Remember us?!

I apologize for yet another long break between posts. I hate that I haven't been able to keep up with it, but I promise I have a good excuse ;)

A lot has happened since Mother's day. The last week in May I received a phone call that I didn't think would come - I was called up from the waiting list for nursing school and would be starting classes June 6th! Yes, I had just over a week to fill out piles of paperwork, go get blood tests and vaccines and school supplies, and prepare myself to go from being with Hunter 24/7 to being at school 35 hours a week. I was a major stress case the first 5 weeks! Things are still stressful and crazy, but there's more calm alongside the craziness since we have somewhat of a routine down and it all seems like old hat now. As of this week, I'm already 1/3 of the way done with school. I'm attending a private university that has an accelerated 1 year program for students who already have a bachelor's in another concentration. We're on break this week and when we return October 3rd I will start my pediatrics clinical rotation. I'm really excited about this, as well as the maternity rotation that will follow ;)

Hunter is FANTASTIC!



He's 20 months old now and has completely taken over our home. He is getting better with his words, and is able to say some phrases such as "where did it go?" and "I don't know". These phrases are extra cute when you get to see the arms bent at the elbow, palms up pose that goes along with them :) His favorite things/toys are planes, trains & automobiles! He can't get enough, and he is just the most adorable thing ever when he does his "choo-choo" noises. We took him down to the Roaring Camp railroad in Felton (near Santa Cruz) last week to ride the steam train. He was in awe! It's so fun to see the excitement and amazement in his eyes. He can take off running like an olympic sprinter, and often likes to attempt escapes out of the front door. Hunter definitely is in the "I want to do things myself" stage. He will start freaking out if he thinks either of us is going to attempt to feed him instead of him doing it himself. Hunter loves anything to do with water, including dumping it on himself if need be. We just know this boy is going to be a rain puddle jumper for sure. He is fascinated by ants, bugs, bees, butterflies and the like. At the park he often stops to bend over and check out any ants that might be gathering to pick up the remnants of some kid's snack.



Mark is doing great as well. Work is keeping him busy on the weekends and he & Hunter are really enjoying their father/son time during the week when I'm at school. I know Mark used to be a little jealous when Hunter would want Mommy all the time, but the tables have definitely turned. He is Daddy's little shadow now, and Mommy is rarely the go-to parent. Plus, Daddy has a much cooler truck and work car than Mommy does ;)



I hope to be back with another update sooner rather than later!

... and we're back

Sorry it has been a while since I've posted here. I got caught up with school and everything else going on, and I neglected our blog.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the mommies!!! I had a great day yesterday, but it was missing one big thing - Mark. He had to work, so he missed out on all the festivities. Hunter & I had a nice day in Santa Cruz & Capitola with my mommy and Zach. Elicia couldn't make the trip, since she's getting so close to her due date, and we missed her as well.

Mother's day 2010



Mother's day 2011


It's amazing what a difference a year makes. Last year I had my little chunky
3 1/2 month old baby. This year I have a 15 month old boy. I am in awe of how fast our little monkey grows and learns new things. I was rocking him to sleep for his nap today, and I noticed he was fast asleep but I didn't want to put him down. I gave him several kisses on his forehead and tears started streaming down my face. I was so busy yesterday with all the fun, I didn't stop and think about how grateful I am to be a mommy - Hunter's mommy. I prayed over him, asking God to have angels constantly watching over him and keeping him safe, and asking that Hunter will grow up to be a wonderful man that is loving, giving, God-fearing, merciful, playful, outgoing, and all those other great qualities we want to see in our children. I, again, thanked God for giving me such a wonderful gift. I prayed so hard for this little man, for God to bless Mark and I with a child after our heart-breaking loss - and He did!

I can't mention mother's day and mommies without acknowledging my amazing mother. She sacrificed so much for us, and showered us with love and attention, and I would not be half the woman I am today without her. Love you, Mommy! Thank you!! xoxo

Ok... I'll move on from the sappiness. As I mentioned, Hunter is growing in leaps and bounds. His current vocabulary consists of: mama, dada, no, dinner, outside, all done, shoe, that, nose, and I'm sure a couple others I can't think of right now. He talks up a storm, with his made up words, and often uses his hands to gesture. He is OBSESSED with trucks, especially firetrucks. It was a special treat for him the other day to be able to sit in a firetruck and see it all up close. We were leaving a store and the truck pulled into the parking lot. I walked him over so we could take a look at it and the captain offered to put him in the front seat. I think he was in a bit of shock ;)



Hunter is also becoming my little bookworm. He loves looking through books, and plopping himself down on my lap so we can read or look through a book together. It's probably the favorite part of my day with him. He is really liking the picture books right now, trying to learn what the different animals or colors or trucks are (yes, he has a book of all different types of trucks).

It's time to get back to my mommy/wife duties - but I promise to try to be better about posting ;) I'll leave you with a few more recent pictures

Tidbits

Tidbits about our little man:

- it's impossible not to love him from the minute you meet him (I'm pretty sure he's the favorite in his Sunday school class ;)

- he loves to go to sleep with his seahorse that plays soothing music

- if he wakes up during the night, he'll press it's belly to get it to start playing music again and then goes back to sleep

- he still LOVES bath time

- pinto beans are among his favorite foods

- he loves to share his snacks with Trigger (much to my chagrin)

- if he has food in his mouth, but he sees you with food that looks more appealing - instead of swallowing what the has, he'll reach in and take it out and ask for what you have instead

- he's very ticklish

- he likes to hide his water bottle and toys in either the hamper or our shoes

- toys that move & make noise freak him out

- he loves to read, and often when I am busy getting something done he is sitting on the floor with his books

- unfortunately, he gets frustrated very easily - if he can't do something by the second try he is very expressive of his frustration with that ;)

- our little monkey LOVES music

- he has perfected his fake laugh, and often looks at himself in the mirror while doing it (which is the cutest thing)

- Hunter now waves bye-bye =)


Here are some pictures I took to mark him turning 13 months on February 21st:


Yep... he's reaching for door handles now







In this picture he's trying to say "truck". Too cute!





