Surprise! Mom, look what I did.....

....I threw all of the wipes into my crib one by one! What fun!

Hello there, just had to share these pictures, Hunter was quietly talking and laughing to himself one morning, well this was why. After moving the furniture around in his room it allowed him to explore, and explore he did! He was so proud of himself. One new thing today....I was taking Hunter to daycare this morning when he pointed and said "bus" and to my surprise he was pointing at a school bus! We have been working on separating vehicles as Hunter thinks they are all cars or big trucks. Have a great weekend!

Giving Dad a Hand!

This picture was from the other day when Hunter's face was still puffy, he looks back to normal now. Well, he does have a few additional scrapes and bruises, as he is now pushing things, pulling them over, and jumping! OH BOY! Anyone have any Ativan? I need it! Hunter had fun returning to day care today with his friends, apparently they have a duck mom and baby in their pool and the kids enjoyed watching them. The other mother's thought this story was so cute, I just kept thinking about swimmer's itch, yuck! I have to say this might be the last blog for a few days, as I am preparing to head up north for the first Breast Cancer fundraiser, also known as cleaning my house out.....Yard Sale! You know that takes a lot of work, especially when you have a lot of junk! Take care, and hope this finds you well!

Hunter's first time helping make dinner

I caught him sampling the turkey pepperoni, let's just say it wasn't his favorite!

Hi there, Hunter is doing fine today, his rash is starting to crust up, I guess it will peel at some point, it feels gross but doesn't seem to be bothering him. Not a lot to report today, Hunter played well while I kept sorting and packing. Hopefully we will get the majority done before the weather gets nice so when it does we can play outside all the time! We are both looking forward to that! I almost forgot to mention, Hunter did two things today. He learned how to use the Sit'n'Spin and he pointed and named all the dogs body parts, which I found pretty funny, I never thought of the dogs elbows or knees :)

This was Hunter's first trip to the ER, his poor little face was so swollen! It made the goose egg from falling the day before look like it was flat :(

Thankfully, Hunter's rash is fading and he is feeling fine! He never let on like anything was wrong, so hopefully it didn't cause him too much discomfort. Yesterday, I took him for a little walk being he was begging to go outside and it was beautiful. Well, we won't be going outside until the rash has totally cleared up, the sun and heat fire up the rash, it gets beet red and spreads. Other than that we have desperately been working away at finishing the house, Grandpa came over this weekend and they really got a lot accomplished! I am packing away, we now have a storage unit for things that we are keeping. This should make things easier when we actually move to rent a U-haul and make one trip, save time, energy and gas money! We were having the relator come tomorrow but we decided that was putting undo stress on us to finish things, we plan to have the house listed by June 1, and it is looking good. The relator was going to help us figure out what more to do or what not to do, so we will have her out in a few weeks when we have completed our already started projects. Hunter is helping with some of the work, pictures coming soon.....and also interfering in some of the work. However, today we discovered a big help... the pack'n'play! It is kind of like the old play pens but not sturdy. I am telling you that if we ever have future children, they might live in it! Lesson learned! Hunter seems to like pretending he is a monkey or kitty in a cage for a little while, this way Dave and I can both work on our projects, today it worked for an hour!!!! Amazing! Hope all is going well for you and that you have a wonderful week!

Hello everyone, well Hunter is in for some R & R! We just returned from the ER as Hunter has Scarlet Fever! Sounds scary, right? It's not actually it is just Strep Throat with a rash, a bad rash! Hunter woke up this morning with a rash, so of course we thought allergic reaction to something, it is a pretty common occurrence with him, so I had my work meeting and Papa and Grandma watched Hunter, sorry for exposing you! Throughout the day Hunter's rash got worse and by tonight it had spread and he developed a fever, so three hours in the ER, and now home to rest!

Hi, who are you??

I better touch you to see if you're real.

These pictures were taken last week when Hunter found his shadow. I was on the computer and he was talking away, it wasn't until I looked over to find out he was babbling to his shadow, it was so cute, he would turn and look at me, laugh, and look back. He eventually would pop in and out of the sunlight, seeing the shadow move, the best part was his laugh! We all had a good day today, Hunter impressed all the Tigers fans at daycare by identifying one of the other kids t-shirt. One of the little ones had a striped shirt on it with the Detroit Tigers D, plain with nothing else, I guess Hunter went up to him, pointed to his shirt and said "baseball". Strange, I'm not sure how he knew that???? Also, on the way home today Hunter said..."daddy?" and then said and signed "work", I was surprised because that is something he has never said or signed before, what a little sponge! Hope your week is going well, and we will talk to you tomorrow.

This is Hunter's first trip to the library! This was the nicest children's library I have ever seen, it is the Southfield Public Library, and I highly recommend it!

HE'S GOT THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS!!! Or at least me!

