My babies...

...are the reason for this blog. Love them!

Hunter will be 6 months on Monday. SIX MONTHS! How is that possible?! He is such a happy little guy. He now has his two bottom teeth as of yesterday (need to get a newer picture; the one on the top left showcases the first one), and I think more must be on the way, because he is a drooling, chewing, chomping mess. He prefers his hands to anything else, and shoves both of them in his mouth. He maintains his easygoing disposition despite his mouth issues, and just wants to be on the go. Loves sitting in his Bumbo seat, watching his big brother, playing in his exersaucer, rolling ALL OVER the room, and attempting to crawl inchworm style; he pushes off with his legs, puts his arms out like Superman, grunts and squeals, and bounces his belly. It is hilarious and adorable at the same time. All you have to do is say his name or talk to him, and his face splits into an enormous grin. He is FINALLY sleeping through the night! It's been a week today of him sleeping 10-11 hours, and I am in heaven with the added sleep! I hadn't realized how differently it feels to function on uniterrupted slumber. :) Here are some recents:

The boys and their Pepaw. Holden loves "helping" him drive the heating and cooling truck around the block. The nieghbors all know he is coming because he is allowed to repeatedly honk the horn as they go. Hunter enjoys their little visits, too.

We went to Steak N' Shake with my parents after church last week. I need to look through Holden's baby pictures, because I know I have very similar ones of him wearing the hat. Hunter definately has his own look now, but it still amazes me sometimes how much they look alike, esp. when they make certain expressions. Holden was cracking me up being goofy for the camera.

I am loving the brother relationship developing between the boys! Hunter recognizes and adores his big brother now, and Holden eats it up! He loves to make him laugh and to "explain" everything to Hunter, who is the perfect listener because he can't talk or crawl away yet. :) In the middle right picture, Hunter had just "slimed" Holden; drooled all over his face. Sometimes I feel bad for Hunter because he has NO personal space whatsoever. Holden is in his face (see bottom left picture) constantly. But it doesn't seem to bother him one bit. I love knowing that they will have each other growing up. Holden told me the other day that he can't wait until they can have a sleepover in his car bed. It made me think of all the special things in store for them as they grow. So fun!

They are my boys. And I wouldn't trade them for a million girls! :)

Preschool, here we come!

How in the world my first baby is old enough for preschool, I don't quite know! I've had flashbacks all day: bringing a teeny, tiny baby under 6 lbs home from the hospital, watching him grow, learn to crawl, when he finally took his first steps, his first word in Gulf Shores, Alabama, ("quack quack" at a duck!) :) etc. I just really can't believe it's time for him to be in school. And yet he's SO ready! Today was not one bit hard for him, just for his Mommy. But that made it easier for me.

I took the day off so that we could take him to his first day as a family. Jay has Tuesdays off so it worked out well. Here is my big boy all ready to go.

He loves his Cars backpack! Until today, he had filled it with every possible toy he could cram into it, thinking he would take them all to school with him. I convinced him that we needed to just take his school supplies or he wouldn't be able to walk upright! :)

Love my boys! Hunter was evidently tickled with the notion preschool, too.

Killing time waiting to leave. He got a little truck action in, but he wouldn't get too far from his backpack.

It takes a real man to pull this look off: diaper bag on one shoulder, my purse on the other, on the phone paying a bill before we left. Now that's confidence!

Holden's preschool is at NCWHS. There is a lead teacher, and high school students who are wanting to go into the teaching/childcare field assist. Holden will go to high school there someday as well! It will be cute to put this picture next to a future picture of him as a high schooler...although I don't even want to think about him being THAT big right now!

Walking down the sidewalk to school

He met this little friend, Karen, right away because both of them couldn't wait for their Mommies to leave! Nice!

Heading in to get his nametag.

All lined up to head to class. I love the look the boy behind him is giving me! Ha!

They all looked so cute and little next to the high schoolers!

Some "Simon Says" with the lead teacher, Mrs. Wilson.

Ready to go up the stairs! This was the only time Holden was a little unsure. He wanted me to hold his hand, but I told him I wouldn't be there everyday so he held the railing like the other kiddos. His backpack had all his supplies in it and was weighing him down, but he refused to let us carry it. Such a big boy!

He made it! This is the last picture that I snapped. I wish I would have taken a few in his classroom; it was so cute! His cubby is right by the fish tank, which thrilled him to no end. I helped him find his name and hang it up, and then he informed me that I could LEAVE now. :)

He had a good first day and is looking forward to tomorrow! He did crack me up at his first comments: "Mommy, we sang some songs but I didn't dance," (Why I don't know since he usually loves to dance?) and "We didn't have snack OR use my new glue!!" The things that are important to them. :)

Family pics

We took these pictures back in July...yeah...I'm just a little behind on this post! I've been meaning to get them on here and kept forgetting to load the CD. These were taken by Lori Bettis, who took our wonderful newborn session as well. Love her work! She came to our house again and we took all of them either right in the backyard, or in our kitchen with a dropcloth down. So easy! They were supposed to be Hunter's 3 month shots and also family pics. It was the day before he turned 4 months, so I call them his 3/4 mo. shots. :) LOVE how they turned out!

These below of the family were in the kitchen, right in front of our fridge! She brought a huge dropcloth and set it up behind us.

Holden wanted nothing to do with the family photos. He really made Lori and her assistant work for the shots. But then he decided he wanted his own photo shoot outside WITHOUT Hunter! Stinker! Hunter needed a bottle break anyway, so Lori took advantage of the moment and got these awesome pics of my favorite three year old.

