Playing around with my cousins at Bushia's house!!!!
Bushia and her little trick or treaters!

Oh boy is it difficult to get a picture with four kids :) As you can see cousin Joey is missing, Hunter was either picking his nose, running away, or about to break out into tears! Oh well, it was fun nevertheless. Hunter's cousins were the Incredibles. Hunter was better in the costume yesterday which makes me think he should be even better tomorrow for Halloween. We have tons of fun planned, we have a menu full of fright!!! Back bones, eye ball soup, tombstone potatoes, and snake stromboli, I Love Halloween! We hope Great Grandpa and Grandma will be joining us during the day....if they're not too scared! Hunter's friend Emily might come over for all the festivities, and their first "trick or treat", that is sure to be Merry not Scary! Hope you get into the Halloween spirit, if you need ideas you know who to call!

Look Miss Michelle, what's in here?....it's my first kids meal!!!!
hmmm.....I don't know about this.
I better try again!
I get a toy too!

Hello all, as you can see Hunter had his first fast food meal today! I tried to order it without the fries, but they included them anyway. So, I decided to leave them in the bag, well, Hunter found them and decided to give them a try, fortunetly he wasn't too enthused, he only ate two :) He did not like the chicken nuggets (even with dipping sauce) so the only thing he did like was the yogurt and the toy! Better luck next time! We came up to my parents for the weekend to help get Aunt Mimi settled in. So, we decided to stop up and see Grandma while she was finishing working, we were fortunate to run into two of our favorite friends!!! Marianne & Michele! Good to see you ladies, we have to get together soon!

Yesterday, Hunter had fun at daycare, they had another Tigers Party and Hunter even dressed up in his new Tigers shirt! He also tried fish sticks! He apparently loved them and ate every crumb, except for that which Ethan stole off his tray :) Then it was home to get ready to go to Aunt Lori's candle party. There we got to see lots of family that unfortunetly we don't see that often. Hunter had a great time playing with Papa and playing on the firetruck (pictures coming soon) that Great Uncle Bob made for Hunter's cousin Ally when she was born. He loved it so much we took it home, where he continued to play on it this morning, it is so cute! Hunter sends a big thanks to his cousins for sharing the fun! That is it for tonight, hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

My little twins! Check out the Zoo Boo slideshow!

Hello everyone, we had so much fun last night at the Zoo Boo, the Detroit Zoo was decorated for Halloween and there was trick or treating, and so much fun! Hunter loved seeing the kids in their costumes, he wasn't too sure about the green faced women, and being in his own costume. He cried for the first few minutes, but he adjusted and had a great time. Hope you enjoy the pictures, he was pretty tired he didn't sleep well at daycare. We have to wish a belated blog Happy Birthday to Aunt Lori!!!! Her birthday was Tuesday the day we got back from our big adventure, Hope it was a good one! Have a great day everyone, when I catch up on my sleep I will be back to posting normally!

I'm back from California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana! I traveled across the United States in 4 days!!!! That means.....Aunt Mimi is home! What a beautiful drive! We had some rough times as I was sick with the flu in the beginning and Amy has a sinus infection, but all of our stops and the company was good medicine!

Hunter had a great time with his Grandma and Grandpa! I can't believe how much he changed in a few days, he stands up in the middle of the room, and he makes a bunch of different noises, along with a new cute laugh and probably a bunch of things I didn't see in the hour before he went to bed. Well I'm off to bed too! Talk to you soon.

Sorry we have been MIA we have been resting!

I wish I had better news, but.....instead of Hunter getting better he has developed a reaction to the antibiotic, so last night the poor little guy was throwing up, and that was quickly followed by diarrhea :( he just can't catch a break. So today, he spent crying as his little bottom is raw, they wouldn't see us at the Dr. today even though I called three times, so tomorrow I have to take him back again. This picture was taken a few days ago, I thought it was cute, he crawls up in his chair now and then points for me to get him things to have while he is in there. He looks just like his dad! Remote and all! So please send our family positive thoughts and prayers we can use them, hope all is well with you, take care!

