My boys

Here are some more fun pictures from the past few weeks. I just can't take enough of my cute boys!

Even though Hunter can't do much yet, it is fun to see the brother dynamic already taking place. Holden loves to talk to him, "tickle" him, kiss him, and look at him. Hunter responds to his voice when he is awake; I know he recognizes it from the womb since Holden was always laying with his head on my "tummy shelf." :) These pictures are pretty typical of the boys when they are both awake. Hunter sleeps so much that Holden gets excited when he is awake and asks to lay by him. He talks in a high-pitched voice and says, "You're so cute!"

We continue to have a plethora of visitors! They bring good food and gifts so we don't turn them away! Ha! The one of my boys and the Cunningham boys cracks me up; so typical of our attempts at shots of them together. At least they're all facing the camera! Holden had just received his first fat lip courtesy of the slide and an attempt to walk up it with a toy mower.

My sweet baby boy. He will be 3 weeks old tomorrow!! It is going so quickly this time. I think it's because I know how fast it went with Holden. Hunter has already gained over a pound and grown 2 inches!! He is taking 3 to 4 ounces of milk every few hours. I think he's going to be my big one.

My goofy big boy. He never fails to make me laugh! Holden is in the 14th percentile for weight and 20th for height; he's my shrimp and I love him that way!

Cuties and Cardinals

Here are recent shots of each boy that just make me smile!

Hunter the flirt!

Cool dude Holden

We were all sporting the birds for Cardinals opening day...

...down to our footwear! :)

Loving my time at home!

Easter 2010

I feel like I am soooo behind with blogging! I have taken a zillion pictures since coming home from the hospital, but haven't had any time to edit them, much less post them! You know how they say that second babies don't have as many pictures? Yeah, that doesn't apply to Hunter! Ha! This crazy camera lady is loving the new photo ops with her newest addition!

Things are going well as we adjust to a family of 4. Holden is having some transition issues which is to be expected. He adores his baby brother but doesn't understand why he can't play with him yet, and doesn't appreciate that all of the attention is not on him. I am finding that 3 is a challenging age. My sweet little boy is questioning authority, asserting his independence, and to put it in easy to understand terms, just being a little turd at times! I love him to pieces and I know that he has a lot going on right now, so I am trying to be patient. We continue to potty train. Number 1 is going great, but I feel like I will be following him to college to wipe his poopy tush off at this point! NO desire to do #2 on the potty, and will hold it until he can sneak off and go in his pants. No amount of bribes have worked so far. On the positive side, he is becoming so smart and understands so much now. It is fun to have conversations with him and to hear what is going on in that little head of his. He insists on holding the doors for people everywhere we go, especially the ladies. He really does love Hunter, and lavishes him with kisses and conversation. Today he was "teaching" him to play pat-a-cake. :) Hunter continues to be a great baby, normally very easy-going. I cherish my cuddle times with him when Holden naps, because as the second baby, he gets put down a lot out of necessity.

Here are our Easter pics, and as with every event, there are a ton of them.

Holden had fun decorating eggs again this year. He loved plopping them (not very gently!) into the cups and insisted on scooping them out himself.

Hunter wasn't too impressed with the egg Holden made him!

My brother, Eric, was home for the holiday weekend. He got his first glimpse of Hunter the night before Easter. I love that all three guys are in matching blue!

While my boys were sleeping...

...the Easter bunny came! Holden was thrilled with his Handy Manny bubble hammer, jump rope, and of course, candy. He also got a neat book that we read later when he was over the toys.

Then he helped his baby brother open his basket. Hunter got a stuffed bunny and a book. Holden also insisted on holding Hunter...don't worry, I was not even an arms-length away while Jay snapped this shot. Poor Hunter does not look too comfortable!

My little bunny! Hunter was 8 days old on his first Easter. I had bought this little outfit at Carter's in hopes he'd be here with us. I'm glad he got to wear it!

My two beautiful boys. (Bunnies?)

LOVE this picture!!! It was not staged; Holden loves to give Hunter kisses.

My handsome big boy! I loved his little vest. Holden had his first day in the three's Sunday School on Easter. He was SO excited to go to "big boy church school!" He was very proud when he came home and showed me his papers and art projects. I was sad I couldn't go, but happy Jay got to go for a change as he usually works on Sundays.

Family pictures

I got the best gift in my Easter basket!

My parents, Granny, and Eric came over after church and brought a delicious lunch. I was happy to provide the house and the baby!

Granny brought a bunny cake. Isn't it cute?!

