Hudson at 2

 This post is LONG overdue.

Hudson's stats:

Weight: 29 lbs (63%)

Height: 35 inches (75%)

Hudson's weight gain really slowed down between his 18 month and 2 year checkups.  Part of it is that fact that he was continuously sick and was hardly eating a thing.  From what I'm used to with my boys, Hudson seems like a skinny little guy when he runs around in just his diaper. 

This boy is just learning and growing each day. 

He is still a clown and loves attention while making people laugh.

One of my biggest struggles with him lately is FOOD. 

He will not eat a THING. 

Fruits, not one.

Veggies, not one.

Chicken Nuggets--check.

Hot Dog--check.

It is absolutely and completely frustrating.  We have had countless battles at the table trying to get him to eat SOMETHING healthy.  He is my SUGAR lover and I've even kept him away from sugar.  No luck yet.  We have done the whole, this is what you have to eat, if you don't eat it, tough luck thing...which has resulted in a VERY grouchy starving boy who wakes up SUPER early, starving and grouchy in the morning (and still refusing most foods).  It has been a very big struggle for me.  Crossing my fingers this phase ends soon.

Thank GOODNESS for smoothies where I can get fruits and veggies in him.  He will also eat the pureed pouches you can buy that have the fruit/veggie mix.  We bought dried fruit from Costco for food storage awhile back, although I don't find it tasty, Hudson REALLY likes it. 

Let's pray this phase ends REALLY soon.

Hudson always must have something (train, car, block, etc) in his hand almost at all times.  When we leave the house, when we play around the house, when he goes to bed...it's a must.  At night we make him leave whatever his chosen favorite is for the day on the dresser.  In the morning when he wakes up, it's the first thing he asks for.

 He has shown interest in the potty.  He asks to sit on the toilet but has never peed or pooped yet.  I think he just enjoys the seat and likes to be big like the rest of us.  When he is poopy, he asks to be changed and usually gets really quiet and goes off to the side when he is pooping.  He asks to see it when I change him and waves his hand in front of his face saying "TINKY, TINKY!"

This boy is ALL about his cars ("ars"),

 And trains ("ains"),

Four wheelers (his interpretation of the word four wheeler is hilarious) and LOVES to get "muddy,"

 He loves his Bubba,

 ANYTHING sweet but most importantly his obsession with his daddy.  I don't know if Boston ever reached this levek of obsession with his dad but Hudson LIVES for Kent.  He asks for his daddy during the day, wants Kent to hold him when he comes home, wants Kent to help him with whatever, sit by him, ride four wheelers with him...you name it, he wants Kent.  I have to admit AT TIMES I get a little jealous.

 Hudson is one you have to keep your eye on.  I turned away from one minute in the bathroom one day only to turn around to Hudson covered in red face paint and hair soaked from the spray bottle. 

Curious Hudson.

 He is still currently in his crib.  When Boston was around 2, I was SO anxious to transition him to the big boy bed.  Now that I have experienced that process (getting him to STAY in bed at night), I'm not in such a rush with Hudson...especially with the boys sharing a room...that would just be TROUBLE.  So we will ride this train as long as we can for now.  He still sleeps with his binky but leaves it on his pillow when he wakes up.  We are down to ONE binky (where do those things disappear to) and I'm pretty sure the end will be coming soon. 

A few other random things about Hudson:

• He LOVES the show Chuggington
• He can identify the color blue and green
• When we count, he only cares to say the number 8.
• He LOVES to read books. 
• If you are talking to him, many times he responds with "HUH??" over and OVER. 
• We love hearing him say "OH NO!!!" and "WHAT DAT DADDY?"
• If you ask how old he is, he will respond with "TWO!" and tries to show you two on his fingers but can't quite work his hand  so he puts up one finger on each hand.
• His wake up time seems to be getting earlier and EARLIER.  Currently it's 6:50 or so.  Help me.
• His bottom two TWO YEAR molars have come in.
• Probably my FAVORITE is that when he gets hurt, he cries until I ask to give his bo-bo a kiss, then it magically heals it and off he is playing again.

NYC (last June)

Yes, this happened last June but I finally got ahold of our NYC pictures in December and I'm FINALLY blogging about it.  It's my fault for not bringing a camera...but so glad the girls did!

Last past mother's day (yes...the one back in 2012), I opened a blender.

Exciting?  Not too much (although we DID need a blender).

Then I opened my card and my disappointment COMPLETELY went away when I was surprised with a

TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY with some of my close friends.

I was ECSTATIC!

Ever since I had gone back in 2010, I had been CRAVING to go back.  Our husbands had planned and surprised us with a trip to NYC over FATHER'S DAY WEEKEND (not sure they realized this when the tickets were booked).

So, back in June, we boarded our plane to NYC!!!

We were greeted by our driver (yes, we felt like celebs) and a sign that said "H.O.T.Y." which stands for HUSBANDS OF THE YEAR. 

Yes, they are.

 Our drive into the city

We stayed in a GREAT spot at the Westin right by Time Square.  We had a FABULOUS view.

