Bath Time!!!

 Keilie: "Mom!  Hudson's umbilical cord fell off.  Wanna help me give him his first bath?"

Me, hopeful but also ok if the answer was no: "Are you sure it is ok with Dallin? He may want to be there for the first one."

Keilie: "He said he's totally ok with it."

Me, giddy: "I'm putting towels in the dryer to get them warm now-- come on over!!"

Papa Randy got to help him feel safe after Keilie's back started to ache.

Safe and warm in towels straight from the dryer.  Did I ever do this for my own kids?  Nope.  But you better believe we did it for our Little Prince.

Just a Mommy, admiring her little one.

Sweet Dreams, Precious!!

Sleepover

 Randy: "Keilie, when does Hudson get to sleep over at our house?"

Keilie: "Tonight?"

She meant it!

First Sleepover at Papa Randy & Granny Steph's is in the books!!!

Nibbles

 Randy: "Keilie, I just got back into town.  Can I come see Hudson?"

Keilie: "We have an appointment in an hour, but you can come for a few minutes."

Randy: "On our way!"

Baby Thighs are my favorite, and his are just perfect!

All ready for his appointment!  The cutie!!

Even though it was just a nibble of time, it filled our hearts for the next gap of Hudsonless hours.

Shelby made these shirts for Randy's birthday in her "Innovative Science" class.  LOVE!!!

Miss This

 I'm going to miss this, watching my kids lounging in all sorts of positions to do homework.

Dapper

 Brennon got his suit (the exact style he was hoping for) today for Prom.  He walked down, hair done, ready to show me, hoping I liked it, feeling like a million bucks.  "Brennon, you look amazing!!  Can we go do a mini photoshoot?"

"YES!"

How blessed I am that this handsome dude is mine.  He's going to make SUCH a great husband someday.  Until then, he'll bring light to MY life, and those all around him.

Sleepover Bliss

Keilie asked last night if I could stay over and help her with Hudson through the night.  I'm not sure my heart can handle this much joy!!!  I got to watch him sleep and snuggle him deep all by myself ALL NIGHT.

I'm not sure there has ever been a child as cherished as he.

 

12 Days

Randy: "I miss him.  Call Keilie and ask if we can come for a visit."

Look at those sweet baby thighs!

Smitten Kittens!!!

 

Form

Randy and I were both at the meet tonight to see Tyson double-PR!!

When I captured this picture, I was blown away that this is my child!!  Look at him soar!

Tyson, the second he sees this: "Yikes, that's poor form!"

I still have a lot to learn about pole vaulting, it seems...

Lock Screen

I made this picture my lock screen so that 1) I can see this CUTE face when I pick up my cell phone (sometimes I pick up my cell phone just for a dopamine hit!) and 2) easy access to show people that I come in contact with.  I am not biased-- he truly is a gorgeous baby.  So much so, in fact, I had someone bring me a pink gift.  "It's a BOY?!  Oh my goodness, I thought it was a girl, he is so beautiful!!"  He is my whole world right now.
 

Easter Surprise!

The best Easter gift any of my kids can ever give me!

I loved sitting between Randy and Shelby and felt such joy looking at our row and seeing five full seats.  What a perfect way to spend Easter!

Tri-city Tulips

It may not be the Netherlands or Mount Vernon's Tulip Festival, but I LOVED attending Middleton Farms first-ever tulip festival!!!  Not only did it have rows upon rows of GORGEOUS tulips, they had carnival-type games for all ages, as well!  I cannot wait to take my Grandkids here one day!

Wanna Wrestle?

I know Tyson will one day overpower his dad. 

But today is not that day.

Papa's birthday

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAPA RANDY!!!

This was supposed to be delivered on April 10th.  It wasn't.  Because of this delay, Randy was blessed with install work on his birthday!  Adulthood is awesome for birthday gifts.

 

How did we make this man feel special on his birthday?  I took a nap after giving my energy helping Keilie with Hudson overnight.  I ordered pizza, and he picked up his own birthday "cake."  We got the token picture but forgot to sing to him.  Then, when everyone was gone, I remembered his unwrapped gift.  I quickly wrapped it in a blanket and we took a video for our kids, showing Randy opening what we got for him-- a new face razor.  Yeah, we made him feel massively cherished and loved...

However, he's holding the most precious gift, the only thing he really wanted to do with his day, so I guess it all worked out in the end.  I sure do love this man, and the life we've built these last 25 years.

100 yds.

Brennon, as we were both on our way to get gas: "I hope I don't run out..."  He did.  But Heavenly Father knew we'd need these men.  They saw what was happening and ran to Brennon's aid, pushing him just 100 yards to the gas station pump.  I'm grateful that my boy was watched over today!  Lesson learned: 1/4 of a tank left = empty.


 

Triple PR

 Not only did Tyson PR in the 100m dash, he also double PR'd in Pole Vault.  The last I heard, I was hoping to clear 8'.  Today, I watched him clear 8' AND 8'6"!!  He can tell you all the ways his form is bad, but I don't see it.  All I see is my boy flying in the air by way of a bendy stick and clearing a bar that is majorly off the ground!

8'6"

Tyson: "When I saw you, I knew I needed to PR."  Be still, my heart.

I didn't get a picture of the 100m dash because I was recording it.  But I did get this announcement that he was up next.

One of the neatest things that I witnessed, aside from my son triple PRing, is Tyson offering his jumping spikes to a teammate and then a COMPETITOR offering his running spikes to Tyson for the 100m dash.  I later asked Tyson if he knew the kids that loaned him shoes-- nope.  I love that kind of sportmanship.  Tyson: "That's one thing I really love about track & field and cross country-- really great friends are made as we encourage each other to do and become our best."  I couldn't agree more.

(Side note: I actually felt queasy in my stomach as I watched Porter put on Tyson's warm shoes.  Inspirational, sure, but also-- warm, used shoes...)

Hudson overload

 I am not going to try and put these in order.  Here is a photo dump from birth to April 15, the last day I got to see him in person-- which is in its own way a sort of torture...

Keilie asked me to come babysit so she could take a nap.  And just like that, I got my first gig as Granny Babysitter!