This library is very interactive, Hunter and I joined our friends Miss Tricia and Andrew for hours of fun!

Andrew in mid-air!!! He is 9 months older than Hunter, it is amazing how that makes a difference. This jump got Hunter thinking.....I want to do that! Won't that give mom an anxiety attack!

This was my favorite part, the tree house. There is a fireplace behind it, and chairs where we were able to relax while the kids played. There are these cool bed/chairs, the kids loved them!

We can see you! The boys looking out from inside the tree house.

OH, you want me to perform???

This Dragon was sleeping and snoring, the kids were afraid of him, Hunter blew him a kiss :)

This is in the Planetarium, the kids were confused at how we got on the Television, they loved running around the circle that had colored lights, Andrew knew all the colors!

The final pic, the ceiling of the Planetarium. I was just so impressed! I thought, oh my......Hunter at the library? Where you have to be quiet? For a long time? But, it turned out we were there for over 2 hours and he did really well! What a great time, he also loved taking the books off of the shelves, there are no pictures of this because I was busy picking up after him!

Hope you enjoyed the new pictures, and I am sorry for not posting lately. Things are fine, we have just been really busy! Friday we met Miss Amy and Paige for dinner and shopping! The kids were good at dinner and were serenaded by our waiter! He was on American Idol season's past :) honestly! Then Saturday, we were up early to go to Papa and Grandma's so they could watch Hunter with his cousins while Aunt Lori and I went for the Breast Cancer Kick-Off walk and meetings, it is 24 weeks away! Hunter had a great time, then it was home to see the progress Dad and Grandpa had made in the basement. They are in the process of partially finishing it, what a difference already! We had a nice dinner, Hunter was so excited to see both Papa's in one day!!!! Then Sunday, we had a nice breakfast ( Hunter is obsessed with Eggs, he loves them!!! ) Dad and Grandpa worked more downstairs and then we went to cousin Olivia's 1st Birthday party!!! Where Hunter enjoyed her presents more than she did! That brings us to Monday, that is when we went to the library and after that we had an unfortunate event, I did something to my back :( I think I just pulled a muscle but I just couldn't cope with picking up Hunter anymore, so Dad took over while I took drugs left from my C-section (I knew they would come in handy someday!) I felt much better this morning, I took Hunter to daycare so I could work on the house (the realtor is coming next week) this also gave my back a rest, then it didn't take long after picking him up that the pain came rushing back, thankfully I have to work the next few days so I can recuperate, and be back to normal by the weekend! That ends with Hunter's favorite dinner tonight....."tacos"!!!! Hope you are all well, and we will talk to you tomorrow!

We have our own PICASSO!!!!

Apparently, our kitchen cabinets look like giant pieces of paper, because before I could catch Hunter he ran up to them and began coloring :( The other day I thought to myself, Hunter won't color on the walls and things because I sit right with him to do our art projects, well, that little stinker is quick and I was wrong, wrong, wrong!!! It looks like my next purchase will be the Magic Eraser :) Hunter had a good day today, I asked him what he wanted for dinner and he said "tacos" of all things, how strange, it looks like we have Tacos in our near future. So, I need everyone to start wishing and praying for good weather, otherwise Hunter may get kicked out of daycare, ha ha. He begs all day to go out, and today when he spotted his shoes it invoked a complete meltdown. So, hopefully for everyone's sanity the weather will warm up soon!!! Hope your week is treating you well, talk to you tomorrow!

Hunter and I took a trip on Tuesday to Cranbrook Science Museum with Aunt Lori, Allysa, Kimberly and Joey, that is a Wooly Mammuth which apparently once walked in Michigan, I'm a little rocky on my archeology, ha ha

Hunter liked to follow the balls in this mechanical gear system, actually he thought almost everything in the museum was a ball, the lights, the globes, the rocks, he's obsessed!

At the end Ally took us to a special kids section that has fun things for them to do, like climb through a blood vessel, see children from other countries, and experiment with your senses.

I am very fortunate to have this part time homemaker opportunity that Hunter and I can explore the Arts and Sciences! It reminds me of who I used to be, and really who I still am. I have come to realize lately that it is important for me to remain true to my interests and hobbies, to offer Hunter a wide array of opportunities to experience. One day, he will be able to choose for himself, but for now he will be open to new and exciting things. Hopefully on a regular basis! Tonight Aunt Mimi and I went to a new church, we were making sure it was going to fit the environment in which we wanted to learn and grow, but also check out their nursery. I was so impressed! This church has a very organized nursery into the different age groups and abilities, if we continue to go on Wednesdays it acts as a co-op. So, once a month I would be involved in one of the age groups instead of going to the service. I think Hunter will love it there, we will see. We hope you are having a great week, and we will talk to you tomorrow!

It is Easter Sunday, in terms of my behind blogging. Hunter was getting good at finding baskets by Sunday!

