Is anyone still out there???

I'm pretty awful at this blogging thing, huh?  Since I left off with James's Change of Command, Hudson has made his first trip to Virginia, been baptised and the rest has been pretty ho-hum. 

We'll start with our trip to Virginia.  Aye, aye, aye.  Hudson is not a fan of the 9 hour drive - ahem, I mean 11.5 hour drive.  We started out pretty well....I fed him, put him in the carseat and he took a nap.  Great!  Until we got to the other side of Nashville and he woke up and proceeded to scream his precious little head off.  It had only been an hour since he ate but we decided to stop, change his diaper and go from there.  Well, this pattern repeated itself pretty much the entire day.  Stop and feed/change him, nap for 45 minutes, then scream until it was time to stop and eat again.  I've never been more happy to see the exit sign for Bedford on 460. 

We had a wonderful time in Virginia visiting family and introducing everyone to Hudson.  Once we got to Virginia, I think he liked it!  Constant arms to hold and cuddle him - what more could a 2 month old ask for?! 

Another highlight of our trip was getting to meet Jack Wilson!  Jack was born 3 weeks to the day after Hudson.  It was so special for Ashley and I to introduce our sweet boys to one another and so much fun to see how different they are to only be a few weeks apart in age!  We hunt out with Ashley and Jack a couple of afternoons and they were able to make it to the cookout after Hudson's baptism to visit with us then, too.  Jack is such a sweetheart and I can't wait to see these boys as they grow up! 

Hudson's baptism was very nice and we were thankful that Father Steve was able to come back and baptise Hudson since he was the priest who married us and baptised Kemper.  We are so thankful for all of our friends and family who made it to celebrate the occasion with us and a special thanks to Zach, Casey and Joey for making the drive from NC! 

Leading up to our trip from Virginia, we had been prepping Kemper and Joey because the Hitchcock's were moving to Ft. Bragg while we were in Bedford.  We knew they were coming up for Hudson's baptism but had tried to prepare the kids that once we made it back to TN, we couldn't just pop over to Joey's for a playdate like we had become so accustomed to in the past.  It was so wonderful to have them there for Hudson's baptism and for Kemper and Joey to get one last hurrah in before we all tried to settle into our new normal without each other.  Sometimes I wonder if it's been harder on Casey and I adjusting to not having each other to hang out with than it has been on the kiddos.  :)

Our time in VA flew by and we headed back to Tennessee for Kemper's Opening Ceremonies for Blast Ball.  It was quite a letdown but he enjoyed being able to be on the field in his uniform with the other kids playing blast ball and little league.  The season has been going better than last year - fewer meltdowns over not getting to field every ball and he's hitting the ball on the first try as opposed to the 5 swings it took him last year.  It's still a painfully slow game to watch for this uber competitive mom but Hudson has given me a diversion from the game most nights and Kemper is enjoying himself so that's all that really matters!

For Father's Day weekend, we decided to head down to Atlanta to take the boys to their first Atlanta Braves game.  Poor boys, they come from a house divided during baseball season.  Luckily, mommy's team is in the AL and daddy's team is in the NL so as long as they're not playing each other, it doesn't get too ugly! ;)  Our friends, The Liesens, were in Atlanta for block leave visiting Jenny's parents and invited us to stay with them.  They spent Friday touring the World of Coke with us and went to the baseball game that night as well!  Saturday was spent by the pool and just being lazy.  We had such a great time with them and are so thankful they invited us to crash their block leave!  The boys did so well at the baseball game despite the warm temperatures and that they were both up way past their bedtimes.  Hudson even slept through the post-game fireworks!  Kemper especially enjoyed the Tomahawk Chop and will randomly break into a vigorous chop every now and then! 

I think that just about catches it up....Kemper is attending school 2-days a week this summer and is at home with Hudson and me the other 3.  It's been unbelieveably hot here the past week so we've spent quite a bit of time indoors enjoying the air conditioning.  We're looking forward to the start of swim lessons and welcoming 3 new babies in the coming weeks! 

(There are so many pictures to share that I'm going to have to come back and add them another day - we've got 2 little boys who need to hit the bed!)