Coming Up for Air

(Dear Readers,
Once again I've been outsmarted by the formatting. Please don't let it effect the quality of my post.
Much Love and Frustration,
Carole)

I remember as a kid every Christmas I'd go through the exact same series of feelings - counting down the days in anticipation until Christmas Eve night and finally the awe on Christmas morning as I walked out to see what Santa brought (Yes, I totally believed in Santa for a really, really long time. My mother had to sit me down people. . . when I was 10 years old (TEN!). I wonder what it's like to have to break the news that Santa was "real, just not who you think he is" to your preteen daughter.). And then it seemed like it took about 1 nanosecond to unwrap the obscene amount of gifts sitting under the tree until we were amongst a living room of wrapping paper and empty boxes.

I remember on Christmas night always feeling disappointed that it was over. Don't get me wrong, I was totally LUH-VING all of the gifts, but I was so sad that it was all over. I mean I'd been counting down to this for like a month. And now all I could do was sit (and play with my oodles of toys).

Now as an adult, things seem so different but at the same time eerily similar. Christmas was a whirlwind for James and I. We celebrated with his parents last Thursday night before they left for Odessa to spend the holiday with James' sister. Then we celebrated with my family on Christmas Eve night (just the sisters - including Kate's kids and hubby - and my mom and dad). And finally with all of my extended family on Christmas day. In case you're more of a visual person, here's some pics of the gift giving extravaganza!

Thursday night with the Brooks' - Hunter wasn't feeling too well and was totally overwhelmed by his first experience with opening a truck load of gifts.

Here's the Campbell Christmas celebration. Hunter LOVED this hula hoop - unfortunately it was for Zack.

He got plenty of his own toys, though, including this Tonka push, walk, ride truck thingy that Nana brought him.

And now, the best part of the gift exchanging process . . .Christmas morning stockings!

Santa filled Hunter's stocking with a book, rainstick, stuffed animal, pacifiers. . .

and of course a Dallas Cowboys football - he knows whose house this is!

Exhausted yet? Last night, after all of the excitement was over (silent cheering from the old mommy), James and I were laying in bed, which in case you haven't notice is where I do my most serious thinking, and I thought about how much has changed since I was a kid. I have a husband and kid of my own now, which you'd think would be enough of a change - besides the growing up factor. But I feel like a completely different person, even than when I was in high school or college. I didn't become a believer until college (this is an entirely different, long blog post though), but even after this I still spent many Christmases only briefly thinking about Jesus and what I was really celebrating here. And then last night I just lay there thinking, "I've gone this entire day without even acknowledging God or his gift. No praying, not even a smile or thought of it." How crazy is this.

Hunter was sick the night before and as I sat in his room rocking him for an hour or so, I thought of how much I loved him and how God has shown me so much of how He loves me and his own Son through the gift of Hunter. But then on Christmas day it doesn't even enter my mind until I'm about to fall asleep. So I just needed to step back from the presents and food and Christmas cards and decorations and say Happy Birthday Jesus. I am in awe of you.

Pomp and Circumstance

We just got home from a 2 day trek to Arkansas and back. It was quite an adventure. Hunter has spent around 17 of the past 36 hours in his car seat. He handled it like a champ except for that short stint when we sat on I-30 for 1 hour and moved maybe a mile. He was not a champ during that. He resembled more of a shrieking animal trapped in a cage. But, that's an entirely different blog post.

My little Court the dork graduated from college today. (I know we totally could of come up with a more creative name for our little sis, but I was in like 5th grade when we started using that. So blame it on Kate because she was in high school and should've been more creative). Here's Court and me in August 2003 when we moved her into the dorm at Harding University.

And here she is today as a college graduate.

We are so proud!

I can't believe how much has changed over these last 4 1/2 years. I feel like Courtney is a totally different person. She has blossomed into a beautiful woman of God. I am proud to call her my sister. I feel honored that I was able to watch her grow from little Court the dork into the talented, intelligent (and totally non-dorky) woman she is today.

