The Rest of January

I used to think January was the worst, more boring month of the year. Not anymore! The past two years we've had a mid-January trip somewhere, plus both boys birthdays- and it is a suddenly full month! I love it. It's a great way to spend this time of year!

Here are a few of the things we have been up to in the few days we weren't a. Traveling or b. celebrating a little boy's birthday.

I feel like we've spent a lot of time with Nora this month- partly due to Will and Katie moving to Layton so they are much closer to us! The boys adore their little cousin, and they kind of light up her world too. And all the adults involved sit back and smile at their delightful little relationship (until someone is bugging/hurting/stealing from another child). One day I took Nora with me to Sams Club and was pleasantly surprised at what a good influence she is on Hudson! Bringing Chase= Hudson demanding to run around out of the cart and throw tantrums when I don't buy cookies. Bringing Nora= Hudson sitting pleasantly in the cart and talking sweetly to cute Nora the whole time. 

We spent a good amount of time at the museum, I think we went 4 times in January! The boys love it there, we are so happy that Nana renewed their pass again for another year! It's such a great place for the kids to explore and play and be creative. 

Puzzles! We've done so many puzzles this month (or rather- we've done our four puzzles so many times this month!) This was the first time I just sat back and let the boys do this entire 50 piece jigsaw puzzle all on their own- they've since done it many times. Now doing these puzzles is almost a daily ritual. 

Ben was gone for a week to Nashville Tennessee for work. The last time he was gone was for about 10 days in October and it was...hard. I was fairly anxious for this time- and I was pleasantly surprised. The boys were so good while Ben was gone! They definitely earned their Disneyland surprise coming that next week!

 Chase is very interested in geography, so for his birthday we got him a map of the world to hang in the basement. Once a week we've been picking a country and doing an "international night". It's fairly simple. Earlier in the afternoon we make that country's flag and we locate it on the map. I make traditional food from that country for dinner. And then we do a little lesson on that country. Hudson usually listens to none of the lesson, but Chase does and seems to really enjoy it. So far we've done South Korea (where Ben served his mission), Mexico (where my dad served his mission) and Germany (where my mom lived in high school). It's been really fun, and fun for Chase to be able to easily locate these countries on the map and have a little frame of reference about other places. This is our German night.

And then our washing machine died. It was given to us for free (along with our dryer) a few years ago and it's been a trusty old washing machine. Since it's probably 30 years old, fixing it didn't seem worth it. We are now the proud owners of a new washing machine! Let the laundry resume!

Hudson's Third Birthday

Hudson turned three on January 24th, which was just a few days after we got home from our trip. It was a snowy, cold Sunday and we had a very chill, easy going day. Ben ran out the night before to get some balloons (which is a little tradition of ours). Hudson woke up in a terrible mood Sunday morning, which quickly turned happy when I told him it was his birthday! And then he was instantly mad again that I had made waffles, he wanted baked oatmeal (we rectified this by making it for lunch). And then was happy again when he saw the balloons and presents from the top of the stairs. (Yes, all these emotions happened in the first 3 minutes he was awake before he even made it to the kitchen!) 

 He sweetened up and decided that he did like waffles again. He FaceTimed with his Hugo grandparents and got to open his presents- finally! It was a long wait for him after watching Chase open presents a few weeks ago! He loved the gifts from us and Chase and played with them most of the day.

That night we had a birthday dinner for him up at my parents house. He was anxious to get done with dinner so that he could open the rest of his presents. I love these little faces Ben captured while he was unwrapping his gifts- he was so excited!

 Then we had cake and ice cream. I just made a funfetti cake for him and he thought it was the greatest thing in the world! It was a really simple birthday, but I think Hudson loved it. We sure love this little guy! The last three years have been kind of an emotional roller coaster (Hudson is full of INTENSE emotions) but all the tantrums and craziness are totally worth it. Hudson has been such a joy in our family and I'm thankful every single day that he's here!

