Weekend Fun

1./ Mom’s Birthday. This year I turned 28. It’s happening. I’m getting older. This was my first birthday as a mom, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Birthdays were always a big deal when we were kids, but now I think it’s time to make our children’s birthday the main focus, instead of ours. I went about the day like normal. Hudson was more fussy than usual and I had to pause my workout video about 20 times to take care of him. But he is my first priority, so that’s ok. 🙂 Since my birthday fell on a very busy day of the week for Ricky, we decided to celebrate over the weekend. I was so happy to see I had a card from Hudson. Daddy must have helped him pick it out. 🙂 It was fun celebrating as a family. Ricky took me shopping and did sweet things for me, as he always does. However, in the future, I do suspect our children’s birthdays will be quite more exciting than ours as parents.

2./ Fellowship. I am still getting to know people in our church. We’ve been here at Arlington about a year and a half, and it seems it has taken long to really feel like home. There is a sweet family in our church that we have been spending more time with recently. They are older than us and have 3 teenage kids. However, we love their company and get a long with them great. We discovered they lived very close to us, and Renee (the wife) invited me over for lunch and walking last weekend. It’s neat to see how the Lord works in people. I had been having a rough week, and she mentioned to me that I had been on her heart and that she wanted to spend more time fellowshipping. We had just a wonderful time talking and getting to know each other better. We really have a lot in common and there doesn’t even seem to be a big age difference there. I think I can learn a lot from her. She made a lovely lunch of curry chicken salad, apple slices, and broccoli slaw. It was delicious! One thing we found in common was that we both love food! Although, I did discuss with her how I was on a diet, etc. We decided to go walking in her beautiful neighborhood. There were several old homes that were just gorgeous to look at. We huffed and puffed as I pushed the stroller up the hills and back down, and talked along the way. I am so thankful for good fellowship and new friends.

3./ Day Out. Hudson’s clothes are beginning to not fit so well. My little boy is growing up. I found a cute striped hand-me-down outfit that I paired with jeans for our day out. I thought he was looking rather dashing, as usual. I know, I know. We moms go a little crazy over our children. Ricky, Hudson, and I loaded up for a day in PA visiting Shrewsbury Markets and antique shops along the way.

4./ Mom Hair. So, I think I’ve tried just about every hair style on me and have come to the conclusion that I’m going to keep my hair long as long as I can. I’ve always had long hair, so after college I wanted to try it short to see if I liked it. It didn’t look bad, but I did not like it! It was much harder to style and I just preferred longer. You always hear of mom’s cutting their hair short after having kids, and now I know why. Hudson grabs it all the time, and ends up with my hair everywhere…including his mouth! Nevertheless, it’s so much easier having it long and I prefer how it looks on me over having short hair. I have a great friend who has her own salon in her home and she does a great job. I can’t afford to get it done very often, but when I do it’s always a treat. I kept it similar to my normal style but added a richer brown color, slightly more bangs, and long layers. I always feel fresh and rejuvenated after getting my hair done! Who says moms have to feel “ugly” and “run-down”? Just make some time for yourself every once in awhile: Eat well, exercise, paint your nails and do your hair (when you can) and enjoy being a mom and wife!

5./ The Flying Avocado. I think by now you know how much Ricky and I enjoy exploring antique shops, vintage stores, and coffee shops. It’s just our thing. We had a friend in our church tell us about a new place she found, so of course, we had to check it out. It’s all organic and has a huge menu of sandwiches, soups, salads, and coffee. And come on; it has avocado in its name! It has to be good! I had the grilled chicken and Brie with green apples sandwich with a side salad. Quite delicious! This place may have moved to our top 5 list!

6./ Game Night. I’m changing. I’ve never focused so much on my health as I have now. Becoming a mother, I think, opens your eyes to many new things. As a teenager I enjoyed a lot of things…mostly socializing with friends. Things didn’t really change much when I went to college. Just more socializing. I remember in youth group on Wednesday nights we would often go outside for game time and play soccer, kickball, or some other physical game like that. I was never into it. I just wanted to talk to my friends. Ridiculous, I know. I did, however love playing volleyball. I just couldn’t really get into the other sports. It wasn’t that I wasn’t athletic; I actually kind of was. I loved snow skiing, track and field (mainly the high jump), and volleyball. But, as I got older my interests changed a little. The last couple years of marriage I have probably gained the most weight in my life, eaten the worst, and definitely have not played any sports. But, like I said. I’m changing. And I’m excited about it. Ricky and I have changed our eating habits, are working out daily, and are becoming more active in our daily lifestyle. We had game night the other evening at church. I was so excited about getting out there and playing some volleyball. Thankfully, Aunt Eunice was willing to watch little H while I faced how rusty I was on the court. Wow, I really needed to work on my serve. It felt so good to get out there and hit the ball. I also decided to try something I’ve seriously never done before: play soccer. I did it. I played soccer, and I actually hit the ball, a few times even. I felt like a teenager again, only this time actually playing instead of just talking. I left with quite a few bruises on my body, but it was well worth the fun and exercise! Can’t wait for more!

7./ Antique Toys. We visited an antique store over the weekend while we were out for my birthday. This place was huge. Hudson always attracts people’s attention when we go out, and a couple started going on about how cute he was. We ended up talking with this couple for almost 45 minutes right there in the store. It was like we had known them our whole lives. We discovered quite a few antique toys that we just had to have Hudson try out. This little rocker was so cute! We set him on it and he loved it. We had so much fun taking pictures of him and laughing together!

8./Daddy and Hudson. Ricky snapped this picture of him and Hudson talking over Instant Messenger with Uncle Jesse. Ricky is a great Dad, and I know the older Hudson gets he will love playing with Hudson and taking him fishing and camping.

9./ Nursery fun. I was in the nursery Sunday night, and lo and behold Hudson was the only baby there. So we had some fun. This was his first time in a baby walker/bouncer. He loved it, as you can see from his smile. He’s such a happy little guy. Most of the time.

Happy Weekend! I’m linking up to my friend’s blog. Be sure to check it out! Annapolis and Company