We'll Miss you Grandpa Albert

On Friday, Dec. 28th our beloved Great Grandpa Albert (*Grandma Judy's Dad) passed away.  We want to take a moment to remember his wonderful life, dedication to family & farm, and honorable military service to our country.  We enjoyed a beautiful service for him today, loving stories by Grandpa Judy & Aunt Patty (*her sister), and were blessed to be surrounded by family & friends.  We will greatly miss Grandpa Great and take comfort in knowing he's at peace with the good Lord.

 

Here are a couple of fun pictures with Grandpa Albert & Grandma Betty; the first when Hudson was born...

...and here's me at their home on my first Halloween!

We love & miss you Grandpa,

Hayden & Hudson

Our Christmas...

On Christmas morning we slept in and awoke to presents from Santa!  We opened a few presents before breakfast, took a break and then went back at it!  Our favorite present was from Santa and it is our very own workbench with tools!  Here's us men playing in our new shop.  Notice Daddy's supervising and teaching us the ropes!

Mom made a fun breakfast for us of toast, bacon & eggs, fresh fruit and our very own powdered doughnut snowmen!  They were delicious and a fun Christmas treat.

Of course Kato got presents too.  Here he is in his new Iowa State bandanna eating one of his new treats.  The way he's holding it Dad said makes it look like he's smoking a cigar which is pretty funny.  I think Kato is giving us "the look" in the picture of don't even think about coming near me this is my bone to eat and you can't have any!

I surprised Dad & Mom with a present I made special for them at daycare.  Here's my hand print masterpiece and poem.  They were so excited about it! 

After a fun morning of playing we were all tired out so we took a family nap together.  After story time Mom laid down with me and I put my head next to hers and turned to her and said, "You my best friend".  Mom said that was the best Christmas present of the day!

 

After enjoying a good nap & more play time we put our goodies together & packed up our presents to head over to Grandpa & Grandma Prestegard's for our Prestegard/Larson Christmas.  Here's some of the goodie I helped Mom make:

We had the nicest dinner at Grandma & Grandpa Prestegard's and after dinner Grandma Judy had all these fun games planned for us.  My favorite was the Christmas scavenger hunt!  The adults read clues (*see Aunt Jenni reading one below) and we had to figure out where to go and find the next clue & final prizes.  We had so much fun running all over the house & working together as a family.  We also played find the snowmen in which snowmen were hidden all over the darken basement & we used flashlights to "spot" each one.  Kind of spooky but extremely entertaining! 

After games we were blessed with more presents!  We loved everything from our truck/tractor books to Mack Truck (*from Cars) to semi-truck hauler to alphabet dinosaur.  So much fun stuff to play with!

 

We were pretty tuckered out after a big weekend/day so Hudson & I actually fell asleep on the way home.  On Dec. 26th we headed back to daycare but only for a day as that night Grandma Anne came up as we stayed at our house with her on the 27th.  It was nice to be at home & play with Grandma & our new toys.  We want to thank everyone for making our Christmas & holiday season so blessed and special.  We hope each of you had a very Happy Christmas too!

Love, Hayden & Hudson

Christmas Blessings!

Merry Christmas!  May you enjoy all the happiness the season can bring and may His eternal love bring you peace throughout the coming year.  Wishing you and your loved ones all the wonder and magic of Christmas! 

God bless and all our love,

Richard, Brooke, Hayden & Hudson (*&Kato the dog!)

A Waterloo Christmas...

On Dec. 19th & 20th we had our first big snowstorm of the winter - it was so fun to watch!  I can't wait until it is a bit warmer so we can go outside and build a snowman.  On Fri., Dec. 21st we enjoyed going to our neighbors, the Courier's annual Winter's Eve party (*although a day late due to the weather).  It was fun seeing so many friends & neighbors over the holidays.

