Photo Update

We are home and doing great!

Here are some new pictures...

This one is one of my favorites - it brought tears to my eyes when I saw it - my TWO children!  Such precious gifts.

 The traditional flower lei photo - more of these to come...  Holton thought the flowers were a bit cold!

He is such a good sleeper! 

More pictures to come...!

It's a Boy!

We are so thrilled to announce the arrival of our son, Holton Paul Hughes!  He was born on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, at 4:44pm.  He weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 21 inches long.  Here are some birthday pictures!

Here we are just before heading to the hospital!  I promise Addy was excited; she just didn't want to have her picture taken!

Here she is excited to become a big sister!

And here is Holton...

 Brian was so proud to make the official announcement to all of the family in the waiting room!  What a surprise - a boy!!!

 Adelyn getting her first look at her baby brother.

My beautiful boy! 

 Day 0!

 Addy thinks his hair is very soft...

 Holton finally showing us some eyes!

Instantly in love... 

 Our new family all together.

 Holton Paul Hughes

Of course, more pictures to come in the upcoming weeks!

Surprises

No, no big surprise to report yet... but I just wanted to write down a cute memory...  Addy has been so sweet lately, and we are just watching her learn so quickly and her language is really exploding!  We went to Saturday night church last night and were able to have a leisurely Sunday morning.  We hung out in our PJs in bed this morning after she woke up, just reading books and talking.  I started counting something for her :1, 2, 3, 4 ... and then, I paused and out of the blue she said "five, six..." I couldn't believe it.  I looked over at Brian and asked him if he taught her how to count.  He had not, and neither had I, at least on purpose.  Turns out she can count to 10.  She had just picked it up along the way from reading books and just hearing us count occasionally I suppose.  It was so cute to find a "trick" we didn't even know she had!  And she was so proud that we were excited.  Kids really are sponges!  Can't believe Baby Hughes is only 9 days (or less???) away!

One More Video

For those of you interested (Grandparents???)... here is another video of Adelyn making animal sounds and talking...  Enjoy!

January Fun

Luckily, our January is rolling along quickly!  I was afraid it might drag a bit being 9 (it feels like 9,000!) months pregnant combined with the normal post-holiday slow down, darker days, and cooler weather.  But here we are, already half-way through.  I am certainly trying to enjoy the time (before the chaos??? of having two cuties under our roof) but also so looking forward to meeting our second child face to face.  What sweet joy that will be!

In the meantime, Adelyn just keeps getting more adorable (I'm allowed to be a proud Mommy, right?) and more little girl and less baby every day.

We had snow on Sunday the 9th and enjoyed watching a winter wonderland form in our back yard.  You can also spot our new bird feeder in the background.  More on that in a moment...

The last time it snowed here, Addy looked like this:

 And our house was still under construction!

 My two favorite people!

 One of our favorite Christmas gifts this year (well, it was Brian's gift, but really it's been a treat for all of us) was a birdfeeder for the back yard from Mimi and T-Pa.  For a few weeks, we watched and waited thinking the birds would never take notice of the free buffet.  But then one day, it happened, and now it is Bird Central... they have found the motherload!  Brian can tell you all of the different birds that now visit on a regular basis, but suffice it to say, there are many different bird families now frequenting our little bird house.  Some of our favorites are the beautiful male red cardinals.

 We have been experimenting with Adelyn's hair lately... I'm really trying to avoid cutting it again, especially the bangs, because they are easier to pull back in a clip the longer they get.  This weekend, we experimented again with pony tails!  I don't know where my baby went, but now she truly looks like a little girl!!!  And that look on her face, well, let's just say I've seen it somewhere before... in pictures of myself!

 The cutest thing was watching her recognize herself in the mirror! 

 We couldn't stop laughing at her making faces at herself!

 One of the sweetest things she does is help me on some mornings (if she wakes up early enough!) with "makeup" time.  She wants to sit in my lap and examine all of the different kinds of makeup.  She especially loves to say "mascara".  It is so endearing... especially since she can't open anything yet and doesn't know how to make a mess :-) (I'm sure that time is coming!)

Finally, I leave you with this video.  After 20 months of singing and playing/listening to music, Adelyn is finally starting to sing on her own... and interestingly, her first song is the alphabet song.  She has heard us sing it over and over, and begs every day to listen to U-Tube and Sesame Street versions.  It is so cute to hear her little voice... listen at the end when she restarts the song from the beginning.  Also, when she says "dinosaur", that is her word for the letter "W"...  Hmmm....

Happy January to all!  Hopefully in the very near future, there will be a post with a brand new baby boy or girl in it!

Baby Update

No pictures this time... just a note to say we are still here and can't believe it's already the middle of January!  I am staying busy with work and nesting away on the evenings and weekends.  I think we are as ready as we'll ever be for adding a new little person to our family.  I am so eager to know if Baby Hughes is a girl or boy!  Right now, we are still targeting February 1, but I would not be surprised (or just maybe I'm being hopeful???) if he or she makes an appearance a bit sooner... we'll see!  As usual, we'll keep you posted!

Christmas Week

We have had a wonderful Christmas Holiday.  I can't believe Christmas 2010 has already come and gone!  We had a great visit with "Majee and Pajo" (my parents Mama Jena and Papa John) and were so sad to send them back to Virginia.  However, they are making progress on their new house here in Texas, so hopefully it won't be too much longer before they live much much closer!

Here is the little munchkin - she now asks for bows in her hair - what a change!

She is all action - always on the move.  Perfecting her running skills here... 

 Sometimes life must be taken more seriously, however.

 We had our first Christmas on Tuesday with the Hughes extended family, including Mimi and T-Pa, Brent, Erika & Harper, and Beth and Jarod.  We ate a yummy taco, tostada, and tamale dinner and then shared gifts with each other.

 Harper and Adelyn got adorable pink "purse" books from Mimi and T-Pa.

 All of the bows and bags were definitely a hit!

 They loved the new kitchen toys/fake food to go with their new play kitchens!

 Cousin Harper playing with new blocks from Aunt Beth and Uncle Jarod

 Brent and Erika opening presents...

 Addy loves her Mimi!

 Brian got a cool new birdfeeder - we put it up in the backyard today and can't wait to see what kinds of birds it attracts!  Hopefully we squirrel-proofed it well!

 The girls made Mimi and T-Pa a fun Christmas plate with their handprints.  Aunt Erika did the cute decorating!

We went to Christmas Eve services at church.  Unfortunately, Addy and I spent almost the entire time in the nursery because someone did not want to be held or to hold still.  She loves to run!  This is the only picture we got in her Christmas dress that day.

On Christmas morning, we got up and opened our stockings.  To Addy, each toy (and the contents of everyone else's stockings too) became a small treasure.

 Here she is with all her stocking treasures in hand.  And several other people's treasures as well... do I see a box of Altoids?

 Another handprint - this time on a tile for Majee and Pajo.

 And finally, the new play kitchen!

 

 This has already provided hours of entertainment!

 Several people in the family got cool coasters with pictures on them...

 Pajo and Majee got a book of pictures focused on the Holton family.

 How fun is life when a girl has bows and ribbons to play with ?

We headed over to Mimi Jo and Papa Carl's home for Christmas dinner with the extended Couch/McMillin families.  Addy wore her gingerbread outfit - too cute!

She loved playing with her second cousins Katie and Elise.

 This was the best family shot we took - little bit would much rather run around than pose for a picture!

Merry Christmas to all!  And now to me, a good night!