Quilt for Hudson: Done

After four long months, Hudson's quilt is finally complete. It's so cozy I want to make one for myself!

Hudson's 1st Birthday party!

I know, I'm a slacker. Hudson's Birthday was almost 2 weeks ago and I am just getting around to blogging about it. I just had to write about his party because a lot of work went into it (okay, more work went into the cakes than anything else). I've always wanted to be able to decorate cakes. Maybe someday I'll take a class. Who knows.

I talked to my awesome neighbor, Kate, Queen of Fondant and Buttercream Frosting, and asked for her help. She was kind enough to help me and teach me a ton of new things. We had a blast!

Marshmallow fondant is surprisingly easy. We made that the night before so it could sit in the fridge overnight. Not sure why we had to do that, but it turned out awesome. I even tried to make a batch the next day, on my own. Success!

The morning of the party I felt like all I did was bake. One of my cakes fell apart as I was taking it out of the pan, so I had to start over. Good thing cake mixes were on sale at Macey's that week. I did a small double layered 5" round for Hudson to eat by himself. I did a 9" X 13" and a double layer 9" round for the family.

Hudson went down for his afternoon nap and I headed to Kate's to decorate. Don't worry, my brothers were home to listen for Hudson. I didn't leave him all alone. The decorating took a lot longer than we thought (about 3 hours) and I was home just in time to clean up, feed Hudson some dinner and start hanging up the decorations.

The party was fun, but Hudson was a stinker about his cake. He didn't eat much of it. He just smeared the icing on top and he was done.

Lots of family came over and it was all very exciting. Hudson got lots of fun toys, books and clothes. Thanks everyone!

Happy Birthday Hudson!

Wow! Can't believe a year has past already. Where does the time go?

He is starting to say some words. He knows Daddy, Mom and Hi so far. He thinks he knows a lot more than just those, he chatters on like you can really understand him. He is hilarious.

He got his first official birthday card from Marla Kay today. He carried it around for quite awhile this afternoon. He loved it! Thanks Marla Kay, you are amazing!

Hudson got to ride in his big boy car seat for the first time today. (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Russell) He loved looking forward and being able to see where he was going instead of where he had been. We took him to The Living Planet Aquarium to celebrate. I think James had more fun than Hudson did. (So many picture opportunities.) Occasionally I took Hudson out of the stroller so he could get a better look. All he wanted to do though was try to touch the animals behind the glass. We had an excellent time. We took Hudson through the gift shop and I would hand him the different stuffed animals to examine, then quickly grab them back before he had the chance to put them in his mouth. He tried to put one of the sharks in the stroller next to him. So cute! I wanted to get it for him but it is such a rip off to buy those things.

Well, one year down, many many many more to go. I better get off the computer and finish up Hudson's present. He won't care if it is a couple of days late. Right?

Nothing much to say right now, just thought I'd post another picture of Hudson. Took this one while I was pushing him round in the stroller out by the dog park. Got a bunch of nasty thorns in the stroller's tires, made 'em go flat. Darlene was none too pleased.

He's walking!

Wow! My baby is all grown up and walking! Okay so he's not going extreme distances at this point but he is pretty good at crossing the room. It's hard to believe that he will be a year old in less than two weeks.
Some things I love about Hudson at this stage:
-He LOVES to laugh. Nobody can get him laughing harder than his Uncle Charles. I don't know how he does it but he gets him laughing so hard sometimes I worry that he isn't getting enough oxygen. It is hilarious.
-He's always talking. When he talks to you he likes to get right in your face and look you straight in the eye.
-He's a very good eater. He is a master at finger foods. He's working on his skills with the spoon. When he does manage to get his spoon from me he makes quite a mess.
-He loves the camera (and the camera loves him). If he sees the camera come out he usually gets a really big grin on his face.
-When he's tired enough he will still snuggle with me.

I don't know how I got so lucky. But he is mine and I am grateful for that!