Ultimate Sacrifice

A local photo studio here in town is working on a project called the "Ultimate Sacrifice. The end result will be three calenders which will then fund a book. The proceeds from the book will then be donated to families of law enforcement, firefighters, and military personnel who have made the "Ultimate Sacrifice". To think that Wayne puts his life on the line everyday, and in the end Hunter would be the one who made the "Ultimate Sacrifice", brings tears to my eyes. As a thank you for our time invested in this project we received all proofs from our session, a huge discount on pictures, a calender when it is done, and a book when it is completed. I felt so honored to be part of this project no only for the significance, but the opportunity to have our picture taken by Yoti. We were thrilled to find out that the black and white picture above will be in book.

New Ride........

My Uncle Jim & Aunt Jean sent Hunter a gift certificate for Easter. So I took Hunter shopping, and this is what we picked out. Not only does Hunter sit and ride on it, but he also stands behind it and pushes it. Thank you again, Uncle Jim & Aunt Jean..........

Easter Dinner

Round 2 of Easter started two hours after we left my sisters house. Hunter took a quick nap and we were off to Wayne's aunt and uncles house for dinner. We enjoyed a great dinner of "Easter Chicken" formally known as "Christmas Chicken". The babies played, the adults talked, and some played Nintendo Wii. After a long day we settled in at home, and enjoyed hanging out before Wayne went back to work.

Easter Brunch

Chicks Dig Me !

Sadly we spent a lot of Easter without Wayne this year. Wayne worked all night, and spent most of the day sleeping. Hunter and I made our way over Jamie & Mike's for the 2nd Annual Easter Brunch. I had a great time, and Hunter made out like a bandit. We enjoyed brunch with Ron & Lola, Bill & Gina, Allison and Bryan (just back from Iraq), and my mom and John. The kids did an egg hunt, opened presents, and best of all we sat around and caught up.

Santa Clarita Photography Studio

Urgent Care

Last Friday, I took Hunter to urgent care because he had been running a fever for a few days. I finally decided to take him when I took his temperature and it was 103.7. I had been talking to the doctor, and of course the fever spiked at 4pm on Friday. Since it was Friday evening I was forced to go to urgent care with every sick person in the Santa Clarita Valley. So after 3 1/2 hours , Hunter walked away a relatively healthy baby, and I walked away with a stuffy nose, sore throat, and annoying cough. The doctor took blood, tested Hunter's urine and came to the conclusion that he was fighting a virus. Luckily the doctor had a ten month old baby at home, so he did his best to make us comfortable, and get us out of there as soon as possible.

The Balcony

'''

















With the beautiful weather here, Hunter and I have been hanging out on the balcony enjoying the fresh air. As you can see in the picture Hunter has learned how to go in and out of house without hurting his knees.

Growing up !

You can tell that I am a first time parent because this post is about Hunter sitting in the bath without his baby bath for the first time. After a very messy dinner a couple of nights ago, I put Hunter in the bath because I know he enjoys it, and it is an easy way to clean him off. I put him in without the baby bath and he went to town. The funniest part is he always somehow sits on the drain, and then he will look around wondering where the loud draining sound is coming from.

Strawberry Anyone ?

This might be hard to believe, but I am having a hard time teaching Hunter to put food in his mouth. For the longest time he did not stick anything in his mouth including toys. So I have started to put the little guy in his high chair a couple of times a day for some practice time. Hunter will eat away until he gets bored and then he chucks the food. While I do not approve of this behavior, it is fun to see how far he can throw things. Yesterday he threw his strawberry , and if you look in the picture below you can see where it landed. Wayne and I were laughing so hard because he had no idea the strawberry was sitting on his shoulder.

Shoe Shining

.

This is a very familiar scene at our house. With Hunter becoming increasingly mobile you have to assume that he will be in the middle of whatever you are trying to do. Wayne is really great about letting Hunter hang out, and Wayne just carries on with whatever he is doing

Emma Jean the Dancing Queen .....

Emma Jean, where do I even begin.... she is the sassiest little girl I know ! She absolutely melted my heart last week when I pulled up to drop off Hunter. She came running out of the house in her adorable dance outfit patiently waiting for her first day at dance class. My sister said she was up at 6:45am dressed in her dance clothes waiting for class. Hopefully they offer interpretative dancing because that is her specialty.....

Big Babies.....

Our two newest family members are tipping the scales. Hunter was born on June 1st and a week later Scarlett Neal was born. While Hunter is busting the scale in the 97th percentile, Scarlett is in the 2ooth percentile. Hunter is thankful that Aunt Jamie and Uncle Mike bought him a horse to ride.

Morning Walk

While I am off doing observation hours for school, Hunter makes his rounds to either Aunt Jamie's , Oma's, or Grandma Diann & Johns house. On this morning, Jamie took Hunter and Emma on a walk. From what I heard, he did a lot of hair pulling, and throwing toys overboard !

Sold.......

Sadly, we sold our truck this week. Although it is nice to have replaced it with a nice family vehicle, it is always hard to see someone drive away in a car you worked so hard to pay off,and take care of. Luckily, Wayne was at work that day and didn't know I was selling his pride and joy. The good news is that a hard working man is receiving this truck for his fiftieth birthday from his grateful employers.

Disneyland (cont)

Disneyland

Being married to a deputy pays off every now and again. As part of Disneyland's " Salute to Heroes" we were able to get a three-day park hopper pass for $56.00. So last month we invited our friends, Laura and Justin and took advantage of this great deal. We still had one day left on the pass, so Laura and I loaded up the kids and went to Disneyland on Wednesday before the pass expired. The day started off great, until we got to Sante Fe Springs, and Laura realized that she left her diaper bag at home packed with diapers, snacks, extra clothes, etc. For all you mommies, you know this is a problem. The good news was , that Hunter and Landon wear the same size diaper, for the most part eat the same snacks, wear the same size clothes, and I had a sippy cup with me that Landon was able to adopt as his own. We all had a phenomenal time !

Landon sharing his strawberry, banana smoothie with Hunter .

Hunter doesn't pass anything up !

Booger Buns.......

About a month ago, I discovered that Hunter can drink from a straw.At the suggestion of Karen, I bought Hunter some new cups with straws. Tonight in the high chair, Hunter loved his new cup, but did not put one peice of food in his mouth. He spent his time sipping water , smashing the banana, and crushing the fishy crackers.

9 months old

24.4lbs

30.25 inches long

Hunter went to his well baby check on Monday. To say the least we have a very happy healthy boy. Dr. Conolly always walks in and says, "Wow, he is a big boy!" I expressed my concern with Hunter's size, and Dr. Conolly responds by telling me "Some one's baby has to be in the 97 percentile !" The good news is that Hunter is no longer the size of a 12 month old, he is now the size of an 18 month old !

Escapee........