it's a thankful kind of day

Y'all are far too sweet.

I get tickled when you "award" me. Since I've become a momma, I feel like I can use the word "tickled" and it sounds age appropriate. I never used it in my pre-momma days. I'm now tickled that I used tickled publicly.

Both Melissa AND Lea Liz awarded me this snazzy:

and now...to come up with 7 random facts about me. Eeesh. I am NEVER good at these things. {in the meantime I'll eye candy you with some shots of my camo outfitted babe who is ready for a good Oklahoma hunt all thanks to his Uncle Tommy and the Neff's}

1) I love Botox. Yep. I'll just start it out with a bang. I can wrinkle my forehead like that of a Shar-pei and there is not a whole lot about that, that I like. Botox is a glorious toxin and fills those suckers in. {I bet you feel closer to me already, huh.}

2) I am fluent in Spanish. If I don't pass this on to Hudson and Co., I will consider that my greatest regret in life.

3) Furthermore, if there is any {ANY, ANY, ANY} type of Latin music on---be it salsa, merengue, Spanish guitar...I WILL BREAK OUT AND DANCE NO MATTER WHERE I AM. I love to dance, not the coreagraphed kind, just dance. According to my husband I have only one "move" but I think I do that move well. It's that college-girl-i'm such-an-amazing-dancer-don't-you-wanna-dance-just-like-me-cause-i'm awesome-move. You know it, because you did it too. We frequently have dance parties at our house {myself} and even danced a lot when I was pregnant---in fact it almost put me into labor one night {dancing to Michael Jackson's Free Willy song, in case you were curious}.

4) I love to vacuum. Hate most other household chores, but vacuuming is truly a joy in my book. I'm so weird. I know.

5) I'm considering starting up my own baby photography biz. Don't have quite the confidence I need yet to really embark upon it, but I'm praying for it daily. Already have the name for it, and that excites me tremendously...

6) I hear Baby Crab awakening. 6 will have to wait.

7) I have the best job in the world. I may say this all the time, but my moments as a mother trump anything I have ever felt and experienced in my life before. To share this all with my husband goes beyond any happiness and love I ever imagined for myself.

Naptime is over, and it's time to feed: so I nominate you ALL to post 7 random facts about you, because they really are fun to read and I will pass out awards momentarily...

p.s. the WHITE room turned out awesome.

just like his momma

In the winter, a true Texoman girl {or is it Texhoman, my husband has me questioning} has footwear that consists of only cowboy boots and UGGS.

That's it. That's all you need to survive the chill { or the arctic tundra I currently live in}. While on subject, let me point out that if you see me in PA wearing my cowboy boots, you need not look at me like I stepped out of a John Wayne movie.

I'm from Texoma. It's part of our etiquette to wear cowboy boots. Those naughty stares you throw at my vintage boots are unneccessary and only make me think of how silly YOU look NOT wearing them.

Yee flippy haw, y'all.

Uggs. In continuation...

One of my dearest, Miss Laura, sent Hudson his first pair of Baby Uggs. I think Baby Crab looks so handsome and North Pole-ish, like he could guide you thru a blizzard with some sled dogs.

I just don't know that I've seen a such a thing cuter than a sweet tiny in some knitted Uggs.

Thank you so much Laura for gifting Hudson with such a thoughtful and precious gift.

look where it got me

We all blog-hop. Blog hop sounds better than blog-stalk, I think.

You can't say you don't do it. We're all guilty of it. It's okay. Don't be ashamed.

I'm always inspired by your ideas out there, because I lack them. I lack ideas. Atleast, the good and creative kind.

From one must-read blog {Life at the White House} to another {Life in the Fun Lane} I am now with a basement lined with furniture to be painted and a bucket of white paint.

I have a mild obsession with all things white. I could live in an all white house. So clean and perfect and pretty. Behold, Life in the Fun Lane. She paints things white. White, white, white.

I quickly ran upstairs, found whatever JR would let me paint and I'm now seeing more white than I've ever wanted to see in my life. Turns out--painting DARK things WHITE takes many many coats.

Sweet tiny schedules don't allow for full-out paint sessions so I'm in a constant cycle of:

Eat
Play
Sleep
Paint
Poo

Eat
Play
Sleep
Paint
Poo....

you likely get the idea.

If it turns out good I'll show you. If it turns out bad, well...

I had to promise JR that no child would be painted in this project.

to be continued...

the difference

Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. that bit...remember?