My life is also in a totally different place than it was that August. James asked me on the drive home if I thought back when I moved Courtney to college that just 4 1/2 short years later I'd be driving to her graduation with my husband and baby. That for sure did not enter my mind at the time. I remember the weekend we moved Courtney down to Harding so clearly. James and I had been dating a little over a month, so we were doing this email thing where we'd send each other get to know you questions. I remember checking my email from the hotel and James signed his email with Philippians 1:3 for the first time. I had to go up to look at the hotel Bible to see what the verse said. He continued to sign all of his emails that way, and the day we got married, he saw that I had engraved it inside his wedding band.

I love when God drops us little reminders of how great our life is. I feel so blessed to have James as a husband. This weekend was a reminder to me of what an amazing husband I have. When I think back to the man he was when he was courting me, I see the same man before me today. He continues to serve me and surprise me and chase after my heart. He's given me the greatest happiness I could ever ask for.

I love you babe.

Deep Thoughts by Carole

So I'm not really a super deep person. I know that totally sounds like I'm insulting myself, but really I'm not. Not that I'm really shallow or stupid or anything. I'm just not the kind of person to sit and ponder over serious stuff like poverty or Calvinism or the writings of Nietzsche (I actually just had to google his name to make sure I was spelling it correctly. I am proud to say that I was only 1 letter off originally). I'd just rather laugh and talk about fun, lighthearted stuff.

BUT, this is one more way that little H has changed me. I am a little more complex now. I lay in bed ALL THE TIME - like every night people (for real) - and think about his future and how GREAT God is that He enabled James and I to make this little human, etc, etc.

Most recently I've been thinking about how amazing it is that babies are born with their own little personality - all so different. I know that might seem simple to most of you, but when you witness all of these little boys with such different behaviors it is amazing to me. (I'm sure my friend Laura would totally have in depth discussions with me on this - she's a behavioral psychologist. At least I know she gets me.)

We've been around a lot of babies in a compact time period over the last week so I've been able to watch all of the different little personalities. My friends watched Hunter for me last week while Hunter's Grandee was out of town and this weekend we went to Austin and stayed with our friends who have a son about 6 weeks younger than Hunter. Here's some pics of them (just to add to the cuteness factor of the post).

Hunter and Thomas at our playdate.

Hunter and Ronnie playing last week while my friend Carrie sat for me. She found my camera in my diaper bag and decided to document the day for me. Don't you just love that? She knows me too well.

Will and Hunter playing this weekend while we were in Austin (Aubrey's supervising.)

It's just amazing to me that at such a young age, all of these boys are so completely different. Every day that goes by in Hunter's life, I am more and more in awe of the Lord. What an amazing thing to watch your child learn and grow!

As a side note, I'm totally losing it. I just realized that last night I sealed a ton of our Christmas cards without signing them. So if your Christmas card from us is either torn open and re-taped shut or just not signed, blame it on all of my deep thoughts. They are totally distracting me from real life.

Fatty Fat Fat

Here's a rundown of what I've eaten the last 2 days:

Frosted Flakes
Cheeseburger, Fries, and Coke from Whataburger
Chocolate and carmel covered pretzel
2 pieces of pepperoni pizza and 2 breadsticks from Little Caesar's and another Coke

Rice Krispies (I decided to start healthier this morning)
Doritos
chicken taco, chips, cheese, and Coke from Taco Cabana
chocolate and carmel covered Apple

There's also some water mixed in there on both days.

In my defense, my lunch got thrown away at work yesterday. I know I totally could've picked a healthier option than Whataburger for lunch but when you're that hungry, you just go for the first thing you see.

I need help before I turn into this

The difference is I won't have the excuse of "I'm 40 weeks pregnant and swollen and in labor." I'll just have to say, "I have a food baby and will probably drop dead from a heart attack any minute."

SOMEONE SEND ME SOME VEGETABLES!

Something to make you smile. . .

