I miss my blog.
And I think, by the looks of things, my blog misses me.
Countless moments have passed that I want to record and because I like things in sequence, I have fallen way behind...
But Hudson turned 2 and when I went back to revisit my recorded words, I am reminded of how valuable it is to write.
So, somehow I am going to re-prioritize it into my life.
Without chronology.
To be continued...
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Hudson's First Little Boy Haircut
Hudson has had his first haircut already - the one where the uneven whispy hair is simply evened out and no one even notices it except the Mom who traditionally and lovingly collects the precious locks for the baby book...
But that was a long time ago.
This time the haircut transformed him into a little boy!
His hair had grown significantly and the time had come to clean him up. Hudson has the sweetest little habit. He is a paci boy - he loves the thing! Once the paci goes into his mouth there is another automatic response that happens to him - his arm goes up and he begins to twirl his hair. It is the cutest thing ever. He twirls and twirls it until he falls asleep - I guess it brings him some kind of comfort. He used to reach his little hand up to my hair and twirl mine when I was feeding him as a baby.
With his hair being longer, the twirling was creating these little dred lock knots at the back of his head. Like I said, the sweetest ever - but it was time.
Thankfully, I was able to sneak in one afternoon to catch him about to fall asleep before his nap - and I was able to capture this special memory on video:
Here are the pictures of my Handsome Hudson after the haircut. He looks so grown up - so much like a little boy - and so so so cute.
But that was a long time ago.
This time the haircut transformed him into a little boy!
His hair had grown significantly and the time had come to clean him up. Hudson has the sweetest little habit. He is a paci boy - he loves the thing! Once the paci goes into his mouth there is another automatic response that happens to him - his arm goes up and he begins to twirl his hair. It is the cutest thing ever. He twirls and twirls it until he falls asleep - I guess it brings him some kind of comfort. He used to reach his little hand up to my hair and twirl mine when I was feeding him as a baby.
With his hair being longer, the twirling was creating these little dred lock knots at the back of his head. Like I said, the sweetest ever - but it was time.
Thankfully, I was able to sneak in one afternoon to catch him about to fall asleep before his nap - and I was able to capture this special memory on video:
Here are the pictures of my Handsome Hudson after the haircut. He looks so grown up - so much like a little boy - and so so so cute.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Brednich Running Club
This string of pictures was taken on Father's Day....what a good group of guys!
A long time ago, Benjy had looked ahead to the day when he might have some running partners. Hard to believe that that day is kind of here.
Everyone gets all in a mad frenzy when they see their Dad getting the running gear on - they all want to go with him. He is sometimes kind enough to let them go a little ways with him - yes, even Hudson. The other night Reece went out and ran 2 miles with his Daddy.
I am trying to catch the running fever myself. A new pair of shoes got me started...and although it isn't always easy to find the time, I was enjoying it AFTER I ran each time. Getting motivated wasn't always so fun. Then, I practically if not actually, broke my baby toe, playing soccer barefoot with Reece in the basement so I am in recovery mode...almost ready to put the shoes back on and run for my own fitness, not just running after the boys! :)
Monday, June 27, 2011
Free Hugs!
"We need 4 hugs a day for survival.
We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance.
We need 12 hugs a day for growth."
Virginia Satir
A quick google for the research behind it lead to be to some neat discoveries that have, in turn, taken over our morning activities. My boys are loving one another and showing it through hug after hug after hug. I hear them saying things like, "please, one more, I need to survive today" :) They are creating secret HUGshakes and forming into HUGgles. It is making me laugh....of course, it is a fine line between a hug-fest and a wrestling match, but hey, so far so good.
Check out these pics of my crew first (the sign they made says "free hugs"), and then see the video below that was their inspiration. And then, of course, go hug someone you love, or someone you don't even know and make their day!
Oh, and just to correct the false assumption that we have this super harmonious hugging home all day through these summer months, or ever, is exactly that: false. We go from hugging to fighting and back again more often than this Momma would care to see. But I do know they truly love one another and I am just thankful we have some hugging too!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Simply Thankful for Both
I can't help but sit and write a few thoughts of reflection and humble thanks for this past year. One year has already passed since we packed up our young family, few belongings, very full hearts and many, many memories and left the country that had become our home and the friends who had become our family.
