Merry Christmas!!

We had a wonderful Christmas!! Kids got everything they wanted and a little more. We enjoyed time relaxing and enjoying family and friends. Hannah got an electric scooter from Santa and she LOVES it!! Her brother decided he wanted one too...geez Santa, get with the program!!! He took it for a ride in the backyard on Monday and drove it right into the pool. Needless to say it is ruined and it scared him pretty bad. Daddy decided they both needed one and we had to order 2 new ones...



Ethan got an inflatable go-cart for his Mario Kart game, he has been loving the Wii!! He also got his favorite movie, How to Train you Dragon and I think he has watched it at least 5 times since Christmas!!!


Hudson got a new bathtub seat and loves taking a big boy bath now!! I think the ribbons and paper were much more exciting though.


We let them all get in the tub the other day and they had a blast...I think it was a one time thing though he was feeling a little overwhelmed.


Had to share one of the grandkids with Grammy! We are missing our Riley & Ryan though :(



Jimmy's Family!! Such a beautiful family and Alex and Dylan are so grown up!!!


All in all it was a wonderful Christmas and we are truly blessed!! Until next year!
xoxo,
ME

Santa Claus is coming to town...

We had our annual ornament exchange over the weekend!! So much fun!!! We had a surprise visitor :)

The Family~

The Friends~

The Babies~

Philips Family Binky Free...Is that POSSIBLE?

We are a binky family - that's all there is to it. Hannah loved her binks so much she had two, one for her mouth and one for her eye. Yep, you read right... Right after Ethan was born she gave it up, her own terms, her own time - easy breezy. Ethan on the other hand LOVES LOVES LOVES his bink. It helps him relax, sleep and veg out which he loves to do! Yesterday he said, "I don't need my bink anymore mom." OKAY! HE threw it in the garbage, before he could change his mind I handed him the bag and said let's put it out in the BIG garbage. All smiles, "Okay"! Off he went binky and all. Later that afternoon he was getting sleepy and he said, "mom, let's go get my bink out of the garbage." I said we can't buddy it's in the nasty garbage and we put food on it. He hasn't asked me again!! Tomorrow is day 3 of a future without binks!!! WHOO HOO!!! For 6 1/2 years I have been keeping track of binks. Reaching around the floorboard of the car while driving down the road to give them to a screamer, or searching every last purse/bag to find where they last put it. YEAH!!! Great job Ethan!! We are super proud of you.

Thankfully Hudson didn't like his!

Hudson is 4 months old!!

Our sweet baby boy is now 4 months old!!! He just gets cuter everyday...is that possible?!
He is still not sleeping through the night...poor mommy :) He'll get there we just have to be patient!! He has started rolling over. Every-time we lay him on his back he flips over on his tummy and then cries because he can not get back around...silly boy. Tonight I went in to check on him and he was laying on his stomach sleeping. I flipped him over - not quite ready for that. He tried a bit of cereal and kind of liked. He was really good at eating it off the spoon, I just wasn't fast enough. He weighed 17 1/2 pounds at his check up 95% for his weight!! We like em big, we like em chunky!!!! We gave him a bottle the other day and he grabbed onto like he gets one everyday. A natural as Ethan would say...

Look mom all by myself~


Hurry up~


The handsome boy~

Happy Halloween

Kids had a blast last night! Ethie was much more into it this year! Hannah was a maniac ~ we didn't even see her until we got back home. Hudson thought it was over-rated.

The Witch ~ (who lost another tooth :))


Spider Man (with a mustache ?!?!?!)~


The Monkey ~

Where has the time gone...

I am so behind this month! Let's see ~ a quick overview of what we've been up to.

Hudsie just gets cuter everyday~


We spent a weekend in Pinetop over fall break! We enjoyed the rain, cool air and the pines!


We carved pumpkins~


Ethan is learning to ride Dad's dirt bike~


Hudson found his feet!!


Whew! Until Halloween... a preview - look for a witch, a monkey and Iron Man or Spider Man depends on his mood!!!

Hudson is 3 Months Old!!

Our sweet little boy turned 3 months old on Sunday! He is HUGE and very HAPPY!! He loves laying on the floor - especially when all the rest of us are around there with him! He has found his hands and loves to suck on his fingers! He is rolling onto his stomach but he can't quite get all the way around yet. He sleeps through the night occasionally - once in a while we get 10 hours then he decides never-mind and he'll sleep 6!! We just love him so much and can't imagine not having a family of 5!!

Happy~


We put him in his high chair and he loves being with the rest of us at dinner!~

Hannah & George

Hannah has been doing an amazing job at school!! She is working so hard on her school work as well as her behavior! Over the weekend she earned the privilege of bringing home the class pet!! HOORAY Hannah!!! So early in the school year and he is already coming to stay with you!! She did a great job taking care of George and we are so proud of her for getting him!! Great job sweetie!!!

All in a Days Work!

Grandma Pattie & Grandpa Chris bought the kids these adorable horse tire swings for Christmas; 2 Christmas's ago...geez I didn't realize it had been that long... Anyway the wood and the swings have been staring at Denny for a long time! Ethan found them the other day and said, "Dad, I need that!"

Check it Out!!! The kids have used it everyday since it went up!!! It will really be fun when it gets a little nicer outside!!




Dad had lots of patience and after most of his Saturday afternoon!! The perfect place to play!! On Sunday we added a little Philips Flare and let the kids paint on it!!

Whose Who?!?!?

All our sweet babies at 2 months old!!!

Hudson is 2 months old!!

Wow! Where has the time gone...just feels like yesterday I was talking about him being late!!

We had the 2 month well check yesterday and he is doing fabulous!!

