2020 has been quite the year. With a new baby, a global pandemic, job changes and remote learning, it has been the longest-shortest year ever. But what this year taught us most of all is to be thankful for all that we are blessed with. We learned what we could live without and what mattered most. Family, health, friends and a home that we built with love is what I am most thankful for. From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you Kim for once again capturing some beautiful photos of our crazy crew. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Wishing you health, happiness and love!
Little man is 8 months old today! 8 months! That means that not only have we been blessed with this sweet little guy for 8 months already, but that we’ve been living in a global pandemic for this long too. This has been the craziest 8 months, but for all the uncertainty and fear, we have really been blessed with the family time each of us needed. Hunter has been the perfect addition to keep us grounded and grateful for all we have.
Hunter is 16 lbs and 12 oz, and is 27-1/4″ tall. We don’t have a check in this week so no shots, hooray!
Hunter in his favorite chair
Hunter is such a little doll. He really is such a happy guy that goes with the flow. He’s always smiling and loves to clap his hands. He added a new dimension to his mobility – walking and standing on his own. Hunter is super fast and can get across the room with a combination of cruising on the couch, crawling and hopping. You have to always be watching him because he is always trying to get into something he shouldn’t be or trying to put something he shouldn’t in his mouth. He has started to eat some solid food and loves avocados, peaches, bananas, pumpkin, apples and yogurt. He even tried some spaghetti squash and peas. Hunter loves to play with his trucks, balls, standing piano, musical instruments and LEGOS. He started using his walker and he loves to take it all over the house. He is not a fan of the jumpers right now because he doesn’t like to be stuck in one place. He loves to explore and dump out all of his toys and figure them out. He is very curious. He has said Mama and Dada and loves to babble and screech. Hunter is a big flirt and loves to smile at the ladies. Poor guy has been teething hard this month, he got 6 teeth in all at once – 4 on the top and 2 below, and now it looks like his canines are coming through. Despite the teething, he is such a sweet and happy little dude. We are so lucky to have him in our family.
Walking
Hunter has officially started walking. He can take about 6-8 steps each time and is always up on his feet. He has been walking with a walker and cruising the couches for awhile but he started taking his first steps to me over a week ago and we were finally able to get it on camera last week. He is so proud of himself and loves to clap when he’s done. He is already such a fast crawler, I am sure he will be running in no time.
Standing
Hunter prefers standing to sitting – whether it’s playing or eating, he is always on his feet. He has been standing on his own and bearing his weight for a few weeks now and he can hold himself up for quite some time. I will usually catch him standing up looking around, then when he realizes he isn’t holding onto something he lowers himself slowly and laughs. He can also throw his hands in the air while he’s standing and keeps his balance.
Playing
Hunter loves to play! He doesn’t like to jump in his jumper any more; he prefers to have the freedom to roam around with his walker or to crawl. He loves his box of toys that he can dig through and find new and interesting things. He loves to play with the musical instruments and chase balls around.
Smiles
I could just look at his smile all day. Hunter really is a happy baby and loves to flirt and smile with everyone. He loves to flash everyone his new teeth!
Teething
Speaking of teeth, this poor guy has been through the ringer this week. He got in 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth all at the same time and his canines are starting to poke through. He’s had his little bottom teeth for several months, so now he has a full set of chompers. Call him Jaws, because he has definitely been known to bite (mostly Mommy during feedings – ouch!). The girls got teeth early, but I do not remember them getting them all at once. His poor little cheeks will get bright red and he has gotten so congested. I have to admit I panicked at first when he was so congested because of COVID and Sienna had a major runny nose, but it turns out hers was allergies and his was due to his teeth. A major thank you to my Mom for calming me down and for our pediatrician for easing my concerns – I was a bit of a mess, but I think the 2 hours of sleep I had been getting didn’t help my stress. It’s not fun having allergies and teething during a pandemic!
Solid Food
Hunter started trying solid food this month. He loves avocados, peaches, bananas, apples, spaghetti squash, yogurt and peas. The girls have loved watching him try new foods and he loves to try new flavors and textures.
Bathtime
Hunter has always loved bath time, but this month he had a few solo baths. He can sit up really well so we’ve let him splash around on his own. He loves playing with cups and boats. With his teething, we’ve done a lot of steam shower / baths and that has helped with his congestion. He gets so excited when he walks into a steamed bathroom…it’s like his private spa with Mommy!