 Once we got in, we hurried to change our clothes in order to make our dinner reservation at the Westin's restaurant downstairs (the food was DELISH) so we could hustle to catch our cab. 

 NYC traffic coming from the airport was a beast and put us a little behind our planned schedule. 

This picture is WAY blurry but it's from my phone of us in our first cab ride all together!

 We had tickets to see the Broadway play NEWSIES!!!  Let me tell you, this play DID NOT disappoint.  It was seriously just AMAZING.  I am craving to see it again and again.  I was smiling ear to ear, singing along to the songs the whole time and taking it all in. 

I love Broadway.  I love Newsies.

 After Newsies, we did the tourist thing and walked around Times Square.  I love how busy and BRIGHT Times Square is...although I didn't love walking in heels.

 Ash saw this and thought it was a BIG, REAL Subway restaurant....coming from a place where we have NO subways, Sarah and Emily quickly brought us into reality that it was the entrance for the CITY SUBWAY.  Whoops.

 We spotted the naked cowboy...poor Sarah practically got molested by the man.  The germaphobe of us all got reeled into standing by probably the germiest man in all of NYC.

 Oh the things you see in Times Square...although this reminded me of New Orleans for some reason.

We did dessert at Carmine's that night.  When we were riding in our cab to Newsies, we saw paparazzi standing outside waiting for some celeb.  Sad we missed whoever it was inside.

But we DID thoroughly enjoy our MASSIVE Titanic dessert.  This thing was HUGE...I mean HUGE (and SO yummy)! 

 The next morning we headed over to Gramercy.  I love this area.  It's more quiet and quaint compared to other areas.  I love all the little stoops and Gramercy park.  I ESPECIALLY love where we had breakfast.  FRIEND OF A FARMER is TO DIE FOR.  I had this beyond delish mouth watering southwestern breakfast burrito.  It was so good.  I still crave it to this day and want to go back to NYC JUST for this. 

On a side note, I did not bring my camera to NYC.  I figured I would just get pictures from everyone else because I didn't feel like lugging my camera around everywhere.  I did however snap shots of a few things here and there with my phone.  When I went back to look at my pictures, they were ALL of food. 

Yes, I do love food apparently.

 These were some of the pumpkin pancakes that were apparently so delicious too.  This place was so cute and just perfect.  I NEED to go back.

 We also hit up a local farmers market.  It was so cute.  All these city people coming down to get their fresh fruit, veggies, bread, flowers, etc.  Made me want to live in the city. 

We also headed over to SoHo.  I was on the look out for Bethenny OR Kelly Ripa.  I failed sadly....but I did meet the man who I spotted on the street that Bethenny bought an American Flag painting from.  It was a really beautiful art piece.  I left with no purchase and just his card.

No celeb citings there but we DID find the Dash store. 

No Kardashians were inside though.

 We also walked to Little Italy.  This area was SOOO clean.  Italians must be clean people because this area totally reflected it.

 We stopped in to try "THE WORLD'S BEST CANOLI"  Canoli's aren't necessarily my thing but this was tasty.

 From Little Italy, we hit up CHINA TOWN.  You can't go to NYC without going to Chinatown.  This experience was alot scary than my first.  The first time, you literally walked through shops and they had the purses out for everyone to see.  You pick a bag, wheel and deal, pay them and off you went.  THIS time however, we walked and walked until finally some Chinese lady came up to me and said,"You want Louis Vuitton?"  I answered no because I wanted Michael Kors or Tory Burch but after a mini discussion, she led us to a store, through the hidden door in a wall, down stairs into a dark basement, around a few corners and into a secret room full of "designer bags."  We were all a tad nervous so we quickly made our picks, tried not to get screwed over too badly on the prices and left.  Our little Asian lady, took us to a few other places since not all of us found what we wanted at the first place until we had all found what we were looking for.  I tell you, this is a system these Asians have.  Quite hilarious.  Quite scary too.  Chinatown is DIRTY and busy and once we got what we wanted, we were happy to leave.  We finally found a subway to head back up to safer grounds.

 Emily was our trusty navigator for the Subway.  I've been to NYC twice now and still couldn't get on the right Subway if I tried.  I do NOT understand how they work.  Most of the time, Emily was right and did GREAT at navigating.  Although, on this occasion, we hopped on the wrong subway heading towards Jersey.  Whoops!

 For dinner, we went to one of my favorites, Max Brenner's Chocolate With the Bald Man.  I came here last time and told the girls we had to go back. It didn't disappoint the second time. 

 The biggest and BEST B.A.L.T. you will ever eat.

 Sunday, we went up to the NYC temple.  Its such a different temple compared to the rest around the world. It's so neat that for NYC it's actually in a rather quite, less busy area.  We went to church inside (yes, they have a ward that meets there on the 2nd floor...the actual temple is on the 3rd floor). 

 We saw a family riding their razor scooters to church.  So funny and so different then what we are used to.

 Afterwards, we did a little walking through Central Park.  Emily had a habit the whole time of holding the camera like this to take pictures of everyone (and herself).  Love her.

 Since I was in just about every shot since I didn't bring a camera, I told them all to finally get in a picture together while I sat one out. 

