Guess What?!!

Can you guess what he is so happy about?!

We are so excited to announce that Hudson will be a big brother in December!! We have kept our secret long enough and we are finally ready to share our news! We are so excited and feel extremely blessed to be given the opportunity to welcome a new baby into the family!

On April 11 (a day before my birthday!!) we were very excited to learn that we would be meeting this little person in December!

Our sweet baby "elf" at 6 weeks and 5 days! I have gotten three ultrasounds so far and baby looks perfectly healthy! I am 12 1/2 weeks and we are due December 22! We will find out the gender at our next ultrasound on August 1!

Mexican Chicken Ring

I got a new recipe for a Mexican Chicken ring off of http://jennasjourneyblog.blogspot.com

I have never made a Chicken ring so I was a little nervous about my first attempt. We ended up having my parents over for my mom's birthday so I decided to try out the new recipe! It was delicious! I even managed to make it look like a "ring" instead just a blob! Here is a picture of my masterpiece!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 cooked & shredded chicken breasts

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese plus some for sprinkling on top

1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

(I just used 2 cups of shredded mexican cheese blend instead of the grated cheese)

¾ can of Rotel & all of the juice

3/4 cup light sour cream

1 package taco seasoning

2 rolls of regular sized crescent rolls

1 lime (juice)

2/3 cup finely crushed tortilla chips plus some for sprinkling on top

Combine chicken, Rotel, tortilla chips, sour cream, taco mix, cheese and 2T of lime juice.

Unroll and separate crescent dough. Arrange triangles on a baking sheet making a circle with wide ends overlapping in the center and points toward outside. Spread chicken mixture evenly into the center of the ring.

Fold the points of the crescents in and over. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and tortilla strips and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

What is your favorite chicken ring recipe?

Smoky Mountain Rain

Last year, Todd won a weight loss program at school and his prize was a five night stay in Gatlinburg. I haven't been to Gatlinburg in probably five years or more and Todd has never been. So we were excited to get the chance to get away there for a few days. At the end of May (as soon as school got out!) we headed to the mountains! My parents joined us for the trip and we all had a great time. Hudson loved seeing the mountains and he still talks about Dollywood! Gatlinburg is not my first choice for a vacation destination but I was thrilled to get the chance to go! Thanks Todd for taking us on your free trip:)

Pretty mountains

An old mill at Cade's Cove

Family pic at Cade's Cove

We got to see several bears while driving around Cade's Cove!

Todd posing at Bubba Gump's

Todd and Hudson at Cooter's museum

Todd and Hudson drying off after a water ride at Dollywood

Hudson at the kids playground at Dollywood.

He loved it!

Finally a picture with mommy!

Not the best but at least we got one:)

Hudson loved the aquarium!

Good Bye Gatlinburg!

Trip to St. Louis

In April, we went to St. Louis for a few days. We enjoyed getting to spend time with Todd's family while we were there. We took Hudson to the St. Louis Zoo and he loved it. The train ride was his favorite! Todd and I also enjoyed getting to go to a Cardinal game while we were there. The weather was perfect and we had a great time! Here are a few pictures from our trip....

It was a gorgeous day at Bush Stadium!

Todd and I at the game

Hudson and his cousin Jackson

Oh the memories...

Last night I finally decided to upload pictures from my phone onto my computer. I realized how important a lot of these pictures are to me and I wanted to make sure that I saved them in case something ever happened to my phone or if I just happen to get a new one one day.

I love the memories that I was able to capture on my phone camera. I usually have my camera with me but for time I don't my phone comes in pretty handy. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from my phone...

Hudson at his one year check-up. Look how little he was! I can't believe he will be three in August!

Hudson saying touchdown!! He looks so different here. I didn't take a lot of pictures of him in his glasses but this was one of my favorites.

First time at the beach! He loved it!

Right before Hudson's eye surgery. Mommy was a mess at this point but he did great! We are so thankful his surgery was successful!

I am so thankful for this picture. Hudson and I went to visit my Grandmother on a Monday afternoon. He loved visiting with her. She pushed him around on her walker. He loved it! I didn't have my camera but I was able to get this picture on my phone. My sweet Grandmother went to Heaven six days later. This was the last time we saw her and the last picture we have of her. I will cherish it always!

Hudson hangin' out with his Uncle Chad. Chad doesn't get to come home much but we enjoy every visit with him. Hudson loved getting to spend time with him.

Look at this big boy! I sure do love every second with him.

I Hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane:)

So fresh and so clean!

Hudson's favorite time of the day is bath time!

He loves it. He will ask to take a bath all day. I love that the fact that he enjoys bath time because he hated it as a baby. I know that there may come a day when he hates baths again. I am going to enjoy these sweet moments while I can.

Usually, after bath time Hudson will run around the house until he finds his daddy! He loves running around in just his towel. He is such a silly boy!

Even when he is wild and crazy he still melts my heart:)

This is what he looks like the morning after his bath....

Love this crazy haired kid!!

A month in review....

I just realized that it has been a month since my last post. I hate that I have neglected the blog because I was doing good there for awhile. We have been pretty busy these days. Grad school is keeping me busy and Todd is busy with his new business, TL Productions. We are really excited about the possibilities that this has opened up for him. He is so talented and he is finally getting a chance to use these talents and make a little extra money. I am so proud of him. Hudson is pretty much the same except he is hitting the terrible twos's full force. He keeps me going. There are some days that I am ready to pull my hair out but at the end of the day I am so thankful for this wild boy! Here are a few pictures to show you what all has been going on around here....

Hudson is now sleeping in his toddler bed! Sometimes he sleeps and sometimes he doesn't. He has always slept great at night so I know it will take him a little time to get adjusted. We are eventually going to move him into the guest room and get him a twin bed. We are putting off the big move a little bit longer:)

My little Valentine loves balloons so he was excited to get them along with a new train, water toys and a heart basket.

This is what Todd cooked for Valentines. He grilled some delicious steaks. He also made twice baked potato casserole and bread. It was so nice to relax while someone else did the cooking!

We enjoyed some time outside before it decided to turn cold again.

My skinny boy sportin' his new underwear. He is no where near potty trained but we test out the underwear every now and then. He will pee in the potty pretty much all the time but pooping is what he refuses to do. I am just letting him do it on his own timing. When he is ready I will be too!!