Update on the Boys

Chase at 5 years old:

• Preschool is the highlight of his life! He looks forward to it and when I told him he had to skip it (he had strep throat) he burst into tears. (His preschool teacher told me he almost burst into tears when she informed him that fall break was coming and there wouldn't be preschool that day either). 
• Is still the most social child you'll ever meet. It doesn't matter the age- from adults to babies he makes friends wherever he goes. I love this- and I love that it's rubbing off on Hudson. A group of kids at any given place (chick-fila, the park, the museum) is called "friends".
• I let him have time to watch Netflix on the iPad in the afternoon while Hudson is napping, but he has to watch something educational (He often checks in- "Does this show teach me something mom?") Then I get little bits of wisdom from him that he learned from Magic School Bus/Space Racers/Wild Kratts etc.
• Had his first bought of strep throat in November. It was so sad, he was so so miserable! I almost didn't take him in to see the doctor, but decided to call anyway (he was fevering and feeling terrible, but no white spots on his throat). I was relieved I did when I found out it was strep. After a few doses of antibiotic he was right back to his normal self! Chase is generally such a healthy kid- at almost five and this was only his second antibiotic ever! (He had an ear infection when he was three months old) He unfortunately had another round of strep in December.
• I think he has an adventurous heart. He talks about various vacations we've been on all the time, and is always asking when we can go again. 
• By last fall, (4.5 years old) he memorized all 13 Articles of Faith. We practice them whenever we are driving in the car. He has a great memory!

Hudson at 3 years old:

• Refers to random things as his "friend". His "blanky friend" "puzzle friend" or "my friend toothbrush"
• Bites Chase. Sometimes out of anger, sometimes because he's being a dinosaur/lion/alligator. We've tried a myriad of punishments/consequences and nothing seemed to be getting the message across that this isn't okay. Finally Ben bit him (which I was against), but it actually worked. Hudson hasn't bitten anyone since! Then he got bitten in nursery by a girl in the ward, which hopefully cemented in his little mind that it isn't okay!
• Whenever he does something naughty and I get after him, he gives me this bored/apathetic/sly sounding "Sorry mom."
• Takes care of himself- if mom says no candy, he'll just wait until I go to another room and then scale the pantry shelves to get to it. He does this with various snacks all the time. (Chase would just whine, but generally obey.)
• Is still such a sleeper- he is still napping a solid three hours every afternoon and still does really well at night. He has always struggled with nightmares (at least that's what we think it is) where he yells out in the middle of the night- although it usually lasts about 10 seconds and he's back to sleep before we can even get to his room. If it lasts longer than that I go in to comfort him and he usually calms down very quickly when I pick him up. I wonder what he's having nightmares about and feel sad for him that he's scared. A few weeks ago he was screaming so I went in to comfort him- he was still mostly asleep and started screaming out "Chase pushed the button and it was my turn! I'm so mad! Chase! It was my turn!" then he went back to sleep. Now I know the subject matter of these nightmares- apparently elevator button injustice. Another night it was "Chaser spilled my smoothie!"
• After months of work, finally has his alphabet down! We have both loved doing our little alphabet lessons and crafts while Chase is at preschool. If we go to pick up Chase and haven't done it yet, he will remind me, "Mom! We didn't do a letter and a craft!"

California Trip

We surprised the boys and took them to Disneyland! This trip has been in the works for a long, long time, but back in December things got stressful with Ben's job (The team he worked on at MarketStar (Polycom) ended up terminating their contract with MarketStar, and Polycom ended up just bringing Ben on directly to do the same thing he was already doing for them- but the whole process was about 3 weeks of intense unknowns until the official offer finally came.) Once we had a secure job, still a little uneasy from the stressful month right before we were unsure if we really wanted to go. Things ended up falling into place perfectly with Ben's new job starting immediately when the old one stopped. A friend offered to let us stay with her parents in beautiful Laguna Niguel- so with a free place to stay, a job in place, and rewards money from our credit card to pay for park tickets we ended up deciding we had to go. Our kids are growing up too fast and we felt like we needed to seize the opportunity that we had and create family memories. Family vacations were a huge part of my life growing up- and my fondest memories- and Ben and I had always said we wanted the same experience for our kids. Now that real life has really kicked in, we are realizing they don't just easily happen. We will probably never feel like we have plenty of time and money, and we just need to do it and enjoy this beautiful time we have with our boys!

We didn't tell the boys until the morning we left, and Chase's reaction was priceless. After asking about 4 clarifying questions he jumped into my arms in excitement and gave me the biggest hug. Hudson didn't really know what was coming, but he thought the idea of seeing Mickey's house sounded fun, so he was in as well! We pulled out around 8:30 Saturday morning and set off for sunny California!

Our trip down went incredibly smoothly. We had several places to stop along the way to visit with friends, eat at a favorite restaurant in Cedar City, and then spent that night with the Jensen's in Las Vegas. We lived in the same neighborhood as Jesse and Marissa a few years ago and have kept in touch with them and it was so fun to catch up and see their beautiful home! Our boys loved playing there with their boys and it broke up the drive wonderfully! 

