http://owenmichaelhudson.shutterfly.com/pictures
Year: 2011
Golf course shenanigans!
While Tom and Marsha and Rob were out shopping this morning, Owen and I went for a walk to the golf course… (Sidenote: This is the only 3T outfit he has that still fits.)
“Machine!”
“Red! White! Yellow! Blue!” (Naming the colors on the sign.)
Hiding!
Another machine!
We were just about to head home when Owen started telling me his foot hurt. He hates wearing shoes so I thought he was just fooling me. But I unbuckled the sandal strap and felt around and didn’t see/feel anything that would be poking him so put it back on. He kept saying it hurt and I kept telling him nothing was wrong. He kept trying to get the shoe off himself so I finally took off the whole shoe…where I then saw a smashed red ant and three tiny bites. 
Of course I felt like a horrible mom. Luckily when the shoes came off and the bug bite cream went on, he was totally fine.
Pillow attack!
Our little photog!
This is what happens when we leave Owen alone with my phone. He turned the phone on, swiped to unlock, opened the Photography folder, picked this Photobooth app, and took these pictures…
Big chicken!
Owen, upon seeing the turkey: “That’s a big chicken!”
Official 2011 USMC Ball Photo
Oops! I just realized as of 11/18/12 that I hadn’t scanned and posted our ball picture from last year!
Current helicopter pronunciation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG5x59b3r7c
This is how he currently pronounces helicopter—approximately helicop(t)opter. Mom and I couldn’t stop laughing.
Jumping and a clue!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsFLtUNBkhw
He pulled all the pet beds from around the first floor and layed them all out in a row, then started jumping. When we’re talking about a clue, that’s from Blue’s Clues (a current favorite show), where blue paw prints signify a clue.
Smart boy!
We had to waste some time at Sam’s Club while my tire got fixed, and this is where Owen decided to sit down for a bit. Smart boy!
A new tub toy!
Dalmation is in a cage!
Golf ball at the golf course!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M6Bnr4kV9g
We were on our daily walk to the golf course but had to step off the green to let actual golfers play through. They took an interest in Owen and asked if he’d like a golf ball. Well, you know him, he can talk up a storm if he’s in the mood, but heaven forbid a stranger ask him a question. So I took his hand and walked him over and he took the ball and off he went. And wow did he have a blast—throwing it and chasing after it. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Parenting Guru: 10 things you may not know about military wives
http://shine.yahoo.com/mo…es-2607864.html
I might argue against #4 and we’ll find out about #6 in a year or so…but for the most part, this is dead on.
By sarahlynne | Moments Of Motherhood
- When a deployment is imminent, we just want it to start. That doesn’t mean we want our spouses to leave. We don’t. But when the date has been set and our husband’s bag is sitting half-packed in the corner of the bedroom, we start getting anxious, worried and a little bit angry. We think about the upcoming months and everything he’s going to miss and everything we’re going to have to do alone. It’s overwhelming. Once they leave, we can start to tackle the challenges one at a time and that’s so much easier than the waiting. But those last few weeks before he leaves are wrought with frustration, nervousness and a little fear.
- We are not miserable the whole time they are gone. We don’t like that our family is split up, but we can’t live in the future or press a pause button on our life, so we focus on other things. Hobbies, children, visiting friends and family, work; our life is still full. Just not complete.
- But there are tears right underneath the surface. Whenever our children do something new, or something exciting or sad happens, or even when there have been just too many nights that we’ve stayed in alone, we get really sad. And we can’t always be sad because we don’t want to upset the kids.
- That being said, most of us like our lifestyle. We enjoy the adventure of moving every few years, starting over, making new friends and living in various parts of the country and world. We have close friends everywhere. It’s stressful yes, but also exciting.
- We rely on our friends a lot. Even when our husbands are home, we are used to be canceled on at the last minute, not knowing schedules until an hour before an event, or having a job take precedence over the family. So, we have friends who are reliable, patient, flexible and who make us laugh. We love and truly appreciate our friends. So do the kids.