How did our boy get so big?!?!







Sooooooo precious :)

"What's that?"

That is Hunter's favorite thing to say - "what's that?". Most often it's accompanied by a pointing index finger. He also loves to point to his pictures and say his name - though he must have picked up the French part of me because he doesn't pronounce the 'H' so it sounds more like "un-tah". Of course anything he says is just as cute as can be. Hunter also loves the word no... I wonder where he picked that up from?

My Grandma (GG as she's known to Hunter) from Oregon was just visiting and we had a chance to spend most of a Saturday together. She mentioned that she never once saw Hunter stop moving, and I knowingly nodded yes. There are some very rare moments of stillness when he might be momentarily distracted, but sleep is pretty much the only thing that keeps him still. Even then, he moves around ;)

Hunter has started having a bit of shyness, which is a bummer, but he seems to recover quick. We usually have an initial 3-5 minutes of bashfulness, and then he warms up and doesn't need his mommy or daddy to cling to or hide behind. When Hunter saw my mom recently under the dryer at the hair salon, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. We stopped by to grab something from her car and she wanted to hold him on her lap and he was thoroughly freaked out. But mommy dug into her bag of tricks (aka purse) and gave grandma some cheerios to feed to Hunter, and he certainly couldn't pass that up.

I will have some of Hunter's "official" one year photos to share next time, but until then I have some cute pictures to share. Have a great weekend!

ONE!

January 21, 2010, at exactly 1:00am, our lives changed forever with the birthday of our beautiful baby boy, Hunter James. We were having one of the worst storms of the winter, freezing temperatures, strong and fierce winds knocking trees over and knocking out the power. The power actually went out for a brief moment at the hospital during our stay.

January 21, 2011, Hunter turned 1 year old and we've had the best year with him! The weather was absolutely beautiful so we decided to take a trip to Santa Cruz. We had a great time - it was a sunny and warm 72 degrees. =) We had Hunter's 1st birthday party the following day at a restaurant in downtown Campbell. We had a private area upstairs and enjoyed celebrating our boy with our family and close friends. We really missed those of you who couldn't be there.







We took Hunter in for an eye exam (just standard 1 yr check up, everything's ok) and his doctor said something that was so weird to hear - he said now that Hunter's one we're not new parents anymore, we're experienced. Experienced parents - us? I wouldn't quite call us experienced, but I think we have definitely learned a lot this past year. We're pros at changing diapers and swapping out old clothes for new ones. We can give quick, to the point bath and love, fun ones as well. We know just how to rock him to sleep and how to make him smile and laugh. It's been a GREAT first year! We love our little monkey sooooo much and look forward to all the trouble he's going to get into this year - I'm pretty sure it's a safe bet it will be a lot ;)

I thought I should also include Hunter's 1 year stats, we just had this 12 month doctor appointment on Friday. And to show how much he's grown, a comparison with his birth stats ;)

BIRTH:
Weight: 8 lbs, 13 oz
Height: 20.5 inches
Head: 35.5 cm

1 YEAR:
Weight: 23 lbs, 7 oz - 65th percentile (yes, 23 1/2 lbs is only 65th!)
Height: 31 inches - 75th percentile
Head: 49.5 cm - 95th percentile (not surprising ;)

Almost...

Hunter is almost one year old and, of course, that has me reflecting a lot on this past year. For instance, exactly a year ago I was still pregnant and school was on winter break and I'm trying to remember what the heck I was doing with myself?! No baby, no school, no work... I simple can't remember what that was like - but I'm sure I was doing a lot of relaxing, leisure reading and baking. =) I look around my living room and it's full of colorful toys and a foam tile alphabet floor mat and I love it!

Hunter is certainly a busy-body that keeps me from ever taking a rest. When I picked Hunter up from Sunday school last week I asked how he was and they said he was great - and then added that he is so into everything they don't know how I manage at home. He wanted to play with the diaper pail, during snack time he was eating everyone else's snacks... LOL... but they said he always has a big smile on his face and he's a joy to be around. Yep, that's my boy. If there's a door or drawer, or something with a lid, he wants to be opening and closing it. If he's not supposed to touch it, he is drawn to it like a magnet. He now claps his hands and cheers, which is so cute. He also wants to feed himself most of the time, which makes for a messy meal time, but if he's happy and eating then I'm happy.

Mark and I took Hunter to the park yesterday for the first time since he started walking. It has been soooo cold here, and yesterday the sun was shining and it was a warm 65 degrees. We had a great time. Hunter loved being able to walk around and explore, and not just be stuck on a blanket next to mommy ;)









Hunter now has 7 1/2 teeth - that 8th one is really taking its time coming in. Unfortunately, they've been waking him up a lot at night but I'm hoping once the swelling of this 8th one goes down that we'll have a little break from more teeth and he can return to sleeping through the night for a while.

Happy 3-day weekend to you all!