4 1/2!!!

... in denial that Hunter turned 4 1/2 yesterday.

I am a wacko, I love half birthdays and my little boy hit 4 1/2 yesterday. How?!?!

Over the past few weeks, I have been keeping a list of some of the funny "Hunterisms" that have surfaced and some of the profound/ thought- provoking questions he has asked me.

May 17
"Mommy, why did Jesus have to die on the cross so we could go to heaven?"

- This question about threw me off of my feet, however, I love answering these types of questions from him. He is already talking about Jesus living in his heart and has such a desire to know more about the Bible and Jesus. Lots of people predict ministry in his future, regardless, I pray that he always lets his light shine for Jesus.

May 23-
We don't really do stuffed animals, but he found a teddy bear in his closet and called it a titty bear. It cracked me up.... the worst part is now Ashton calls it a titty bear too.

May 24 (at the dinner table)-
Hunter - "Mommy, where does bacon come from?"
Me- "The kind you are eating comes from a turkey, the other kind comes from a pig."
Hunter- "How do they get it out?"
Me- "Well, they kill the animal and get the meat out."
Hunter (with a look of horror - remember he is super sensitive)- "They kill it, that is not very nice."
Me- "If you want bacon, then you have to kill it."
Hunter- "No mommy that is not what they do, you are wrong."

June 8- This is my favorite
I have an 11*14 bridal portrait of me in our bedroom. Hunter looked up and stared at it and said, "mommy, are you an angel?"
I wanted to say, "why, yes, yes I am."

Gosh, I love this kid. He still calls me pretty, beautiful, and even gorgeous multiple times a day. I can't wrestle with him without it turning into a kissing fest.

He probably weighs at 44.5 lbs and is 45" tall. He loves playing with his daddy. He and Ashton love to play then fight then play again. He always makes sure Shep has toys to play with and Molly has food in her bowl. He is turning into such a huge helper and loves to make me happy. He can identify almost all of his letters (we havent done W, X, Y, or Z yet). We still struggle with identifying numbers but at least he can tell you practically every Bible story.

Hunter, you are awesome and I love you to pieces (even though you always want me to explain how I can love you to pieces and why I love you so much... just trust me when I say that I do.)

Fun Few Days

... so enjoying the weather and the activities the past few days.

Friday- Return of the bubbles... there is just something about these things that everyone loves.

I love this picture. It almost looks like they are in the clouds, I wish I could say that was my great photography skills but I ran into get my camera and I guess the temperature from the cool inside to the humid outside fogged up my lens and gave it this effect. They look so happy if only for a moment.

Notice the messy landscaping in the background... this is one of my summer projects!

Saturday- Chad finally had some time to spend with the boys so he took the older two fishing. Chad had always told me how much he enjoys fishing which is funny to me since in the almost 10 years we have known eachother he has never been. So, I didnt have high hopes that they were going to catch anything and... they didn't. Chad said it wad too humid. But, I think, at least, Hunter enjoyed it. Ashton helped Papa Hub work as his attention span is quite small.



I didn't know what Shep and I were going to do so he hitched a ride up to Gastonia with my parents to see GrandmaDean, GrandpaGordie, and Uncle Nolan. He had a good time and I am so glad we went. I also got a ton of plants from GrandmaDean's yard.

Sunday- Church and planting planting planting all the stuff I took from GorDean's yard. I also got a baby pool for the boys to piddle around in and Hunter and I came up with the idea to put it under the playground slide and it was a hit.

Apparently, goggles were needed

Monday- nothing eventful... grocery store. This actually turned into quite an ordeal since I forgot my wallet...

Tuesday- went to the zoo. Last time we went it was sooo crowded and HOT but it was perfect today. Not crowded and perfect temperature. We then went to the playground and had a picnic.

Ashton is definitely picking his nose. He loves his "booger house."

