30 Something SAHM

Hi, I'm Ashley!  Thanks for stopping by.  I decided to link up with Women Connect '12.  I love meeting other bloggers and reading blogs.  I used to blog surf almost daily, but since we had our baby last year, I'm lucky to jump on here a couple of times per week.  I've actually met a few amazing women through their blogs and I'm hoping to meet a few more.  The three things I'm most thankful for are:  My Salvation, My Family, and My Friends.

My husband (Brian) and I will be married 6 years in just a couple of weeks.   Time has really flown by.  We met on a blind date and then 8 1/2 months later engaged, and then 3 months later married.  I have to say that I married a really good man and thank God daily for him.  He is such a blessing and has the best attitude and always points me toward Jesus.  We love travelling, but haven't had any exciting vacations recently.  We both love football, especially the Colts.  We packed up and moved to Kentucky right after we were married.   I love the South and never want to leave.  I'd love to end up in North or South Carolina, or Georgia at some point.

After lots of prayer, we were blessed with a precious baby last year.  I love the little guy so much, he has completely changed me.  Hudson turned 1 on November 16th.  He is such a joy and so much fun.  He is more active than any other baby I've ever met, I'm not kidding, he never stops moving, he's even wild when he's sleeping.  I am a Stay At Home Mom now, but for 7+ years I was a Registered Nurse (I am keeping up my license just in case I have to go back at some point).   I worked Obstetrics for a few years in Indiana and then we got married and moved to Kentucky and I had several jobs, until I finally got an awesome job at a High Risk Obstetric Office.

Thankful

Thanksgiving was fun this year (as usual).  I stayed in Indiana with Hudson at my parent's house while Brian had to go back to work for a couple of days.  It was great hanging out with my parents and seeing a few friends.  Brian drove back on Wednesday afternoon.  We had a delicious breakfast at my parent's house Thursday morning.  My brother and his family and my Grandpa were able to come.  Then, we headed to Brian's family for lunch and the rest of the day.

I know this picture looks bad, but Hudson actually loved holding the baby (our nephew Gabe). 

Then, Hudson didn't want to let go, he really liked holding him

Hudson loves climbing on furniture - he got on Jasmine's nerves a little bit.  She wanted to read and he wanted to climb

Finally, he sat down --for about 20 seconds

And then it was back to playing

So many blessings and so much to be thankful for!
"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;  his love endures forever."  1 Chronicles 16:34

Hudson's Birthday Party

We celebrated Hudson's birthday last Saturday.  We had it in Indiana to try and help our families out with driving.  My goal for Hudson's Party was to try and keep it relatively simple since I had to make and plan everything here and then travel to Indiana for the actual party.

Happy boy with his cake

 

Brian made Hudson's smash cake.  I think he did a great job. 

 

I was really impressed with his skill- who knew?.

 

Brian's mom made a chocolate and a vanilla cake for everyone to eat.  They were really yummy. 

 

I kept the food really simple - finger sandwiches, either ham or chicken salad, cheese, and cake.

 

I put Hudson in his highchair for presents because I knew he probably wouldn't sit still -  Poor Hudson - his pants are a little too short and look even worse when he was sitting down.  He has a really skinny waist and needs 6-9 month pants, but the length is just too short.

 

He is obsessed with phones right now.

 

Singing Happy Birthday to Hudson

 

At first Hudson was very delicate with the cake and only eating the icing.  He ended up with a major sugar buzz and didn't fall asleep until about 10:30 that night. 

 

My Grandpa holding Hudson

 

Dave, Noel, and Elise were able to make it to the party - it was so good seeing them. We missed seeing Beth, though.  Noel and Elise drew Hudson special pictures

 

Julie and I holding our little ones

So happy to have Josh, Julie and Kaitlyn at the party

 

So thankful that Melissa and Michael were able to come

 

Part of Brian's family

 

My parents

So..thankful for great family and friends!  Also, so thankful for Hudson!  He has been such a sweet blessing this past year.

Happy 1st Birthday

~Hudson~

You are 1 year old today.
You weigh about 21 lbs

This has been the hardest, but the most fun year.  We can't believe that you're 1!  Time was really slow at certain times, but overall has really flown by.  There were a couple major life threatening complications with your birth and you had to be emergency delivered and I remember praying for God to save us both and He did.  I'm so thankful for the team of doctors and nurses that God had ready to step in and help us.  It was no accident that I had the best doctor in the state.  You came into the world like a little firecracker and you haven't slowed down since.

Here you are hugging your teddy bear.

Once again, I really feel like you just kind of exploded this past month on things you learned.  You know to point to your nose when we say, "Where's your nose?" and poke yourself in your eye when we say, "Where are your eyes?".  You like to brush your own hair.  You like to throw a ball back and forth. .  You have started signing the word, "please."  You know what to do when we say, "Sit down" or "Stand up".  You love pointing to all the lights in the house. You love pointing at your tummy and lifting up our shirts to look at our stomachs.  You love dogs!  You play patty cake and shake your head back and forth (you're not saying "no", it's more of a dance move).  You love the itsy bitsy spider song and do all the motions.

You are still saying da da da da da da,  na na na na, mum mum mum, ba, ba, ba, ro, ro, ro, no, no, no, and drg, drg, drg (You're trying to say dog).  You make several other sounds that I'm not sure how to describe.  We love hearing you jabber. You still yell out in excitement.