Sunday morning we stopped in a random ward in Vegas to go to Sacrament meeting (during which Hudson loudly called out Ben several times for not wearing his "church clothes"- Ben didn't have a tie on and wasn't wearing his normal white shirt). Then we drove uneventfully the rest of the way to beautiful Laguna Niguel. We have stayed in California several times, but never in this area and we thoroughly enjoyed how beautiful, green and manicured everything was! Having a free place to stay was not only wonderful- it really made the trip possible and we are so grateful to the Myers for opening their home to us! 

We needed to get some fresh air so we headed right for the beach! We didn't wear our swim suits, which was fine, it wasn't that warm. The boys loved playing in the sand and got completely sandy and a little wet. This was Hudson's first time to the ocean! 

Since Monday was a holiday (MLK day) we didn't want to be in the park, we decided to have a quieter day and show the boys a little more of what California had to offer. We decided to head to Balboa island, a place we had heard about but never been before. On our drive there we passed right by the Newport Beach Temple, so we stopped for a few minutes and let the boys walk around the grounds and touch the walls of the temple. Then headed the rest of the way to Balboa!

 Balboa was so charming and I'm so glad we stopped there! The boys loved seeing the boats (although they were both just itching to get into the sand and play some more). We stopped for the famous balboa bars (which we all heartily gave two thumbs up) and a frozen banana. And then we headed off to find another beach.

We had plans to head back to the same beach as the night before, but on our drive up the highway running directly parallel to the ocean we passed by a beautiful, sandy, completely uncrowded beach right there and decided to stop and enjoy it! We stayed for a few hours, the boys dug and made sand castles, we had a picnic and then Ben took them out to experience the ocean a little. The waves were huge, and it wasn't a super warm day, so they mostly just got their feet wet. It was darling to hear them running around and laughing like crazy! It was an understatement to say they loved it! 

 The next day we started out at California Adventure. Our main reason in choosing a whole day for this park is Cars Land! They have built a whole Radiator Springs there, and since our boys are obsessed with all things Cars, we just had to go! It did not disappoint! The boys got the meet the characters first thing, and they were completely star struck! They met Mater, Big Red and Lightning McQueen. I loved when Chase first saw Lightning and his first reaction was to show him his shoes! (Chase has ONLY worn light-up Lightning McQueen shoes for the last three years!) The boys loved every single ride they went on, but a clear favorite were the Radiator Springs Racers- such a darling ride. It's super fast at the end, and I was a little worried Hudson would be freaked out, but he was all smiles! We got fast passes and went on the ride twice- and would have kept going on it all day if there wasn't such a huge line! The day was hardly crowded at all- we walked on almost every single ride- except this one always had at least an hour line! (We never waited in it, thanks to fast passes!)

There is a darling Toy Story ride there, which we also went on twice. Then the boys went over to meet Buzz Lightyear and Jessie. Hudson, just in the last week, has been obsessed with Toy Story and he was completely in awe of Buzz! We also went to Disney Jr Live- a darling interactive show that was perfect for my boys! When the Mickey Mouse puppet popped up Chase yelled out, "Mickey! I've seen you on TV!" I was surprised that Chase still totally believed he was seeing and meeting the real characters!

After watching the Pixar Parade (which they loved) we went on our favorite rides again. We were glad we picked this week to go- with hardly any time spent waiting in lines we were able to do everything in the park easily! Our last stop was one of our favorites- Turtle Talk with Crush (the sea turtle from Finding Nemo). Crush appears on a huge screen in front of the audience and Ben and I couldn't believe the way they manipulate the turtle- it's like he's really there, moving and talking and interacting with the kids! There were only a few kids in the audience and Chase got to ask Crush questions, their darling and hilarious conversation went like this:
Crush: Little dude! What's your name?
Chase: Chase.
Crush: Hi Chase! Do you have a question for me?
Chase: Actually, my name is Chase Anderson Hugo. How is coral made? (all the other kids asked questions like "What is your favorite color?" "Who is your best friend?")
Crush: Dude! It's actually a really long process and it grows really slowly... (And then crush proceeded to go get a little Buzz doll and said he found under the ocean and talked to Chase all about it! Chase was giggling like crazy-the adults were too, Crush was hilarious- and they had a good long talk) The whole experience was incredible!

