Driving Miss Kimmy

Papa and Grandma with all of their grandkids. It is next to impossible to get a good picture now with Hunter being so active ;)

I think Hunter has an obsession with ears, back at Easter he pulled the bunnies ears, he pulls the kitties ears, and now...Joey's!

Well, this is our last Christmas posting, it is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone, and so has another year. We will be taking it easy this New Year's Eve, staying off the roads and looking forward to a new year full of exciting new possibilities! We hope that you have a great and safe New Year's Eve! Talk to you next year!

Christmas Morning! This was year number five of the matching pants! If you are wondering why we are all matching let me catch you up....when we got married, our first Christmas we decided to protest and wear matching pajama pants for having to leave the house, my family thought it was cute, so the second year on Christmas Eve, Amy got a pair too. The third year Grandpa and Grandma also got a pair and last year, Hunter's first year, everyone got a pair, which brings us to this year, year 5, I made all of them, next year I plan to actually learn how to sew!!!

Poor Hunter, got this Thomas the train for his big present, and we didn't know to open the box prior to Christmas and charge the battery, the next day when it was all charged we found out that it doesn't work. We are getting the only one left in Michigan shipped to us tomorrow, thank goodness he doesn't know what it is suppose to do, or we would be some of those irate shoppers!

Hunter's first Christmas Robe

Happy New Year's Eve Weekend! Hard to believe that 2006 is coming to an end, there have been so many changes for me. Motherhood has brought about the realization that I have no control over anything! I am praying that 2007 helps me to loosen up, lower my expectations, say no, and cope with whatever comes my way. I made a resolution when I had Hunter to enjoy it, and I have! Every step, every change, even when Hunter has been sick I have reminded myself to look at the positive's like cuddling, good naps, and that he is going to get better. The new year is only going to bring more good times, chances for new memories, and change! I am embracing it for the first time! I pray that all of you, our family and friends, can reminisce on the past year and find the good memories, keep them close and look forward to a new year of new opportunities! We pray for health and happiness in each of your lives! Love you!

A gift to open on Christmas Eve

Hunter loves books! There is something to be said about reading to him from in the womb to now.

Playing "Peekaboo"

Aunt Mimi also known as "Magda" as Hunter calls her


Hello there, We hope you had the best Christmas ever! We had a wonderful Christmas, full of laughs, tears, and new memories! More than we could ask for! Sorry, we are so late posting, things have been very busy. When I left you I was making a Santa suit at the last minute, as well as preparing to host the holiday family parties and you know more and more of my many projects! Hunter is feeling much better except for the two molars he has coming in at once :( poor guy! He is talking up a storm, he even says Santa! I will be posting Christmas photos over the next week, as well as working on my first ever "hope you had a nice Christmas" cards! Hunter having had a rash for the entire December month, didn't work well for photo cards! Well, have to run, hope all is well!

Hunter snuggled up with two dogs!

I feel like what I am about to say is the story of my life.....Hunter is sick again. I got a call from Miss Karen at daycare that Hunter had 102.8 fever, so this lead to picking him up and calling the doctor. Apparently, there is so much going around they didn't want me to bring him in, but I had a feeling/worry he had an ear infection being the doctor last week just stopped the antibiotic when Hunter was allergic to it. So, they had me monitor him for two hours, push fluids, you know the drill. So, I called back when he refused to drink anything, he did eat applesauce (thanks mom) and his fever was still there. We got in and basically we just got home. It turns out that yes, he does have an ear infection as well as a bad cold, so no daycare as he is contagious, thankfully Aunt Mimi can watch him so I can go to work. We are so excited Aunt Mimi got a great new job that she begins the 2nd of January, but we will miss her as she has been a huge help with Hunter! You know that Hunter is sick when he cuddles up and lets you rock him like a baby, so I hated to let go, but I did. I will keep you posted, hopefully the medication will start working quickly and he will get feeling better in order to have a very Merry Christmas!

We hope that you had a great birthday Grandpa!!! A few weeks ago Hunter called my dad (aka Grandpa) "Papa" and now he says "Papa" all the time, so tonight when we made Great Grandpa this sign, Hunter yelled Papa Papa! He also says "uh oh" and for please he puts his lips together and blows with a "p" sound, he also says bath, baaaaaa, and will repeat in his own way most of the things you say. Tractor, however, is perfected, even our daycare friends are impressed :) Hunter is getting a bottom molar as we speak, and it hasn't been treating him very well. As you can see in the picture, Hunter is getting a dog stool for Christmas, he loves it. He bounces up and down on his bottom, and laughs. So, I have to run I am making a Santa suit and year five of holiday pajama pants for the weekend, this year Dave has been recruited to be one of Santa's helpers!