One of our favorite times of the day is going in your room and waking you up and getting to rock and cuddle you and sing to you.  You usually lay your head on our chests and just sit and enjoy (rare to have you sit).  We also love giving you your bottle at night and rocking you.  We love watching you wave and dance - so...cute!  You love dancing and anytime you hear music you bust out your moves.   You love waving.  You wave really easily and at everyone.  

 You are wearing 12 month onesies, 9 month sweaters and shirts, and 6-9 month jeans.  You are wearing a size 4 diaper.

You are mad in this picture because I won't let  you go in the office.

You are giving the sweetest hugs and kisses lately.

You are still eating a lot!  I've decreased your bottle to only twice a day -6 oz in the morning and 6 oz at night.   You are eating oatmeal in the am, and a fruit and a vegetable,yogurt, and cottage cheese at lunch, and a fruit and a vegetable, macaroni or pasta, and a meat  in the evening.   I am still preparing everything.   You are eating avocados, sweet potatoes, bananas, carrots, peas, green beans, peaches, apples, pears, spinach, broccoli, pasta, macaroni, ground turkey, chicken, salmon, mashed potatoes, and puffs.  You love your sippy cup.

Some of the toys you played with this past month was a scooter type toy, balls, a car that you push around, opening and closing everything, and Elmo.  You love our pots and pans and the dishwasher.   I'm not ready to officially say you're walking, but you have taken 5-7 steps several times and then I was able to record you take about 15 steps yesterday. 
You're not actually touching Peyton in this picture, she just happened to walk by and interrupt our photo session.

You are still experiencing some separation anxiety in the nursery, but once we're gone, you calm down.  

Your eyes look a little darker this month - dark grey/blue.
Your hair is blonde.

You keep getting more and more fun.

You are sleeping about 11 1/2 hours per night.   You go to sleep pretty easily, thankfully.  You stay awake 2 1/2-4 hours at a time now. You have been sleeping about an hour for your 1st nap, but only 20-30 min for your second nap. 

You have 6 teeth now and two more are about to pop out on top.

  

You are usually a pretty happy baby.  You are quite the ham - you love having everyone's attention and you smile at everyone.   Everyone comments how happy you are and how long your eye lashes  are.

You are definitely more interested in playing these days

Our biggest prayer for you is that you come to know and love Jesus.  Here are a few verses I pray over you:  I pray that you will trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Proverbs 3:5;   I pray that you will rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;  for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  1 Thes 5:16-18;  I pray that you will be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. James 1:19;  I pray that you know that God has plans for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremeiah 29:11 and I pray that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.  Luke 10:27. 

You are our sweet, precious gift from God.
We love you!  Happy 1st Birthday!

Jesus Prom

Every year our church hosts Jesus Prom.  It's a prom for mentally and physically handicapped individuals and it is one of my favorite nights of the year.  About 1500 people attend the prom and it takes just as many volunteers, if not more to pull it off.   Men and women come from all over the state.  It's such an honor and privilege serving.  We waited tables this year.  We usually try something new every year.  We had to wear black pants, white button down shirts and ties. 

Everyone waiting for the prommers to arrive

We served cheeseburgers or chicken, green beans or carrots, macaroni, and cookies

 Brian and I both were nervous since we have never waited tables before.  Thankfully we were just one table to split and it went really well. 

Busy place!  There was a band playing music and 50's style dancers

 

This was our table - I think we did a pretty good job serving everyone.  

 The dance floor - the best place to be! 

I really believe that if Jesus were physically any place on earth, he would have been at the prom dancing and teaching a few Jewish moves.

"When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”  Luke 14: 13-15  Such a great night!

More Houston Pix

We had a great time seeing Chris and Brittney and meeting our new nephew Cooper, but Houston was not exactly the best vacation.  Hudson was really messed up (not really sure if it was from flying, changing time zones, teething, not getting enough sleep at night, not napping well enough during the day,...).  The first day after arriving was kind of awful - Hudson was a bear and nothing made him happy. Thankfully, he was better the next couple of days, but he still wasn't his normal happy self.  We were blessed with amazing weather - low 80's the entire time.  I had to borrow sunblock for Hudson, it didn't even occur to me that I would need it. 

The park in Chris and Brittney's neighborhood.

 

Cooper was just too precious!

 

Friday we went to the Houston Zoo and it was a lot of fun!  Hudson LOVED the animals!

 

Naturally, Hudson tried brushing his own hair with the goat brush

 

The boys

 

I love trees and I especially love the trees in Houston- their branches are so cool.

 

Pretty pond in the middle of the zoo

 

Happy little guy

 

Hudson thought he was hot stuff sitting in this tree

 

Hudson enjoying a few licks of our popsicle

 

Cooper trying some ice cream

 

On Saturday we had breakfast at The Seabrook Waffle Co and it was so good!

 

Ice cream on top of my waffle-yum!

 

Brian loves Apache helicopters

 

We had lunch at Outriggers and it was so...good!  Great seafood!

 

And of course, the last day Hudson figured out the doggy door.

Hudson was really good for the plane ride home yesterday, but we had to give him about 15 pounds of puffs to keep him happy.  I could tell he was tired, but he refused to take a nap.  We actually had 2 couples tell us that he was the best baby they have ever flown with.   Whew!!
We loved meeting Cooper - he's such a laid back, easy baby.  It was nice to just sit and cuddle with him.  We're excited to get to see them again at Christmas.