We left the park about 30 minutes before it closed, pretty tired, but so happy from a day well spent! And even more excited for the next day- we saved the best for last- Disneyland!

We got to Disneyland right as it opened and walked in as they were playing the magical music. I kind of had a moment of disbelief that we were really there- it was all so magical and fun to see stars in my kid's eyes. We were all so happy and having so much fun together, and I was just so glad that this trip actually happened! The crowds were really low the first few hours of the day, so we were able to ride Peter Pan, meet Mickey Mouse, ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, meet the Pooh characters, and Pirates of the Caribbean all in the first hour of the day! It was incredible! Our boys continued to amaze me- especially Hudson- they had NO FEAR whatsoever. I kept thinking they would freak out about something- especially the big drop on Splash Mountain- but the faster the ride the better for these boys! They were all smiles! The only thing Hudson was a little scared of was meeting the characters- he insisted that I hold him, and then he would talk to them. I think he was surprised they were so big!

We quickly made our way through the whole park- we rode pretty much everything! We spent some time up in Toon Town (they boys LOVED it and I wished we had longer to stay there). By the time our fast pass was ready for HyperSpace Mountain, Hudson had fallen asleep in the stroller, so I stayed off and let him sleep and Ben took Chase on the ride. Ben and I laughed at Chase's face in the picture, but Chase assured us he had fun and even said it was one of his favorite rides!

Chase was just barely too short for Indiana Jones, which is one of my favorite rides. I really wanted him to go on it with me, so we stuffed his shoes with napkins to give him the little lift he needed and he was able to get on it! I prepped him ahead of time that he didn't need to be scared, everything is pretend and nothing can hurt him. As we got on I reminded him, "Chase, remember you don't need to be scared..." and he replied with "Yeah mom, because you'll be holding my hand!" So sweet, I love this little boy! He was so excited to be there, he just oozes enthusiasm and made the day so much more magical. He randomly kept giving me hugs and held my hand all day long!

We stayed until the park closed, finishing off the day with the incredible "Paint the Night" parade- which is electric and just amazing. And then we watched fireworks (except for Hudson who insisted on sitting in the stroller with his sun shade down the whole time). I put Chase on my back and could hear his cute little commentary and excitement all the way through their incredible firework show, which just made my heart swell with joy! We truly had a magical day and had an amazing time at the happiest place on earth!

The next day we drove home. It was an 11 hour drive (plus a little longer with stops) and we were all pretty much DONE by the time we rolled into the driveway. It was worth it though- the trip was a huge success and we had a great time together. Hudson's comment one night perfectly describes our trip, "I LOVE VACATIONS!" 

Out of the Mouth of Hudson

While Facetiming with Heidi he moved the little icon with her picture around and said, "Heidi, I'm just going to move you over here so I can keep my eye on you!"

Because of crazy nighttime struggles, we now lock Hudson in his room when after he's come out 45 times to make him go to sleep. Usually it works great. One particular night he was really fighting it, and instead of his normal "cry for a few minutes and fall right to sleep." I went in to check on him and found him completely naked and screaming at me, "I just want to go get donuts with daddy and Chaser! I just want to go get donuts with daddy and Chaser RIGHT NOW!" (It was 10 pm. I told him the stores were closed. He did not believe me.)

He got mad at Chase one night and said in the most serious mad voice "Chaser, Santa is not going to bring you ANY PRESENTS!"
(When Chase recounted this story at a family dinner the next night, he added onto the end of it- "and then we all laughed" because we did)

As we were leaving for church, Hudson blew his [pretend] whistle and called out "Let's do this team!"

One night he wasn't going to sleep, and at like 9:45 pm he was telling me "it's morning time mom! let's get breakfast. I want french toast."

Sitting at dinner one night Hudson suddenly belted out "Fee, Fie, Fo, Fum, I want another cutie!" And then burst into his silly little grin.

He has quite the temper and is frequently telling me, "You did it ALL WRONG MOMMY!" Also he often tells me that I "bruined it" (ruined it).

He woke up one Sunday morning just SCREAMING in his room "I DO NOT want it to be morning time! I want it to be NIGHT!" (Even after I reassured him that it was fine if he went back to sleep he continued to yell, throw things, and cry for a good 20 minutes until he finally came to terms with it being morning time and came out for some breakfast.) He then sat at the table to drink his smoothie, but ONLY if I rubbed his back the whole time. I slowed down a little and he quickly reprimanded me "Keep rubbing my back mom!"

