Saturday, December 27, 2008

Home Alone

I am home alone this weekend. Trent's sister recently decided to get married today in WV. I could not get any time off of work this weekend, so I have to stay here. Trent is officiating the wedding (not sure if "officiating" is the correct term for weddings, but I just finished watching football and "officiating" is the word that comes to mind) except for pronouncing them man and wife. He can't do that until he's an ordained pastor (after graduation). He's also preaching at his home church tomorrow and he's singing a duet with Brianna during the service. I'm pretty bummed that I'm missing all these things and my baby. I can't believe I'm going 3 nights without either of them.

My sister, Stephanie, was supposed to come visit this weekend. When she got to the airport yesterday, her ticket was for Jan. 26-29 instead of December. Bummer! The flight was full and it couldn't work for her to change her ticket. So, I am home by myself.

I actually expected to wallow in self-pity that Trent & Hudson were getting to do Christmas with his family, go to the wedding, visit with lots of people, while I slaved away at work and then sat in our quiet house. Instead, I have

-read Harry Potter
-eaten waffles for dinner
-slept through the night for the first time since before Hudson was born!
-watched a chick flick (I think the first of 2-3)
-organized closets
-watched the WV bowl game (we won)
-gone to Pottery Barn to buy things to redecorate my living room (we have store credit from our wedding...good thing it doesn't expire), but came home empty-handed...it was still fun to browse though
-looked around at Whole Foods...there are so many things that look tempting, but I couldn't bring myself to buy anything there
-got some things together for a yard sale we're going to have before we move
-gone running
-watched videos of Hudson

Some things I'm planning to do over the next few days are

-do a Bible study on looking up the word "joy" in the Bible and see where it takes me
-read ahead for a class I'm taking in January
-go through my dresser and weed out any clothes I don't wear
-go to a coffee shop to read
-make some meals & freeze them
-do my new pilates DVD (a Christmas gift I received)

That's all for now. I think I'm off to start the Bible study.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

better than any store bought present....

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Cincinnati

Last weekend we went to Cincinnati to visit with my family for Christmas. Despite bitterly cold weather, we had a fun time visiting with everyone! Unfortunately, we don't see my aunt, uncle & cousins from Michigan too often, but we always get along well with them. Hopefully in the future we'll make it a point to visit more often.

The whole gang at my Grandparent's house. In the picture are my Dad, Step-Mom, older sister, brother-in-law & their 3 boys, younger sister, Aunt, Uncle, 2 cousins & my grandparents

My sister & I in matching coats (courtesy of Grandma J)

checking out the lions at the Cincinnati Zoo


at the Cincinnati Children's Museum

with Aunt Stephanie

hanging out with Grandpa

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Peeking Over the Edge

It's so fun to look over the top rather than through the bars



Despite the start of a frown, Hudson did have fun hanging out with some friends

Friday, December 12, 2008

Getting Some Pointers

Now that Hudson is pulling up on almost everything & loving to "walk" around holding our fingers (he constantly squeals in delight), it seems he decided he needs to do some reading ahead on running.



Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Memphis

Trent & Hudson in front of the pyramid in Memphis



around mile 12

Memphis's famous Beale Street

The race finished in the stadium behind me


Overall we had a great time in Memphis. We enjoyed checking out the expo (a fun event before all major marathons), seeing the lights of Beale St, eating out, and I of course enjoyed running. I got a new PR (personal record) of 1:47:13 by 35 seconds. I'd like to try and shave a few minutes off of that time, but I have no plans for another race anytime soon. I got to see Trent & Hudson at a few spots on the course, which was a great highlight.

Since this race was raising money for St. Jude Children's Hospital, there were lots of signs about kids that were presently in the hospital or previously treated there. Parents held up posters with a picture of their "baby" saying things like "Thanks for running for Jake. You are a hero to him" or "My sweet Emma cannot run so thanks for running for her." It was emotional while running.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Life Behind Bars & Memphis

This is what we see every time we open our door to get Hudson up from a nap. He's pulled up to his knees in his crib, but not to standing yet. It's such a treat to go get a well- rested boy up who's ready to play.


