4 years and counting...

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with a nice Italian dinner, complete with wine, dessert, and a latte. Hudson was the perfect "third wheel"...sat in his high chair and waved at all the pretty waitresses walking by.

Hudson is now tired (aka cranky) from his night out...so I'll just post some pictures of our night...

oh oh flowers...

Hudson LOVES flowers. He spots them...points at them...and says all excitedly "OH! OH! OH!". Here is a fresh bouquet from my neighbour's garden. The neighbour whose life I saved. Ha ha ha...just had to throw that it.

My favorite season

I love the fall. Especially in this part of Canada...where the trees GLOW yellow, orange and red. We went for a walk in Gatineau Park. The trees have started turning colors...we'll have to return in a week or two when the leaves will be at their height of "glowness"...yes that's a word.







Meech Lake

sunday breakfast

Hudson finally grasped the concept that his Cheerios are supposed to go in his own mouth...and not just Bosco's (last week...Hudson dropped every single Cheerio on the ground for Bosco to eat)! It's now one Cheerio for him, 5 for Bosco. Lucky dog.

However...this morning I cut up a little of my banana bread for Hudson's breakfast...and I noticed that he didn't drop any of those sweet little morsels on the ground...nope he kept those treats for himself! He's one smart cookie.

just because i should post something

what's new with us...


hudson can drink from a sippy cup now


both of my boys favorite spot in the house


mostly we've been working on fixing up our house...painted the kitchen, washed the exterior of the windows, worked on our "curb appeal", bought some fall mum's to add some much needed color...our humble little house looks so much better...all in hopes of getting top dollar for it, if and when it goes on the market (next week? that's a whole other post in itself, and i don't want to blog about it yet)

it's a beautiful fall day here...sunny and warm, with just enough crispness in the air to make it fresh. hudson is taking a nap, and i'm playing on the computer...eating his "arrowroot" cookies because it's the closest thing to "dessert" we have in the house right now. they're actually pretty good.

Are you there God...it's me, Joyce?

Do you guys remember that book? I think it was by Judy Bloom. I remember loving it. Anyway, it has nothing to do with this post aside from the catchy title.

I have to be honest and admit that most of the times when I pray it's because I'm asking for something. Nothing tangible...like "Please God, send me those platform sandels I love so much"...I'm not that shallow. But I have SERIOUSLY prayed after drinking too much "Please God if you make me stop feeling like this, I'll NEVER drink again". Or "Please God, let me pass this exam/assignment/course, and next time I'll prepare myself better". Many prayers are asking for things that are about loved ones, like "Please God, let my dad be okay". You see the pattern...my prayers were always ASKING for something. Almost the same as wishing on a star, or writing to Santa.

But now...I am constantly...multiple times a day...THANKING God. "God, thank you for Hudson". I say these 5 words all the time. Because having a baby is truely a blessing.

I'm going to toot my own horn

wanna hear a crazy story?

i just saved my neighbour.
for real.
the doorbell rang.
and it was my next door neighbour...
choking.
not making any noise.
so i did the heimlich manoeuvre on her.
and it worked.
yay me!
i still called 911 afterward.
they came...lights going...stretcher and all.
they wanted to take her to the hospital because apparently "it" (piece of meatloaf) could come back up and cause her to choke again.
but she didn't want to go, and instead chose to stay at my house for an hour, until it safely went down.
she confided that this was her WORST nightmare.
she's in her 50's and single...lives alone.
she said she often worried about choking and no one being around to help her.
i showed her how to do the heimlich on yourself using a hard chair.
look at me go!

p.s. hudson was laughing and smiling the whole time...she joked about it afterward...

my little Swiffer!

Hudson has been keeping me on my toes lately. He crawls like a little maniac...slapping his hands down as fast as they can go...gets to his desired destination...then pulls himself up...holding onto any and everything. He then thinks he can let go...needlesstosay he's bonked his head, face, bum, pretty much every imaginable body part in the process. I seriously can't look away for even one second. Because he's drawn to naughty things like a magnet. Typical boy.





look at his knees! I swear to god I vacuumed yesterday!


This blanket was a gift from a 90 something year old lady staying at the hotel where Rob works. He spent an hour or so talking to her one night, and he must have charmed her pretty good, because she bought Hudson this cute blankie. Isn't that crazy nice?

It's going to be a challenge...

Hudson is 9 months old. He's been sleeping in our bed since my dad's anneurysm. It originally started because we had many people staying with us in the beginning, and we didn't want him to wake everyone up when he cried in the middle of the night. Especially since everyone was already so stressed and lacking sleep. Almost 5 months later...he's still sleeping with us. And every night, I say that it's going to be his last...that he's going to go in his crib...but...it's hasn't happened yet.
And it's going to be hard.

Our bed:
1. cloud-like memory foam mattress topper
2. 400 thread count, egyptian cotton sheets
3. down filled comforter
4. feather pillows
5. snuggles with mama and papa
6. boob on demand

Crib
1. plastic mattress that makes crinkling noise with every movement
2. cotton sheets with no mention of thread count...can't be good
3. polyester filled comforter
4. no pillows (not safe for babies)
5. snuggles with stuffed animals
6. wake up and cry for boob

he's no dummy...there's no comparison.

and this morning...i woke up to find his head on my pillow. i always put him in the middle of us, in the middle of the bed, with his head on the mattress. i felt him squirming, moving around a bit, but i just ignored him and kept sleeping. i guess he managed to squirm his head up to the pillow. he looked so cute and comfy.