I am totally not prepared for the cold weather even though I've had puh-lenty of time since it took so dang long to feel even remotely like the fall. (We'll blame it on being a first time parent.) So I've been dressing Hunter in his jackets and cuddling him really tight when we are outside. That works just as good as a nice heavy coat, right?

Well on Sunday for church I put him in a sweater and cords and a matching hat so his little head wouldn't freeze since he has limited hair up there. This is what he looked like before we got in the car.
Our little railroad engineer. Serious cuteness here.

And this is what he looked like when we arrived at church. That's right ladies and gentlemen. Gangsta Hunter has made his first appearance. That sweet little baby turned his hat around and thugged it out.

Once he got to the nursery, he totally wore himself out crying because he REFUSES to take a nap in that place. This is the case every.single.sunday. (grrr) So of course he fell asleep on the way home, and this is what he looked like when we pulled into the garage. For real, you can't get any cuter than that. Ah, warm fuzzies. (smile)

Giving Thanks

Hunter had a great first Thanksgiving! We are so thankful to have such a happy, smiling, healthy little boy. This video is long, but worth it:).

There's nothing adequate to put here.

How do I start?

Hunter will be 8 months tomorrow. I really can't believe it. It seems like yesterday that he looked like this

and now he looks like this

I say it every month, but literally time flies by. I've been feeling really sentimental today because I was at a feeding course all day and have never been away from Hunter that long (almost 11 hours). Luckily the course is extremely interesting, so it went by really quickly. I still couldn't wait to get home to see him, though! I came through the door and his reaction made it all worth it. Everyday when I get home from work he smiles so big and starts waving his hands up and down in excitement making those sweet, deep, happy "uh" sounds. And as I suspected today was no different. How lucky am I to have someone love me that much!

And now that sweet boy is asleep in his bed, and I'm sitting here with this unbelievable feeling of thankfulness. My heart is so full. Every night I lie in bed and am in awe of what God has given me. I cannot believe the love that I have for my husband and my son. It is indescribable. There are no words.

Yet, I still have moments like this. . .
My dear friend wrote in her blog today about her son's first attempts at crawling. She was talking about how she was sad in a way because he was growing up so quickly. Her son was born 23 hours before Hunter, so often I relate to what she is feeling. But today my immediate reaction as I read was jealousy and worry and sadness and finally shame. Many of y'all know that I've felt this many times because I am the WORST at comparing Hunter to all of his friends who are (for the most part) more motorically advanced then him. I am so happy for each of them when they reach their milestones, but my sin is so great that I almost immediately make it about me. I feel ashamed that I can't stop comparing him to others. He is where he is, which is exactly where God wants him and has put him. He's not even delayed so WHAT is my problem? I always thought that because I was a therapist who worked with delayed and disordered kids that I'd have a really healthy attitude about this with my kids, but apparently I am a crazy freak show of a mother.

This parenting thing has already turned out to be way harder than I anticipated. There is so much guilt involved. When you love another human that much I think Satan tries to attack you there whether it be with guilt or jealousy or even pride.

Despite my irrational moments of obsessive comparing and worry, I feel completely happy and joyful and blessed by the gift God has given me in my family. My husband is an amazing servant to me and our son, and my son is the cutest, cuddliest, sweetest baby ever. And that is more than enough. More than I deserve and more than I could ask for. God is good.

Conversations with Hunter

Hunter and Gideon's Playtime Chat

Hunter: Hey, that's my bear-cat-obscure animal rattle thingy.

Gideon: You can have your rattle thingy. I just want to eat your hand.

Hunter: Mom! Gideon took my bear-cat-obscure animal rattle thingy.

Gideon: I still want to eat your hand.

Gideon: I'll just eat the bear-cat-obscure animal rattle thingy instead of your hand. Let's be best friends!

Hunter: Ooooh a blue block. With jeans on it!

(I meant for there to be a big space here to separate the stories, but once again the blogspot conspiracy outsmarts me.)

