Hurray for Kate!

A lot of you know my amazing sister-in-law, Katie Dudley. I wanted to give her a big shout out today because she just published her photography website and it is AWESOME! Check it out at

http://www.kdphotography.org/ She's worked so hard and it really looks incredible!

I feel so lucky and blessed that my brother married this beautiful girl. I don't know too many people who can call their sister-in-law their best friend, but I sure can! I don't know how I would get through life without our weekly (at least!) phone calls and monthly visits. She is my go-to person for everything -- kids, style, cooking, etc. She is an amazing person, mother, photographer, wife, and friend. I admire her in every way. Way to go, Kate! I love you and am so proud of you!

Brute #2

Chase recently had his 2 month appointment, and it looks like we have another huge kid on our hands! Just like Nick always was (and is), Chase's weight (14 lbs, 4 oz) is in the 90% and his height (26 in) is the 95%. And let's not forget that big old Goldie/Dudley head! 90% for that one too (my poor kids don't have a prayer at having a normal sized head!).

Chase is such a great baby! He started smiling at three weeks old, and hasn't stopped since. He's discovered his hands this week and will lay there and stare at them as he opens and closes his fist over and over again. He's also starting to notice Nick more and more and will smile whenever he sees him. I love watching these two brothers interact with and love each other!

He did it!

Here is a picture of Nick on his first night in his BIG BOY BED! We finally made the switch a week ago, and I have to admit it was easier than I thought it would be! Even though he's two and a half, Nick still doesn't climb out of his crib (he did once, took a hard fall, and hasn't tried since), so we wanted to keep him in one for as long as possible. But our poor little Chase was waking up with big red marks on his head where he had rubbed against the top of the bassinet all night, so we knew it was time. We debated forever over getting another crib, but finally decided we would give this a shot. He doesn't always go down on the first try, but he's only gotten up in the middle of the night twice, so I think the adjustment and transition is going okay. The only bad thing about posting this picture is that I now have to admit to my entire blogging world that, yes, my two and half year old does still sleep with a binky! That challenge is up next!

M.I.A.

Hello all...I know I haven't posted anything for a long time, and here are the reasons why:

1- My wonderful family all came to State College for Easter and for Chase's baby blessing. One whole week of Dudley fun, with Brad's parents making a special appearance for a couple of days, too! For details, go to Katie's blog, her pictures are always way better!
2- In denial that my fam was all leaving and not wanting to go back to my same old routine, I packed up my boys and headed to Philly for a few days. I don't even want to think about my life without Tim, Kate, Jack, and Cal.
3- On my way home from Philly, Brad called to inform me that Mindy (his sister) was blessing her baby on Sunday (well Phil was blessing him, you know what I meant), and didn't I want to drive to Ohio that day so we could be there for it? Of course I said YES! How can anyone deny a weekend of games, great food, cousin fun, and a newborn baby? We love the Goldie's! We just got home Monday night.

Here's why I'm blogging right now:

I've found that unless I adopt a "I don't go to bed until everything is done" philosophy, nothing that I want to get done ever gets done. That being said, I still need to clean my house, fold the laundry, read my scriptures, exercise, count how many calories I've eaten today, order some things for activity days, and work on girls camp...and it's 11:00pm! So of course I'm blogging instead of doing anything productive! Lest you think I'm complaining, let me assure you that I love my life! Having two kids is definitely an adjustment, but I LOVE IT! Now here I go to knock off that to-do list...ya, right.