Life Moves Fast (Summer's Update)

Man! Recently I've learned how fast life really moves. When I was pregnant with Alexis it felt like time slowed down and she would never get here. People would say things like "Enjoy her while she's little because time really flies!" and sadly, I never believed them. I've since learned what a true statement that is. Time goes so fast so we need to enjoy it while we can. That is exactly (almost) what we've been doing this summer. Here's our little update:

Chris and I decided to try out summer school to see if we could finish faster... Note to self: Don't EVER do that again! Summer went too fast and we barely got to enjoy the sunshine.

Alexis grew so fast! She's still as smiley as ever and loves playing with friends.

There were a lot of firsts for her this summer!

Her first S'more... (one of many she had this summer)

Her first concert... (We went to Diamond Rio for 4th of July)

Her first fireworks

Her first trip to Bear Lake

Her first time bowling (for daddy's birthday)

Her first extended stay in the hospital. Sad as it may be, our sweet baby girl got some nasty virus. She got super dehydrated and lost too much weight so she got to spend a few days (4) in the hospital recovering. Even though she was hurting, she had a big smile on her face the whole time.

Her first trip to the hospital led to feeding her anything we could to help her gain back the weight she lost. This led her to her newfound love: Pizza... and pizza SAUCE even more!

We tried to fit in swimming in her pool and playing at the park as often as we could.

All in all, it was a pretty successful summer (even though there was WAY too much homework involved). We sure hope you had a fantastic summer. School starts tomorrow.... so blogging may be lost for a while, but we'll try to keep you updated as often as possible.

Love to all!

HELP!

We're in need of your help. We've entered a contest to win a $500 photo shoot and we need your votes. This contest takes place on facebook. First you have to "like" the Dating Divas. Then "like" our picture (#28). The person with the most "likes" on the 15th of June will win. Thanks in advance!

Here's the picture you'll be looking for. I entered this one because I love watching the interaction between my husband and our sweet Lexi. It melts my heart. I love watching her face each night as he comes home. He has a special connection with her. I know she loves him, but this picture shows how much he really loves her.

(Laura... thanks again for taking this!)

Happy Mother's Day

Today got me to thinking a lot. This is a day we celebrate the mother's in our lives, but it's often a difficult day for many, for many different reasons... but today is a day to make me grateful!

Mother's Day has a new meaning for me this year. I sure love my darling daughter. The world is never going to look the same to me. My perspective on life has forever changed, and I'm okay with that.

I don't know how I got to be so lucky. Heavenly Father blessed me with a baby... something I never thought I'd have. Not only did I get a baby and a fabulous husband, but I was blessed with the most AMAZING mother and mother-in-law. Seriously! They are both darling. I was also blessed with wonderful sisters and sister-in-laws who are also darling! I'm so so grateful to have so many wonderful things in my life.

A BIG thanks to ALL the women in my life who have helped me as I put on my own mommy shoes. Thanks for helping me transition. I couldn't have done it without you.

And Mom, I love you! Even though I don't get to see you today, my thoughts are with you. You are the one who gave me life, and I can't thank you enough for that. You watched me grow up, and allowed me to make choices, but most importantly, you taught me about my Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ and for that, I'll be eternally grateful! :)

Oh.... one last thing. If you made it to the bottom of this post, I thought I'd share this. It makes me smile on days that I struggle, and gives me hope. I hope it will do the same for you.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Easter

Wishing you and your family a very Happy Easter! What a beautiful day it was, to remember the Christ, our Savior, has risen and that one day we can all rise again. Lots of love, from our family to yours!

When Mommies Get Bored

When mommies get bored we tend to do things like this...

I'm sure the fact that we dressed our children up as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell... not for Halloween... will make them hate us later on in life... but what teenager doesn't hate their parents. Right? At least the look cute!

Actually, we made the Tinkerbell costume for Lexi to wear when we went to Disney on Ice (and Aneva made Nicholas a Peter Pan one for fun). Disney on Ice.... Here we come!

Dear Mother Nature,

Dearest Mother Nature...

