Friday's Letters

Dear Hutson,
      The fact that you just said H-U-T-S-O-N - Hutson, totally blows my mind. Two and Two months today and you just spelled your name. Boy you make me so proud. I really wish I could take credit for that, but you love to learn and teach yourself. And I love how you call popsicles Poppysicles.

Dear Eddie, Drew (and Kate),
       Hutson keeps talking about you from your visit last week. He keeps saying, "Drew funny." Thanks for being so sweet and impressionable to my little boy. It was so great to see you guys! Come and visit again soon.

Dear Keurig Vue,
       Welcome home! I simply cannot wait to test your abilities!

Dear Gaga,
       It was so great to see you this past weekend. Hutson loved hanging out and coming to Chat town for a visit!

Dear Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga,
         You are amazing! I wish you were in Birmingham because Hutson and I would live there.

Dear Gabbie, Bumpa, and Nana,
        Get ready for Hutson to talk your ears off. You are going to be amazed!

Dear Crocks,
        You scare me! I love how easy you are to put on Hutson's feet, but I always feel like he is going to slip and fall, and you gave him a blister, so you're out.

Dear self,
       Please learn to give yourself grace as you grieve and learn to take a moment to smell the roses.

Dear Acton Park Friends,
        I can't wait for our cookout tonight! Hutson is so very excited!

Friday's Letters

Dear mind,

       Please come back to me! I feel very scatter brained recently, like my mind is running a mile a minute, and I just can't keep everything straight. I absolutely HATE this feeling and pray life settles down soon.

Dear mother nature.

      Thank you. thank you, thank you for being so wonderful recently! This past weekend was just beautiful, and we are soaking up every minute. 

Dear UAB,

       How kind it was of you to send Phillip home early in fear of bad weather yesterday. Hutson was overjoyed to have his daddy be able to play when he woke up from his nap. I also very much appreciated the fact that I got to finish some sewing orders. And thankfully Birmingham's weather was  tame. 

Dear new sewing machine,

      Let's quit this love hate relationship and just get along! You can make the most beautiful appilques and monograms when you want to, but you sure do have a mind of your own. 

Dear Loft,

      You make the most wonderful jeans! 

Dear skinny jeans,

      I can't believe I was against you for so long. You are amazingly cute and so comfortable! 

Dear Hutson,

     I just love the way you count- 2, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, erteen, erteen, erteen, ERTEEN! Your abilities also amaze me everyday, as I truly feel I have no idea what you actually know. You blew me away in the bath when I brought out the foam numbers for the first time in 6 months, and you already knew them all. Keep going smarty pants :)

Dear Curious George,

    Thanks for your adorable TV episodes that Hutson loves and that even entertain me sometimes. Just try not to let George mess too much up. Hutson will go OH NO! And sometimes even cry if he is upset at whatever happened. At least he is so compassionate.

Dear Braves,

    You rock! Good luck in D.C.

All I have left to say this week is TGIF!

Friday's Letters

Well hello again blog world!

A couple of weekends ago Phillip and I attended one of his dearest friends weddings in New Orleans. After the most amazing video at the rehearsal dinner of the two of them, Phillip and I both agreed that we have dropped the ball recently on remembering these precious moments of our life. Case in point, I haven't blogged since New Years, and I have really missed it.

So, I  have decided to join my many friends and start a weekly Friday Letter's blog to share what is on  my mind, and mostly my heart, and to help us remember these wonderful days that pass us by so quickly.

Dear wonderful, amazing, fabulous friends (you know who you are) and my parents,
       Thank you so very much for your love and support these past 2 weeks. I truly want to belt out the lyrics, "I get by with a little help from my friends," to you all! Your delicious meals, thoughtful cards, phone calls, texts, emails, generosity to watch Hutson while I go to doctors appointments, hugs, ears to listen, and shoulders to cry on truly overwhelm my heart during this difficult time for our family. I feel so blessed and so loved by you all, and it helps remind me that this is part of Gods plan for us.

Dear Hutson's two year molars,
       You stink! Please come in already so you will stop giving him random fevers that prohibit us from doing fun activities with our friends.

Dear Missy,
       Thank you so much for having a boy 2 1/2 years before me, and for dressing him in cute close that you are willing to share! I just put the box away with some summer/fall clothes for next season and Hutty is stocked.

Dear Hutson,
      Thank you for all your sweet hugs and kisses recently! I love the boy you are turning into, but please take your time and stop growing. When you say "Mama snuggle" my heart truly melts.

Dear wonderful Husband,
      I would be lost without you as my rock to hold me together. Thank you for all that you do and for your understanding heart. And thank you especially for working so hard, so I can stay home with Hutson in June full time and sew sew sew! Love you mucho!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! 

Last night we rang in the New Year with our favorite people here in Birmingham: the Wikles, Greens, and the Jacksons. Unfortunately, the 4 children there were so entertaining that we forgot to take pictures of the crowd, but I did get these pictures before the festivities started.

Hutson loved the horn!

So happy!

He wanted to celebrate. I wanted a hugging picture. So, we got both.

And this picture of Garrett and Hutson pretty much sums up the night. 