Early Riser

Mom! You heard my morning call for you! I'm so happy to see you!

Whoa. Chill with the flash will ya? It's too early for your crazy picture taking shenanigans.

And the anxiety begins. . .

The last several weeks have ushered in many changes for us. Probably the most exciting for me is Hunter's new tooth. . .
I know the spit makes it hard to see, but it's down there on the bottom right. I've been obsessively checking his mouth for teeth like every other day. Not that I really wanted him to have one. I was actually kind of nervous about feeding him with teeth, but so far all of the discomfort and pain that I've agonized over in relation to pregnancy and delivery and breastfeeding have turned out to be way worse in my head than when I actually live it. And of course the same was true tonight when Hunter decided to bite me. No biggie. I'm tough now. Having a baby seriously makes you feel like the strongest person ever.

(For your entertainment, here's an illustration: I have always been severely afraid of needles. For real. Every year when I get a flu shot at work, I make one of the child life specialists sit with me and do guided imagery or whatever they call it. Not this year though. I walked up to Toby and didn't even make him calm me down or page a child life specialist or hold my hand or anything. Somehow all of the pokes and prods (and epidural needles!) neccessary to push out an 8 pound baby, make a tiny little flu shot seem insignificant. This perspective would've been nice years ago. Y'all I have to confess my mom used to have to hold me down for my booster shots. We're not just talking elementary school either. Picture late high school.)

Anyway, so the tooth. Super cute. I stare at it all the time.

A not so exciting change we've been experiencing is the dreaded separation anxiety. I have to admit, this might be causing me more anxiety than Hunter. Or maybe it's more separation stress for me . . . or separation irritation . . . or separation frustration. Hunter needs me with him ALL THE TIME. If I walk into the kitchen - where he can still see me - we get crying. If I sit on the couch while he plays on the ground, we get crying. James has even been holding him while I walked out of the room, and we get crying. Although I do get frustrated at times, I have to confess that deep down I really love that he loves me so much! And how could you stay frustrated at this sweet face anyway?

Trick or Treat

We went over to my Nanny and Grandad's house tonight so my family could see Hunter in his costume. We went a little crazy with the picture taking. I think I have about 20 pictures of him on my camera. Seriously. Here is a small sample for y'all. Get ready for some serious cuteness.

This is right after we got there, so all attention was on Hunter. He was super excited about it.

Already a candy lover

This is at the end of the night. He was so over his costume at this point. My niece, Vanesa, was a spider countess and my nephew, Zack, was a pirate.

The Great Pumpkin

I've never been a super big fan of Halloween. I don't have any dislike for the day or anything, I'm just kind of apathetic towards it. No feeling either way. Although, now that I have the cutest, most kissable baby ever (who cares what kiss fm thinks), I'm pretty excited about it.


I went to get Hunter's Halloween costume weeks ago. I was almost giddy looking at all of the possibilities of unbelievable cuteness sitting before me. I narrowed it down to 3 costumes and was pulling out my cell phone to call many of my friends and take a poll. Decision making is definitely not a strength of mine, which seems really strange if you consider my job. Maybe it's just that I'm making decisions all day long, so when it comes to all other aspects of my life, I need help. Anyway, I was ready to call when I decided to look at the price tags first, and boy was I SHOCKED when I did. Are y'all ready for this? They were each $50. Yes! Fifty Dollars. Are the costume makers of the world crazy?! Am I really suppose to consider spending fifty dollars on a costume that my baby will wear one time? I am not a cheap person, but that seems a little outrageous to me. So as you can imagine, my excitement for the upcoming holiday started to deflate a little. I started looking for the cheapest costume they had, and found a pumpkin that I'm actually very happy with. When you have a kid as cute as mine, it doesn't matter what the costume is, right? Right.


