Lots of Schot has been going on!

It has been way too long since I've hopped on the ol blog here. So much has happened in the past 8 weeks its almost daunting to think of trying to recap. Largely the loss of my hard drive and the external hard drive for which it was backed up to (10,000 pics) has caused me not to be able to do this for a while. That and the fact that's it has just been kinda nutty.

Hudson Updates

Biggest thing though is my baby boy is 1! (now almost 13 months). Please tell me how in the world that is possible.

I am in true awe at the pace in which he is learning new things. Every single day there is something new that he has picked up. I wish I could bottle up all of this cute-isms so that I would never forget them. Bottle up his sweet little voice, bottle up he way he says his words (especially Mommy), bottle up every one of his little mannerisms, bottle up the little way he chews up his food, his little toddle run around the room....its all going so fast, and I'm so scared I'm going to forget it.

He is talking up a storm now. He says about 50 words. The cutest of which is his name. The other day we were out. I was holding him and pushing the stroller that he was totally done with, and he was patting me saying Mommy. I patted him back and said, Hudson. In turn he patted himself and said, "Hudsie!" He totally gets it. You pat him and ask, "Who is this?" He proudly replies back, "Hudsie." I melt every time.

He is in constant motion. Crawling is pretty much a thing of the past. :( And he is in constant discovery mode. We have thankfully mastered the words, PLEASE and THANK-YOU! We had a few weeks of so much whining I thought I was going to go nutty. He knows so clearly what he wants, and didn't know how to tell me. Now (through ignoring lots of whining) he goes directly to pointing and asking "Pease." Sometimes it takes a bit for me to figure what exactly he is 'please-ing,' but it is so much better than the squeal. Once he gets it, he does a quick nod and say 'tank-to.' Southern boy's gotta have is manners!

(getting these pics is next to impossible now)

Birthday Schindigs

We had a great time getting to celebrate his birthday the day before we loaded up and made the big move to Nashville. Hudson loves animals and his first two animal sounds were an elephant and a lion...so we had a circus party! I think he quite enjoyed being the center of attention.

Hudson's first word was balloon, and he loves them! So we woke him up with a ceiling full of balloons to celebrate his big day. He was pretty jazzed. Especially about the Elmo/Big Bird one, as he is quite infatuated with those two.

Hud's party was in the lobby of our condo. It worked out perfectly...didn't have to pack up everything to a diff location when we were in the midst of packing up the whole house. 

 

He quite loved opening up all of his awesome presents! (side note: thank-you notes are written, but haven't exactly made it to the mail box yet. Please forgive the lateness!)

 

Nashville, Y'all

10 months after putting our condo on the market, we finally made it to Nashville. It really feels good to be home. There's nothing like Tennessee green. There's nothing like family. We have gotten to see my family so much since we've been here and it has been so wonderful. It is still quite an adjustment though! We are working to get our daily groove down to feel more settled. Though this is where I grew up, with the exception of summers and 6 months after college, I haven't lived here full time since high school. So I'm having to re-learn the city as an adult, married, mom. Pretty different! 

As great as it is to be here and as much as this is where we want to be, I definitely miss Cincinnati. I miss my friends. I miss my daily groove. I miss the familiarity I had with things. It really is a great city and it was truly good to Justin and me. (Hudson too.) I miss my girlfriends (you know who you are) to go get a glass of wine and dinner with and have easy, therapeutic conversation. 

However, the Lord has orchestrated everything so clearly for us right now, I know that He is going to bring sweet friendships into my life. I can't wait to reconnect with friends from the past (you know who you are), and also make new connections. I'm totally gonna get on the dating scene with girls. Watch out Nashville moms...I'm probably gonna try and pick you up soon. "So, do you come to this park often??" :)

Justin is working in the same office now with my Dad and I think they are loving getting to work/hang out every day. They, along with my brother, Austin, have started daily Crossfit workouts and lunch and are machines. Gonna have some ripped up men in this family by the end of the summer. 

We are living in a lovely little apartment. And by lovely I mean, 25 years old, every board (literally) squeaks in the Barbie kitchen, and the bathroom counter is about knee-cap level. It is just for 5 more months though, and the location is awesome. 5-10 min from just about everything. And now that we are settled it feels quite cozy. We can't wait for our house to be finished though! It is being built about 10 minutes from where we are now and I'm so excited for it. 

