Baby Hudson is One!

I can't believe my little baby is one.  I know it's cliche to say it seems like yesterday that I had him, but it really does.  Time goes by so fast.  He has grown into such a sweet, cute, and funny toddler.  Here are a few things about him:

-He loves bathtime, especially throwing his toys out and watching me put them back in

-He got off the bottle very well but hates milk so we are still working on that
-He loves watching and bothering Milo (the dog)

-When he sees other kids, he starts laughing and thinks he is part of their conversation/fun

-He loves juice and goldfish

-He still only has two teeth

-He is crawling everywhere and standing up but not walking quite yet

-He weighs 23 pounds and 7 ounces

-He is 30 and 1/2 inches long

-He likes to play the piano

-He loves cars and tools

-He likes to help mom "unload" the dishwasher

His rubber ducky birthday party was a success with many family members there.  All of his great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles (except for Brayden) were there.  We had it at a nearby hotel (our house is a bit too small).  We ate pizza, chips, salad, and soda and then cake for dessert.  He had is own cake to play in and received tons of presents.  Among his presents were toys, books, clothes, and candy.  The candy was his favorite present!  His cake was made by myself and Aunt Shalese.  It was vanilla cake shaped into the form of a duck.  I also made the chocolate cake that he played in.  He wasn't too into playing in it but loved eating the frosting.  He crawled from person to person getting bits of food and attention from each one.  All in all, the first birthday of Hudson Kolby was fantastic!  I can't wait to see what his second year of life brings to our family!

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Don't ya just hate it when life hands you a lemon?  Lately I feel like I've had a few.  However, they weren't handed directly to me, I just got some of the sour.  Does that make sense?  That the actions of others can indirectly affect you? My family members mean everything to me so when one of them is hurt I want to yell and scream at the person that hurt them.  But...I realize I shouldn't do this and really try hard not to. That is part of the sour.  When a family member does something stupid that affects me too, that is also part of the sour.  I want to scoop them up and tell them that if they would only choose the right, life would be so much easier and happier!  But I realize that can't always work either.  So, with the lemons I have indirectly recieved lately, I have made mostly good decisions with what to do with them.  Mostly.  Here are some of the GOOD things that have come from my lemons!

I fed them to my kid!  He LOVES lemons.  Like mother like son I guess :)

He ate the whole slice!

I made lemon rolls!  They may not sound good to you but they were amazing!

So, if you recieved any affects from the bad decisions I made with my lemons, sorry!  If you just think I'm crazy cause my whole post is about lemons, you would be right!  Thanks for reading anyway!
Here are a few more pictures from our week:

My little Valentine with his Valentine present

A window-the best entertainment while getting the oil changed

Making a mess of his room is so fun (for him)

With grandpa at Uncle Cam's game

So what have I learned from this crazy week?  When life gives you lemons, shut your mouth and make lemonade instead!

Go Aggies!

Last week we went to the Aggie basketball game.  It was so fun!  Hudson loved it, especially the popcorn.  Here are a few pictures from our night:

I Heart February

I love love February for a few reasons!  First, because my baby was born in February (he is almost one!).  Enough said there.  Second, because I love Valentines!  I always have.  My mom is fantastic and always made Valentines fun by getting us a few little presents.  It always seemed like a mini Christmas-except the color pink was more involved so it made Valentines its own kind of special.  I'm going to do the same thing for my kids.  Even this year!  So, to start out the celebrations of my favorite month I made my own Valentine topiary and printed off the cutest V-Day subway art I found on pinterest.

  I hung up my heart wreath outside and we made italian sodas-cherry to be exact.  Yes, I'm a nerd.  But I don't care!

Hudson loves italian soda!

Happy February!

Mr. Piano Man

I am lucky enough to have a piano.  Hudson loves to play it and thinks he is pretty cool when he does!