Oh boy, Grandma & Grandpa, Great Papa & Gigi got Hunter going with a basket full of balls, a basketball, and mini ball eggs, I was excited at a new hat, Hunter likes to wear baseball hats, and he got an adorable john deere one that even has camo on it! The cutest is to come in the pictures below....

Here is Hunter (already acting like a man :) relaxing in his Cars sleeping bag/bed, he loved it!

He cuddled up with his dog, and by the end of the day even learned to zip himself up!

He was not pleased when Papa was napping on his bed, he wriggled him off, it took a few minutes but he was successful getting Grandpa onto the floor :)

Here is Hunter modeling the outfit that the Grands got him for Easter, so cute, perfect for all the camping we are going to be doing this summer! He loved the boots, he didn't want to take them off.

He kept walking around with the hat over his face, of course the laughing did encourage him.....

...then he would peek out!

Hello everyone, we had a fun weekend with all of our family. The good times always fly by, it's just not fair! I want everyday to be a weekend! I'm sure you can relate. Well, it is actually Monday when I'm posting this and Hunter had two new things today. One, he got his 13th tooth! and I have since he was a baby said, "Are you ready Freddie?" when we were going somewhere, then I would say laughing, "you're not Freddie, What's your name?" and he would always laugh, well I was the one laughing today when he responded....."HUNTER"!!!! I about fell over, he has been saying his name for a few weeks but not appropriately, when you would say.."say Hunter" he would, but never when you asked what his name is, he is just getting so big. I thank you all for your interest in the blog, it is such a gift!!! It gives me time every day to reflect on my time with Hunter and how special it really is, what a gift it is to me and to the him (the first child) to have this 1:1 time! The blog helps me stop and smell the roses, and they are (as my nephew Joey would say) SWEET!!!

SATURDAY'S EASTER CELEBRATIONS! Uncle Scott is a Fireman and he had to work on Easter Sunday, so we decided to celebrate a day early, and it was fun, the kids played so good together, it is so exciting now Hunter is getting older and he can play and have fun!!!

I made more chalkboard eggs, which the kids were able to decorate

Hunter kept putting the eggs in his hand and squishing them, he doesn't really get the concept :)

This year I decided to try something new, I made an Egg Scavenger Hunt. Thanks Keri for the idea! Here is Ally and Kimmy checking their lists and looking for the goodies.

Is there any under here????

Hunter was showered with baskets of goodies, this one was from Uncle Scott & Aunt Lori. Hunter loves "eyes"!!! He also loved all of the Elmo and Thomas gear; books, clothes, pajamas, he is loaded!!!

This basket was from Papa & Grandma. Here Hunter is excited over what he called "baseballs" but was really chocolate eggs, and jelly beans, ha ha. Anything remotely round he thinks is a ball! Hunter can't wait to watch his new "choo choo" video and wear his shirt, and of course eat all the baseballs!

You thought there couldn't be any more baskets, and.....then there was one from Bushia! Hunter got excited over the cookies! By the way, we call everything cookies from animal crackers to graham crackers to Ritz, just wanted to clarify he doesn't really eat cookies, not yet at least.

With all of that fun and excitement it was past Hunter's nap time, so Kimmy helped Hunter fall asleep by reading him a story, well here of course he was smiling for the camera....but after that he was getting sleepy :) That wraps things up from the Smith Family Easter, more Easter reports coming soon......

HAPPY EASTER!!!! We are going to be one day behind blogging for the next few days because there are way too many fun things happening! Friday.....Aunt Mimi had an Easter Basket for Hunter, so he was getting ready for bed and we showed it to him, he got excited but then we made him go find it.....

It took a little coaxing but he found it behind the curtains!

A little help from the kitty :)

Aunt Mimi's basket was packed pull of Elmo goodies, one of Hunter's favorites was Elmo cookies! of course Elmo eyes, and......

Elmo Toothbrush!!!!

Hunter is loving all of the Easter activities! What is better than fun, friends and family! I made the special eggs for Hunter to take to daycare, they were painted with chalkboard paint, then the kids could use chalk, decorate, erase and redo, I understand it was a hit! Hunter also came home with more prizes from an egg hunt! Then Aunt Mimi's goodie basket, oh boy! Aunt Mimi wasn't here with us last year, so she had a hard time this year sticking to things that fit inside the basket, one day this summer Hunter is going to have a ball making bubbles that are bigger than he is!!! Snow, Snow, go away, come again next year!! We want to Play! Well, that is it for Friday! Hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the Easter Holiday!

Hunter is very serious about his bubbles, I thought he would laugh and play, but no he concentrates really hard at getting the wand in and out of the bottle. Honestly, for Easter I could give him something with a lid and he would be really happy!

He was not so happy however, when he decided to taste the bubbles, yuck!

