I Love School

Yeah for school!!!! I know a lot of people are sad to send their kids back to school, but not this mama! Let's face it, having a new baby at home meant that we didn't get to do anything fun all summer. Day in and day out we pretty much stayed trapped inside our house…together…too hot to even go outside and play in the yard. It was a long summer for all of us. 

But now that's in the past. Jensen has been so excited to go to Kindergarden! His teacher is named Ms. Corn. The nickname for her class is "Ms. Corn's Dogs." Hilarious. She totally plays up any dog or corn related phrases. Plus, Jensen likes her.

Carson's teacher is Ms. Gripp. (Sorry Ms. Gripp, I didn't realize your eyes were closed till I got home and checked this picture!) She was actually a 1st Grade teacher last year, so the 2nd graders are familiar with her already. She's pretty awesome. She has a tarantula, and so their class nickname is "Ms. Gripp's Creepy Crawlers." Plus, Carson likes her.

How cute are my boys together on their first morning of school? I love that they have matching tennis shoes and that Carson protectively put his arm around Jensen.

This kid is so grown up.

The big deal for us this year is that my boys are walking to and from school together everyday. So far, I've been going with them (with the two littles in my double jogger) and walking part of the way to pick them up. I mostly make sure they cross a kind of busy street along the way without getting run over. It's been really good so far. It helps them (and me) get exercise and I save a boat load on gas!

And this kid is so big, too!!! He's so handsome!

He loves all the fun things in his classroom. I think his favorite is Ms. Corn's globe. He told me today that he found Texas, Illinois and China. :)

  And not to be left out, Mason will be heading to MDO next week! We are both pretty stoked about that. This morning we went to the MDO open house and met his two teachers. He was excited that he had the same teachers who taught the class he went to last year. Here's another one of Mason's classic "smiles" with his teacher Miss Sheila.

 And of course, when the kid actually puts out an adorable smile, I take a blurry picture! (I need help…) This is his other teacher, Miss Stephanie. His MDO program just built a brand new building and so we had fun checking it out today. They did a beautiful job and Mason is very excited to be a big boy and go to school too! 

I'm very excited to have a couple of days with Hudson and a mostly quiet house all week!

Baptism Day

 We were so happy that Carson was able to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, August 24, 2013. The actual baptism was wonderful. Carson felt good and I felt like he was well prepared for the experience. The baptism planning was another story. Lets just say, I put on a lovely (last minute) stake baptism for Carson and 4 other kids. Because of that, I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of our family or of just Carson and Dustin. (Thank goodness for my camera wielding friend, who took a few for me- and of course, they look fabulous.)

Carson was glad to have several of his good friends come to support him. His friend, Lusia sang with a couple of other kids for the musical number. 

 Carson also had a good friend from school come to his baptism. Having her there was really neat, and he felt like a good missionary. 

Carson was also lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa Brudnicki, Uncle Jason (who gave a talk in the program- at Carson's request) and Aunt Jenn, and even his Grandma Jensen there for his special day. We feel very blessed to have so many people who love and care about this special boy. We're very pleased with the knowledge which he has gained and how he tries to implement it in his life.

Biggest Little 3 year Old

On Friday, Mason had his 3rd birthday! It's been a crazy couple of weeks around our house, so we kept the birthday celebrations very low key. When I asked Mason what he would like to do for his birthday he said he wanted a "Binana" which I figured out meant a "Piñata." (I was too busy making sure no one sustained any injuries during the "Piñata" portion of his day, so I didn't take any pictures of that, but believe me, they had fun!)

Mason also wanted to invite two little friends over. One of them couldn't make it, but he was happy to have his little buddy Drew to help him celebrate.

 We decided to add to our already impressive collection of train tracks for Mason's birthday by getting a cool 4 way switch piece and a round house. They have really enjoyed playing with those new pieces.

 Mason also requested a chocolate cake. He found a picture of an octopus cake in a cake magazine, so we made something similar, only it became a monster instead. The kids loved that it had Skittle spots and fruit roll up legs. (I also love in this picture that Drew is helping Mason blow out his candles from way over there!)

 Mason's last request was that we have hamburgers for dinner. I planned on having Dustin grill them for us, but Dustin wanted to go out on the town instead. Here's me and my big boy at Smash Burger. Seriously…this kid could never be a model. His smiles for the camera are ridiculous.

 After burgers, we decided to take Mason bowling. For about the last 6 months or more any time we would ask Mason what he wanted to do for a date, or family night, or whatever, he always said, "Bowling!" So that's what we did.

 And of course he couldn't have been more excited about getting an orange ball! 

He had a great 3rd birthday. It seems like he's been 3 for forever, though. I guess that's how it is when you look like the average 4 year old. I love this BIG boy!

5 Months Old

 What was that, Mom? Did you say I'm the cutest 5 month old ever?

Yeah, that's what I thought you said.

At 5 months Hudson weighs 15lbs (just got that checked at the doctor). He's still struggling with tummy troubles. Right now his pediatrician has really upped his reflux medication dosage, so we're hoping that will help this cute little boy be a lot more comfortable. He does really well playing on his tummy or in his exer-saucer (when he's not crying because he wants to be held) and he LOVES when his brothers come to play by him. He's also become very aware of the fact that he can grab things that he sees, like his toys or his feet. Best of all, at 5 months, Hudson is finally growing some hair back! (And it's still a light strawberry blonde.) Even though he's a horrible sleeper, we just can't seem to get enough of this sweet baby!

I have an 8 year old

It hardly seems real that my little Carson boy is eight. We didn't have a big party for him this year. He decided that he just wanted to take a few of his friends with him to the movies. It worked out great.  First the kids had pizza for lunch.

 Then, they opened presents. Carson got 10 books! He was pretty excited. 

The kids also ate their cupcakes, topped with their very own "Planes" toy to keep.

 Then it was off to the movies. I have to say that "Planes" wasn't nearly as cute as "Cars" but the kids had a good time, so that was all that mattered to me.

 As soon as all the friends were dropped off, it was off to dinner with Carson's birthday twin- Grandma Brudnicki!

 I had to make Carson take a birthday picture with me. This way, I get to be in at least 1 picture a year with each of my kids!

It's hard to imagine that 8 years ago I was snuggling this precious baby boy. Becoming a mother was a dream come true, and Carson has been a wonderful boy to have in our family. Happy Birthday Carson!