Happy Birthday Baby Adam

This past weekend I talked Angela, my sister, into allowing me to have baby Adam over for the weekend with out her. I was super pumped to say the least. I was not the only one either. Hannah, Hudson, and Josh were excited too. I have to be honest with you guys. I was most excited about taking him out in public and people thinking he was my little boy. He looks more like me than my own kids.

As most of you know we were lucky to have him and Ang live with us for the first 4 months of his life. He screamed his face off the whole time. Well things have changed my friends. He is the easiest, sweetest, and laid back almost 1 year old I have ever encountered. By the way he is sort of a trader, he followed Josh around the house wanting him to pick him up all the time. I think he might be Josh's favorite nephew now. Here are a few pictures of his visit. I can't wait to give his mama a break again. She is so great with him and I am super proud of the mama she has turned in to.

Look at him walking now!

Dinner Table conversation

Last night we were sitting at the dinner table eating and asking Hannah and Hudson questions about school. The conversation led into a question about Hannah's teacher, Mrs. Kelly, who happens to not accept any nonsense in class. We asked her who gets in trouble in class for acting up. Of course like a true Canary she starts to tell us who the regular offenders are. Our curiosity gets the better of us and we start to ask about her friends, the ones we know, if Mrs. Kelly had to get on to them. So we ask about, Mia, and Joey and she tells us that they are good. When we ask about her friend Chloe, who lives one street over, she responds emphatically.


"Oh no, she's 6, she might beat you up."


I still remember when one more year got you that much street credit, whatever happened to that?

I really miss Fall

Down here in the deep south they are calling for our first cold front, now don't go and feel sorry for us just yet. Our day time highs are going to settle in the mid 80's, but the best news is we will get down to the upper 50's overnight. It's time to give our A/C a break for a few nights!

That cooler air just reminds me how much we miss fall. Fall is a season we don't really experience here. It's always been my favorite time of year. There is something about changing leaves and crisp cool nights. We got to experience fall for the first time in years this September in Connecticut. We took an afternoon trip through Lancaster county in Pa. on our way to a playoff series and it felt incredible to drive through the countryside with the windows down. The leaves were starting to turn and the air at night was just enough to shed the summer shorts and put on Jeans. We took our time and drove through the Pennsylvania farm country until one barn just happened to stop us. We happened to find the farmer in the garden and asked him if we could take pictures, he looked at us a little funny after hearing our request, but I'm sure after he noticed our Florida plates he shrugged us off with an understanding.

How I spent my summer!

I sat down today and happened to click on the link to our blog knowing all to well nothing new was on it, when I noticed the date of the last blog. Six months is a long time between posts. A lot can happen in Six months.

A person can lose 5 teeth and have two rise up in their place in six months. One's vocabulary can radically expand, not to mention one's shoe size.

Point being that there is much to catch up on, and I plan to start filling in the blanks.

Since April 16th our family has split our time between Connecticut and Florida with a brief stop in Columbus, Ohio. This was the first summer that we were not together as a family for the seasons entirety, which brought about new challenges and lots of Skype. We visited many small cities in the upper north east, Places like York and Lancaster, Pa. As well as places like Long Island and New York City. We got to visit old friends in Toledo, and make new ones in Bridgeport. Needless to say we were never in the same place for long. We were constantly traveling and had many mini explorations like our good friends pig farm and taking an afternoon in Amish country.

We had milestones for our young family also, Hannah started Kindergarten and Hudson is off to pre-school. Hannah was obviously required to do so, but starting Hudson was required for the mental health of his parents.

Like I said, there is much to fill you in on.

Daddy leaves tomorrow!

So Josh leaves tomorrow to go play baseball again! Hannah decided to hide a letter in his suitcase. This is the sweetest letter ever. I was teary eyed reading it. Hope you guys enjoy and realize what a sweet sensitive little girl I have. I am proud of her and love her to death. She makes me proud to be her mommy. It is a picture of her and Josh holding hands! Look how much better her body is than Josh's! That girl has curves for a stick figure! Got to love it!

Towboy Town AKA Tombstone

So as some of you may know Josh was released by the Rockies on Friday morning. So we decided to take advantage of the day off and head down to Tombstone on Saturday morning. We had a really great time. Here are some pictures of our day.

Nana's Letters

Since Josh and I have been married we have always received letters from his mom. Not by email but long letters handwritten on paper. It is an art that has been lost in technology theses days. You should see some of the letters she sent to Hannah when she was little. Instead of words Patty used photos and stickers so that Hannah could read them herself. She is such a great writer. I should let you in on a secret. Casey got his talent from her. Well the other day we got a package for the kids from her. They get super excited about all of the candy and toys she sends, but Josh and I just enjoy the letter. Sometimes it is 2 pages sometimes it is 5 or 6. Sometimes they are about what is going on in her day. Sometimes they are so funny that you will be crying! Sometimes they are a way of writing about her feelings. We love to get them. Here is picture of someone else enjoying her letter tonight.

Remebering Toledo

Five years ago Josh, Hannah and I were gearing up to head to Toledo, Ohio! What who wants to go there is what I thought. Little did I know it would be the best season I ever had while Josh has been playing. The girls on that team were awesome. The fans were awesome. Rent was cheap. Hannah was only 18 months old and sweet as can be. I met my best girlfriends there too.