Using a spoon, isn't as easy as it looks!
I can do it. I did it!!!
It is much easier to just use my hands!

Mom, I'm a little messy!

Hello there, Hunter seems to be feeling a little better today, lots of laughing and dancing, but still a lot of sneezing and coughing too :( Sorry it is a short blog tonight, lots to do! Love you all, talk to you tomorrow!

They're still head over heals....
.....after 57 years!!!!!

Hello everyone, it was a busy weekend and Hunter is still not feeling well. We went back to the Dr. today and Hunter has an ear infection in both ears, and his congestion went to his chest, so we are on antibiotics, hopefully that will knock it right out of him! Hunter lost almost a pound since last Tuesday, which is a combination of him being sick, and the change from Organic cow's milk, to soy milk. Hunter had a rash on his face for over a month, I had asked if it could be from the milk, as Hunter was on soy formula and only had cow's milk starting at about 11 1/2 months, but one of his dr's said no it looked like a reaction to drool. Well, Hunter doesn't really drool so I still thought it was the milk, last week I asked again, and this Dr. said yes it looked like a food allergy, so I switched him to Soy Milk, and the rash is gone! However, now the rash is gone but Hunter has excema, poor little guy if it isn't one thing it's another :( I can't tell you how much fun he has become!!!! He is constantly making me laugh, and it is blowing my mind how all of the things I have done up to this point are starting to show. He is dancing to his gator song, and Ellen, and anything else that might be considered music! He is signing the old signs better, and learning new ones, and will even repeat new ones right after I show him, although he doesn't retain those, his coordination is really improving! He is blowing kisses, waving at the right time, and pointing to everything! He has turned our dining room table into a race track, which he walks/runs around all day long (that too could play a part in the weight loss, he is so active). He gets on his 4 wheeler and makes vroom vroom noises, and he gets in his John Deere cart and jumps up and down, rocking it back and forth. It is a lot of fun, I guess the fun makes up for him being sick, and up a lot at night :( that is rough on both of us! Well, we hope that your days are filled with fun and laughter too! Take care, talk to you tomorrow!

A green tribute to Wendy!!! Go Green with eBay!
My friend Wendy taught me how to eBay, she is the queen! I didn't realize though that eBay isn't only good for your pocketbook it also good for the environment! Things that you previously may have thrown away (that would have been filling the landfill) you can make some cash selling on eBay. Just last week, I sold an old Halloween costume. I tried to sell it at my Breast Cancer yard sale for $2 but it didn't sell, so I tried eBay and sold it for $55! Yes, can you believe it? Now, not everything is such a success but it is really fun, and buying used things, especially clothes contributes to the well being of our environment because it is less energy, chemicals, materials used to create new! So whether you're buying or selling keep up the good work! Wendy, thanks girl you are an eBay inspiration!!!

When I tell you Hunter is into everything.....I do mean everything!
Dad what's this?
I had to post this picture after a conversation with my friend Amy today. This was the week Hunter started walking and we learned to hide everything. But, we were talking about how cute it is that when you say Hunter or Paige, bring me your dog, or bottle, or whatever, they bring it to you. And, joking about Hunter or Paige, bring me my slippers, or Dad saying bring me a beer. It reminded me of this picture that I never posted because of its inappropriateness, but today as Hunter is still not feeling well, it made me laugh :)

Hunter had fun almost all day at daycare, they had a Tigers Party today complete with balloons, decorations, hot dogs, coloring baseball players, and singing and dancing to "take me out to the ball game" but towards the end of the day, and Hunter not getting his medicine he started to get fussy. This evening he wasn't happy doing anything, so it was off to bed to hopefully sleep it off, we aren't sure if he is getting worse, or only feeling worse because he is actually getting better. Only time will tell. Well, he needs to get better because Sunday is Great Grandpa & Grandma's 57th wedding anniversary!!!! Now that is something to celebrate!!!!

Americans currently landfill the weight of about 5,967,000 desktop computers in BATTERIES a year! Keep a cup or box for old batteries and drop them off at your local recycling center once a year. Better yet invest in rechargeables and save on your wallet too. However, stick to conventional batteries for your smoke alarms as rechargeable batteries lose their juice faster.

