• Yesterday was my first time to attend a great program at our church for mothers called SPOTS. About fifty women gathered while our kids were being cared for and this week we heard from a woman who works for the Richland County Public Library. She told us all about different opportunities that are available for children and mothers at the library and we learned how to use some of the different resources. The best part was that I ran into someone that I have been wanting to meet for a long time through blogging and found out that she just joined our Sunday school class. It’s a crazy small world and I’m so excited to get to know her better and get our kids together! If you live in the area and you’re interested in attending, click on the link above.

• Today at Hudson’s school, they had the Storybook Character Parade. Each child came dressed as a character from a story and then they paraded them all through the building so the parents and friends could see all the costumes! The one-year-olds came in on the buggy and I was sure that Hudson would be screaming his head off when I saw him. But he was just munching on his cracker and doing just fine! After the parade, there was a party for the kids. They ate miniature pancakes, cheese, and grapes. And guess whose child ate two plates full of food? Yep, hungry Hudson!

• I’m going on a road trip with my mom tomorrow! I’m flying to Dallas early tomorrow morning by myself and hopping in a U-Haul with my mom. We’re turning around and driving right back to South Carolina. Seventeen hours later on I-20, we’ll get back here. TC and I ordered a beautiful sectional sofa for our living room (remember my post about changing our furniture arrangement?) and we’re finally going to go get it. We didn’t want to pay to have it shipped, so my mom is going to make the drive with me and then she’ll stay here in South Carolina with us for a few days. I’m sure we’ll have lots of great quality time together in the good old U-Haul. I’ll be sure to share pictures with y’all of the living room when it’s all finished!

On Sunday night, we made our way down to Riverbanks Zoo to participate in Boo at the Zoo. The zoo puts on this great event for kids and there are tons of kids running around in their Halloween costumes and stopping by different stations to trick or treat.

Some of the animals were even out, so the kids could see them, so that made it exciting for Hudson. He doesn’t eat candy (or we don’t let him) and doesn’t really understand the whole “trick or treat” thing, but we still had a fun time.

Hudson isn’t a huge fan of his costume just yet. It’s a shame because he has a school Halloween (or Fall party) on Wednesday and still has actual Halloween to wear his costume. Maybe he’ll get used to it by then.

He did much better when we were holding him and I think he looks pretty stinkin’ adorable. TC and I would just die laughing every time he’d put this thing on.

He absolutely loves lions and tigers and loves making a cat-like roar sound. And the real lions were even out that night just watching all the crazy kids in their costumes. Hudson was very excited to see them! Look how tiny he looks next to this statue.

We also saw the elephants and bears. “Bear” is one of Hudson’s new words, so he was very excited to see a real bear even though it was sleeping. We didn’t see any monkeys, but Hudson was calling for them with his monkey sound.

So we’re hoping that the next two Halloween events will be successful and he’ll get used to the costume. And if he doesn’t we’ll hope that as a two-year-old he’s more into Halloween! I seriously need to decorate my porch with hay, mums, and pumpkins. I’m so behind this year and just haven’t gotten it done. Maybe when my mom is here next week we can do it together. Mom, if you’re reading this, that’s a hint!

Dear Hudson,

I am officially late with posting your 16 month update and soon I’ll be posting your 17 month update. Life has been so busy this month and you have been the busiest one of us all!

You have so much to say and so much you want to do. In our house, there’s lots of jibber jabber and constant singing. Sometimes you will sing a recognizable word and sometimes it’s just words you make up. And it’s clear that you always know what you’re saying and we’re the ones that need to learn.

When we sing the A-B-C song, we’ll sing, “L-M-N-O” and you will say, “P.”  You can also sing “how I wonder” in the middle of Twinkle, Twinkle.

You are still always saying “hey” and “bye” to everyone you see. You will say “hey” to someone until they finally say it back. At church, at restaurants, on walks. You just loves for people to notice you. You say “thank you” when someone gives you something or when you give something to someone else. You’re such a polite little fella!

Ha! Not sure about your hand placement in these pictures!

Hudson, you also have your not-so-polite moments and don’t handle hearing the word “no” very well. The tantrums haven’t slowed down this month like we hoped. We’re working with you and hoping that this is a phase.

You love giving kisses. You’ll give me a kiss without me having to ask for one and you always does it when I do ask for one. You’re also always kissing on Boudreaux and Fiona. They sit patiently and leave you alone, but you love your puppies! When we i-Chat with my parents, you’ll kiss the computer monitor to give them a kiss.

You seem to hate getting dropped off at school more and more every day. You love one of your teachers and she tells me that any time she leaves the room, you cry for her. I told her that it’s a compliment and that means you love her. She also told me that you’re the sympathy crier at school and when one child starts crying, you cry with them.

Your favorite thing this month is wearing your shoes and socks. As soon as you get out of bed every morning or after your nap, you’re saying “shoes” and “socks.” You always want to be wearing them, and then as soon as you get them on you say “bye bye.”

You love to walk up and down the hallway with all of our photos hanging up and point out Mommy, Daddy, Poppie, KK, RC, PC, and even Boudreaux. When we’re on a walk with Boudreaux, you just call out to our sweet dog the whole time. I know that someday you’ll be great friends!

We have been so impressed with your vocabulary and how much you love to repeat anything we say. You catch on so well. Your pronunciation isn’t always perfect, but you try!

We love you so much and just can’t believe how quickly the time flies and how big you’ve gotten!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Height: 35 1/4 inches long (above the 97th%)

Weight: 30 pounds (95th%)

Shoe Size: 6

Clothes Size: Mostly 24 month, but some 2T. A lot of the 24 month stuff is already too small!

Diaper Size: 5

Food: grilled cheese, peas, carrots, green beans, apple sauce, bananas, blueberries, chicken nuggets, salmon, cheese, oranges, kiwi, oatmeal, strawberries, pancakes, pasta, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese

Words and Phrases: thank you, please, that, zebra, hippo, puppy, Poppie, KK, PC, RC, whoa, wheee, poo poo, “night moon” (Goodnight Moon), “Melmo” (Elmo), bubbles, Mommy, Daddy, Boo-doh (Boudreaux), Nona (Fiona), cheese, shoes, socks, juice, milk, book, turtle, meow, dog, moo, bye bye, woof, cow, hey, chicken, baby, touchdown, banana, uh oh, ball, eat, night night, car, no no, sit down, get down, get up, oatmeal, apple, purple, circle  (and that’s all I can really think of right now!)

I completely forgot to post the giveaway winner for this wonderful giveaway from Sweet Birdie’s Nest!

And the winner is… Legally Married!

Also, don’t forget that especially for Blue-Eyed Bride readers, Sweet Birdie’s Nest is offering a 10% discount on all holiday card orders.  Enter code BLUEEYEDBRIDE in the “notes to seller” when you purchase your card design from our Etsy shop.  This code expires November 15, 2010.

Visit the Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetbirdiesnest

Visit the blog:  www.sweetbirdiesnest.com