2012 brought many new adventures to the Faucette house. We moved to Birmingham in June. We love the area and have found wonderful lifelong friends here. Phillip began his residency at UAB in July, and he is absolutely loving what he is doing. I taught seven dance classes and have returned to work as a nanny 22 hours a week, and I bring Hutson with me, which is a blessing. Sewn Love Monogramming has grown tremendously. We welcomed our niece Flynn into the world on December 16th. We continue to watch our parents and Nana grow older and wish we could be closer to comfort and help them through the frustration that this stage in life brings. And the greatest light in our life had his first birthday. It has been such a joy to see him grow into toddler hood and watch his personality form. 

But I have to be honest, this last half of the year and the adjustments to life with Phillip back in school has not been a cake walk. However, I have learned SO much about myself, the strength of God, and the strength of our marriage. I can honestly say that I am a much better person, and am that much more appreciative of all that I have. This year is best put by a card the office manager gave to Phillip with a goodbye gift on his last day. If I had only known how true it was going to be, I probably would have dug my heals in a little bit more in Nashville, but I am so glad we took this leap of faith. The card went like this...

God has not promised
skies always blue,
flower-strewn pathways,
all our lives through;
God has not promised sun without rain,
joy without sorrow,
peace without pain.

But God has promised strength for the day,
rest for the labor,
light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
help from above,
unfailing sympathy,
undying love.

So I start the new year with this knowledge, that God truly laughs at my plans for my life,and that he knows what is best for us. That is why this year instead of making resolution I can't keep I will try my best to follow the path that He has created for us.

May 2013 bring you joy, love, and lots of laughter!

21 Months and Thanksgiving 2012

This week before the new year begins, I am catching up on events that have happened this year. November was such a fun month! The weather was just beautiful, so thankfully we still got to spend a lot of time outside, which is Hutson's favorite.

A day at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham with Garrett and Alicia.

He looks up to his big buddy so much!

They had a blast playing chase.

He was so happy, but giving me a funny smile. 

Then we went to a car show. 

Hutson got to "drive" the cars. He thought that was really cool.

"Cheese"

Thanksgiving

Since Phillip was on call in November, we decided to tackle Thanksgiving ourselves. My parents came in town too, and we had a great time cooking Thanksgiving dinner. (It's really not so hard, especially when your mom's there.)

Phillip is a natural carver.

They had to make sure it it tasted okay.

Bumpa and Hutson

Grammie and Hutson

This is how beautiful Thanksgiving day was.

On Friday we took Grammie and Bumpa to the park. I showed them my many skills.

I love this one of my two loves.

November was another big speaking month for Hutson.

By Nov. 6th, 2012 Hutson new these words/phrases:

Dada
Mama
Nana
Gaga
Papa
Bumpa
Turn on
Turn light on
Kitty
Come on
boo-boo
Meme
Ne (Ned)
Toes
Hi
Night night
See ya
T
Elmo
Dada (which is hot dog)
Mo-moon
Kin- Pumpkin
Pillar- Catapillar
Nana- banana
Fishy
bye- bye
meow
shhhh ( with his finger up to his lips)
Sss- Sound of a snake
oo-ooo- Monkey noise
ba ba- for a lamb
Cece- Elise
Gege- Garrett
Gauri
Birdi
Car
TV
Teeth
Pee pee
tee tee
potty
clock
wee (sound when sliding down a slide or on a swing)

By 11/18 he added these words/sounds:

On
T
G
O
R
Y
Cross
c_ick- stick
bump

November is truly one of my favorite months A time for family and wonderful fall weather. We had a blast!

Flashback to Halloween- Hutson 20 months

Hey Friends! The end of the year has caught be by surprise, and I realized I have slacked on my Hutson posts. So, before the new year ends, I'm going to catch you up on our lives these past months!

At 20 months Hutson has started talking and saying so many more words! He loves Elmo, and he also really started enjoying playing with trains. Sometime we will often go to Toys-R-Us just to play with their train sets. Here are some pictures of life in October!

Taking a walk at Aldridge Gardens. He just wanted to hold my hand and walk the whole time. I loved it!

Pointing to the "Geese"

And this is where is obsession with camera's begins. He kept going "Cheese" 

Such a cutie pie!

Carving Pumpkins! I could hardly believe how much he was focused and actually got into it. He sat on the floor for over an hour helping Phillip and I. However, he did not want to touch the gooey pumpkin guts. (I don't blame him.)

Halloween

For Halloween Hutson was Tickle me Elmo. He had a voice box on one side that said, "Hahaha that tickles," when you press it. He loved that!

Trick-or-treating at the library. Best idea!

Hutson and Hansel the Hot dog!

Our neighbors who's son is 5 month's older than Hutson and was also Elmo. He loved Trick-or-Treating. He  really understood the concept as he loved ringing the doorbell, signing please, and picking out a candy and putting it in his Elmo basket. 

Probably my favorite fall activity we did was go to Baker's Farm. We went on a Hayride and picked our own pumpkins off the vine. That was awesome!

The chosen ones

Hutson wouldn't touch the ground, or even let his shoes touch the ground. As I said, he doesn't like to get dirty.

Our pumpkins!

This was our ride on our covered wagon pulled by Mules. Hutson loved it!

But, his favorite was the hay maze,

 riding John Deer,

and chasing Mommy through the corn maze. After running around for 30 minutes, we weren't coming close to the end of the maze, so we went out the entrance. 

Pointing to the pumpkin and saying "pumkee".

It was a great Halloween!