Hudson

I was viewing a facebook page today and I trailed off to a blog that Erin Brandt keeps (JBU friend). I have always thought that blogs are a little arrogant as though each of us thinks we have something important to say that everyone should hear. Erin said something on her blog that made me rethink my feelings about blogs. Erin commented that she was keeping a blog for her children..so someday they could look back on all of the fun things they did as a family. My perspective has now changed and I am blogging for Hudson.
Hudson Ryan Wiley Meixner came into my life on April 25, 2009 (almost a year ago today). I have loved every stage of this precious boy's life and have had so much fun being a mom to Hudsy (as we call him). Hudson was named after Hudson Taylor, a Christian missionary to China. It took Ryan and I 9 months to decide on Hudson's name but we finally joined together the day of his birth. Hudson's middle name took a little longer. My dad doesn't have the most flattering name (Clyde Leon) but I wanted to pay tribute to him and to my family. I also wanted Ryan's name to be included so we agreed that Hudson's middle name would be Ryan Wiley. It's a mouthful but to be honest when Hudson is naughty I actually say his entire name :).
I love motherhood. I don't like working a full time job and trying to balance motherhood but I've been given grace to somehow make it through the first year. Hudson's personality is unveling itself a little more each day. He is a delight, a flirt, shy at times, very interested in people and dogs, full of joy and laughter (but only if you are funny). Hudson likes books, loves music, enjoys tooling around in his stroller, loves playing tug of war with Wrigley our dog. Hudson can say mom, dad, dog, "go" which means bottle. Hudson is even starting to dance and sing.
We celebrated Hudson's first birthday at Disneyland and I am so glad we did. It was a special trip with Hudson delighting in the S.California ocean, in Mickey Mouse's nose and Pluto's whiskers, in all of the people at Disney, in the pool at Disneyland Hotel. We had a fun time together as a family and I'm glad that we made this memory together.
So Hudson I promise to keep you in mind every time I update my blog and to share about the wonderful life experiences we have together. Someday I hope you will read this blog and be proud.

Love,

Mommy

My Baby Kicks to U2

This morning I took a break from work to watch U2 on Good Morning America. The minute that Bono started singing the baby started to kick and move around. It was truly amazing because he kept kicking and moving until the music stopped. I'm so happy my little boy is already a U2 fan. Obviously it's true that babies respond to music in the womb. I hope he's a little singer or drummer someday.

Mommy Meixner

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend was busy. I spent a good deal of time cleaning my house and getting ready for our small group that came over Monday night for dinner. We had Paula Dean Enchilladas, Taco Soup, Salad, Chips, Guacamole, and dessert. Each person brought a few things. It was nice to have people over however during the Bible Study part I was kind of tuned out. There was a lot of noise and it was hard to concentrate plus our Bible Study hasn't been very good. I can't tell you one thing I've learned from it. I think we decided as a group to find a new study that is more thought provoking and deep.

I planted a bunch of Hydrangeas this weekend. They are one of my all time favorites and all of my bridesmaids carried them at our wedding. The best thing about living in the Pacific Northwest is that you can grow anything in this climate! My mom and dad gave me a Billy Graham Rose and we have Lavendar, Tulips, lilacs, and a million other things in our yard that I can't spell or even know what they are. I love flowers and maybe someday if I've had it with my day job I'll just plant flowers all day long.

Adios....until next time.
Laura

Celebrating Five Years of Marriage

Yesterday Ryan and I celebrated five years of marriage. It was a fairly low key day. We went to our favorite Sushi restaurant and ate 11 plates of sushi together!!! It was SO good. I love sushi. We also bought a camera and accessories for our trip to Europe which is where we will really celebrate five years of marriage.

I can still remember how much fun our wedding was five years ago with the trolley, big band, and all of our friends and family gathered to share our special day. I loved our wedding and I wish I could have one wedding every year (to the same person of course). I am thankful to God that Ryan and I have stood the test of time and I am hopeful that God will have much more to teach us about love for many more years to come.

Five years down and many more to go.

Laura

A 16 Hour Work Day

I had to take a break today while working because I am still recovering from yesterday. I worked from 5:30 AM-9:30 PM last night. I took two bathroom breaks and went to get dinner for about a half hour. It was an absolutely crazy nuts day! This month has been the best sales month I've ever had though so I am very thankful to God for the business. Ryan got back from DC last night at about 11 PM and found me sleeping. I sort of remember him coming in but not really. Wrigley did the happy dance when daddy got home. Wrigley is so much like a child it's kind of creepy. He's naughty one minute and the next minute he's this little angel dog sleeping like a cute little teddy bear.

Gotta run and go back to work. :(

Packing Light

Can you believe I think I am going to be able to fit everything I need for my 15 day trip to Europe in a backpack and a carry on! For those of you who know me you are probably suprised because you know I like to pack a lot of stuff. I've been planning my packing list for months now so I'm feeling good about how few things I'm bringing! I tried to color cordinate all of my outfits to try and cut back on the number of shoes and clothes I need to bring. As I am reading this blog I am boring myself so I'm going to wrap it up.

A toast to packing light...Rick Steves eat your heart out!

Laura

Fatty McTatty but Oh So Good!

Yesterday I made Paula Deen's Mac and Cheese along with Red Velvet Cake Cupcakes. Would you like to know how much fat was in these two items...okay, well I'll tell you. For the Mac and Cheese I used an entire stick of butter and 3 3/4 cups of cheese and whole milk. For the Red Velvet cake I used 2 2/3 cups of oil for the cake mixed with buttermilk and eggs and for the frosting 1 lb of Cream Cheese, two sticks of butter, and 4 cups of confectioners sugar. Now, I can't think of a meal that has more fat and calories than this but it was oh so good (and what Ryan asked for as his birthday meal).
Ryan liked his Sushi lunch and his Favorite Things B-day dinner. I bought him a few little presents like a grill cover and barbeque set, Harry and David food items, and his favorite gift a Peeps cookbook. Yes, that is right, Peeps has published a cookbook that shows you how to incorporate Peeps into food like Molten Lava Peeps Cake, Peeps on a stick, etc. It was the hit of the town.
Today I was going to start my diet but then realized that I had leftover mac and cheese in the fridge that was calling my name so diet starts tomorrow. I sent all of the cupcakes with Ryan to work.
:) Laura