Hunt Family Connection

Balance

Much of my life is full of work obligations and of course my "mom" work :) While I am incredibly grateful for my job and I wouldnl't trade being a mom for anything, I still find a need to carve out some time that is just for me.

Saturday was one of those days were I felt a great balance between what I had to do and what I wanted to do, and I was able to be a little selfish with my time. The kids were with Wil Friday night so I woke up slowly. I was reading and dozing on and off before getting out of bed - doesn't sound like much, but that alone feels like a luxury. There was sunshine on Saturday morning, and while it was still a little chilly, it was a perfect morning for a bike ride. I rode on the path along the river and it was gorgeous. I wish every day could start with a nice long ride along the river like that. After a hot shower I went to a late breakfast with my friend Matt - I love breakfast! I usually read through the Eugene Weekly while we wait for our order and we chat about the opinion letters and what's going on in the week ahead (FYI - this week is "beer week" in Eugene). After breakfast we did a little shopping before I headed home, and once home I did a little more shopping. I walked in the sun to the 2nd hand children's store on River Road - yay for more time outside! I found lots of goodies on the $1 racks and had fun browsing through the rest of the store. Once home again I called to chat with mom and dad (sometimes it's nice to be able to talk with them without two little people begging to say "hi" in the background!). I opened up all of the windows and did a load of laundry, and while the sun was still shining I set up a lounge chair and read my book for a bit.

By the time the kids got home I was relaxed, recharged, and ready to be "mom" again.

Ellie at 20 months

Ellie is 20 months and is so incredibly happy! It's hard not to smile when you are around her - I really need to get some video soon because I can describe her, but it doesn't quite seem to do her justice :)

The photo above is a pretty common sight these days - Ellie pulls a chair over from the table to get up to the counter where her brother often sits or to "help" when I'm working in the kitchen. She wants to be involved in whatever is going on and thinks she should be able to do everything her brother does. She's getting more and more independent about wanting to put on her own clothes (she's an expert at taking them off!). She's usually pretty good about asking for help if she's not able to do something, but when she asks for help she says "help...you?" instead of "help me" - it took awhile to figure that out, and I'm trying to get her to replace it with "help me,  please". She will try to repeat just about anything you ask her to. She also recently started saying "love you" and even "love you, mommy" on occasion - adorable.

This is going to seem like an odd milestone, but it surprised me last weekend when I put a kleenex on her nose and she blew into it! You may not think about it much, but it is really difficult to teach a child how to blow their nose - it's a hard one to demonstrate! In fact I feel like I'm still working on it with G, but this one has it mastered already! Seems silly, but I was really impressed :)

Eleanor loves going outside and doesn't like to be left behind. She's always quick to get her coat and boots on. She's still not quite able to get her coat off the hook - I had to laugh when I saw this picture that Grandma Chery/Pa-Paw took at my house one day while they were watching the kids....

 

That's actually Graham's coat, but it looks like she got herself into it while it was still hanging on the hook - too funny :)

She loves puppies, fruit, mac & cheese, cookies, Diego, dancing, playing outside, reading stories (and being read to). She still wakes up pretty early in the morning (around 5ish) but after a sippy cup of milk she goes back to sleep for a couple of hours. She goes to bed easily at night and talks/plays in her crib before falling asleep. She still uses her pacifier - mostly at night or in the car. She gets sooo excited to see people she knows and loves, and enthusiastically shows it. She's becoming such a big girl and it's a joy to watch her grow and learn.

And it was EASTER too!

Such a busy weekend with Graham's birthday and Easter. The kids spent Saturday night with Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery and when they arrived home on Sunday after lunch they discovered that the Easter bunny had been at the house and filled their baskets.

Graham found his and wanted to look it over a bit before helping Eleanor locate her basket.

They both enjoyed seeing what the Easter Bunny had brought for them and some favorite things emerged. Graham loves the stuff that spins and lights up and Ellie was a big fan of the pretty necklaces that came in her basket.

Of course they are both big fans of the candy and get very excited to have some for dessert. The baskets ended up on top of the fridge because Graham started helping himself to the marshmallow peeps.