Hello there, finally good news! Hunter is doing much better today. This picture is from last week, but his face is getting back to normal. This morning before I left for work Hunter got up to eat, and his face was still bad, but by the middle of the day the spots on his face and body were fading, and by tonight were getting even closer to being gone. Some of them turned purple like bruises and they are still there, but for the most part we are on the up side! Aunt Mimi watched Hunter today so I could work, and they had tons of fun, Aunt Mimi bought Hunter a rudolph and they read the story and played with him, his nose lights up Hunter loves it! It was a huge help for me so I could get back to work! As you can see above, Hunter is in a book phase right now, he loves the same 3 books, Tractors, Baby 123 and Baby Colors all from Aunt Lori and family, I guess after having three children you know the ropes! He brings you the same three books over and over and over and over....you get the picture. I have given him countless other books which are fine for a quick read, but we return to the favorites. We are hoping that Hunter feels 100% tomorrow as we have a busy weekend planned. Tomorrow we are headed to a lunch date with some old friends from high school, one of which just had a baby, should be fun if he is up to it, and Wendy is headed in from New Jersey!!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hunter loves bananas, he eats a whole one and begs for another! He decided to climb the ladder to reach the bananas himself, being mom wasn't listening!

Getting there....

Almost....

Wow, that was a lot of work!

Hello, well I wish I had better news but Hunter and I had another quiet day today. He woke up this morning and his rash had spread everywhere. His poor face was covered, he had the welts on the inside of his eyes, mouth on his nose, his ears, everywhere. Thank goodness he doesn't know, because it makes me cry just looking at him. So even though he is not contagious I just couldn't leave him, I think a trip for allergy testing is in our future. In the middle of the day, Hunter's eyes got so swollen you could barely see his eyeballs. So, I called back to the doctor to see if the allergy could be to the cats, he loves them so much he will lay on the floor with them. They said he could be allergic too, but the rash the doctor saw was different then a pet or food allergy. We are giving him a break from the kitties at this time until he gets better, then we will re-evaluate, but he gets mad, signing and saying "kits Kits" pointing to the basement door :( They love him too. On another sad note, we ask you to pray for our Uncle Harold and his family, he is one of my dad's brothers, their house burnt down and thankfully no one was hurt, but as you can imagine that is horribly overwhelming and sad even with everyone safe. Thank you and we love you, hope all is well!

Hello everyone, Hunter as you can tell from the picture is having yet another health problem...this time he is allergic to Amoxicilin. He has huge red welts covering a large portion of his body, fortunetly they don't itch but he does seem sleepy and irritable, oh maybe that's me! We just returned from the Doctor, and we are pleased that he is not contagious and we can return to our normal schedule tomorrow. Hunter has done two new things today, he signed "please" and said "bye bye" thank goodness for the fun things out weighing the not so fun things, like a creepy rash! Hope you are having a good day! Sorry about my pictures being crooked, I haven't figured out how to rotate them yet on my new program.

Hunter loved looking out the window onto the main street at our family Holiday party. He points and yells "truck" or his version of truck :)

He wasn't so sure what to think of all of the giant stuffed animals, he did give Pooh a kiss towards the end.

Hello all, hope this week is finding you well. We've been busy running from here to there, this weekend really marked the start of the holiday chaos! We had a nice brunch with the family, Hunter began saying his version of "grandpa" while we were there, Grandma is not to happy, so we are switching her name to something easier for him to say! He even got his own special mickey mouse pancake while we were there. Then it was home to get ready for Grandma's new salon's open house, which we just returned from. It is so nice and there were tons of great new cheeses and crackers for Hunter to try. He even swept up for them, carrying the broom around the back, maybe Santa will bring him a kids one, he loves the broom, so random! He was suppose to have a new friend, also named Paige, there to play with but she didn't end up coming, she is only 2 months older maybe next time. Well, have a great day and I will talk to you soon!

Loose at the abandoned Somerset Mall.

Let us in, our mom's aren't done shopping yet!

Shop til you Drop!

This was such a funny event last night, Hunter and Paige shaking the gate, we are so lucky the alarms didn't go off! Thanks Amy for sending me the pictures, and for the fun!

We hope that Kathy had a wonderful birthday!!!! Can't wait to celebrate!

Speaking of birthday's we celebrated a very belated birthday with our friend Michele today, thanks for the fun dinner ladies! I hate to say it but it was nice to have a baby free dinner, I could relax and enjoy the company! Grandpa and Grandma picked up Hunter, so Dave and I had a night of shopping, his favorite, actually this was the first time he has gone with me since we were dating! Grandpa and Grandma took Hunter to his favorite restaurant, Red Robin. He will spend the night then we will all head to Mt. Pleasant for our family Christmas party. Have a great day!

Nice kitty!!!

I'm going to get you!

Kitty looking scared!