- Our children are well adjusted and okay. In fact, most of the time, they are amazing in their ability to see the silver lining in every challenge. From the beginning of their lives, they’ve moved around, started over and had a parent leave for huge amounts of time. We have lots of strategies to help them stay connected, and we analyze how to make each deployment as painless as possible on the children.
- We don’t need or want pity. We look for love, friendship and fun. We don’t need you to say “I’m sorry,” when we tell you our husbands are away. We knew what we signed up for when we got married. However, we’d be so grateful for a helping hand. Helping us with something that would normally take two people, like shoveling snow or even just bringing in our grill for the winter would be awesome and will relieve the stress a little.
- Please don’t ask us what we are going to do to “keep busy” when our husbands are gone. Just like you have a healthy relationship with things outside your marriage, so do we. We don’t need to “keep ourselves entertained” or “find something to do to pass the time” while he’s gone. Those comments are insulting. We will just continue to live our life. Yes, there will be a hole in it, but we will not be pining away for six months or a year. So don’t try to give us projects or find stuff to keep us busy. We’ll be fine.
- There are romantic moments about military life that rival only the most dramatic movies. We’ve been spun around by a man in uniform after he hasn’t seen us in months. We’ve seen our children run toward their daddy with pure glee and excitement. We’ve dressed up like royalty and attended military galas and we’ve watched ships pull into port, with sailors standing at attention around the perimeter.
- And sometimes the civilian population can be so supportive and sweet that it just brings tears to our eyes. These moments are precious and get us through all the tough stuff. So thank you. We appreciate all the thoughts, good wishes and the extra stuff you do to make us feel better. We notice it. We see it. And it really does help.
Sarahlynne is a Parenting Guru and has been married to a United States sailor for 3 years and 3 deployments.
Stop growing!
Owen’s size 8-9 Crocs don’t fit anymore and his toes hang over his size 9 Tevas, so I put him in size 11 Tevas. 
He probably only needs a 10, but I had bought 11 to be safe and they’re fine. And I packed up all his 3T clothes yesterday…
Under! Under! Under!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm1U9YrIFQ0
He loves getting under the covers and then using the iPad under there. He wiggles and squirms so much that he totally messes up all the covers on the bed. But dang it’s cute.
Bath and post bath
Little boy car noises
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je2GtJoLt0o
Is this just a little boy thing? He just started making these noises on his own!
Handy Manny!
Owen cracks me up. He’s never watched Handy Manny, but he has seen promos for it (at the end of other shows) so I’ve recorded it for when he’s ready. So this morning I asked if he wanted to watch Handy Manny and he says “I LOVE HANDY MANNY!” Even though he’s never actually seen it. :))
I told him a toy wasn’t his.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6arBIeK-48
Quite some time ago, I bought a duplicate Cars Mack Hauler
He’s making connections!
Tonight we were headed to a friend’s house for dinner and Owen already had three cars in his hands and wanted to take two other toys and you could tell he was a bit confused as to just how he was going to make it work. So I told him to put everything in his basket—assuming I’d come back in a few minutes and have to actually do it myself. So imagine my surprise when I saw him standing at the front door…holding his basket…with all his cars and toys in it! I asked Tom if he had helped him and he said no. So Owen understood what I said and actually made it happen! YAY OWEN!
Then as soon as we pulled up at our friend’s house, he says “[Vir]ginia’s house!”
Also, over the past few days when he says he wants to go outside (or if we’re getting ready to go for a car ride) he will start saying shoes and coat and head off to find them. He even managed to get his Crocs on by himself!
2011 USMC Birthday Ball
It was back to the basics this year after three years of deluxe birthday balls during recruiting duty—no included open bar or hotel suite—but no $200+ for tickets, either. 
And, as usual, I didn’t know anyone (the Detroit years were the only time I’ve ever known anyone at a ball).