First I will start with Beckie. I get to the game and met her. "Hi I am Beckie" is what she said. I loved her from the beginning. She is beautiful, smart, and lots and lots of fun. I always love the fact that she is not afraid to speak her mind even while walking down the street talking to a stranger. When you talk to her you never know what to expect in your conversation. Beckie, thanks for being a great friend.

Next came Joanie! WOW Josh and Ryan, her husband were on the same team in Cleveland, but Joanie and I never met. The wives forgot to tell her about my baby shower and she was mad and did not like me. Imagine that, Joanie not liking someone. LOL Well I met her in Toledo and loved her. Well not exactly from the beginning but after awhile she kind of grows on you. I love the fact that she is loyal! She will have your back anywhere. She is also beautiful, smart, and funny. Thanks Joanie Bologna for being such a great friend.

Next come Jenny Lew! I met her with Joanie. She is super tall, over 6 foot. She is like the mama of the bunch. She always keeps us grounded when we are all trying our hardest to get out of control. She is beautiful, smart and fun when we can get her to let loose! I love the fact that she tells it like it is and does not have a problem talking about personal stuff! Thanks Jenny for being such a great friend.

What is so strange to me is that 4 girls from different parts of the country that have completely different personalities mix so well. We have so much fun when we are together and we balance each other out perfect I think. I could not have asked for better friends.

When we first met Hannah was the only baby. Now all of us are Mamas. Jenny has Cade and he is 3. Beckie has Luke and he is 1. Joanie had Stetsen and he is also 1. The other day I met up with Jenny and Beckie and Jenny said " Remember when we just had Hannah" Hannah was mothered by all of us that year in Toledo. I will never forget that year and it is because of my girls! I love all of you. Here is a picture of my 2 and Cade. Luke was taking a nap.

Two year old anyone?

I will give him away today! We moved into our rental house yesterday and Hudson has been throwing rocks. He has been spanked, put in time out, you name he is still throwing rocks. Well this morning he goes outside for like 5 minutes and now we have a broken door window. Anyone want to guess what happened.

HUDSON THREW A ROCK INTO IT!

Trip to the Zoo

The kids had a really good time at the zoo. I tried to get pictures of Hudson but he was too obsessed with the animals to turn around. Hannah had no problem having her picture taken. She was ready to pose with all the animals.

Hotel Life

Well as most of you know there is not much to do in a hotel room for kids. We do not have any toys here for the kids to play with so the only thing left is......... DADDY! He is the biggest jungle gym of all. Here is a picture of what I found after running out to the ice machine.

The season begins!

Well we made it to Tucson. 12 hour day flying, kids did really well. There mama got in and went straight to bed. I think Josh was a little dissappointed that I was not up for hanging out. The kids were so excited to see Josh. Hudson kept running over to him and hugging and kissing him. They were both all over him. Fine by me, I have been at wits end with Hudson for the past week. He returned to his sweet little self when we got here.

THEN HE IS BACKKKKKKKKKK! Josh left for the field this morning and guess what happened. Anyone guessing yet? He cried and cried, snot everywhere, walking in circles around bed, back in forth in front of the window. Where's Daddy, where's Daddy. Thought about calling the front desk to let them know that I am not torturing my child. After 30 minutes of it he finally calmed down and is now wiped out. I am not looking forward to this everyday. Hope it gets better.

Here is a little clip at the drama!

Kids Photos

www.tarafriedley.com

enter site then click on clients, then Phelps, when asked for the password is it hudson all lowercase. Hope you enjoy.

Tara is the mom of Gage in Hannah's class this year. She is super fun and we have a lot in common. Not to mention she is a really great photographer. We had a really good time with them. Took pictures, ordered pizza, and then took the kiddos for ice cream. I think Josh and her husband will be great friends also. Her husband loves to fish and has a boat. I am excited to have met them and have them as friends now.

The Poon

For the past few weeks my little prince has turned into the little devil. I am not sure why this is happening. He is biting, kicking, hitting, screaming, you name it. The list goes on and on. I have tried spanking him. He does not care one bit. He will not even cry. I have tried time out and that is not working either. He sits in his little chair and pretends he is shooting me with a gun. Scary!!!! So I called my Papa and was talking to him about it. He said you need to get a switch. For those of you northerners that is a thin branch off of a tree. HEHE So I then talked to Terra and she recommended the SPOON! Let me tell ya something. He is not a completely different child but that spoon is working. All I have to say is I am going to get the spoon and he is yelling and running away saying NO MAMA NO!

Although it is working, he did tell me yesterday. Mama, I called Daddy and tell him you hit me with POON and Daddy is going to hit you with the POON. Oh really! Good luck Daddy.

Here is a picture of my little devil shooting birds from his play set!

Lemonade Stand

So Hannah decided today that she wanted to have a lemonade stand. I thought about it and said sure why not. So we set up got our lemonade ready, table, table cloth, and blueberry muffins too. She had a really good time. Every time a car would go by she would wave and yell lemonade stand. Super cute. Lemonade was 25 cents and muffins were 50 cents. She ended up making $17.75. I think she wants to do this every weekend now.