 

On Sat., Dec. 22nd I got to be little chef and helped Mom make all sorts of Christmas treats which we then delivered to some friends and saved a bunch for our upcoming Christmas celebrations.  On Sun., Dec. 23rd we left bright and early for Grandma Anne & Grandpa Scott's house for Sergeant / Schaefer Christmas.  We got to play all afternoon, then open presents and after dinner Great Uncle Brian & Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jeff & Aunt Becky came over to see us.  As you can see below we had fun re-wrapping gifts (*we me in them!) and playing lots of board games.  Mom & Dad were up late but don't worry I got them up early the next day!

On Christmas Eve, Dec. 24th we hung out and then had a big Christmas dinner with the Schaefer side.  It was so much fun to play with all our extended cousins and my buddy of the night was my cousin Maddox (*just like my Mom was with his mom, Danielle!)  Just like our mom's we are exactly 3 months apart.  Crazy!  Here's my cousin Maddox, Uncle Jared and me:

After good food, even more presents and a ton of fun with family we had to say our goodbyes so we could get home before Santa came.  Here's us with Grandma Anne & Grandpa Scott in our very special Santa P.J.'s!

Once we got home we dashed to get cookies & milk out and I even helped sprinkle the reindeer food I made at DC on the deck.  It looked really pretty in the snow (*we included confetti so the reindeer could see it!)  Then it was off to bed to dream of Santa!

Happy Christmas to all & to all a good night!

The Explorer's Room & Share Bag

In September I began transitioning to the Explorer's Room, 3 years old and up Pre-school oriented room, by going part-time of one to two days a week.  By December I fully transitioned and am there full time.  I miss some of my little friends and previous teachers, although it's nice we still see them at gym time.  I thought I'd share what my new room looks like so you can see where I spend a lot of my time...

Here's our play area and where we do some of our learning units as well as circle time.

Below to the left is our reading area and to the right you can see in back are our drawers or cubbies for our stuff.  We do have a coat area in another room where I can hang up my coat & snow pants, put my boots, etc.  I do this all by myself!  In the Explorer's room we are learning more Pre-school based themes such as counting, ABC's, learning to cut with scissors, etc. and still working on our social skills of taking turns, talking out our emotions, etc.  We are also learning to speak in front of the class by bringing in our favorite toy in our share bag.  On Tues., Dec. 18th was my turn (*finally, been waiting since Sept.!) and I brought in my John Deere sprayer and my excavator I just got for Christmas from Grandpa Mark & Grandma Dawn.  It almost didn't fit in the bag but I had a blast telling my class all about the equipment & driving it around.  Can't wait until it's my turn again.

Hope you enjoyed the tour; I love being in my new room and once it's nice outside we'll have to share some pictures of our new playground.  Have a great week!

A Jesup Christmas

On Fri., Dec. 14th we enjoyed a Christmas dinner with the Vogel & Kress sides at Grandpa Mark & Grandma Dawn's house.  After family pictures we got to open up presents - our first, official Christmas!  We were blessed with family (*we missed you Uncle Todd) and had a blast not only tearing into everything but playing with my cousins, aunts & uncles afterwards.  Here's my most favorite present that I've taken everywhere with me and even park under my bed - my excavator!  Can you tell from the picture how big the smile is on my face! 

Hudson got a lot of fun presents too and loved inspecting everything.  Here he's checking out the wheels and would giggle every time they turned around!

Here's us playing with Cousin's Caleb & Levi - they were teaching me how to load & unload the excavator to the dump truck. 

Here's Mom with some of her brothers / our uncles Derek, Adam and Keith:

On Sat., Dec. 15th we had fun just playing around the house before we got ready for Cousin Calvin's wedding.  Here's us men "horsing" around!

On Sun., Dec. 16th I think everyone was wore out and Hudson & I had long naps on the way home!  The big news of the day was Hudson got another tooth - his first of his first molars!  A little rough coming in, especially at night, but how exciting to get more chompers.

 

Today, Dad picked up Hudson so Mom and I had a date night.  We went out to eat at our local Mexican restaurant and then went to ECFE for a night of holiday fun.  We made gingerbread men or women, made a gingerbread ornament and even made a gingerbread house.  Here's me with my masterpieces!