My sweet baby boy. He has already changed since these were taken.

I love how she captures their eyes!

Some Daddy moments.

Some Mommy moments.

Holden Jay, 3 years and 4 months

Hunter James Paul, one day shy of 4 mos.

Our next photo shoot is scheduled for Columbus Day in early Oct. Hoping to get some pretty fall pics. Hunter will be 6 mos. and Holden 3 and a half. Can't wait to see how they turn out!

Camping with Yogi Bear

We recently took the boys to the Yogi Bear Campgrounds in Goodfield, IL over a weekend. Jay's Aunt Teresa had her camper there, and she and Memaw invited Holden and Chelsey to spend the night. We joined them for the day's activities. It is my kind of camping; not really roughing it! Ha! The camper has air conditioning, a bathroom, TV, DVD player, fridge, etc. And the campgrounds are really fun and family friendly. There are activities each weekend that run all day long and revolve around a theme. The theme that weekend was dinosaurs, which Holden loved. It was a beautiful weekend; not as hot as it has been, but warm enough for the kids to enjoy the pool and "the great outdoors." :)

Yogi raises the flag each morning and says the pledge with the kids. So cute!

Ready to swim! Holden, Daddy and Hunter, and cousin Chelsey

Fun in the pool! Let's just say Teresa was not planning on getting in. Jay decided that she needed to. She didn't really have much of a choice.

I think Holden's favorite part of the day were the morning and evening tractor rides. Yogi hops on and moves around the tractor so that all of the kids get to sit near him. I was thinking about a little over a year ago, when he was petrified of characters. Would have been his worst nightmare then! Now he loves them.

The kids made a froggy friend. Or is it a toad?

We got a glimpse into the future with these little pedal cars. There was some interesting driving going on between Chelsey, her friend, Holden, and Aunt Allie. Scary!

I was impressed with all of the fun things to do. Holden painted a wooden dinosaur, enjoyed an egg toss on the front lawn, pet a snake and saw an opossum in the camp hall, and enjoyed eating lots of junk food and winning a stuffed animal out of the claw machine in the little camp shop. He could have watched the popcorn machine all day. It's the little things! I have to say that the snack shop was my favorite area. Malts, shakes, popcorn, ice cream treats, candy, mozzarella sticks...there is a reason that I can list the menu to you. And it is not good that I know it! Let's just say I sampled most of it during the day. NO WILLPOWER!

Hunter was SUCH a good boy! He loved watching everything and even joined in the pool activities during the warmer part of the afternoon. He really liked the tractor ride, and just laying on a big blanket in the shade. He was a trooper!

Love my jolly baby!

Before we left in the evening, we had the prerequisite campfire. We grilled hot dogs and roasted S'mores. Holden helped with some marshmallows....can you see how they are literally ON the firewood? Needless to say we did not eat any of the ones he cooked!

Memaw and the infamous Jiffy Pop! The packaging says you can NOT cook it over a fire. Tami decided she didn't believe it. Umm....the packaging was right! Directly after this picture, the packaging burst into flames. Can't say she didn't try! Good thing the camper had a microwave.

This kid may be picky, but he knows what the good stuff is! :) He had a wonderful time camping and can't wait to do it again.

Pool Days at Kim's

One of my favorite summer memories are the weekly pool days at our friend, Kim's house. All the mommies and kids would get together, plus Jay if it happened to fall on a Mon. or Tues. when he was off. We loved when he came because we stuck all the kids in their floaties in the pool with him and then all the Mommies just ate, drank, and chatted. ;) Poor Jay was so good about it! We would bring lunches or sometimes order pizza. It was such a wonderful, laid-back day to look forward to each week. And Holden always took an AWESOME afternoon nap after swimming and playing outside all morning!

Some fun pool pics. Kim and her daughter, Lauren, are in the bottom left. Holden just loves Lauren and talks about her all the time. I think he has a little crush! :) Cracking up at Jay, Cade, and Lauren...I think they were holding pool nets?? You just never knew what type of toy or item was going to be spotted floating along in the water.

More cute kiddos: Colin (on scooter), Ava enjoying her lunch, sweet baby Chase, Holden in the sand pile, sleeping baby Hunter, and Cade with the hose as usual. :)

The kids always crowded around the picnic table and were often quite goofy together.

Destined to be buddies: Chase Cunningham and Hunter Hobson. They spent a lot of the summer side by side like this in their carriers. (Don't they look impressed? Ha!) Chase could sleep absolutely anywhere and was frequently seen in a spot like the one below. I can't wait for next summer when the two of them are toddling around, getting into everything together!

Busy kiddos!

Lauren, Ava, Natty, and Hunter

On our last pool day in August, Hunter got in the water with Daddy and LOVED it! He is getting so big!

Poor Jay, the one-man "Daddy Daycare/Pool Nanny." He was a very good sport!

Cade and the purple purse...he loved this purse of Lauren's and carried it everywhere, collecting things to put in it. He even kept a grip on it while in nothing but his birthday suit, waiting to get dressed! Great pics for his future girlfriend to see.

And this one is for Daddy...Holden got cold one day and I hadn't brought a change of clothes, so Lauren was kind enough to loan him her Tinkerbell undies. Such a proud moment for Daddy. Ha!

Thanks so much, Kim for all the fun summer memories! We can't wait for next year!!!