Grandpa's Funeral

My maternal grandpa passed away last month on April 28, 2013. On that same day, the family got word from overseas that my great grandma (on my mom's side) also passed away. Crazy.

We were able to travel up to VA to attend the funeral services a week later. Funerals are bittersweet. It was really sad to have loss grandpa so quickly to cancer, but at the same time it was also really nice to see so much extended family and friends.

A few days before the funeral, my aunt called and asked that I speak at the service. I was not expecting that phone call nor did the idea cross my mind. I hesitantly agreed and spent the next few days mulling over what I wanted to say. The only thing that came to my mind was the love I felt whenever I was around grandpa (or Thu is what we would call him). He wasn't one to say much, but I could always tell in his eyes how much he cared and how proud he was of me. That is what I will remember about him - how he looked at me with so much adoration, like he was the proudest grandpa in the world. His humility and tender heart were his most prized qualities, and ones that I admired the most about him - the way he cared for his grandchildren (my little cousins) by walking them to and from school most days, by playing with the crazy dogs he had, by the way he loved and stood by my grandmom's side, and especially in the way he loved his children and grandchildren. I will miss him, but I know he is in a better place and that his memory will definitely live on.

I am so grateful for the knowledge that families are eternal. See here if you want to learn more.

 With my mom and sister before the funeral

With my sister and girl cousins on my mom's side

Grandpa had a traditional Buddhist service, and because of that female family members of the deceased wear white to the funeral (in case anyone was wondering). I was the black sheep and didn't pack any white clothing. 

 Speaking at the funeral (and crying during some of it too)

 Loved getting to spend some time with family

 Hudson loved playing with my cousin, Bella. 

We like to call them Dora and Diego. 

day in the life

I've seen these "day in the life" posts before, and thought I would do one myself just so everyone can see what goes on around here. Plus, it will be nice to look back to see what life was like with just one kid and not two.

Logan is always up before us and is at work by 7AM every morning.

Hudson gets up between 7:30 - 8AM. I was never one to get up before him and start the day - I love my sleep, especially with not being a morning person. I change his diaper and he gets a bottle of milk (yes, he is still on his bottle - judge away). Sometimes if I am really tired (which happens more often than not), I let him play with the iPad and I catch a few more zzz's. Typically, we are both out of bed by 8:30 though. I take Hudson into the living room to watch a show on Netflix (favorites include Yo Gabba Gabba, The Fresh Beat Band, or Sesame Street) while I make the beds, unload the dishwasher, and get breakfast ready. Breakfast usually consists of eggs, waffles, cereal, or toast with orange juice.

After breakfast is cleaned up, we get ready for the day. Sometimes I shower at night and sometimes I get lazy in which case I shower in the morning. If I do shower in the morning, Hudson is either in my room reading books, playing with the iPad, playing with his toys, or he gets in the shower too.

We are both ready and dressed for the day by 10AM.

sometimes I let H pick out his outfit

this is the byproduct...

I have one day a week (typically Saturdays) where we stay in our jammies and bum around the house in the mornings; these are days where I get all the laundry done, clean the house, organize, etc. Most days we have something planned: play date with Hudson's pals - Ethan and/or Leilani, museum, indoor playground, walk around the lake, running errands, church play group, story time at the library, park, etc.

sand box at one of the many parks by our place

on the train at the Durham museum

helping mom with grocery shopping

at Farm Animal Day with Ethan

indoor pool

If we are out, I usually take snacks/lunches with us - sandwiches, goldfish, fruit, animal crackers, and baby carrots. Or, I am known for stopping at Chik Fil A on the way home too. If we are home for lunch, Hudson eats chicken nuggets, leftovers from dinner the night before, rice, pasta, mac and cheese, or soup.

I like to be home (if we are out) around 12:30 - 1PM and will eat lunch if we didn't already. At this point Hudson is tired depending on what we did in the morning, but I can always count on him going down for nap between 1:30 - 2pm unless he falls asleep on the car ride home (which does happen occasionally and I hate it). He gets another bottle of milk before nap, and then sleeps until 4pm - sometimes getting up earlier. My rule is he is not allowed to sleep past 4:30pm.

when this happens, you bet I wait in the car

thank goodness for library books and my iPhone to keep me company

During his nap, I check e-mails/blogs/Facebook, Pinterest away, budget, plan Sunday lesson for church, catch up on my shows on Hulu, or sometimes I nap too. I use to edit papers for work, but I took a hiatus once I found out I was pregnant (mainly because I was using Hudson's nap time as my own nap time). I am sure I will get back to it again, but it's been hard getting the motivation to work again.

