Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My......

A Morning at the Zoo....

 Thursday morning was time to see our extended family "at the Zoo".. We bought season passes a while back, which Hunter and I have put to good use. We can get in an hour and half before the Zoo opens to the public and before it gets too hot. So several of the Mom's got together for a fun morning at the Zoo.



Jamie and Isaac, Me and Hunter and Ru and Bridger



 Jamie introduced us to a cool little part of the Zoo that we hadn't found yet. It's a little river for the kiddo's to splash around in. As you can see we weren't really prepared for it, but we made do with a swim diaper and lot's of sun screen.







Testing the water, to see if he wanted to sit down or not.




Thank Goodness for play area's with water for the kiddo's.



A Day At the River

Baby it's getting hot out here !!!!!

 Over the past few months we've been blessed with the opportunity to meet  lots of new people and their families, it's amazingly  finally starting to feel like "home". So today we headed to the Guadalupe State Park we two other families from our Play Group. What a beautiful place, we've heard so much about floating the river, and how we need to go do it. But we just haven't had the chance in the 8 years that we've been here in Texas. Even though we didn't actually float the river today, we still had a great time hanging out and playing with the kiddo's. With the temperatures already reaching the 100's, the water felt so good.  We played in the water, ate a picnic lunch, and  played in the water some more. We were all exhausted by the time we got home. Hunter was asleep in the car before we even got out of the park, then slept for 2 more hours when we got home. I was a little worried going into this adventure with him, not knowing how he would handle the water and not being able to just crawl around. But he did so good. He sat close to us the whole time, tossing little rocks, splashing, and playing with his buckets. So now I'm already planning our trip to Corpus Christi in the fall.



Playing in the deeper water

 Chillin in the water



Isaac and Hunter playing in the water

 Looking down the river, from where we were camped out

Exhausted from a day in the sun and water !!!!!

This past week was a busy one for us. We spent a day at the Zoo, another day swimming with Isaac and Bridger, a morning at the Library for there Summer Reading Program, and had a morning play date. So I've got lots of pictures to post, but really wanted to get the pictures of the River up first.

We have a Walker

This video was taken last Saturday. Not his "first steps" but one of the first times that he took more than a few steps.  Enjoy !!!!

A little of this, and a little of that....

Hunter and Issac taking turns driving the school bus

 It seems we are on the go all the time, these days.... With playgroup activities, gym, and general errands, the days just seem to run together. Hunter has been getting up at 6:00am every morning, and then goes back down for his morning nap around 8:30, then we're off and running for a few hours. Home for lunch and another nap for him, and my race to get cleaning, laundry and blogging begins.

This summer we're going to put Hunter into a Summer Reading program at the Library. So Wednesday morning's we'll go for story and music time. Should be a lot of fun for us. We've gone to several of just the story times there, and they do such a great job with entertaining even the youngest of babies.



Hunter LOVES to drive cars....



Well our little man is finally walking for the most part. He still struggles with getting up off the floor on his own, but once he's up, he's on the move. So far (knock on wood) we've only had one traumatic fall, hitting his head on the tile floor. No major damage, just one scared little boy, and a momma who about had a heart attack.... 



So proud of his balloon



New Tidbits about Hunter: 

~ He is now one of the pickiest eater's. We are struggling to keep him happy and feed. The only way we can get veggies in him, is by giving him baby food. Really thought our days of buying baby food were over. One day he'll like something, the next he doesn't want anything to do with it. 

~ He's doing really well with drinking from a regular cup. Which is good thing, because all our sippy cups seem to leak all the time. So I'm more than ready to get rid of them. 

~ He is now an official climber. Caught him the other morning climbing on top of a toy to reach the top shelf of the book case. Yicks !!!!!!

~ He loves to watch The Cat in the Hat and Sesame Street now. He'll point at the TV in the morning wanting you to turn it on. 

~  He will now wave "Hi" to everyone and everything.
~ He also gives hugs and kisses when you ask for them. ( melts my heart every time)

~ Can say the words up and puppy pretty well, and "all done" with sign language. Dada and mama on occasion.

~ Goes banana's in a store that has balloons. Pointing and saying something (not sure what he's saying)



Showing off his belt made from rings



 In the past 2 weeks, Hunter has been invited to 2 birthday parties. It's crazy to see all his playgroup friends turning 1. When we meet them all, they seemed so young. Now they are all starting to walk, climb and get into mischief together. I've noticed that playgroup time now is more of the mommies chasing the little ones, than the mommies socializing. No more flip flops, it's time to bring out the tennis shoes !!!!