Here's me & my Mommy.

We had a lot of fun and it was nice to see some of our ECFE friends & family.  Hope everyone has a very Happy Holidays!  XOXO, Hayden & Hudson

An Oswald Christmas...

On Mon., Dec. 10th it was fun to return to DC - Hudson had fun playing with scarves and showing off his standing skills while I got to color Christmas pictures with Ms. Betsy.  On Tues., Dec. 11th after gymnastics we took dinner to the Oswalds to celebrate baby Rex!  He was born on Nov. 26th, the day after Hudson's birthday, and he's beautiful.  I'm very excited that Ava has a little brother too!

 

Here's Ava and I at our very own table - we thought we were pretty big stuff.

Here's Hudson checking out his new buddy Rex; he was fascinated by the baby and kept wanting to touch him.  It was really cute.  After dinner we even exchanged presents and it was so much fun unwrapping them all at once and watch the paper flying around.  What a fun night and our very first Christmas celebration!  Thank you Oswalds :)

On Wed., Dec. 12th it was the day of the Hudson's; our Hudson played most of the day with Hudson Z. doing peek-a-boo and just full of giggles.  Hudson's teachers thought it was pretty cute!  I had a great week at DC too; still learning to master going potty but doing really well and earning lots of stickers for my sheet!  Dad & Mom love when they pick me up and I come running to them yelling, "I went potty!"  I can't wait for the weekend as we're going to Jesup for Cousin Calvin's wedding and our first family Christmas!

Hudson's 1st Haircut!

This past week was a little rough for Hudson as on Tues., Dec. 4th poor guy got an ear infection (*even with tubes).  After a couple of days with meds he's doing great now!  On Wed., Dec. 5th we celebrated Mommy's birthday and the best part was we made cupcakes.  Even Hudson ate one although more of it ended up on the floor for Kato than in his mouth!  Mom said the best present she got was that I sang to her for the very first time..."Happy Birthday MOMMY".  I think it even brought a little tear to her eye.  I had a ton of fun on Wednesday at Daycare (DC) as we watched colors change dropping dye on coffee filters, playing "chef" in the kitchen and even shared "my" trucks.  I should mention our learning themes for December are feelings, nutrition, holiday fun, colors and over the New Year community helpers.  I am most looking forward to our holiday party though.

 

On Thurs., Dec. 6th we attended Grandpa Harvey's visitation, Uncle Kyle's Dad, to give him & his family all our love and support.  Grandpa Harvey was an extremely kind-hearted, loving man who will be greatly missed.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you Larson family.  After the visitation we got to take Cousin Hannah to Grandma & Grandpa Prestegard's house for a birthday dinner for Mom.  It was a blessing being surrounded by family and even Grandma Great, Betty, was there.

 

On Friday, Dec. 7th Hudson had a big day - his first haircut!  We took him to Liv Aveda Salon in Mankato to see Noelle, Mom's stylist for the past 8 years and who did my 1st haircut too.  She's wonderful and so funny.  She has 3 little boys too!  Here's Hudson's before picture with all his little curls or as Dad says, "curls are for girls!"

Here's Noelle & Hudson getting his ears lowered.

He sat super, all by himself the entire time!  He loved getting to play with combs, clips and just looking around at everything.  Poor guy saw much better once we put his glasses back on though.

All done with Mommy, me, Hudson & Noelle...doesn't Hudson look handsome?

The "after" shot; no more curls and now you can see his secret to holding his glasses on!

On Sat., Dec. 8th we did Hudson's 1 year, my 3 year and our family pictures with Mandy at Mcreations in Blue Earth.  Afterwards Hudson & I went to Grandma & Grandpa Prestegard's house for our first slumber party.  Yep, Mom & Dad snuck away for the first time ever and had a fun overnight trip to the Cities to see A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie.  They said the show was fantastic and I think they had as much fun as Hudson and I did at Grandpa & Grandma's.  When they picked us up on Sunday I think we were all tuckered out.  Big weekend but lots of fun.

