Hurray! A bath problem solved! Thanks to Miss Amy and Paige, we have conquered the bath situation! Hunter for months has been standing in the bath tub, will not sit down, there have been no toys, no bribes, no nothing that would work. Then I read Paige's blog and found that Paige likes bubbles, and I thought, simple/cheap could it work??? Well, thanks ladies because it worked like a charm! Hunter loves the bubbles and he can only play with them if he sits, which he has been doing! Yeah!!! I even bought a gallon of bubble refill, ha ha (true story!)

So, we have had a fun day, we met my friends Kathy and Jae for lunch. I was worried when I saw the restaurant, we went to Maggiano's by Somerset, and it is really nice, not really a kid kind of place (no big red bird, ha ha) so I just decided to really work on my new calm relaxed self, I'm not kidding, and take it one crayon on the floor, piece of food on the floor, scream, you get the picture....at a time! To my surprise Hunter was an angel, there was no screaming or crying, there was a little food on the floor but nothing to complain about at 1 1/2, it was very pleasant. Hunter and I really enjoyed getting together with the ladies! Kathy always spoils Hunter, and he loves that!

Then it was off to the mall for a little shopping, Dad was home working on the house. He is on a roll! I have never seen him this motivated and it is really coming together nicely! So, we have been trying to stay out of the way, which means....shopping!!! So, Hunter and I decided we need a girl because all of the cute stuff worth buying is for girls, but we did find him a few staples. It was home for a nap, then back out shopping where Aunt Mimi joined us. This actually turned out to be the best shopping trip ever, it was so much fun! It was the first time Hunter wanted something. We were in Target and turned the corner and Hunter saw the bikes across the entire store way up on the ceiling, he started signing "motorcycle" and saying "bike". He begged to go over to them, we did and decided to find a tricycle, well we of course put him on one, and tried to teach him to peddle. Aunt Mimi and I were in discussion about bike helmets when there was the first bike accident, over tumbles Hunter slams his face on the shelf, and gets up without crying. We are all frazzled and this little guy bruised chin and all, kept begging for the bike. We did not end up getting the bike tonight, they didn't have the one I wanted and neither did Toys'R'Us so tomorrow, I would bet there will be some bike pictures coming.......and one happy little Hunter!

Like Father Like Son!

The Red Wings and "Eyes".....doesn't get much better than that!

Hello everyone, we hope that your week is going well, and it is almost over! Things have been good here, having lots of fun with Hunter who is very talkative, and tonight enjoyed Sloppy Joe's (Jo Jo's) something new every day! I like it! It keeps me on my toes. Hunter received a great report card from daycare today, Miss Karen said Hunter is "very patient", I was pleasantly surprised and glad of course that he is taking after me, ha ha! Have a good one!

It's official....I started packing!

We are finishing our house, packing our stuff, and we are going to sell and move on! Hunter enjoyed helping me pack, he loved the storage bin, and had fun playing Peek-a-Boo under the lid. Hunter also began saying his name Sunday, it sounds more like "hummer" but he gets his point across. This morning we went for a little walk, he kept bending over to point to the rocks, after a little while of this I wasn't paying such close attention, when one time he almost touched a dead mouse, yuck!!! His dad was proud, oh boy! He also has a new food love....strawberries. At the grocery store today he thought cherry tomatoes were strawberries and I was worried he was going to loose it! He ate a container of strawberries in two days, he begs for them like he once did bananas. I guess I need to learn the sign for strawberries next, that's it for tonight, hope all is well with you! Thanks for all the comments, I love them!

Hope the Easter bunny brings you more happiness than this! Ha Ha

Hello all, today we met Aunt Lori, Uncle Scott, Ally, Kimmy and Joey for our annual trip for pictures with the bunny rabbits. I thought Hunter would love the bunnies because of his ease around animals, but that was not the case. He didn't want to have anything to do with the bunnies, he stiffened up and cried. That doesn't make for the best of pictures :) It was fun nonetheless! Then we went to have dinner and see the Easter bunny and as you can see, he wasn't too fond of him either!!! Maybe next year! We hope your week is going well!