My new passion currently is junk...and by junk I mean yard sale treasures! I am so excited to find yard sale pieces to refinish and fill our house with. Much of my inspiration is coming Vintage Revivals and The Lettered Cottage. I love making things, and I love a good deal...this is like a collision of two things that make me so happy! Stay tuned for before and afters as I get moving on this stuff. 

So, there we go, folks. Long update, but I'm suuuure it was well worth your time. :) 

Go do something fun today!

Ash

Mr. Big Schot

Hud the Stud is officially 9 months old. 

As I was driving home from his 9 month check up the thought hit me that it was the same amount of time that I was pregnant with him! It kills me that he's going to be 1 before I can hardly blink my eyes. I know there is so much fun in store though. With he passing month that he grows he just gets more and more fun. 

We had a great doc appt. I always love going to hear the latest stats and make sure that everything is chugging along like it should. Hudson is 30 1/2 inches tall and 20 pounds, which puts him in the 97% for height and about 48-50% for weight. His head is holding strong in the 25%. (Sorry buddy, you got that from your mama). He is doing everything he should be doing and then some!

Here are some pics of some of his favorites things right now. I am refraining from putting a large picture of my face on here...because let's be honest, I'm kind of his favorite thing. (wink, wink)

He love his ball-popping dinosaur toy and he loves to fill it with all of his other toys too! These little stacking cups are other favs. They are perfect for one of his other favorite past times--banging things together. He love to shake and bang anything he gets his hands on.

The Gymboree tunnel! He LOVES this thing. He gets in there and crawls back and forth in it over and over. Yesterday he decided he was over group time in the circle and he went and started crawling in the tunnel. He sits in there and just laughs at how funny he is.

DOGS! Oooohhh goodness. As much as I have sworn we will never have another dog, my will may just crack. This kid loves dogs. Here he is playing with Riley at his Nonna's house. He thinks Riley is hilarious. His favorite 2 books are Harry the Dirty Dog and Puppy Love. He laughs at loud at every page of the Dirty Dog book. Its pretty precious.

Bathtime! He loves getting in here and playing with all of his toys. He especially loves the mini shampoo bottles. Doesn't so much love getting his hair washed though. 

Balloons! Did y'all know that Kroger will give you a free balloon for your kid when you go shopping?? I just figured this out last week! Every week when we go in there Hudson is fascinated by the balloons at the front of the store. So last week I asked if I could just buy 1 plain latex balloon. She said, "Do you just want a Kroger one for free?" YES! He played with it the whole time we shopped. This week, however, he got a special Valentine's one. I love Valentines Day (probably the only person who actually loves that holiday), and this one had a dinosaur and says You're Dino-mite. C'mon.

Most of all though...he loves to kiss his Mommy.

Lovely Days

It's been a while since I've posted.

Not much has been going on.

I'm counting that as a good thing though. (smile). We are enjoying days and trying to soak up all of the goodness right now. Some days are filled with so many precious moments that my heart wants to burst. Some days are filled with so many screeches, squawks, and tears that I just want to burst in to a big glass of wine.

Justin and I have been talking a lot lately about life being right now. We spend so much of our lives planning and thinking about the future...but life is now. We're making memories now, and I want to make sure we're giving today the respect it deserves.

Now, I'm not trying to be a killer of dreams. I'm a dreamer. Big time. I probably have my head in the clouds more often than I even realize. I think dreaming is a good thing. I just don't want to get caught missing the tender little moments and memories that are happening right now.

So much of our lives up to this point have been spent in speculation. I wonder what my husband will be like...wonder what my first house will look like...wonder what my first child will look like. And now, here I am smack dab in the realization that I now see what all of that actually looks like as reality! Some days that really blows my mind. Before Justin and I had Hudson we kinda thought we had lived so much life. And now, we are realizing how much life has really just begun. All those talks of the 'One day when we..." ...now that 'one day' is here.

Anyway...

Hud has been a stinker lately. He's a riot. He keeps us on our toes at all times because he is on the move at all times. Lately he has learned the art of opening cabinets and pulling out everything that is in them. He has also decided that he loathes eating. Anytime Justin or I come near him with a spoon he squeezes his lips together, then blows raspberries and then knocks the spoon with amazing precision. No chance food is going to enter his mouth. He will, however, feed himself. In which case, only about 40% of the food actually makes it in to his mouth. So far this week I've been able to get him to eat little bites of parnsips, hummus, waffles, blueberries, pasta, green beans, bananas and graham crackers. Anything else may as well be dirt.

