Christmas Report

Well, Christmas this year was good, but kind of rough at the same time. Starting on Christmas Eve, Hudson decided that he was going to be sick. In Talen's family, we have the tradition of doing a progressive dinner on Christmas Eve where we go to everyone's houses for a different part of the dinner. We did a lot of driving and were out much later than Hudson was used to. He was not a very happy little boy that night, and he didn't sleep well at all. Christmas morning came and he wouldn't eat a thing. He was not interested in opening presents, so Talen opened most of them for him. He did like his big slide that he got, but he was scared to go down it by himself. We had breakfast over at Talen's parents house and dinner at his grandparents. There was just so much going on and so many people around that he just threw fits all day long. I felt so bad for him. It was a long day for us all. Today has been the first day that he has finally begun to feel better and really been able to enjoy his presents (It's also the first time that he's slept through the night this whole week! Thank heavens!!). He's even going down his slide by himself now. We didn't take many pictures of Christmas, because they would have all been of Hudson crying!He really did like his slide but you would never tell from this picture!

Hudson on his rocking horse from gma and gpa Bundy.

One of the few presents he actually opened...and only after he knew it was a tractor.

Sand!

Hooray! We finally got sand in the sandbox Talen made before he went hunting in November. This was Hudson's first experience with the sandbox, but he seemed to know just what to do (there has been plenty of dirt in the backyard for him to dig in before). Talen, though, was having a lot more fun with the tractors and dump truck...he wishes now that he would have made the sandbox even bigger (I guess so he can play in it too!).

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Well, over the weekend we got our Christmas tree up...but it wasn't without drama. We decided that we would put the tree up Friday night, after Hudson had gone to sleep so he could wake up to it and be suprised Saturday morning. We got the tree up, but when we started checking the lights to make sure they worked, only one strand of 100 lights did! We tried for such a long time that night to get them to work...but no luck! I have usually put red and white alternating lights on my tree, but for the last couple of years I haven't been able to find any like that in the stores. So this year, I had to just get white lights. Bright and early Saturday morning I was at Wal-Mart buying the most expensive, commercial-grade Christmas lights they sold. Well, we got them put on the tree only to plug them in and find that half of one of the strands didn't work! I was so mad, but so tired of trying to fix lights, that I left it that way. I now have a strip of tree that is unlit all the way around. Every time I look at it it makes me mad, maybe one day I'll do something about it, but not yet! We had so many problems with the lights that while I was decorating the rest of the tree, I got about half of my decorations on it and Talen said, "Just leave it like that." It had never taken me so long to do my tree, so I agreed with him and didn't finish putting on the rest of the ornaments...I guess that's less to worry about Hudson pulling off and breaking!

Back to Normal

I know I haven't posted anything for a while, but things are finally starting to feel like they are back to normal around here. Hudson and I flew up north to spend Thanksgiving with my family. We had dinner at my dad's house and there were a lot relatives that I haven't seen in quite a while and some of them had never even met Hudson before. We had a good time, but were glad when that week was over and we were able to come back home. I didn't have my camera up there, so if you want to see pictures, you'll have to go look at my sister, Jackie's blog.

The next week Jackie, and her two boys came to our house and stayed with us for the week. It was fun and we got a lot of Christmas shopping done. It was also nice to have the company because Talen was still gone hunting.

This past weekend, Talen finally came home and Hudson and I were so happy! When Hudson finally realized that his dad was home for good, he wouldn't let me do anything for him...it had to be dad who got him dressed, and dad who fed him, and dad who put him down for a nap. It was kind of a nice break for me though.

With Talen home, we got a lot done in one weekend. We got our Christmas tree up and decorated (when I remember to take a picture I will post it). We did some Christmas shopping. And, yesterday, we went over to grandma and grandpa's house to decorate gingerbread houses.

We all had a good time and now hopefully we can bring our gingerbread house home without it falling apart!

