Going home

They seem way too small to be in those big car seats!

Good thing Kevin lifts weights.

Daddy and the kiddos singin' some tunes.

Loving on brother and sister.

Mr. Hudson, forever trying to suck on anything he can get his mouth on.

Let us introduce.....

Hudson and Brooklyn

Brooklyn Helena

Born at 1:21 Friday August 20

6lb 12 oz

19 1/2 in

Hudson Lee

Born at 1:20 on Friday August 20

6lb 13 oz

19 1/2 in

Proud big brother Ethan holding his sister. He prefers to hold her because she cries less:) Ethan has been a super big brother and huge helper for mommy.

Big sister Morgan holding her little brother. She LOVES the babies and wants to hold and love them whenever she can.

Our family of six!

We praise God for the healthy birth of our babies. They were born at 37 1/2 weeks. I'm thankful I was able to carry them so long and that we were all able to go home together. Now we covet your prayers as we adjust to this new life!

Transitions

Today marked a pretty big milestone for our little guy. It was his first day of preschool. We have been talking about the first day and counting down the days for about a month. Ethan woke up super excited and ready to go. That all lasted until it was time for the drop off. Overall he did great, no tears, but the teacher did have to peel him off me. When I picked him up though he was all smiles and is looking forward to Friday.

Here is the excited student posing for a picture before we leave home.

Morgan had to have her picture taken as well. Notice she is the one with the backpack. When it was time for us to leave Ethan, Morgan started crying because she wanted to stay at school. It was a sad ride home when both daddy and Ethan got to stay at school and she had to leave.

We stopped by Daddy's classroom on our way so he could walk with us to Ethan's classroom. It is pretty special to be at the same school as Daddy.

The other big transition in our house is Morgan's move to her big girl bed in her room with Ethan. Overall it has gone pretty well. It only required one night of "tough love" to get her to stay in her bed when we put her down. She definitely wakes up earlier, doesn't take as long of naps, and gets up occasionally during the night, but overall I feel like she did pretty good. Hopefully she'll keep getting better and better at sleeping in her new surroundings with her new roommate.

Vacation Bible School---VBS!

This year Ethan was old enough to participate in our church's VBS program. I was unsure if he would even go, but after the first day he LOVED it! He came home singing the songs and asking what he would get to do there the next day. I think it helped a little bit that our good friend was his teacher, but I'm just glad his first "preschool" like situation went well. I felt like it was good practice for preschool that begins in only a week and a half. Here are some pictures I took on the last day when they did a little performance of the songs for the parents.

Doing all the motions.

Kara and Annika came to watch the final performance as well. Annika LOVED the music. She and Morgan got into dancing for a few songs. So cute! They will love going to VBS when they are old enough!

Happy Birthday Ethan

It was Ethan's birthday on July 28 (see next post for pictures of all the festivities). It is pretty hard to believe that my little guy is 4 already. I think I'll be saying that at every birthday, but it is amazing how quickly a year goes by. I will admit though that I am more than happy to leave 3 behind. It has been a challenging year trying to shape and mold a little guy who is trying to figure out his new emotions and independence. We have most certainly had our moments but we survived and 4 is already looking better.

Here is Ethan in a nutshell:

LOVES:

to talk

to ask questions

to learn

play any sport

watch PBS

play on the computer

ranch and ketchup on almost anything

pizza, chicken nuggets, meat and fruit

cars and trucks

to play with someone...anyone...but not alone

read and listen to books

wrestling with daddy

helping daddy

doing anything with daddy

donuts

racing around the house with his sister

singing

DISLIKES:

new situations

most veggies...we're working on it

going to bed

being left out of a conversation

Happy birthday sweet boy. We love your passion for life and your curiosity. Keep asking questions and learning every day. I love your hugs and your kisses, I hope they last for a long time. We can't wait to see what this year brings you. There will be lots of changes, but you've grown up so much this past year that we know you'll do great. Love you big guy!

