Boys, Boys, Boys

We went to a BBQ at a neighbor's house today. There are so many kids in our neighborhood and they're pretty much all boys. Between the 4 families we have 5 boys and they're all so close in age. Our kids are going to have so much fun growing up.

Hunter and Garland (on the left) are 8 months, just 2 weeks apart.

Cooper, on the right, is 22 months.

Jace and Benjamin are 4 months, just 4 days apart.

4 Years

Heath and I celebrated 4 years of marriage this past Thursday. His mom was so nice to come over and babysit that evening so we enjoyed an Outback dinner and a trip to Home Depot :o) . Saturday night we had dinner reservations at this great Steakhouse inside the Gaylord Palms hotel and Hunter was spending the night at Dedi's. We've eaten there once and couldn't wait to go back. Our great friends, Megan and Tommy, also joined us. Their 4th anniversary is just 2 weeks after ours and Friday was also Megan's birthday. So, we had a lot to celebrate! Dinner took two and a half hours. We had lots of courses and just took our time and had lots of great conversation. Afterwards we wandered around the hotel and found a piano bar so we had a drink and talked some more. It was a really nice night.

Sea World

We went to Sea World for the first time as a family last Sunday. It was a gorgeous day. There was a nice breeze and it wasn't too hot. It was nice to just get out and walk around and enjoy the day. Hunter really likes animals, but they kind of have to be right up in his face for him to realize they're there. He enjoyed looking at the horses though.

Less than thrilled

Oh, and he's officially crawling.

This started Monday, one day after turning 8 months.

And he is standing all the time, too.

8 Months

8 months already?!? How did that happen? I have to start thinking about his first birthday party! Somebody hold me. He's growing up too fast!! I think I'll recap the past month with some bullets.

• This month we've been to the dr. so many times. We went once for some eczema spots, got some cream, and it's all better now. At that appointment we found out that Hunter has ears full of wax (he gets that from a certain daddy who shall remain nameless :o). So, we had to treat his ears with drops to soften the wax and then go back. They flushed them out with this contraption that shoots water in the ear and sucks it back out. That worked and they're all clear now. I think this will be an ongoing battle. And now we're battling a high fever. No other symptoms except some fussiness. We'll try to make it to Monday and call the dr again.
• Still ZERO teeth! Everyone wonders if the fever is because he's finally getting some teeth, but I don't think that's the case. His gums aren't red or swollen and he's not even drooling as much as usual.
• His latest trick is turning everything over. No matter what you give him he flips it over. And he does it several times over and over again.
• He likes wheels. He turns his animal train on its side so he can spin the wheels.
• He likes animals. Almost every night Heath takes him down to the lake (retention pond) behind us and they visit the ducks. Hunter 'talks' to them and is very interested in them. He likes dogs whenever we see them, too.
• He still not crawling! He's still doing the inchworm crawl. He gets up on all fours and scoots his knees in (the first half of crawling) and then he lunges forward and flops on his belly. He's pretty good at it. He can get all the way across the floor pretty fast if there is something he really wants (like a remote or a phone).
• I'm not sure what kind of eater to call him. Some days he eats with no problems and some days he refuses. And it's not that he doesn't like what I'm feeding him. Overall, he does pretty good. I've tried some table foods, but he's not interested yet. He's getting better with the puffs and will eat a few at a sitting.
• This is what he did one day last week.....

I looked up from eating my breakfast and found him on his knees reaching into the toy basket.

THEN, I sat back down and looked up and he's STANDING at the toy basket. I missed getting a picture of him actually standing, but you can see he had to stand to do this...
And this just shows you that he can get around. Daddy has to do something about those wires.

Leu Gardens

Saturday night we out with friends. It's called the Moonlight Stroll at Leu Gardens. Leu Gardens is a gorgeous place where a lot of people have their weddings. Twice a year they have this particular event. Jazz bands and singers are hired to play in the different gardens. You bring your chairs and coolers and just sit on the grass and listen to the music. This is the third year we've gone and it's always a good time. This year we had a group of 10. Having gone several times we've become pros at it.

Here we are walking in with all of our stuff. See that big brown box? Yeah, Heath made that. It held all of our stuff and then served as a table for the food. Lots of people were quite envious.

Here we are all set up.
Cheers!

My First Mother's Day

Hunter spent the night with Dedi (Heath's Aunt Deni) the night before Mother's Day and we went out with friends. Heath and I went out to breakfast before we picked him up Sunday morning. We had been out late so we all took a nap in the afternoon. We picked up dinner and went over to Grandma's for the evening. It was a low key day, but perfect none the less.

The best I could do at getting all 3 boys. From left to right, Ashton, Hunter, and Ethan.

Did you miss us?

Hunter and I went to visit my parents this week. We wanted to celebrate Mother's Day and my dad's 60th birthday, both of which are on Sunday. It's kind of a vacation for me when I go there. I don't have to worry about laundry, dishes, or embroidery. Unfortunately, it's all waiting for me when I come back! Heath missed us like crazy and is glad to have us back. I imagine the house is very quiet when we're gone. Here are some pictures from the past week or so.

Still not crawling, but he's a really fast inch worm!

Uh, hungry much?

Hunter's first laptop. This is a really old laptop that we saved as a toy for Hunter.
Cousin Ethan loving on baby Hunter, as he calls him.
These mesh teething things are so cool. It allows the baby to chew on real food without choking on it. We put some really ripe banana chunks in it and he had a ball.