Big Love, Not-So-Big Muscles

For real Hunter, give me a little less of this . . .

and a little more of this . . .

Hunter still hates tummy time. He's 4 1/2 months old now. What's up? Where's the love for upper body strengthening? Every time we do tummy time, I place his arms underneath him bent perfectly so he can hold his head up really high and now he immediately moves them out and is perfectly content to just lay down with his cheek flat to the ground, and tonight he just started lifting his rear in the air rather than his head. (How's that for a run-on sentence? Isn't it just driving you crazy, Kate?) Sadly, it looks like he's taking after his mom in this area instead of his dad. Since James' cut arms are the REASON I fell in love with him, I was really hoping Hunter would get some of that. Can you blame me - when you have sausage arms, you have to find someone with an awesome upper body to pro-create with. It evens out the gene pool.

SIDE NOTE: (I had to bold & italicise that because even though I pressed enter like 10 times, we know there will be no spaces on the post. Glad I'm smart enough to figure out the formatting.) If anyone watched the BEST episode EVER of Big Love tonight, please call me. must.talk.about.it. Disclaimer: I'm not pervy, I really could've done without the adult scenes, but other than that it was TOTALLY THE BEST EPISODE EVER!

The Helmet is Here

So we got the DOC band. It's actually going better than I had anticipated. Hunter has been a little fussier than usual and waking up after we put him down at night (which he never does - I know I'm totally blessed). The biggest problem with it is my obssessiveness (is that a word?). I lay in bed the first night he got it and just felt awful that he was having to sleep in this head squishing contraption. BUT he doesn't seem to mind it most of the time. It just makes him escalate faster than before and adds to his frustration when he's already mad or tired. He is TOTALLY the cutest baby EVER in it though! It comes to a point above his nose, which just makes him look really pissed most of the time - totally funny. Here are some pics:

This is what I mean by looking mad. He's not really grimacing here.


We put his exersaucer together the other night. I think we were way more excited than he was.

By the way, what's up with the format, Blogger? Every time I post I separate paragraphs to break up my thoughts, but when i publish blogger makes it one big paragraph. Idon'treallyhavejustonelongthought. FIX IT!

Having a baby changes everything.

Johnson & Johnson's is speaking serious truth here. I really can't believe how my outlook on everything has changed since having Hunter. Today at work I had to eval a 10 week old in a coma. Prior to having Hunter, this really wouldn't have phased me. I know that seems cold, but you can't really do my job if you are going to fall apart with every sob story that walks through the door, because the truth is that each one of them is a tragedy (some just a little bigger than others). But today just looking at this sweet boy with his trach and g-tube and contractures made my chin start quivering and my eyes tear up. I felt like I should be locked up for the torture I was about to put him through. He reminded me so much of Hunter, and I couldn't bear the thought of my sweet boy enduring that.


I feel blessed beyond . . . there's not even an adequate word to put here. Every night I lay in bed and realize that I love my boys more than the day before, which I hadn't thought possible. I am in AWE OF YOU LORD, because I so don't deserve all that I have. What an incredible, indescribable thing to be able to love James and Hunter the way I do. I didn't know these feelings existed before Hunter - he makes me love my husband and my God more each day. I seriously reflect on what a sinner I am and how it is not fair that God has provided me with so much. One of my favorite songs states, "You see the depths of my heart, and You love me the same. You are amazing God." And that is so inspirational to me. What an excellent reminder of God's love and sovereignty. Although James and I didn't feel like we were ready for Hunter yet, God knew better as always. Words do not begin to scratch the surface in explaining how unconditionally I love Hunter. How I would do anything to protect him and raise him up to be a happy and joyful and godly man one day.



Thanks for reading. I know it was a change of pace for me. Who couldn't love these guys . . .





And because I love y'all so much, I'm posting a picture with my new haircut even though I look totally fat and have some serious visible cellulite in my arms here.

New Tricks

Hunter has started doing SO MANY new things this past month. I love how his personality is coming out and that he is so much more interactive with us.

He loves to shake his football rattle or telephone rattle (which I lost - insert sad face here) and then throw it across the room. Now I know he's not intentionally throwing it, but he does do it A LOT and I know James is secretly thanking God everytime he does because that's definitely a sign that he'll be the quarterback of the Cowboys one day. Right? The rattle is in the upper left corner of this picture - he had just thrown it. Good arm that boy has.

Two of Hunter's favorite things to do are get his diaper changed and get his clothes changed. He thinks it's a game and just laughs and laughs as soon as you start unbuttoning his outfit.

James took this picture one Tuesday when he was working from home. Apparently, Hunter likes to hold his own bottle now when Grandee feeds him. He's so independent!

He loves to hold and study new things. He was jealous of our cheesecake at dinner, so we gave him a spoon to make him feel included!

Studying the legos with Aunt Katie

This is how I find him every morning when I wake him up. He looks so relaxed - what worries does a baby have anyway? James like to say he's showing off his guns. I'll go ahead and apologize now if you've experienced the "have you bought your tickets to the gun show" joke - one of James' favorites.

My favorite new thing Hunter does is cuddle. He wouldn't cuddle with me for so long and now he grips on tight. I love it!