Big boy drinking from a cup all by himself




First rid on a carousal



Diggin his party hat ( days after the party )



A Whole Bunch of Busy and Fun

So Seriously where is time going these days???  I logged into out blog tonight, thinking "yes, I do need to update it's been a couple of weeks" WOW ~ it's been over a month. So I do apologize for the lack of pictures and stories. With that being said,  I'm going to attempt to fill you all in with all of the details of our very busy, but fun Spring that we've had.  Our little Hunter is now officially 14 months old, and growing like a weed. He's 21 pounds and 30 1/2 inches long. And one very independent little toddler.

~ He's starting to take steps on his own, and with any luck (I think) he should be walking on his own by the end of the week. Each day he's getting braver and tougher. I truly believe that toddlers should learn how to tumble before they walk, because they sure do take some hard hits.

~ He loves looking at books and when you sing to him (most of the time) his favorite songs are "5 little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" (which he knows the word jump and will jump when you sing it) and "The Wheels on the Bus"

~ Just over the past week or so, he's shown signs of actually understanding what you are telling him. He knows the word NO, and will stop-look at you- and continue on. (but at least he stops for that brief moment) he also knows when you ask him where his water or milk is, he will stop and look for his cup, if he sees it, he will go for it. Same with his favorite ball.  It truly is amazing to watch him grow and learn each day.  

The Dog Day's of summer are already setting in on us here in Texas. With temperatures in the

mid-90's every afternoon, it makes playing outside next to impossible. So we got Hunter a water table and giant sized kiddie pool (big enough for Mommy and Daddy as well) And boy, does he LOVE the water. We spend a good hour each day playing in the water, then it's a major melt-down to get him in the house. But it's worth it, we have a blast splashing around and chasing his plastic boats around !!!

No fear of the water !!!!

So most of Hunter's play group buddies, have already had at least one hair cut if not more. Seeing this picture makes me think maybe it's time for us as well. But then I think, that's the only patch of hair this little guy really has. So we're going to hold out a little longer on the "first" hair cut. This hair style is done with smeared grilled cheese in hair mixed with a little applesauce. Who knows maybe we're onto something good for "all natural" hair care products.

After an afternoon of playing outside in the water, we were messing around with putting his swim shorts on his head. This little stinker doesn't like to wear his hat, but wore these shorts for almost an hour. He sure did look adorable, almost like a chef hat.

Right before Easter, our playgroup had an Easter Egg Hunt for the little ones. Not sure what to expect, we let the little one's go and amazingly they caught on pretty quick, especially Hunter once he figured out the eggs were stuffed with treats. yep, that's my kid- always hunting or begging for food !!!! I'm pretty sure everyone packs extra snacks now when they know we will be there. Hunter has the sniffer of hunting dog and will sniff out those snacks NO matter how quite, or sneaky you think you are being. My new saying is now " I promise, I do feed him"

Hunting for treats

Hunter with one of his playgroup buddies Bo. We had Bo for an entire day several weeks ago. After the jealousy cleared the air, all went well. (thank goodness) the boys played really well together, napped at about the same time, and had a blast while eating lunch together.

Easter Sunday, after church we "hid" some eggs in the front yard for Hunter and let him go to town. Of course, if the egg didn't have a treat it was tossed aside and forgotten about. I guess that means next year we will have to stuff all his eggs with some sort of treat.

Hunter trying out the antique hall chair. Just his size !!!

Right before Easter, Greg made a trip to Chicago to help his Mom load a truck with all kinds of things. Boxes, and bins full of childhood memories, toys,papers, hats, stuffed animals, antique furniture, dishes and Christmas decorations. They spent a couple of days going through things and repacking them for the road trip back to Texas. Then the two of them made the long drive here. I was super nervous as to what they would be bringing with them. But we've managed to find a home for most of the items. The antique furniture looks really good, and has given us more storage, especially in the kitchen area.

Hunter with some of his play group friends.

Hunter and Bo watching the garbage truck out front. They were so excited, the banging on the door caught the men's attention and they waved and honked the horn for the boys. Too cute !!!!

One of our favorite playgroup outings to this place. They have a huge inside play area for little guys only. Lots of things to climb on, jump in or pretend with.  It's child proofed, padded and gated so it's a great place to just let them run off their morning energy !!!!!