He has also perfected his elephant noise. Its the only animal noise he makes and he has it down pat. Its kind of hilarious.

His favorite song is the Itsy Bitsy Spider. On Sunday he had been fussing and I started singing that to him. He sat completely engrossed, clapped when it was over and then leaned in and gave me a huge slobbery kiss. Justin said, "That's pretty great, Ash. You sing Itsy Bitsy Spider and get a round of applause followed by a kiss."(those are those sweet times I don't want to miss).

The TV stand is his favorite place to play. He pulls out all of the DVDs, slides the cabinet door open and closed and stands on his tippy toes to see what's on top. 

Playing with his workbench

Typical meal these days. We've been having a lot of big boy meals now where he feeds himself and its better! 

He got his first boo boo the other day. It was scary! First time I've seen blood and my heart almost stopped. He face planted into the nightstand. Big goose egg and a cut, but he's ok!

Walking is not too far off. He is pushing things around the room on his own, but not doing it on his own yet. Sometimes we'll look over and Hudson is just standing there not holding on to anything. Its so weird to see, and he doesn't even know he's doing it. When he realizes he's not holding on he sits down really quick. (I'll get a video up soon.)

He loves kissing his Mommy too. :) 

Our nights are Schot

I'm grumpy. And tired.

When Hudson was 7 weeks old he started sleeping through the night. Oh happy day! Such a good sleeper! I would feel bad talking about my good sleeper in front of other exhausted new moms who weren't quite so lucky.

Weeeeell...it looks like Justin and I were rejoicing a little too soon.

We've been coasting along pretty smoothly and WHAM! 8 months hit us like a brick wall. We came back from Christmas in Nashville where the 3 of us shared a room for 2 weeks. (Hudson doesn't do the Pack and Play very well which means Justin, Hudson and me all ended up in a full bed almost every night for 2 weeks.) We got back home and into our own space and Hudson went straight to sleeping 12 hours/night and easy peasy nap time. And then all hell broke loose.

For the past 5 or 6 nights we have been up pretty much all night. No joke I was up about 4 or 5 times the first night....and it's 'down' to just 1 or 2 now. Come. On.

Naps?

Forget it.

Today Hudson cried for probably about an hour and a half in the 'cry it out method.' (45 minutes between 2 naps). He actually napped for less time than that, I think. The second one didn't even happen. We finally just got him up and said screw it.

I'm exhausted. I'm cranky. I'm annoyed. I'm frustrated.

Yet...I still am crazy about that kiddo.

I guess that's parenthood, huh?

I'd post a pic of him, but my stupid iPhoto isn't working. I upgraded it today and it just keeps freezing trying to upgrade my library. Another thing that's making me annoyed.

On a positive note, Justin and I had a great date night last night and the muchkin did great for our babysitter.

Pray for sleep for the Schots.

Hurry up and slow down!

2012 is officially here and my baby boy is officially 8 months old! It's so weird to think that in just 4 months he'll be a year old. It makes me sad how quickly the time has gone. Yet I'm having so much fun seeing what each new stage brings with Hudson. Hudson flirted through brunch today with a lady that had a teeny tiny little boy. It made my heart jolt a little to think about just how short of a time ago Hudson was that small. On the other hand I see these adorably funny little 3 & 4 year old boys and I'm excited to see what my little stinker will be like then. Before I know it, he's going to be a stinky, dirty, rowdy, wild little boy...and I know he'll have me even more wrapped his little finger then. I just want the time to slow down--I'm not ready for that yet. For now, I'm enjoying soaking up every moment of his squeezable BABYness.

Here's my attempt at showing his 8 month info. He pretty much just wants to play with the paper, so....Here's what it says. If you want the Reader's Digest version, just read this. If you like the Proud Mommy version, continue reading.