Addendum: I was lying in bed...reflecting on the day...when I realized I forgot to complain about something that really bugged me today! We were at the photo place, waiting, all four of our kids were well behaved, being quiet, playing, being good.....when this little girl screamed. That I have no problem with, I am learning....kids scream. The problem didn't occur until Hunter then began to mimic the screaming girl, to which...you know me.....I told him NO screaming. Still no problem, then the parent/grandparent (not real sure) encouraged the child to scream! I know...WHO DOES THAT! So, the child screamed again.....to which Hunter mimicked again and received another NO and the person still laughed and encouraged this behavior. I just have to complain about this, it seems so strange to me that someone would encourage their child to scream. This otherwise wouldn't have been an issue for me, there were a lot of kids, people, it was frustrating, I could have dealt with the screaming....but a stupid parent....this bugged me! I guess you had to be there?!

NICE WEATHER means a TRIP TO THE DETROIT ZOO!!!! Uncle Scott, Aunt Lori, Ally, Kimmy, Joey (Jo Jo) and our friends Miss Amy and Paige had a great day cruising around the zoo!!!

Hunter and Paige growing by leaps and bounds, but some things never change......like how cute they are!!!

Aunt Lori helped Hunter see all of the animals, too bad they were all "fighting" aka mating today, ha ha!

Are there any adult's with all of those kids??? Just kidding, ha ha!

Kimmy showing her cousin the way!

High Five Hunter!

High Five Paige!

Hanging out at Papa and Grandma's after a little nap to recoup from our Zoo Day!

I just have a quick side note, this is going to be a great summer! Today was so much fun! Hunter is really noticing things, and remembering words and signs, and having a lot of fun, which makes me have fun! Last year we went to the zoo often but Hunter didn't have a clue, this time he actually got excited, he saw the animals, and he said some of their names, he is a little boy now and I couldn't be happier! What fun!

Hunter with some of his gifts from his birthday party, what a lucky boy!!!

The slide he mastered by the end of the evening, finally a toy to help exhaust some of his energy, I love that!

A train that Hunter can push around and chase, I love that too!

Hello everyone, we hope you are having a great week! Things are good here...just busy, so we will talk more tomorrow.

Look at me, I'm 1 1/2!!!!

I love Cake and Ice Cream!

I begged for more more!!!

I love all of the attention!!!

Hello all, Well today ended up being a lot of fun! Hunter and I had a great day together, it just seemed that things were perfect (that never happens :) Dave and I thought that once our silly milestones (like 1/2 birthday's) mattered to our parents, like Hunter's do to us, so we had my parents and Dave's parent's over for cake and ice cream. Hunter was quite the entertainer as usual! What a fun age this is, he is doing new things all the time, and saying new things, it just can't get any better than this! Well that is until we had a little potty training mishap tonight, after Hunter's bath he decided to give me a bath, yuck! and then the Grandma's came to see what the fuss (me screaming/Hunter laughing) was about and Grandma(my mom) stepped in it, moments like this.....priceless! I'm sad to see today come to an end, but I know that there are many more fun times to come!

We're done cleaning....

....so, it's time for Hunter's I/2 Birthday Party!!!

Aunt Mimi what's that????

A Burger, I've never had that before, and it has "cheese"???

I think I love it!!!

Hello all, as you can see Hunter had his first fast food cheeseburger over the weekend. Aunt Mimi carried in the bag and Hunter went crazy begging for whatever was inside and much to our surprise, he loved it!!! We are all feeling better and thank goodness, Hunter never got sick, amazing! We had fun at a family birthday party yesterday, then we went to see Papa and Grandma where Grandma helped Hunter with his colors on a toy that his Dad and Aunt Lori had when they were kids, he loved it, and it surprisingly kept his attention! Papa helped Hunter with his favorite thing in their basement, playing on the exercise bike, he "vroom vrooms" like nobody's business! Today we played and played and played! Which brings us to tonight, the eve of Hunter's 18 month/1 1/2 year birthday. Of course I should be elated, but it just makes me realize just how fast all of the wonderful things go! There are no words to express the love a mother feels for her child, I have learned so much since he has been born, I think of how much he has learned going from being in my arms and unable to communicate to not wanting me to hold him back and saying/signing over 30 words, but I have learned so much more! The most important thing I've learned and what I am trying to live every day, is that you can't truly have more until you appreciate what you have, and I have a blessing and a gift........Hunter! Thank you for loving him with us!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! Yesterday I dressed silly for work with the shamrock head bobbers and leprechaun troll earrings, Hunter loved them, he kept saying "babies" and turning my head to see them. Hope you didn't drink too much green beer, ha ha!