Mom, look what I have!
Oh No, I shouldn't have showed you. You can't catch me!!!

As you can tell Hunter was feeling a little better today, he played off and on all day, he slept a lot and he wasn't very balanced I am guessing because of the cold medicine. His fever broke during the day and that made him feel a lot better, and we both are feeling better because we slept until 10!!! That hasn't happened since life before baby! What a treat! It was scary though because when I woke up and realized what time it was, I was worried how I would find Hunter, I actually had to wake him up, but he was fine. The best thing happened today, Hunter learned to sign "hurt" and strangely he did it at the right time, I'm sure it was just a coincidence, but either way we are on the right track and that is precisely why I wanted to teach it to him so we could communicate better. How exciting! We hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Light bulbs.....I told you I have been switching mine but I didn't tell you why.

CFL's (Compact Fluorescent Lights) are more efficient than your incandescent lightbulbs that only use 10% of the energy to actually create light, the rest creates heat. The CFL's are more expensive initially however is you replace a 100 watt bulb with a equivalent CFL, you'll save $100 or more over the lifetime of the bulb. They have an exceptionally long life, many have warranties so not only are you saving money in not replacing the bulb several times but on your energy bill. If every American actually made this small change and switched over all of their bulbs, we could shutdown 3 electricity plants, which would be better for our wallets and our health!!! Try what we are doing and replacing our bulbs with CFL's as they burnout, no work there just buying different bulbs. You can buy them almost anywhere you buy your old bulbs! Let's put a little light on the subject :)

Our little nose picker was trying to tell us something......that his nose hurt :( Hunter is under the weather again :( He came home from day care today with a 102 degree temp and various other problems, so off we went to the Dr. and between teething and a cold, the poor little guy is feeling miserable. Thankfully, he does not have an ear infection yet, we hope we caught it early enough! You know Hunter is sick when he sits with you and watches a few minutes of his videos, and so far the sleeping isn't going to well, when he was little we could use the swing....now we are the swing :( But, yesterday Hunter had a great day with Great Grandma & Grandpa while I was at my work meeting. He showed them all his fancy new footwork, and how he can behave (he actually stopped his behavior when they told him No) so I realize all of my efforts haven't gone in one ear and out the other, they are catching on. Grandpa and Grandma, Thank you for all the help!

Our green for the day is disturbing.......Formaldehyde.
Apparently Formaldehyde is not just used for embalming....it is also used in a number of beauty products and other things like carpet and furniture. Not only is this scary to think about but it is also believed to be a possible carcinogen by the EPA. There are some fancy terms to disguise the fact this is in some products but when I looked at my nail polish....it wasn't even hidden in a fancy term, it said formaldehyde. My poor mom! These names break down into or release formaldehyde......Diasolidinyl urea.......DMDM hydantoin........Imidazolidinyl.........and.........Quaternium - 15. The part that is even more frightening is that they are not 100% sure that this can be cleaned and broken down in the water treatment process, therefore we may be digesting it!!!!

I'm learning to eat with a spoon.
It's not as easy as you would think!!!

Hello everyone, today was the first day in a long time that Hunter got to play and eat and nap all at the right times, and boy was it good for him, and me too! Babies sure do need their naps, and I've come to realize I need that downtime to get things done, and a little rest too. So that is what we did today, we took it easy! I made Hunter and I a pancake breakfast (I had never made them before) they must have been OK because Hunter loved them, especially with a little syrup :) So, I had a cooking first and Hunter had a first in picking his nose :( a few times he has accidentally gotten his finger stuck in a nostril but now he is deliberately sticking his finger in there, which we have to remind ourselves not to laugh because although it kind of looks cute now, this is the precise behavior that is not cute. It is surprising to me that babies are smart at such a young age, he knows that when we laugh he should do it again, and when you say No that he too should do that again, little sponges!

