Snow Day

Raleigh weather is totally weird. It was sunny and a high of 65 degrees one day and then the very next day we woke up to snow! It was crazy. We even had church canceled the next day. Hud loved playing in the snow. It was so cute watching him run around, eat the snow, and just play.

 view from our apartment

 laughing at his mom who slipped and fell into the snow

thanks to Grammy Corbett for the winter coat he got for Christmas

so glad we finally got to use it!

This snow storm also happened during the same weekend my parents came down to visit. It was so fun having them here. My mom cooked us a few meals - Hudson acted like a starving child each time my mom gave him something to eat. He loves his Asian food! We also went downtown to grab pizza and see the NC Museum of Natural Science one day. Hudson loved all the attention. My dad would clap and cheer about every little thing Hud did: make an animal sound, eat all his lunch, etc. We can't wait until they come back down again to visit; hopefully next time my siblings can make it too.

silly grandparents addicted to their iPhones

at the museum

in front of the huge picture of birds with grandma

running around like he owned the place

dinosaurs with grandpa

playing with Lexi (my parents' dog) 

grandpa reading to Hudson

Master(s) in the House

We had quite a few things to celebrate this month. Namely, the fact that Logan got into the highly competitive Master's in Analytics program at NC State University right here in Raleigh. Last year, he was wait-listed. They said if there was any movement, he would get a shot. Unfortunately, it didn't happen so we waited another year. Logan continued working and gaining experience. He took classes, took on data projects for work, and honed his skills to prepare to re-apply. And, the second time around? HE GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of him! He totally wanted this, and worked so hard to reach his goal. He starts in June. It's a 10 month intensive master's program - about 50-60 hours a week. He'll get SAS certified, gain valuable insights into data mining, and have lots of career placement opportunities.

The program has a 97% career placement; most graduates get 2+ job interviews and/or job offers. It's only open to 80 students a year, and there were so many applicants this time around. We feel so blessed that Logan was given this opportunity, and it helps that Logan is very ready to start the program! He is thrilled, and I am too.

Looks like we will be having two masters in the house (I recently completed everything for my Master's degree) come April 2014. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, but we're always up for some friendly competition around here. :)

 Officially part of the Wolfpack. NC State style. Not Twilight style. 

Date night eating at The Pit - super great, classic BBQ place in downtown Raleigh. 

What a great time celebrating V-Day, finally getting my Master's degree, and Logan getting into graduate school! 

Hudson = 18 months

That's right. My baby is no longer a baby - he's 18 month old and taking the world by storm. Well, I guess he's always been like that. SO full of energy and excitement and activity. This kid is constantly on the go. He begs to be outside almost daily (so hard when we have cold days). It is a lot of work keeping up with him, but I surprise myself most days.

18 month old stats:
Weight: 22 pounds and 12 ounces (13%)
Height: 32 inches (41%)

A few things about H....

• He can say: no, hi, bye, wow, ball, mom, dad, bird, peeze (please), and bath.  

• He can sign please, milk, finished, and more.

• He knows most animal sounds and/or their actions including dog, cow, squirrel, cat, rabbit, monkey, dinosaur, bear, bird, and crocodile. I'm probably missing a few. The kid seriously knows his animals.  

• He is STILL drinking from a bottle, but it's gotten significantly less than what it was. He'll have a bottle in the morning, right before nap and bed. I'm planning to take it away cold turkey, but will wait until he hits 20 months. That's my goal.  

• His favorite snacks are fruit snacks, pretzels, cheese sticks, tortilla chips with salsa, and goldfish. 

• He is eating really well. Some days are better than others. He still prefers breakfast foods like waffles, pancakes, eggs, and cereal to anything else. However, he will eat spaghetti, chicken noodle soup, rice, ham and cheese sandwiches, chicken, carrots, pizza, and most pasta dishes. He eats really fast. Like he doesn't stop for air sometimes which is why he gags himself on occasion because he stuffs his face without chewing. We need to remind him to slow down. 

• He is a daddy's boy. He prefers him to me most of the time. He would rather stay home with dad than go out (he loves going outside) and run errands with me. 

• He runs off in all public places we're at (eating out, library, mall, etc). We really have to keep an eye on him because he'll just go and not look back. 

• He has a love/hate relationship with nursery. He loves the toys and the snacks, but doesn't really care for puzzles and singing time. Oh, and he'll cry almost immediately after we leave which is surprising (since he rarely cries when we leave him with babysitters). We're working on getting him to feel comfortable in there during church. 

• He loves reading books. That's his favorite activity. It's the only time he stays still too, so we really love it. 

• He LOVES playing with his friends. I'm so grateful there are little kids his age in our church congregation. We play with friends about 1-2 days a week, if not more.  

• He loves trying to help whether it is handing us toilet paper when we are using the bathroom (gross, but super helpful of him), unloading the dishwasher, mixing pancake batter or cake batter, setting the table, or opening the front door with keys - he is always willing to try and learn new things. I love that about him!

• He is starting to love electronics a little too much, especially dad's iPad. We had to start calling it Tabi (tablet = Tabi for short) because if he hears iPad he goes searching for it and cries until he can play with it. I usually only let him play with it in the morning when I need a little more sleep or when I am getting ready for the day. 

And, now, a few pictures and videos of Hud...

definitely impressed the ladies on his first day of nursery at church

what a little stud! 

found him reading to his animals one day

playing ring-around-the-rosies with his buddies, Leilani and Ethan

Hudson says "peeze" (please)

Hudson says "bath"

dancing to Gangnam Style
yep, our kid is way too cool

We celebrated his half-birthday by baking half a cake. We split the batter in half, for cupcakes and the other half was put in a 8" round pan (baked then cut in half and put on top of the other). Easy peasy. We had a few friends and their kids over to help us eat the chocolate cake/cupcakes with chocolate frosting and chocolate chips (Hud LOVES chocolate - just like his momma). 

party in the crib with Leilani and Ethan

This is what January looked liked

 lots of coloring

 playing outside in 60-70 degree "random" weather days

Sunday best for church

 visiting alpacas 

 sick & cuddly baby for a week

 day hike at the state park

 enjoying the "snow" days

 less napping, more playing 

 swinging and liking it, finally

 two temple trips in one month. that's right. 

 looking fancy after being sick for a week

 lots of bubble baths, for the dinosaurs too

 collecting rocks 

watching way too many TV shows

our current favorite? Once Upon a Time

celebrating H's half-birthday (more on that later)

January was a good one. Looking forward to February!