Mom, look at my "eyes"! These are Hunter's new Thomas sunglasses, he calls them "eyes", he absolutely loves them, wants to play with them, put them on and wear them, looks like we might be purchasing some reserve pairs as it doesn't appear these will last very long.

I am glad to say that we are all feeling better, and that Hunter seems to be feeling good as well!!! Bye Bye Germs!!!! We had a fun day playing and doing projects while Dad worked Security at an Irish Pub Bar, then we ended our day with a wonderful dinner with our friends Marianne and Michele, thanks ladies it was fun! Hunter did pretty good until out of no where he began screaming and crying big crocodile tears, I don't know if he pinched himself, if something scared him, it was really strange, but the ladies came to the rescue with an early Easter present, a Thomas (aka Choo Choo) DVD, Hunter was thrilled and it took the tears away, thanks again ladies! Hunter now calls Thomas, "tommie" so silly! Tomorrow will be a good day for Hunter, a new Tommie and a family birthday party! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend, and we will talk soon!

I love Marshmallows!

More, more....

Why not???

Well, to explain the pictures, at the beginning of the week I decided to make Hunter a recipe out of his Cheerio cook book, Aunt Mimi wanted a marshmallow which made Hunter want one too, and as you can see he shoved the entire thing in his mouth! He loved them, but they were stale, yuck! and the recipe didn't turn out :( So, sorry I haven't posted, we have, still have the flu! I woke up Wednesday to being really sick, so I called Dave at work to see if he would come home and take Hunter to day care only to find out, he was on his way home sick too! So, fearing Hunter would be getting it we kept him home, oh boy it is no fun taking care of a baby while you are so sick, but so far Hunter has not gotten it. Dave is better he got a lot of rest, he stayed home two days, and I had a relapse last night, today after thinking I was hungry, not good to eat when you have the flu, and then last night Aunt Mimi got it, so we are one poorly bunch :) Hunter felt warm tonight when I put him to bed so I am praying he doesn't get it. He has been on the antibiotic for a week and had complications from that, but I would have thought if he was going to get it he would have it by now. So, other than that things have been pretty non-eventful. I am starting to feel better so I will try to keep you better caught up! Hope you are avoiding all the gross germs that are circulating!

Peek-a-boo kitty

Hunter loved playing with the kitties, but lately he has been getting rough, like the time he sat one of their heads!

He liked to give them kisses, but yesterday we think he kitty love came to an end when he squeezed the kitties face, and the kitty bit him. Oh boy, it really caught him off guard, although we had warned him this might happen, he didn't know what we meant, he is fine, but a little timid about the kitties now.

So, that was a bad first but we had an exciting first today! I had my work meeting so Gigi and Great Papa watched Hunter while I went then we met up with Grandma for some lunch. We were eating when Grandma asked Hunter if he wanted more of something and he said "no more". I was so excited, we all looked at each other to make sure what we had heard, it was his first time putting words together, we laughed and cheered and he was very proud of himself! Other than that, Hunter seems to be feeling better, he has some side affects of the medication but his temp is gone and hopefully the ears are clearing up. We hope that you are having a good week, and hopefully our computer problems have gone away for good and we can keep bringing you the blogs, talk to you soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMMY!!! We hope you had a good one!

Our first trip to Urgent Care...