So yesterday Hunter had his check up at Cranial Technologies (for the DOC band), and they had told me at the last check up to bring him in his costume and they'd take pictures of him. I had this bad feeling that if I dressed him up, he'd be the only kid in the place dressed up and I'd feel like an idiot. And of course we get there and as I'd feared he was the only one with a costume on. I kept looking at the door hoping to see a ladybug or a monkey or an angel or something. But no luck. Just baby after baby after baby in regular old street clothes. Where's the Halloween spirit people! I started to feel a little embarrassed because I'm super self-conscious and the older I get the more I just want to blend in. But I immediately felt better when all of the staff started oohing and ahhing over Hunter. I mean how could they not. Just look at him.

The Coke - Dr. Pepper Saga

I am a Coke lover. I can't even remember a time in my life when I didn't love and have a serious addiction to the stuff. We have a definite love/hate relationship. I have fleeting thoughts of how it's definitely not a healthy option, and all of the little factoids that I've learned through the years start to pop into my head. You know, it's green before they add the coloring to it, it can burn or break down or melt or do something horrible to a battery when it's poured over one, it'll make pop rocks explode in your mouth and shoot through your brain. Harmless little tidbits like that.

I have gone through phases where I wean myself off and quit. I've even gone several months without one, but then one day I'll crave it, have one drink of the sweet goodness, and I'm instantly hooked again. I didn't even stop when I was pregnant with this sweet boy.
And we know how much I'm in love with him! In fact, I craved it more than ever when I was pregnant with him. Hopefully this isn't an indication of his future love for it. I discussed with James the idea of not letting Hunter try it until he was in high school. James didn't think that was too realistic since a good parent would probably need to model the desired behavior we want from the kid. And if anyone expects me to go the next 14 years without a Coke, you're crazy.

I've never ever thought of switching to another carbonated beverage. I have always been a loyal, dedicated patron to the Coke product. Now Dr. Pepper has always come in a distant second. I'll drink it if there's not a Coke option (heavy sigh), but not a first choice for me. . . until lately.

I can't tell y'all how distressed I am about this. I LOVE coke! It is my friend! It has gotten me through some rough times! It can comfort me in a way no other beverage can!

I feel like a traitor. A disgrace to all of the other Coke addicts out there. How can I choose Dr. Pepper so easily when sweet little Coke is sitting there trying it's hardest to tempt me? I tried to dismiss it as a phase, but it's been several weeks now and my taste buds are still rebelling against my heart and brain. What a sad, sad thing. Oh my beloved Coke! How I miss you!

Warning: Reading this post will expose you to severe whining, complaining, venting, etc, etc

Okay. I know I said that I really didn't want Hunter to be a baby model so I wasn't so sure about the whole contest anyway, but can we talk about the serious idiots that must work for KISS FM? I can't even begin to explain the madness that is their voting system for this thing. They have 17 galleries of photos, and Hunter's gallery (number 4 in case you wanted to vote on him so he can be a horrid baby model - oh wait, that's right, you can't vote on his gallery because the good person that organized the contest doesn't know what he is doing - see below) has 277 photos. For those of you who aren't math geniuses, that would be around 4700 photos. Yes. FOUR THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED. WHAT! It's not even that great of a prize. I mean don't get me wrong I'd love $5000 and a trip to Mexico, but like every parent in DFW must have entered their kid in this contest.

I digress. Here's where the frustration comes in. When you go to vote for the contest the photos are separated into 17 galleries, and then you have to scroll through the first 20 photos in that gallery before you can even click on the link to vote for that gallery. Well Hunter's gallery is stupid and when you click on the link, all of the pictures pop up but there is no where to click to vote and nowhere to put your email address. The others are working. How do I know? Because my sweet friend Erin sent an email to her friends with the link to vote on her son because she was on of the other 4700 moms that entered her kissable baby. I, on the other hand, will not be emailing my friends because I refuse to beat them down with the craziness of this voting system. Oh yeah and there was that whole thing about freaking out that I entered my son in a modeling contest. So over that now. Too frustrated to let parental guilt take over.

Thanks bloggy friends, for listening to my tirade. I feel much calmer.

