The Birthday Boy

Rylan turned 1 year old on Wednesday, April 4th and I'm still trying to figure out where the last year has gone. Our sweet little baby boy is now a toddler. We had a small party at our house on his actual birthday followed by a big family party in Longview over Easter weekend.

Rylan's 1 Year Old Stats

Weight: 22 lbs. (40%)

Height: 29 3/4 inches (50%)

Rylan:

• Enjoys playing upstairs in the gameroom (he can't wait for the baby gate to open so he can crawl up the stairs)
• Climbs anything and everything (definitely more adventurous than Kaelyn was at this age)
• Loves to play with Kaelyn's kitchen; although, he just got a new grill that is putting that theory to the test.
• Is constantly climbing inside the Cozy Coupe car and enjoys being pushed around in it
• Eats just abearout anything put on his plate and even some of the food off our plate as well
• Adores his big sister; he gets so excited when she gets in the car from school each Tuesday and Thursday because playing with mommy isn't near as much fun.
• Waves hello and bye-bye to everyone he meets and occasionally "blows a kiss"
• Is walking now (got to love delayed blog posts; he wasn't walking when I first started writing this post, but officially took first steps on Friday, April 13th)
• Works puzzles (works might be the wrong term because he likes to dump them out on the floor and play with the pieces)
• Hasn't discovered of a love of reading yet, but loves to dance and sing to music.
• Says the words: "da-da," "uh-oh," and "hi" clearly (still working on "ma-ma")
• Has the sweetest disposition and will usually go to anyone who wants to hold him
• Is independent...Wants to try things out on his own even though big sister tries to help
• Has a contagious smile; smiles with his whole body just like Kaelyn does
• Is so very ticklish; Ry laughs hysterically when you rub his back.

Here are some pictures from the small party at our house on Wednesday, April 4th. Rylan wasn't feeling his best that evening, but he was a trooper! We are thankful for being able to celebrate with friends from church who love us and our children so very much.

Right before opening gifts... Not really feeling it! 

Ripping into the bag

(although he preferred all the other kids to do this for him)

Our friends who were able to join in on the fun.

Taking a taste of the cupcake icing

(I love his face here)

Rylan decided he liked the icing and wanted to dig in on his own!

(Thank goodness for Mommy)

Yummy! 

On Friday, April 6th, Robbie, the kids, and I drove into to Longview for Easter weekend and to celebrate Rylan's first year of birth with all of the Perry and Hudson family. Nana graciously hosted all of us and we had a great time on Saturday afternoon eating lunch and enjoying the beautiful weather outside. It's just too difficult to pick just a few pictures.

Birthday Table

I've vowed to make the first birthday cake for each of

our kids; I'm pretty impressed with the way this one

turned out (Thank you for the instructions Allison G.)

A Pinterest find...Individual Veggie Cups

The handsome birthday boy!

The Cooks of the Day (Robbie, Kirk, Keeton and Kylen)

All of the kids playing afer lunch

Everyone watching the kids play

Our twin cousins, Kipton and Kooper

Taking a little stroll...

Part of the birthday gifts for all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren from Nana and Grandad is a new swing set. Each kid will get to unwrap the picture of the finished product on their birthday. Rylan is the first birthday boy, and Pop got started building it right away. It already looks great and we only enjoyed the swings and the slide over the Easter weekend. We can't wait to see what else is installed by our next trip to Longview.

Big sister enjoying the swing...

The happily engaged couple, Ben and Bre (my cousin)

Opening the first of many presents

(Grandad Killian got Rylan this little grill and he

absolutely loves it)

Head inside the grill trying to get all the accessories out.

The beginning of the swing set (swings ready to go)

A special birthday surprise from Daddy

Digging into the cake

"Who wants to clean me up?"

Look at that mouth! 

Rylan Brice, you mean the world to us! This past year has been so joyful and you warm our hearts with all you are and do! We can't believe what a little boy you're becoming and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for you! We love you with all of our hearts.

-Daddy, Mommy and Kaelyn

Video of his first steps

Tough Mudder Dallas 2012

I asked Robbie to provide a recap of the Tough Mudder.  Here's his account of Team Psalm 40:2.

Psalm 40:2 “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”

Kylen and I had been training for Tough Mudder for months – the ultimate test of strength, endurance, and mental fortitude.  12 miles of mud, ice, hills, and water, along with 23 military-style obstacles designed by British special forces.  Tough Mudder is not a race—it’s an event.  The goal is to complete the course with a focus on teamwork and camaraderie with your fellow Mudders.

The event was held at the Freestone County Raceway in Wortham, TX, about two hours south of Frisco.  Kristen, the kids, and the rest of the Perry family decided to come with us to watch.  Our start time was at 11:00 a.m. so we left home at around 7:30, thinking we had plenty of time to get there and get ready.  However, once we turned on to the county roads, about 5 miles from the venue, we realized that we were going to miss our start time.  The lines for parking were way too long and moving way too slowly.  At 10:15 a.m., Kylen and I got out of the car, grabbed our bags and started the 2.5 mile walk to the check-in tent.  We arrived just before 11, registered, got our body markings, checked our bag, changed into our matching camouflaged shorts, gloves, and skull caps, taped our ankles, and waited on the remainder of our crew.  We figured that it would be pointless to start without them—they would never be able to find us once we were out on the course.  Thankfully, they arrived shortly after we completed our preparations.  We said our good-byes and climbed the wall to enter the Tough Mudder holding pen.  Once inside the pen, the official Tough Mudder hype man gave us a motivational speech, led us in the star-spangled banner, and prepared us mentally for what we would endure.  Once the pageantry was completed and our adrenaline was pumping, we started the Mudder.

