Let me start out by saying that Hudson has by far THE BEST BABYSITTER EVER! Nonni is like a grandma to him, he loves her so much (and so do Bryan and I)! (There are 5 kids there: Hudson 2, Scarlet 2, Ethan 18 months, Hunter 20 months, baby Hunter 10 months.) Do not judge...

Yesterday Nonni called as I was pulling out of the parking lot at school. Of course the first thought in my mind was, "oh no, Hudson has a fever." I answered with hesitation and Nonni proceeded with -

Nonni: "what shoes did Hudson come with today?"
Steph: "Hudson had his tennis shoes on."
Nonni: "Oh my! - I put Hudson's shoes on Hunter, Hunter's shoes on Ethan, and Ethan's shoes on Hudson! I thought those shoes were too small for Hudson!"

Let me tell you...Ethan is 14 months younger than Hudson and Hunter is a few months older than Ethan.

Today I picked him up and said "Oh no Hudson, what did you do to your shirt?" (He was wearing one I had never seen.) Nonni put baby Hunter's clothes on Hudson and Hudson's clothes on baby Hunter! Poor Nonni, she already needs a vacation!

Just a quick update...

I know that it's been a while since I've updated about our happenings. It has been a fun filled summer that is quickly ending! Only 2 weeks left until I start back to school. So sad! I promise that I will update our summer events soon...we have enjoyed every minute!

But to today...I decided that I would attempt to tackle the chore of potty training. (By far the most difficult parenting task we have faced!) Hudson and I went to Target yesterday and bought cute Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny & Sesame Street underwear. We were both pumped to start as soon as he got up this morning. Let's just say in 10 hours we had 3 successes, 9 underwear changes and a mommy who finally gave in and put a diaper on her precious boy! I did get some advice from my sis-in-law, Alicia's sis-in-law! We'll see maybe we'll try again in a month or so. If anyone has any advice please let me know!

A weekend full of Birthday Fun...

...well the post is a week late! Two weekends ago (May 22 - 24) was both Bryan and my birthday! We started it off with my birthday on Friday with my family. My dad made yummy steaks and my mom her yummy chocolate cake!


Hudson and Kaleb eating ice cream!


My mom and I. She took off work and brought me lunch to school. She even had a mini red velvet cake for me!



We had a great time and even got to ship Hudson away for the night! Don't be deceived, it wasn't technically a date night (unless you think grocery shopping is!) - we shipped him away because the next day was Bryan's 30th birthday party!



Thanks Holly for making the cake! It was delicious as always! We had lots of family and friends to help celebrate with us and even these little guys...



One of Bryan's best friends, Kenneth, is a chef. He came over early Saturday morning and we helped him prepare for the party. He made crawfish, tilapia, shrimp kabobs. Everything was wonderful as always, thanks Kenneth!

We had a great party and Bryan survived turning the BIG 3-0!



Happy Birthday to us! I can't wait to celebrate many more with you!

Prayers for Bentley

If you know me, then you know that I am always drawn to people's blogs who have children with heart defects. Say prayers for Bentley tomorrow as well as her parents. She is at TCH and will have open heart surgery in the morning. The next week will be very trying and exhausting for her parents and without the support of family and friends it is hard to keep your head above water (believe me, Bryan and I know - we had amazing support)! We pray for peace, comfort and strength for her parents. For Bentley we pray for the surgeons and nurses who will be working their magic, strength during the surgery, and a speedy recovery!

"He's going to kill you..."

That's what Bryan said when I took this...

Cardiologist Update

I took Hudson to the cardiologist last Tuesday by myself because it was just “a 6 month check-up”. We had an echo and EKG done. The Dr. saw something on the tests and told me that he was taking his case to the board. The last time he did that was when surgery was decided upon. Of course you could imagine when Dr. S told me he was taking the case to the board I went into panic mode. I talked to Dr. S Friday afternoon and he told me what it appears to be. (I’m not sure if he told me it’s a side effect (not common) of VSD or VSD surgery.) There is a “muscle bump” that is forming on the wall of the right ventricle which is causing turbulence, more than should be. His hole that he has (in between his right and left ventricle by the hole that was patched during surgery), which we know he has, is in that same area, but still should not be causing much turbulence at all! What it boils down to is that what is now a “muscle bump” could grow into a muscle band and divide the right ventricle into 2 chambers. If that occurs then we would have to go have the muscle removed, meaning surgery yet again. As you can imagine this is the last thing that Bryan and I want for Hudson. We are praying in faith that God will choose to heal Hudson’s heart completely! Please pray this with us! We go back in 6-9 months to TCH to have an echo in their lab (we see Dr. S at the satellite clinic in Clear Lake normally). The results of that test will show us what step we take next. Our prayer is that we get to share with everyone the miracle that God performed on Hudson’s heart to heal it! As you can imagine as soon as I got in the car after Tuesday’s appointment I told Bryan that never again would I go to a cardiologist appointment alone! Please keep us in your prayers.

Of course this is an answered prayer alone that this new diagnosis is nothing that needs immediate action!

We love you all!

Happy Easter

Hudson was so excited that the Easter Bunny came to visit! We were coming downstairs and he spotted his basket, trying to hold off until Bryan was in the room I took him to fix breakfast. As soon as I put him down he dashed off to see what he had!

Hudson is his Easter jammies!

Hudson & Mommy getting ready to leave for church. Opps! Forgot that I didn't have lipstick on yet!

The Carnes Family at church.

Hudson & Kaleb - it's impossible to get a good picture of the two boys. (I didn't even take a picture of the twins, but they sure were precious!)

Ready to hunt eggs in the house, it rained all morning.

My family.

Pop & Hudson releasing a butterfly. We were suppose to have a butterfly release at church, but because of the rain we couldn't. We brought our butterflies home and let them go. The boys loved it!

On a side note, Hudson goes to the cardiologist tomorrow for a 6 month check-up. Please keep us in your prayers!