Oh ya...Talen and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on the 23rd of November. I guess we didn't really celebrate it...I was in Lehi with my family and Talen was hunting. But, ever since we've been married we haven't ever celebrated our anniversary on the right day. Hopefully we can plan something before we have our baby in January!

Good times...but no camera!

Well, tonight was one of those times that I'm kicking myself for letting Talen take the camera hunting with him. I let Hudson fingerpaint with banana pudding. It was so funny to watch! I put about a half a cup of pudding on his highchair and let him at it. At first he just poked at it with one finger, but then I showed him that he could draw pictures in it and eat it off his fingers. He really got into it then. He pushed it around all over his tray and began grabbing handfuls of it and tried to get it into his mouth. When he started slamming his hands down on his tray and splashing the pudding all over, though, I knew it was about time to be finished. By the time I could get the bathtub filled he had covered himself, the walls, and and the floor with banana pudding. It was such a sticky mess, and so was Hudson. He was covered in pudding from his hair to his feet. It was a good thing I had gotten him undressed before we started. We probably won't be doing this every day (it took a while to find and clean up all the pudding on the walls and floor), but we'll definitey do it again sometime. It was a nice way to pass time at night now that it gets dark so darn early and now that Talen isn't home. Hudson seemed to enjoy it, so it was worth the mess!!

I hate this time of year

Not really...the weather is awesome, the leaves are changing, and everything is so beautiful, but it is also hunting season. Every year since we've been married, Talen has been gone for most of the month of November to be a guide for the Arizona deer hunt (I really don't know how we ever managed to get married in November!). I guess I can't complain too much about it, because he does come home at the end of the month with some extra money in his pocket...but it sure makes for a long month. Especially this year because Hudson is such a daddy's-boy. Every day when he wakes up from his nap, he knows it's almost time for dad to come home from work, so he waits by the front windows and watches for his truck to pull up. He and I are definitely going to have to stay busy after nap-time so he doesn't get too disappointed. Hopefully this year the month will go by a little faster than usual because Hudson and I will be going to Lehi to spend the week of Thanksgiving with my family. It will be a nice break for us, and it will probably be the last time I get to visit with my family before the baby comes in January, so it will be nice to see everyone. Sorry if I don't post any pictures this month...Talen took my camera with him, so hopefully nothing too spectacular happens here at home. I am going to try and steal it for the week we go up north, but I'm not sure who will win that fight!

Happy Halloween

What a cute rodeo clown!! Hudson's costume was actually his uncle Trumbull's costume from when he was a little boy. We had to get a new wig, and put him in his own shirt and socks, but he seemed to like it and he looked so cute in it. He did so good today, he even left his costume on the whole time he was supposed to. When Talen got home from work, we got Hudson dressed and went over to Grandma and Grandpa Bundy's house to see his cousins in their costumes and to do a little trick-or-treating. After taking a bunch of pictures of the kids (they loved that!), we took them trick-or-treating down 'Bundy Lane' (Talen's aunts, uncles, and grandparents). Hudson liked going up to the doors and knocking, but we couldn't get him to say 'trick-or-treat' yet...the best he could do was 'please'. He ate way too much candy, but we finally left and came home to have dinner. Once the kids in our neighborhood began showing up at our door, Hudson started getting the hang of what was going on. Each time the doorbell rang or someone would knock, he would stop whatever he was doing and say 'kids, kids' and run to the door. A few times, when there had been a break for a few minutes, he would run to the door, knock on it himself and say 'kids, kids'. It was so cute! I think he had a good day!

Sour Strawberries

I just love sour-face pictures! Yesterday, we were having some fruit for a snack and Hudson wanted to hold a strawberry and eat it himself. He has had strawberries before but this time it really got him good. He was working on a pretty big one and after every single bite he made the same face. I tried to take it from him and give him some other fruit, but all he wanted was the strawberry!