It holds true, atleast during bath time. This is what I walked in on, post-bath the other night.

I guess when your baby comes out with a full head of hair, it's fair game.

you'll know who cleaned baby up by his hair-do {mommy goes with the traditional comb-over} I have to say...I think my son wears the mohawk spike quite well ♥

the twang

The Texoman twang. I have it, and you get to hear it. Unfortunately.

I mean not to bore you, but alas, this blog is of course read by the g-parents and after much pleading/begging I finally got around to posting a video for them.

It also proves that I am human, have a real voice, and talk baby all day long. Don't you sometimes forget that your fellow bloggers are real people?? We're not all computers. That's weird I know. I said it.

My favorite of the two is from today actually, showing one of my very favorite things to do with Baby Crab. Chat. This is more or less how our conversations go and I really could just sit with a cup of coffee and blabber all day long with this boy who stole my heart.



and the second is from last Friday before dinner, and while wiggling the babe we got a big ol' smile from him. People ask me what I do all day with a baby, and what life is like....here it is.

runway

If he had a baby runway to spit-up on, he would be the star of the show---my tot. Project Runway Hudson.

Just because he's a he and not a she doesn't mean I can't play dress up with Baby Crab {who for the record seems less crabby today, but Baby Crab may stick}. I secretly love the multiple outfit changes we have daily only because I get to see him in so many cutes.

Now, I must add that as a child my grandpa had to install a lock on my closet door because I was known to change my own outfit all day long. Clearly I have a problem that went unresolved...my poor child now is subject to my clothes obsession.

Following suit of Lea Liz, who said it very well on her blog----that for now longalls, shortalls, and bubbles are so precious on their tiny selves. They have the rest of their lives to wear big boy clothes, and it gives us momma's time to play dress up with our pea pods. Thank goodness they grow opinions on such things, because I can see myself putting Hudson in a bubble at the age of 5 which would likely ensue with some bullying. Not okay.

I got a little wordy there {I'm positive you're shocked}, because all I really wanted to show you was this:

His Sooner wardrobe is growing, and in fact began the day after we found out Hudson was a tiny baby boy. We found out on a Friday and we were in Norman the next day shopping for him. I wasted no time preparing for my Sooner baby, that I had always dreamt of.

The longalls I got him will be embroidered with "Go Sooners" instead, and will be perfect for our Fall trip down to the Homeland. I bought it at PattieCakePretties on Etsy and they have so many custom outfits for the babes--college, holiday, and monogram. oh, monogram. the love.

Baby Crab would make my heart melt in this, for our upcoming beach trips for the end of the year. Mommy's precious Baby Crab ♥

no clue

I went from a 5-day a week/8 hr a day/Monday-Friday job to a 7 days a week/24 hours a day/All Week job. Leaving me with absolutely no idea what day it is...

Your Friday could be my Tuesday, and my Monday could be your Wednesday. More or less what my calendar looks like. After two days of a fussy pea pod who has turned into Baby Crab, I finally pulled out my Baby Whisperer and asked {pleaded} with her to guide me. Show me the light because I've been trying, with no such luck, to convince my Baby Crab that giant hissy's and incessant crying have passed in trend. It's just not cool anymore.

He's not buying my story.

Thus, today we are trying a Baby Whisperer day. The EASY day, for any of you BW readers. Already, our day has started 97 % better. I'm even enjoying a cup of coffee. Enjoying.

Hear that??? That's right...no crying. Just sweet Baby Crab trying out some shut-eye.

I'll let you know if our EASY day is in fact easy. {update: we're 30 mins in, and I hear Baby Crab wailing...}

This past weekend we unsuccessfully tried to go get Baby Crab's passport done, after getting the three of us ready and outfitting the babe in his finest bubble outfit we showed up two hours too late. I would.

The pictures above are right before heading out that morning, so you can kind of gauge Baby Crab's demeanor that day.

We love to just get in the car and go, so after that failed passport outing we ended up 30 mins north of the city in a very cute small town that had a fair going on so we stopped in so we could feed Baby Crab and to let JR wander {his favorite thing to do}.

Shortly thereafter, Hudson got a tummy-ache and our fault completely because we switched formula on him and it was a no-go. How awful you feel as a parent when you're only trying to help and it goes haywire :( We are obviously now back on the original diet. Eek.

On our way home, we got a call from Brett that the OU game was on!!! so we rushed home, got us all changed into our Sooner gear and parked ourselves in front of the tv.