(Pictures from cookie decorating back in December)

Out of the Mouth of Chase

While showing me a dinosaur book:
See Mom! It says no one knows how they all died! That means how their skin got ripped off them and turned into bones. Do you know anyone who works at the museum mom? I should ask one of them."

Talking about the day he was born: "You know what my favorite part of that day was mom? Seeing you! Seeing you made me so happy!" (Same here, little buddy)

He keeps adding little things in his prayers that aren't exactly "thank yous" or "please bless..." Like the other night (right before Christmas) he was praying and said, "Please bless the missionaries. Please bless Jesus. And what's up with that new star? In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." (I'm sure he's talking about the new star that appear at Jesus' birth.)

Another night he said "Please help us sleep well. And I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!"

For his birthday we gave him tickets for the Jazz game- but since we bought them online I didn't have the actual tickets so I just made some with paper and a marker. A few days later Chase and Ben had this conversation:
Chase: Daddy, I really want to go to the Jazz game again. Can we go tonight?
Ben: No buddy, sorry. Tickets cost money so we can't go all the time.
Chase: Oh, it's okay dad. Mom can just make us some tickets.

On a rainy and foggy day: Did you know there is only one other way to make clouds that doesn't bring rain and snow? Fire.

Heidi gave Chase a big stuffed dog for Christmas that he named Biscuit. This happened the other day:
Chase: Want to see how I play fetch with Biscuit? (Chase then throws a ball, then throws Biscuit after the ball. Biscuit doesn't quite make it the whole way). So then if Biscuit doesn't make it I just pick him up and throw him again (which he does- and then puts the ball in Biscuit's mouth and smiles at me like he's really taught a dog a trick).

Chase's 5th Birthday

Somehow every year Chase's birthday turns into a three-day celebration- and this year was no different! I guess Chase is just so amazing we need a few days to adequately celebrate him. Ben took Chase to a jazz game a few weeks ago (thanks to Unky Will for the tickets) and Chase has been talking about it ever since and decided he wanted to have a "Jazz" birthday this year. We mostly just decorated in jazz colors and played a bunch of basketball themed games- which were all a big hit.

 Chase really wanted a funfetti cake, which is perfect for him since he's obsessed with sprinkles.

We tried to "narrow down" the guest list, but Chase just has so many little friends we couldn't leave anyone out. We ended up having ten little kids, plus our two, during the party! It was pretty wild! In this picture: Matt and Will Newbold, Freddy Hickman, Porter Rohbock, Rustin Van Hook, Paisley Stucker, Jazmyn Booyse, Chase, Ella Johnson and Hudson. We took this right before the last two kids came (Enox Quiroz and Tanner Joseph).

 I blew up a bunch of orange balloons and then drew lines on them to make them look like basketballs. We did a bunch of relays with them and also just tried to keep them in the air. We had a little free-throw contest and played "pin the ball in the basket". Then the kiddos also played duck-duck-goose and button-button. They ate cake and did presents and then we sent them all home (and couldn't believe how quiet our house was!)

On Sunday we had another birthday party for him up at my parents house with just family. He loved his special dinner, his cake (this one was chocolate) and the gifts he got from his Nana and Papa and his aunts and uncle. At this point Hudson started showing some frustration with all the Chase celebrating and looking at the presents asked me, "Aren't any of these for me!" It's hard little guy- but your day is coming soon!

 Then on Monday, his actual birthday, we went to the Discovery Museum with our friends! Chase loved playing with Ryder and had a great time at the museum. It's always so nice to have such a fun place to play when it's freezing outside!

 For his birthday dinner, Chase requested banana split waffles (Nana makes them for him). Both boys love them and quickly devoured them. After dinner we let Chase open his presents from us. He was appreciative of his new jeans, pretty excited about the world map (he's really interested in the world right now) and then we super excited and thankful for his gift from Hudson- a playdough construction roller. Then we gave him his main present from us- tickets to the Jazz game that night! He was ecstatic! It was the perfect ending to his "Jazz" birthday!

We love this boy so much! He has been a light in our life since day 1 and really is a dream come true for us. While I was snuggling with him the day before his birthday I told him how the day he was born was the happiest day of my life and he immediately added "Yeah mom, it was the best day of my life too! I was so excited to finally see you mom!" Chase is the most friendly kid I've ever met. He is so smart and so kind, he's a protective big brother and he loves fun. I feel so blessed to have Chase in our family. Happy 5th Birthday little buddy! We love you!