Earlier today I went on the most enjoyable walk to the library. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the ducks were quacking and our children were smiling. Just look at how happy our children are in these pictures....

We had such a great time and our children were so well behaved. They each took great naps, and life was fantastic!

Fast forward 5 hours....

Now, I don't mean to complain... but wasn't spring supposed to come soon? I'm not sure if you noticed, but earlier today I was wearing flip flops. Now I have to dig out my snow boots. :( I really loved having the warm sunshine accompany our daily walks. Lexi just loves her stroller but now...

You missed me breaking the news to her that there would be no walks for a while. She cried and cried and cried and cried and... well you get the idea. How about this... If you could just do me a favor and let the sun come out again I promise that we will be there to enjoy every moment of it. Please just turn the sun back on. I'll get out my flip flops again and we will continue our daily walks. Yes? Oh, I sure hope so.

Sincerely Yours,

Heather

Valentine's Day

Warning... this post may be a little boastful, so if you don't want to hear about how awesome my husband is feel free to skip.

This year I had probably the best and sweetest Valentine's Day of my life. We got Alexis into the Valentine's spirit. She made Valentines for her aunts/uncles, and cousins (Josh, Rachel, and Jaylynn... yours are coming... they were too big to mail). She even made one for her cute friend Nicholas, and he made her one too. It was super sweet. She really enjoyed eating the plastic, and the paper valentine, and her mommy really enjoyed the treats inside.

Chris took me out for our first real Valentine's dinner. Last year we were poor newlyweds and had no money so we made our dinner and had an inside date. He took me to my favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse, where dinner was absolutely divine! Lexi joined us for the fun because we didn't want to ruin someone else's day of love. She was delightful! We came home to a beautiful single pink rose and some super yummy chocolates. He also gave me tickets to Disney on Ice... probably my favorite thing ever! Did I mention the tickets were for the 3rd row? I am so excited I can't wait. There will be plenty of pictures from that event I'm sure. We go on March 11th... so watch for the post after.

Lexi really liked eating the napkin. She caused a lot of trouble with that napkin as her accomplice... this may or may not have included spilling Mommy's drink all over.

Our super yummy dinner

My pretty flower

I didn't forget him either. I got him Epic Mickey. It's a video game for the Wii that he has been DYING to have. (Every time we walked into a store he would stop and look at it. Sometimes he would pick it up and hug it before putting it back. I found a super sweet deal on it one day, and knew that would be the perfect thing for him!) We ended up spending the rest of the night playing the game. It was a blast!

I'm so grateful that I married such a sweet and thoughtful man. Although our lives may be a little crazy at times, I never regret the decision I made to marry him. He has made me so happy and I look forward to many more wonderful moments in our lives.

I hope you all had an enjoyable day as well! We love you!!!

Lessons Learned

It takes becoming a mom to truely appreciate your own.

When you need a burp cloth a blanket will be the only thing around. And vice versa.

A smile is worth a thousand words.

There are never 24 hours in a day, sometimes there are 36 and others only 3.

"Mom" is not a title, a job, or a name. It's a way of life.

Elizabeth Taylor can keep her diamonds, it's the macaroni necklaces I'm looking forward too.

Laundry is never "done".

Money and happiness are completely unrelated.

Baby kisses are worth more than all the money in the world.

"Shopping" is a chore, not a recreational activity.

Babies don't care what size your pants are, just how big your smile can get.

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is bolony. Parenthood is much closer, and a parent's house is never entirely clean.

No matter how long you wait, the dish fairy will never come. The smell however, never fails to show up.

Teenage boys are scary. I've changed my opinion on owning a shotgun.

No one will ever see the state of your bathroom cupboards. If the nail polish is in with the tampons it'll be ok.

God knew what He was doing when He created families, Grandmas are indispensible.

Advice is not law, everyone has thier own opinion. And when you have a newborn you get more advice than you ever thought possible.

A crying child is not a dying child, sometimes they're learning to sing.

Hormones hurt.

The best moments in life are not spent on beaches in Maui at sunset. They are snuggled up in bed with baby and daddy on a sleepy saturday morning listening to the rain.