The Casting

So Hunter had his casting for his DOC band this past Thursday. I think most of you know, but just in case you don't, here's a quick explanation - Hunter has a lot of height to his head (it slopes upward like his forehead never ends) and a flat back of the head (REALLY flat) because of the shape of my pelvis. Yes, my poor baby has a freaky looking head because my pelvis is shaped funny. As Molly says, this is just a glimpse of all of the future guilt that I will be feeling while attempting this whole parenting thing. I digress. Anyway, the fitting for this is pretty traumatic. Twelve minutes of getting a cast put on Hunter's head so the DOC band can be custom fit for him. I took lots of pictures, so here goes. . .


Here's us in the waiting room. We were hoping to get a happy before picture, but it's as though Hunter knows something's up as you can tell by the suspicious look he's giving James.

This is the first step to getting fitted. They put this cloth thing over his entire face. He can still see through it and breathe through it (they cut out a whole for the mouth). He's doing pretty good so far.

Here she's putting the plaster on. I've never had a cast before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. She put it on piece by piece and shaped it to his head. This is after she put the first piece on. We were so proud of him for remaining so calm!

After that picture was taken, Hunter started screaming for the remainder of the time, which was about 10 more minutes. So being the good mommy that I am, I stopped the picture taking and attemped (unsuccessfully) to calm my traumatized child. It was worse than the first time he got shots. My heart was so sad for him:(

Here we are after. By the way, I have to say I love my husband for not getting the new haircut in the picture. Way to go James!

They let us give him a bath right after since he had plaster all over (as you can see). Isn't he so sweet? He just started grabbing his feet the past week. It's so cute! Definitely one of my favorite pics of him:).

We get the DOC band on July 23, and after that you'll see lots of posts with pictures of him wearing it since he has to have it on 23 hours a day!

Ode to My Hair

"Oh beloved hair!
What have I done to you!
I never gave you a chance to hang free and blow in the wind."

Okay, so my poetry sucks. I'll just type it. Many of you know I was pondering getting a perm for a while. Seriously, I was going to get a permanent at the beauty shop. After seeing the horror on everyones' faces when I asked their opinion, I opted for just cutting it. Boy am I sorry now.

Let me back up and explain the trial that is fixing my hair every day (okay, okay the trial that it is the one time I fix my hair a month). I have the thickest hair ever. On top of that, different layers of my hair are different textures and range from completely straight to really curly. So, it takes about an hour if I want to fix my hair to actually look good - about 15 minutes to dry it completely (which is why it is rarely completely dry) and a good 45 minutes to straighten the 5 different sections that I have to separate it into. And after it's all done, they still don't all look straight.

After having Hunter, it just isn't a realistic option for me to spend an hour on my hair anymore. So I go to Cyndi today and tell her to cut it in layers and make the longest layer right above my shoulders. I know, I know. Not the best description ever, so we really can't blame her, but at least that will give you some sort of mental picture of the mess that's on my head.

For those of you who knew me in high school, this haircut ties for worst hair cut ever in the history of ever with the Carol Brady haircut that I received the last week of our senior year. Yes. It's that bad. The front is actually okay enough that you can stand to look at me without laughing. I can't even begin to describe the back though. Just imagine a million different layers that are made up of wavy/curly nastiness. Good.

Here is my ponytail that I'll be sending to Locks of Love.

I know it looks like that's a rodent sitting on my kitchen counter. If you're thinking, "Carole, that doesn't look like it's thick enough to be your hair." It's because that's only the top 3/4 of my hair. The bottom layer is longest, so we didnt' include it in the ponytail because we couldn't cut that much off of that layer.

I'm not attaching a picture of the haircut because: 1. no one is here to take it (James will probably cry for the first time since he was 13 when he sees me this evening) and 2. I'm too embarrassed to post a picture of me like that for all of you to see. If I didn't have to go to work tomorrow, I would seriously consider becoming a recluse. At least Hunter still loves me (and I'm sure James will too even though it will probably be hard for him to ever walk behind me again . . . at least for the next 3 months or so).

Hunter says, "I love you mom! I don't care if your hair sucks!"

Now I'm going to make my sign to wear to work tomorrow. It will say, "I know my haircut is bad. Please don't comment on it." I'm nervous just thinking about going in public tomorrow. Sad, sad me.

Baby Lance is Here!

My dear friend, Shelly, had her sweet baby boy on Monday. Lance Josef Hinojosa arrived into the world on July 2, 2007 at 4:21 pm, weighing only 5 lbs. 8 oz. He was 18 inches long. We are so excited for them and wish we lived in Florida so we could meet him today! Shelly, where's the mean green hat? No UNT love?

Rain Rain Go Away!

I know I should totally be thankful for all of the rain that we've been getting, and I really was for a while. BUT it is really getting old. James planted flowers in our pitiful flower beds about a week ago, and since it's rained everyday since then, some of them are dying. Especially our sunflowers. Poor sunflowers. No sun for them.:( Since that is kind of the main source of life for them, here is what they look like now after the daily helping of torrential rain we've been receiving. . .

At least the temperatures are staying low. Y'all know how sweating is my least favorite thing. Oh wait, I still get plenty of that since having a baby. And speaking of my sweet baby. Here are some sweet pictures that my friend Taylor took of him. . .

Isn't he an angel!!! :)