Hunter’s Baptism
Sunday was a special day for our family, our little Hunter was baptized. We have always done the baptisms the weekend of Thanksgiving so both of our families can be witnesses, but due to the pandemic we will not be seeing Brian’s family for the holidays. Baptisms have been on hold because of the pandemic, but we got an email saying they were back on and I contacted Fr. Gar right away. I am so thankful that we were able to share his Baptism with his Godfather – Uncle Mat and both of my parents. We kept it small with just our family, but his Godmother – Ms. Ally (also Bailey’s Kinder teacher) was there in spirit. It was a beautiful day so we were able to get a few pictures before the ceremony started and before any tears. If the last 2 baptisms were any indicator, we were in for it and I was a little worried because with each additional child, our circus gets even louder. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. The girls were great, they followed along with the readings and Fr. Gar even let them help pour the Holy Water on his head! They really enjoyed being a part of the ceremony and Fr. Gar is amazingly patient. Hunter didn’t even cry – he may have yanked on my hair and slapped at my chest the whole time, but he did great!
Hunter’s First Snow
I didn’t think we would be talking about Hunter’s first snow already, but we definitely got a few inches before Halloween and had to get out and capture it. It was also Bourbon’s first snow and he liked going for a walk with me in the morning even though he was shivering – looks like we’ll be getting him a jacket for the winter. We bundled Hunter up before school started and set him out in the snow. He was all smiles and even touched it a few times. The girls had to wait and play until they got through all of their Zoom calls. It was definitely hard for them to concentrate, but the second Bailey’s last call was done, they were in their snow suits and out the door. They spent about an hour or so out there and loved throwing snowballs at Hunter and making snow angels. We got a few inches, so it was more than the dusting that we had in previous early snows. The girls can’t wait for more!
Pumpkin Carving
The girls were ready to carve pumpkins the weekend after we picked them up at the pumpkin patch. We told the girls to be patient because we didn’t want them to go bad and rot before Halloween. Luckily we waited until a few days before Halloween because we had a crazy rollercoaster of weather and the pumpkins carved in our neighborhood looked pretty bad by the time Halloween came around. We were prepared for the carving to take a long time and be crazy messy because it always have before, but this time we were actually prepared and we carved 5 pumpkins in record time! Brian and the girls prepped the pumpkins, Hunter touched the pumpkin guts for approximately 5 seconds before gagging and then I carved the designs in all of them. Bailey drew out what she wanted me to carve, Sienna picked a design and I free handed the drawings on all of them and got to work. It went so smoothly, Brian even put a couple pizzas in the oven and we had dinner at a reasonable time. I’m still not sure how we did it, but we all had a lot of fun. And the squirrels didn’t completely destroy our pumpkins until after Halloween – so even bigger win!
Halloween Season
Hunter’s first Halloween season was definitely one for the books. We weren’t sure what to expect with the pandemic but we were ready to go with the flow. We don’t go to a ton of houses on Halloween, we usually just stick to our neighbors that we see all the time (and who have been quarantined like we have been) and then we go to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a little more trick or treating. If there are some fun Halloween related events that fit into our schedule, we’ll go but we wear costumes a lot so it’s not crazy to see us in something fun throughout the year. We had a few Halloween nights this year – including Hunter’s first early holiday party – turned Halloween party, because it was outdoors with a bonfire because of COVID. We went with the Lion King theme since we had found a little Lion costume for Hunter and I got a chance to have a little fun with make-up and hair. Brian, who has been waiting to do this since we’ve had kids, went as Rafiki so that he could sing “Circle of Life” and hold Hunter up wherever we went. Rafiki costumes don’t really exist, and since we have been crazy busy this past month, I didn’t really think of anything until the day before. So I pulled together his look with a couple thrift store finds and a few things we had around the house. We had a lot of fun with my coworkers and Hunter fell in love with Sam…he let her hold him all night and still looks at her picture and smiles!
