Signs

A sweet friend of mine just posted the most touching link on my Facebook page. I read it and my heart was instantly touched so I thought I'd share the link with all of you here.

Click Here

Be prepared to start crying! Don't say I didn't warn you because this one is a tear jerker!

And really, if you haven't clicked the link... do it. It's a very humbling story, and the words I've been searching for. Here's hoping I can be a better influence in people's lives and that I can be in tune enough to help them when they struggle.

Enjoy! Happy Thursday!!!

One Year

One year ago we were blessed with this sweet angel:

One year later... we have this little darling:

We have been so blessed to have her in our family. She is full of smiles and giggles and all the joy in the world. She has grown up so much and it's fun to see her start to have her own personality. She loves to eat macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, and pizza (I know... I'm a great mom). She knows what she wants, when she wants it... and she's starting to want things NOW! We'll see what the next year brings us... hopefully not too many tantrums.

Alexis Grace Hudson, we love you and are so proud of the young woman you are becoming. We love having you as a part of our family!

Love, Mom and Dad

Oh... and we've had some fabulous birthday parties for the little queen. Pictures will be posted later this weekend (as soon as we finish the last one!)

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.)