Birthday Boy

After birthday waffles this morning, Hunter quickly got to opening his gifts...

Grandee and Poppy bought H a bike for his birthday.  James went over there last night to get it so it could be waiting for Hunter when he woke up.  At first he seemed scared of it, and kept saying, "no like that" or "no want that".  But after eyeing it for about an hour he finally decided he wanted to go for a ride... 

When we had finished the bike riding, we headed out to the Dallas World Aquarium, and I have to tell y'all, it's not the best idea I've ever had.  Hunter has never been, and I thought he'd really enjoy it, but I didn't consider that it was spring break and there would be crazy long lines.  In case you have yet to experience the joys of raising a small child, I'll let you in on a secret...crazy long lines and three year old boys don't mix well.

James ended up holding Hunter pretty quickly after we got there because Hunter kept yelling, "go!" to all of the people in front of us.

Since we were just standing there, we decided it was a good time for a photo op.  Hunter didn't agree...

So we tried again with a slightly better result...

After what seemed like forever, we made our way through the mob of people to the monkeys, which finally gave H something to smile about...

And the smiles lasted for a while...

...until they didn't...

And we pretty much had whine-fest 2010 throughout the penguins...

and owls...

and flamingos...

and even the coolest seahorses you've ever seen...

By the time we got to the crocodile and leopard, the whines had turned to yelling tantrums, so Hunter got a stern talking to....

(I know it's ridiculous that I took a picture, but the camera was right there in my hand.  I couldn't resist.  I can't help myself.)

When we got in the car to leave, I asked Hunter what his favorite part was.  His response was, "No favorite!"  Oh Hunter, I have to disagree with you there son.  Did you forget about the stairs?  There were stairs everywhere and he had to step on every single one of them.  Even if they led to dead ends...or forbidden areas...or even if they just took him in circles...

If I had asked James what his favorite part was, I'm sure he'd have said leaving...

And who could really blame him?

After lunch and nap, we had sibling torture sessions...

followed by some sibling cuddles...

and of course there was some running from the camera...

and sandbox time...

(It only took us a year, but we finally filled that playscape with sand.)

And since the day had gone so well, we thought we'd push our limits just a little more and go to "Old McDonald's" for dinner with the family...

It was loud and dirty and the preteen girls on the slides were a little more than annoying, but my son had fun and he loved the ice cream...it may have been his favorite part of the day.

Today wasn't the perfect day I had planned out in my head, but it was our day to celebrate our son.  A boy who came into our lives three years ago and changed us forever.  My heart has expanded exponentially since I met that sweet baby on that St Patrick's Day evening.  God has let me experience a love that I didn't know could possibly exist through parenting him.  So even though today wasn't perfect, it was ours.  And I'm thankful for it just as I'm thankful for all of the unplanned things that I've experienced with H over the last 3 years.  Unplanned moments of joy and pride and honor and love.  I hope one day he can feel for himself what we've been able to feel because of him.  But for now, I'll just leave him with this...

"And if someday you’re lonely,

or someday you’re sad,
or you strike out at baseball,
or think you’ve been bad...

just lift up your face, feel the wind in your hair.
That’s me, my sweet baby, my love is right there.

In the green of the grass... in the smell of
the sea... in the clouds floating by...
at the top of a tree... in the sound
crickets make at the end of the day...

“You are loved. You are loved. You are
loved,” they all say."

Lately

I've had such an emotionally draining couple of weeks, that I've actually been physically exhausted by about 8 pm every night.  So we've been taking it pretty easy when I get home from work...which has been a big change from all of the heavy lifting and family aerobics that is usually the norm around here in the evening.

Instead, we chewed on some plastic tools...

posed for pictures...

(Believe me that's the last smiling face you'll get from that boy.  I do have lots of pictures of his back, though.  He knows just the exact moment to move out of the picture.)

did some more chewing...

neatly arranged all of the puzzle pieces into perfect piles according to category...

(What did y'all expect from our child?  He has zero hope of not being an organized, OCD, type-A fool.)

swinging...

inching our way underneath the bed...

and playing peek a boo there...

hanging out with friends...

(That one wasn't at night, but Char and her BFF, Evelyn, are so dang cute, I couldn't resist;)).

and just loungin' around...

Hunter's birthday's this week, so the lazy days are over for now.  We can't wait for his big Cowboy party!