The official pictures didn’t go particularly well. The guy seemed somewhat knowledgeable, but he was too perfectionist and was all “Okay, lady tilt head left, lift chin up, move your arm to the left a bit, bend your elbow more, lean into him. Sir, chin towards me, no back a bit, look up, tilt your head sideways, take a tiny sidestep back.” But 10x worse. Oh my god it was tiring and distracting. Then he showed you the photos (digital, of course) and if you didn’t like it, he’d take more. Well, I hated all three he took of us, so I said “Can you just take a quick casual picture without all the direction?” Sure, and it ended up to be the best one but I still hated it (damn double chin—yeah, it’s me in all my glory but I hate to see it in a photo). So, it’s a $20 memory.
For whatever reason, the ceremony seemed to move more slowly than we’d remembered it, and we weren’t even starting dinner until 8:30—and we didn’t get cake until 9:45!! There was still no music or dancing by that point, and we honestly didn’t feel like staying and waiting for that to start…so we left at 10. Yeah, we’re apparently old fogies now. 
A day of fails…with fun.
The local farmer’s market was having a big shindig today—reptiles, animals, hay rides, tractors, etc…so we were excited to take Owen. Yeah, he wasn’t thrilled. He wouldn’t even get close to the alpaca, let alone feed it (or even lean over and touch it when Tom was holding him). He liked the small snakes and geckos for about 30 seconds…until he got to the BIG snakes and was “done” (I was done way before that—I HATE SNAKES). He liked seeing the tractor, but didn’t want to sit on it. He had the most fun with the sidewalk chalk—and even that didn’t last more than a few minutes. So that was that. FAIL. But he was still a really good kid the whole time so overall it was still fun.
Then we went to Walmart and offered to buy him a pint-sized football…and he didn’t want it. I tried to get him a Cars-themed bath scrubbie, but he didn’t want that because he wanted the plastic Lightning McQueen Bath Bubbles next to it. FAIL. But he was still a really good kid the whole time so overall it was still fun.
Then we decided to go to Chick-Fil-A to let him try out the play area (one of those enclosed things) since we’ve been meaning to do it since we got here—and he wanted no part of that, either. He sat on the bench and played with his cars on the window ledge. FAIL. But he was still a really good kid the whole time so overall it was still fun. (And on a sidenote, he liked dipping his fries in the Polynesian sauce! SCORE!)
I love cake!
Owen’s babysitter (and one of our neighbors) Hannah turned 14 today, so while she was babysitting him (while we were at the birthday ball), she took him to her house for birthday cake and ice cream. He LOVED it, and they enjoyed watching him love it…and Hannah’s mom sent us this picture!
P.S. Grandpa Mike, you notice which hand he’s holding the spoon with?
Look out cat!
Owen is a riot. The annoying neighborhood cat was following us on our walk so was in the road as a car was coming. Owen started saying “Look out cat! Look out cat! Look out cat!” And if that wasn’t cute enough, when the car safely passed, Owen said “Phew!”
Owen is 2 years 9 months old today!
Remember a previous month’s one-shot success? Today it took 87 tries.
I can finally make sausage gravy!
I originally saw the basic recipe on Buns In My Oven and then added onion and garlic to make it more me. But all credit for this recipe goes to Buns—including being the impetus for making my first ever from scratch sausage gravy. Delish! And so easy! I cant believe it took me this long!
Yeah yeah yeah, my Aunt Marge has told me for YEARS how easy it was but I just never believed her. I even searched recipes but for some reason they just seemed like too many steps. But now that I can make regular gravy from pan drippings—and I happened to run across this very simple recipe—I figured it was time to try. And I’m so glad I did! YUM!
The so-simple recipe? 1# sausage, 1/2 cup onion, 1/4 cup flour, 2 cups milk, spices to taste (S&P, garlic). Of course I cheated on the biscuits and used frozen Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits but let’s just take things one step at a time! :p
October photos are online!