Shopping With Hayden...

Hayden & Hudson's Mom here as just wanted to document a quick story from this past weekend.  As you've read on Sat., Dec. 1st we visited the Train Show in Albert Lea.  The show was held in the mall and we enjoyed being able to get out & walk around during the winter.  While we are at the mall we stopped in one store to see if they had something I was looking for.  When we first walked in Hayden turns to me after pointing to a very glittery, sequined-out shirt and says, "Woooow, that's fancy!"

 

He was dead serious and proceeds to go up to the shirt to get a better look and try to touch it.  I thought that was pretty cute and I about died trying not to laugh as I didn't want to discourage him but it gets better.  A very nice sales associate then approaches us to see if we need anything and she then tries holding up a couple of shirts for us to look at to see if we liked either of them.  Hayden then tells her he doesn't like either but says, "I like your dress".  The woman blushed and gave Hayden a little hug and told him he was adorable.  Hayden then says thank you, turns and picks up a shirt of his own and tells me he liked that one.  (*let's just say I did not purchase Hayden's "fancy", very backless, revealing shirt however it was very nice & it was his favorite color green)  I'm thinking he is definitely a little man!

 

Who knew shopping with little boys could be so much fun and I can't wait for my next shopping adventure with my little fashionista - he's got amazing taste!

Annual Check-ups & the Train Show

This past week we've pretty much been home and enjoyed bumming around. I did have some exciting things happen at daycare though! On Wed., Nov. 28th I impressed my teachers by building a tall castle with jumbo blocks and I even put some beanie babies in the "windows"! My teachers were impressed by my balancing skills and more importantly my imagination. At pick-up on the 28th Ms. Amber informed Mom that I got married. Yes, CeCe proposed at daycare during afternoon play and I said yes. Ms. Amber watched as we got "married" and then set-up house where I proceeded to help CeCe do our laundry, cook dinner and then drove off in a "car". I must say I was a little disappointed Mom didn't even bring us a wedding present (*although I think she was in too much of a shock!)

On Thursday, Nov. 29th Mom picked us up from daycare to go to our annual well checks for 1 year and 3 years. My check was easy as I got no shots, got to show off some of my physical skills such as standing on one foot, jumping on one foot/leg, etc. I am happy to report that I'm a healthy 3 year-old boy who is 41 1/2 inches and 39 lb. and 11 oz! Still holding strong in the high 90 percentiles! Dr. Morris and I had a talk about going potty like a big boy and I promise I'm working on it!

Hudson's well check was a little rougher as he got 3 shots! He took them like a champ and when he cried I rushed to his side and held his hand. Mom said I was a good big brother. Hudson too is in the 80's or 90's for percentile weighing in at 27 lb. 6 oz. and 30 1/2 inches long. I think he's trying to catch-up. So far he seems to be developing on point and Dr. Morris feels more of his talking skills will come more quickly now that he got tubes and glasses. Should be a quick paced next 6 weeks growth wise for him.

After our visits we enjoyed what I call the tractor store or Farm & Fleet (*I love just going to look at the John Deere and toy aisles) and dinner with Mom. Friday, Nov. 30th we had a low key evening at home and Sat., Dec. 1st Hudson and I enjoyed going to the train show with Mom in Albert Lea. Nothing fancy however so fun to watch all the train displays and we even got some parts for our Thomas the Train track! We spent the next two days doing nothing but playing trains (*setting up our tracks, hauling loads, etc).

On Sun., Dec. 2nd we enjoyed church and afterwards went shopping as a family for our church family needs that we donated too for Christmas. It was fun to put everything under the tree after our shopping trip and/or hang on the tree. We feel very fortunate that the good Lord has given to us and we are able to give back to others. I also enjoyed getting to pick out the items we gave; giving input & telling Dad or Mom what to do is always fun too! Today we had a low key day back at daycare and night at home. We look forward to celebrating Mom's birthday this week and gymnastics tomorrow night. Hope you have a great week too!

XOXO, Hayden & Hudson

Happy 1st Birthday Hudson!

