Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving sure came late this year! It was very nice to spend the holiday with my sister and her family. Nothing gives me more joy than to see all the kids play and laugh. I have so much to be thankful for and I am so glad that God's blessings don't stop here. I look at Hudson and think how lucky I am to have this chubby, cuddly baby boy! I never thougth in a milllion years I would end up with 3 kids and one being a boy is a bonus =) The last two months have gone by so quick....like in a blink of an eye. Ever since school started my days end quick! It's just non stop from the moment I roll out of bed. Once Hannah is off to school I try to get Lulu out of the house and make a trip to the library. She loves to go play on the computer and sit for storytime. Whenever she sees me get ready after breakfast and start packing Hudsosn's bag she says- Libawee, momma? Well, as always I never stop snapping away so I have lots of picturs to share!

Hannah's first day of school!  She was so excited to start a new year and anxious to find out if she will have any returning students from Kinder.  She met new friends and was super happy to have her good friend from Kinder in her class!

7 years old my big girl turned on October 27.  She had two birthday celebrations.  Both were with family.  My sister drove in to spend the day with her and all the cousins had a blast with the water slide I rented out for the day.

We hit the pumpkin patch twice in October.  When I took the little ones it was full of beautiful pumpkins and fall decor.  When I returned with Hannah a few weeks later there were probably 10 pumpkins left!  But I was able to take a photo of her and Hudson!

Carving pumkins and Hannah did a good job on hers, but I did not take any photos of our finished products.

Halloween night was a blast!  We spent the evening at a friends house and the girls got lots of candy and had lots of fun.  Hannah was a bat witch and Lulu was a bat fairy. 

So of course Hudson is the center of everyone's attention!  This boy is LOVED by all!  The girls just can't get enough and we are just enjoying the chubby cheeks to kiss. 

These are my favorite photos.  Hudson is now 7 months old  =)

Summer finale

Summer is quickly coming to an end and school starts in 5 days!  Both Hannah and I are excited about the new school year.  She can't wait to start first grade and I can't wait for our Mon-Fri routine and the peace (no fighting between siblings) during the day.  I thought I would have a calm easy going summer with the new baby but I was far from wrong!  Hannah was all about filling each day with fun and exciting things to do.  I tried my best to entertain and we did a lot a few short road trips and lots of visitors- all in all it was a fun summer.  

At my cousins in Dallas

My sister-in-law and kids came to visit 

My friend from San Diego came to visit

My friends son, Sean with giggly Lulu

At the children's museum

I must say the highlight of our summer was when we received a phone call from my sister a couple of weeks ago.  Her phone call made one of my dreams/prayers come true.  She called to tell me that she will be leaving her paradise island of Oahu to move to Katy, TX!!!!   2.5 hours away is way better than 8 hours on a plane.  We are all so thrilled and my sister and I are so happy our kids will grow up together.  I think that was the hardest part about living so far away was knowing that our kids were growing up so fast without their cousins.  We both grin ear to ear when we think about birthday parties and holidays!

Hudson is growing bigger and of course getting so cute :). He loves when people talk to him he will "agoo" all day with you!  He smiles so much and loves chewing on that fist.  The girls are so helpful and still so in love with him.

Big 3 month old boy

Summer with #3

I think I started my blog last year during this very same time saying- I can't believe summer is almost over!  When you're havin fun time goes by quick!!

Back tracking to June- I couldn't wait for Hannah to finish with school.  I was looking forward to sleeping in bit especially since Hudson was waking up at 11,1, 4, 6 am.  After the 6 am feeding I wanted to crash out but I had to stay awake for school.  It was heavenly when I was able to sleep through Hannah's wake up time and the girls waking up at 8 was a bonus!!  Shortly after school was over I realized our 10 year anniversary was coming up- June 8th.  Ten years, wow!  Gabe and I went through alot in ten years.  Moments I wish that never happened and moments that I would do all over again.  I gotta say I never pictured myself where I am at today.  I never thought in a million years I would be living in Texas with farm animals, lol!  The first years of our marriage I envisioned us moving back to the Bay Area.  I also never thought I would have 3 kids.  I was perfectly happy with my two girls and ready to go back to work.  Our move to Utah was something I didn't see coming!  We spent three years with no family- just Gabe, myself and Hannah.  Even though on the third year I was dying to get out of there I was thankful for that move.  We both grew spiritually and I matured a lot. Three years later we left with a stronger marriage and left behind some great friends. 

