Everyone Needs an Alice. Amen.

If you loathe shopping at Walmart. If you only go there because it's convenient, not because you stood in line for 30 minutes when you were 7 months pregnant among 30 other vacant checkout stands. Or because you've wandered countless aisles looking for a hard-to-find ingredient because the nearby associate responded with a shrug and an "I dunno" when you asked where it might be. Or because they're unfortunately cheaper than Target. Or because you have to sack your own groceries. Or because they think it's perfectly reasonable to expect you to pay them to check out and sack your own groceries after putting in your own 10 hour work day.

Check out Alice.com. I just discovered it yesterday, the same day it debuted. (I feel so cutting edge for once in my life.) I have not checked out, but I have signed up and started compiling my household items, items whose prices are comparable to Walmart prices. Items that they will ship to your house for free. Say no more. You had me at "farewell to pushing the cart with the wayward wheel up and down 50 aisles while trying to entertain a one-year-old for 90 minutes."

This could be the best invention since the Internet. I'll let you know how it goes, but considering that every time I shop at Walmart they somehow achieve a new low, it must be better. It must be.

Hudson Stats

Hudson had his 12 month checkup today. He was in the 33 percentile for weight and head size, but he was in the 96 PERCENTILE FOR HEIGHT. If you're familiar with mine and Chris's stature, you get why we're so excited. C'mon recessive tall gene!

BIG Changes (for me, anyway)

I haven't been in the mood to blog. I think its because my brain is exhausted from over processing everything lately - especially everything work-related.

I have made the choice to change jobs in a big way. About a month or so ago I noticed a posting for an adjunct instructor for a PR class at UCO (my alma mater). I have a good relationship with one of the professors listed as a contact, so I e-mailed her. She encouraged me to apply. Long story short, I got the job. The job was originally going to be teaching two classes - one on Tuesday/Thursday and one on Monday/Wednesday/Friday. I had decided that if the job was two classes, I would leave Express (where I've worked since before I graduated college!) to adjunct and freelance write and speech write. I've served as our executive speechwriter for a few years now, and have found that I have a talent for it, and there are very few speechwriters in Oklahoma City. (Oh, and please don't use this blog to size up my writing abilities. After you write all day long, you just want to be lazy when writing for fun!)

So, last week I gave my notice. This week it has all finally sunk in. I'm leaving a job I've worked at for over seven years. A job I mostly love with co-workers who are some of my dearest friends. Thankfully my last day isn't until July 31st.

This week I also learned that UCO hit a "bump in the road" and I would now be teaching one class instead of two. I was slightly disappointed, but if you know adjuncting you know it doesn't pay much at all, so I figured my time would best be spent freelancing anyway, and that one class is okay.

And now I'm thinking, "Oh crap! What was I thinking?" Well, sort of. I prayed a lot about this job and I really feel this is what I'm meant to do. I have a few very solid contacts who said they will outsource work to me. And then I have several others that I need to follow up with and let them know my plans.

I have always been very stability driven, so the thought of not knowing where my next paycheck will be coming from is a bit unnerving. However, it's also exciting, and both teaching PR and writing will definitely keep me motivated to network, learn, and grow. Plus, Chris and I have managed our finances well enough that we're okay if it takes me a while to get things established and become profitable.

Sooo, I'll be spending the next six to eight weeks scrambling to figure out a solid plan for my future and developing my version of a Public Information Methods course. Please pray for me! Oh, and did I mention I will get to wear pants to work for the first time in my professional career? That's just icing on the cake.

One Big Year

Adorable stuffed animal bowling pins from Jenny and family. We played bowling tonight. Hudson thinks it's pretty fun.

Quite the party animal as you can see.

We went with a Sesame Street theme.

Suffering through a birthday pic with mom and dad.

We bought Hudson a ball pit for his birthday. Our living room officially looks like a home daycare. Oh well...

I still don't think I've recovered from this time last year, and I'm definitely still recovering from this time last week (a mean stomach bug swept our house), but I don't want to procrastinate any longer on my update about little Hudson turning the big ONE.

Yes, my sweet little 8 lb., 5 oz., angel that fit so nicely in the crook of my arm is now a 21 lb., 14 oz., ball of energy that will tolerate zero cuddling from his momma. He's still pretty sweet though. We had so much fun celebrating his one-year party, keeping it simple with only family in attendance. We ate lunch while Hudson slept, did the cake thing when he woke up, and then had fun watching him check out his new presents. In my mind I have written and rewritten a very well-written post on what a big day it was, but my mind is too tired to make the effort to pound it out with my fingers, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It was a super special day. I left up his little Happy Birthday banner until Saturday. I just didn't want to take the tacky thing down.

What's most intriguing is thinking back one year ago. On the days leading up to his actual birthday to now I can tell you what we did on each day. Like today. Today was Monday last year, and my Mom had just stayed her first night with us. That was a very special week, having my mom down to help. My heart aches for new mothers who don't have their mom on hand to make those first few days less scary and intimidating. Today it feels like we've had Hudson forever, and taking care of him comes as natural as taking care of myself. Thank goodness. A year ago it took me three hours just to get ready to go to Walmart.

Yesterday I packed up more clothes that Hudson had outgrown, and these were 9 - 12 month sizes! I still have his first box of baby clothes in the laundry room ready to be packed away in the shop. I don't even want to look at how tiny those little onsies are. It breaks my heart!

But, with a one-year-old there is little time for looking back; Hudson is too busy going forward! He is toddling around now, taking five or ten or 15 steps at a time as he stumbles and stops and stutters along. He looks like a miniature little stumbling drunk; it's hilarious. I'm sure in another week or two he'll be running through the house. Hard to believe.

It's nice being settled into the life of parenthood. I don't think anything can be more life-changing than that of having a child. We look forward to this next year as Hudson continues to learn and grow. As I look at my neice Reiley, whose 10 months older than Hudson, I have a hard time believing that he'll likely be talking in phrases, feeding himself with silverware, and doing so many other things that make him less of a baby and more of a little boy in less than a year. Until then, enjoy a few more pics of my baby.