Christmas Eve & Christmas Day!

So I'll do my best to cram Christmas Eve & Day into one post...I have close to 300 pics to sort through, so I'll do my best to keep it all short but sweet!!! Hudson's big gift this year was his Art Easel...I know he will love it b/c he loves to color. I even asked him Christmas week what he wanted Santa to bring him and every time he said "Colors!" It made me so excited! He can stand at it and color or fold it down into a table & sit at his stool!! Other gifts he hasn't put down are his "power drill" and vacuum! {if only the vacuum were real!} Kevin's big gift was an iPod Touch and mine, well, I actually got mine before Hudson's Birthday ~ so I unwrapped an empty box!! I have been jonesin' for a fancy SLR and instead of missing out on all of the bday & pre-Christmas fesitivities, he gave it to me early! I love it and haven't stopped taking pictures...hence the 300 Christmas Day pics! We had Kevin's family over for a late lunch & presents Christmas Day...did I mention Hudson was more than happy to help unwrap any and all gifts!?!

I can't believe Christmas is already over! It was such a wonderful year, and I can't wait to see what next year holds for our little family!!! We've almost got all of our decorations down {which makes me quite depressed} and tomorrow Kevin and I are headed out for our annual After Christmas Shopping Trip {sans Hudson-man}! I hope everyone had a fabulous & joyful Christmas!!! Happy 2009!

Christmas {finally}

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I finally have a moment to breathe and I AM BLOGGING! Warning: Not enough patience to cover all of Christmas in one post + lots 'o pics!!! But what a wonderful Christmas it was. First...THANK YOU to everyone who was so generous to us and esp. to Hudson-man! I'm pretty sure he thinks December is "Hudson Month" since all he does is open gifts for his birthday and Christmas. And it showed...all gifts were fair game...if you didn't open your gift fast enough, he was sure to help you!

Christmas 2008 started last weekend with my mom & Sister. One of our traditions is to draw names which makes shopping more economical and {a little} easier! Mom always has lots of yummy food planned, including our traditional Shrimp Creole Christmas Eve dinner & Christmas Morning Brunch. This year, we enjoyed riding a real train {from the Parkman farm} around Camelot. The kiddos loved it, and it was a perfect night to be outside looking at the wonderful Christmas lights! It is so much fun to watch Mallory & Harper play, and now Hudson thinks he's a big boy so he trys to get in on the fun...but the key word being "try!" After mom's, we came home to enjoy a short week before Christmas Eve & Morning as a family then to celebrate with Kevin's family.

the kiddos

mimi and her "mimiites"

Christmas Eve Shrimp Creole

"Christmas Morning"

Harper waiting patiently

a new way to ride his new scooter

LIGHT SABERS

Hudson's fav toy!

Mom's pretty yard sign

looks like the boys are ganging up on Mallory already

the Train

making cookies

YUM

decorating machine

a few of our cookies

Hudson had his own special touch!

The {Aubie} Party

Here are the pics from Hudson's 2nd Birthday Party! We wanted to keep it simple this year...as we know Hudson will probably be pretty vocal about what kind of party he wants from here on out. Since he is OBSESSED with Aubie {and we have lots of Auburn tailgating stuff}, we opted for an Aubie Party! We sure had fun and want to thank everyone who spent the afternoon with us. Also, thank you for all of the Toy Donations to "Toys 4 Tots!!! "

TWO!!!

Hudson is TWO Today!!! I can't believe it...time has really gone by fast! His party was yesterday {more to follow soon}, but we had lots of family fun today. After his 2 year check-up {no shots, yea!!!}, Hudson, Mommy & Daddy headed to the mall for lunch and Build-A-Bear! Hudson picked out his first Build-A-Bear which was actually a MONKEY, who we named George! And Hudson-man loves it! He stuffed it, put George's heart in, gave him a "bath," and even picked out an Auburn tee for him to wear!! I can't wait to see what this year holds...filled with lots of fun {guaranteed} and very little "terrible twos {a mommy can only wish}!"