This is Hudson & Hayden's Mom reporting for Hudson's first birthday.  Our little baby is now considered a toddler!  How did this happen so quickly?  Hudson, we feel so incredibly lucky to be your parents and have you part of our family.  God truly blessed us when he gave us you! 

 

Today on your actual first birthday we celebrated with church and then a birthday lunch at home.  You got to try rice for the first time, you loved it, and we followed up with yellow & chocolate marble cupcakes with chocolate frosting.  Your brother Hayden picked out the liners & decoations of Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear & Woody the Sherriff (*Woody is his favorite right now).  You weren't too sure of the candle so we blew it out for you however you knew just what to do with the cake!

Here you almost done & ready for clean-up!  You destroyed the cupcake but we're pretty sure you got most of the frosting.  So fun to watch you dig in.  Your bib is by Carter's and says, "So fun to be 1".

After nap and dinner we did your presents.  As you already had your birthday party we wanted to give you something small to open on the actual day.  Daddy, Hayden & I gave you the books, "On the Night You Were Born" and "Time for Bed".  Not sure if you were excited for your new board books or more so for the wrapping paper!  We pretty much just had family time at home for your big day and enjoyed being with you.  Nice to be low key and relaxed after your big part!

You have grown so swiftly this past year and here's just a few things you've accomplished this past month:

• This past month you've really grown from pulling self up to holding on to furniture or hands to "cruise" around. We've even had you using the walker and taking a few steps! Watch out world Hudson is on his way!
• You're really starting to pick-up tiny objects, especially finger food with the aid of your glasses. We notice you no longer swipe & miss when you reach for items and you no longer run into things! You look so proud when you're feeding yourself!
• This past month you pulled yourself up to stand for the first time on Oct. 30th; had your first trick-or-treating on Oct. 31st; first pulled yourself up in your crib to greet us on Nov. 1st; hade your 1st birthday party on Nov. 4th; got another tooth (*number 8) on Nov. 6th; got your first pair of glasses on Nov. 9th; had your first horse drawn trolley ride (*by Buttercup & Buttercrisp) also on Nov. 9th; first met Santa on Nov. 18th and first Thanksgiving on Nov. 22nd.
• Continued to try new foods like different types of muffins (*favorite were Mom's homemade cinnamon streusel on Nov. 11th); tried garlic bread, chicken & turkey toddler sticks, more veggies like baked beans & sweet potato fries, and finally drank from a cup by self on Nov. 9th. We've noticed you prefer softer foods as not too fond of harder food texture.
• Here's some of our favorite 12 month shots:

Look who's standing?!

Happy 1st Birthday Hudson - we love you!  Mommy, Daddy & Hayden

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  This morning we woke to make turkey pops.  They are double stuff Oreo cookies dipped in chocolate with a Whopper head, candy eyes, Candy Corn beak & feathers and Twizzler rope gobbler.  Mom had more patience than I but I LOVED eating the candy.  I may have to admit more may have gone into my mouth than on the turkeys.  Pretty cute though, right?  Our turkey cupcakes we shared with our neighbors as well as our daycare bake sale so these we just took over to Grandma & Grandpa's house to share with family.

While we made the turkey pops we enjoyed watching the parade and I really loved the big balloons and seeing Elmo & Cookie Monster.  It was also really fun to see Santa at the end.

 

It is hard to believe it is Hudson's last, first holiday - his first Thanksgiving.  Strange to think one year ago on the day after Thanksgiving he arrived.  Just for fun Mom got him a little "My First Thanksgiving" hat & bib however we think they were made for a smaller baby!  Got to love the turkey feathers in his hat.

Grandpa Allen really enjoyed the hat too!

We had a wonderful lunch provided by Grandma Judy and enjoyed great company.  We also enjoyed cousin fun...here's Hannah, Hudson and I.  Note Hudson's shirt reads "Am I really related to these people!"  Very funny Daddy (*who got him dressed!).

God has blessed us in so many ways we are truly grateful.  We hope you & yours has a wonderful Thanksgiving as we did surrounded by family & loved ones. 