I believe I will forever stand by my conviction that we will never truly be able to single out the various ways that we were changed by those years in Mexico. It seems trite to call it an "experience" - it certainly was in many aspects.....but all those little aspects blended together to become much more than an "experience" - it became our normal, daily life. We grew and we gained and we lost and we laughed and we struggled and we failed and we doubted and we celebrated and we cried and we questioned and we started over and...we changed.
We left Mexico looking much different than we arrived - and I am not just referring to the increase in family size :)
Several of those things would have likely happened in any place we might have lived. We would have added children to our family, we might have learned a different language, we still would have faced the loss of my Dad, the loss of our babies, our faith would have been challenged and our marriage would have faced its ups and downs. We would have learned about ourselves and experimented with doing our best at parenting. We would have made neat relationships, and we may have thought outside the box, and learned to appreciate people, and on and on.
But those things didn't happen in a different place. They happened in Mexico - and for that reason, Mexico will always be part of us and who we have become and are becoming. Although we aren't living there anymore, it is still living in us.
This isn't a milestone to celebrate..."a year since we left the field!" Yet it is something to thank God for because throughout this year, He has taken care of us and worked things out for our family. We have each faced transition in different ways - the boys, me, Benjy. But He has shown the way and although it hasn't always been easy or completely clear, when I look back I can see how prayers have been answered. I sense we are walking where he has lead us, and that feels good. It is encouraging to be able to look back with fondness and look forward with anticipation while today being simply thankful for both.
I thank God for providing Benjy with a new job which he is enjoying. We continue to make new friendships and develop old ones - here and from afar. And we continue to celebrate great things that are happening in the lives of our Mexican friends.
So, I guess you could say there is some bitter-sweetness to this day. But nothing that a little reflection can't do to soothe the soul.
I believe I will forever stand by my conviction that we will never truly be able to single out the various ways that we were changed by those years in Mexico. It seems trite to call it an "experience" - it certainly was in many aspects.....but all those little aspects blended together to become much more than an "experience" - it became our normal, daily life. We grew and we gained and we lost and we laughed and we struggled and we failed and we doubted and we celebrated and we cried and we questioned and we started over and...we changed.
We left Mexico looking much different than we arrived - and I am not just referring to the increase in family size :)
Several of those things would have likely happened in any place we might have lived. We would have added children to our family, we might have learned a different language, we still would have faced the loss of my Dad, the loss of our babies, our faith would have been challenged and our marriage would have faced its ups and downs. We would have learned about ourselves and experimented with doing our best at parenting. We would have made neat relationships, and we may have thought outside the box, and learned to appreciate people, and on and on.
But those things didn't happen in a different place. They happened in Mexico - and for that reason, Mexico will always be part of us and who we have become and are becoming. Although we aren't living there anymore, it is still living in us.
This isn't a milestone to celebrate..."a year since we left the field!" Yet it is something to thank God for because throughout this year, He has taken care of us and worked things out for our family. We have each faced transition in different ways - the boys, me, Benjy. But He has shown the way and although it hasn't always been easy or completely clear, when I look back I can see how prayers have been answered. I sense we are walking where he has lead us, and that feels good. It is encouraging to be able to look back with fondness and look forward with anticipation while today being simply thankful for both.
I thank God for providing Benjy with a new job which he is enjoying. We continue to make new friendships and develop old ones - here and from afar. And we continue to celebrate great things that are happening in the lives of our Mexican friends.
So, I guess you could say there is some bitter-sweetness to this day. But nothing that a little reflection can't do to soothe the soul.
Monday, June 20, 2011
A New Angle At Confessing Your Past
Benjy left this morning for a business trip. He will be gone all week.
In attempt to get some work done around here, I channeled some of the boys' energy to help me do some yard work...which largely involved getting rid of the straw bales that had been Addy's warm home during the winter. Lots of bagging and discarding and sweeping. The boys worked hard and were quite helpful for most of the afternoon.
There was one interval when two of the middle boys didn't return to the yard for a while. When I noticed I went to the front and called them back.
As we were coming in to get cleaned up I noticed that Pierce had this black streak along his neck - they had been trying to skip with an old rope, I assumed it was from that.