Though Decision!!

MONKEY wins!

Putting His Heart In

Giving George a Bath

His New Buddy!

Kisses!!!!

A Little Chick-fil-A for Lunch! YUM!

REALLY!?!?!

A few dollars I can understand, but EIGHT!?!? The difference...brand name - take every 12 hours...Target brand - every 4-6! I'm pretty sure I can inconvenience myself one or two times more during the day to save EIGHT DOLLARS! {And I got 10 more pills with the Target brand to compensate for taking more often!!}

"Ora-Met" {3 f 3}

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!! My favorite time of the year! We decided last year to put up all Christmas decorations before Hudson's bday with the exception of the tree...well, you can see that lasted one year. I just couldn't wait any longer!

Sunday was decorating day! We headed to Lowe's for a tree...unfortunately, it was quite picked over. So, off to the "devil" {if you know anything about Kevin's job, you know Home Depot is in a 1st place dead-lock with WalMart in our family}...but they sure have pretty trees! It only took 3 trees & we had a winner. Once at home and inside, we realize it is the BIGGEST tree we've ever gotten...a good 9 feet! Woo Hoo...I love big trees with lots of {white} lights! After tackling the lights solo, we decide on festive hamburgers for dinner. After dinner we decorated! As I got out each ornament, Hudson took it over to the couch. He was such a big help & so cute...he kept saying "ora-met!" Hudson loved all the ornaments & made sure to tell us what it was and where to put it on the tree! Of course, every time he passes the tree he says "Tree!"..."Lights!"..."AUBIE!" {for the Aubie ornament}

Looking for the perfect tree

I wanted the mantel to look like the Southern Living at Home catalog...I think it's pretty close & was on a Hobby Lobby budget!!

Hudson tried his hand at hanging ornaments

Checking out the Aubie ornament

Showing Daddy all of his favorites!

SOME OF OUR FAVS

The Finished Product {BTW...it looks crooked but I think that would be the picture taker}

Wii Special Olympics {2 of 3}

AKA "SunTrust Analyst" Christmas Party. First, none of those attending the party are analysts anymore...Second, not all of us even work for SunTrust anymore. But, this was the original name so we're stickin' to it! This year we chose Adults Only and man, I am glad! The party always consists of good food, White Elephant gifts and at least one {or two} classic moments! Classic Moments of 2008 {which are now referred to as WII SPECIAL OLYMPICS} are brought to you by Wii Rock Band...I'm pretty sure the makers of Rock Band didn't have 30 year olds in mind when creating this game...but it sure makes it funny!!!

Of all the videos, we got the biggest kick out of this one...oh, I could keep uploading but it would just take too long! Enjoy! {Rockers include: Chuck & Kevin on lead guitar, Scott on drums, and Roger on Maddd Vocals. Blair would be the blonde in the back barely containing herself and yours truly is laughing her a$$ off in the background.}

PINK PIG {1 of 3}

Last week we went to the Pink Pig at Lenox Mall! I must admit, I thought this was a little hokey since the "ride" consists of a tiny pink train that goes around in {not one} but TWO circles! But, we were invited so why not. Well, {while I was still not amazed} Hudson was...and although we got to ride 2x & he kept saying "more"..."gain" {again}!! I was only able to coax him away with fries from Chick-fil-A! Maybe we'll ride again soon Little Man!

The Original Pink Pig

Lizzie, Elizabeth & Hudson

Again, Hudson LOVED It!

Snow Day!

What? You Say? Yes, a Snow Day!! On December 1st!! It has been snowing off and on since lunch today & I was able to take Hudson-man out to enjoy it {can you believe he's had snow each year he's been alive?!?}! Here are a few pics & a video...video note: he wanted to jump "high" b/c he saw me running & jumping around like a kid {but you can really see the snow}!