Emerald Isle 2014

We returned this afternoon from Emerald Isle, the first time we had been to the beach (in NC) in 4 years!  It was an amazing 4 days away.  With all that has gone on around our house lately, we needed a break from everyday "life" so our beach trip was perfect timing.  I can't say Hudson as a huge fan of the beach itself...he definitely didn't like the water and was a bit undecided about the sand.  Thankfully, Chris' aunt and uncle's house where we stay has a pool and a dock out to the sound so that's where we spent most of our time.  We also made 2 trips to the aquarium- they had a dinosaur exhibit outside but the first time we went it was pouring rain so we didn't get to see it...so we went back to see the "roars", as Hudson calls them.  We also walked through Fort Macon and downtown Beaufort. It did rain pretty hard 2 of the days we were there but we didn't mind.  In fact, it was a really good excuse to do pretty much nothing! I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I would have liked but I kept my phone away most of the time because I needed to "unplug" and spend some time with my boys.  We cannot wait to get back to the beach and I can guarantee it will not be another 4 years before we do so!

Still deciding whether or not he likes this "beach" thing

 

He's currently obsessed with any kind of "crackers"...this was his favorite beach activity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did a lot of this...just relaxing

The wind-blown beach look ;)

Sometimes you gotta give your kids Oreos to avoid a complete car meltdown.... I was "that" mom today

We are all worn out but it was an awesome getaway!

16 months

New things this month: I cannot believe how quickly Hudson is changing! He is talking up a storm and saying so many new words.  He will mimic most anything that I say but new words that he says on his own are "girl', "all done", "all gone", "Bible", "bath", "apple", "shoe", "water", "please", and "thank you". I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting as it seems that he says new things everyday! He is really good at communicating what he wants even if he can't say the word...he will ask me to pick him "up" and then either point or try to turn my body in the direction he wants to go. On another note, I think we officially have a once a day napper.  This was a hard transition and literally took months of being in that in-between stage.  But, for the past week I have waited until after lunch to put him down and he has done well with it  (although he usually only sleeps about 1.5 hrs so I do wish it was a bit longer!).   He's exhausted for bed by 7pm but has been sleeping later than usual- until about 7:30am.

My favorite things about Hudson this month: I love this sweet boy more every day.  I love that he has adjusted so well to us doing foster care again...in fact, I think he really enjoys having built in playmates.  I love that he will come up to me randomly just to give me kisses.  I love that every time he sees a red truck he yells "Daddy!" I love that he dances every time he hears music.  His personality is really emerging and it's adorable! 

It's hard to believe that in just 2 shorts months, my sweet baby will be 1.5 years old!

This is bound to happen when you have two older "sisters"!

Life lately

I have been pretty slack about blogging lately.  Life's a bit busy around here and it's just not on the top of my priority list.  But, I know that someday I'll want to look back and see what we were doing in the summer of 2014!

Well, let's start with the big news.  We have entered the world of foster care again.  We decided right around the time Hudson turned one that it was something we wanted to pursue again but we dragged our feet getting re-licensed.  We had to get physicals, a fire inspection, and do some other paperwork.  We finally got everything finished and turned in a few weeks ago.  Now, the paperwork is all suppose to be sent to Raleigh to be reviewed before your license is re-instated but, in our case, they were so desperate for foster families that they called us the day after they received our paperwork to take a child.  We had been told previously about these kids and knew that it was a sibling group.  So, when they called us to take just the youngest we told them we would either take both or neither.  As much as we didn't feel prepared to take 2, we always feel it's best to keep siblings together.  So, 2 days later we became a "family" of 5.  Obviously I can't share much here but they are 2 little girls.  It's a different experience than we had with the twins....first of all, they are girls and that's just a whole different ballgame than little boys we are learning.  Probably the hardest thing so far has been the constant whining and crying when they don't get what they want.  We are learning pretty quickly to just ignore.  Second, they have been in foster care before so they are a bit "hardened" to it.  All in all, it's been a good first 2 weeks and we have already seen improvements in both of the girls.  Thankfully, Hudson has adjusted really well and seems to love having playmates around.  All day long, when they are at school/camp, he asks about the "girls".  They are really good with Hudson and always want to give him hugs and kisses before leaving in the morning.

I'm still working from home and have been really busy lately.  So,  I pretty much spend every naptime and sometimes after all 3 kids are in bed at my computer.  I am enjoying my work though and have been really challenged with new things this year.  This grant is up in December and we haven't made any decisions yet about whether I'll go back to work full time or not.  This has been a constant matter of prayer lately and but I know that the right doors will open.

Well, I think that's the major things and pretty much all I have time to type.  Hopefully I'll be better about keeping this blog updated!