I just love my boy.
He was eating his sammich for breakfast when he says “Bunny!” And I looked, and damn if his last remaining piece of crust didn’t look like a bunny (I tried to get a good pic but this is the best I could get.) So he hopped it through the yogurt a few times, then ate it.
You have to love his imagination. He says “Statue!” then points out the eyes, nose, and mouth! (Well, I saw the face, too—but I’m not sure why he called it a statue.)
One of his new games is to fake run into something and fall, saying “Help! Help! Mama help!” If Tom is around, he’ll go over and fawn over him, pick him up, then carry him to me where I zerbert his belly. If it’s just me, he’ll just lay there saying help help help in the cutest voice. I might go over and say “Oh no! Did you fall down? Are you okay?” To which he responds yes, he’s okay. This was one of his falls today where he ended up just laying there chilling out.
Then, while he was playing in the bath, I hear “Copter!” and look down and see this. I love his imagination.
Trick or Treating
We were sitting at the table eating dinner when the costumed kids started up and down the street…and Owen was the first to see them as he announced “WITCH! WITCH!” I asked if he wanted to go get treats and he said yes so I said we had to go put his costume on. He ran off saying “Shoes! Shoes!” So we got the costume on, he sat still for me to draw his nose and whiskers on, and then was super excited to see that I had a Lightning McQueen bag for him!
We went outside and there was a HUGE group of kids walking by (“KIDS!”) and he just watched them intently while saying “Costume party! Costume party!” (I’m not entirely sure where he picked up the idea of a costume party, but I’m sure it had to be one of his shows that I don’t pay close attention to.) He was more interested in watching the kids than anything else, so we hung out in the yard and driveway for a good 10 minutes before he was ready to head down the street. (Unfortunately, Tom is away for work, so it was just me and Owen.)
After we hit the first house (our friends and next door neighbors), he was READY. TO. GO! He had his McQueen bag in one hand and a toy jet in the other (which he held the entire night).
After we hit the few houses on our street, I thought we might be done (because to hit any other houses, it would be a bit of a walk for him) so I asked him if he wanted to go home or if he wanted more treats. Without hesitation, he immediately said “More treats!” So off we went!
He did awesome holding his bag the entire time and not dropping it (or any candy!) and he did REALLY well saying trick or treat—at the beginning I had to take him right to the door and tell him when to say it (and to say thank you), but by the end of the night, he pretty much knew he had to go up to the door or the people (most were sitting on the porch) and then say thank you.
Of course, at some houses, people let the kids pick their own treats from the bowl and he didn’t get it at first—the first house that offered, he just stood there like Why aren’t you putting anything in my bag? but then he slowly took one…and then another…and another. It was so cute—and the guy was laughing. After, at other houses, he gently picked one out.
I learned that he does not like motion-activated fog machines at all, but he loves pumpkins and ghosts (which we already knew) and pointed them ALL out to me. Of course, just about everyone commented how cute he was. As we were on our way home, we ran into our neighbors who commented how cute he was and that their daughter had been a dalmation, too. I said “Yes, I know—we got this costume from you [at your garage sale]!” He got a laugh out of that. Then he noticed the gray clouds and said “Storm! Storm!” (Again, I have NO idea where he picked up the idea of dark clouds predicting a storm!) But I agreed that a storm might be coming…and as it turned out, it started raining about 20 minutes after we got home!
He had the best time playing with his candy—treats! treats!—it all got dumped out on my bed and then he was pushing it around and saying CRASH!
He didn’t do as much sorting as I thought he would (he just picked out the suckers) and it was only a matter of minutes before he wanted to eat one. So we shared a bite-sized Kit Kat and then he ate a tiny Nestle Crunch bar.
So overall it was a very fun night…and I can’t wait until next year! Hopefully Tom will be here to experience it with us!
He’s even cute with messy hair!
The cute hat still fits! YAY!
Hat hair!