Olathe Spooktacular
We were really excited when we found out that Olathe was going to host their Spooktacular event and space the booths out so that everyone could be socially distanced. It is one of our favorite events and we decided to try and get out there. The only problem, it was freezing and super windy! The week leading up to the event was in the upper 70s but that Friday, in true Kansas fashion, decided to dip into the 30s. With the wind, it was super cold and our costumes weren’t made for that kind of weather. Luckily we have a lot of backups and we found the warmest costumes we could find – Care Bears (thanks to Grandma’s find, we have 2) and Mama/Baby Bear. We hopped in the car, got into our costumes in the parking lot and started walking the trail. Brian was in Lawrence that day, but made it halfway through so he could still join in on the fun. The girls had a blast seeing all of the other costumes and getting candy. We felt comfortable because everything was spread out and everyone wore masks – which ended up being a bonus because they kept our faces warm! We are so blessed to live in a community that thinks outside of the box and hosts such wonderful family events!
Halloween Night
Even though we are in the middle of a pandemic, we wanted to celebrate the holiday as best we could. We started out the morning by ordering donut kits from Dunkin’ Donuts so the girls got to decorate their donuts. The weather was beautiful and we spent most of the day outside. The girls had decided they wanted to be mermaids for a couple months and we found a cute little pirate outfit for Hunter to match. Since we have a ton of random costume pieces that we have collected over the years, we pulled Brian’s costume together last minute and I got a chance to try out a new makeup technique I saw online. The girls are obsessed with mermaid hair so I got a chance to play with their hair and spend some fun girl time. We took some pictures before we went trick or treating and got a few fun ones! Poor Bourbon was a little too scared to keep his costume on and be with us so we left him at the house to chill while we hit the streets. Our neighbors were amazing and put together bags of candy for the girls (there are only a few kids in our neighborhood) so even though we went to about 6 houses, they came home with a full bag! Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a little trick or treating at their neighbors and a pizza party! We left with full bellies and a sugar high, drove by a few spooky houses to admire their decorations and came home to crash. I have to say, it was definitely one of my favorite Halloweens to date because we really focused on spending time with each other and having fun. I hope we continue to celebrate these holidays the same way, with a focus on being present and having fun together – COVID has some merits.
Sister love
Hunter loves his sisters and they are equally in love with him. I love watching them grow up together and navigate our new normal. They really are great kids and have really grown through the pandemic and shown their kindness, flexibility and strength. The girls are great big sisters and have been really helpful with their little brother. He loves to watch them on their school Zoom calls and they take turns playing with him while the other is in class. I am so lucky that I get this extra time with all of them, it may not be the easiest, but we are definitely better off for it.
Remote Learning
Speaking of remote learning, the girls are doing excellent! I may feel overwhelmed 90% of the time, but the girls have really grown this year and are learning so much. Bailey has started reading on her own and her handwriting has gotten really strong. She is one smart cookie and loves math and science. I love watching her learn and feel really lucky to have one of my besties in my house each day via Zoom! A special thank you for Miss Ally – she has so much patience and the kids adore her, even though they aren’t together in person, she makes them feel special. Sienna has done really well in her Preschool program too! We may have some days that are more difficult than others but overall she has learned a lot. She has really improved on her writing and can write her name without any help!
Outdoor Fun
The weather has been all over the board this past month but we have had a few stretches of nice weather. We make sure to get out as much as we can to burn off energy and get plenty of Vitamin D. Hunter loves going to the park and watching all the kids run around and trying to catch up to them.
Bourbon
Bourbon is a complete hot mess, so he has fit into our family perfectly. He is definitely a wild and crazy puppy but he is also such a sweet boy when he wants to be. He loves playing with the kids, going on walks and to the dog park during lunch. He also loves to sit on his perch and watch his kingdom. Oh and he figured out how to jump the fence to go play with his best friend Reggie so we are now the proud owners of an electric fence.
Sleepy Snuggles
Sleep is not a fun activity in our household, at least that is what the children have determined, Hunter included. They would rather be doing anything else including jumping, somersaults, flips, etc. so Dad and I tend to walk around like zombies most days. I have become an afternoon coffee drinker and I get why people do that now. Hunter is such a busy guy that he will go and go until he crashes, usually on Grandma or Dad. I have lucked into a few snuggles and I soak them in!
With everything going on right now, it makes us realize more and more how lucky we are to have each other. 90% of the time may be complete chaos, but that 10% is so sweet it makes it all worthwhile. We love watching our little Hunter grow into such a big guy and we can’t wait to see what he gets into next! Also, UI am super behind on blogs right now so I am working on catching up. I’ll be posting more soon!