Showering at 9:00 pm still counts as getting a shower that day.

You'll never know how strong you are until you're pushed past where you thought your limits where.

It's only been five months but already I have learned more and grown more than I expected. I love being a mom more and more each day and I can't wait for each new day and each new mess, smile, headache and giggle and laugh.


(ok, I lied a little about the headaches. I can wait.)

Family Pictures

In October one of my good friends from High School, Laura, from Laura Green Photography took our family pictures. She was so wonderful to work with, and she took some of our favorite pictures. Check her out here. Thanks again Laura! Here are a few of our favorites:

Update!

Oh man! It's crazy how fast time flies. I had no idea how busy life could get. I apologize for not posting more... sorry Mom! I'm going to try (key word being try) to post a little more often. We still take pictures of cute little Lexi often, but we've resorted to about once a week... maybe I'll start posting those too.

So... now for the update....(It might be a little lengthy)

Chris was called to be the 2nd counselor in our bishopric. I was called to serve as the communications specialist in our ward.... still not exactly sure what that entails as it is a brand new calling. Chris' calling definitely keeps him busy, but Heavenly Father has blessed our family so much for his willingness to serve. We both started school again, leaving us about 22 hours to spend together (most of which is spent doing homework). Here's hoping school goes fast! Chris is still the building coordinator for two of the buildings on campus. I'm the lucky one and get to stay home and play mom.

Cute little Alexis Grace is growing so fast! She has started eating solid foods... sweet potatoes and peas being her favorites. She thinks she likes Diet Coke. Don't worry... we've never actually given it to her, but whenever Mommy is drinking some, she will scream because Mommy won't share. (Maybe Mommy shouldn't drink it so often). Which leads to the next thing... Tantrums. Lexi has learned how to throw a fit. If she doesn't get her way, you hear about it.... can you say spoiled? Ooops! She is also starting to crawl... more like scoot... but she moves! Yikes! Our little baby is growing up way too fast. She has also developed a fascination with toes. Gross! She loves to eat her toes, but if she can't get to them, anyone else's will do.

A tantrum from not getting her way

Trying really hard to get Mommy's drink

Toe jam anyone?

Our good friends Adam and Aneva moved next door recently. Aneva had a little boy 6 weeks after I did. His name is Nicholas. Lexi and Nicholas are best friends. They love playing together, and do so on an almost daily basis. Their favorite thing to do is egg each other on... which they have become very good at. I'm so grateful to have such great friends living so close!

Here are a few pictures from their many play dates

For Halloween Lexi was a little neanderthal named Pebbles. Since she was so little we didn't do the whole trick-or-treating thing and her costume took all of like 2 minutes to put together.

Thanksgiving was wonderful! We spent it with my family... and the food was delicious. We braved the stores and went shopping on Black Friday... which I also enjoyed. I wish we had pictures... but we kind of spaced it. I really enjoyed being home though!

(Getting ready to go to Grandma's house)

We celebrated Christmas with my family the weekend before Christmas. My mom's family gets together and has a family christmas party. Each of the kids get to draw names and make something for someone else. This year my cousin Cameron got Alexis and he made her a blanket... her favorite blanket. Thanks Cam!

(Lexi and Grandma Great - her great-great-grandma)

at the Family Christmas Party

Then we spent Christmas Eve/Day with Chris' family. Lexi was baby Jesus in the Christmas Nativity (big surprise?). For Christmas/My Birthday Chris bought me a Wii. I'm pretty sure it has been one of my favorite purchases thus far. We bought Lexi her first Mickey. It has been one of her favorite toys, and it goes with us everywhere.

We spent New Years with Adam and Aneva. We must be getting old because all of us started to fall asleep before midnight.

So that's what's been going on the last little while. Sorry we haven't posted in a while, but we'll try doing better. If you made it this far... Thanks for listening to my rambling. Hope all is well with you!

All our love,

The Hudsons (Chris, Heather, and Alexis)

One last picture of Lexi for now

Oh... P.S. If anyone would be willing to take the freezing cold from Logan it would be greatly appreciated!