A very busy day in this family! First Hunter went to day care, I went to work, I got out early because Grandma was having surgery, Gigi met me and we went to the hospital, Grandma we are so glad you are OK and we hope you are feeling better!!! then Gigi and I went to pick up Hunter from day care, only to find he had a 103 temp, so we gave him Motrin and of course I thought, ear infection. The past few days I have been thinking we were heading there, so we decided to wait a little bit for his temp to come down and see how the evening progressed so, Gigi and I went to Aunt Mimi's opening of her store (it is a retail thing for there to be two) the store is really cool and Aunt Mimi has done a fabulous job, then it was home for dinner with Great Papa, Dad and Hunter. Hunter's temp had come down but still wasn't good so we went to urgent care, and indeed there is a double ear infection, poor little guy! So, hopefully he came out with only the ear infections he went in with and not all the other germs that were floating around, boy is it hard to keep your child in your lap for 2 hours while the other children are running rampant with their cooties! As you can tell from the picture, he was pooped out by the end of the night, so are we, so it's off to bed. Have a great weekend!

It's exciting!

Come see, what I got tonight!

Once upon a potty...we realized tonight is a horrible book! Wee Wee and Pee Pee are not words in our dictionary!

This potty Dad wanted plays music that Hunter likes to dance to!

Hunter loves his new potty, he played with it for a half hour before bed, flushing, lifting the seat, sitting, trying to take his clothes off, he loves it! We aren't starting potty training right now, but I don't imagine it will be long, Hunter says and signs potty, and asks to sit on the real one so we thought it was a perfect time to get him his own. Now, we have to find a potty training book that doesn't make me hysterically laugh and get Hunter to realize he needs to go and we will be golden! In other news Hunter said "Dave" today so I am officially calling him Dad now, after I laughed secretly of course, he thought he was pretty funny too. I always wondered why my parents referred to each other as Mom and Dad instead of their names, now I know. Well that's it for tonight, who knew getting a potty could be so fun!

I'm back and I had fabulous time!!! Thanks to my girlfriend Wendy for the wonderful vacation! and thanks to all my family for taking care of Hunter so I could have a wonderful vacation! What an experience! So, this is what happened while I was gone....

Dave took Hunter to Bushia's birthday party on Saturday, then Kimmy's 7th birthday party on Sunday, and then....

met up with Grandpa and Grandma at Aunt Mimi's grand opening! Then Hunter went to Grandpa and Grandma's for a sleep over and a fun filled Monday.

It sure looks like fun to me! And he got the cutest haircut ever! Thanks mom!

Then it was home to Dad, Monday night, and Dad's first time doing the daycare drop off on Tuesday morning, they say he did very well. Then I came home Wednesday at 2:30 am, boy was I tired going to work today! But it was all so worth it! Hope your week is going well too!

I hope my little guy is an angel while I'm gone!!!!

I am ready to leave for the airport but I'm waiting for Dave so I thought I would say good bye! I am leaving my camera, and Grandpa and Grandma are going to try and post while I'm gone, so stay tuned! Love ya! Andrea

Grandma Elmo took the place of my missing dogs tonight, thank you, I love him!

Hunter came home to an early Easter present from our good friend Kathy, oh boy was he excited! Thanks Kathy! She must have found every Elmo book they make....

A giant Elmo that Hunter gave kisses and thought was a pillow!

...and....plates! Which were actually his favorite. He got them out of the plastic and so I let him play with one, which as you can see he took with him everywhere for about an hour!

Hunter loves hide and seek now, I just fear that one day I won't be able to find him :( This is his favorite place, it is the bottom of our entertainment center where I store Dave's hunting clothes, which were neat and folded at one time, now they are a fun heap to climb on!

This may be my favorite picture ever! He is laying on the plate :)

Hunter had a fun day today on top of the presents, at day care he was the only toddler, with 2 babies, and three big kids, so he got to play with the big kids, I came in to find him playing ball and getting in trouble for climbing on the fireplace :( but he had fun! I hate to disappoint everyone, but, this may be the last posting for a little while as I am leaving for Las Vegas on Saturday!!! I am going to try to post tomorrow, but I can't promise as I will be busy packing for me, Hunter and Dave while I'm gone, mothers....you know how that goes! So, we will talk to you as soon as possible.