Our annual group shot; the first with Hunter included!

After lunch, Jay took Holden to his family's get together in nearby Colfax. He had a blast with his cousins and enjoyed an egg hunt. I am really proud of Jay for taking cute pictures for me!

A few more shots of Holden...playing Bingo with Aunt Allie, eating candy out of his egg, and ending the day by helping Daddy with the first mowing of the season!

We are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for. As we celebrated the day of Jesus' resurrection, we loved the symbol of new life in our sweet baby boy. Happy (late) Easter, everyone!

And then there were 4...

It's hard to believe a week has gone by since Hunter's birthday! In some ways, it feels like it just happened. In other ways, we already can't imagine him not being here. We are adjusting to our little family of four and to having a newborn in the house again! Holden loves his baby brother and is eager to help with him. Helping me burp him and giving him his paci are his specialties! :) He lavishes kisses on him. We have to watch him like a hawk, as he has tried to pick him up, give him a "fun" swing ride (involving going a lot faster than the speed I had set!), and numerous other "helpful" scenarios. :) I'm just glad he loves him so much! We are trying really hard to make sure he feels included and still gets to do his own fun things. The weather has been GORGEOUS this week, and Jay had a full week off, so they worked on several yard projects together and enjoyed playing outdoors. Hunter even got out for his first stroller walk, which he slept through. Hunter is a very laid-back, easy baby so far. Cries when he's hungry or needs a diaper change, and that's about it. He just goes with the flow. Love him to pieces!

I was dilated to a 3.5 and 80% effaced for over a week. I was also having mild contractions. I was SO ready to have this baby!! The plan was that if he didn't come by the 29th, we would schedule an induction since he was measuring 1 week ahead. On Sat. the 27th I started feeling a lot of pressure and decided to go in just to be sure. Apparently I had been contracting 2-6 min. apart and didn't realize it at that point since I'd been uncomfortable for so long. It was great timing because I had finished my week of spring break and would have had to go back to school on Mon. I'm also thankful I had the whole week to do special things w/ Holden.

One last pregnant pose.

Excited to meet Hunter!

After my epidural, I was feeling good! Here I am with my wonderful ice chips...I was sooo hungry and you'd think I would have learned from the last time to shovel the food in before I got there! Jay was on my list because he brought a burger back from the cafeteria and ate it in the delivery room! He then enjoyed watching basketball play-offs from his recliner; the men have it way too easy in their role of child birth!

We were only there for 6 hours when Hunter made his arrival at 4:36 pm. He came out bright pink and showing us his healthy set of lungs! I feel so bad for them coming out of such a warm and cozy place into the cold and bright lights! We both agreed he looked so much like his big brother!

First moments with Mommy and Daddy.

Posing with my wonderful ob/gyn, Dr. Svientek, and enjoying a nice big Pepsi post delivery.

Some of my most cherished memories will always be Holden's arrival to meet his brother. He was so excited! My parents brought him in his big brother shirt, and he couldn't wait to see and touch Hunter.

Our first family picture.

Pictures with Grammy and Papa.

Sweet Moments

My two favorite boys! Love them!

Hunter James Paul Hobson

Memaw and Pepaw arrived that night straight from their long drive back from Florida.

Aunt Allie visited the next day.

So did Grandma Hobson.

Daddy and his boys.

My best friends, Bridget and Kara, made several visits.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Schulz...the middle picture is 4 generations.

We had so many special people come to visit! Hunter is blessed with lots of people who love him!

My sweet baby boy.

We stayed 2 nights and were ready to bring our baby home! I missed Holden so much while I was gone, even though grandparents and Daddy brought him to visit a lot. He was waiting at the door for us with Grammy when we pulled up. Hunter slept through his trip home. :)

Grammy and Papa, and Memaw and Pepaw were there to welcome Hunter home.

Holden insisted on showing Hunter all around the house, having him try out the swing, and rocking him in his chair. He sang, "Happy birthday," and "Twinkle Twinkle" to him. It was the cutest thing ever! At bedtime, both boys had their special "nigh nights" and spent some time with Daddy on the couch. The last picture is in the morning; Holden was up at 5am when he heard me feeding Hunter and came running in to see us. He asked to sit on the bed and hold him, and told me Hunter wanted to watch cartoons with him. :)

We've made it through our first week; now the real test begins...Daddy going back to work! I know we'll be fine but I'm still a little worried about how I'll manage with both of them. But I'm looking forward to finding out! I am so thankful for my two precious little boys.