Happy Holloween!

Please don't mention this costume choice to Hudson until he thins out a bit.

Keeping the hat on was quite a challenge.
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Zoe still gets to have fun once in awhile

Zoe the dog's life has changed significantly since our child-free days in Colorado. Her life used to consist of two outdoor exercise sessions a day, often with a spectacular view of the beautiful Flatirons in Boulder (I like to think that dogs appreciate good scenery). Winter weekends were spent chasing other dogs around in several feet of snow at a ski resort parking lot while summer weekends were spent hiking and swimming in the mountains. She has adjusted well to her new role as big sister but Becky and I often feel badly about the fact that she gets much less attention and exercise than she used to.

This morning, Zoe and I had the chance to go for a hike at Catoctin Mountain Park about an hour from our house. I think we both appreciate days like today more than ever.




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Larrilland Farms - 2011

It's a fun realization that we are starting annual family traditions. This is our 2nd year taking Hudson to Larrilland Farms to enjoy fresh apple fritters and hot cider. One of these years we'll actually make it out into the orchard to pick the apples, but this time we just stayed near the barn. Hudson had a blast walking along the fences and watching the goats. It was a bit muddy, but he didn't seem to mind. We are thankful for the beautiful fall weather and tasty treats!

Swim Lessons

Hudson loves swim lessons. Of course with a 10-month old he's not really learning to swim, but just getting used to being in the water. It really is just a fun play time for all of us that results in very long naps afterwards!

The "instructors" have all been great with the kids. One of them told us about a class he participated in years ago where newborns were exposed to the pool very close to birth, and around 8-weeks old they were intentionally dropped into the pool, at which point every one of them would naturally right themselves and float to the top on their backs. Though we were fascinated by this story we have not attempted this experiment with Hudson...he does have some great natural flotation (i.e. chubbiness).

Here's a few pictures and videos of our kid being cute.

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9 Month Picture

Hudson currently loves to clap. He claps when we walk into the room. He claps during swimming lessons (pics to come). He claps during worship at church. He claps to help his little friend stop crying. And finally, he claps when Usher sings "Oh Happy Day" on the Oprah show. Apparently it is a skill that comes in handy in lots of circumstances!

Monthly Pictures

Here are Hudson's pictures from the past six months. Crazy how much he has grown!!

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

Zoe seems to be tolerating Hudson well - doesn't she look thrilled?

Happy Easter

So we haven't posted anything in 6 months, but we took some great video of Hudson today that we wanted to share.

Today was a great Easter. We attended our church on Saturday night since we were hosting the Easter meal and figured many of the guests would be attending Sunday morning. Early in the day we gave Hudson his first Easter basket. Since Hudson isn't old enough to eat candy yet (and who fills an Easter basket with smashed peas and carrots?), Becky filled a basket with percussion instruments! He enjoyed this very much as you will see in the video at the bottom of this post.


Hudson in front of the amazing tree in our yard.

We had a great time having our friends Trevor and Ashley (in the photo) and Brian (taking the photo, thanks dude) over for a delicious Easter meal. Speaking of which, why do you have to take the recommended cooking time for a ham and multiply it by 2?


Zoe posed in front of the beautiful tulips Becky planted...a bit of Holland Michigan in our front yard.


Do we have a brilliant musician on our hands...or just a noisy 8-month-old?



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