This cracked me up. The mommy (the one standing up) ate her salad all by herself and didn't share with her baby. Daddy, who was huge, shared his salad with the baby and tended to it... take lessons men, sometimes mommys need a break.

I love Shepherd's face. Everyone says he is so serious and he really is. Though he looks angry this is just his precious natural expression. (sorry not in focus, I was practicing on manual).


We then finished up the evening with Hunter's t-ball game. Though he didn't hit as good as normal, we haven't played at home in over a week so I take the blame. Regardless he smiled the whole time and caught up with one of his soccer friends that was on the other team.

Ashton kicks the potty's butt (haha)

... sooo proud of Ashton. I felt kind of clueless on how to do this potty training thing. Hunter's training was started at daycare and he was able to watch other kids and learn the ropes. I guess Ashton was kind of able to do the same thing and sometimes I feel like I am running a daycare, but he has done awesome with potty training.

I did get a bit frustrated with him at first because I would sit him on the potty and he would start talking to me about this and that. He was totally not concentrating on the task and honestly, I don't have 15 minutes to sit with him until he decides to stop talking. So, I started sitting him on the potty and leaving. This worked perfectly... in a matter of seconds he was peeing. At this point, I can be in there with him and he has figured it out.

He went diaperless/ underwearless/ pantless pretty much for a 4 days and that is basically all it took. Yes, he pooped twice in the floor (sorry mom), but he quickly got the point that poop is better in the potty and is quite impressed with himself over every pee and poo.

He has officially been accident- free (including nights) for a week now.

So, I am proud to announce...

ASHTON IS POTTY TRAINED!!!!!

Shepherd' Eating Update

That's my boy... licking cookie dough off of a spoon (don't judge me, yes, I let my 6 month old lick cookie dough)... I seriously ate 12 cookies yesterday.... again, no judgment please.

... trying different types of things with Shepherd lately.

As of now, he will kind of eat some baby food... like, me semi-force a couple baby spoon fulls into his mouth without much opposition.

The thing is, he wants table food. He really seems to love it but can not figure out what to do with the pieces that come off.

I have always wondered if breastmilk really tastes like what I eat. I guess I have always been a bit skeptical, but Shepherd loves Chick fil A chicken nuggets, he loves watermelon, and he loves ice cream. Um, those are like my 3 favorite foods. We went to CFA on Monday to sample the new spicy chicken (it was very good by the way) and I was just going to let Shep lick the nugget thinking he would have no idea what to do with it. He seriously grabbed my arm and my hand and crammed the nugget into his mouth and sucked and sucked and sucked. I think he sucked 1/3 of a nugget. We then split some ice cream to which he actually opens his mouth.

He had his first taste of watermelon last week. The picture does not show that he liked it as he had a piece in his mouth and is unsure what to do with it.

Fishing his watermelon out of his bib.

So, I guess we are making progress. He is taking 5 or 6 bottles a day of about 7-8 oz, so he needs to thankful that I am a cow. He still has never had formula and I, thankfully, have been able to keep up with his demand. I am still hoping that in the next couple months I can combine my middle two pumping times, however that means he is going to have to start eating a bit better.

Oh, we actually had 3 mini meals yesterday.
Breakfast was gnawing on a piece of cinnamon toast (he didnt swallow much) and a bite of watermelon.
Lunch was two teaspoons of banana baby food.
Dinner was sucking on a fried potato and a teaspoon full of squash baby food.
Just by doing this, I was able to spread his bottles from every 3 hours to every 3 1/2.

The Boys

... admiring these 3 cuties.

Shepherd starting taking a bath with his brothers a couple weeks ago. He LOVES it. If I take too long getting him in the tub with his brothers, he lets me know it. He is starting to get a personality on him (in other words, he is discovering his voice)

The boys in the tub....ignore Ashton's hands, he has a serious love affair with that thing.

Hunter and Ashton love to hop in Shep's crib with or without him.

I will update on potty training with Ashton and solids with Shepherd in the next couple days.