Such a good helper

Hudson had never been brave enough to help Talen mow the lawn before just a couple of days ago. Talen told him to help push and he could actually push the lawn mower without help! He is so strong! He helped Talen mow about half of the front lawn, then he got bored and decided he would rather find some rocks to chew on:) At one point while he was helping I had a thought come into my mind that rather scared me. I thought, "Oh no, he's wearing opened-toed shoes...I hope he doesn't cut his toes off!" The thought itself wasn't what actually scared me...it was that I had heard that same thing growing up from my mom. Any time I mowed a lawn I had to be wearing closed-toed shoes, long pants, and sunglasses. I guess I wouldn't be having any toes cut off, but I'm sure there were a few times I probably came close to fainting, wearing so many clothes in the middle of the summer!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

A yummy easy recipe!

4 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 Slices swiss cheese
4 Slices ham
1/4 cup flour
1 egg; beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
4 tbs. butter

Pound chicken to 1/4 inch. Place one cheese slice and one ham slice on each breast. Roll up and toothpick. Dredge in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Place, seam-side down, in baking dish (sprayed with Pam). Place 1 tbs. butter on each breast. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

SAUCE
1/2 Can cream of chicken soup
1/2 Pint whipping cream

Combine soup and cream in a saucepan. Simmer on low, stir until thickened. Pour over cooked chicken. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Talen!!

27 Years old today! We didn't do much for Talen's birthday because: 1) he's on call, and 2) we had to go to church at 9:00 this morning. Talen is always in charge of breakfast and Hudson on Sunday mornings, so he made his own pancakes and he even made chocolate chip pancakes for Hudson. Good birthday breakfast huh? At least he hasn't gotten called out yet, so I made his new favorite for dinner: Chicken Cordon Bleu. Hopefully he won't get called out now, because it is still in the oven cooking! Since we couldn't really make plans for his birthday, we decided to do his birthday party next week with his family. But he did get to open his presents from Hudson and I today. We got him a couple of new shirts, a new belt (so he would stop wearing mine!), and we're going to go get a ladder this week, so he can pick it out himself. He was a little bummed over the clothes for presents, but he seriously needed them! Talen is a great person and he works so hard for his family. Hudson and I love him so much and appreciate everything he does for us! Happy Birthday...and WE LOVE YOU!!!!

First Post...What's Going On

So, I've finally decided to try my hand at this blogging thing. After looking at a bunch of other blogs it actually looks kind of fun, and I'm always looking for something to do during Hudson's naps. So, we'll see how it goes.

Well, our major project going on right now is building a shed in our backyard. I gave Talen a deadline, that it had to be done by the end of September or I was going to go buy one at Lowe's and have them come and install it for us. This seemed to get him going, because he's actually almost done now. He enlisted the help of a guy at his work named Gary who knows how to do all this stuff, and he told me that they could have it up in a day (yeah right!). Laying the cement took a day, and the shed has taken about 2 weeks now. All they have left to do is put in the window and the door, and then we have to finish it by painting and shingling and building shelves when we get time. Talen has been working really hard on it and actually lost a fingernail in the process...it didn't slow him down though. I probably would have used it as an excuse to get out of the hard stuff! Hudson has been having kind of a hard time with Talen working on the shed so much. He knows that his dad is home, but he doesn't know why he can't play with him. So, instead he plays a lot in the dirt and sawdust, and I get to chase him around and keep him from falling on nails. Thank goodness that the weather is finally cooling off. We've spent some warm days out there and Hudson, and I, don't take the heat very well.

I'm hoping that in the next week or so we'll be able to start storing things away in the shed. The main reason for the shed is because of our baby that is coming in January. We're planning on moving Hudson into the extra bedroom, so we can put the baby in the nursery, but the extra bedroom kind of serves as our storage space for now. I want to get it all cleared out and started looking like a bedroom before Talen's hunting season begins...which is quickly approaching! That way I won't have a ton to do while he's away. I'd rather spend that time decorating the room rather than clearing it out.

Well, when the shed is all complete I will post another picture of it, hopefully it will be in a few weeks and not a year or two!