Trust in the Lord

This is just something I have been thinking about and thought I would share.  Trust in the Lord....a simple phrase and sometimes easier said then done.  I am a very impatient person that wants what I want now.  However, I have found throughout the last year, and I know I will continue to find out throughout my life, that trusting in the Lord and His plan/timing is key to being happy.  I have lived in Logan now for a year and two months.  To most of you this may be nothing, but to me this is huge!  :Let me tell you why.  I grew up near Park City.  I always knew I would live there forever.  ""Knew"....I know right?!  Like you ever know anything for sure.  Anyway, it is my home and I love it there.  After I got married I was able to continue living there and was so pleased that my plan was falling into place.  This was MY plan though.  The Lord had a different plan for me.  My husband came home one day and said "We are going to have to move our farm and it has to be somewhere where land is reasonably priced, so not here."  At first my answer was a definite, "No way."  However, as time went on I could see that moving was our only option so I said, "Ok, I'll move anywhere but Cache Valley, I just don't like it there."  Ha!  Next thing I know, here I am.  So, this is why I think it is huge that I have lived here for over a year and I am still living!  I know, silly right?  It's not like I had to move thousands of miles away to a horrible place!  Anyway, this whole story brings me back to trusting in the Lord and His plan for me. This is not where I would be if I had to choose but for some reason this is where I'm supposed to be right now.  Will I be here forever?  I have no clue.  But for now it is great.  And for some reason after going through this I realize so much more that Heavenly Father will never forget about me or my life.  He has a plan just for me and that makes me feel important!

Hello 2012!

2011 was such a good year for me!  I recieved the biggest blessing of my life, baby Hudson!  I don't know how 2012 can top it but I'm ready to see!  I guess I had better highlight some important ending moments of 2011 though:

-Lights in Ogden:  When I was younger my family would go every year to see the Christmas lights in the Ogden Park.  We have not been for quite awhile so I'm glad we could go this year!

-First hair cut:  Hudson got his first haircut this month.  He sat on my lap for most of it but did so well!

-Clapping and crawling:  I posted a few days ago about how Hudson started clapping. Now, that is all that he does!  He claps when he is happy, crying, excited, scared, or whatever!  It is so darn cute.  I'm also proud to announce that he now can crawl. I'm so proud of my little bug!  He is a late bloomer but he is making up for it by following me around everywhere.  He kept getting into the Christmas Tree...

-Stembridge Family Christmas Party:  We started off the Christmas holiday with the Stembridge family Christmas party in Peoa.  This is held every year and I always look forward to it.  We exchange white elephant gifts, see Santa, eat, and talk.  This year I got in on the kid's gift exchange since I now have a kid!  We gave a doll to cousin Presley and Hudson received a cute little toy train from cousin Gracee.  What a great way to start the festivities of Christmas!

-Christmas Eve:  We spent Christmas Eve in Oakley at Kolby's parent's house.  Grandma and Grandpa Larson and Uncle Mike came up as well.  We had a delicious meal, talked to Uncle Brayden in Peru, and then opened a few presents.  Hudson got his first annual Christmas jammies and slippers and we went to bed.  I have to admit I still get so excited for Christmas morning, even more so now that Hudson is here!

-Christmas Day:  Christmas morning we got up bright and early to see what Santa brought.  Hudson got a dog that claps (which is perfect since clapping is his new favorite activity these days) and a bean bag chair from Santa.  He got toys, a blanket, books, and clothes from us and his grandparents.  He got so spoiled!  Once we were ready we headed to Coalville to see what Santa had left for us there.  We got so much and Hudson got even more.  By the time the day was over, we could have opened our own toy store!  We ate another great meal with my family, grandparents and aunt included.  After all of the party was over, we had a little party of our own- in the emergency room.  Hudson had not been feeling very well for a few days and by Christmas night he was miserable.  So, Kolby and I packed him up and took him to the Park City hospital.  Turns out it was a throat infection-poor little guy!  Once we were home we put him safe to bed and then finished off the night by watching The Help, a present I recieved from Kolby.  Our Christmas was fantastic and eventful!  We are so blessed!

-Wisconsin and New Years:  A few days later, Kolby and I boarded a plane to Wisconsin to work for a few days.  It was nice to get away but I missed my baby every second.  I was so glad when I got home to him on New Years Eve!  Because we had been flying all day, we didn't even stay up to welcome in 2012.  Oh well, it was gonna come whether I was up or not right?!  On New Years day we went to our cousin Ashlee's missionary farewell.  She did such a wonderful job and the people of New York are lucky to be getting her for 18 months!

-Our 4 year anniversary, January 3:  Yes, we made it 4 years!  Yay!  And, in keeping with the party that is our life, we did nothing.  But we didn't need to!  Just hanging out together is fun enough.  We just ate dinner at home, I got flowers and he got a Utah State hat, and we watched TV.  I'm so glad I married my best friend four years ago and that we can be together forever!

Here's to hoping that 2012 is as good to us as 2011 has been!