We even got some visitors, although they are Cowboy fans :) They fancy orange, not crimson. Silly Pokes. Heath and Megan, fellow southerners.

Sunday, JR had a golf-date with Brett so I started off his morning with homemade biscuits and gravy. That dish truly is the way to his heart. I lie actually, because only the gravy was homemade and it really wasn't too horrid for my first real try. Why is gravy so hard to master?? Gah. While JR did the dishes, Baby Crab and I got to snuggle outside for a bit.

We ended our day hanging out with the whole Braly family, only for our guys to come home to TWO screaming {Hudson} crying {Kaiser} children. Their lovely baby voices could be heard from outside, yes. At one point we had them both going at the same time. It was amazing, and turned our house into quite the funhouse. All we needed were those mirrors that distort your image...it was that nuts. Managing still to end on a positive note, literally with a little Guitar Hero in honor of Brett's 28th birthday. Happy Birthday Brett!!!!

and lastly, this. The view from our bedroom last night...

and my view this morning. God is so good.

what we've been waiting for

Yesterday, his 6 wk birthday was the first day we got smiles. Real smiles.

He napped and when he woke up I started talking to him, and the following was the conversation I had with him ♥

He obviously looks ALOT like his Daddy, but in this next picture I see alot of me in him.

and it ended with this. Spit-up.

Hands down, one of the best moments with my boy thus far. My miracle.

Smiles from baby and flowers from Daddy. What a beautiful day.

future sooner babies

Life long friends. They'll really be able to say it. Thanks to blog world. wow.

Momma K and Kaiser stopped by the other day and the boys were completely intrigued with one another, and I was able to capture a very sweet moment of our two boys.

Kaiser will be around to show Hudson the way :)

Two of the cutest pea pods I know.

pumpkin

Hudson, a letter to you from your mommy.

Sweet baby boy, you have now shared your world with Daddy and I for six weeks now. Six weeks ago you were put in my arms and forever I wish I could hold you there. It feels like we've known you our whole lives and further makes me realize how richly blessed I am to be your mother.

If I sit and just think about how much love we have for you sweet tiny, my heart aches and I cry. I cry knowing that I will love you to the ends of the earth and protect you precious baby, from anything and everything that I can.

We sometimes just lay with you and study you knowing that you were made just for us. We know no love greater.

I tell you every morning to please stop growing because you are turning into such a big boy and mommy isn't ready yet, to let your squishy newborn self go. You held your head up today for a couple of minutes so you could get a good look at your Daddy and flash him your beautiful smile that we finally are getting to see...and what a smile you have baby, it makes our whole day to even get one from you.

You are "talking" to us now, and will "talk" back when we approach you. Our conversations are always my favorite, and our house seems more a home now that I can hear you babbling from the other room.

Last night I laid you in your crib and couldn't believe that for so many months I would stand at that very same place wondering who you were and what you were like. I longed to be your Mommy and now that I am, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and thankfulness for the gift He has given us in you.

My favorite time of day right now is at night, right after your bath when you smell so "baby" and it's time to eat one last time. I rock you in the dark and sing to you...

you are my sunshine

my only sunshine

you make me happy when skies are gray

you'll never know dear

how much i love you

please don't take

my sunshine away

....and I'm back.

Everytime I sit down to blog once again, my mommy duties come calling and that of course takes high priority over my online tales :)

Life at our house has progressively gotten easier with Hudson, as we've grown accustomed to our new life as parents and our daily love for him continues to grow as quickly as he does. Our weight issue has been solved and he has grown into quite a long and lanky pea pod---clearly not inheriting that from his momma.

I know I still owe you Part II of my questions, but I first randomly have to alert you about something that has made my life way way easier. I don't often recommend products and such because I fear you won't share my same enthusiasm...but this one I make an exception for because I know, especially mommies, will appreciate the make-my-life-easier-one-less-thing-to-do bit.

The Conair Fabric Steamer

Firstly, and most important---I HATE, DESPISE, and LOATHE ironing. Whomever invented the iron will not find a friend in me. It is time consuming and hands down my least favorite household chore. Secondly, we have found in PA that their dry cleaning charges are roughly the same cost as a one-way ticket to Costa Rica. Insanity. Husband works in slacks and a button-up everyday so imagine what our dry cleaning bill was up here.

The horror. We went once and never went back. I'd rather fly to Costa Rica.

Steaming our clothes takes me 30 mins maybe, and our clothes look dry-clean worthy and make me feel all silly kinds of domestic. Two thumbs up. Way up.