Sorry, I forgot yesterday's tip for those of you enjoying "Going Green" today is about Junk Mail :( The average person gets 1.5 personal letters a week, compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail. That's 4.5 million tons of junk mail produced every year! 100 million trees are ground up every year to produce junk mail. Lists of names are compiled and sold, from catalogs, charities, credit card companies, etc. Your name is typically worth 3 to 20 cents each time it is sold. Crazy, not only is it bad for the environment, it is also irritating and can add up to a lot of clutter :) So, to reduce some of your junk mail try DIRECTMAIL.COM it only takes a few minutes, I did it in both of our names, and to cut down on credit card offers (if you want to :) try calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT, your daily food for thought!

Hunter's first "Light the Night" walk for Leukemia and Lymphoma.
He loved the balloons!!!

Hello everyone, sorry once again for lack of posting but I can't even begin to tell you what's been going on, things have been crazy! Wanted to tell you we hit a record, over 4000 pictures taken and over 4000 visits made to Hunter's blog! Thank you for having so much fun with us, sharing Hunter's life and milestones! As you see from the pictures we did the walk last night, it was Hunter's first chilly night out, he did really well. What he did not do really well on is his trip to the photographers today :( It was miserable for all of us! The poor photographer tried to work his magic for 1 1/2 hours but Hunter wasn't having it, he barked, danced, sang, you name it he did it, but Hunter would not smile or sit still. That may be our first and last trip, my photos will have to do! I wasn't really able to help get him to smile, because with his movement I had to make sure he didn't fall, crawl or walk off the table. We are hoping we at least get one good one! So, it was a rough morning and afternoon, but then it improved when we attended, very late, but attended our friend Keri's nieces birthday party, Emily who turned 2. Hunter played in his first sand box, which of course he ate the sand...twice, even though I was sitting right there with him, he is so quick! Hunter got to see a lot of old friends that he met at the fishing tournament months ago, hopefully there will be a lot more camping next year, we just have so much fun with Keri and her family! Then it was home to bed, where I am headed right now! Good Night!

I'm really getting into Recycling mom!!!!

Hi there, Hunter and I had a wonderful day staying in and enjoying the rain! I love thunderstorms and I always open the curtains for Hunter to see, well this was the first time Hunter noticed, he sat at the french doors for a long time pointing and laughing, so it was a beautiful day! Other than that, I enjoyed Hunter's new found tongue which he is rolling, blowing, and sticking out, he thinks it is pretty funny :)~ He seems to be growing and changing again, it is funny how even though I see him every day he is changing before my eyes, sadly he is really starting to look like a little boy. We are very fortunate to have such a healthy little boy! We hope you are enjoying our green tidbits, we are really enjoying learning about new things, and adopting some of them, for the last month we have been changing our lightbulbs to compact fluorescent ones, which last longer and use a lot less energy, saving you money 2 ways, and I am currently working on a sewing project to eliminate my need for plastic bags. Those of you who know me well are saying, the old Andrea is back. That is true. The last five years have been a learning experience for me, and I think somewhere along the way I lost the part of me who gets passionate about things and takes on projects (and completes them :) and is concerned about the world. Having Hunter has made me realize now more than ever it is important for me to be myself and teach him the importance of values, ethics and beliefs. Now that he is older and I get more sleep it is the perfect time to make change! So, join in if you want, and don't read the green if you don't want to, this site is about Hunter's life and our daily adventures and right now we are learning about a healthy environment, so we hope you enjoy it! Today's tidbit is my favorite!!!

Is your shampoo making you fat?

Parabens are synthetic preservatives found in shampoo, make-up foundations, shaving gels and even some food. They have a chemical structure similar to estrogen that interferes with production of the body's natural hormones, leading to weight gain (and more importantly containing potential links to Cancer). So, look for products that don't contain parabens - methyl, propyl, or butyl - to keep our water ways cleaner, ward off pounds, and other health risks. Personally speaking, I discovered that all of my products hairspray, deodorant, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, etc. all had some of these ingredients, bringing me to the realization that these must have caused my weight gain......not the pizza :)

Hunter hides Cheerios and other treats in his highchair when he eats, I recently found out why....
It's time for a snack.....but I can't quite reach....
Got it!
Oh boy, you caught me!

