight savings and the eastern zone time change), we set off at 6 am.  About 1 hour into the trip, Lilly starts screaming and tells us she has a fruit loop stuck in her nose.  Are you kidding me?  We pull over in the pitch dark, get a flash light out and sure enough, there it is and it did not want to come out.  I called our pedi in Houston, but we kept on going.   During the day, it seems to have gone backwards down her throat, so all ended up okay. 

We made it to NC that night and finally got to see Brian!  After 16 days without him, we were so glad to see him.  We closed on our house the next morning and moved in with whatever we had in our 2 cars.  We slept on sleeping bags for 2 days until the big moving truck arrived.  It was definitely exciting and overwhelming to see all your house on a big truck arrive.  It was a reality check that we were really here and it was time to start making my house a home. 

Most of the boxes are unpacked now, minus hanging things on the walls and a few other things.  We have met some nice neighbors, there is even a 3 year old little girl down the street we have played with.  Rolesville is very small, but very cute.  The blooming fruit trees were starting to bloom when we arrived, they have been so beautiful, they are everywhere.  We have found lots of parks and found where Target and Walmart (the necessities) are.  Lilly started a preschool at a church last week 2 days a week.  She seemed to do fine – they are on spring break this week.  We even found a pre-dance ballet class for her to take on Saturdays.  Today we ventured out to story time at the library.  Hudson is always full of energy, and in our first week, we had to find an emergency clinic for stitches.  He fell on a matchbox car and it punctured his nose.  He was a trooper and we already got the stitches out this week!

 

Lilly's first day of new preschool

 

I am excited about the new possibilities of our new town.  We pray we find a good church home soon so we can get plugged in.  It has been amazing weather and we are enjoying playing outside.  Thanks for all your prayers during our journey here, they were truly felt. 

Our new house!