We're heading to Memphis today for the St. Jude Memphis marathon. Trent was supposed to try for his goal of breaking 3 hours in the marathon tomorrow, but he recently strained his quad. So, Trent is going to be watching Hudson while I run the half-marathon. I'm so disappointed for Trent not being able to run because he's trained so hard. Hopefully we'll just enjoy a fun time together.

Here's a link to an amazing video about a father and son doing marathons and triathlons together. The son has cerebral palsy and couldn't compete on his own, but his father doesn't want his son's disability to limit what he can do. In the video, they are doing an Iron man triathlon. We saw this video during our first semester of classes here, but I was reminded of it recently when my friend Laura posted it on her blog. The professor was talking about our union with Christ and using this father and son as a beautiful picture of this. He was reminding us of the simple concept that we can do nothing apart of Christ. This is a great thing to think about while running tomorrow.

You can also check out the Hoyt's website .

Sunday, November 30, 2008

A Big Learning Curve

We've been giving Hudson a sippy cup with water in it after he finishes his dinner for a few weeks now. He absolutely loves it, but he hasn't figured out that if he sucks on part of it, liquid comes out. As you can see in the video, he likes chewing on the mouth piece (& also the handles!). Thankfully, it's okay if he doesn't start using it for awhile longer.

Friday, November 28, 2008

So Much to be Thankful For

We're so thankful for this little boy & his new squinty eye smile



It was a beautiful day here & we all three enjoyed time at the park...Hudson & I running and Trent reading because he has a hurt quad right now

We're thankful for our health and that we're both normally able to be active and take Hudson with us

We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving with dear friends


We're also very thankful for our families & other friends!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Tricks & Pics from this Week

Enjoying reading more now that we moved his books to the bottom shelf of the bookcase

Hudson pulled up for the first time from a laying position to his knees to standing

This is actually as far as he got (although he did this several times).

He loves to explore by crawling under his exersaucer, the coffee table, or "in" one side of an end table and then "out" the front

Hudson now finds me when I'm in another room. It's a highlight of my day to look up & see him coming around the corner!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

An Apple a Day


A couple days ago, Trent finished eating an apple while holding Hudson. Before he could throw the core away, Hudson enjoyed using his teeth to get some small bites. He loved it!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Some Weekend Highlights

Trent & I enjoyed a dinner out with just the 2 of us Friday night!
We went to Il Vicino, a wood oven pizza place near us. The food was delicious & we had great conversation. Thanks for babysitting Brianna!

Saturday I loaded Hudson up in the jogging stroller and we did our errands and got a run in at the same time. I had to bundle Hudson up so much though that he couldn't move or play with the toy I put on his lap. He was a trooper though.

We had some friends over for dinner & singing




Also, Brianna started her job this weekend at Centennial Commons, a rec center near our house. She's working at the front desk and done an awesome job her first 2 days.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

WVU vs. Cinn

We went to Ozzie's tonight to watch the WVU vs. Cinn game. Unfortunately, WVU lost in OT. We did have fun seeing our friends Beth & Zane though.



Who's in charge of dressing me around here?

Thursday, November 6, 2008

New Toy

We gave Hudson a new toy today.

Inspecting it...

Tasting it...

It's a hit!

Getting ready for his Mexican feista

hanging out with Aunt Bri

Friday, October 31, 2008

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Welcome Brianna!!!

Trent's sister, Brianna, came back with us from WV to live with us for awhile. We're so excited she's here! She already had an interview for a job today at a local rec center.

Here's Hudson and Aunt Bri at her high school graduation in May

Monday, October 27, 2008

A Whirlwind of Family

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Ohio and West Virginia this past weekend. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures with our parents or with Trent's siblings (we were able to visit with all four of them & their kids briefly). We even got pictures taken of all 6 of Trent's parents grandkids (Hudson is only the 2nd youngest!). We also went to a beautiful wedding, but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures there either. We had a great time! Congrats Andrew & Laura!

one set of Trent's grandparents

My sister, Stephanie, at her boarding school

my Grandma

my grandparents

cousins

a photo op in front of Mamaw's house

more cousins

enjoying a beautiful WV day