That there is my steamer promotion, and now back to what really makes me smile. These squishy cheeks and all that come with ♥ Do you fancy his comb-over? because I do.

and lastly I leave you with what I wake up to on our Saturday mornings.

♥

the answers: PART I

Thank you for ALL of your awesome questions!! It's taken me much longer to respond to them all than I had anticipated...I'm breaking it up as not to bore you :) and I leave you with a few precious pics of the babe in preparation for the start of the most wonderful time of the year {behind Christmas}----SOONER FOOTBALL SEASON!! Happy Football'ing!

1) For your photos are you shooting in Manual or Auto!?!?
I am very very amateur and so most {75%} of my shots are taken on Auto. I find the manual ones I take come out too blurry/strangely out of focus/etc...again, amateur.

2) How did you lose the pregnancy pounds? I'm just amazed! Do you have any left to lose?
You are far far too kind, but I still have several to lose! That post-baby fat found its way to my thighs and set up shop. Disgusting. Pregnancy re-routes all the normal fat and disperses it in places it may have not been before. I lost about twenty pounds between delivery and two-weeks post-partum and ideally have another 15 or so to go. We started out nursing, and I know that helped tremendously but I also had very little appetite for the first 2-3 weeks and was not eating my normal HUGE meals...I eat like a 250 lb man.

3) Was your pregnancy planned?
No, not necessarily :) This one's up for grabs because I get mixed responses when I say that my birth control pill days were long gone and I know my "baby days", but really we were just letting nature take its course. It took!

4) How long were you married before you got pregnant?
6 months. From wedding bells to babies. Stat.

5) Did you have a girl name picked out just in case?
The girl name was always up in the air, we never could quite settle on one. Ironically, most of our baby names are all typically used as last names :) We named Hudson the night we found out we were pregnant in NYC, on top of the Empire State Building over Thanksgiving weekend.

6) I'm pregnant right now so I would like to know what were your key pieces of maternity clothes you couldn't have lived without and what were your favorite stores to buy them?
In all honesty, as soon as I got a tiny bump I immediately ran out and bought myself some fancy pants maternity jeans just to feel "cool" and quickly got too giant for them. Yes, I outgrew my maternity jeans. My thighs were the furthest thing from fancy that you could think of...the clothes I wore most were from Motherhood Maternity---affordable, comfortable, and AFFORDABLE. You do lose track of the fact that you are only BIG for a few months and to spend lotsa $$$ on a temporary wardrobe is plain silly. Email me and I'll let you borrow the fancy pants if you want :)

To keep it simple, I bought a couple pair of pants, plain colored t's and two nursing nightgowns with matching robes. That really is all you need. I promise. oh!! and a couple of enormous bras, because the MT's will triple in size. Motherhood Maternity. Do it.

7) What has been the biggest adjustment to having a baby? I'm a little nervous about the adjustment to parenthood, although I'm soooo excited and can't wait at the same time. Any advice?
I value sleep, in fact it is one of my most treasured and precious moments of the day. I now run on mommy fuel---a reserve tank we have built-in, necessary to survive the sleepless nights of newborn world. Losing and the lack of sleep for me personally, has been the hardest adjustment. Everyday does get better, and I slowly am adjusting to the new hours of eat, sleep, poop.

The nerves of impending mommyhood are, and can be overwhelming but I can say with all sincerity that the minute you see the face of your sweet tiny it is as if you have known that face all your life and the ability to care for and love that baby comes so natural you won't even realize you're doing it.

8) Where did you get your cute lounge clothes from while you were in the hospital and after?
Hospital wear was just a pair of maternity lounge pants, and a loose fitted Gap shirt. Nothing fancy, just comfy. You're wearing some pretty spectacular mesh underwear that hang clear down to your knees with an ice pack inserted---and your post-baby tummy wants and needs to know no tightness. I left the hospital wearing maternity cargo pants from Motherhood knowing that baby flab doesn't dissapear overnight. Shooooot.

9) What camera do you use?
The camera is a Nikon D50, and I could not be more happy with it. I have yet to really learn all of its features but from what little I know I can still highly, highly recommend it.

10) When you're not busy being a super cute mama, what do you do for a living? And Mr. P?
I am now a stay at home mommy :) Best, and hardest job in the world. Prior to our PA move I was lucky enough to get to work full-time for my dad who is a pipe supplier for the oil and gas industry. Mr. P does inside sales for the company that dad gets the pipe from :) all one big happy oil and gas family...