Hello there, today was day one of the two day Easter party at daycare, Hunter colored his best picture yet, there were a lot of marks on the paper! He also got a prize of a big egg with Elmo in it! I thought I would contribute to the party so I just finished spray painting eggs with a special paint (you will hear more about this later...) to take tomorrow for the kids to decorate, it will be Hunter's first egg decorating as last year he was only 6 months. We are already having a better Easter than last year. Hunter had the flu that began on Easter day, and lasted about 10 days. Those things are scary as a new mom, they are always concerned about dehydration, if I only knew then what I know now....story of my life :) Well, that's it for tonight, take care and by the time you read this have a wonderful Good Friday!

I love my "bike" but I'm sick of riding it in the house, I want to go "outside"!!!

I like to take my friends with me on the ride!

Hunter is feeling sad that he can't go outside, we really enjoyed the nice weather and want it back!!!! Apparently, he begged to go outside all day today at daycare, and he also shocked me with appropriately identifying some of the kids at the daycare, this morning we were getting out of the car, and he said Anna, and to my surprise...it was Anna. Tonight, we were waving good-bye and he waved and said Matt.....and it was Matthew. He also has a good memory for bad things like where we keep the cleaning products, and the dog food, etc. Also, with the names....Gigi you will get a kick out of this! When we are at the store and we see any lady who has gray hair, Hunter calls out....Gigi! Gigi! Oh boy, I have to laugh and he gets sad when it's not Gigi. Poor guy, he's getting there. Well, we hope the middle of the week finds you well, and we will talk to you tomorrow!

Findings: 18 month check up proves Hunter is growing normally, despite his parents, ha ha!

Hello there, Well our Hunter who has been in the 50th percentile at all check ups, is growing in some areas and not so much in the other. He is in the 40th for height 31 1/2 inches, and the 50th for head circumference, and the 60th for weight 26 1/2 pounds, which means he is perfectly normal, and hopefully he will have a little growth spurt soon. It would help the tripping over his pants which adds more bruises. We discussed Hunter's vocabulary which I thought was behind, but it turns out he is actually ahead at saying about 40 words, apparently at this stage the average is 15. Which doesn't really mean anything, as I guess boys tend to regress sometimes, we'll see. We also discussed bee stings, which is a worry as Hunter tends to be following in his father's footsteps when it comes to his health, allergies, ear infections, etc. I found out however, that in order to have an allergic reaction to a bee sting he must have been stung once to have the venum in him. So, this gives me a little peace of mind as hopefully he won't get stung at all, but it gives us a little more time until he can be allergy tested. We are going to be meeting with a Pediatric ENT to discuss tubes, no decisions have been made yet, we'll keep you posted. Other than that, Hunter had kind of a rough day after his vaccinations not wanting to eat, being fussy, and crying easily. Hopefully, he will feel better tomorrow! We did have an exciting thing happen yesterday.....Hunter can identify the color blue! He handed me a blue block and said "bu bok" and I thought...no, a coincidence. So, I asked him for another, and another, and sure enough he does know the color blue. He pointed out a blue crayon to Grandma, and today pointed out a blue chair. Every day is something new and exciting! Hope things are good for all of you as well, we reflect on Easter approaching and feel blessed to have so many wonderful family and friends! Thank you!!!

Our little Tiger.....he even learned to say "Go Tigers!" today.

Hello all, we hope your Monday went well, we had a great one. Hunter was just so much fun today, laughing, being hyper, mimicking things I would say, giving Eskimo kisses, it was just a fun day, and the weather was beautiful again, we went out for another walk, and of course, Hunter enjoyed his tri-cycle....even more today! His first words this morning were...bike, bike! He has been enjoying our walks, as he recognizes many things and likes to point them out. He leaves his "eyes" on almost the entire trip, and today he even left them on in the mall, wouldn't take them off, he is so silly! Well, that is it for today, tomorrow is Hunter's 18 month check up, shots and stuff, so we will have more for you then, love you!

Check out my new wheels!!!

Vroom Vroom Vroom!!!

"Bike" signing and saying it excitedly!

Hello everyone, we hope you enjoyed this surprisingly beautiful day as much as we did! Grandma and Grandpa were coming to see Aunt Mimi's new car (pics. coming soon, Hunter loves to "driving" it) so they stopped by the store to pick up Hunter's new tri-cycle, thanks it saved me a trip and hassle! Hunter was having a big nap after our first walk of the year, so we woke him up to see his new bike. This was the first time he actually new what it was and was very excited as Dad and Grandpa put it together, the seat wasn't even on it yet and he was trying to get on and ride it. We have to get a helmet tomorrow but we carefully gave Hunter rides today, he really likes it and it worries me because as soon as he can touch the pedals I think we are in trouble! So after all that, we had a very sleepy boy today! and a sleepy Mom!!!