They got showered and cleaned up and we were going to head to the library - loaded them all in the van and backed out of the garage...only to find a totally flat back tire - so weird because we had been out all morning without a problem. "What is that noise?" was my response when I began driving and Pierce quickly states from the back seat... "the tire is flat." I was a little surprised at his quick response as a 4 yr old - but hey - pulled back into the garage and called road-side assistance (finally utlizing what we pay for every month - ha!) So...we walked to the library instead.
That eve, the roadside guy shows up while I am feeding the boys - so I popped out - showed him what he needed and went back into the house. When I go back out to check, the guy has the tire off and it is hooked to his little gadget thing and he says to me..."there is nothing wrong with your tire. There is no leak anywhere." I am like, "well, wait - it was totally flat - what are you trying to say?" He smiles and says - "looks like someone let the air out of your tire."
Ahhh haaa - it all begins to click in that instant and I begin laughing. That boy!!!! The man chuckles and says, "ya - kids think it is super neat to hear that ssssssssssssss sound when they put their little finger right there on the valve!"
He puts the perfectly fine tire back on and heads out.
I play it cool and ask to have a little chat with all the boys...gearing up for reminders about telling the truth. 3 for 3 quick denial of anything to do with the back tire. Time to turn it up a notch: thinking I am being pretty smooth and can ease a confession out of Pierce with no real problem - especially when I ask him to come to the garage and show me how he made the cool sound (ha! - joke was on me - he continued to deny it and had NO idea what I was talking about when I asked him to show me how to do it)
Long story short - he must have done it accidently, or some phantom ghost (maybe neighborhood teenagers) is messing with my van! That is how I concluded the evening.
Until....bedtime storytime and Pierce volunteers to tell us all a story with this unique technique.... it went something like this: back when I was a little boy, one time, I made the tire go flat.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Pierce is still sticking to his story this morning. What a kid!
In attempt to get some work done around here, I channeled some of the boys' energy to help me do some yard work...which largely involved getting rid of the straw bales that had been Addy's warm home during the winter. Lots of bagging and discarding and sweeping. The boys worked hard and were quite helpful for most of the afternoon.
There was one interval when two of the middle boys didn't return to the yard for a while. When I noticed I went to the front and called them back.
As we were coming in to get cleaned up I noticed that Pierce had this black streak along his neck - they had been trying to skip with an old rope, I assumed it was from that.
They got showered and cleaned up and we were going to head to the library - loaded them all in the van and backed out of the garage...only to find a totally flat back tire - so weird because we had been out all morning without a problem. "What is that noise?" was my response when I began driving and Pierce quickly states from the back seat... "the tire is flat." I was a little surprised at his quick response as a 4 yr old - but hey - pulled back into the garage and called road-side assistance (finally utlizing what we pay for every month - ha!) So...we walked to the library instead.
That eve, the roadside guy shows up while I am feeding the boys - so I popped out - showed him what he needed and went back into the house. When I go back out to check, the guy has the tire off and it is hooked to his little gadget thing and he says to me..."there is nothing wrong with your tire. There is no leak anywhere." I am like, "well, wait - it was totally flat - what are you trying to say?" He smiles and says - "looks like someone let the air out of your tire."
Ahhh haaa - it all begins to click in that instant and I begin laughing. That boy!!!! The man chuckles and says, "ya - kids think it is super neat to hear that ssssssssssssss sound when they put their little finger right there on the valve!"
He puts the perfectly fine tire back on and heads out.
I play it cool and ask to have a little chat with all the boys...gearing up for reminders about telling the truth. 3 for 3 quick denial of anything to do with the back tire. Time to turn it up a notch: thinking I am being pretty smooth and can ease a confession out of Pierce with no real problem - especially when I ask him to come to the garage and show me how he made the cool sound (ha! - joke was on me - he continued to deny it and had NO idea what I was talking about when I asked him to show me how to do it)
Long story short - he must have done it accidently, or some phantom ghost (maybe neighborhood teenagers) is messing with my van! That is how I concluded the evening.
Until....bedtime storytime and Pierce volunteers to tell us all a story with this unique technique.... it went something like this: back when I was a little boy, one time, I made the tire go flat.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Pierce is still sticking to his story this morning. What a kid!
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