We had a great rest of the day - while Ellie napped Graham and I had fun trying out some of his new birthday presents. We played Hungry Hungry Hippos and spent some time playing his new Diego Wii game (it's amazing to see how quickly he learns how to do that stuff!)

While I got dinner ready, Graham did a little painting while Ellie supervised - it's so hard for her to be the little sister sometimes as she wants to do everything Graham is doing!

It was a busy weekend, but definitely a fun one :)

More Birthday Fun - The Party

We were excited to have family and friends over to help celebrate Graham's birthday on Saturday.

Graham wanted a Buzz Lightyear party, and even though decorations/favors were hard to come by (apparently it's a quite popular theme at the moment!) I think I managed to make it a happy day for him.

All week the weathman said it was going to rain on Saturday, but by the end of the week they were saying it would hold off until Saturday night....and it did! The weather was beautiful - sunshiny and perfect for being outside. The kids (and the dads) enjoyed playing in the yard and on the play structure and the grown-ups (mostly the moms/women) enjoyed snacking and chatting on the patio.

Graham got some great goodies - new games like Hungry Hippos and Cooties, sidewalk crayons, a bug vacuum, Buzz Lightyear goodies, new shirts, an awesome Cars toy, and a bunch of other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting! Graham also got this big boy two-wheeler (with training wheels) from his mom and dad.

Such a big boy! Take a good look further into this picture and you'll see my computer sitting on a priority mail box on the ground. I pulled Nana and Papa up on Skype so they could attend the party for a little bit too - yay! Too bad they couldn't have any cupcakes....

I apologize for the super blurry picture, but I had to share this shot of Ellie eating her cupcake. She ended up just holding it in front of her mouth like this and tried to nibble away at it. It got a little bit messy :)

The party went very well and Graham loved every minute of it - success! We're so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives to help us celebrate these big occasions. Thanks to everyone that came and everyone who thought of Graham by sending cards or goodies.

A day in the LIfe....

....of a brand new FOUR-year-old!

I wanted to try and grab bits and pieces of Graham's birthday, especially since I had to go to work and wouldn't be there for all of it. So I shot what I could at the beginning and end of the day, and left my camera with everyone else to shoot the middle :) It was fun looking through them this morning and seeing what his day was like.

Graham started the day by crawling into bed with me and exclaiming that he was "sooooo happy" that it was his birthday. He also reminded me that there should be presents to open on one's birthday :) I let him play with my iPod Touch while I got ready for work.

I let him open a present that came in the mail this past week - thanks so much to Uncle Bill and Elizabeth for some awesome helicopters and airplanes to play with!

Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery came over to watch the kids this morning (no daycare today) and they brought Graham a pretty awesome birthday card to open...

The card pulls out to be a guitar and plays Happy Birthday - very fun :)

Our friend Matt also came by this morning and gave Graham his birthday present - his very own baseball glove....

I'm looking forward to many games of catch in our future - and by the looks of things, Pa-Paw started working on this right away....

Since I wasn't here during the day, I'm just piecing together what happened next based on the pictures I found on my camera :)

Graham had fun with Pa-Paw both at the airport...

....and around the house

Graham also got to go on a field trip with Wil to the Science Factory

I'm told he had an awesome time....

After the Science Factory we call got together for a family dinner - Graham decided he wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese.

Graham played all kinds of different games and went on some of the rides - he even managed to take a tiny bit of time to eat some dinner.

He ended his big day much like he began it - in bed with my iPod Touch. He had a hard time settling down after such a busy day, but it didn't take too long before he was sound asleep.

Which brings us to this morning. It's 7am and both kids are already awake. Breakfast, baths, and hopefully some time outside are all on the agenda for this morning. I have a few things to get ready for the party and we'll be looking forward to seeing our friends later for more birthday fun.

Happy Birthday Graham!

(number 4 from Ali Edwards' I Love You Because Layered Templates)

Four....my baby boy is FOUR today! I know I've said it for the past three birthdays, but I really can't believe how fast time flies by us, and what a big boy Graham has become. 