Hunter had a good day today, and we hope you did too! When we were leaving day care, one of Hunter's friends, who is also named Hunter, blew him a kiss :) it was cute! He really seems to like it there, and he is really loving all of the toys! Then it was off to do our chores and get tickets for the Zoo Boo which we will be going to in a few weeks, look forward to pictures of that! What is the Zoo Boo you ask? Well we will find out, we are not exactly sure but we do know they decorate part of the zoo, and have games and costumes, etc. which is sure to be a good time! I guess I better get working on Hunter's costume! What is he going to be you ask? Baby Magnum of course!!! That is it for our day, nothing too exciting :( Have a good one!

Which is better for you and the environment.....Aluminum Foil, Plastic Wrap or Wax Paper?

Aluminum Foil. This surprised me but unlike the others Aluminum Foil is available in 100% recycled form and is recyclable. It withstands heat and cold and works better than the others to keep moisture in. However, you can't put it in the microwave and you must be careful as it reacts with acidic foods which could end up in your foods.

If you buy Plastic Wrap beware as most are made with PVC, the unhealthiest of plastics. Glad ClingWrap and Handi-Wrap are PVC free. * Every year Americans use enough plastic wrap to cover all of Texas *

Baby Magnum, what are you doing down there?
I got you, lets go see your brother!
Baby Magnum what do you think? I think this is fun!!!!

Hello all, we had a nice quiet day, well not so quiet really Hunter is making lots of noises! He is also trying very hard to stick out his tongue, his tongue is rolling around and doing all sorts of things it has never done before and never could do before his surgery. So I'm sure soon I will have a first of, Hunter stuck his tongue out, a first that should happen in the first few months of life, but at least Hunter will be able to do someday not that it is really necessary. Oh well, anyway, I hate to say Hunter is working on his sixth tooth, they are coming so rapidly and he really is having a rough time now, drooling all over, biting on everything and just crying out from time to time, he is averaging one a week and boy they are shooting right up, unbelievable those poor little gums! Well other than that I think it is time to introduce you to a new portion of our life, and our blog........

WE'RE GOING GREEN!!!!

We went pink this summer and are staying that way especially with this being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but we decided it is time to start branching out, into not just making Hunter's life wonderful but trying to make his world and the world we live in better! Therefore, every posting from now on will be a tidbit about going green. I hope that it may help you make some changes as well! So, today is the beginning and green lesson number one is.....

*Keep your tires properly inflated. This will increase your fuel efficiency by 2 miles per gallon, and increase the life of your tire by 15%. If every American made this change, 4 million gallons of gas could be saved every day, and we would have 30% fewer tires in our landfills. Not to mention the cost savings in our pockets! Go Green!

It's our favorite weather!!!! Sweater weather!!!!

So, I know I promised to be a better poster and I do apologize but as you all know rest and relaxation quickly turn into, lets have fun!!!! Hunter is feeling much better, and of course he felt even better when we went shopping! Yesterday, Grandma, Hunter and I went to Birch Run and we found lots of great deals! Especially thanks to our friend Wendy who gives us the ultimate Polo hook up with coupons, and the inside on good deals, thanks girl! We got Hunter a Thanksgiving outfit, well if we can wait that long :) Hunter also had a big treat....Pizza! Well of course we liked it, but shockingly Hunter didn't. It was in his mouth for a second and he reached in and pulled it back out, do you think he could have been switched at birth? So, other than entertaining the other restaurant patrons by waving it was a normal dinner for him. That brings us to today where Hunter spent time with Grandma so I could go to a work function, and Grandma worked magic by making a great dinner, Hunter some special pudding and my favorite, Banana bread, I come by my Martha complex honestly :) Love you mom! We ended our day with Grandpa and Dad resurfacing from their rustic trip hunting complete with no power, no running water, and an outhouse :) not kidding! The strangest part is they had a fabulous time! So....all in all....it was a great weekend, sad to see it end. We hope that you too had a wonderful weekend, and best wishes to all for a great week!