Matt and I had an unexpected surprise this week. His boss had tickets for the Duke basketball scrimmage and couldn't go, so he asked Matt if he wanted them. We got to spend Saturday afternoon all by ourselves and headed over to the Duke campus. This may be blasphemous for a Carolina grad to say, but I hadn't ever been to Duke's West campus, and it was beautiful! We got to walk in the chapel, which was incredible. We had a great time walking around, and really enjoyed being at the game. Being in Cameron Indoor was almost like watching a game in a high school gym! A very different feel from the Dean Dome
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Hudson has had an exciting week. He can really sit in the Bumbo seat now, and likes to sit up and look around. He rode facing forward in the Bjorn, which greatly improved his view on our walks, and is grabbing onto his toys on the playgym.
Tonight is his first night sleeping in the crib. The pack and play was just getting too small, so we did some rearranging and got the crib set up in our room. (Who knows when we will be in our own place so he can have his own room!) Fortunately, he is a really good sleeper, and this past week slept 10-7 three different nights! He is so sweet, and cuddly, and I just love him so much. I am trying to relish his baby time, especially in contrast to Alden's 2 year old wildness!
Alden has been up to her usual antics this week...a couple of her gems...
Alden: I don't have a tail!
Mom (looking at the back of her pants): I don't know about that...I think I see one!
Alden: Well, pull it out!!!
Leigh sent a little Dwight (from the Office) head in a package the other week. Alden loves Dwight and tonight at Target, she saw some and said, "Mommy, look! Dwights!" She likes for Ashley to chase her around with him.
At school this week, they talked about the fair, and Alden is SO excited. She keeps talking about seeing "baby goats and baby pigs", eating "cot-on candy", and "riding a hor-hee". We are going Tuesday after Matt gets off work! Here she is practicing on Maverick.
Yesterday, the stars must have been in some kind of perfect alignment because Alden went pee on the potty twice! Of course, no potty success today. We are trying to entice her with candy corns.
Riding her bike on one of our 80 degree days!
Watching a show about "cay-men" (cavemen) with Pop pop and eating BBQ chips.
Two passy kids. Someone at Aldi was kind enough to point old that Alden is too old to have one. Well, I am not ready to give up naps yet, and I am afraid that may be a side effect of giving up the passys.
Throwing acorns in the creek has been a highlight this week!
She let Hudson smell the top. Then, I think she rubbed it on his head. 
Then, he needed a bath.
We were throwing the guts in a bag, and Alden kept grabbing it, walking away from the table, and saying, "Bye, I'm going to the yake; going to Avery's house to ride the boat, watch Dad waterski and fall." Then, she would go sit on the bottom step. A few minutes later, she would come back in and say, "I'm Baa-aack from the Yake." Who would have ever thought that a bag of slimey pumpkin entrails would have been so much fun?!?
Alden knows a little song from school "Mr. Pumpkin, Mr. Pumpkin, where are you? where are you? hiding in the cornfield, hiding in the cornfield, peek-a-boo, peek-a-boo!" She sings it all the time, and treated us to some of her vocal stylings while helping Matt carve the face.
Lily spent the evening laying the hallway.
And a picture of Hudson, just waking up from his nap, because there wasn't fair and equal representation of children in this entry.
Tuesday, between naps, diaper changes, meltdowns, etc, I made her a Peter Pan costume, since that is what she wanted to be. This was my first completely solo sewing project, and it actually went ok. I really only sewed the shirt, shoes and hat, since I went to about 7 places on Monday looking for green pants/tights.
So, we got her dressed up and I got to go for snack and craft time at school. Then, they did a little parade up and down the hallway. Bebe, Amber, Matt, and Hudson came to watch, and Alden was so excited to see them. She ran to Amber right away and kissed her hand, and wouldn't go back in her classroom unless Amber and Bebe could go too. We played on the playground for a while, and then went to Brueggers for lunch before Matt had to go back to work. 
Bebe, Alden and I went to the church to get a pumpkin. Alden kept picking up the little gourds, and saying "fish", "octopus", and "goose." They actually did kind of look like the animals.
Wednesday was also Hudson's 3 month birthday!!! What a huge milestone! It is like the final 4th trimester is over and he is officially a real baby and not a blob. He is starting to grab and hold things, and is so smiley. He loves for people to sing to him and bounce him around and will laugh and laugh. He is so sweet. I just love him so much.
This past weekend, we took the dogs and the kids to walk on the Tobacco Trail. Alden needed to "take a break now on this bench." 
Hudson was just enjoying the view.
We went to feed the ducks at the lake today. It was all good until 15 geese flew over and scared Alden to death.
We headed first to the FFA animal barn to visit some farm animals. There was a cow named Allison. Hmm.
Then, we went to the pony rides, since Alden has been talking about riding a "hor-hee" for a week. Matt walked into the ring with her, and she briefly sat on a cute little brown pony before COMPLETELY flipping out. I guess this wasn't the year for the pony rides. She kept saying, "It's OK, you don't have to...next year I ride hor-hee." 
Right beside the horses was the corn booth. That was Matt's favorite, and he was kind enough to share a bite with Alden. 
We walked around the expo center to see the prize-winning produce and giant pumpkins. Alden really likes seeing the mommy pig and the babies. We also looked at the bees, and who knew, but honey from different parts of the state is different colors!
Last stop was the petting zoo. Alden was released from the backpack, and she practically attacked the goats through the little fence. She just loves goats. Never mind that there were camels, alpacas, and kangaroos. She was enamored with the goats. We had to pull her back from kissing a few of them. One nice college guy even gave here a couple bits of carrot to feed one.
After a thorough hand and mouth washing
This one kind of looks like a mugshot.
And here is the comparison between Matt and Hudson at 3 months....Talk about a mini-me!
Alden talked about cats the other day at school. Here is a shot of her cat hat.
Giving the "pee-hull" a bath and lining them up to dry.
And for good measure, a picture of our "first child". I walked her the other day, when it was our first day in the 50's and she was so excited! Lily is definitely a winter dog!