This past year has not been easy - having a 3-year-old has been quite a challenge and we've been through some big changes as a family, but through it all Graham continues to be a happy and an incredibly curious little man, and I continue to feel so incredibly lucky and blessed to be here to see it all.

We've been celebrating G this week and trying to do special things for him. Wednesaday night he got to play at Papa's Pizza and spent the night for the first time at Daddy's new house. Yesterday he took a yummy birthday treat to share with his daycare friends, and in the afternoon Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery took him to Splash for some swimming. Last night we watched Toy Story 3 (available as an instant watch movie on Netflix - woo hoo!) after dinner - he was really excited :)

No daycare today, so Graham will be spending some time with Pa-Paw/Grandma Chery and waking up slowly...his favorite way to wake up! Later on today he'll be going on a field trip with his daddy to the Science Factory, and tradition demands that our little immediate family has dinner together at Red Robin. Saturday we'll be having a few friends over for a birthday party, and then he will be spending the night at Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery's house. Sooo many fun things to celebrate Graham - good times!

Easter egg coloring

This year Graham's birthday weekend is also Easter weekend, so we have a lot of fun stuff going on around here. In an effort to spread it all out a bit, I decided we would color eggs this weekend.

Graham had lots 'o fun taking the eggs in and out of the color cups (usually with his hands!) and Ellie even got in on the action and dropped a few eggs into the dye. All of this egg handling by toddlers resulted in a few cracked ones, but I think they're still edible....can't wait to have an egg salad sandwich or two this week :)

 

Moments captured....

A couple of times this past weekend I found myself walking into a room and then running right back out again to grab my camera to try and capture what I had seen.

Wil was using the Trailblazer this weekend to move some of his things, so the car seats got left in my living room for a bit. Apparently they make great theater seats....

Graham and Ellie have been playing more together (I use the word "together" pretty loosely here) I had to giggle a little to see them both working hard on their computers...

Of course a couple minutes after taking this picture Ellie started grabbing at G's computer and G started squealing about it....but for a little while they were both happy and getting along :)

Daddy's new place

Wil moved into a new place this weekend - the kids and I got to visit it last week after he got the keys so I snapped a couple of pictures with my phone....

It can best be described as "rustic" I think :) A little bit cabin-like....it definitely has character. I guess it's a little more "rural" than my place as well...I don't know how Graham could make this up, so I can only assume that there really was a chicken in dad's yard yesterday!

This is the view from the kitchen - there are a lot of great windows to let the light in. Wil is excited about it and the kids seemed to like it too - they  will be happy to visit their daddy no matter where he is.

Our weekend was pretty low-key. I think I have a few pictures on the camera, but we didn't get too far from the house. Well, except Graham....he stayed busy going on a nature outing with Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery on Saturday and then "helping" his dad at the new house on Sunday.

 

Ten and Ten

Graham had a dentist appointment yesterday - his 2nd ever. (You can re-live his first visit to the dentist here if you'd like - G at dentist 10-17-10). I was suprised to hear how much he remembered from the first visit and he was totally ready to go back to see Dr. Helen. He even informed me that "I'm not going to be shy this time."

I don't remember him being particularly shy last time, but he certainly wasn't shy this time. He did everything he was asked to and was polite to the hygienist (very nice that it was the same one we had last time) and Dr. Helen.

They cleaned, polished, varnished, and counted his teeth - 10 on the top and 10 on the bottom. The hygienist told him that 10+10=20 total teeth, but if you ask Graham how many teeth he has he will most likely tell you 10 and 10 :) They tried to get some x-rays of the back teeth, but his mouth isn't quite big enough for that yet.....maybe next time.

He got a new toothbrush, some floss (seriously - have you ever tried flossing a 3-year-old's teeth?! am I being a big baby about this??) and of course a toy from the prize box. I don't have a picture of the prize box treasure yet, but I hope to soon 'cause it's awesome!

All in all, another good experience at the dentist for G - Dr. Helen says that the spacing between his teeth is great and everything is looking good...yay!