Daddy and his little Princess

Sunday evening on March 6th, Robbie and Kaelyn attended our church's annual Princess Ball for the second time. Last year, Kaelyn was just 7.5 months old and came home sweating afterward. Robbie was really looking forward to taking her again this year since she loves music and dancing! We got her all dressed and ready to go and met a few of the other dads and their daughters for pictures ahead of time. Once they got to the Princess Ball, Robbie said Kaelyn was very reserved (which was shocking to both of us). She wanted to observe and didn't leave her daddy's side for long at all. She wanted to be on the dance floor most of the time, but just wanted to watch the lights and dancing. Daddy got lots of sweet hugs and hand holding all night.  She really enjoyed the ice cream bar and lemonade that was served.

A few pictures before the Princess Ball. 

So cute...My Prince and his Princess

The girls from church...

The Dads and Daughters getting ready to leave for the night out...

A few more pictures for Mom

I love this face (Kaelyn's Intensity face)...I think

she'd had enough of Mommy asking her for pictures

and decided to let Daddy have it! 

Sweet girl gave in for one last kiss picture with Daddy. 

Arriving at the Princess Ball, there was a carriage for photos. 

Funny Daddy

Taking a rest from dancing. 

So thirsty...Lemonade Face. 

"I'm tired Daddy, but it's been a lot of fun!

Can we do it again next year?"

Win an iPad2 and help bring baby McCuiston home!

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come for you." John 14:18

Our dear friends, Jason and Angie McCuiston along with their sweet children, Henry and Edie, are adopting an orphan from Ethiopia and are selling raffle tickets to win an iPad2 to help in their fundraising efforts! For just $10 per ticket, you can help them bring Baby McCuiston home! See Angie's blog for details on how to participate.

http://www.angiemccuiston.blogspot.com/

Thank you to our wonderful friends and family for supporting our friends in this huge task placed on their hearts from the Lord!

A Shower for Rylan

It is hard to believe that I'm 32 weeks pregnant now with Rylan Brice, but it's true and I'm officially counting down the days until his arrival. We had a wonderful baby shower this past weekend hosted by wonderful friends and my sister and sister-in-law. I figured it was time for Rylan to get a blog shout-out and wanted to post pictures from the shower and my growing belly. We can't wait to meet our sweet little boy!

Rylan's shower decorations

A sweet gift from the Blackstock, McCuiston, and McGregor kiddos

Shower hostesses (left to right)

Kamara Cox, Laura Blackstock, Lisette Hudson, Amy Stewardson,

Liz McGregor, Angie McCuiston, and Karlene Perry

Gift Table

Rylan's bedding set (Thank you Pop and KK, Mimi and PawPaw)

The nursery isn't done yet, but more pics to follow soon...

I can't post a blog entry without showing pictures of our sweet Kaelyn who is growing up to be such a big girl with her long-locks and sweet smiles. Happy Valentine's Day Kaelyn! Mommy and Daddy love you so much!

Practicing our "say cheese" smile for the camera

Trying to stay warm in this winter weather Dallas has had recently.

Because we've worn our hat so much lately, Kaelyn likes

to wear it around the house (especially at meal time). 

Wearing one of Mommy's clips...I can't believe how long her hair looks here. 

Her new favorite thing to do at the mall...Carousel rides with Daddy! 

Happy Belated 18 Months Kaelyn!



Kaelyn turned 18 months old this past month and it is impossible to believe there was ever a time we didn't have her in our lives. She has brought so much joy and laughter to us in the past year and a half. Happy 18 months sweet Kaelyn! We love you more than words can express!

At 18 months, Kaelyn:

• navigates the stairs all by herself (both up and down) and loves to play upstairs in her toy playroom (which used to be Robbie's gameroom until he had to make room for all the toys)
• loves to take showers and stick her head under the shower head
• enjoys reading books over and over again
• can't wait until Daddy gets home each evening so they can have a dance party to her Praise cd's (Daddy gave Kaelyn a strobe light for Christmas and they really get after the dancing now)
• likes to get her own snack out of the pantry (I guess she thinks that Mommy and Daddy don't pick out the good stuff)
• LOVES Barney, the purple dinosaur (hopefully we will outgrow this soon) and enjoys repeat episodes while sitting in her pink chair (thanks Mimi and PawPaw)
• is saying all kinds of new words each day: ball, bye, hi, milk, shoes, brush, daddy, ma-ma, Pop and PawPaw, Mimi, Tay-Tay for KK, baby, eat, etc.
• still takes 2 naps a day on most days (although we are trying to transition her to 1 nap for when she starts school in the Fall)
• likes to get stickers as a surprise
• likes to follow her usual routines (especially in the morning when she helps Daddy get ready for work)
• has just started kissing her baby brother (or Mommy's belly)
• gets out of bed with at least 3 stuffed animals each morning (we aren't sure how she has room to sleep in her crib because she won't let us move any of the stuffed animals out); Piglet, Bear, and Dog are her favorites
• loves to play with her baby dolls and takes extra good care of them: pushing them in their stroller, patting them on the back, feeding them her sippy cup, and sometimes they even get to slide down her slide
• is usually not a great eater, but loves raisins, chips, strawberries and grapes
• likes to help Mom clean the house (thankfully Pop and KK got her a cleaning cart and she has her own vacuum now to help out since Mommy's is too heavy)
• doesn't like her hair fixed even though it's getting too long to not fix

Enjoying a snow day!

Helping Mommy cook in the kitchen

Kaelyn with all her bling!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011!