What have I done?

All day yesterday I was kind of feeling like I was somehow using Hunter for his cuteness by entering him into this contest. I know he is for sure the most kissable baby in DFW (heck, he's the most kissable baby ever!), but I still felt like it was kind of wrong to put him in a contest for it. In the end, though, I decided that I'd go ahead and do it because it would be great for Hunter to have an extra $5000 (oh yeah, that trip to Mexico for James and I was a bit of a persuasion too). I picked picture number 6 because it got the most votes (and I always listen to the opinions of my sweet little blog-reading friends).

So I go to the kiss fm website, fill out the little entry form and hit submit. A little message pops up - thank you . . . your application's been submitted . . . yada yada yada. Then I see it. Thanks for entering the baby model contest.

WHAT!?! I don't remember reading anything about modeling. Panic overcame me. Again, WHAT!?! I just kept thinking about all of those pageant moms or backstage moms or cheerleader moms or baby model moms, and I felt totally sick because my initial instincts were right! Dang. Totally should've listened to the inner voice.

So now I'm kind of torn about the whole contest. I'm really not an advocate of forcing your sweet baby (no matter how kissable and beautiful he is) into modeling. The contest is set up so that you can vote once a day with every email address you have, and then there are multiple rounds where they cut the numbers down. I know all of those pageant moms-in-training will be voting with every email address they can possibly create (along with begging all of their friends to vote with every email address as well), so it is not likely that Hunter will win (I mean I'm only gonna vote on him with 1 email address . . . probably every day. Don't judge me! I don't want him to be the loser baby with no votes!).

So dear friends, comfort me. Send me encouraging, happy, "you're mom of the year"thoughts! That way I'll know I'm not the worst parent ever for putting her child in a modeling contest. Ugh. I feel sick. Stupid parental guilt.

Most Kissable Baby

My morning radio station is having a contest for the most kissable baby, so since Hunter is TOTALLY cute and kissable I'm definitely entering him. I need your help picking a photo of him because of course as his mom I think he looks adorable in all of his pics. I need to submit the photo soon, so only my loyal blog-checking friends will get to vote before I have to decide. So, make sure you vote the first time you check this post - since I know so many of you read my posts over and over. I promise I will totally use the input y'all give this time. I really don't have a favorite! Here are the options. The number is above the picture it corresponds with.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

The Helmet is Here - Part 2

Okay before I start I just have to say, ISN'T THAT THE CUTEST BABY YOU'VE EVER SEEN!!!!! For real y'all, he couldn't get cuter. My heart is so full.:)

So last Wednesday we got the second DOC band. I sort of feel like Hunter is having a harder time adjusting to this one. He's still doing really well, but last time it did not phase him one bit and we saw a smidge of fussiness this go round. He's acclimated pretty well to it now though.

On another note, to those of you who I bragged to about what an amazing sleeper my son was . . . now I'm eating my words. Did you wish sleeplessness on me or what? Actually it's really not that bad, but he's been waking up way early (like in the late 5 o'clock hour) and Saturday night he woke up like every 2 hours. To top that off James and I were both sick. So it could've been the two of us coughing all night, the relatively new DOC band, or maybe he's just learning so much new stuff that it keeps him up at night. I have read that when babies learn new things, they tend to wake up in the middle of the night more (grimace).

It's crazy to me how much his sleeping habits can affect me. It's like I'm sitting on pins and needles after I put him to bed because I don't want to wake him. No way. That would be the worst thing ever. Better just sit in silence all night. No talking aloud. And especially no yelling aloud. Sadly, the Cowboys aren't playing at their best right now and as you can guess my fanatical husband is in there jumping around the living room like a fool because I have banned all yelling (or even talking in a level louder than a whisper) over here after Hunter is put to bed. I totally wish I could video James and post it on the blog for all of y'all to see. That would be a good laugh. And you probably need one since I know this post is for sure not making the funny list. Sorry. I'm too worried about waking my baby to get my funny juices flowing. I'll work on my covert video recording mission. Any tips for how to hide the camera so James won't see it?