• I'm crawling everywhere!
• Crawling is boring though. I'd rather pull up on any and everything.
• I can clap my hands now! (see video below)
• I have almost mastered the High Five
• I have my two bottom teeth now and love to eat big-boy foods--especially Puffs
• I make all kinds of noises & love to talk (Mama, Dada, Baba, raspberries, tongue trills & clicks and a whole variety of others fun sounds)
• I would like to have a velcro attachment to my Mommy...I love her to hold me & I love to climb all over her. 
• Forget toys--I prefer paper & cell phones (or remote controls or any other 'non' toy)
• I love to turn my head sideways and look upside down at things

Proud Mommy extended version
Hudson is doing so much new stuff! It seems every day I'm saying, "That's new," to something that he's done. He's got such a little personality and has us constantly laughing. Everywhere we go Hudson makes friends. He catches eyes with people across the store or restaurant and gives them these big, and sometimes coy smiles. Not sure where he got it, but this kid is Determined with a capital D! If there is something he wants, he will do whatever he can to get to it...including crawling over, and knocking over anything in his way. He is SO fast and can get anywhere he wants. I can practically hear the wheels turning in his head as he is in constant discovery mode. I love watching him learn and explore new things. For example, by accident he learned that drawers opened. He went to pull up on a drawer and it pulled out. Now, he can't wait to pull them open and gets really frustrated when they "won't open." Its also fascinating to see him figure out his own boundaries. He is very adventurous, but he's caution in his adventures. He'll pull up on something and then kinda test it to make sure its sturdy, or that the next surface he's cruising to is reachable and that he can get down.

He learned to clap this week...which is pretty much the cutest thing ever. Here's a video of him doing it for the first time. (iPhones sure make capturing all of these little moments easy!) You should see what a clapping pro he is now, just 4 days later. He is so proud of himself. :)

I like to think he's an imaginative kid. He doesn't really care about the noise making toys. But give him a block, bowl, toy hammer or ball and he is SO entertained! He loves to shake things. If its in his hand he's gonna shake it to make see what kind of cool noise it makes--and then he eats it. He would be in heaven if I put him in a pool full of paper though. That's his favorite. Unfortunately its not too kid-friendly.

A few weeks ago he started doing this little thing where he'll look at someone across the room and then cock his head completely sideways...almost upside down. It's so funny. I have no idea what he's doing, I think he just thinks its funny! Like he's trying to get a new perspective on the world from upside down or that he's just joking around with you.

One thing he definitely got from his Daddy is his passion for water. When Justin and I were dating I quickly learned that his answer to any ailment is, "Drink more water." He feels about water like the Dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding feels about Windex. Hudson goes nuts-o over water. Anytime I walk to get water from the fridge he gets so excited. He'll grab my glass and drench us both if I'm not careful. He mastered the art of drinking from a cup and a Camelbak bottle a while ago, and his latest accomplishment is that he figured out how to drink out of a regular straw.

The best thing though, is that this little buddy loves to laugh! He finds the smallest things hilarious and the sound of his laughter is hands down the best thing I've ever heard. I pretty much make crazy noises and act like a goof all day so I can hear it.

For your listening pleasure. My apologies for the snorts and snarls of mine you also have to listen to.

To make the longest blog post even longer....

Hudson's First Christmas was so wonderful. Justin and I had so much fun playing Santa Claus. We are so fortunate to have such amazing family and even more fortunate to be able to spend almost 2 full weeks in Nashville bonding with them! Hudson absolutely loves getting to spend time at Nee Nee and Grandaddy's house. When he wakes up from his naps, I bring him downstairs and I can just see his face eagerly anticipating all of the fun 'entertainers' that await him. He lights up whenever he sees any of his aunts and uncles, and of course his Nee Nee and Grandaddy. However, Cole (old, grouchy dog) and Jingle (typical cat) were who really captivated Hudson's heart. Every time he saw either of them he'd stop and say, "Ooooo" over and over. He'd crawl as fast as he could to get to them and neither one of them wanted anything to do with him. Fun spoilers. We got a few sneak pets in there and Hudson just giggled with excitement. Kid loves animals. Clearly another thing he got from his Daddy. 

Here are a few pics of the Christmas fun...

Hudson's First Christmas Tree.

Christmas Morning in Nashville

These two kids sure don't look like Grandparents, do they?? We were so happy we got to celebrate Nee Nee's birthday with her. 

If you made it through and are reading this to the end...thanks! and impressive. You must either love me, or be bored. (smile)

Off to figure out how to conquer the world...or at least my little corner of it.

Ash