June 2013 was the year I was looking forward for our big 10 year celebration in Cancun!  I had the resort picked out and just could t wait to have a vacay with no kids!  We celebrated our big ten with 3 kids at a beach....Texas beach!  For about a year I fantasied tanning at La Blanc's private beach and sipping on unlimited margaritas at the pool side and getting couple massages and sleeping till 11 am in a luxurious room...those thoughts didn't even cross my mind as we drove 3 hours south with a car full of sand toys, a diaper bag and listening/watching The princess and the frog.  We pulled up to a cute beach hotel and made the best out of our special weekend.  

July....the last full month of summer vacation!  So far, it's been non stop!  We started the month in Shreveport and had a blast swimming, eating and popping firecrackers of course!  Thank God for vacation bible school because Hannah is on round two!  2nd week of it and still having a good time. I keep busy with lots of pool days and play dates 😄.  Hudson has become a great car rider and the girls are experts on entertaining him, well keeping his mind off of eating that is!  We have a couple of more road trips and family visiting to complete our fun filled summer!  

Anniversary weekend at Port Aransas

Lulu's angry face because she wasn't holding Hudson!

Pictures of Hudson's first two months

***Double click on photos to enlarge 

Oh baby!

Well, almost two months later I have the time and energy to blog again :)
Three kids, one being a newborn put my easy life into a whirlwind! I love it though....wouldn't change a thang!

Hudson, my darling baby boy thankfully decided to come into this world a week early. I woke up on April 20th around 3 am with bad cramps and I just knew that day was the big day. I waited until 8 am to tell Gabe to take me to the hospital. We were in no rush though, he washed the dishes, watered his plants outside, made his protein shake while I packed my bag. Waking around made the contractions not as painful, but I was getting nervous as they were between 5-3 min apart.

As I waddled my way to the car my mind was racing with many thoughts:

#1. What if my water breaks while we are driving and BAM.....I have the baby.  Should I bring a towel just in case?  Well, even though I could save us some money by not paying a anesthesiologist and a big doctor & hospital bill I don't like that idea one bit.  I would freak out if that would happen and it's not like the baby would easily flow right out like the movies anyway.

#2.  I envisioned myself walking in the labor department screaming....I'm having a baby now.....it's coming....and BAM I had my baby within in seconds of laying in bed.  Yeah right, too dramatic and movie like.

#3. My other vision was being told I'm 8 cm and gave birth within in an hour to two.  That's possible, right?!

#3. Then a sad thought came to mind...what if I get to the hospital and get sent back- false alarm.  That would suck big time!

So, I calmly walk in and tell the nurse- I believe I'm having a baby. She gives me a questionable look and said- you're so calm! After getting checked I'm told that even though the contractions were 3 min apart they weren't strong enough because I was only 3 cm dilated. Not what I wanted to hear- I was hoping for 5 cm. so we walked an hour to ease the pain and speed up the labor and called my sister in law who lives in Shreveport- about 7 hours away. She panicked hoping not to miss the birth, but hopeful at the same time that she would make it in less time since she would be traveling with no kids.  Fast forward 7 hours....my sister in law makes it to the hospital just in time for me to push and to witness the best surprise for all of us.  When my baby came out I was so relieved and extremely tired that I didn't quickly check to see if it was a boy or girl, instead I put my head back and thanked God it was over. I do recall the screaming and seeing tears of joy from everyone's faces including the nurses.  My mom immediately hugged me and told me over and over- IT'S A BOY!!!  I look over and Gabe had our tiny baby in his hands crying and I put my head back on the pillow thanking God again for this wonderful surprise and gift of life He has given us.

Now, two months later I sit here writing on my blog with little time to spare.  I have three demanding children that have different needs to be met at the same time!  There are days I want to pull my thin already not so much hair out of my scalp and scream and days where everything is just fine and peachy.  Many days I am counting down to seconds till Gabe walks in the doors to hand him the baby and have him deal with a screaming two year old and a whining six year old.  I knew having three kids would be challenging for me, but I'm glad God's plan was to add a little boy to my life.

                    Hudson Joshue.

           Born April 20th at 5:24 pm

                     6 lbs 14 oz 20"

3 hours old

5 weeks old