New Pictures

My friend Emily took pictures of Hunter, Zack (my nephew), and Vanesa (my niece) last Friday. Hunter was pretty upset during a good part of our picture taking extravaganza (as you can clearly see in some of the pics)! It didn't seem to matter how loud I sang or how high I could get my voice to go making crazy noises, he was not budging.



(It is quite a humbling experience being a mother. Yes, I surrendered my fear of embarrassment and squealed and yapped like a fool just so my kid could look super cute in his pictures. Who cares what all of the other Turtle Creek goers think, right? James admitted to being a little embarassed. Not me though! I will act like a fool if it means getting that kid to stop the crying and give us that precious melt-your-heart smile.)



Since all of the crazy noise making wasn't too successful, I decided that I would attempt to feed him. Hunter LOVES to eat (just like his mommy and daddy - our favorite pasttime). His short little snack worked like magic. Poor baby. I can hear his thoughts now - Stop acting like a crazy woman, and just give me some food dangit! NOW!!!!!



So after much hard work on my part (oh yeah, I guess Emily worked a little too), we got some very cute pictures. You can go to Emily's website (under Giggles and Grins in my links section over there on the left) to see them. Click on family portraits and then Vanesa, Zack and Hunter. You can also see some awesome pics of my sister under senior portaits and then Courtney Campbell.

(Thanks for the precious outfit, Marcy!)

(Sorry about the parenthetical craziness of this post.)

Excuses, Excuses

I've been a to-tal slacker this month with the blog posts. So, to those of you who faithfully check my blog several times a day hoping to see a new post (right), I've compiled a list of excuses for you.

1. Our lives have been extremely busy (see 2 - 8 below)

2. We have to make sure we schedule at least 1 good torture session (a.k.a. tummy time) per day. Hunter is actually starting to like it as long as we're laughing the entire time. James discovered this. I guess because he laughs at almost everything (which, by the way, is a very important quality to have in a spouse - As my friend Matt once pointed out, it's easy to know when I'm joking because I always laugh at my own jokes. Well HA HA, Matt, now at least I know that James will laugh with me). I do feel like a complete idiot laughing in order to get Hunter to enjoy tummy time, though, because I am not the greatest laugher on cue so my laughs end up sounding really stupid and fake, and Hunter just stares at me like I'm an idiot until his dad makes him smile again.

3. Two words - bath time. Okay, so this doesn't really take that long. I just wanted y'all to see this picture because it's way cute.

4. We've been playing with Hunter's new toys. My favorite (not his yet, but I'm diligently working on it) is his new Rainforest Jumperoo thingy.

5. Then there's Hunter's favorite toy - the mail. Yes, it is pathetic. He quickly tires of all of his Baby Einstein, Fisher Price, and Leap Frog treasures, but that kid LOVES the mail, especially eating it. So as any good mother would do, I try to give him at least 5 minutes a day reading, crumpling, and chewing the mail.

6. Exercise! Calm down! I know that was shocking for you to read because you were probably thinking I meant for me and y'all know exercise is seriously not one of my priorites. You can re-gather yourself though, because the exercise is for Hunter. He is sitting SO WELL! I am so proud of him!

7. I've been reading the BEST BOOK OF MY LIFE. Y'all I sobbed. We're talking serious weeping here. I woke up the next morning with a horrible headache and still had a stuffy nose. I highly recommend it! (I don't know what that "search inside!" thing is on the picture, but I don't have time to look for another one). If you're going to read it, I'd read her other book Something Borrowed first. It's not as good (still good, though!), but it will help you to appreciate Something Blue better.

