2 weeks old

I can't believe our little guy is almost 2 weeks old. 

We are absolutely smitten with baby Hudson.

He definitely gets lots and lots of cuddles,

kisses, 

and snuggles every day. 

He's pretty much got the best 3 big siblings ever.
They all love him so much and are so protective of him.

This baby boy has already got us all wrapped around his little finger.

We are in trouble :)

Welcome baby Hudson!

He's here! 

I'm so excited to introduce you to our newest addition....

our precious son 

Hudson James Sellars

Born March 14th, 2013

at 2:00 a.m.

6 pounds 15 ounces

19.5 inches long

He is absolutely perfect!

We are so in love!

After such a l.o.n.g. pregnancy it is so good to have him here.

On the outside.

In our arms. 

And finally home! 

The other kids are pretty obsessed with him too.

They are constantly fighting over who gets to hold him. 

 I'm just soaking up every second of the precious newborn stage. 

It's my favorite (minus the no sleep part).

My mini mama. 

Here she is burping Hudson.

I'm so blessed! 

Memory Boxes

I'm sentimental.

I love pictures and keepsakes.

Unfortunately I'm horrible about scrapbooking or even getting pictures into albums. period.

I write in the kids memory books once every 6 months...maybe. 

And now that they are getting older the baby books are kind of over with anyways. 

The other day I found these photo boxes at Michaels so I decided to pick one up for each kid. 

They are the perfect spot to put all of the kids special things I want to save for them, notes I have written to them (which I am trying to do a few times a year), handprints they have made at preschool, and pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.

And speaking of pictures...

It seems like Snapfish and Shutterfly are always emailing me coupons for free pictures. I finally started to use them and have been printing pictures for each of the kids to put in their boxes. That way they will have some of their special memories to take with them when they are older. 

I'm so excited to have found a system that actually works for me!

How do you guys perserve memories for your kids?
I'd love to hear! 

9 things

In case you were wondering....

yes I'm still pregnant. 

very very pregnant. 

I keep reminding myself that he WILL be here any day.
It kind of feels like the never ending pregnancy. 

Anyways...here's a little bit of the randomness going on in my life right now. 

1. I'm going through this book with a group of ladies from church. 

It is so so so awesome. 

Definitely a great read for any mom. 

2. After a couple weeks of double reading I'm finally caught up (I think even a couple days ahead) in the One Year Bible! It is so good to be in His Word every day. Definitely the kind of nourishment this soul needs.  

 3. I know Christmas is long gone but I'm still loving this soap. 

 4. We bought a chicken coop (thank you Craigslist)! Now all we need are some chickens.

Pass all your chicken knowledge my way!

5. Read this.

6. As we have been waiting for Hudson to come we have been stuffing our weekend with all sorts of house projects. Last weekend we painted a dresser (yellow) and two end tables (coral). The hubby also built us some awesome book shelves. 

The finished book shelves.

Dang we have a lot of books.

7. The baby loves Chick-fil-A's cookies and cream milkshakes. 

I don't blame him. 

8. I went to a parent info meeting for Kindergarden the other day.
And I am in total denial that I am going to have a Kindergardener! 

9. Make this. You will thank me. 

Little Girls Night Out

The other night we had a little girls night out. 

A few of Mackenzie's closest friends and their Mommy's got together for a fun and fruitful evening.

We had some yummy cookies and dessert at a local restaurant and spent some time talking about what it looks like to be a good friend. 

We used verses from the Bible and a lot of examples of what "loving your neighbor as yourself" actually looks like in every day life (as a 5 year old).

The Mommy's even put on a couple skits for the kids to act out different scenarios that they might encounter at church, school, etc.  First we acted out the wrong way to handle the situation, we talked about why it was wrong and then we acted out a better way to handle it. 

The kids LOVED this!! 

They thought it was soooo funny to see us Mom's putting on a show and I think it really helped drill home all of the things we had learned.

After our heart training session was over we headed out for some fun! 

The girls rode the carousel and had so much fun just hanging out together as big girls (without any of their other siblings around).

What a great night of fun and fellowship!

I'm so thankful to have good friends in my life who I can journey through parenthood with! 

Because this raising kids stuff can be tough

and with such an important job of training and molding little hearts towards Jesus I'm so glad that I'm not in it all alone. 

Soaking them up

With baby Hudson coming any day 

I'm trying to soak up every last minute with my babies before our new baby is here. 

Yesterday afternoon I pulled the camera out to document each of them at this stage in life. 

Maddie is talking up a storm and is silly and loving

and getting a feisty side to her.

Wesley is our comedian. 

He is always making us laugh and is a crazy, energetic, curious boy.

Mackenzie is 5 going on 15.

She is smart and helpful and emotional.

She loves to talk and to be creative.

I can't wait to meet our new little man and see how his unique personality will fit into our family. 

I'm so blessed with the kids God has given me!

A peek at our week

Hey guys!

Hope you are having a great weekend.
I can't believe it's almost over. 

Is it just me or does Monday always come too soon?

Anyways, here's a peek at some of the things we have been up to the past week or so. 

Enjoy!

Maddie's first mani. 

I love having a backyard!!! 

We hardly ever eat meals inside any more. 

They love Mrs. Lauren. 

We went to visit Aaron's grandparents. 

And snuck in a family picture (where all of us are looking!!).

I love fires and our new fire pit.

Mostly because it means we can have Smores whenever we want. 

And Smores are definitely best enjoyed with friends. 

Cuddles with my littles. 

A fun day at the Acres with friends. 

Resting on her brother. 

I found this awesome mask at my moms and surprised the kids with it.

I was laughing they were crying.

Park day with friends.

36 weeks.

Feeling (and looking) like I might pop any second. 

Tried to make this. 

Major Pinterest fail.

Soaking up every last moment with these 3 before baby Hudson makes his grand entrance. 

 Speaking of his grand entrance...I totally thought he was coming on Friday. Contractions 5 minutes apart for an hour and then just as we were packing the kids up to take them to my parents they totally stopped. 

Whaa whaa whaaa.

But now we are finally ready for him to come. 

We had a garage sale this weekend

 and finally cleared enough stuff out of the garage to fit a car in there.

Victory!

Daddy cuddles with our biggest baby boy.