Five

So we've been marred five years now. Who can believe that?  It's crazy to me that it's been that long, but it also seems like the people we were on March 5, 2005 are so different than who we are today.  As James and I were walking back to our car after Phantom last night (yes, my husband picks the best surprises for me.  it's okay to be jealous;)), we were talking about how strange it is that just five years ago we didn't even have a concept of Hunter and Charlotte, and now they're our everything.  They're a part of us.

This has been a really rough week for me - many frustrations with the job search.  And as we near the 1 year anniversary (if you want to call it that) of James being without a job, I think to myself, this isn't the life I would've pictured us living if you'd have asked me on our wedding day.  But the truth is, I wouldn't change anything about the last 5 years, even especially the last year. 

God is the same today as He was the day James and I were united in Him.  This is the plan He has for our family...just as James is the man He made for me.  A man who always keeps his promises.  A man I don't deserve.  So how could I question a God who gives me that?  I couldn't.  And I couldn't dream of asking Him for more.  I don't need anything more...

Maybe they're not so different...

Does anyone remember this?  I know.  How could you not after the excessive amount of time I spent obsessing over it here?  Well at first we didn't think little sister was going to follow in her brother's preference for immobility, but she's quickly changing our minds.

See how sweet and pleasant she is right after we put her in sitting the other night?

And I even get a smile from her after smiling until my face hurt and talking in the squeakiest, highest-pitched voice ever.

But it doesn't take long for that smile to turn into a pout...

then a grimace...

then a pitiful, feel sorry for me cry...

and finally, a full-on, anger-filled, screaming fit...

She followed the same progression with tummy time that night.  And what a pleasant experience that was.  Hunter loved it.  He couldn't get enough.  Particulary when his ears started bleeding from the high-pitched, crazy loud screams.

Sleep came easy for our princess that night...

And it did for her mommy too.  At least I learned something from raising my son.  Charlotte will eventually sit on her own and crawl and walk.  She's perfect just the way she is...screaming fits and all:)

"Whole Fam-i-ly"

Hunter's really into doing things with the "whole fam-i-ly" these days.  His favorite is to have whole family hugs where I hold Char and James holds him and we all hug, but he'll also settle for whole family cuddling in mommy and daddy's bed (or on the couch, but there's obvious space issues there).  He also often demands that we play in his room with the whole family.  Most nights after dinner, we all go in there to play with the kitchen, tools, magneats, legos, or his favorite choice these days...Go Fish.

On this night, Hunter gave us a special treat and strayed from the norm.  We actually got to play with Noah and the animals...

As you can see, he's very proud of how he meticulously placed all of the animals in their own little spot on the ark.

Char usually hangs out in the Bumbo and chooses a rattle to chew on.  Her mouth's a little ahead of her hands here;)...

Eventually, she just dumped all of them and created a new fashion trend with her rattle bucket...

The only downfall, is it's a little weighty...

We're working on a lightweight one to sell to the masses.

On the Catwalk

Hunter's having a pony for his 3rd birthday party, so we're going with a cowboy theme.  My little sister came over and took some pictures of him for the invitations (which turned out great!).  Here are some of my favorites...

I didn't want Char to feel left out, so she had a little photo session with mommy a couple of days later.  Clearly, I'm not as talented with the photography, but her cuteness makes up for it...

When he grows up...

Maybe he'll be a therapist like mommy...

Or a doctor?...

(Clearly he's striving for some sort of Baylor badge-wearing profession.  And let's not forget about the pager.  Yes.  A badge and pager wearing dude he is.)

Or maybe he'll just be a Bueno Head...

But based on tonight's conversation while we were watching the Olympics, H's profession of choice for now is football player.  Here's a snippet...

Me:  Would you rather be an Olympic figure skater or a football player?

H:  Football player (or more like fuh-bah payer)

Me:  Would you rather be a football player or a basketball player?

H:  Football player

Me:  Would you rather play football or soccer?

H:  Football

Me:  Would you rather play guitar or football?

H:  Football (as he's grabbing his football out of the toy box)

He and James then proceeded to throw it back and forth for about 15 minutes, and I was shocked at how many good catches he had. 

Dreams of watching my son as the star quarterback for MS State have already started to fill my head.  And naturally soon after I'll be cheering him on at all of those NFL games he'll be winning...except there's no way the quarterback for MS State would make it to the pros, so that obviously knocked me back to reality.  Ha!  Love you James...you know it's true;)