8. And then there's tons of things that James and I have had that don't revolve around Hunter - wedding showers, baby showers, church activities, meals with friends and family, etc, etc. It's also football season, and y'all know my husband and football. I'm not complaining about this - the social activities, not the football. I LOVE a full calendar and a FULL fridge (which mine is right now). Not the inside, but the outside - covered with many invites. Y'all know I rarely have a full fridge on the inside. It never ceases to amaze me when I look in other people's fridge's and see how full they are. I seriously need to stock up on some food. But, y'all know me - not the best cook around, so. . .

(Sorry I have no picture for this number. Unfortunately I've turned into one of those annoying women who only takes pictures of her kid.)

Also, I haven't forgotten about the video of Hunter's squealing noise. I did video it, but it's probably not going to get posted, because the kind of dvd that we have in our video camera requires you to finish recording on the whole thing before you can download it or upload it or whatever. He's really started to chill with making that noise anyway.

Sweet Sweet Ease

So today was the casting for Hunter's second DOC band. He did AMAZING. We're talking no tears and extremely minimal semi-screams that were quickly stopped by the Sweet Ease (or liquid gold as James kept calling it) that I brought from work. This stuff is incredible. Last time during the casting Hunter screamed for over half of it. This time when he started to get a little upset, I just redipped his pacifier in my magic potion and his voice changed to this relaxed, soothed "uh uh uh" while he was sucking. I totally felt like the best mom ever.


I also used the Sweet Ease yesterday for Hunter's 6 month (can y'all belive it, SIX MONTHS ALREADY!) shots. He screamed when the needle went in, but immediately after I picked him up he started smiling and laughing. Maybe he just has a sweet tooth (obviously inhereted from his mother, although James does like sweets more than the average guy so I guess the odds were against Hunter). I better chill or he might quickly become addicted to this stuff. I can hear him now, "must. have. sweet. now." Just like my Coke addiction (coca cola, obviously.). I'm not ashamed. I love that stuff. I NEED it. It makes me truuuuly happy. Maybe I should go find a cocaholics anonymous meeting. There are many of you that could join me - except for you would need to attend a drpepperholics meeting, which although I do order sometimes, could never replace Coke in my heart.


So here are some once again PRECIOUS pics of Hunter's not too bad experience thanks to that wonderful Sucrose and water mixture.

Music To My Ears

Hunter has really been demonstrating a lot of vocal play lately. He has different sounds for many of his different daily activities. When he's laughing and playing with his friends or family he makes these deep "uh" sounds.

When he's eating his rice cereal (we started on Monday!) he makes these satisfied "um" sounds.

When he's riding in the car he makes these repetitive "ah" sounds that vary in pitch in length. (No car pictures. . . I'm such a slacker).



His new favorite sound though, which spans all activity, location and company is this high pitched, shrill squeal. At first I thought it was cute. Then, he started doing it ALL DAY LONG. This is definitely enough to drive a woman crazy. I'm charging my video camera right now so that I can record Hunter the next time he does it (which I'm sure will be the instant he wakes up from his nap) so that I can share it with all of my loyal blog reading friends. Think of this as sort of my tease or trailer for the fabulous movie to come. Not that you'd spend $10.50 to see it. Heck, I don't even spend $10.50 to see a major motion picture. . . unless it is that new movie with Amanda Bynes where she's kicked out of the sorority. Yes, I admit it. I'm going to see the new cheesy Amanda Bynes movie with I'm sure a theater full of 12 year olds. Why? Because the sorority that she gets kicked out of is referred to as none other than "Kappa" in all of the previews. And what sorority was I in? That's right. Kappa. I know I'm gay. I told 3 of my sorority sisters at brunch this morning that I was so seeing this movie and none of them seemed to jump on the band wagon with me. I'll be there though. Even if I'm alone. Okay, I've gotten carried away. Everyone knows I don't do movies alone. But I will be there even if I have to drag a friend with me. Molly (who is often my movie going partner) you should maybe start avoiding my phone calls soon, because I might just have to drag you with me. And I might just have to wear my Go Kappa shirt to the theater.


Okay, I've SERIOUSLY digressed. Stay tuned for a video clip of the most annoying noise ever!