Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The holidays were very good to us. We went on a Christmas train, did a Winter Festival and of course spent both Christmas and New Years with family and friends.

The week before Christmas we took Haleigh and Hudson and met up with our friends Jerome, Michelle and JG (Hudson's best bud) and we all climbed aboard the Christmas train. Hudson and JG got their photos with Santa. Hudson was not thrilled with Santa, and in all honesty he was quite upset and the picture shows it. Sorry I can't post it here because I don't have a scanner at home.

The first photo here is Hudson and I on the train. The second is of Hudson and JG running around while we waited to get on the train....

Christmas morning we were up bright and early at our house and Jim, Hudson and I all opened presents together. I think Hudson is finally getting this present opening business. Later on that morning Joanna, my mom & dad and Michelle, Jerome and JG all came over to play and eat Christmas dinner.

New years we went over to our friends Rod & Amy's house for a bonfire and fireworks. We had a lot of fun and Hudson really enjoyed his first time around fireworks. He would smile and giggle any time they went off. Oh, and sparklers are really cool too.

Today Hudson, Mimi and I all went to the Winter Festival in Pearland. We had so much fun! Hudson got to see a firetruck up close and personal. I believe they were trying to recruit him before we left but he decided he had better things to do than fight fires today. We then headed to the snow. Come to find out Hudson doesn't really care for snow. The whole time he was in the "snow pin" he kept saying "no" and shaking his head. I guess we will let Tia (Aunt Suzanne) keep the snow up there is Washington state for now. After we left the snow we headed for the bouncer. Hudson enjoyed this so much we had a really hard time getting him to leave so we could go ride the pony's (another thing he really enjoyed). It was a great day!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season! Best Wishes for the new year from the Deans!

Our outdoor loving little boy really enjoys going to the park. One of his favorite things is the slide. He can't get enough! Jim and Haleigh took him this afternoon and shot quite a few pictures and I wanted to post them so you could see just how much the slide brings him joy.

In other news, Hudson met Santa for the first time this weekend. He was neither scared nor thrilled with the man. Curious would be the best way to describe the encounter.....

First Haircut

Hudson got his first haircut this past weekend! I'm sure the hairdresser thought Jim and I were nuts because I was snapping pictures like crazy and Jim was video taping the whole thing with his phone. By the way, the pictures that are posted here are not even half of what I took and I won't bore you with the 6 minute video.

He is growing up so fast! In the first picture he still looks like my little BABY but by the last picture he looks more like my little BOY. He did very, very well with the haircut. We were really surprised when he let her use the clippers to trim around his ears and the back of his neck.

As a special treat for exceeding our expectations in the behavior department, we took Hudson out for ice cream. Unfortunately, he did not think this was a treat at all. I'm not sure if it was the temperature or the taste but he really didn't care for it. He even shook his head "no" when Jim and I would take bites and try to finish off what he didn't eat.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving day. Full of food, family and fun. Hudson spent a lot of his day playing outside. We ran around and played ball with Buddy, fed the fish in the pond and he picked kumquats off of the tree in Mimi and Pawpaw's backyard. He wasn't too sure about the taste of the kumquats. He would take a bite and then spit it out. He did this three or four times before it ended up on the ground. I say, "A" for effort. At least he gave it a shot.

Mom made a fantastic turkey and we had the traditional homemade mac and cheese (Hudson LOVED this dish), green beans, sweet potatoes, rolls and Jim's mashed potatoes.

At the end of the day we were all fat and happy!

Angel

Wow, I've discovered that I'm just really bad at keeping up with this blog. I do apologize. I'm constantly thinking , "hey, I really need to update the blog tonight"...it just never seems to happen.

Here are a few updates. Hudson is making leaps and bounds these days. His crawling skills are beyond anything I could ever have imagined. I believe he can crawl faster than I can run. He is walking while holding on to the furniture. He thinks this is a really fun game. A couple of days ago he took a couple of steps without holding on to anything but he hasn't done it since then. I'm trying to keep the video camera at the ready just in case. Got to catch those moments while I can! He has also become quite the ham in front of a camera. As soon as the camera comes out he starts making faces. Most of my pictures of him come out fuzzy because I'm laughing so hard I can't keep the camera still. We can see more and more of his personality coming out with each passing day. He is very head strong. He knows what he wants and he goes for it, despite the consequences. On the flip side he is also cautious, always "testing the waters" before jumping in. He is extremely social. He is so happy when he is around a crowd, young or old, doesn't matter to him. He will go to just about anyone. He is very loving, giving out hugs and kisses like they are going out of style! He talks non-stop, mostly baby babble, but he does say a few words. Right now his favorite is Buddeeeee (Buddy is my parents pug).

On a more emotional note, He is the thing Jim and I look forward to the most at the end of the day. He lights up a room with his smile and charm. Some days I just know he was an angel sent to us from above.

As always I've included some pictures....
One of his "funny" faces for the camera
Another funny face
This is Hudson in my old rocking horse. I got this on my first Christmas, at 11 monts old, which is the age Hudson is now.
I think this was a forced smile, probably tired of me taking pictures.
Hudson with his "Fo-Hawk"
Sick baby, tired daddy
He was batting his eyes at me in this picture doing what we call "flirty eyes"
Look at those cheeks!
I think he was watching Jim mow the backyard in this pic.

Vegas Baby

Just got back from Las Vegas! It was definitely hot (111 degrees!) but we had such a good time! Our good friends Doug and Felis got married and Jim and I feel very blessed to be able to be a part of their special day. They are the main reason for our trip and we wish them all the best now and in the future!

We stayed at the New York New York Hotel. We did some of the typical Las Vegas things...gambled a bit (no we didn't win anything), caught a show (Zumanity - Cirque du Soleil), ate at a few buffets, window shopped the expensive "boutiques", hit downtown Vegas (Fremont St.) and got to witness friends get married in a Vegas wedding chapel...what more could you ask for???!!!

Here are a few photos from our little vacation.....

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Hello all! We just got back from the family reunion and we had the best time! Hudson was in his element. Being outdoors, check. Being around family and friends, check. Getting to spend time in the water, check. Getting to play with another baby, check.
I would certainly love to put all the pictures from our little vacation on this page but we took over 100 pics so I'm afraid that just won't be possible. I'm going to put some of the highlights of the trip here but if you would like to see the full album please post a comment here with your email address and I'll send you the link so that you can see all the fun that was had at the Klentzman
reunion 2008!