9 months old and I'm still breastfeeding and co-sleeping. who would have thunk it?

isn't he sweet?

He mastered crawling (forward that is) and he LOVES it! Gets into all sorts of things he shouldn't be getting into...who doesn't love that? He also got his first tooth last week...and i see another one coming. These 1 and a half "nubs" have already made him turn his head at mushy baby food, and want to eat food with texture (Cheerios...at the recommendation of Susan, cut up fruit, etc.). I can't believe how much I love this little stinker.

hooked...

Part of my Sunday ritual is reading this website...it's especially good today (everything is better with music)...

sometimes it makes me happy...
sometimes it makes me sad...
sometimes optimistic that the world is genuinely good...
and sometimes not...

regardless, it's crazy how much you can "feel" about someone, in just. one. sentance.

www.postsecret.blogspot.com

My Cutie

kissable lips...


pinchable cheeks...


isn't he yummy?

my new do

i have mixed feelings about it...
i think it needs highlights to make it more funky.

Hot Squirrels...and Puppydog Tails...

It's CRAZY hot here! Crazy, insane hot. I opened the front door to get the mail, and it seriously felt like I was opening a door to a sauna. I am so incredibly happy that we got central air. It was worth every unpaid penny (we don't have to pay until Sept.'08)!!! Anyway, we were hanging out in the nice, cool, air conditioned family room...when I noticed that Bosco was overly interested in something outside. I looked outside to find...a squirrel lying on the ledge of our fence. It wasn't moving. It was just lying there, with it's little tiny legs dangling over the edge. I watched it for a while...seconds turned into minutes...which turned into more minutes...and more minutes. It stayed like that for almost a half hour. I wondered if I should go out and cool it down with the hose. Yes, I'm crazy. Yes, it NEVER would have stayed still for me to hose it down. I just felt bad for the little guy. Anyway...as I spent a few seconds taking pictures...guess who got into mischief???





I realized after taking a few pictures, that Hudson was unusually quiet. I looked down to find that he had discovered Bosco's tail. Cute, I thought as I took a picture. Then one second later...Hudson decided to bend down for a...TASTE!!! I reacted as fast as I could, but...not fast enough. Hudson put Bosco's tail right in his mouth. It came out soggy with drool.

P.S. Don't tell my mom. She'll freak.

Things that made me laugh this week...

There were many things the girls said that cracked me up...here are just a few that come to mind...

1. "NO Bos-a-co (Bosco was three syllables) NO!!!" I seriously heard this hundreds of times this week.

2. "Alex, you're not sharing" Rachel
"I know...but sometimes it's HARD to share, right?" Alex
"Yes, sometimes it's hard to share" Rachel

3. "Mama, don't let Baby Hudson get it (their Fairytopia doll)...he makes CRAZY HAIR" (he would turn the fairy's pretty hair into one. serious. afro.)

4. "Halmoni...do you know how to read?"

5. "Joycie, there is a lot of Bos-a-co's hair on the floor" (they were amazed at the concept of a shedding dog...since their Tobi doesn't shed)

6. "That's okay...me and Alex just want to play by ourselves"
"Oh...you want some privacy?"
"Yes, we want privacy"

7. "What's that?" referring to Baby Hudson's "wee-wee"

8. "Maybe you should let Mama hold Baby Hudson" (when Hudson was fussing...as in THEIR mama being better at consoling him)

9. "Mama, it's not FAIR that you're wearing a dress when we are only wearing a skirt" (real tears in eyes...could they be any more girly-girls?)

10. "Girls...I'm going to miss you so much when you go back home...I didn't get enough of you this week! Are you going to miss me?" I asked

"um, no."

Masterpieces by Alex et Rachel

One thing my house definitely lacks is color...EVERYTHING is neutral...beige, brown, off-white. Bor-ing! Now I have these bright, beautiful pieces of art to display...don't they liven up our house?







The last picture is of our yummy "picnic" lunch with my dad. We feasted on BBQ and cake! So nice to be all together. We were missing you Sue and family!

Our Busy B & B!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks at our house...we've had many visitors come and go. It was busy, crazy, and super fun! Now everyone is gone, and it's almost TOO quiet...Rob's watching a movie, Hudson is sleeping, and I'm finally catching up blogging.

I LOVED seeing everyone, but it's always after visits like these, that I realize how crappy it is to live so far away from family and friends. It makes me sad to say "goodbye" again and again. I would love for Hudson to have REGULAR contact with everyone...grow up being close to loved ones. He LOVED his cousins Alex and Rachel. He was entertained just watching them play (they on the otherhand thought "Baby Hudson" was annoying).

Jan...I'm counting on you to convince Glen and Akiko to come with you next time...

loved to death...

Bosco's favorite toy since he was 6 months old (AKA "Stinky Puppy")


Ears chewed off, stuffing pulled out, eyes gouged, squeaky-thingy inside no longer squeaky...and take my word for it...it's not dubbed "Stinky Puppy" for nothing...but he still loves it 3 1/2 years later...


I think it may be time for a new one