Happy 2nd Birthday Hudson!

So, my "baby" is turning 2 on Friday.  I am blogging tonight for 2 reasons:  1.  Sam is leaving tomorrow to travel to Greenville for a quick trip to meet with some people interested in our church plant and 2.  We celebrated tonight!

When I found out I was expecting Hudson (#5) I have to say at first I really wasn't very excited.  We had our 4 that we had "planned" on having and when he was born the other kids would be 6 1/2, 5, 3 and 17 months.  What would I possibly do with ANOTHER baby?  Little did I know what would happen the moment he was born....it was love at first sight!  Just a couple side notes about his birth.  First, we opted not to find out if this was a boy or girl, but I knew in my heart the whole time it was a boy.  Second, he went the longest of any of our kids without a name.  By the way, did I mention that I can't imagine our life without Hudson.  We brings us such joy.  He is so sweet and I pray that God will use him in a mighty way.

Hudsons typical look

Hudson when he turned 1

Found this pic while looking for a baby pic...couldn't refuse using it!  My dad's thing with all my kids was getting them to "talk" to him when they were babies.  I believe Hudson was around 9 weeks here.

Thanksgiving 2011

I guess Thanksgiving is quickly over and we are headed into the Christmas season very rapidly.  It is hard to believe that there is only 5 weeks left in this year.  I have to say this holiday season is a bit different in lots of ways.  Not only are we living in a different state and part of the country, but we are also missing someone so dear to us.  I didn't really anticipate the feelings that started to flood over me on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.  All I could think about was the all the years that dad was here and it seemed like he was going to walk through the door at any moment.  When I went the airport to pick up mom, I have to admit that seeing her standing there alone was like a knife in my heart realizing that he wasn't right there with her.  Sometimes, like Madelyn says a lot, I feel like we are going back to South Carolina and he will be all better and be there!  (She mentions this quite often.)  So when I finally step back, take a deep breath and realize that this IS reality then my mind floods with all the wonderful memories we share with daddy.
We had a great time with mom.  She flew in on Wednesday afternoon and left this morning.  We didn't do a lot of running.  Basically we did some Christmas shopping for the kiddos, since she will be in TX with my brother and sister in law.  I did cook my first turkey and meal pretty much all by myself.  Overall we had a great long weekend.  Sam was home all weekend and had no responsibilities so that was a nice break for him.  The kids have 3 weeks of school left before Christmas break.  We will then transition to homeschooling again for now.

My 5 Little Blessings

As we were sitting at the dinner table tonight it was one of those nights where I just felt an overwhelming sense of pride and joy.  Even though there are some CRAZY times in our household of 7....I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING in this world!  I often get some crazy looks and comments in public over having a "big" family.  Sometimes people say things like:

• "Wow, are all 5 of those yours?" 
• "You must really have your hands full." 
• "Do you know what causes that?

I often feel a sense of "anger" come over me (righteous anger, of course).  Then it usually turns to pride...I realize how BLESSED I truly am.  God has given me the job of raising, but more importantly discipling 5 precious souls!  I feel so overwhelmed, but BLESSED!

Fall Fun in Pics

Picture Update-Ashlyn

Since I haven't blogged in awhile, I think I will just post some blog posts with pics of what has been happening in the last month or so.  This post is of Ashlyn and school.  She had a Fall Festival in the Preschool a few weeks ago and then some random other school shots.

They had "Daddy and Doughnuts" this past week