Once Hudson is up, he'll have a snack (fruit, animal crackers, goldfish, pretzels, popcorn, veggie straws, or green beans) and then we will play with toys, read books, do some coloring/drawing, go out on the balcony, go outside, go for a walk, etc.

 pro at coloring

playing with toys

Between 5:30 - 6pm is when I get dinner ready. I put a movie or show on for Hudson, let him play with his Play-doh, or he comes to the kitchen to "help" me.

I like to have dinner ready by 6:30, but lately Logan has been getting home closer to 7 so it just depends on if Hudson can wait or not to eat. Most of the time we wait until dad gets home to eat with him.

eating dinner with some juice

After dinner, we all help clear the table and do the dishes or either Logan or I will do it once Hudson is in bed. We play a little more or watch a show together or the boys play with the frog. Between 8 - 8:30, it is time to clean up the toys, Hudson gets a bath and his teeth brushed (hard to get him to do this lately), and we get his jammies on.

a regular bath time scene - bubble beard

After all this, we go into his room where he lays down on his mattress with his pillow and three blankies, gets his bottle of milk, and a few books read to (current favorites include any Dr. Seuss or dinosaur books). We say prayer, give kisses, turn on his humidifier and the bathroom fan (white noise), and turn off his lights. Then, Logan leaves while Hudson and I snuggle until he falls asleep, most nights it takes about 15 minutes and then he is out. We are slowly working on getting him to put himself to sleep, but he cries when left alone and is known for crying until he pukes - his magic trump card. He is usually asleep by 9:30.

After that, Logan and I are pretty boring. We get dishes done if they are not already done from earlier, tidy up a bit, read, play on our iPhones or the iPad, Logan gets homework done, or we watch a show/movie together. We are in bed by 11PM most nights.

Once a week Logan has basketball at 8pm, so I am on my own for the night time routine. Sometimes I go out for a girl's night or grocery shopping or to Target (yeah!) but it doesn't happen often, even though I definitely think Target by myself should be a regular thing.

We always check on H before we go to bed. 

One night we found him like this. 

Occasionally, Hudson will waltz into our room (mostly during the hours of 3-4pm). He will climb into our king-size bed (note to self - next bed needs to be higher off the ground) and get right in between us. At this point, Logan and I are way too lazy tired to take him back to his room so we let him sleep with us until morning.

So, there you have it. This is how life has been for us lately, but it is set to change next month once Logan starts graduate school - mainly our morning and night routine. He'll be leaving later and coming home earlier. Plus, now that the weather is getting warmer we will be at the pool just about every day too. Oh, and life will most definitely change come October when we add another kiddo to the mix!

Girl

Yep, it's true! We are having a girl!!!!! My mothering instincts have failed me every time when trying to guess my child's gender. I'm 0-2, while husband is 2-2.

We are excited for a girl though! I can't wait to meet her and see what she looks like. I keep imagining Hudson with long hair, and that gives me a mental picture of what a little girl will look like. We have two names that we love, but will wait until she is born to announce the name.

It was really fun finding out the gender of the baby. We actually went to see a friend in our church congregation who is a Radiologist to get a sneak peak, but he wasn't 100% certain - our babies tend to be really difficult/modest (see our experience with Hudson here). The little bean was sitting with legs crossed, hunched over. Not the best view. Our Radiologist friend said he was leaning toward a girl, but not entirely sure. So, we went to our OB ultrasound a few days later and they confirmed it was a girl!!! Everything looks great too. Normal pregnancy. No discomfort.....yet. Weight gain has been 3 pounds for me so far (again I think I will gain it all at the end). The baby looks healthy and right on schedule for an October 9th due date; that puts the kiddos a little over 2 years apart.

We decided to do something a little fun for the gender reveal besides just tell everyone. So we got pink balloons (Logan got me blue balloons when we found out boy the first time - might have to be a little tradition now), and put them into a bin to open in front of family (via picture text) and friends. We also had strawberry cake and strawberry lemonade that night too. It was really cute, and Hudson sure loved the balloons.

18 week belly

It's a.....

So excited to not be the only girl in our little family, and to officially start thinking PINK!!!!

Let the shopping, crafting, and decorating begin.