Happy Thanksgiving from the Prestegard's:

The day after Thanksgiving on Fri., Nov. 23rd I enjoyed a play date with Cousin Hannah while Hudson & Mom set-up Christmas decorations.  I'm getting better at playing board games like Memory and/or Candyland below (*Hannah was so good to be patient with me too!): 

More board game fun!

On Sat., Nov. 24th we are proud to report Dad's Alma mater, Blue Earth Area High School football team won state!  They played extremely well and it was so fun to watch the game together as a family at home.  Congrats Blue Earth and our community.  What an amazing feat and how fitting to happen Thanksgiving weekend!

Hudson Meets Santa...

After church & naps on Sun., Nov. 18th Hudson & I went shopping with Mom in Mankato.  We got our new Christmas tree, can't wait to put up, and even got to meet Santa at Drummer Garden's Center annual pictures.  Here's Hudson's first glimpse:

Like David Lettermen, here are the top 5 things Hudson could be thinking:

1. You are so not my Daddy!
2. No, I will not take that sucker from you; my Mommy told me not to accept presents from strangers!
3. I don't understand why Hayden is crying right now and not coming near you; you don't seem so tough.  I think I could totally take you...
4. Do you know you have something in your beard?
5. You have glasses too?  I think I like mine better...

Although I was a little scared again this year I did warm up a little (*with Mom near by) and we got some very nice pictures.  Here are some of our outtakes:

All three smiling!

Hudson smiling; Hayden not so sure!

We just about finished our Christmas shopping and had fun checking out all the holiday stuff. 

 

On Monday, Nov. 19th it was Hudson's first day back at daycare since he got glasses on Nov. 9th...he was out a full week due to strep throat!  Poor guy it seemed all his friends just had to check out (*pull off) his glasses all day.  All the teachers think he's adorable and do their best to protect him.  I'm sure the newness will wear off soon.  The rest of our week at daycare included talking about Thanksgiving, trying some Thanksgiving foods and enjoying the nice weather outside.  My favorite part of the week was making a Pilgrim hat, complete with a buckle, and making my own hand print turkey.  Here's my masterpiece:

Can't wait to see our family tomorrow and most excited for the parade!  All week I've been talking about seeing the parade and making our turkey pop treats....we'll post pictures soon!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone - we are so grateful to have each of you in our lives.  God bless!

Hayden goes to the dentist...

On Thurs., Nov. 15th we hosted our first fundraiser of the year, our Holiday Bazaar.  So on Wednesday night I got to help Mom make our bake sale goods.  We made pumpkin bread and I picked out making turkey cupcakes.  I love candy corn and after about the 5th or 6th cupcake I decided I didn't want to decorate anymore and just eat the candy and vanilla wafers!  Here's a picture of our turkey cupcakes - aren't they cute?

Our fundraiser was a success and the best part was I got to meet Lana the Iguana who is our healthy food representative.  I even got to try sugar snap peas which were raw so not too much of a fan...rather have them cooked!

 

On Friday, Nov. 16th I had my first dentist appointment ever!  I have all 20 teeth and overall I got a really good report.  I was a little scared of their tooth brush to clean my teeth but was very excited to get a new Cars toothbrush that I let them use on me instead.  Here's me picking out my new toothbrush.  I picked the one with Mater on it!

After my teeth were clean Dr. Grandgenett came over to check them out and all looked good.  Just said to keep up my brushing!  Of course to make Dad crazy he got his University of Iowa mascot, Herke, for us to take a picture with....can't say I was overly impressed either!  I asked him where Cy was which Mom thought was hilarious.

Today, Nov. 17th we had a dudes night while Mom, Ava's Mom (Anna) and Addison's Mom (Mandy) went to have pedicures, dinner and watch some Twilight movie!  Steven & Addison came over for another play date and dinner.  We had so much fun it was a little hard to go to bed.  Kind of fun being completely wild with Daddy while Mom's away!  Can't wait for our next dude's night!