Updating Our Blog

Bella with the Tangled characters
Thomas with his favorite character...BUZZ Lightyear!
Snow and my baby boy!
Might be the sweetest picture I have of them!
My wonderful family....one word: BLESSED!

So, it takes a sick day home to catch up on the blog. It is so quiet in this house that I almost can't stand it! I don't think I have been alone for entire day well since before Isabella was born. I will say it is nice to still be in my PJ's at 9:50 and to be watching what I WANT to watch on TV but I miss the sweet noise that comes with two munchkins. I could however do without the lovely stuffy nose and sore throat though. :)
Anyways, we have been very busy in the Hudson household. In the past two months, we have celebrated Christmas, welcomed in a new year, had a lovely SC snow blizzard, and visited the most wonderful place on earth, Disney World. Christmas was busy as usual with traveling here and there and opening up all the wonderful new things. It was great to share with our two about the amazing story of Jesus and to help them understand the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas came and went in a whirlwind. We spent New Years with some wonderful friends and had a great time watching our kids play together. Next came the unplanned but amazingly wonderful week of being snowed in. Who knew how much fun it could be to be stuck inside all together for a few days. We spent 3 days of doing absolutely nothing but loving every minute of it! We built a snowman, played in the snow, drank hot chocolate, cooked, played games, watched movies and had fun staying in the comfy confines of our house. Even though daddy had to leave us to go back to work half way into the second day, I enjoyed the time of peace and relaxation with my two babies. And, if snow wasn't enough, we packed up at the end of that week and headed to the most wonderful place on earth...Disney World. We had been planning and counting down the days to Disney since August so I am sure you can only imagine how excited Bella was when finally packed up the car and backed out of the garage. We left early afternoon on Thursday and crossed into the sunny state of Florida on Thursday evening. The kids spent the 8 hour drive talking to each other, watching Disney movies (of course), and sleeping. We arrived at our condo around 11 PM and were greeted by my sweet sister who had already gotten there and gotten our room set up for us. We put the kids down and went to bed. I could hardly sleep I was so excited about the day(s) that were ahead of us. On Friday morning, we woke up early and got ready to head to the Magic Kingdom. The expression on Bella's face when she walked through the gates of Disney and saw Cinderella's castle is something that I will never forget. The expression of pure amazement and joy on her face will forever be in my mind. We spent a wonderful day riding rides, meeting characters, and having fun as a family. That night, Bella meet the Tangle characters and was truly amazed to see them "in person". I can't explain the range of emotions that went through me and Shaun both as we watched her meet the characters and then watch the "Believe" fireworks show that night. It was amazing to see her and Thomas so happy and in awe of everything. On Saturday, we went to Animal Kingdom. This was not my favorite place. It seemed like a really large zoo to me but the kids had fun riding on the Safari ride and seeing all of the animals. We headed back to the Magic Kingdom for the evening and had a blast watching the electric parade and riding rides. My littlest munchkin spent the evening sleeping in the stroller while Shaun and I took turns riding rides with Bella. She loved the Haunted House and Barnstormer rollercoaster. Who would have thought?! :) At around midnight, we returned to our condo with two exhausted, sticky (from lollipops), but content kiddos. We woke up Sunday had breakfast with the characters at Chef Mickey's and went to Epcot for the day. Bella really enjoyed Epcot but I found myself and Thomas spending a lot of time walking around. Thomas wasn't big enough to ride a lot of rides there but I had a lot of fun walking around with my little man. I took him to see a Lion King show and we toured a couple of other things together while Bella and Daddy rode the rides. We spent the day in Epcot with my sister Michelle and her family. Thomas and Bella loved spending the day with Aunt Shell, Uncle Nate, Ash, and Jeremy. We had so much fun laughing, eating, and hanging out. We ended the day with the fireworks show and headed home again with two very tired but very happy kiddos. Sunday night ended up being a long night as Bella spiked a fever in the middle of the night. My wonderful hubby went out to find a Walgreens and some Motrin around 3 AM. Thank goodness for some Motrin! Bella woke up feeling a little punny but still wanting to go the Disney so off we went. We spent our last day at Hollywood Studios. When we arrived we headed straight for the Toy Story ride as we knew both kids would love this ride. We were right! :) As we were walking out, the bottom fell out and rain set in. $35.00 later, we had Disney ponchos and were off to enjoy the rest of the nasty but last Disney day. Bella had a blast riding all of the rides and rode the Tower of Terror twice! She is still talking about that ride! :)
Our trip was amazing and I find myself longing to go back every time I see a commercial or see the beginning of a Disney movie. I will never forget the smiles on two little faces, the giggles and laughs on rides, the smiles that came when they met all of the characters, and the excitement and joy that showed through all of their actions and words. Thank you mom and dad for the most amazing trip. I am thankful that I got to experience the joys of Disney with my mom and dad, my sisters and their families, my hubby, and my two precious kids! Dad, I can't wait to celebrate your 70th birthday there in 5 years (he has promised that we are going back for his 70th birthday)! Now, let's see if this Hudson family can wait five years to return. My bet is we will be returning before then! :)
Now...onto the rest of 2011! It has started off pretty amazing so I anticipate what the rest of 2011 has in store for our family!