Bad Parenting.

Another iPhone photo I just couldn't resist sharing!





Apparently Norah doesn't know that you aren't supposed to lay babies to sleep on their tummy, especially when there is a giant Ninja Batty Shogun Uglydoll lurking nearby just waiting to viciously groom the baby with a Barbie brush. Silly 2-year-old mamas!

I walk up on scenes like this daily, by the way, and it never ceases to amuse me. One of my favorite parts of being a mother of 4- I am never bored!!! : )

Sophie Giraffe- From sucker to believer in 30 seconds flat!

I was standing in line at Dilly Dally's in Rogers on Dec. 23, trying to be patient while the woman in front of me waited on her purchases to be gift wrapped as I awkwardly shifted the many adorable items filling my arms around in an effort to avoid dropping them all in a crazy overpriced heap on the floor of the crowded toy store.

My mom was trying to soothe Shiloh, who was totally over all the Christmas shopping by this point, and I sighed with relief as the woman in front of me went on her way, and I was able to finally dump all of my goodies onto the checkout shelf. We had survived the wonderland of irresistible insanely expensive merchandise and managed to come out with, for the most part, only the things I had actually gone to the store specifically to buy. I thought we were doing pretty good.

But then, as the friendly checkout lady began ringing up my purchases, out of nowhere springs another salesgirl, this one brimming with Christmas joy and a zealous glee about the item in her hands that verged on psychotic. "I see you have a baby! He would LOVE this giraffe!"

Well, by this point, I am just not in the mood to add anything else to my bill, but I humor her anyway out of the goodness of my Christmasy heart, giving her a smile and a "Really?" that apparently opened the door to a full-fledged spiel about the wonders of Sophie the $20 chew toy giraffe and how it would change my life. Everything she said sounded pretty fabulous, but I kindly informed her that there was no way on God's green earth that I was going to pay 20 bucks for a 7-inch piece of plastic for my baby to chew on, no matter how adorable she looked.

The cheerful Sophie-pusher remained undeterred. "Oh, I understand," she said, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "But if you go Google it, you'll be back. There are like 3,000 reviews about her online. Go read them and you'll see what I mean!"

I informed her that I seriously doubted it, but that I would make the effort to check it out and we would see. All the while, I am just thinking NO FREAKING WAY AM I PAYING 20 BUCKS FOR A PLASTIC GIRAFFE!!!

So then I went home, and out of some combination of curiosity and boredom, I decided to check out the reviews. Apparently that girl knows her plastic giraffes, because I read through 5-star review after 5-star review about skeptical moms who had fallen in love with this thing. Seriously, they just went on and on about it. They posted paragraph after gushing paragraph, picture after picture, and even a large handful of video reviews touting the many wonders of Sophie the ridiculously overpriced giraffe!





Wow, I thought to myself, that girl was right. People love that dang giraffe. But despite my slight change in attitude, I finished wrapping all the presents and thought I had forgotten all about her, until the next day. I woke up with a crazy, overwhelming desire to return to Dilly Dally's and acquire a Sophie Giraffe. And after all my initial resistance, what did I do? I drove up to Rogers in the freezing, miserable weather on Christmas Eve to buy my baby a silly dang chew toy for 20 bucks. I guess that girl was right. I really did come back!

Then, until Christmas morning, I kind of felt like an idiot. What a fool! I just drove 30 minutes each way on Christmas Eve to shell out 20 bucks for a CHEW TOY for my 5-month old! Ack!

But then, we opened it. After rinsing her off, we handed her off to Shiloh, and I changed my mind pretty quick. It turns out that the silly overzealous salesgirl at Dilly Dally's and all those crazy moms on Amazon were right. He loves that dang giraffe. Shiloh, who has never cared one whit about any toy in his entire short life, thinks Sophie is the best thing since fresh milk. He seriously digs it. The long neck is easy for him to hang on to, and he happily sits and chomps on her soft ears and nubby feet for several minutes at a time, which in babyland, is an eternity! He even becomes quite distressed if he drops her. It is the cutest thing!





Also, Sophie squeaks a little if you squeeze her, so Norah thinks it is super fun to pick up the giraffe and take it over to Shiloh and squeak it at him, and when she does, he squeals with delight. Craziness!

So yeah, it's a little silly to pay $20 for a chew toy, but in this case, I guess I have become a believer. Sophie Giraffe is awesome. I may even feel compelled to go write a review of her on Amazon to convince other moms that they, too, should join the ranks of happy giraffe owners as soon as they get the chance.

Speaking of which, if you have a baby that likes to chew, go read about Sophie and get one yourself! Believe it or not, you won't regret it! : )

Motivational Monday - 12/27/10 Edition

From the "Inspiration" file on my iPhone, here's a thought that helps keep me going in the right direction!

"I want to add to the beauty." -Sara Groves

What a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Hudsons!







A few snowflakes on Christmas morning!











The kids new trampoline that Jason had to put together in the freezing cold and snow!



The new play set that Kori's dad built!

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Christmas to everyone from us and our two sweet babies! We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!!

Christmas!!!

I am officially DONE with my Christmas shopping, and everything except for 1 (amazing, if I do say so myself) gift is wrapped and under the tree. All that is left to do is buy a few more things for Christmas dinner and bake some pies. And also maybe to watch Elf, Home Alone and White Christmas about 14 more times in the next couple of days.