15lbs 7ozs 99% for his weight

He is such a BIG boy!!! I just love all that blubber!!

He brought me a gift along with his 2 month birthday ~ 7 solid hours of sleep!! Yep you heard right!! He ate at 7pm went down for the night at about 9pm woke up for some breakfast at 4:30am. I did feel a bit panicked when I looked at the clock at 4am. I jumped right up to go and check on him; he was snoozing away!! Dr. Chang said it may have been a fluke - I think he was helping me not to get my hopes up. After 3 shots yesterday and a fussy afternoon I thought for sure we would be spending many late night / early morning hours together...NOPE!!! 2 flukes in a row whoohoo!! Is that really a fluke now?? He went until 5am this time.

I suppose I should just enjoy it while it lasts!!! Each day is a new journey...





I had to post this one!! Thought Grammy from Virginia would enjoy it!! He is always sucking on his hand but he keeps his fist closed so tight he can never get a finger loose!! He finally got one!! It didn't last to long though :)

Saturday Morning Fun!!

What ever happened to low key mornings eating cereal and watching saved by bell!!!??

Our Saturday consisted of Cheese Rice Crackers for breakfast...

Slip N Slide Fun!!!




An lots of giggles!! Hudson loves to hear Daddy sing Oompa Loompa!!

Dream Feed not so dreamy...

So I read a little further in the BW she recommends cluster feeding at night...okay sounds like a really good idea! Basically feed him at 6 and 8 put him to bed and then take him out of the crib about 10:30 and offer him a dream feeding. He's not really awake but should take the feeding regardless. Well I know if he is asleep he won't nurse so I offer him a bottle at 10:30 he drinks an ounce and a half WHOA!!! Hahah! He stays asleep so I put him right back to bed - and off I go hoping for my LONG nights sleep!! 1:30 I hear his call for his early morning snack. So much for the dream feed we did better without it! He does seem to be sleeping better in the crib, but I just miss him being next to me so much. I look over at the little empty bassinet and just want to pluck him right out of his crib and put him where we can be close. I would really like to sleep next to him - but you all know I am quite paranoid and the thought of rolling over on him just ugh I can't even think about it...so I guess it's the crib from here on out. He was getting pretty big for the bassinet. He couldn't stretch his arms to both sides anymore ~ Chubby Baby!! Healthy Baby!!

The Baby Whisperer

Hudson spent his first night in his bed last night and LOVED it!!! I started putting him in his crib yesterday for his naps thought it would be a good way to start getting him used to his room. Wanted to give him a few weeks to transition. I guess he had other plans :) My girlfriend gave me the baby whisperer book to read so I have been perusing it in the few spare moments I find between feeding, changing, playing blocks and trucks :) She has some great advice so last night we gave it a try. I fed him at 7:30 he wasn't quite ready for bed so we gave him his bath and put on his jammies. He was a little fussy at this point; I suppose a little overtired. So Denny tried to rock and snuggle him he just wasn't calming down. So we opted to give him a few minutes peace and quiet in his own bed. I jumped in the shower all the while hurrying through the motions my little angel was crying and I couldn't get to him fast enough :) you moms know how that is... Walked in and he was fast asleep. WOW!! is this really happening. I hadn't intended for him to sleep in his bed just a little cat nap until the 10:30 feeding. Decided not to disturb him he didn't call me in until 2:30am. 7 HOURS!!! Whew Hew!!! Go Hudson!! He went right back to sleep. Woke up at 5:30 for another snack, and right back to sleep. Woke up at 8 and he hasn't decided he wants breakfast yet - just had to get up in time to kiss his sister good bye for the day!!! Hopefully here's to some good nights sleep!! Thank you baby whisperer and Auntie Erika!!!

A visit from the kids

Finally got to see the kids this summer - it has been way to long! So hard only seeing them once a year.

We had a great time!! They are getting so big!!

The whole gang!


Riley celebrated her birthday with us - SO FUN!!


We straightened her very long beautiful hair!

The Binky Bandit

Our sweet little Ethan has been such a trooper giving up his binky!! However, his new little brother has the same one :( I tried to give him a few others but he wouldn't take them so I ended up giving him the same one as Ethan had. How awful to have your most prized possession taken away only to watch your little brother enjoy it so throughly. He has been really great about leaving it alone for the most part; the binky bandit did have a small setback. Since he gave up the binky he hasn't been napping - so I guess he was really tired!!! I found him at the end of the couch, luckily his feet were sticking out or I would have been looking for awhile!!!

Ethan gave up his BINKY!!!!

So today is day #4 that our BIG boy gave up his binky!!! We are so proud of him!!! He woke up a few times the first night and hasn't woken up during the night since!!! Naps really aren't in the cards right now - I sure miss those :) I enjoyed the snooze too!! Great Job Ethan!! We knew you could do it!! You will be so happy that your ears will not be ruined... I'll have to explain that when you get bigger!!

The BIG Boy!!! Enjoying the train at Chandler mall.


Wanted to send a new picture of the chunky monkey!!


The twins!!

Playing in the rain filled park!!

After the rain storm the kids saw that the park had filled with water!! They convinced daddy to let them play in it!! They had a blast and lots of the neighborhood kids came out to join in the fun!!!

Check out the video!!

Park

Baby Hudson is 3 weeks old!!!

Our little boy is growing...

So I am a week behind on his 2 week checkup...I guess this is what it is like to be a mommy of 3 :)!!!

Hudson had lost 6 ozs. at his 2 day checkup and gained 1 1/2 lbs at his 2 week checkup!! Only thing they look for is that he is back to his birth weight. No wonder he has a double chin already!!!

Don't you love those sleep smiles!!!


The proud big brother!!


The sweetest little fingers~