Hunter shaking hands....way too hard :(

First....A special HAPPY BIRTHDAY wish for our good friend Kathy!!! We love you, and hope you have a wonderful day!!! Second.....my friend Amy (Paige's mom) and I win the world's worst parent awards tonight, because we just walked in the door with the babies! We closed the mall! After work we went to Somerset, gone are the days of quietly and efficiently shopping, and the inside stores close at 9, Macy's stays open until 12, but we left early (Ha Ha) at 10:15. It would have been a little earlier but we had to stop and document this occurence, pictures coming soon! The kids were well behaved considering it was 2-3 hours past their bedtime! Then they passed out in the car, which I am just about ready to do. Last but not least....Hunter is feeling much better today, still pretty whiney but the infections seem to be on there way out, and our little guy seems to be coming back! I am super excited for tomorrow, and so is Hunter because Grandpa and Grandma have asked to take Hunter on an overnight so I can get some rest and get some things done. Hurray!!!! That will be good for both of us! Take care, and have a great weekend, we will of course keep you posted!

My Pillows!

Hello! Hunter thinks all the pillows in the house belong to him, and he begs until he gets them! He doesn't take one to bed with him because of the risk of SIDS however, he will love it when he gets to! He seems to be feeling better today, and he was glad to get back in the swing of things with his friends at daycare. We re-introduced Hunter to our kitties today, he is at the age now where he understands a certain amount, and he reallly loves them. Hayden is very friendly and he will go right up to Hunter, Hunter runs away, but Hayley is more timid and she will sit back and watch Hunter, so Hunter chases her. I guess this is just another sign that he thinks he is in control :) Pictures coming tomorrow....Have a great Friday!

Before Hunter got sick we were taking trips around the block to check out all of the Christmas lights. He enjoyed pointing to trucks and trains, saying "ttt, ttt"

Everytime Hunter saw a snowman he would grab his hat, we figured he must have noticed the snowman's hat?

Hello all, Hunter spent a fun day with Aunt Mimi! He started something new, we aren't sure if it is because he is sick or if it is a permanent new thing. He rolled around on the floor, begged for the pillows and even played with his cars while lying down. He completely missed this rolling stage as a baby, because he had so many breathing problems he slept in the swing for months, as you may recall, therefore other than learning to roll over, he never rolled around like babies do. So we will see if he has just picked up something new, and really cute, or if it was just today. Other than that, Hunter is giving big kisses, grabbing your ears or neck and pulling himself to your face, you have to look out because last week he actually planted his teeth in my chin, but so far that was the only biting occurence thank goodness! That is it for tonight, back to daycare for Hunter tomorrow, and on to my chores for me :( Have a good one!

Working Hard to get on the Tractor (also known as....tra tra)


Being Silly! The best part of Hunter getting on the toy tractor, was Aunt Mimi saying that would be like me riding his 4 wheeler, and then doing it, boy if I could show those pictures!!!!

It feels so great to have my blogging abilities back! I missed you guys! Did you miss us? Well, I wish I had better news to report tonight but Hunter was back to the Dr. again today for another double ear infection, sinus infection and full body rash, the poor kid!!! Thanks to Amy I am able to go to work tomorrow, she has been a huge help to me with this little guy being soooooo active :) However, even with his ailments he now says bath, and about half of the time covers his mouth when he coughs, me and my manners! Daily it is something new. I do need some helpful tips if anyone has any about feeding a picky eater. I have tried everything I can think of. He was so good as a baby, and I do understand this is a stage but come on already, I am going to have a nervous breakdown over mealtime! Hunter will eat any kind of carb, bananas, applesauce, sweet potatoes, things of this nature. He is not eating any veggies except corn and peas, and any prepared meal, he will throw it on the floor, I've learned to intercept this maneuver, but I am hoping this too shall pass. Anyway, if anyone has any tips they can send my way I will surely try them and appreciate them! Well, we hope you are having a great week and we will talk to you again tomorrow!

Hunter loves to shower!!!

Hi there! Long time no blog! Not anymore....we are new and improved! We bought a new fancy shmansy computer, and I'm obsessed with it! We got an iMac and I am even going to take classes once a week for an hour, for a year to learn how to use it! Poor Hunter, this definetly means more projects! Well, I don't even know where to start, Hunter is talking up a storm he is really getting good at T's and S's and almost says Mimi for Aunt Mimi! So far it's MMMM...and pointing :) she likes it anyway. The shower thing is so funny but it makes me very nervous, he will not sit in the tub anymore, and he pulls himself up to the faucet, well one day he got a huge surprise when the shower started beating down on him. I thought, well I will let him do it and then he will be mad and won't do it anymore, wrong he thinks it is pretty funny. The pictures are from time 2, I was prepared with the camera. Tonight was our first horrible restaurant experience, we went to our favorite Red Robin, and Hunter whined and carried on just terrible, we actually got up and left. Well, I guess you have to know my tolerance of this, which is very limited. I was saying to Amy on the way home, why do people have more children when they act like this, she explained to me that most people feel they are kids and they should be able to be kids, and the most parents feel that others should understand. I can understand this to a certain extent, however....I know that it was my mistake to take him out when he was tired and not feeling good, why should that affect everyone else in the restaurant? Needless to say there won't be any more restaurant trips any time soon, or any additions to the Smith household any time soon!!! So, on a better note Hunter is also learning more signs everyday, his new sign is "deer" boy is his dad proud! Well, we are back on a everyday posting! We hope you enjoy!