I love this time of year! Merry Christmas everybody!! : )

Mid-America Museum - Experience the Awesome!!

I have been going to the Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs since I was a little kid, and I have to tell you, I still derive just as much enjoyment from it now as I ever did then. That place is amazing. If you live even remotely in the area, you should totally check it out!!

Here are a few snapshots from our most recent trip there, which we took over Thanksgiving break.










After our super-fun trip, we made a quick stop by Lowe's to gather some fallen Christmas tree branches so that we could add the delicious smell of fresh pine to the joyous Christmas carols we listened to all the way home. What a fun day!

Motivational Monday - 12/20/10 Edition

From the "Inspiration" file on my iPhone, here's a thought that helps keep me going in the right direction!

"Live happily ever now." -Unknown

Branson Jamfest 2010- A Hot Mess if there Ever Was One!!

I think Norah's look here pretty much sums up our feelings about our first cheer competition of the year... Autumn's team may have won first place, but between the off-road parking and the fire marshall interruptions, I think we can all agree that Branson Jamfest 2010 really was just a big, hot mess. But somehow Norah manages to look cute even while throwing this giant fit!! : )

Happy Birthday Autumn and Emma Sky!!

While I was trying to plan Autumn's birthday party, one of my biggest concerns was making sure that her BFF Emma Sky could attend. When I talked to her mom about it, it turned out that she was in the same boat! Autumn turned 9 on December 11, and Emma Sky was contending with a December 26 birthday. Well, once we figured out that we were both planning basically the same party with the exact same guest list during the busiest time of year, it was a no-brainer that we should combine and do a double-birthday-shindig.

It worked out great! Allison's laid-back personality perfectly balanced my psychotic OCD tendencies, and we ended up with a super-fun and relaxed 9th-birthday party that both of our girls and all of their friends greatly enjoyed. What a great solution! Here are a few pictures from our amazing time at the party!!






















It was so much less stressful, and we had so much more fun that I suspect that this double-party concept may repeat itself in the future. Man, our kids are awesome.

Happy birthday, girls!! We love you!! : )

How did I become the mother of a 9-year-old??

Well, believe it or not, my precious little firstborn red-headed baby girl is 9 years old now! It literally feels like she was born, and then I blinked, and then now she's 9. I think seeing personally how true the axiom is that the days go slow, but the years go fast is helping me to be patient and take my time with Norah and Shiloh as they grow up. I seriously can't believe I am the mother of a 9-year-old! It's crazytown!!

In honor of the occasion, it seems appropriate to take a little trip down memory lane. I pulled out a bunch of old albums earlier today to track down pictures of Autumn at every age. Here goes! : )


Here she is as a newborn. I was young, just shy of my 20th birthday, but I grew up awfully fast once I had another precious little life to care for! She was such a sweet little bundle!




She was a joy to have around as a baby... Very smart and happy, if somewhat anxious to become more independent and start moving around on her own ASAP. As soon as she was born, she became the light of my life, and still is. One way or the other, she was adorable!




Here she is at 1... What a little doll!


Then she turned 2... Several ER visits and self-imposed super-mullet haircuts later, here she is... This particular picture was from a time when she hid one of my lipsticks under her pillow prior to naptime. Shortly after I laid her down, I noticed that she was miraculously quiet. Thinking she must have somehow fallen asleep without her customary fit, I peeked in to find her like this. Rather than get mad, I decided I should take a picture. Which I did. Then I framed it and hung it in her room because it was just so... "Autumn!" : )


Then she turned 3, and things started to get a little easier... She was so smart and talented and talkative, she blew me away! Also, she went snowboarding the December she turned 3, and she was such a rockstar at it already. That girl amazes me!!


By the time she was 4, she was an absolute doll! She had so much joy and enthusiasm, she literally lit up every room she entered. Precious!! Here she is for her 4th birthday party at my parents' house:


It wasn't until 5 that I really started to realize how gorgeous she was. I mean, don't get me wrong, I always thought she was pretty, but at 5, her personality started to so perfectly compliment her adorable looks that I would find myself routinely staring at her in complete disbelief that such a beautiful creature could really be mine.


At 6, I was starting to realize what a happy, social creature she was. She made friends so easily and was so adaptable to new situations. It made me admire her even more!


By 7, her personality had really started to explode. I still cannot believe that this gorgeous, outgoing, super-intelligent little person could be the same sweet, helpless tiny baby I held in my arms all those years ago!


At 8, she had experienced a lot of changes. She had switched schools without so much as missing a beat and become a big sister to Norah and Shiloh along with moving twice in under 2 years. I still can't believe how gracefully she handled all the changes. Not to mention that despite her new braces, which some might think of as "nerdy," she somehow only gets more and more beautiful by the minute!


And now she's 9. Really, truly, honest-to-goodness 9 years old. And still as smart, happy, bright, friendly and loving as ever. This girl totally amazes me!! Here she is giving it her all at the cheer competition that was held on her birthday in Hot Springs. She's so stinkin' cool!





So yes. Somehow I am now the mother of the world's coolest 9-year-old. And I couldn't be happier! Happy birthday, Autumn!! I love you soooooo much!