This Christmas was a lot of fun with an excited 17 month old. We made the trip to Longview on December 23rd and stopped through "Santa Land" on the way to see the millions of lights! I think we are going to make this an annual event for our Hudson family because Kaelyn enjoyed it so much (and so did we). We took her out of her car seat and let her look out the sunroof and windows at all the lights and scenes. She loved to wave "Hi" to all the characters and kept saying "lights" over and over.

On Christmas eve, we spent the evening at Chandra's parents house in the country with a bonfire and fireworks. The rain thought about keeping the festivities at bay, but we prevailed. Kaelyn loved the sparklers and thought the fireworks were cool from a distance. Santa delivered presents for Kaelyn in Longview that evening and we woke early Christmas morning to see all the new toys! Kaelyn loves to take care of her babies and got a baby-care center where she can put her baby to sleep, feed her, and give her a bath. She loves it! Santa also found some of my old toys and pulled them out of the attic for her too. There were "little people" galore and the whole "Potato Head" family joined in as well. Christmas morning was very special this year, not only because of Kaelyn and the pure delight she showed when seeing all of her toys, but we also revealed Rylan's middle name at my Nana's house that morning. We asked my cousin Brice to give us a Christmas present. We wrote a letter and presented it to him. Brice, my 25 year old special-needs cousin, read the letter with the help from his mom. This was a special treat because I've never heard him read so well. To make a long story short, we gave him the reasons why we would like to use his name as Rylan's middle name and asked him if we could. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Our baby boy will be named Rylan Brice Hudson and his name couldn't be any more special. After more gift opening, Kaelyn was worn out with overstimulation and excitement from all the new toys. On Sunday, we spent the afternoon at my Grandad Killian's house and celebrated with my mom's side of the family. This was a very special time for all of us. My grandfather gave each of us girls a Pandora charm off of my late grandmother's bracelet with a special note. Every time I look at the charm, I remember what a special lady my grandmother was. Kaelyn got a riding rocking horse that wags its tail and makes horse sounds when she squeezes its ears. She loves it! We enjoyed celebrating with the Perry and Killian families over the Christmas holiday.

Santa left lots of goodies for Kaelyn in Longview

The traditional Christmas morning photo before we see what Santa brought us!

Kaelyn testing out her vacuum (it actually works too)

Kaelyn stopped playing and decided to feed her baby a bottle. 

At Nana and Grandad's house, Kaelyn got a bouncy cow

named "Howdy" that proved to be quite entertaining for everyone watching

Kaelyn bounced like a maniac! (Thank you Nana and Grandad, Pop and KK)

Riding her new rocking horse at Grandad Killians house. 

As tradition has it, we celebrate with Robbie's family over the New Year holiday weekend. We hosted everyone at our house again this year and thoroughly enjoyed having everyone in town together. Uncle Dale made it in from San Diego and this year Robbie's cousin, Jordan, surprised everyone and brought Aunt Diane to celebrate with us. It was truly a special weekend with good food and fellowship. Our Christmas eve also coincided with New Years Eve and we spent the evening playing games and watching a little football. Santa visited Kaelyn on Christmas Morning (New Years Day) and left her a little kitchen, a pink chair and ottoman, and so much more! She loves all of her toys! The kitchen has become a fixture in our living room because she loves it so much. We feel so blessed to have such loving families with whom we share our lives with. We are looking forward to an exciting 2011 and adding our sweet Rylan into the mix.

Her talking puppy from Uncle Bentley and Aunt Lisette. 

Kaelyn got a jewelry box for all her bling and

matching TOMS shoes (coincidentally) 

Santa left lots of goodies for Kaelyn at home too!

She must have been extra good this year. 

Checking out her new kitchen! 

She loves having her own seat and it's pretty cute too. 

She thought Mommy was funny when trying to snap

this picture of her lounging after all the company left town.

Santa Cry Baby

It's that time of the year again! After last year's experience with taking Kaelyn to see two different Santas, we decided to go back to NorthPark Mall and officially name that Santa as "our Santa" for years to come. Robbie and I have been working so diligently with Kaelyn on recognizing Santa (through ornaments on our tree, different Santas around the house, etc.) in preparation for sitting on his lap. We have even been practicing saying the magical phrase "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!" As we walked into the mall, with Kaelyn dressed all cute in her Christmas best, we asked her if she was ready to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. She instantly replied "Yes!" and shook her head up and down.  Robbie had already grabbed our ticket early this morning so we wouldn't have to wait in the long line (yes, we are officially becoming pros at maneuvering our way to the front). As we walked up, we showed Kaelyn how all the kids were sitting on Santa's lap. We asked her again if she was ready to see Santa and she said "Yes." Now Santa's beard might be alarming to some kids, but Kaelyn loves her PawPaw's beard, so we felt comfortable that she would not be scared of it. As we turned the corner for our turn, Kaelyn instantly grabbed a hold of me and started crying. She did not want to sit on Santa's lap. But, you've got to capture the memories anyhow. Someday she'll look back and laugh at how mad she was (if you look carefully, you can see her molar teeth).

After Kaelyn finally calmed down, we showed her the picture.  Robbie and I started laughing because she genuinely looked disappointed in herself.  Maybe all of the buildup was too much for her.  Here's her picture from last year.

We Are Having a BOY!

It's official finally! We went to the doctor on December 1st and got confirmation that our early-screen doctor was correct in his assessment that we are definitely expecting a boy! We've also chosen Rylan as his first name. It's exciting to start picking out baby boy nursery bedding and everything else blue. We have just 18 weeks left to go. It's hard to believe how quickly this pregnancy is going! Check out the sonogram pics.

Rylan showing off his manhood! 

Just for mommy...His sweet little face.