Overall, the course was much muddier than I had anticipated.  Recent rains had made the entire 12 miles soggy and wet.  The weight of the mud and water, along with the suctioning effect of the mud, made running extremely difficult.  Also, there were lots of hills that were both steep and slippery.  Obstacles were spaced out about every half mile or so, which broke up the monotony of running.  However, the obstacles were all very taxing physically and mentally.  Some of the obstacles included: climbing over walls, crawling under barbed wire, navigating underground tunnels, swimming through ice cold water, carrying heavy objects, etc.  My favorite obstacles were probably Mt. Everest (a quarter pipe ramp caked with mud), Funky Monkey (inclined monkey bars), and Walk the Plank (a three story climb and jump into the lake).  One of the scariest obstacles was Electroshock Therapy—a mad dash through electrical wires, some of which carried 10,000 volts of electricity.  We both got shocked pretty badly.  Running through two feet of mud and water at the same time didn’t help much.

After four hours in the mud, water, and sun, we crossed the finish line.  It was an incredible experience, and we were both very proud to have completed it.  Kristen, Keeton, and the rest of the crew completed a “mini-mudder” by following us to several of the obstacles.  Pictures from the event are below.

Kylen and Robbie Before the Start

And They're Off!

Robbie About to Jump Into an Ice Bath

Completing Another Obstacle!

Crawling Under Barbed Wire and Into Another Tunnel

Kylen and Robbie At the Top of a Mud Mountain

Robbie Climbing Up a Slippery Quarter Pipe

Mile 11 - The Boys are Pretty Exhausted at this Point

Robbie Completing the "Funky Monkey"

Running through Electrical Wires (Some of which had 10,000 Volts of Electricity)

That's Kylen Falling Face First Into the Mud

The Tough Mudders - At the Finish Line

March Memories

I have to admit that with two toddlers, I am just not good at keeping up with the blog anymore. I do still love to look back at the memories though, so I decided to do a quick update in one big post. Forgive me for all the pictures. I never can pick just a couple. Here's what has been happening with our Hudson family this past month.

Rylan's First Haircut
On Thursday, March 1st, I took Rylan to see my hairdresser, April, to get his first haircut. He sat so still and loved the vibration of the hair clippers. He looks all grown up now!

Before our first haircut...

After the haircut

 Rylan with April (we love our April)

Hudson Spring Trip
The first weekend of March, we took our annual Hudson trip with Robbie's parents (Mimi and PawPaw) and Robbie's brother and sister-in-law to Lake Bridgeport. We had a nice cabin on the lake there and really enjoyed the great spring weather and good family time. We headed out early Friday morning and had lunch at a little diner called "Yesterday's Cafe." The food was amazing and plentiful. On Saturday afternoon, we drove into Decatur for a little downtown shopping. We never imagined that most of the places of business would close at 3 p.m., but we enjoyed the stores that stayed open a little later. Then we ate dinner at "Sweetie Pies' Ribeyes" (owned by "Babes' Chicken" which we love in Frisco). It was relaxing and fun to catch up. Thank you Hudson family for such a great time!

The view from our cabin...(Kind of a muddy lake)

Kaelyn checking out the water with Daddy, Mimi and PawPaw

Kaelyn loved filling all of the birdhouses with seeds

and then watching the birds eat. 

Rylan loved being outside on one of the decks. 

 

Taking a little rest with PawPaw

Sesame Street Live
The Sunday we got back in town from our Hudson trip, my mom, KK, took us and the kids to see Sesame Street Live in Grand Prairie! Kaelyn has been an Elmo fan for the longest time and Rylan is following in his sister's footsteps. The show was amazing and so much fun! I enjoyed sitting back and just watching Kaelyn and Rylan glued to the stage. Thank you KK for great memories.

The Big Bird Set outside the auditorium

Waiting for show to begin...

Our favorite cast of characters

Elmo and Abby Cadabby (Kaelyn's Favorites)

Small Group Camping Trip
Our Frisco small groups took a camping trip to Lake Ray Roberts the weekend of March 23rd. We had such a great time catching up with our friends and watching the kids play outside together. The kids even caught a frog while there. Kaelyn loved being outdoors and camping in a tent for the first time. Robbie and I decided we definitely need to camp with our kids more. It will be easier once Rylan is walking though! (Thank you Erika for the pictures!)

Smores around the campfire

Breakfast around the warm fire since it was a bit chilly.

The famous frog...Kaelyn is looking on from the side. 

I think that just about catches us up to three other big events that I want to post separately about: Tough Mudder, Rylan's 1st Birthday, and Easter weekend!