Happy Birthday Ethan and Morgan

This year we decided to celebrate the kids' birthdays together. They are less than a month apart and with Morgan's being at the end of August we weren't sure what the status of the babies would be at that point, so we decided to go all out for one big birthday bash.

Ethan really got to celebrate for about a week. Take a look at our birthday week.

Our gift to Ethan was a fishing rod and little tackle box. He got this early because daddy promised they could go pick it out when he got back from his week at Dordt. Ethan was super excited to go fishing and organize his very own tackle box.

While Kevin's mom was here we decided to go to Chevy's for dinner. We love going there because it's noisy, you get free chips and salsa and the dinner comes quickly...perfect for little kids. We told our waitress that it was Ethan's birthday. They came up behind him singing their birthday song and put a sombrero on him. He immediately threw the hat on the ground and almost cried. It was pretty funny, but I did feel a little bad for him. It was more or less the reaction I was anticipating. Morgan on the other hand loved the sombrero:)

Finally convinced him to put the sombrero on.

Kevin's mom came out early to help me out with the kids while Kevin was out of town. His dad joined us the Friday before the party. Here the kids are opening their gifts from Opa and Oma. They were spoiled!

Opa liked the sombrero:)

We invited some family and friends over last Saturday to help us celebrate our kids. We did dinner and cake and ice cream. We decided to go all out and rented a bounce house. It was totally worth it, the kids loved every minute of it. They delivered it in the morning so our kids got to enjoy it all day. I think it is safe to say we would do it again.

The kiddos and the cake. Yes, Morgan already sampled the frosting, as seen by the evidence on her upper lip.

While it looks like Ethan is trying to smash Morgan's face in the cake he was actually a really sweet brother and he was encouraging her to blow out her own candles. He let her do hers first and then he blew out his.

Emma and Morgan enjoying the cake.

We also did a pinata. Fun times for everyone!

Morgan in the bounce house. This girl loved jumping in there more than I thought she would. I think she may have spent more time in there than her big brother. I think her favorite part was the end of the night when she and her little friends got the house to themselves.

Opa, Ethan and Morgan enjoying the bounce house before the party.

My parents bought the kids golf clubs for their birthdays. For Ethan it is the next size up from the one he has. For Mo it is her very own putter.

Morgan got a box full of "pretties" from Uncle Eric and Auntie Kara. The first thing she commented on was the shoes!

Ethan loves his stomp rocket from Uncle Eric and Auntie Kara. It had to come out before the party was over and it's been played with several times since then.

Morgan all decked out in her pretty outfit from Uncle E and Auntie K. The kids both got some other dress up clothes from Opa and Oma so we've had lots of fun using our imaginations.

Here Ethan is on his "actual birthday". We had some cake left over so a few days after the party when it was really his birthday we put 4 candles in his piece and sang him happy birthday.

Swimming

While this summer has been relatively "cool" for a Central Valley summer we have certainly been thankful for Papa and Nana's pool. We've especially been enjoying it the last couple days.

Morgan takes a little bit to warm up to the water when it's cold, but the water temps have been like bath water the last couple days so she has jumped right in!

       Ethan had his first year of swimming lessons this year. They started out pretty rocky, with lots of tears, but by the end of the week he was doing great! The most amazing difference in his time in the pool is the fact that he will actually get his head wet on his own! He started jumping off a step by himself and then the next time we went swimming he was ready to jump off the edge. Now he takes big running starts and leaps in the pool, he gets in and out of his boat by himself and he just loves to be in the water. I knew in my head that this day would come but with our cautious little guy I thought it was further away. It is so much more relaxing to go swimming and only have to worry about holding one kid. (I know, I know, wait until next summer!)

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In baby news, here I am at 30 weeks preggo(this was taken on July 3, I'm actually 32 weeks along now). Things continue to look good. I have to keep taking it easy, lots of sitting, no lifting and only "light" housework. I know it's better than the alternative, but it will sure be nice to do "normal" things again. I'm thankful to such helpful family and friends, I don't know what we would do without you. We're praying that these babies stay put for at least 4 more weeks.