Hello 2014!

Our last month and a half has been very busy..  James is still in the middle of training for the Cincinnati Fire Department.  James was also chosen to be the new intelligence officer for the 123rd Air Control Squadron.  He will be going to AMS in a few months and will come back as a 2nd Lieutenant.  Then the Becker family will be heading to Goodfellow AFB so James can take a 7 month intelligence officer course.  I'm so proud of him and I can't wait to see what God has in store for our family.

Hudson now has two teeth.  He learned to crawl on November 21st and now he flies around our condo pretty quickly.  He also learned to stand up on his own the same day.  He spends a good portion of his days pulling up to a standing position and then letting go, to see how long he can stand with no hands.  His little hips swivel back and forth as he tries to keep his balance, but he can only make it work for about ten seconds before he tumbles down.  It makes me smile every time.  :-)

I just finished my first semester as a full time student.  I am happy to say that after four years of college, I am no longer a Freshman.  Since I am in a five year program, if I continue at this rate, I should be done by the time I am.....42 years old....right about the time Hudson will get his driver's license.  I pray to God that it doesn't take me that long and that I am able to continue going to school full time.  

While I am between semesters our goal is to get our condo staged to sell.  We would like to expand the family but our condo is getting a little tight and Achilles desperately needs a fenced in backyard.

Here are some things that happened recently.

We had a great time at a baby Halloween party.

Hudson was the only boy to attend!  He loved the female attention...

We played in the leaves...

Turned Hudson into a monkey...

Decorated the Christmas tree...

Welcomed Hayden Cromer (Hudson's cousin) into the world...

And Hudson celebrated the end of the semester by destroying my homework!

This has been a wonderful year and I look forward to seeing what 2014 has to offer.

7 Months and a Baby Shower

Hudson is now 7 months old, and I can't believe it!  He is getting so big and he is very close to being able to get around quickly.  I want him to crawl because I love to witness his milestones but part of me wants him to wait until I finish this semester.  Studying for five classes is a little tricky with a baby that is not mobile.  I'm not sure how it will work when he is getting into everything.

Hudson's first tooth came in a few weeks ago, on the bottom.  I'm half expecting a tooth to come in on the top, caddy-corner from the first so he looks like a little jack o'lantern for Halloween.  James and I bought a Halloween costume for Hudson.  James wanted Hudson to be Dracula, so that is the plan.  I just realized as I was writing this paragraph that Hudson's lack of teeth may be problematic in respect to his costume.  He does however have the pointy Dracula hairline naturally.  He is just missing the dark hair.

The last "month" photo I posted of Hudson was 3 months.  Here are months four, five, and six.  I have yet to take his seven month photo.

Below: Hudson is proud of his Daddy and his new job.

Below: Hudson and his puppy.

Below:  The men of the house, napping.

Today my mother-in-law and I threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Emily.  It was so much fun to put it all together.  A lot of the decorations were Pinterest inspired.  I have so many photos and ideas pinned but it was exciting to put so many of them to use.  We went with a baseball theme to match the theme of Hayden's nursery.

Below:  HAYDEN"S STATS-I meant to get a photo of this after it was filled in with everyone's guesses.

We tried to stick mostly with the baseball theme, even with the food.  We had hotdogs, nachos, popcorn, and other baseball goodies.  We also had chicken salad on pretzel buns and a chocolate fountain, neither of which were ready when I had the camera out.

Painting these pumpkins proved to be a bit more difficult than expected, but I think it added a nice touch of fall.

Even though the theme was "baseball", we had to represent the Reds in a few ways.

More painted pumpkins!

Hudson just fell asleep, so that is my cue to study for my Financial Accounting test.  Ta-ta for now!

The League of Ordinary Gentlemen

A few months ago James tried to talk me into joining a dynasty football league that he was starting.  We ended up deciding on running a team together since I have very limited knowledge of football and a full schedule with school.  Every year I spend countless hours watching football games with James, even though I'm not a huge football fan.  I love watching football because it is time I get to spend with my wonderful husband but since I am a very competitive person, I decided that being involved in the fantasy football league would make watching games more entertaining.  Today we had the draft and James seems to think we ended up with a great team.  Of course James consulted with me about each and every pick before making the final decisions.  That last sentence was 100% false.      :-)

Anyway, I love scrapbooking but I just have not had time recently so I enjoyed getting out some of my scrapbooking equipment to throw this draft board together.

This is the League Commissioner (James) and the Enforcer (Hudson)!

Don't mess with this little guy!

Hudson loves his cousin Rosie.

And Rosie loves him too.