I love Central Park.  It's so pretty.  So many people are out and about playing soccer, baseball, riding bikes, running, etc and you don't even hear the noise from the city.  I think if I lived in the city, I would have to live close enough to Central Park so I could hangout here on a daily basis.

 We came out of Central Park by the famous Plaza Hotel.

 You can't go to NYC without hitting up FAO Schwartz.  Thank you soldier boy for posing for a picture.

 Emily was trying to replay "BIG"

 We shopped around, trying to find something not TOO overly priced for the kiddos....and maybe we got a tad crazy.  Please ignore the size my nostrils get when I flare them....

Ciara, who lives on the Upper West side, came and met up with me for a few minutes after we finished shopping at FAO Sharwtz.  I'm sad I didn't get to spend more time with her but between her having family in town and our schedule, we just couldn't fit more time in.  Love her though and I'm happy I got to see her for a few (and her sweet little Jay boy...and Lyle).

We walked back down 5th Avenue and stopped in a few stores that were WAY out of our league.  It's fun to dream right?  Actually, I don't even know if I'd pay that price for things anyway. 

We stopped by Trump Tower...I was secretly hoping the Donald would walk out.  No luck.

We did stop in Ivanka Trump's GORGEOUS store.  I wish I would have taken a picture. It was beautiful and surprisingly her prices weren't too insane.  I still regret not buying one of her handbags.

 We went and got tickets to our second Broadway play, Jersey Boys.  The music was good but I didn't really love the play.  It has rave reviews though....

After the show, we went back to the hotel for a bit to call husbands and dad's (it was Father's Day), change and relax for a few minutes before heading to dinner.  Poor Ashley did so much walking for a pregnant lady.  I just felt for her.  Last time I went to NYC I was 16 weeks pregnant and it wore me out so I can't imagine how she felt 6 months pregnant. 

We were told that if we really wanted good food, Hell's Kitchen was the area to go. 

So we did.

We went to Justin Timberlake's restaurant, Southern Hospitality.

 

 The food was DELICIOUS.  The collard greens were the BEST I have eaten to date. 

No JT sighting though.

 We walked over to Chelsea to walk Highline Park.  It is a man made park above the streets that was made from old railroad tracks.  I enjoy walking it at night.

 Afterwards, we went for dessert at Cafe Lalo.  Apparently, this is a better option to Serendipity due to their rat problem...although I'm sure every place has rat problems in NYC. 

 This is the same place You've Got Mail was filmed.

 It has the perfect little cafe vibe.  Good dessert.  YUMMY (and so cute) hot chocolate and Sarah enjoyed her herbal tea.

 After getting a TAD lost and confused with where we were going, spotting mattresses in the streets with bed bugs and passing a half way house for parolees, we FINALLY found our way back to the safe zone and made it back safely to our hotel for the night. 

The next morning we woke up INCREDIBLY early and became MAJOR tourists when we went to the Today show to try to thank our husbands for our fabulous trip. 

We had shirts made and even made the world's longest poster for the Today show. 

 There's Ann Curry (literally a week or so before she was given the boot...she was so cute and sweet.  Al Roker, not so much).

 We even got our poster signed by her.

 With every take outside, we TRIED and TRIED to make it on camera.  They got us for a few VERY brief seconds.  We died laughing when we got home to see our famous footage that our husband's DVR'ed for us.

 We stopped at a coffee shop right next door to The Today Show for a quick breakfast before we finished the last few stops we had to make on our trip.

 We contemplated going to the top of The Rock but after the cost and time it would take, we decided against it.

 And settled for a picture in front of Rockefeller Center.

 Sarah made me pose with my new Michael Kors Chinatown bag in front of the real store...

 Then we hailed a cab to take us down to the 9/11 Memorial.  Ashley was told by the cabee to sit in the front since she was pregnant.  Driving in cabs are scary enough...let alone sitting in front getting a full view of crazy driving AND sitting next to some man who one minute you think he is talking to you and then the next minute he's speaking a different language to who knows who. 

 And because of that, and trying to scare Ashley, we were DYING laughing in the backseat.

 We finally made it to the memorial. 

I loved, loved, LOVED this part of the trip.  It was so surreal to be in the same spot that two towers had collapsed and total chaos ensued.  I'm still taken back that this happened in OUR country.  It was seriously a very neat, life changing experience.

  They have built these water falls that go into the ground in place of both the old towers. 

 This tree the the only original tree that still stands post 9/11.

 The names of every victim who died that day are on all of the plaques that surround the waterfalls.  It truly was an amazing experience. 

 Since we were close by, we walked down to where the Staten Island ferry takes you to the Statue of Liberty.  We didn't have the desire to wait ALL day in the insane line so we just saw her from a distance (and I was totally okay with that).  We walked around the Business District a little bit before hitting the subway up back to our hotel to pack our bags, catch our car and go back to the airport.

The trip was amazing.  I'm so grateful I got to share this fun experience again with these girls.  We had SO much fun. 

 And yes, we do have the H.O.T.Y. husbands.

And I'm also 0-2 on celeb citings in NYC....